V HOW TO RULE A KINGDOM

If you are a ruler of kingdoms, a sovereign on earth, govern your subjects so carefully that no grave mistake born from the flightiness of your mind can do them harm.

—Daniel of Beccles, The Book of the Civilised Man

To succeed at ruling a kingdom requires being well-versed in everything we’ve looked at so far: a good ruler has great table manners, knows how to treat their partner well, can fight should the need arise, and can care for their home and lands with skill. But a great ruler can take these skills and run with them so that they are remembered long after they’re gone.

Level Up

Whether they were born to govern or inherited a kingdom on the death of a relative, a medieval ruler couldn’t fully reign until they’d leveled up by means of a coronation. Today, a coronation might seem like a formality, solidifying the rule of someone who’s already had the power of the monarchy vested in them. In the Middle Ages, however, a sovereign wasn’t a sovereign until they were endorsed by God. When Henry I of England died in 1135, his nephew Stephen raced to Westminster

Books of advice—called mirrors for princes—were often given to kings as gifts alongside tales of chivalry.

Presentation scene, fol. 2v, c. 1444–45 (detail)

British Library, London; Royal 15 E VI

Royal marriages were almost always political, meant to form alliances and unite kingdoms. The marriage of Ferdinand II and Isabella, pictured on this coin, united much of what is Spain today. Spanish coin (obverse), c. 16th century National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Abbey to get himself crowned before the rightful heir— Henry’s daughter Matilda—could. This threw England into a nineteen-year civil war called the Anarchy, all because of a vial of holy oil.

Unlike in many modern countries, there was no separation of church and state in the Middle Ages—quite the opposite. Although kings and popes wrestled over power and jurisdiction, the pope was grudgingly accepted as the most powerful person on earth, in part because kingship was not considered wholly valid without the blessings performed at the coronation, and that depended on the church. (Checkmate.)

In the coronation ceremony, an archbishop anointed the new king on the forehead and chest with holy oil (chrism) in the shape of the cross, giving him God’s bless- ing to rule over the people. The archbishop then placed the crown on the head of the king and gave him the scepter and orb representing earthly and heavenly power over the (spherical) earth, as well as an increasing collection of other symbolic objects, including a ring, mantle, and spurs. From that moment, the king became more than human: he was chosen by God and endowed with the divine right to rule. After Stephen had been anointed, it’s easy to see how Matilda’s queenship became a tough sell.

While the coronation ceremony made kings more powerful than they had been the day before, there were other ways for rulers to level up their game. A classic move was to marry into power, gaining a spouse with a formidable family to back you in times of crisis or with plenty of land to help expand your territory. When Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry II, she effectively doubled Henry’s landholdings on the continent, much to the chagrin of the French king, Louis VII, her previous husband.1

Although kings routinely married for land or alliances, some royal relationships were more successful than others. When Edward I of England, having had a happy and successful arranged marriage, wed his son to a French princess, he looked forward to a healthy alliance that would strengthen both kingdoms. Instead, Isabella used her French connections to overthrow her husband, installing their son, Edward III, in his place.

Despite the uncomfortable start to his reign, Edward III became a master of leveling up his own royal game through chivalry; that is, by winning battles. Through his formidable mother’s lineage, Edward claimed that he was the true heir to the throne of France as well as England, and his determination to rule both was the impetus for the Hundred Years’ War. While we in the modern world might not consider starting a century-long

How To Succeed In Any Era

You should love loyally and live joyfully and act honorably and in good hope.

—Geoffroi de Charny, The Book of Chivalry

Over the course of this book, it’s probably become clear that medieval Europe constitutes a time and a place both intensely familiar and foreign to us. Many of their rules about courtesy and chivalry are entirely context-specific and often very outdated in a world where our roles and identities are (thankfully) becoming much less rigidly defined.

Words, like the societies they come from, have a way of shifting and changing over time. The phrase common