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IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 506: Using and Imposing Royal Power

Tuesday 8 July 2014, 09.00-10.30

Moderator/Chair:Flocel Sabaté Curull, Grup de Recerca Consolidat en Estudis Medievals 'Espai, poder I cultura', Universitat de Lleida
Paper 506-aThe Vocabularies of Power in 13th-Century Norway
(Language: English)
Evgeniya Shelina, Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid
Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Political Thought
Paper 506-bRex imperator in regno suo: Identitarian Uses of a Juridical Concept
(Language: English)
Georg Jostkleigrewe, Institut für Frühmittelalterforschung, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Law, Political Thought, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract

Paper -a:
For imposing their power, medieval elites used inter alia the words that reflected different concepts of power (auctoritas, potestas); as to say something often meant to act and vice versa. However, the concepts of power were not the same all round the Christendom and medieval languages reflected them in different ways, especially when the vernaculars turned into 'languages of power'. At the time, political vocabularies became fluid and reflected the changes in the political sphere, while keeping their essential role in the execution of power. The paper discusses it on the example of the political 'vocabularies' of the 13th-century Norway.

Paper -b:
The Rex imperator in regno suo is a juridical construction which explains the sovereign use of Roman law by 'provincial' kings, and particularly by the king of France. But the Rex imperator concept has an external function as well, as it precludes any pretensions of Imperial domination over the French kingdom. Yet, this French identity based on the principle of absolute temporal independence is of little importance outside the jurists' milieu. This is surprising, as research has generally presumed that the Rex imperator ideology is ubiquitous. The paper will discuss its impact and limits accordingly.