How were de jure lands determined during the Middle Ages in Western Europe?
score:9
I will try to explain the complexity of this question using the Duchy of Normandy as an example.
Duchy of Normandy
As reported by Wikipedia in the Duke of Normandy page the duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles III in 911. with the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. Rollo receive the duchy in exchange for his loyalty to the king, making him a direct vassal of the kingdom of West Francia (future kingdom of France).
William the Conqueror (Rollo's descendant) who held the title of Duke of Normandy in 1066 became the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. From 1066, when William II conquered England, becoming King William I, the title Duke of Normandy was often held by the King of England.
In 1087, William died and the title passed to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, while his second surviving son, William Rufus, inherited England. In 1096, Robert mortgaged Normandy to William, who was succeeded by another brother, Henry I, in 1100. In 1106, Henry conquered Normandy. It remained with the King of England down to 1144, when, during the civil war known as the Anarchy, it was conquered by Geoffrey Plantagenet, the Count of Anjou. Geoffrey's son, Henry II, inherited Normandy (1150) and then England (1154), reuniting the two titles.
In 1202, King Philip II of France, as feudal suzerain, declared Normandy forfeit and by 1204 his armies had conquered it. Henry III finally renounced the English claim in the Treaty of Paris (1259).
The struggle between the Kings of France and the Kings of England, in particular the outcome of the Anglo-French war (1213-1214) would have a lasting impact on western European politics: the authority of the French king became unchallenged
De Jure
As explained by the Wikipedia article of the latin term de jure everything that is considered de jure is a practice that is legally recognised, regardless whether the practice exists in reality. This is the exact opposite of the de facto which describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally recognised.
The territories in France associated with the titles held by the England rules were de jure vassals of the kingdom of France but were de facto territories under direct control and influence of the Kingdom of England.
Upvote:3
There was a difference between the hierarchy of ranks and the hierarchy of feudal positions.
The hierarchy of ranks might go from landless knight or man of arms to lord of a manor to count to duke to king.
The hierarchy of feudal positions might go from a fief holder who had no vassals of his own to his immediate superior overlord to his overlord's lord to his overlord's lord's lord, and so on up. People's position in that hierarchy depended on who they held fiefs from and who they granted fiefs to.
Similarly in the US army the hierarchy of officer ranks goes from second lieutenant to first lieutenant to captain to major to lieutenant colonel to colonel to brigadier general to major general to lieutenant general to general. Ten ranks.
But that does not mean that in the hierarchy of command positions in the US army each officer has to be subordinated to an officer one grade of rank higher than him. There are often more levels in the hierarchy of command positions than their are separate officer ranks.
For example, during the US civil War of 1861-1865 regiments were grouped into brigades that were commanded by colonels or by brigadier generals, brigades were grouped into divisions that were commanded by brigadier generals or by major generals, divisions were grouped into corps commanded by major generals, corps were grouped into field armies commanded by major generals, field armies were sometimes grouped into larger units commanded by major generals, and all units were part of the US army commanded by a major general until U.S. Grant was promoted to lieutenant general in March, 1864.
So in the hierarchy of command positions in the US army during the Civil War three, or four, or even five different levels in the hierarchy of command positions were filled by officers of the same grade, major general.
In the feudal system, it was perfectly possible for someone to inherit, buy, or be rewarded with, several different fiefs and hold different fiefs from different overlords. It was possible for two lords to each be an overlord of the other lord, for different fiefs. It was possible for someone to be his own overlord.
Acquiring another fief could often complicate someone's feudal relationships, but nobody would pass up a chance to acquire more land and wealth merely because it would make his web of feudal relationships more tangled and harder to visualize.
My answer to this question: What was the relation of Barons to Counts/Dukes/Earls in England during the medieval ages?1
has a discussion of the feudal hierarchy which may be useful.
In the hierarchy of ranks the kings of England and France were equals.
In the hierarchy of feudal positions the Duke of Normandy, for example, was a vassal and subordinate of the King of France. And the Duke of Normandy, etc. happened to also be the King of England for centuries.
England was a separate independent country from France, making the two kings equal as kings. The King of England was also a count and duke in France, and as such subordinate to the King of France.
If the King of France tried to make the King of England his vassal for England the same way the King of England was his vassal for Normandy, he would be committing aggression against the King of England.
If the Duke of Normandy, who also happened to have the other job of King of England, tried to make Normandy independent of France the way England was independent of France, he would be committing treason against the King of France.
My answer to this question: Which European nation had the most kings in the 18th century?2
Shows that there was a period of a few months in 1762 when the rulers of 10 European states outside of the Holy Roman Empire were also the holders of fiefs inside the Holy Roman Empire.
Thus those ten rulers were both rulers of independent states outside the Holy Roman Empire and also subordinate vassals of the Emperor for those fiefs inside the Holy Roman Empire. As my answer shows, similar situations had existed for centuries, and those months in 1762 were only unusual in having as many as ten rulers in that situation.
So it was quite normal for a king or other ruler to also be a vassal of another king or ruler for part of their lands, and in most cases being a vassal of another ruler for some of their lands didn't cause nearly as much trouble as it did in the case of the Plantagenet lands in France. Presumably because most persons were able to act differently as a vassal for some of their lands than as a monarch for their other lands.
It seems that some of the kings of England and of France were unable to function differently in different relationships as well as many young children manage to do, and thus there was trouble between England and France over the fiefs which the English king had in France.
More post
- 📝 Six pregnant maidens from Kamchatka
- 📝 Why was the capital of Poland moved from Krakow to Warsaw in 1595?
- 📝 When was the concept of Europe as a singular political unit conceived?
- 📝 What are the ruins in Turkey near Kömürcü Köyü?
- 📝 How voluntary was Sati during the Mughal era?
- 📝 How could someone avoid US military service in the early 1950's?
- 📝 How did native Hawaiians achieve such a high literacy rate prior to the 1850s?
- 📝 Did the Axis try to "bribe" Turkey into joining them during World War II?
- 📝 What is the correct English terminology to refer to New Mexico and Texas under Spain, then Mexico?
- 📝 Is/was it an Indonesian tradition or custom to drink your victims' blood?
- 📝 Did Washington like or dislike the monarchical styles of address proposed by John Adams?
- 📝 A zoo during the rule of Omayyad or Abbasid dynasty?
- 📝 Did the US threaten a nuclear strike to defend Israel in 1973?
- 📝 How extensive and developed was the ancient Kushite (Nubian) horse trade?
- 📝 In which year of the post-WWII Occupation of Japan was the Imperial Rescript on Education repealed?
- 📝 Were slaves allowed to use the Roman baths?
- 📝 What did other European powers say when Portugal and Spain signed the Treaty of Tordesillas?
- 📝 Map of/Measure of conflicted areas throughout history
- 📝 How many stones high are the pyramids of Giza?
- 📝 What did Hitler say in Mein Kampf about the possibility of other nations allying against Germany in response to her aggression?
- 📝 How did an English person get entry to East Germany during the Cold War?
- 📝 Where did Carlson's Raiders get Boys anti-tank rifles in 1942 and why?
- 📝 Motivation Behind the USSR Assisting China's Nuclear Program
- 📝 Who proposed the motion that gave Gaius Julius Caesar the title Augustus?
- 📝 How did Britain govern the thirteen colonies?
- 📝 First execution by firing squad
- 📝 Was the Native American population already decimated before settlers and conquistadors arrived in America?
- 📝 Why has the 18th and not the 19th century come to be called „the age of reason“?
- 📝 Was a technological advantage more effective in European warfare than in China's history?
- 📝 References to Aspirin in the "Chicago" musical
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How were de jure lands determined during the Middle Ages in Western Europe?
- 📝 How were the Venera Probe missions received/presented in the Western world during the space race?
- 📝 How were political borders marked during the Middle Ages?
- 📝 How were snipers used on the western front during WW2?
- 📝 How were border controls implemented in Western Europe in the 1970s
- 📝 How were British monarchs educated about military strategy in the Middle Ages and early modern period?
- 📝 What kinds of documents were forged in the middle ages and how common was forgery?
- 📝 What drugs were used in England during the High Middle Ages?
- 📝 What was the typical peasant's diet like in Europe during the High Middle Ages?
- 📝 How beneficial were war bonds to the US during WWII
- 📝 Were there any high-ranking female soldiers during the Middle ages?
- 📝 What was the size of surface of a cereal crop needed per man per year during the Dark Ages in Western Europe?
- 📝 How educated were the clergy during the Medieval period?
- 📝 How were the Bulgarians regarded by the Nazis during World War II?
- 📝 How were taxes collected for traveling merchants in the middle ages?
- 📝 In what ways did the rise of a true middle class in Europe during the late 19th century become apparent?
- 📝 How could it be that 80% of townspeople were farmers during the Edo period in Japan?
- 📝 How big were the biggest elections during the ancient era?
- 📝 Language in German cloisters during the High Middle Ages
- 📝 How close were the living standards of India compared to England during the medieval period?
- 📝 How were the Morisco refugees from Europe received in North Africa, given that they were foreigners and Christian?
- 📝 Was rape common in Europe during the Middle Ages?
- 📝 How were middle ranking Nazis known to the allies before the end of the war?
- 📝 Raising children in Europe in the Middle Ages
- 📝 Were mounted soldiers really an advancement during the Middle Ages?
- 📝 How close would a peasant from middle ages England ever come to interacting with the king?
- 📝 What were the traveling practices of merchants, roughly between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance?
- 📝 How were expelled ministers "witnessed" during the Great Ejection of 1662?
- 📝 Were natural resources a primary reason for invading Romania during the middle ages-present?
- 📝 During the Middle Ages, how many people could be fed by fishing?
