In the Early Middle Ages, kings were elected according to charisma, wealth and warrior capabilities. Later, however, rulership became dependant on dynastic succession and the endorsement of the Christian church. New research explores this ideological shift in Poland and Norway

Making Christian Rulership on the Peripheries of the Latin World
By Zbigniew Dalewski and Hans Jacob Orning
In: Acta Poloniae Historica (2024) vol 129, pp 65 – 1001

During the tenth century, the German Holy Roman Emperors – the Ottonians – gradually succeeded in forging the idea that the rule of kings and emperors derived from the divine appointment of heirs to the ruling dynasty to be performed in the continued coronation(s) performed during the constant perambulations inside the realm. Rulership might no longer be based on charisma, gifts, and heroic aptitude, as had been the case in AD 919 when Heinrich I (the Fowler) was appointed king. As opposed to this, his great-grandson, Heinrich II was – at least according to the dominant narrative presented by his biographers and performed during his lifetime – invested with the crown because he was endowed by both the paternia successio (dynastic status) and the hereditarium ius (lawful heir). The model was based on the Mosaic-Levitical concept of rulership.

These ideas, which were decisively articulated in the reign of Heinrich II (1002 – 1024), later led to the significant conflicts known as the Investiture Controversy, a pivotal moment concerning the balance between the secular and clerical powers. However, at the turn of the first millennium, other questions seemed to engage people more, for instance how to deal with kinglets in the peripheries. Arguably, this question engaged the German intellectual and political milieu regarding the Polish, Hungarian and Viking Rus’ rulers. In general– as witnessed by the chronicles – the closer a realm was placed to the centre of the orbit of the Holy Roman Emperors – the lesser was the chance to establish a fully-fledged Christian kingdom. Hence, the status of Poland continued to be questioned until the mid-14th century, while Norway had fully adopted the royal Christian ideology a hundred years earlier. The adoption of this ideology and its repercussions were substantially different in the two realms.

The article explores the differences between the introduction and consolidation of Christian rulership ideology in medieval Poland and Norway. Both realms started to be integrated into the Christian European culture around the turn of the first millennium, marked by the introduction of Christianity and the establishment of a kingdom with a Christian rulership ideology imported from Latin Europe.

In both countries, introducing the new ideology increased political tensions, as its notion of undivided power made sharing power a more delicate issue. However, the way that these tensions played out in the two realms differed substantially.

In Poland, the new ideology acquired a specific, non-royal dimension, and the result was that Poland was divided into several political entities. In Norway, the new rulership ideology became focused on the rank of kings and promoted sole kingship, which resulted in intense political and ideological struggles. In the long run, however, the ideology of Christian rulership led to consolidated kingdoms in both realms, albeit earlier in Norway (1240) than in Poland (1320). Compared to this, Denmark fully adopted the new ideology at Ringsted in AD 1170.

This article is part of a joint research project of the University of Warsaw and the University of Oslo Symbolic Resources and Political Structures on the Periphery: Legitimisation of the Elites in Poland and Norway, c. 1000–1300.

PHOTO:

The scene depicts Otto II’s investiture of Adalbert aka Wojciech as bishop to Prague and appoints him missionary. From the bronze doors from Gniezno Doors c. 1160-80. Later, the body of the saint was bought by Boloeslaw – a would-be-king in Poland – to bolster his ambitions.

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Rulers and Rulership in the Arc of Medieval Europe, 1000-1200
By Christian Raffensperger
Copyright 2024

Rulers and Rulership in the Arc of Medieval Europe challenges the dominant paradigm of what rulership is and who rulers are by decentering the narrative and providing a broad swath of examples from throughout medieval Europe. Within that territory, the prevalent idea of monarchy and kingship is overturned in favor of a broad definition of rulership.

This book will demonstrate to the reader that the way in which medieval Europe has been constructed in both the popular and scholarly imaginations is incorrect. Instead of a king we have multiple rulers, male and female, ruling concurrently. Instead of an independent church or a church striving for supremacy under the Gregorian Reform, we have a pope and ecclesiastical leaders making deals with secular rulers and an in-depth interconnection between the two. Finally, instead of a strong centralizing polity growing into statehood we see weak rulers working hand in glove with weak subordinates to make the polity as a whole function.

Medievalists, Byzantinists, and Slavists typically operate in isolation from one another. They do not read each other’s books, or engage with each other’s work. This book requires engagement from all of them to point out that the medieval Europe that they work in is one and the same and demands collaboration to best understand it.