medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Diana Wright <[log in to unmask]>
> The other day, someone
André-Yves, i believe.
>kindly posted
> http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CAPET.htm
> Under Philippe II, it says, "he was consecrated associate-king." Was
this usual Capetian/French practice.
i don't think that it was a firm "rule" but was certainly the practice
followed in the 12th c., whenever possible.
i am not sure about the earlier capets but i believe that Louis VI was
"associated" with his father --i.e., was actually crowned as co-king (usually
at Reims, circumstances permitting) and signed charters of his daddy with an
appropriate title (i forget just what that was, at the moment).
you could check the Oldies but still Goodies, on Philip1 and Louis6
Fliche, Augustin. Le règne de Philippe I. Paris, 1912. (Geneva:
Skatkine-Megariotis Reprints, 1975)
Luchaire, Achille. Louis VI: Annales de sa vie et de son règne, 1087-1137.
Paris, 1890. [Cultures & Civilisations Reprint, c. 1975]
or, perhaps, Suger's biography on that question.
André-Yves suggestion of
Lewis, Andrew W. Royal Sucession in Capetian France: Studies on Familial Order
and the State. Cambridge, MA, 1981. (Harvard historical studies, v. 100)
is a good one for the general issue.
the situation i know most about concerns Louis VI's son, Philip (named after
his granddad), who was crowned as co-king 14 April, 1129, appearing as such
with his daddy in several charters.
but young Phil died 13 Oct., 1131, when the Devil, in the form of a Black Pig,
jumped out in front of his horse in a Paris street, causing the rider to be
thrown and trampled to death.
the situation in the late 1120s and early '30s was rather dodgy for the
dynasty, what with Henry of England and his nephew, Ct. Theobald of
Blois/Chartres ready to take advantage of internal dissension within the royal
domain --and even the royal household.
there was, in fact, something of a civil war going on, with very powerful
folks lined up gainst the king --this was (perhaps in addition to custom) the
reason why Philip was crowned and why, shortly after his death, his younger
brother Louis was snatched from school at St. Denis (i think) and was himself
crowned, by Pope Innocent (who just happened to have come by for a council) at
Reims, 25 October, 1131.
ahhh, i see from elsewhere on A-Y's very nice site
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CAPET.htm
that Robert I ("the Pious") was "consecrated Associate-King 25 Dec 987," at
Orléans.
and that Henry I "was consecrated associate-king 14 May 1027, at Notre-Dame,
Reims, despite the opposition of his mother. He rebelled against his father,
together with his brother Robert, 1029-1031, and captured Dreux, Beaune and
Aval..."
(the latter is a good reason *not* to practice co-kingship with your grown
son.
and that Philip I (born 1052) "was consecrated Associate-King 23 May 1059,
Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims."
i've always thought --and i presume that Lewis would confirm, if i were to
actually read him-- that a/the major advantage of the practice was to assure
the stability of the dynasty.
this would have been particularly true for the early capetians, who were
susceptible to being thought of as Bounders by the Carolingian HoldOvers; and
for the multiple excommunicate Philip I re Louis VI; and for Louis VI re his
sucessive sons, Philip and Louis, given the internal and external threats to
the Regime.
additionally, in the case of Phil I & Louie VI, by the early years of the 12th
c. Phil was apparently so fat that he couldn't mount a horse --which is a real
drawback when you are trying to run a Hands On gubbermint within the context
of a Rip-Anything-Off which ain't Nailed-Down social and political "system."
it is worth noting that things had stabilized considerably by the late 1170s,
when Louis7's boy Philip was only consecrated shortly before his father's
death.
by then the dynasty was secure (at least as long as the Y-chromosomes held
out) and the threat from both the minor vassals of the realm and from the
Plantagenets of Aquitaine and (esp.) Normandy was minimal.
Louis might have had more to fear from his kid than from any other quarter.
>It is certainly normal Byzantine practice, into the 15th C.
and, i would suspect, common elsewhere.
c
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