Becoming king: the rise of kingship in Europe, c. 950- c. 1215

This project deals with the prehistory of Magna Carta by considering attempts to define, to curtail and limit, to direct and channel the exercise of royal power in Europe between the tenth and the early thirteenth century. By the end of the period, mechanisms had been created (such as parliaments), a legal framework established (such as Magna Carta), and concepts fashioned that defined the political discourse and the political practice of Europe well into the early modern period and beyond. It is with exploring how these norms, ideas and mechanisms emerged that the project is concerned. At its heart is the premise that the very act of claiming power also brought with it the means of limiting and curtailing that power. The history of high medieval kingship, it will be argued, is also the history of the roots and origins of the political structures, norms and practices of the modern West. The question of how power was to be used and exercised, and how it may or may not be restrained, is as relevant today as it was in the eleventh or twelfth century. Using a wide variety of sources - saints' lives, miracle collections, chronicles, charters, letters, but also seals and coins, book illustrations and architectural remains - and casting its net widely - from Hungary to Scotland, from Portugal to Norway - this will be the first attempt in almost a century to explore the development of so important an institution as kingship in so pivotal a period in the gestation of medieval Europe. Kingship will be explored not with reference predominantly to the Carolingians or the Anglo-Saxons, but how it arose during a period of rapid expansion, when many new kingdoms emerged, with numerous traditions, customs and beliefs of their own. Kingship will also be considered not as it was described in learned treatises, but how it was experienced by a ruler's literate subjects, by monks and clerics, members of the aristocracy and others. The project will, moreover, look beyond royal self-representation to explore how a ruler's subjects responded to, how they sought to define and channel the exercise of royal might, and will point to lively and wide-ranging debates about the nature of the power of kings. To see how such debates could influence the exercise of royal power, how contemporaries sought to enforce shared norms and ideals, will be the final aim of this project. It will, in short, describe kingship as it was, not how theoreticians thought it should have been. The project follows the various stages of how kings were made - from the initial claiming of a royal title through to a king actually beginning to rule its kingdom. Along the way, we will discuss the development of elections, the rules of succession, the treatment of women and under-age kings. The project will consider both the theory and the practice of rulership, the ideas and norms by which monarchs were meant to be guided, and the tools and mechanisms at the disposal of rulers and ruled. Among the key questions discussed are: how were kingdoms created? How did one become king? Who decided whether a king was a just ruler or a tyrant? What were the values by which rulers were meant to abide? How did those change over time, and how did they differ between the various regions of medieval Europe? How were they expressed, and who took the lead in expressing them? How were kings controlled? Who did the controlling? What mechanisms were tried, and why were some more lasting than others? All of which raises questions relevant for current political debates as much as for our understanding of the medieval roots of modern liberties, of institutions and concepts like parliament, and the protection of the individual. The questions asked and the problems considered transcend the chronological focus of the project.