Kings and kingship

Wormald, Patrick

doi:10.1017/chol9780521362917.023

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The most basic unit of political analysis for both Christian Europe and the Islamic world during the medieval period is the monarch. Political organization during the medieval period was dominated by monarchies (Wormald 2005) and by 700 CE it was clear that individual rulers-in particular, kings-would be the decisive holders of political power (Fouracre 2005). The medieval period was characterized by the proliferation of hundreds of monarchies for which students of history and medieval numismatics-the study of currency and coinage-have invested tremendous effort in creating leadership chronologies.…”

Section: Ruler Duration In the Christian And Muslim Worldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Feudal Revolution and Europe's Rise: Political Divergence of the Christian West and the Muslim World before 1500 CE

2013

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We document a divergence in the duration of rule for monarchs in Western Europe and the Islamic world beginning in the medieval period. While leadership tenures in the two regions were similar in the 8th century, Christian kings became increasingly long lived compared to Muslim sultans. We argue that forms of executive constraint that emerged under feudal institutions in Western Europe were associated with increased political stability and find empirical support for this argument. While feudal institutions served as the basis for military recruitment by European monarchs, Muslim sultans relied on mamlukism—or the use of military slaves imported from non-Muslim lands. Dependence on mamluk armies limited the bargaining strength of local notables vis-à-vis the sultan, hindering the development of a productively adversarial relationship between ruler and local elites. We argue that Muslim societies’ reliance on mamluks, rather than local elites, as the basis for military leadership, may explain why the Glorious Revolution occurred in England, not Egypt.

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Section: Ruler Duration In the Christian And Muslim Worldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Feudal Revolution and Europe's Rise: Political Divergence of the Christian West and the Muslim World before 1500 CE

2013

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“…22 Indeed, Roman law provided an archetype for Germanic legal codes throughout Europe; most clearly evidenced by the use of Latin in all Continental early medieval legal documents. 23 In Britain Roman society and administration fell almost entirely after the Anglo-Saxon invasions and it was Augustinian mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) in 597 that reintroduced Rome's legacy to southern England. 24 The link created between Kent and the papacy endured, for instance, the first seven Archbishops of Canterbury were Italian.…”

Section: Mercia's Seventh Century Law Code?mentioning

confidence: 99%

In Search of Mercian Law

Vare

2022

STALJ

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There are five extant English law codes from the sixth to the ninth century but, despite Mercia's having been an independent polity in the period, none are Mercian. Three seventh century Kentish royal law codes survive in a single twelfth century manuscript and two West-Saxon law codes survive elsewhere. The early English legal record is, therefore, thin and there are no extant law codes from the major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, or Mercia. As such, this article discusses possible answers to two questions: what Mercian law was and whether a Mercian law code ever existed.

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“…Whatever conceptions of rulership the various Anglo-Saxon peoples had brought with them from their native homelands in Europe, these will have undergone considerable adaptation during the migration process and after the settlement and formation of the first English kingdoms. While warfare remained a central kingly duty (indeed, the Old English word for a lord or ruler, dryhten, meant 'warband leader', as Wormald noted), 85 other obligations attached themselves to the role, including those of judge and law-giver, even before the more significant adaptations that followed from conversion to Christianity. 86 Fundamentally, Bede considered secular rule to have a firm moral basis and clearly defined Christian objectives.…”

Section: Kingly Ministeriummentioning

confidence: 99%

Writing, Kingship and Power in Anglo-Saxon England

Pracy

2019

English Studies

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Kings and kingship

Cited by 9 publications

References 482 publications

The Feudal Revolution and Europe's Rise: Political Divergence of the Christian West and the Muslim World before 1500 CE

The Feudal Revolution and Europe's Rise: Political Divergence of the Christian West and the Muslim World before 1500 CE

In Search of Mercian Law

Writing, Kingship and Power in Anglo-Saxon England

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