Author Topic: War Reparations in Medieval Times  (Read 9948 times)

Scarlett

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Re: War Reparations in Medieval Times
« Topic Start: June 12, 2013, 10:55:50 PM »
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So, given that the Count of Toulouse could be wealthier and, potentially, more influential due to his wealth than the King of Whales

A better example would be the King of France and the Count of Toulouse. The Count of Toulouse (notably Raymond of Toulouse during the first Crusade) was one of the most powerful and wealthy lords around. He was a vassal of the King of France but during a time when vassals were highly autonomous (as opposed to vassals of England post-William the Conquerer).

Socially, the Count of Toulouse would treat the King of France as a higher authority even though the Count of Toulouse had in most every respect more power at his individual disposal - but he was not a King and he would rapidly lose that power if he went around pissing all over medieval hierarchy. Typically lords in Toulouse's position would expect greater influence and courtesy, and they'd get it. They wouldn't go around pissing off Kings because they'd attract too much attention and it'd be possible if not easy for the King to roust up a dozen or so lesser lords who wanted a piece of Toulouse and humble the Count in the King's name.

If he met a different King to which he didn't owe fealty, like Wales, he's treating with a foreigner so the amount of respect he shows is dependent upon what he's after. There weren't that many international parties. The Welsh, like the Bretons in Brittany, were (and remain) a proud and fierce people, but not a wealthy people. The Welsh were not, for the most part, going to get on boats and go to Toulouse. The Bretons were fantastic at defending Brittany (the only Roman province never to fall to barbarians, hence the name Romano-British) but considerably less fantastic at leaving Brittany and subjugating much of anything. Doesn't help that Brittany is kind of crap as far as money and economic strength were concerned.

That's a roundabout answer to your question and also contingent upon which part of the Middle Ages you looked at. In the 11th and 12th century, any King with half a brain is going to tread carefully around his magnates whether their title is 'Baron' or 'Duke.' By the late 14th and 15th centuries, Kings had centralized power to a much higher degree - a necessary step in the transition toward the Renaissance - so anybody even breathing incorrectly in the presence of royalty could expect to be ostracized.

BM can't model this very well because you can't have a vassal of the same rank. The Counts of Toulouse and Flanders had Count-level vassals (or what we'd approximate as Count-level vassals) and while this was technically awkward, it suited everyone involved just fine: the vassal counts got protection from a powerful lord to whom they did not have grovel too much while the superior count got to fly under the radar because hey, he's just a Count!