ABSTRACT

The European Middle Ages are dominatedby the concept of kingship. The Norman,Angevin, Plantagenet, Capetian and Hohenstaufen dynasties lend their names to periods in English, French and German history. The politics of the period are virtually synonymous with the attempts of rulers to fulfil monarchical ambitions by means of marriage, diplomacy or war. Kings were also constantly expanding their influence into the spiritual sphere and thus conflicting with churchmen as well as barons. The ideal medieval king meant different things to different sections of the people who made up the kingdom (Barraclough 1957). He was a leader of his magnates in war; a priest-king protecting the interests of the church, appointing bishops and abbots; an administrator and tax-gatherer upholding and supported by the interests of the class of royal officials, the ministeriales. He was also a judge, the fount of law, and was likely to satisfy his more lowly subjects if he was prepared to distribute justice, however sternly, with an even hand.