And kings relied on their vassals to report back a problem in a neighboring kingdom. He also needed to keep his people safe by defending them against foreign invaders or other dangers.īut kings couldn’t always be on the lookout for crime and injustice, so they had sheriffs and constables who were responsible for keeping track of how their people were doing.

That meant he had to punish criminals, protect the poor and vulnerable, and reward good behavior. The king was the law and could be cruel or kind to his people.Ī king was supposed to administer justice fairly.

Administering Justice & Upholding the Law In short, they were the model of responsibility. They were also responsible for trade and industry, so they protected their subjects and provided jobs. They created laws and passed judgment on criminals. Their role was a complicated one, requiring them to be both statesmen and rulers, as well as advisors and judges. In the Middle Ages, kings were responsible for everything. What Were The Responsibilities Of A King In Medieval Times? They had more land and resources at their disposal than almost any other government and could raise armies much more significantly than their rivals. Medieval monarchs enjoyed a few different advantages that have been lost in modern times. It involved a tangled skein of legal and customary procedures, which varied from regions and from one noble lineage to another. Succession to a kingdom as vast as England was never a simple matter. The best kings were smart enough to surround themselves with talented advisors who could help them in their duties.įew monarchies can rival the scope of medieval English kingship. Some kings were better at one of these roles than others. They ruled over the people and territories, and even churches.Ī king needed excellent political, battle, and administration skills to fulfill these roles. Medieval kings had to deal with all of that and affairs of state. Medieval times were a time of constant war, death, and disease. The Septuagint translates meleḵ as “basileus” in Ezra and Nehemiah to mean the king of the Jews. In addition to that, in Greek, there is also the word basileus, which initially meant chieftain and later came to mean king. Under the Roman Empire, the Latin title “rex” was the most common word for king. The Old English name was initially sceaf which meant “sheaf of wheat” and not just “sheaf of royal power.” The word “besceoren” means shorn, and it is thought that the root sheaf in scēaf may have been used as a symbol for royalty in general.

The original Germanic word kuningaz evolved into an Anglo-Saxon word, “cyning,” which was borrowed into Latin as “cingō” and then into French as “ciyung,” before being borrowed into Middle English. The word is derived from the Proto-Germanic word “kuningaz” (meaning son of a noble family) in the late 2 nd millennium B.C. They become king when their father dies or abdicates the throne.įor example, when King George VI of the United Kingdom died, his heir apparent, Queen Elizabeth II, became the ruler. The term can also be used metaphorically to refer to any influential man, or in general as an honorific title for a man who rules by force or wealth.Ī prince is a son, while a princess is the daughter of a king or queen. These countries have no official king or queen, but they have official princes and princesses. There are also countries such as Liechtenstein and Andorra that are monarchies but not kingdoms. A queen is the female equivalent of a king or the king’s consort.Ī king was often a hereditary ruler of a group of people (most often called a kingdom), though not always.įor example, the United Kingdom is a kingdom. If a king rules a country, that country is called a kingdom. The word king distinctively refers to a male monarch in the monarchy. What Were The Responsibilities Of A King In Medieval Times?Ī king is a male monarch.

Ancient medieval name generator