Grace

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Grace (often gratia in the sources ) is a central term in the medieval order of rule and life.

The ruler's grace, favor, or grace fulfilled the function of a reward as well as a punitive instrument. Any violation of the commandments could result in the loss of the Lord's grace. In the early and high Middle Ages, even the threat of loss of favor served as an effective instrument of discipline. As an invitation to do something or to avoid something, the grace is a common form in stately, papal and private documents. But not only proved liege his vassal the favor. Grace is based on a mutual obligation, since subordinates could also withdraw their grace from the Lord. The content of the Hulderweis was above all the promise of fides (loyalty) and a corresponding behavior. The most striking expression of grace is found in the homage of the great to the king.

Those who show grace show willingness to continue to fulfill obligations. It signals satisfaction and benevolence with the bond. The Hulderweis in the Middle Ages was u. a. through gifts, honorable emphasis and favor in public and face-to-face conversation. The confidential, gracious conversation opened up the chance to influence a ruling decision and was a special gesture of courage. The noticeable special treatment of the Hulderweis could at least produce invidia in other greats .

A loss of grace could only occur where grace had previously reigned. It therefore only affected groups of people who were previously lordly, amicably, or related to one another. No formal legal process was necessary to lose grace. The loss of favor could also lead to the loss of offices, fiefs or even all goods. The loss of benevolence excluded and made it impossible to go together in a group in which there was mutual benevolence. Remaining or appearing near the Lord became difficult. The king or lord overlooked him or did not speak to him. Further contacts with the disgraced man could be seen as an affront to the gentlemen. However, the intended effect of isolation was often ineffective, since enough relatives and friends interceded for those affected by the loss of grace. However, staying with the Lord became difficult.

Gerd Althoff has shown with numerous examples from the 10th to the 12th century that lost grace could only be regained through a demonstrative act that gave the ruler public satisfaction for the previously suffered insult. In the event of disrespect, direct encounters were avoided and communicated with one another indirectly via mediators or negotiators bound by instructions. The mediators also determined the appropriate satisfaction to be given by the benevolence seeker. The resumption of grace could take place in a demonstrative act of public, unconditional submission . The person affected by the loss of favor approached the king barefoot and in penitential garb in the greatest possible public. It is often said that the person seeking mercy expressed his unconditional submission with the sentence: "Do what you want with me". Such acts were carried out at church festivals, when the ruler went to church services and, above all, at solemn occasions such as coronations or weddings of the ruler. As a rule, the subject received the ruler's grace back and was either reinstated immediately in office and dignity or after a brief symbolic imprisonment. However, the beneficiary had to accept material losses.

Along with rituals and gestures, grace is a phenomenon that defines medieval statehood. It managed without written form, institutions without regulated responsibilities and without a monopoly of force.

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Grace  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Remarks

  1. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Grace. Considerations on a central concept of the medieval system of rule. In: Rules of the game of politics in the Middle Ages. Communication in peace and feud. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 199–228, here: p. 204.
  2. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Grace. Considerations on a central concept of the medieval system of rule. In: Rules of the game of politics in the Middle Ages. Communication in peace and feud. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 199-228, here: p. 205.
  3. ^ Gerd Althoff: The privilege of the deditio. Forms of amicable ending of conflict in medieval aristocratic society. In: Ders .: Rules of the game of politics in the Middle Ages. Communication in peace and feud. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 99-125. Gerd Althoff: Grace. Considerations on a central concept of the medieval system of rule. In: Ders .: Rules of the game of politics in the Middle Ages. Communication in peace and feud. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 199-228.
  4. ^ Gerd Althoff: The privilege of the deditio. Forms of amicable ending of conflict in medieval aristocratic society. In: Ders .: Rules of the game of politics in the Middle Ages. Communication in peace and feud. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 99-125. Gerd Althoff: Grace. Considerations on a central concept of the medieval system of rule. In: Ders .: Rules of the game of politics in the Middle Ages. Communication in peace and feud. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 199-228. In detail: Hermann Kamp: Peacemaker and mediator in the Middle Ages. Darmstadt 2001.
  5. ↑ See the sources in Gerd Althoff: Huld. Considerations on a central concept of the medieval system of rule. In: Ders .: Rules of the game of politics in the Middle Ages. Communication in peace and feud. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 199–228, here: p. 212.
  6. ↑ Gerd Althoff: Grace. Considerations on a central concept of the medieval system of rule. In: Ders .: Rules of the game of politics in the Middle Ages. Communication in peace and feud. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 199–228, here: p. 227.