Reading Power in the Sources Student Research on Political Figures in the Thirteenth Century Edited by: J. Lucien D. Houle Cover Image courtesy of a Wikimedia Creative Commons License: ACA. Canc. Pergamins de Jaume I d'Aragó. n 935 d. Accessed March 28, 2018 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quia_super_limitibus_Cathalonie_et_Aragonum.jpg. 2018, University of Florida Institutional Resources, Gainesville, FL. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or sold without prior written permission of the editor, except that the authors retain all rights to their work. For my parents and parents-in-law, David and Cathy Houle, Jo Ann Alderman, and George Alderman. Table of Contents Introduction 1 J. Lucien D. Houle Isabella of England: the Forgotten Diplomat 3 Errol Nelson Blanche of Castile and the Role of the Queen-Regent 11 Madeline Fine Religion and Family: Louis IX and Rulership in Medieval Europe 18 Kelly Northcraft Richard Marshall: Political and Social Ideology 24 Cameron Rough Pope Gregory IX Enforces Conformity in Medieval Western Europe 30 Lainey Williams 1 Introduction J. Lucien D. Houle When Thomas Bisson, one of the foremost scholars in the field of medieval lordship, wrote about medieval power and politics, he mused about how the study of this kind of history changed from one generation to the next. Between the time of his parents’ generation and that of his own, historians who were concerned with power began to recognize the importance of women and started to ask questions about regular people, not just kings. His awakening came when he read the primary sources themselves. Bisson wrote, “What I found in the sources was not the 'feudalism' of my teachers: was not so much what power looked like as what it felt like in an age of castles... Power meant lordship and nobility... It was realized in submission, alliance, paternity, friendship, and ceremony... It was felt as violence.”1 Today’s generation of young people has their own unique perspective as well, as I discovered in the fall of 2017, when I taught an undergraduate course entitled “Medieval Power and Politics.” Along with 23 students, roughly 60% history majors and 40% from other fields, including journalism and engineering, we sought to explore how political figures exercised power in thirteenth-century England, Germany, France, and Spain. Along the way, following the global teaching methods of Antoinette Burton, I hoped to “develop skills in our students that are methodological as well as additive;” that is, learning how to do history in addition to knowing history.2 Therefore, I decided that as much as possible we ought to rely on primary sources and be deliberate and purposeful in our analysis of them. When we did read secondary sources, I chose scholars who were transparent about how they used and interpreted their primary evidence. For example, in his chapter about medieval notaries and their signs, Alan Friedlander wrote about how notarial documents were used within medieval society and how they can be used by scholars today. He even reproduced many of the pictographic signs within his chapter.3 With this in mind, I chose Bjorn Weiler’s monograph from 2007, Kingship, Rebellion and Political Culture: England and Germany c. 1215 – c. 1250 to be the main text for the course, accompanied by a primary source for each week, along with articles and chapters when appropriate. Weiler’s work, while challenging reading for undergraduates, has the dual advantages of relying heavily on primary sources, particularly German chronicle sources that have been too rarely used in Anglophone historiography, and being very explicit about how these sources were used, both in the medieval period and by modern scholars. The course combined teaching methods such as small group discussion and formal debates to bring out the nuances of primary sources from the Constitutions of Melfi to the Chronicle of Salimbene. The final project for the course was for each student to write a biographical research paper about a different political figure from the time and place we were studying. 1 Thomas N. Bisson, The Crisis of the Twelfth Century: Power, Lordship, and the Origins of European Government (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009) viii-ix. 2 Antoinette Burton, A Primer for Teaching World History: Ten Design Principles (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012), 63. 3 Alan Friedlander, “Signum Meum Apposui: Notaries and their Signs in Medieval Languedoc,” 93-120 in The Experience of Power in Medieval Europe: 950-1350 edited by Robert F. Berkhofer, Alan Cooper, and Adam J. Kosto (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005). 2 My original vision for assigning each student a different biography was to create a collection of brief biographies of understudied figures. However, over the course of the semester it became increasingly clear to me that thinking about primary sources in a critical way – taking into consideration their origin, transmission, authorship, audience, and potential biases – was something with which these students had little experience. Lack of experience, however, was balanced by a wealth of creativity and curiosity that made the weekly primary source activities immensely productive. With this in mind, I asked the students to be very transparent about how they interacted with their primary sources when writing their final papers. While many of the students wrote excellent biographies, the five essays collected here represent the most insightful efforts at reading power in the sources. The students experienced, like Bisson, how medieval power was “felt”, and in doing so, they tackled a range of issues. Many of these essays emphasize the role of the public in shaping or delimiting the decisions of those in power. In addition, the students highlight the importance of advisors, family members, and close associates in creating a network of support. Cameron Rough’s biography of Richard Marshal demonstrates how the primary sources documenting the Marshal Rebellion take their narrative cues from their anticipated audiences. The work of Madeline Fine and Errol Nelson show how familial connections formed bonds of trust that were necessary to maintain power, particularly for women, as they explore the careers of Blanche of Castile and Isabella of England, respectively. Kelly Northcraft’s biography of Louis IX builds on the recent insights of William Chester Jordan to show how his inner circle formed a political cadre that helped him advance his agenda. Finally, Lainey William’s essay on Pope Gregory IX demonstrates how concern over public perception shaped even the politics of the medieval Church. These essays represent a resource for future study, particularly for figures such as Isabella of England and Richard Marshal, who do not have scholarly biographies of their own, and who barely have Wikipedia pages. Secondly, the students in this volume point towards the next wave in medieval historiography. The next generation of scholars will generate a perspective shaped by a keen understanding of interpersonal relationships and social networks, as well as the reciprocal relationship between different segments of society, in this case between the rulers and the ruled. Finally, this volume shows that undergraduates can accomplish great things when they are given the chance to work with primary sources and the freedom to think creatively. I am proud to present this collection, in the hopes that readers may learn half as much from my students as I have. 3 Isabella of England: The Forgotten Diplomat Errol Nelson In the summer of 1235, the city of Worms, Germany was in an uproar. A great procession was to be held in honor of the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany, and King of Sicily Frederick II Hohenstaufen taking a new bride. Rumors would have filled the streets as commoners and nobles alike packed the streets that led to the impressive Cathedral, hoping to glimpse a peek at the soon-to-be Empress. Astride a magnificent mare, is the beautiful sister of the English king. Isabella of England, granddaughter of the first Plantagenet King, now rides in ceremoniously in a wedding procession that will capture the imagination of people for hundreds of years. In a public display, the crowd is frenzied with delight as the Princess removes her veil so the adoring masses can see the face of the new Empress. With the young woman ride the hopes of her family, desperate for an alliance, and by extension the entire nation who paid to get her there. The medieval world was one of relative uncertainty, between constant battles against the forces of nature, disease, and an ever-shifting political climate that could see a once-prominent family unseated and deposed from the throne. Therefore, for powerful personages to maintain their power they had to employ all the mechanisms and tools at their disposal. Born amidst the volatile turmoil of thirteenth-century England, the heirs of John “Lackland” I of England were forced to rely on familial bonds in a way that was unique to the Plantagenet dynasty as the first monarchial branch to be checked by the baronial regulations of the Magna Carta. The sibling relationship between Isabella of England (who would later become the Queen consort of Sicily, and the Empress of the entire Holy Roman Empire through her political match with Frederick II) and her brother King Henry III was an effective demonstration of how sibling and familial relationships were important vehicles and tools of power in the medieval world. According to historian Theresa Earenfight, the traditional ideals of thirteenth-century medieval monarchy should expand to include all the familial parts of a dynastic system of government. While the patriarchal dominance of the English monarchy can hardly be denied, Earenfight argues that it was the complete balance of family structures that helped to keep medieval monarchies in power4.