Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe

Description

Throughout medieval Europe, for hundreds of years, monarchy was the way that politics worked in most countries. This meant power was in the hands of a family - a dynasty; that politics was family politics; and political life was shaped by the births, marriages and deaths of the ruling family. How did the dynastic system cope with female rule, or pretenders to the throne? How did dynasties use names, the numbering of rulers and the visual display of heraldry to express their identity? And why did some royal families survive and thrive, while others did not? Drawing on a rich and memorable body of sources, this engaging and original history of dynastic power in Latin Christendom and Byzantium explores the role played by family dynamics and family consciousness in the politics of the royal and imperial dynasties of Europe. From royal marriages and the birth of sons, to female sovereigns, mistresses and wicked uncles, Robert Bartlett makes enthralling sense of the complex web of internal rivalries and loyalties of the ruling dynasties and casts fresh light on an essential feature of the medieval world. Dedication Contents List of Figures Preface and Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction: Royal Families Part I: The Life Cycle 1 Choosing a Bride 2 Waiting for Sons to be Born 3 Fathers and Sons 4 Female Sovereigns 5 Mistresses and Bastards 6 Family Dynamics 7 Royal Mortality Part II: A Sense of Dynasty 8 Names and Numbering 9 Saints, Images, Heraldry, Family Trees 10 Responses to Dynastic Uncertainty: Prophecy and Astrology 11 Pretenders and Returners: Dynastic Imposters in the Middle Ages 12 New Families and New Kingdoms 13 Dynasties and the Non-Dynastic World Conclusion Appendix A: Main Dynasties Appendix B: Minorities Appendix C: Female Sovereigns Appendix D: Family Trees Notes Bibliography of Works Cited Index