Describes development of European and English theory and practice of kingship, sovereignty, and clemency from early Christian period through 1788. Focuses on tension between claims of royal prerogative including pardon power and development of constitutional monarchy governed by rule-of-law principles.

At a diet in Mainz in January 1103 the German emperor Henry IV (r. 1056–1105) announced his intention to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His public proclamation was accompanied by a celebratory mass during which the bishop of Würzburg delivered a sermon emphasising the penitential nature of Henry’s journey. The temporal proximity to the First Crusade and the public ceremonial nature of the episode suggest the bishop aimed to situate Henry’s pilgrimage in the orbit of the nascent crusading movement. A few months later Henry wrote a letter to his godfather, Abbot Hugh of Cluny, revealing a main objective in undertaking the trip. Henry planned to visit the places where Christ had lived, and he hoped this act of public penance would help reach a permanent settlement with the papacy over the Investiture Contest. Though scholars have been aware for some time of the resounding impact of the First Crusade on nearly all facets of medieval society, it is worth underscoring the significance of the German emperor – no great supporter of the reforming popes – floating the idea of associating himself with an inherently papal-centric institution as a means of achieving his political agenda.

Chapter 6 examines authority and the fragile structures that hold society together. It surveys concepts of justice and order, the roles of kings and councils, and the practice of assemblies, including debates about the ‘seeds’ of democracy. Through episodes of dispute and persuasion, it shows how Homeric communities negotiated power when coercion, charisma, and tradition competed.

Chapter 2 turns to the evidence of royal diplomas produced by the kings of Mercia and Wessex during the reigns of Æthelwulf, Berhtwulf and Burgred. With Æthelwulf’s diplomas, we find the earliest clear evidence for centralised production of diplomas for an Anglo-Saxon king. It is in this centralised West Saxon context, furthermore, that Old English boundary clauses are likely to have been established as a royal diplomatic feature. Contemporary Mercian diplomas lack evidence for comparable production processes. Novelty nevertheless is apparent: with a royal diploma in Old English, and in the literary flair of diplomas issued for the community at Breedon-on-the-Hill. Overall, the continued importance of the Latin charter tradition for both Mercian and West Saxon kings is clear, yet there was space for experimentation, innovation and reflection on the qualities and potencies that specific languages could carry. Moreover, people were increasingly interested in the performative potential of charter production, as an opportunity for ritual action that would generate and reaffirm authority for participants.

Ireland’s five provinces were ruled over by multiple over and under-kings, with headquarters at Tara, in Midhe/Meath, Cashel in Mumha (later Munster) and Emain Macha in Uladh (later Ulster). Christian settlements from the fifth century (founded by Patrick, Brigid, Columcille, Finnian, Ciarán, Brendan, Íte and many others) forged strong links with Britain and Europe. Learning Latin led to the writing of Irish from the sixth century, and scholarship flourished. Everyone – kings, monks, traders and labourers, bards and the powerful lawyer class, lived in ring fort settlements. They ate mainly the dairy produce abundant in Ireland’s mild climate, meat occasionally, fish near coasts and rivers, pulses, and grains congenial to the region – oats, barley, wheat, rye. A legal tract was devoted to beekeeping. Scandinavian invaders from the late eighth century settled in the trading ports they established – Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick – and were gradually absorbed into Irish life. A high-kingship emerged in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Religion went through several cycles of decay and reform. Dioceses were established in 1152. Conflicts between Irish kings facilitated the invasion of the Anglo-Normans under Strongbow in 1169, bringing the English crown into Irish politics.

Matthew Paris’ coverage of the involvement of England in international affairs.

An account of Matthew Paris’ representation of kingship, government and political culture in his own day.

A great king in the North felt the need for a papal privilege even though the pope had no powers to enforce it.

The concept of leadership has not received much attention in Assyriology as it was overshadowed by the concept of kingship and its omnipresence in ancient Mesopotamia. As the available sources mostly are written from the perspective of the leader – in the case of ancient Mesopotamia this is the king or the city ruler – also Assyriologists mostly took this standpoint and wrote ‘history from above’. Much scholarly effort was invested in the study of various aspects of kingship. Because of the scarceness of sources discussing the experience of the ruler’s leadership and the abundance of royal inscriptions, we usually do not take the perspective – to use a widespread political metaphor – of the sheep, but only that of the shepherd. Nevertheless, there are some texts that critic the leadership of kings. These texts are mostly of literary nature but they allow us at least a partial ‘view from below’, as they describe the problems of people living under a powerful king.

This chapter focuses on the role of the Argead dynasts of Macedon and the Qin rulers, who transitioned in title from Gong to Wang to Huang Di. Despite both of these figures being “sole rulers” which initially operate along very similar lines, the resulting final forms of those rulership modes – Philip and Alexander in Macedon, versus the First Emperor in Qin, are evidence of dramatically different dynamics at work on these rulership traditions. This chapter focuses on the differing roles of ruler legitimation, the limitations of power

This chapter is a reading of the second rock-water episode (Numbers 20) and the manna episode (Exodus 16). It also addresses the question of why Moses dies in the wilderness. The two episodes are part of a new version of the wilderness narrative that is emplotted like an Assyrian annal as a vision for the Israelites’ triumphant return from exile, a story parallel to the one told in poetic form in Second Isaiah. The second rock-water episode blames exile on royal disobedience and writes human kingship out of the story. Moses dies in the wilderness because kingship is dead, and God is now depicted as Israel’s only king. The manna episode reinvents human leadership as Moses is reimagined as a priest who mediates divine blessing by teaching torah.

Antigone is the only character in Sophocles who explicitly purports to value philia above hatred. She does so in the course of a short dialogue, central to the play, which turns on the nature of philia and enmity.