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origins of the medievil court
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Guess View Drop Down
Samurai
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Posts: 141 		  Quote Guess Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: origins of the medievil court
    Posted: 06-Jan-2008 at 03:27
What were the origins and purpose of the midievil court? Why did nobleman have to come to "court". Did any real business take place there? 
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gcle2003 View Drop Down
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Posts: 7035 		  Quote gcle2003 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Jan-2008 at 16:08
The 'court' essentially was where the king was. It was peripatetic so if you wanted to talk to, or even be seen by, the king, you had to go there wherever it was at the time (or wait till it came to you if you were a big enough landowner or rich enough citizen).
 
The same was basically true if you wanted to talk to his close advisers.
 
So yes a whole lot of real 'business' took place there.
 
And at a lower level, feudal lords and churchmen had their courts too, so if you needed something you had to go to the appropriate court.
 
 
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Posts: 3387 		  Quote Aelfgifu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Jan-2008 at 16:59

In many Medieval societies, the king ruled by 'popularity': the king had to bind his nobles to him by gift-giving and favors, and his power was often directly related to his personal popularity amongst the nobles. This way, the nobles being at court with the king was a way for both sides to strengthen a bond. On the other hand, a powerful noble staying away from court too long could be considered as a srious threat to the kings power, and could be quite a problem: if the king summoned this noble and the noble refused, the king had to find a way of making him. If the king could not make him (by force if necessary), the ploitical position of the king would be seriously damaged.

In a later age, during the reign of Louis XIV for example, making it compulsory for noblemen to stay a certain period at court each year served a similar function in an even more direct way: staying at court was expensive, as the noblemen had to buy their supplies locally, and had to invest heavily in expensive clothing etc. This served to keep them 'poor', which for a king in constant need of money was vital.
 
There is nothing more dangerous for a king than an underling with more money and thus power than oneself, as happened when the Dukes of Burgundy became too powerful in the 14th century.

Women hold their councils of war in kitchens: the knives are there, and the cups of coffee, and the towels to dry the tears.
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-Jan-2008 at 15:49
Origins wise we have a proto-court in Late Antiquity. Diocletian's reforms allowed for a more ceremonial Imperial office, thus the preference for "dominus" over first citizen. However, the Roman Empire being a much more centralized and bureaucratic state than most Medieval realms the court served for ceremonial and a new version of the Emperor cult rather than for a representation of the nobility of the whole realm.
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Decebal View Drop Down
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Digital Prometheus

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Posts: 1791 		  Quote Decebal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20-Feb-2008 at 17:27
While in Europe, the instituion of the court can indeed be traced to Diocletian, he himself only adapted a much more ancient institution of "oriental" origin (as far as the Romans understood it), which was ultimately derived from the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.
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