What Kind of Power Did a Medieval Monarch Actually Have? — Transcript

A revival of the fantasy genre in recent years has also brought about a revival of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages, with an endless array of titles. We are sure that you can easily visualize scenes from some Hollywood TV or streaming service production in which mounted knights charged at a line of terrified spearmen, tattooed Vikings pillaged an unfortunate monastery, or some poor soul got fried in boiling oil while storming a castle.

streaming service production in which mounted Knights charged at a line of terrified Spearman tattooed Vikings pillage an unfortunate Monastery or some poor gets fried in boiling oil while storming a castle decades ago in popular perception Knights and jest sported

Decades ago, in popular perception, knights and jesters sported lively colors, a fashionable bob hairstyle, and armor was usually shining. In more recent years, Europe is constantly smothered in gray and mud, and knights are more interested in oppressing peasants than abiding by their alleged code of chivalry, which if you'd like to know more about, do see our video "Did any medieval knight ever rescue a damsel in distress?"

you'd like to know more about do you see our video did any medieval knight ever rescue a damsel in distress but for whatever reason popular culture is boted with the middle- ages the king the Queen the Emperors the monarchs whether evil

But for whatever reason, popular culture is bored with the Middle Ages. The king, the queen, the emperors, the monarchs, whether evil or righteous, are frequently portrayed as wielders of absolute power whose will and authority go uncontested. It only takes their word to bestow incredible fortune on the story's protagonist or redress some criminal wrong, and it only takes their whim to heavily tax the poor, burn down some village, behead a jester whose jokes are no longer funny, or more directly to unleash a war for their own gain.

heavily tax the poor burndown some Village behead of Jester whose jokes are no longer funny or more directly to unleash a war for their own gain but how much of that representation corresponds to reality what kind of power did a

But how much of that representation corresponds to reality? What kind of power did a medieval monarch actually have? Well, to begin with, let's define what we mean by Middle Ages.

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about a thousand years long during which nations and Empires Rose and fell across the planet while systems of government underwent gradual and profound changes so let's just say addressing the question of what amounts of power was actually wielded By Any Given Monarch in

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the great KH of the Mongols what kind of power they really had and we begin with a pivotal event that took place on June the 15th 1215 when an assembly of English Barons asked King John to sign one of the most important documents in

Thank you to Squarespace for sponsoring, and now back to today's video. There's no universal consensus among historians, but the majority tend to argue that this is the period between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. This is a period about a thousand years long, during which nations and empires rose and fell across the planet, while systems of government underwent gradual and profound changes.

exploiting his power and placed limits of Royal Authority by establishing law as a power in itself as for the story behind all of this the much malign J also known as Lackland reigned over England for a whopping 27 years from

So let's just say addressing the question of what amounts of power was actually wielded by any given monarch in that vast period is pretty complicated. But a complex topic has never stopped us before, so let's give it a crack, shall we? We're going to look at some notable leaders in England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Abbasid Caliphate, as well as the great khan of the Mongols, what kind of power they really had.

had exacerbated tensions by increasing taxes necessary to raise an Army against France now these individuals may have been happy to forgive him if they'd gone on to win a war and potentially acquire spoils for all to share in but when

And we begin with a pivotal event that took place on June the 15th, 1215, when an assembly of English barons asked King John to sign one of the most important documents in human history. That document was the Magna Carta, today described by the British Parliament as "the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government were not above the law."

Barons which escalated into a fon Rebellion amongst their many gripes the nobleman resented John's autocratic and tyrannical rule as we shall explored later it was customary in England to involve councils of Barons and Bishops in lawmaking something that the Lackland

It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power and placed limits on royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself. As for the story behind all of this, the much-maligned John, also known as Lackland, reigned over England for a whopping 27 years from 1118 to 1216.

Barons sometimes they did sometimes they didn't but said they had but again vassals are quicker to forgive of Victorious leader who makes them rich with their victories in the end to make peace with his nobility King John agreed

In the year before his death, on June the 15th, 1215, he agreed to the signing of the Magna Carta. Leading up to all of this, John and his northern and eastern barons had not exactly been the best of pals. First, he had exacerbated tensions by increasing taxes necessary to raise an army against France.

rights of the clergy and the large landholders but it did introduce important Concepts such as protection from illegal imprisonment Exile and confiscation of land and the introduction of a relatively their Judicial System furthermore it formalized a permanent Council of Barons

Now, these individuals may have been happy to forgive him if they'd gone on to win a war and potentially acquire spoils for all to share in, but when France and King Philip II proceeded to wipe the floor with King John's forces, as happened at the Battle of Bouvines on July the 27th, 1214, let's just say that the king's subjects were displeased.

and wants to marry our eldest daughter for these purposes only a reasonable Aid may be levied to obtain the general consent of the realm for the assessment of an aid except in the three cases specified above or a scottage we will

The dearly precipitated enmity with the barons, which escalated into a full rebellion. Among their many gripes, the noblemen resented John's autocratic and tyrannical rule. As we shall explore later, it was customary in England to involve councils of barons and bishops in lawmaking, something that Lackland had been accused of not doing.

confiscate Goods instead of cash well it stated no Sheriff Royal official or other person shall take horses or carts for transport from any free Man without his consent neither we nor any Royal official will take wood for our Castle

Now, to be fair, John had simply applied the same leadership style as his predecessors of the House of Anjou: his father Henry II and his brother Richard the Lionheart. Sometimes they didn't consult with the barons, sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't but said they had.

theory as it states in Future No official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement without providing credible witnesses to the truth of it and this is followed by our favorite clause which reads a bit like a

Again, vassals are quicker to forgive a victorious leader who makes them rich with their victories. In the end, to make peace with his nobility, King John agreed to sign what may be defined as a loose blueprint for modern constitutions.

kingdom unharmed and without fear by land or water preserving his allegiance to us except in time of War for some short period for the common benefit of the realm and then we come to the Council of Barons the Barons shall elect

Naturally, given the error and who was pushing for the changes, the charter made little effort to protect the rights of the common folk, focusing instead on the rights of the clergy and the large landholders. But it did introduce important concepts such as protection from illegal imprisonment, exile, and confiscation of land, and the introduction of a relatively fair judicial system.

please of course there would be some hiccups and John himself would almost immediately reneg on his word begging Pope Innocent III for help forgetting that the pontiff had excommunicated him a few years earlier in any event despite all of this the signature of the Magna

Furthermore, it formalized a permanent council of barons, a predecessor to modern Parliament. On top of that, to quote the document, "No scutage or aid may be levied in our kingdom without its general consent, unless it is for the ransom of our person, to make our eldest son a knight, and wants to marry our eldest daughter. For these purposes only, a reasonable aid may be levied to obtain the general consent of the realm."

their pre Carter Reigns they had to keep their despotic tendencies in check as to why well it's important to understand where these individuals derived their power and what their job was specifically their job description included governing and administrating

"For the assessment of an aid, except in the three cases specified above, or a scutage, we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons to be summoned individually by letter." In other words, the king needed the consent of the barons and the clergy before imposing new taxes.

subjects monarchs needed to be re recognized as such and to be supported by their subjects as most of their subjects were virtually powerless in practice this meant that kings and queens needed the support of the clergy and the landowners especially

And what if the king tried to confiscate goods instead of cash? Well, it stated, "No sheriff, royal official, or other person shall take horses or carts for transport from any free man without his consent. Neither we nor any royal official will take wood for our castle or for any other purpose without the consent of the owner."

possessions very often their own position as rulu was the result of a successful Invasion or Civil War and fourth their power tended to derive from religion European monarchs needed the backing of the church and especially the pope to claim that it was God's will if

Of course, there was always the risk that the judicial system could be manipulated to get rid of adversaries and confiscate their lands and possessions. Well, not anymore in theory, as it states in future, "No official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement without providing credible witnesses to the truth of it."

sources of legitimacy and power depended upon external actors to a monarchs Inner Circle the clergy aristocracy and the military the latter two being closely intertwined thus a monarch even before the Magna Carta could not go about his or her reigning business without the

And this is followed by our favorite clause, which reads a bit like a poem: "To no one will we sell, to no one deny, or delay right or justice." The charter also features interesting articles about freedom of movement. Quoting it again, "It shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear by land or water, preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of..."

sort of mission statement spelling out the general principles to which you would abide William the conqueror's oath for example promised to maintain the Church of God and all Christian people in true peace to prohibit all orders of men from committing Injustice and

oppression and to enjoin the observance of equity and mercy in all judgments the church and the Barons of course would take notes if the king swayed from his mission statements they would feel morally Justified to Rebel Kings knew it

and thus in theory at least impos themselves a healthy dose of self-restraint according to Medieval historian Professor jool T Rosenthal when a king pursued a course of action that flirted too closely with tyranny your when he appointed men whose Origins

were thought to debase or Sully their positions he was likely to face Noble opposition on top of all of this a European Monarch's actions were also bound to another set of regulations the so-called feudal contract this was part

of the widespread feudal system itself borne out of a very tangible concern geography kingdoms such as England and France at the time could not be effectively ruled by a single Center of gravitational power therefore monarchs were forced to decentralize the

administrative function of their government citing again the example of William the Conqueror the Norman Steamroller knew very well that decentralized power was the way to go and thus divided England into large plots of lands or thieves entrusting them to nobleman or Barons whatever you

want to call them the Barons in turn divided their lands into smaller plots and assign them to their vassals who were often Knights each Knight swore falty to his suarin I.E the baron in an act qu to Mar as a requirement of this

homage the vassel had to collect taxes on the saran's behalf and provide an agreed number number of troops should they be required the Barons then amassed the taxes devolving a portion of the king and just like their Knights the

Barons were expected to raise a certain number of troops both skilled Knights or part-time men-at-arms when the kingdom was at War at the bottom of the ladder you had peasants laborers and craftsmen who just paid taxes to everybody

including the church through the feudal system the Monarch had thus access to a Fairly reliable method to maintain door and Order over his realm to collect revenue and to raise armies the feudal contracts however had to be respected by

both parties for example when it came to military levies the king could only ask for a certain number of troops and for a set number of days in a given year a king could slam his fist on the table

and angrily demand for all soldiers sure but Barons could just refuse what would the king do send an army to impose his will not usually under this system as most of his army likely came from the Barons that said he could hire

mercenaries right well again not quite so simple no Barons on the crown side side equaled no taxes and no taxes meant empty coffers this is why European medieval monarchs were forced to cooperate with their aristocratic subjects this cooperation had been a

long-standing practice in England since the late 10th Century since King aelon had instituted the first witan or assembly of magnates which included Bishops archbishops and seans or landed gentry the practice was adopted also by William the Conqueror who instituted an

additional smaller Council of officials and Barons which conducted the daily routine of government Administration the ca regious or assembly of the King William's son Henry the recognized the importance of Barons in his coronation Charter acknowledging that he had been

crowned quote by the common Council of the Barons of the whole Kingdom of England he also relied heavily on the advice of the curia Regis summoning it a total of 27 times over a span of 35 years and that doesn't sound like a lot

but it was more than his dad ever did by the late 12th century the Council of magnates IE the successor of the Anglo-Saxon witon had grown in importance so much so that Chronicle is referred to it as the great Council this

was summoned whenever the king needed Council on Affairs of state had to Levy a new tax or enact a new law and that's an important Point lawmaking as much as medieval monarchs wish to wield supreme legislative power in practice they were

limited by their counselors early 13th century cleric and jurist Henry Deon wrote let him that he not be unbridled put on the bridal of temperance and the Reigns of moderation lest being unbridled he be drawn toward Injustice the King has a superior namely God also

the law by which he has made King also his curier namely the ears and Barons because if he is without Bridal that is without law they ought to put the Bridal on him okay so now let's look at

England's Great rival France by the end of the 12th century the authority of the French Crown was arguably weaker than his English counterpart the feudal system was much stronger and local Lords even had the right to issue their own

laws which completely superseded leg legislation emanating from Paris the French Crown exerted some direct Authority only over a small region around the cities of Paris oron and comper whilst being surrounded by the large Holdings ruled by deao independent

Council directly controlled by England enter the Giga Chad of Western Europe Philip II Augustus crowned in 1180 and dying in 1223 throughout his Reign this warrior king directly LED numerous campaigns against the English and his own vassals to reclaim Direct Control

over France and indirectly he contributed to the Crown's intervention in the abber inian crusade of 1209 to 1229 this was a conflict of genocidal proportions sanctioned by Pope Innocent III against the cathar heresy in the southern French region of langad do

staunchly independent territory the prosperous langad do was eventually brought under total raw control as a result of the crusade in matters of administration Philip II was able to put the French nobility in check by allying himself with the local powerful clergy

as well as the rising Merchant classes these budding middle classes became the emerging Powers especially in larger towns and cities and were happy to support the crown financially and militarily as Philip gradually eroded the power of Barons he replaced them

with a new class of appointed administrators the bists the senar and the provosts those officials were in charge of collecting taxes recruiting troops and administering justice but of course power is always a negotiated commodity and even Philip had to involve

his aristocracy in the Run of the country Philip had inherited from his father Louis iith an institution of King to England's Council of magnates or great Council this was the royal Council assembly of aristocrats and Bishops Philip made it permanent and expanded it

by including a Chancellor in charge of government Administration and even Clerks of non-aristocratic origin the council provided well Council to the king in matters of internal policy foreign relations and War moreover this assembly participated in the drafting of

legislation which finally overruled the plethora of locally issued laws Philip nonetheless always maintained a high degree of control over his rawal Council as its size and composition were entirely subject to his discretion after Philip's death his success has found it

necessary to expand the size of the council hiring large numbers of clerics with local knowledge eventually in 1239 this group of experts became a separate body becoming the first incarnation of the French Parliament such levels of centralization were unheard of in

France's neighbor the Holy Roman Empire where the feudal system was ramped up to centuries later philosopher Vol would famously describe it as such the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy nor Roman nor an Empire with its large

population and land masks roughly corresponding to today's Germany and neighboring territories the Holy Roman Empire had the potential to easily outclass other European states of the early 13th century but despite the best efforts of its nominal Emperors it never

became a centralized Nation remaining a loose Union of disperate states the Emperors maintained Direct control over only a small fraction of their Dominion called the Reich Scot the remainder of the empire was directly and independently administered by a

collection of Dukes counts marquesses and high-ranking clergymen collectively known as princes the emperor could call upon them for support in matters of war and foreign policy but in exchange they had to progressively devolve more and more of their power we should also point

out that the emperor himself was elected by the princes meaning that a prospective candidate had to dish out favors and Promises if he wanted their vote in 1220 Frederick II hen stafen was elected to the throne he is widely

regarded as one of the most intelligent effective and Progressive monarchs of his time with the right Vision to build a modern centralized state but Frederick was also The Sovereign of the kingdom of Sicily and southern Italy and that's

where he focused most of his attention and reforms to keep the princes happy north of the Alps Frederick had to extend and formalize the amount of their power which he did so by signing the self-explanatory Statute in favor of the

princes in this document the local rulers of the Holy Roman Emperor were referred to for the first time as owners of their own lands which essentially relinquished almost all executive power into their hands so let's just quickly take a breather to recap shall we

European Monarch's Powers were limited to a higher or lesser degree by the Oaths and contracts negotiated with the ruling classes the extent of these limits depended on the sovereign's own strategic Vision goals Ambitions and access to resources the balance of power

between the center and the periphery thus manifested via the councils of magnates in the feudal administrative system we should mention at this stage that the feudal system addressed the issue of delocalized administration sure but it may have been born out of

external economic pressure exerted by Islamic expansion this is according to Dr Bas Roi lampong University and Dr aent sadra University of Jakarta Indonesia in their paper Islam and European feudalism in the mid- century they argue the early Islamic expansion

across the Middle East North Africa Spain and southern Italy cut off much of Europe from lucrative trade routes with said territories quoting since the Muslims dominated the Mediterranean Sea in the 8th Century the European economy had a drastic deterioration commerce was

ruined or nearly dead the fall of Commerce in this field had pushed Europe to reuse land as a Life Source quote ends in other words the two Scholars describe how feudalism was instituted as a viable way to maintain the

productivity of agricultural lands thus ensuring the self-sufficiency of European king Kingdoms in the absence of foreign Commerce it is an interesting argument which raises the question of whether feudalism was a system imposed for administrative reasons or develops to address economic pressure from the

Muslim world now in the second case we might go one step forward and posit that the Muslim expansion created the system which curtailed the absolute power of European rulers in the 11th century the Italian Maritime republics Pisa Amalfi

Genoa and Venice resume trade with the Islamic polies in the Mediterranean according to the indones Scholars The Reawakening of Commerce Diversified the European economy initiating the gradual and slow decline of the feudal system Italian driven trade also propelled the

banking sector of which Florence was one of the early major centers with a diversified economy declining feudal system and easy access to cash loans from Banks eventually European monarchs were less reliant on the consensus of Barons and were able to centralize their

government apparatus and their powers but we are venturing into the late and post medieval eras so we'll stop there but at this point we have mentioned the Islamic world so it we'll take the queue to evaluate the amount of power wielded

by rulers in those regions focusing on the abased caliphate in the Muslim World a caliphate is roughly equivalent to an empire in European terms the first Islamic caliphate was the umad one which propelled the early Islamic expansion in

the Mediterranean from the year 661 to 750 after its collapse the am Empire was replaced by the Abbasid calad the latter to fractured in 861 but was Consolidated again in 1118 centered around around Baghdad this Abbasid Revival lasted

until 1258 and its most successful ruler was khif Abu Al abas ammed iin alhassan al- mustard also known fortunately as Al nir or the one who gives Victory this cff ruled from March 1180 to October 1225 so slap bang in the time period

that we're focusing on so let's ask the same question once again what kind of power did the califf have well pretty much absolute it appears at least more extensive than the power wielded by his European counterparts according to

professors afab Hussein galani and Muhammad deir at islamia University in balapur Pakistan quote in theory the calf was still subject to the rule of the Sharia the holy law of Islam but in practice these checks and as Authority

were not effective since there was no Machinery other than Revolt for its enforcement the Abbasid caliphate was thus a despotism based on military force claiming almost Divine Right To Rule The Abid cff upheld their legitimacy by defining themselves as quote the vice

gerant of God and God's shadow on the earth thus the Pakistani professors defined Calif anosia as an autocrat claiming a divine origin for his authority arresting it on a salaried bureaucracy but this despot applied healthy principles of meritocracy

quoting pedigree owes no help to advancement but only the favor of the Sovereign and an official hierarchy thus replaced the Arab aristocracy the abid's rulers and alir in particular took much inspiration from the ruling practices and the bureaucracy of the sanid Empire

Modern Day Iran thus alir hired many Persian administrators and welcomed Talent from other non-arab regions including non-muslims however absolute the rule of the Calif required the employment of regional and local Governors unlike European Barons who inherited their title from their parents

local Abid Governors had to be appointed directly by the cff Via a deed of investure this method favored meritocracy but it also ensured that the territories of the caliphate would be administered by local officials a direct projection of the sovereign's power

local officials once appointed had pretty much free reign in how they administered their cities and regions especially if distant from the capital Baghdad the central government only interfered when trouble was brewing or when taxes went unpaid another difference from European kingdoms was

the centralization of military power quoting the Army 2 belonged to the court the nucleus of it being concentrated in the cff's residence European kingdoms still relied on Baron's armies for funding and Manpower while the abased caliphate was already able to pay for

and maintain a centralized military how could they afford so much cash well first of all the Abbasid Calif controlled some of the most lucrative land trade routes in the world as it was strategically placed along the legendary Silk Road then came the worldwide and

wellestablished tradition of rine War IE raiding an enemy territory to plunder their riches next good old boring Taxation and when the Calif was short on cash he could apply the practice of AR sometimes mistakenly described as equivalent of the feudal system the ikar

was actually a land grant awarded to army officers for limited periods of time the land grants as part of the Ika were owned by non-muslims who paid the carage type of property tax the original owners of the land in question legally

maintained their property but paid the carage to the officer who had received the ictor grant the officer pocketed the carage then paid a smaller tithe to the cff keeping the balance as his salary now the bassador armies however well

funded were largely composed of mercenary troops which might pose a risk in themselves to the absolute rule of the Monarch what if they asked for a pay rise what if they became too powerful in an empire in their own right it's better

to keep them under control for this reason the Abbasid Calif devolved part of his military power to a newly instituted official shaana translated as commissary or military governor who had quote the duty of keenly watching the moves of the game on the part of the

calf's rivals to be precise Abbasid forces were not entirely in the palm of the Calif or isana large peripheral groups could be entrusted to a specially appointed ruler a sultan Sultans had almost total sovereignty over their territory so much so that their title

could be inherited they could also raise and command armies on their own and even wage war as they saw fit a well-known example is the Sultan of Egypt and Syria Saladin while formerly subordinate Alaia he had the agency to initiate numerous

Wars against European Crusaders and rival Muslim dynasties besides military Authority alir and his predecessors also devolved part of their executive power to the wiir or Minister often rendered in the west as vazir the vazir stood next to the calf and acted as his alter

egoo vested with absolute and unfettered discretion in all matters concerning the state with the help of their wizers the abbasids were able to streamline the existing administrative structure in 1258 the abass of caliphate collapsed under the attacks of a Mongol ruler

called Halu who happened to be the grandson of ujin better known as genis Khan or Universal ruler ujin have founded the Mongol Empire in 1206 becoming its first KGAN or Emperor between that date and his death in 1227

the Mongol Dominion expanded into the largest contiguous land Empire in history extending from the Pacific Ocean to the danu river that makes him the most powerful Monarch we've discussed so far but ruling over such vast and diverse lands is no easy task as much as

he was Swift and ruthless in battle ujan was not a full-on despot who relied on meritocracy a well- old Administration and a complex source of legitimacy blending Divine Authority with pragmatic lawmaking let's first address local governments according to Professor

Beverly may car Deadman School of lore in Dallas Genghis Khan had little interest in directly ruling over every single conquered land as long as it provided Revenue his Empire's provinces were managed via a military feudal system in which authority was entrusted

to Commanders who had proved themselves on the battlefields or capable civilian officials very often the latter were recruited amongst the conquered population provided they had the right leadership skills local governorships were not inherited and new local administrators had to earn their

position provincial governments enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy as it respected the customs and religious practices of the subjects yet they were still expected to enact a number of Provisions mandated from ujin's Court relayed by an army of fast Messengers on

Horseback these Messengers had access to Supply stations placed at regular intervals along the many roads of the Empire and took less than one month to Traverse the length of the Cargate toan Central Court provided similar services to the European councils of magnates or

the caliphates officials this body was organized over two main layers and Inner Circle composed of tudin uro or golden kin his family in other words now before you scream hang on a minute what about meritocracy at last to clarify the

second layer of central Administration was entrusted to professional clerks and officials at the started Tan's rule these were picked amongst hostages kidnapped from rival Clans but later the Kagan imported Talent from China Persia and other subject territories by serving

the vision of tjan those two layers also contributed to keeping him in check the Kagan had to weigh in all the contributions and goals of several disperate factions and thus his government sty was never autocratic and that brings us to the question of

legitimacy ujan and his golden kin firmly believed their right to rule had a divine origin as the blue Eternal Heaven had bequeathed them the world for them to conquer according to Professor Carl however ujan did not consider himself to be anointed by God let alone

his vice region on Earth unlike European or Muslim monarchs if uim was to be subjected to a higher authority that would be his own Great Law a legal body drawn from the customs and traditions of nomadic tribes as well as the

pre-existing laws of conquered Nations the Great Law contains legislation which s a tad on the Draconian side such as imposing the death penalty on cattle rustlers but it also had some rather Progressive concepts for its time the most important of which was that nobody

not even the KGAN or his golden kin were exempt from the Great Law and this all brings us to a slightly different kind of monarch of A Sort who on the surface had very little way of enforcing his

will but arguably was one of the most powerful individuals in the world during his Reign this individual directly controlled only a small territory in central Italy had a very small military and lacked what we would call today power projection at least in traditional

terms moreover he was an elected Monarch with no possibility to sire official Hees we are of course referring to the pope of the Catholic church in the period that we've taken into consideration this position was filled by two formidable individuals innocent

the third and aorus the thir despite the limitations of their temporal power these rulers were recognized by Catholic monarchs and Barons as successors of St Peter and heads of the church as such they could wield and project an amount

of influence over worldwide Affairs some of the most notable tools at the Pope's disposal included excommunication described by branica as a quote form of ecclesiastical censure by which a person is excluded from the communion of Believers the rights or sacraments of a

church and the rights of church membership but not necessarily from membership in the church as such considering that European monarchs often based their legitimacy on the Catholic faith being excommunicated it's quite a big deal as mentioned earlier King John

begged Pope Innocent the thir for forg in 1215 after a previous quarrel had led to his excommunication and that leads us to the second tool vassalage as a prerequisite for revoking excommunication innocent effectively placed johon under his vassalage

requiring the payment of an annual tax of a th000 marks if a monar brushed off excommunication and refused to become a vassel of the Pope the pontiff could issue an act of deposition in other words declaring that a monarch or Baron

no longer had the right to rule and their lands were up for grabs the principle of deposition was developed veloped by the papacy at the end of the 12th century with innocent and anoria being the first to use it as a threat in

particular they used it to threaten rulers accused of being Heretics or simply failing to persecute heresy in a notable example in 1217 an orus i third wrote to King James I first of Aragon scolding him for his support of cathal

Heretics in French ladok should the king continue to do so the pope would declare Aragon open to Invasion and that leads us nicely to the most spectacular and visible of papal power to R calling for a crusade cassar and their local allies

had been fighting against Crusader forces since 1209 when innocent thei had issued a call for a crusade against them in very basic terms it only took for a pontiff to write a letter along the lines of whomsoever fights in a holy

Crusade against the infidels and or the Heretics for a period of 40 days shall be absolved of all sins and boom just like that thousands of professional Knights met at arms and improvised Soldiers with apparently guilty consciences ow to rock up in southern

France the Lance are ready to skewer or be skewered by the enemies of Catholicism throughout their rule the two popes directly initiated three major conflicts the fourth and fifth Crusades against Muslim states in the Levant and the abian Crusade The Fourth Crusade was

a complete Fubar ending with the destruction of Byzantium while the alian Crusade resulted in an estimated 1 million deaths and the almost total annihilation of landar culture in southern France so yeah pretty powerful guys but how much of that power was

unbridled power just like the other monarchs mentioned so far the popes to listened to the advice of an assembly in this case their curier composed of Cardinals and orius III in particular placed great importance on the Council of these preets and according to Dr

Benedict viman University College London it was through the curier that European rulers could exert their own influence over papal Affairs many of the Cardinals comprising the curier also served or had served as nuncios or papal legats abroad while working in the European Capital

some of these ambassadors had developed close relationships with monarchs Barons even Knights thus when the preets were summoned to the curia their friends abroad could take the occasion to plead for their favor steering papal policies in a favorable Direction in other words

as much as the likes of innocent and enorus could exert control across Europe their own decisions may have been influenced by other leaders but suming all of this up the tyrannical all powerful medieval Monarch is a bit of an

exaggeration brought about by popular culture granted especially in movies it is easier and more entertaining to portray characters with absolute agency rather than filming lengthly scenes of negotiation in which a king or KGAN has to moderate the opinions of dozens of

Barons or salaried clerks now up to a point they could have their way with the plebeians to an extent at least until some evolution in law that occurred throughout all of this but a great way to piss off a baron would be to mess

with his subjects too much thereby potentially hurting his own labor force and ability to do his thing let alone if extreme enough fermenting a peasant Revolt which is never good for business from this you might be unsurprised to

hear that the Braveheart idea of just primantis right of the ruler to sleep with any Bride on her wedding night does not have ever appeared to be a real thing either while subjects weren't exactly generally treated well there

were limits to what even humans back then would tolerate from their rulers the Barons needed the people's support to an extent and the King needed the baron support so none of them could get a long very long pissing off the underl

too much that said as we covered in depth in our video did any medieval knights ever rescue a damsel in distress let's just say that neighboring Barons attacking an enemy's land were happy to slaughter and maim the lower classes on

a whim often precisely because it hurt their enemies standing amongst their own subjects and took away some of their labor force after all one of the main points of even the Barons was to keep the Common Man relatively safe from such

things as an example of this sort of thing and how common it appears to have been we have one 12th century chronic orderic Vitalis extolling the virtues of a knight for choosing not to slaughter a large group of peasants as outlined in

historian Katherine hanley's book War and combat 1150 to 1270 quote he describes a rating Expedition undertaken by a young Knight during which his men destroy the homes of a group of peasants and kill their livestock The Peasants themselves flee to huddle around AC

cross the Knight spares their lives and this charitable deed according to vitales deserves to be remembered forever indeed so brave so Noble in contrast to 12th century night and Lord Walder in count of meland was noted as simply cutting off one of the feet of

any peasants he encountered while in enemy lands the idea being that the Lord had now not just lost a useful worker but also had an extra crippled and unhappy individual on his hands to manage assuming the individual survived

the defeating encounter but going back to the kings and queens medieval monarchs also had to contend with some very practical headaches when it came to administering their lands they could not project their Central Authority everywhere at once thus they needed to

keep their vassals and administration on their side so that they could govern locally in their dead they also needed money so once again they needed the cooperation of a delocalized structure to bring in those sweet tithes and taxes

and they needed soldiers to wage Wars thus monarchs were careful not to rub their vassels the wrong way lest they refuse to fund and raise new levies theed califf and the Mongol caragan may have enjoyed more direct control and

power over their Empires thanks to larger centrally funded professional or semi-professional armies who could enforce their rule nonetheless they still had to delegate part of their power to courts of skilled advisers networks of decentralized Governors and Military commanders all of whom had to

be kept happy lest they stage a rebellion besides as was the case of Tusan they may have chosen not to place themselves Above the Law the case of the papacy in the early 13th century is an interesting and rather unique one due to

the skill of the individual popes and their ability to combine a very effective set of tools but their own power was subject to the influence of their Cardinals and external pressure from other rulers as well in all cases a

delicate dance between monarchs and their wealthy underlings and the underlings with their subjects in the dust whose labors everything else was built on so in conclusion did Medieval monarchs will great amounts of power sure they were unelected heads of state

heads of government heads of the army and chief legislators after all but the power was a result of constant negotiation with those who advised them funded them and fought for them and thus subject to some level of checks and

balances even if by modern standards rather insufficient in many respects now we mentioned Court Jesters a couple of times so it was interesting to discover how they were actually treated by their employers and that is pretty well according to chronicler Thomas

Blount writing in 1679 during the reign of either King Henry the 1 or Henry II of England a certain Jester called Roland enjoyed particular favor at court so much so that for his Services he had been rewarded with a country manner in

hemington in suffk surrounded by 11 110 acres of land but there was a catch Roland had to pay rent not in cash mind you but performing one job once a year at Christmas quote before our Sovereign Lord the king of England he should

perform at the same time and only once one jump one whistle and one fart it appears that this privilege was revoked since either Roland and his successors had to pay an annual rent of 26 Shillings 8 but for a good amount of

time Roland the jester AKA Roland the F was allowed to live in a sweet pad in southern englands at the cost of one fart per year much more on the life of court jester can be found in our video

what was it actually like to be a court gester in medieval times and thank you for watching [Music] [Music]