Chapter 3

The “Wise King” Topos in Context:
Royal Literacy and Political Theology in Medieval Western Europe (c. 1000-1200)

Not long ago the medieval royal court was barely a category of thought in the history of western culture or science, but in present times the juxtaposition of “science” and “royal court” in the Middle Ages no longer strikes the reader as something odd.

However, in the eleventh century, the prince’s wisdom, after the short-lived splendor of the Carolingian and Ottonian ages, would remain in a secondary position in the royal ideology. This was logical to a certain extent, since, as a consequence of both the Feudal Revolution and the Gregorian Reform, the new discourse on kingship did not have much place for royal learning.

The Twelfth Century Renaissance completely changed this trend and brought again the sapiential topos to the frontline of political thought. In Norman Sicily and Plantagenet England the medieval royal court not only attracted scholars but also became a place of science, and the royal patron, when not personally implicated in scholarship, played a key role in the advancement of learning.

To obtain the political legitimacy attached to the Solomonic ideal was crucial for newcomers like the Houses of Plantagenet and Hauteville. The influence of Carolingian models cannot be overestimated here, but we find also new developments such as the bureaucrat-king or the literate knight topoi.

By Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña

Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña

Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the Universidad CEU San Pablo, Madrid. His research focuses on the cultural history of rulership in medieval Europe. He is the author of Los reyes sabios. Cultura y poder en la Antigüedad Tardía y la Alta Edad Media (2008) and editor of serval volumes including Carlomagno y la civilización carolingia. Estudios conmemorativos en el 1200 aniversario (814-2014).

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Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek Bibl. 22

Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek Bibl. 76

Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek Bibl. Lit. 5

Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4453

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Related Chapters

Laura Fábián: The Biblical King Solomon in Representations of Western European Medieval Royalty (See Chapter 4)

Estelle Paranque: Royal Representation through the Father and Warrior Figures in Early Modern Europe (See Chapter 19)