Voorbeeldige vorsten?

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the concept of kingship in the Middle Dutch Roman van Walewein, a thirteenth-century Arthurian romance from Flanders, by analyzing the roles of the six different kings in the work from different perspectives. The rulers are studied based on their depiction within the story in relation to historical views on kingship, their actions in relation to the narrative’s plot, and finally their role as king in relation to the narrative’s hero, Walewein. This analysis lays bare a pattern in which problematic aspects of kingship are connected to the different rulers, resulting in a lack of social order that needs to be restored by Walewein, whom in doing so proves his excellence and fitness to rule as a king himself. These problematic aspects include a lack of measure from the kings, the frustration of social integration at their courts, and finally their common use of the ‘don contraignant’ motif in a negative manner. In this light, I argue that the Roman van Walewein can be read as a type of ‘mirror for princes’.