How did you become King then?
HIST 1016
8/27/14
What is a king?
(clockwise) King Tut, King Carl XVI Gustaf and
Queen Silvia of Sweden, the King of Rock ‘n Roll,
and the Burger King
What makes a monarchy different?
US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei, and British Prime Minister David Cameron
The Present and the Past
Sovereignty
• Supreme authority within a territory
• Embodied in a state
• Territoriality – membership defined by
residence within borders
• Trumps kinship, religion, tribe, feudal ties, etc.
Sovereignty
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Supreme authority
The state does not share authority
State authority trumps other authorities
Supremacy Clause: US Constitution, Article Six, Clause
2
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States
which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the
United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and
the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything
in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary
notwithstanding.”
The King’s Two Bodies
• corpus naturale vs. corpus
mysticum
• Collective social
organizations have an
enduring essence
• A king has a mortal body…
• and a enduring,
supernatural body.
The King’s Two Bodies Today
The King’s Two Bodies Today
Sovereignty in the Medieval World
• Is there supreme authority?
– Kinship circles
– “Feudal” ties
– The church and other alternative authorities
– Tribes
• All people are responsible to multiple
authorities.
• Patchwork of sovereignties
The Feudal System
Sovereignty in the Medieval World
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Is there territoriality?
Are identity and rights defined by residence?
Is sovereignty determined by boundaries?
Do states with boundaries even exist?
Citizens vs. subjects
The right to command and the right to be
obeyed vs. coercive power
The Frankish Empire (481-814)
The Frankish Empire after
Charlemagne
Sovereignty in the Medieval World
• The holder of sovereignty
– Single individual or close circle
– Constitution or legal system
• The absoluteness of sovereignty
– Are sovereigns bound by laws or are they above
the law?
– Are these laws natural, divine, or man made?
• The right to command and the right to be
obeyed vs. coercive power
Sovereignty in the Medieval World
• Internal dimensions of sovereignty
– Supreme authority within boundaries
• External dimensions of sovereignty
– Are outsiders able to interfere within boundaries?
Investiture Controversy
• 11th-12th century rivalry between
Popes and Holy Roman Emperors
• Who has the right to appoint
clergy and govern church
property?
• Popes appoint kings who
appoint clergy who appoint
popes…
• Popes may excommunicate
king
• Pope Gregory VII (r. 1073-1085):
• Assert church authority
Peace of Westphalia
• Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
– War between states of the
Holy Roman Empire
– Catholics vs. Protestants
– French Bourbons vs.
Habsburgs
• Eighty Years War
(1568-1648)
– Dutch War of Independence
• Illegal to interfere within a
foreign state
Who Can Claim Authority?
• What is the basis for authority?
– Hereditary
– Kratocracy - rule by the strong
– Constitutional
– Federal, elective, or democratic
• Can you challenge authority?
– Colonies declaring independence
– Popular uprising
– Theocracies against secular rule
Questions to Take From Here
• Who has authority? Who is sovereign?
• What kind of authority do they have?
– Supreme or shared/contested?
– Territorial or limited by effective reach?
– Absolute or limited?
• What is the basis of their authority?
– Hereditary/traditional?
– Constitutional/legal?