Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Editor’s Preface
- Dedication
- Abbreviations
- The Planctus on the Death of William Longsword (943) as a Source for Tenth-Century Culture in Normandy and Aquitaine (The R. Allen Brown Memorial Lecture, 2013)
- Biblical Vocabulary and National Discourse in Twelfth-Century England
- Border, Trade Route, or Market? The Channel and the Medieval European Economy from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century
- Guerno the Forger and His Confession
- From Codex to Roll: Illustrating History in the Anglo-Norman World in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
- The Adoption and Routinization of Scottish Royal Charter Production for Lay Beneficiaries, 1124–1195
- Women and Power in the Roman de Rou of Wace
- Literacy and Estate Administration in a Great Anglo-Norman Nunnery: Holy Trinity, Caen, in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
- The King and His Sons: Henry II’s and Frederick Barbarossa’s Succession Strategies Compared
- In vinea Sorech laborare: The Cultivation of Unity in Twelfth-Century Monastic Historiography
- The Redaction of Cartularies and Economic Upheaval in Western England c.996–1096
- Monastic Space and the Use of Books in the Anglo-Norman Period
- 1074 in the Twelfth Century
- Contents Of Volumes 1–34
The King and His Sons: Henry II’s and Frederick Barbarossa’s Succession Strategies Compared
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 March 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Editor’s Preface
- Dedication
- Abbreviations
- The Planctus on the Death of William Longsword (943) as a Source for Tenth-Century Culture in Normandy and Aquitaine (The R. Allen Brown Memorial Lecture, 2013)
- Biblical Vocabulary and National Discourse in Twelfth-Century England
- Border, Trade Route, or Market? The Channel and the Medieval European Economy from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century
- Guerno the Forger and His Confession
- From Codex to Roll: Illustrating History in the Anglo-Norman World in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
- The Adoption and Routinization of Scottish Royal Charter Production for Lay Beneficiaries, 1124–1195
- Women and Power in the Roman de Rou of Wace
- Literacy and Estate Administration in a Great Anglo-Norman Nunnery: Holy Trinity, Caen, in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
- The King and His Sons: Henry II’s and Frederick Barbarossa’s Succession Strategies Compared
- In vinea Sorech laborare: The Cultivation of Unity in Twelfth-Century Monastic Historiography
- The Redaction of Cartularies and Economic Upheaval in Western England c.996–1096
- Monastic Space and the Use of Books in the Anglo-Norman Period
- 1074 in the Twelfth Century
- Contents Of Volumes 1–34
Summary
The relationship between kings and their sons in the High Middle Ages has been the subject of reflections by Anglophone and German scholars alike. Ralph Turner wrote in an article on Eleanor of Aquitaine: ‘Revolts by sons against the Norman dukes/kings made up a substantial portion of the family history … We can almost speak of a “Norman tradition of family hostility”.’ Karl-Heinrich Krüger, on the other hand, was sure that severe conflicts between father and son happened repeatedly in the Empire. Juxtaposing these two opinions I hope makes my point as to why a comparison between different realms might be useful. Of course both scholars also agreed that the relationship between an adult son and an active father was in principle an awkward situation prone to escalating into conflict. Comparing two examples of kings and adult sons, the Plantagenet empire and Germany might give us clues as to why succession did not always go smoothly and what instigated sons to rebel against their father.
If we look at the narrative sources the family situation of Henry II and Friedrich I could not have been more different. I quote from Otto of Sankt-Blasien, who described Friedrich Barbarossa’s plans for his sons:
[Barbarossa] had them all learn thoroughly to read and write, he acquired huge wealth for them and raised them to important offices, dividing the provinces amongst them. Friedrich he made duke of Swabia … to Konrad he gave the office and the fiefs of the late Duke Friedrich of Rothenburg, Otto … was given the realm of Arles with Burgundy, and Heinrich he designated as king after himself. Philipp was still a child.
For Henry II the relationship with his sons could not have been further away from a family idyll:
When they were boys, he was devoted to his legitimate children with a spontaneous affection even greater than that usually found in a father. But when some sons grew up, he viewed them with more jaundiced eyes than any stepfather. And although he had such distinguished and illustrious sons, one great impediment to his complete happiness was his constant detestation, perhaps with good reason, of those who would succeed him.
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- Anglo-Norman Studies 36Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2013, pp. 149 - 166Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2014
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