IMC 2023: Sessions

Session 224: Loyalty as Networks, I: Loyalty and Polity

Sponsor:	Haskins Society / Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies
Organiser:	Hannah Boston, Trinity College, University of Oxford
Moderator/Chair:	Alice Taylor, Department of History, King's College London
Paper 224-a	Loyalty and Impersonal Kingship in 10th-Century England (Language: English) Richard Purkiss, Lincoln College, University of Oxford Index terms: Law, Social History
Paper 224-b	Bonds of Loyalty in the Chronicles of the Polish Long 12th Century (Language: English) Michał Machalski, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest/Wien Index terms: Law, Social History
Paper 224-c	Loyalty and Lèse-majesté: The Invocation of Roman Law in Scottish Oaths of Allegiance (Language: English) Jennifer McHugh, Department of History, Lancaster University Index terms: Law, Political Thought, Social History
Abstract	This session will address the ways in which rulers harnessed ideas of loyalty to aid in the formation and stabilisation of polities. To what degree did these connections rely on personal ties, and to what degree were they impersonalised into standard forms? How were ideas and ideals of loyalty shaped and used by rulers? How far do these histories of loyalty and state formation intertwine? And were these ideas propagated from the royal court, or were they current in wider society? The session will explore these developments across in 10th-century England, 12th-century Poland, and Davidian Scotland.