A Tale of Two Kings: The Use of King David in the Chronicle of Pere III of Catalonia
It is my contention that Pere chose to emulate David because David was a highly respected Biblical king, as well as the fact that David’s history as a warrior could be used to spiritually justify the military actions of Pere.
Why Grateley? Reflections on Anglo-Saxon Kingship in a Hampshire Landscape
This paper focuses on the context of the promulgation of the first ‘national’ lawcode of King Athelstan at Grateley.
The King’s Mercy. An Attribute of Later Medieval English Monarchy
Modern assumptions about medieval justice still tend to see this process of amelioration as merely occasional and exceptional: mercy needed to be applied only where special circumstances made it inappropriate to apply the full rigours of the law. This, however, is seriously to misunderstand both the purpose and the pervasiveness of mercy in the operation of medieval justice.
Melchizedek as Exemplar for Kingship in Twelfth-Century Political Thought
The figure of Melchizedek, ‘king of Salem’ and ‘priest of God Most High’,was less prominently featured in political writings than Saul, David, Solo-mon, and other biblical rulers.
The Meetings of the Kings of France and England, 1066-1204
Between 1066 and 1154 the kings of France and of England are known to have met each other on five occasions: in 1079, 1109, 1113, 1120, and 1137.
Transmission of Kings and Texts in Medieval Irish Tradition
The Irish king is a vexed issue which, for a long time, was chiefly discussed by historians. The bulk of mediaeval king-tales in the Irish tradition have traditionally been named ‘the Historical cycle’, which reveals the perception of them as historical documents.
Cultural Changes in England resulting from the Battle of Hastings
This paper, in examining the reigns of the Ethelred, Canute, Harold Harefoot and Hardicanute, and Edward the Confessor, will show how they came to power, the legacy each left – if any — and how the events during each reign ultimately led to the Battle of Hastings, with William the Conqueror’s victory changing England forever.
Aspects of the monastic patronage of the English and French royal houses 1130-1270
Before the eleventh century Church reforms, kings and nobles had regarded churches and monasteries as private property, built by them on their own lands and over which they retained substantial rights.
Medieval reads for Dad!
Father’s Day is just around the corner – here are some fun medieval reads to make his day special!
The Significance of Feudal Law in Thirteenth-Century Law Codes
Although developments in feudal law in the thirteenth century influenced the legal environment of Europe for centuries, much of past and current historical research of feudalism examines the social system anthropologically but neglects an in-depth analysis of feudal law codes.
The Quality of Scottish Mercy: Royal Letters of Remission in Medieval Scotland
In a plenary address for the Canadian Society of Medievalists, Professor Neville examines the development of pardons for political enemies and felons in late medieval Scotland, and how the concept of the King’s Peace differed between Scottish and English monarchs.
Interview with Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England
The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England, is being released in May 2012.
Æthelstan, “King of all Britain” : royal and imperial ideology in tenth-century England
This thesis examines how King Æthelstan legitimized and systematized his claims of power and status through a royal ideology, how that ideology emerged, what it consisted of, and how it manifested itself in his kingship and diplomacy.
Justinian’s reconquest of the West : ideology, warfare, religion, and politics in sixth-century Byzantium
This thesis will examine the guiding ideology of Justinian’s emperorship and how that ideology especially manifested itself in terms of Justinian’s diplomacy and his relationship with the former provinces of the Western Roman Empire.
Depositions of rulers in the later middle ages: on the theory of the “useless ruler” and its practical utilization
The fact that in late medieval times more or less changes of rulers by force increased in nearly all European kingdoms, may indeed be read as a symptom of change in kingship as well as in the basic order of lordship.
VAGANTES: “What has Beowulf to do with a Christian King?” Heroic Legend as Poetic Speculum Principis
Through a rhetorical analysis based in grounded theory that analyzes fifteen speeches and their contexts made by Hroðgar, Beowulf, and Wiglaf, I will show how the poet appropriated the Beowulf legend to present a dramatized speculum principis using the rhetorical devices common to oral-traditional narratives to articulate the three traits of kingship most highly valued by both secular and sacred authorities: generosity, faith, and protectiveness.
Olaf Haraldsson’s Relics – an Example of ‘Hagiocracy’ in Scandinavia
The model of “the suffering leader” was quite a common model of saint-hood in the medieval North. Throughout the Middle Ages, the majority of the saints venerated in the West (especially in non-Mediterranean countries), were kings and princes.
Penda the Pagan: Royal sacrifice and a Mercian king
Regicide was a common occurrence in the early Middle Ages. It was a fairly routine way for a victorious usurper or conqueror to rid himself of a potential source of trouble. Penda’s reputation in this field would almost certainly have been viewed with some approval had he been a Christian, and his foes pagan…
‘Viking Empires’? Scandinavian Kingship and the nature and orchestration of Viking raids, c.800-c.950
To what extent were Viking raids part of a more general process of expansion by Scandinavian rulers? Were the Franks simply receiving a taste of their own medicine in the ninth and tenth centuries?
Sacred Kingship among the Peoples of the Steppes
eurThe vast belt of the Steppes, located between the Hungarian plains and the Great Wall of China,
runs along the southern edge of the Eurasian arboreal zone. Starting in the 1st millenium B.C. this region has been inhabited by Iranian, Hunnish, Turkish and Mongol mounted nomads who, at various times, unified a large portion of the Steppes into a single empire.
BBC show on The Private Lives Of The Medieval Kings to begin airing next week
In Illuminations: The Private Lives of the Medieval Kings BBC Four will tell the story of the Medieval monarchy as preserved through stunning illuminated manuscripts from the British Library’s Royal Manuscripts collection which contains some of the most priceless documents in the country’s history.
Trojan Wars: Genre and the Politics of Authorship in Late Medieval and Early Modern England
In the Middle Ages, Troy was not ancient history. As a living myth that continued to evolve along with the English nation, Troy functioned as a site for examining England’s cultural and political questions.
Charlemagne: the making of an image, 1100-1300
Why was Charlemagne, a figure from the distant past, able to achieve such high status and command such enormous respect?
Researchers puzzled as grave did not hold remains of medieval Swedish king
DNA tests have revealed that the bodies of nine people buried in the tomb actually died sometime between 1430 and 1520.
Alfred the Great: The Most Perfect Man in History?
Barbara Yorke considers the reputation of King Alfred the Great – and the enduring cult around his life and legend.