7 - The Duke and the Court: The Display and Experience of Power

Summary

THE dukes’ power – their ability to make people do what they wanted, regardless of any resistance – was grounded in legitimacy and inheritance, and reinforced by their success in establishing autonomous rule and hegemony over the people living within the confines of the duchy. The recognition of the dukes’ position was also the result of physical strength and diplomacy – carrot and stick – as well as a decision on the part of his greater subjects that there was more to be gained by siding with the duke than going against him. But it was also the result of appearances and environment. The duke was successful and powerful in part at least because he looked successful and powerful. A man surrounded by warriors and bishops, who could eat from gold and silver vessels, and pass such objects to his followers as rewards, was a man who deserved respect and who should not be crossed. That respect required a show of deference and submission, appropriate behaviour, and bearing. A failure to perform as required might smack of rebellion and result in a demonstration of anger and coercive force. At that point the protagonists would discover whether appearances were deceptive. But up to that point the mirage of power remained intact.

The previous chapter explored the duke: the succession to the duchy, questions of competition and legitimacy, and the executive authority that the duke wielded. This chapter goes on to look at the court, defined by Stuart Airlie as the king (here the duke), his family, and the personnel around them together with the institutions (such as the chapel) and buildings that housed and served them. In particular, it is concerned with how the dukes could use the court to broadcast and maintain their authority over the duchy as a whole.

The discussion begins with a consideration of the settings for the dukes’ courts, before moving on to explore who went to them, and what they saw and heard when they got there, through an examination (separately) of the ducal acta and the narratives. As has been discussed above, and will be considered further below, the acta in particular do not perhaps tell us what we expect them to. They tell us rather less about ducal power than might be thought and rather more about beneficiaries’ views of it and their resulting concerns about the security of the gifts they received.