Medieval

In medieval Europe (c950–1250), the business of kingship was far too important to be left to kings alone. But how could one prevent corrupt and greedy men ...

Of course, like the magnates, prelates could use their role for their benefit – and that of their community. A few decades later, the bishops of Hungary were even tasked with investigating complaints against the king’s government and to do so on behalf of the community of the realm. In a way, bishops were the keepers of the realm. Those who weren’t monarchs in medieval Europe had both incentive and opportunity to participate in the business of ruling. If they chose the wrong one, they would suffer – both in this life, with unrest and strife the likely result of their actions – and in the next – they would face the wrath of their creator for having failed in one of their most solemn duties. Of course, not every bishop was willing to challenge a ruler directly – in 1080, Benno of Osnabrück chose to hide inside an altar rather than confront the king in public. Because the king's office was both public and personal – concerned as much with right moral conduct of his subjects as with warding off foreign foes – criticising the king’s behaviour was both a moral imperative and necessary for the welfare of the realm. A few years later, the German princes forced Frederick Barbarossa to abandon a planned campaign, and to resolve instead the simmering conflict over the inheritance of Bavaria. It was also in making kings that the moral obligations of rulers and ruled came together most fully. In the latter case, King Stephen and Henry of Anjou (future King Henry II) faced each other, ready for battle. And when, in 1180, Philipp Augustus of France decreed that any gambler found swearing should be drowned, he explicitly did so at the behest and with the consent of his magnates and clergy. Indeed, to Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, King Erik the Good of Denmark (r1095–1103) merited his moniker in part as he was so assiduous in the pursuit of justice that “he became a terror of the upper classes, but was dearly beloved by the lower orders, because he treated the latter with fatherly tenderness, the former with royal severity”.