Capetian France Research Articles

‘Defense of the realm’: evolution of a Capetian propaganda slogan

Historians have long recognized the importance of the Roman-canonical maxim ‘defense of the realm’ to the propaganda politics practised by later Capetian kings, most notably in the climactic struggle between Philip the Fair and Boniface VIII. Although rightly conceding to Roman law the major impulse to its formulation, they have been less sensitive to the way in which the doctrine fits into historical images of Capetian kingship. The theory of the king as defender of the realm was critical in the early as well as late middle ages. In tracing the evolution of this slogan through the chronicle tradition of Saint-Denis, the most extensive and consistently royalist historical corpus in Capetian France, one sees the emergence of concepts congruent with those developed in legal and canonical texts, but which reveal little or no influence from these more learned sources. This article argues that the chroniclers' persistent focus on the image of the king as royal defender facilitated the interior evolution of the meaning of ‘defense of the realm’ from that of feudal tuitio to the public concept of Roman jurisprudence. The chroniclers of Saint-Denis thus testify to the way in which older theories of monarchy were being subtly transformed by the changing nature of kingship itself. But at the same time they lend an air of coherency and familiarity to one of the most disruptive periods of Capetian history and sustain a sense of the evolution of the French monarchy within the context of fundamental notions governing medieval kingship.

Community and Legal Change in Capetian France

The hegemony of law in medieval political theory and of rights in medieval political practice is a hallowed commonplace. Almost equally honored has been the view, propounded most forcefully by C. H. Mcllwain, that medieval men believed that they could find but not make law. McIlwain's view no longer commands general assent, yet a rejection of his conception of legal change does not necessitate a denial of the importance of law in medieval political theory and practice, which he and so many others have stressed. If, however, we still acknowledge the importance of law, yet recognize that medieval men were prepared to modify it consciously, then we ought to pay particular attention to the question of whether and how a medieval group could change its laws, a crucial question for constitutional development and one which has been neglected for Capetian France. The variety of types of communities in medieval Europe meant that there was great variation in men's ability to modify the laws under which they lived. Some men were able to modify their laws fairly easily when it seemed necessary. Church councils and AngloSaxon dooms testify to a tradition of conscious, if intermittent and limited, legislation. The associations for the Peace of God show men's willingness to impose new rules to implement old ideals. When crusaders captured Jerusalem or merchants won the establishment of communes, they engaged in constitution-making and, thereafter, in legislation. So also did the Cistercians, as a perusal of their statutes would remind us, and so did the Templars.