In
the Middle Ages, noblemen were the rulers. It was their duty to insure
that the peasants and churchmen were defended so that they could
live in peace and act as judges to handle disputes. The name comes from
the belief that they were to act in a noble
manner. Noblemen were themselves ranked from highest to lowest:
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The Queen
The
Queen ruled with the King, though in most cases she had much less power.
Some Queens, by strength of their own personality and family connections
were powerful noblewomen who outmaneuvered the men in their courts and
reigned with vigor. Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204), who ruled in
England with Henry II (1133-1189), was one such queen. Queen Elizabeth
(1533-1603) , daughter of Henry VIII (1491-1547), was another great Queen
who moved her kingdom into the Renaissance.
Princes & Princesses
Sons
and Daughters of the King and Queen were known as Prince and Princess.
The first son would be the Crown Prince, the one who would inherit the
throne provided that he did not die before his father did. After him the
other sons would remain Princes for their whole lives, becoming king only
if their father was gone and all older brothers were also dead. Princesses
were often married to Princes of other kingdoms to secure alliances and
good relations.
The King's Power
The
King was responsible for the well-being of his kingdom and his subjects.
He ruled through the other nobles, sometimes with more power and sometimes
with less. Some kings were good for their kingdoms, bringing peace and
prosperity, while others spent money unwisely and taxed their subjects
harshly, bringing gloom and despair.
From
the early Middle Ages (the reign of Charlemagne
in the 8th century)
through the reign of King Richard
I (the Lionheart, 1157-1199), the King wielded his power freely, and
only the nobles could stand against him. Weak kings were faced with nobles
who challenged his right to rule, which made it hard for them to keep order,
while strong kings could have more freedom and could do more for either
good or ill. With the weak King John I (1167-1216) of England, however,
the Barons of England sensed weakness and revolted, forcing him to give
up power and to have the Barons and other Lords of England involved in
the process of making laws. This famous document was signed on June 15th,
1215 at a place in England called Runnymede. After the Magna
Carta (Great Charter), the King could no longer have absolute
power over his people. From this document Europe gradually rediscovered
the idea of Democracy, or government by the people, that we know today.
Other Nobles
Under
the King were other nobles who ruled in the King’s name over smaller portions
of the Kingdom. Like the King, nobles held their position and title from
their father. Titles could also be won through marriage or occasionally
by a grant from the King. Dukes and counts were the most powerful nobles,
ruling over Duchies and Counties. Within each Duchy or County, there could
be smaller fiefs called Baronies, or sometimes a Baron could hold their
fief directly from the King. Knights held a smaller grant of land called
a “demesne”, a collection of Farms, meadow and timberland that they held
from the next highest noble, or directly from the King.
Feudalism
Each
noble held their land from the King, sometimes through other nobles, in
a kind of contract or agreement called a feudal bond. This was called feudalism.
There were two parts to the bond, fealty and homage. Under this contract
nobles pledged their allegiance as vassals to the King in exchange for
the grant of land. In turn the knights swore the same kind of fealty to
the nobles, so that in the end the King was on top, the nobles owed him
fealty, and the knights owed it to the nobles. Everyone was thus connected
in a kind of bond.
The Feudal Ceremony
In
a public ceremony, the nobles and knights, as vassals, swore homage
to their liege lord. The ceremony was much the same all over Europe. Two
men would face one another, the one agreeing to serve kneeling. They placed
their hands together, palm to palm, and the liege closed their hands around
them. He said simply something like the following:
The
liege raised the kneeling man, and both kissed one another on the cheek
to signal their agreement and friendship. This oath was a legal contract
in which the liege promised to defend the vassal against all men. The vassal
swore the same, adding reverence of the liege lord.
After
the homage had been sworn, another rite was added, the Rite of Fealty.
In the fealty ceremony the vassal pledged not to the man but to uphold
his duties:
This
was an oath, a kind of contract that could be brought up in court. Fealty
was not mutual as Homage was; but homage could not be brought up in court,
while fealty could, and this is why both were used.
The Duties of Nobles
Since
nearly all nobles were knights, it was their duty to protect the peasants
and the Church from enemies. Nobles were powerful military leaders who
could command the “banners” of the many knights who lived on their lands,
leading them into battle for the king, or in some cases, for their own
purposes. In addition to military defense, which including the manning
of castles, mounting patrols and accompanying the King to war for 40 days
per year, the nobles also had to defend their liege in a political sense,
serving as judges in their own courts.
Peasants
and freemen could bring their disputes to the lord’s court just as we do
now, and the court was bound to hear both sides of the complaint, then
render a judgment that would bind and would not be overturned. Nobles were
also bound to defend their liege against rumor and political plotting,
although they often participated as often as they defended. In many times
and kingdoms powerful nobles were actually stronger than the king, because
the king did not have an army of his own—all his troops came from his nobles.
Local “private” wars sometimes broke out between nobles, and there were
from time to time groups of armed bandits that pillaged and marauded all
over Europe. The noblemen were supposed to defend the people from these
groups as well, but sometimes it was hard to tell who was an armed bandit
and who was a knight. If the king was weak, he could do little to stop
it.
To
stop this petty warring Kings often diverted attention somewhere else.
Edward I (1239-1337) of England sought to unify England, conquering Wales
and Scotland. Edward III (1312-1377) chose both to fight in France and
Scotland and to found the Order
of the Garter, a knightly Order which was comprised of the
most powerful nobles of England. Founded in 1347, the intent of the Garter
was to improve the quality of Edward’s knights and to bring them together
into a group. The Garter proved extremely successful, and it was copied
in France, Spain, in the lowlands and in Germany. It still exists today,
but now the Garter Knights (KG) are the most powerful citizens in Britain,
contributors to British culture.
As
knights, nobles undertook activities to continually hone their skills and
seek enjoyment. Noblemen spent their time hunting, tending to accounts,
hearing court, advising their liege, inspecting their lands, training,
and accompanying their liege in war. Nobles spent much of their youth preparing
for war, in jousts,
tournaments,
hearing tales of valor, and generally learning to be a stronger knight.
Many could read, but those who could not would listen to tales of chivalry
and courage done by knights of history and legend, hearing the tales spread
by travelers to the Holy
Land and all over Europe. These travelers were often welcomed in the
household, since they brought news which was hard to get when their were
no newspapers, telephones, or electrical devices.
Noblewomen
Noblewomen
had special duties, overseeing the nobleman’s household. They would see
that the children were properly trained, especially their daughters, and
look after the castle or estates when the lord was away. Sometimes they
even defended the castle as commander when a house was caught under attack
while the lord was away on Crusade
or in service to the king. This did not happen often, but it is recorded
several places amongst the medieval chroniclers.
Although
medieval noblewomen spent much of their time working on needlework, overseeing
the household, raising the children, their life was not easy. Servants
did keep the manor or castle maintained, but there was much to do every
day to insure that the household was topnotch. They also had far less freedom
to marry than we have today, their partners sometimes being chosen when
they were children for political reasons. Many marriages were done in this
way, and many affairs resulted.
Women
were instrumental in softening the rough impulses of the men. They encouraged
poetry and other literary arts. The vast body of stories and literature
concerning King
Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were used by poets to try
to improve the warrior-knights, and over time their ideals of chivalry
came to be forged together with the knights ways and the ideas of the Church
on knights into what we think of as Chivalry, or courtesy.
The Chivalric Ideal
Under
the chivalric ideal, the lady was the source of the strongest force that
could strengthen a knight more powerfully than anything else except the
knight’s faith to God. Knights such as Ulrich von
Lichtenstein did many deeds of valor for women, holding tournaments
in their honor and performing deeds of great prowess in their honor. The
lady was the earthly ideal of perfection, gentle and strong at the same
time, beautiful and inspirational.
Children of Nobility
The
children of noblemen spent their time learning to be like their parents.
From a young age they were taken care of by their mother and any nurses
she might be able to afford. The household servants helped to rear the
children as well. Until boys were eight, they were usually under their
mother’s supervision, learning basic life on the estate. Girls continued
under their mothers care until they were married, which could be any time
from age twelve to age eighteen. When boys were eight they would usually
be sent away as pages, where they would learn the very basics of being
a knight. When they were twelve or thirteen they would actually become
squires, when they would start training with weapons and horses.
The Noble Household
The
noble household was generally a busy place. Richer, more powerful nobles
had more servants to keep track of their holdings and their houses. Some
noble families would have many houses in different places, since a single
nobleman might be Duke of this place and Baron of several others. He might
also hold the charter for one or more free towns, which he would administrate.
And then there were the forty days per year that each vassal pledged military
service to their liege, when they would probably be away and the affairs
of the house would still need to be attended.
Although
the nobles did enjoy horses, hawking, and feasting; built large estates;
participated in tournaments and in other leisure ways, they were also charged
with defending the land in the King’s name. They had to do what they could
to maintain justice, to defend against enemies both outside and inside
the kingdom, possibly laying down their life while for the good of the
kingdom.