Kings also lost their power because the name of the game had changed significantly.
In the actual Middle Ages, kings may have nominally had complete power, but in reality they were heavily constrained by the relations they had with wealthy landowners and nobles. The institution of the Royal Court persevered precisely because it served an absolutely critical social purpose, namely a mechanism for coordination between the lords of the realm. Everybody was subject to the crown and the crown’s rulings, so disputes could be resolved and hierarchies could be established (relatively) bloodlessly. Conversely, the king nominally was above the lords, but he served at their pleasure, in the sense that it he became sufficiently unpopular with them, he would be removed.[1]
As the move towards absolutism happened and kings started amassing de facto power approaching the de jure power they’d long pretended they’d had, suddenly the old justification for the king’s existence evaporated.
Chinese history contains dozens of examples of emperors losing the Mandate of Heaven in the eyes of wealthy lords or powerful generals, and getting executed for it
Kings also lost their power because the name of the game had changed significantly.
In the actual Middle Ages, kings may have nominally had complete power, but in reality they were heavily constrained by the relations they had with wealthy landowners and nobles. The institution of the Royal Court persevered precisely because it served an absolutely critical social purpose, namely a mechanism for coordination between the lords of the realm. Everybody was subject to the crown and the crown’s rulings, so disputes could be resolved and hierarchies could be established (relatively) bloodlessly. Conversely, the king nominally was above the lords, but he served at their pleasure, in the sense that it he became sufficiently unpopular with them, he would be removed.[1]
As the move towards absolutism happened and kings started amassing de facto power approaching the de jure power they’d long pretended they’d had, suddenly the old justification for the king’s existence evaporated.
Chinese history contains dozens of examples of emperors losing the Mandate of Heaven in the eyes of wealthy lords or powerful generals, and getting executed for it