INTRODUCTION
Defining a king:
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Rule by one person
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Ceremony and religious status
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Hereditary or elected?
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Subjects or citizens?
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Gender?
1. WHY HAVE A KING?
1.1 Practical arguments
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effective leadership, quick reaction in crisis >> job = defence
& justice
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avoids internal feuding/division >> child/old age of ruler?
1.2 Theoretical arguments
Dante put the traditional case in De monarchia:
1. what can be done by one man is better done by one
man than by several
2. mirror the rule of God as single ruler
3. animal societies are organised with a leader
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organic image in John of Salisbury and Christine de Pizan
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body with a single head
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leadership but responsibilities
1.3 What are the alternatives to kingship?
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Aristocracy/oligarchy
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Democracy
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Situation in medieval Europe? France, England, Italy
2. THE JOB OF A MEDIEVAL KING?
2.1 Family
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importance of heir >> consequences of failure
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choice of wife >> dynastic entanglements and rival claims
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provision for cadets >> importance of expansion
2.2 War
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Value of war for king?
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Defense of realm or active expansion?
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Provide opportunities for glory and money for the aristocracy
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Value of a martial image for a king?
2.3 Public order
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Contrasts with modern situation: limits of the power of the
state
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Clash between war and law state
2.4 Aristocracy
Consider in section 3.
2.5 Church and religion
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Defence of the Church internationally and internally
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Importance of Church as source of patronage
2.6 The wider society
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Responsibility for the welfare of all members of society?
Or just represent landed interests?
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The burden of taxation
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Labour legislation
3. KINGSHIP AND THE POLITICAL ELITE
3.1 Symbiotic relationship
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idea of ‘absolutism’ and ‘divine right of kings’ (anachronisms)
v. reality of power
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king and aristocracy depend on each other
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who holds the dominant position in the balance of power?
3.2 What does the king need from the nobles?
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royal family
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military support
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public order and control
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consultation and advice
3.3 What do the nobles want from the king?
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patronage
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money, land, offices & honours
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military service
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Black Death >> support for landlords
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justice
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arbitrator of factions & provides security of position
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royal court
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right of nobles to counsel the king
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importance of access to king
CONCLUSION: WHAT DO YOU DO IF THE KING FAILS IN HIS JOB?
Historiography:
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Stubbs and the Victorian constitutionalists read backwards
from the Civil War
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Did medieval people really want to ‘limit’ or ‘control’ their
king?
Options?
1. Deposition: rare, e.g. 1399 >> ‘abdicated’
2. ‘Parliamentary’ limitations BUT royal control of parliament
3. Council and advice
4. Moral guidance