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Curia regis

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"King's Council" redirects here. Not to be confused with King's Counsel.

Curia regis (Medieval Latin: [ˈkuː.ri.a ˈreː.d͡ʒis]) is a Latin term meaning "royal council" or "king's court". It was the name given to councils of advisers and administrators in medieval Europe who served kings, including kings of France, Norman kings of England and Sicily, kings of Poland and the kings and queens of Scotland.

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Medieval Latin

Medieval Latin

Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned as the main medium of scholarly exchange, as the liturgical language of the Church, and as the working language of science, literature, law, and administration.

Latin

Latin

Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area around present-day Rome, but through the power of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian region and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. Even after the fall of Western Rome, Latin remained the common language of international communication, science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the 18th century, when other regional vernaculars supplanted it in common academic and political usage. For most of the time it was used, it would be considered a "dead language" in the modern linguistic definition; that is, it lacked native speakers, despite being used extensively and actively.

Royal court

Royal court

A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be applied to the coterie of a senior member of the nobility. Royal courts may have their seat in a designated place, several specific places, or be a mobile, itinerant court.

List of French monarchs

List of French monarchs

France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.

List of English monarchs

List of English monarchs

This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886, and while he was not the first king to claim to rule all of the English, his rule represents the start of the first unbroken line of kings to rule the whole of England, the House of Wessex.

List of Sicilian monarchs

List of Sicilian monarchs

The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the County of Sicily in 1071 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816.

List of Polish monarchs

List of Polish monarchs

Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes or by kings. During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe.

List of Scottish monarchs

List of Scottish monarchs

The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin, who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown out of an earlier "Kingdom of the Picts" though in reality the distinction is a product of later medieval myth and confusion from a change in nomenclature i.e. Rex Pictorum becomes Rí Alban under Donald II when annals switched from Latin to vernacular around the end of the 9th century, by which time the word Alba in Scottish Gaelic had come to refer to the Kingdom of the Picts rather than Britain.

England

Further information: History of monarchy in the United Kingdom

After the Norman Conquest of 1066, the central governing body of the Kingdom of England was called the curia regis. Before the Conquest, the Anglo-Saxons called this body the witan, and English writers continued to use this term as well. It corresponded to the placitum generale of the Frankish kingdoms, and this name was also applied to the English curia regis.[1] It was similar to, but not the same as, the curia ducis which served the Dukes of Normandy.[2]

The curia regis conducted the business of state whether legislative, judicial, or diplomatic.[3] Its membership was the tenants-in-chief (i.e. the baronage, including bishops and abbots) along with the great officers of state and of the royal household, such as the chancellor, constable, treasurer or chamberlain, marshal, and steward.[4] Occasionally, these would be summoned by the king to meet as a magnum concilium (Latin for "great council").[3]

In between great councils, the curia regis remained in session; though, its membership was much smaller. The smaller curia was composed of royal officers and barons attending the monarch.[3] English kings had itinerant courts during this period, and the small curia followed the king in all his travels. As they traveled the kingdom, the king and curia often heard suitors in person.[5] The powers and functions of the great council and the small curia were identical since they were considered the same institution meeting under different circumstances.[3]

During the 13th century, the great council and the small curia separated into two distinct bodies. The great council evolved into Parliament and the small curia evolved into the Privy Council.[6] The small curia regis then is "the very distant ancestor of the modern executive, the Cabinet acting for the authority of the crown." Early government departments also developed out of the small curia regis, such as the chancery, the treasury, and the exchequer.[7]

Preceded by Curia regis
1066–c.1215 		Succeeded by

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History of monarchy in the United Kingdom

History of monarchy in the United Kingdom

The history of the monarchy of the United Kingdom and its evolution into a constitutional and ceremonial monarchy is a major theme in the historical development of the British constitution. The British monarchy traces its origins to the petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and early medieval Scotland, which consolidated into the kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century. Anglo-Saxon England had an elective monarchy, but this was replaced by primogeniture after England was conquered by the Normans in 1066. The Norman and Plantagenet dynasties expanded their authority throughout the British Isles, creating the Lordship of Ireland in 1177 and conquering Wales in 1283. In 1215, King John agreed to limit his own powers over his subjects according to the terms of Magna Carta. To gain the consent of the political community, English kings began summoning Parliaments to approve taxation and to enact statutes. Gradually, Parliament's authority expanded at the expense of royal power.

Kingdom of England

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England existed on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it unified from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group that inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened within Britain, and the identity was not merely imported. Anglo-Saxon identity arose from interaction between incoming groups from several Germanic tribes, both amongst themselves, and with indigenous Britons. Many of the natives, over time, adopted Anglo-Saxon culture and language and were assimilated. The Anglo-Saxons established the concept, and the Kingdom, of England, and though the modern English language owes somewhat less than 26% of its words to their language, this includes the vast majority of words used in everyday speech.

Baronage

Baronage

In England, the baronage was the collectively inclusive term denoting all members of the feudal nobility, as observed by the constitutional authority Edward Coke. It was replaced eventually by the term peerage.

Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.

Abbot

Abbot

Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The female equivalent is abbess.

Great Officers of State (United Kingdom)

Great Officers of State (United Kingdom)

In the United Kingdom, the Great Officers of State are traditional ministers of the Crown who either inherit their positions or are appointed to exercise certain largely ceremonial functions or to operate as members of the government. Separate Great Officers exist for England and Wales, Scotland, and formerly for Ireland, though some exist for Great Britain and the United Kingdom as a whole.

Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The lord chancellor is appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to their Union into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland; there were lord chancellors of Ireland until 1922.

Lord High Constable of England

Lord High Constable of England

The Lord High Constable of England is the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain and above the Earl Marshal. This office is now called out of abeyance only for coronations. The Lord High Constable was originally the commander of the royal armies and the Master of the Horse. He was also, in conjunction with the Earl Marshal, president of the court of chivalry or court of honour. In feudal times, martial law was administered in the court of the Lord High Constable.

Lord High Treasurer

Lord High Treasurer

The Lord High Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in England, below the Lord High Steward and the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

Lord Great Chamberlain

Lord Great Chamberlain

The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable. The Lord Great Chamberlain has charge over the Palace of Westminster.

Earl Marshal

Earl Marshal

Earl marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England. He is the eighth of the great officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the lord high constable and above the lord high admiral. The dukes of Norfolk have held the office since 1672.

France

Main article: Conseil du Roi

In France the King's Court, called the Curia Regis in Latin, functioned as an advisory body under the early Capetian kings. It was composed of a number of the king's trusted advisers but only a few travelled with the king at any time. By the later twelfth century it had become a judicial body with a few branching off to remain the king's council.[8]

By the fourteenth century the term curia regis was no longer used.[8] However, it was a predecessor to later sovereign assemblies: the Parlement, which was a judiciary body, the Chamber of Accounts, which was a financial body, and the King's Council.[9]

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Conseil du Roi

Conseil du Roi

The Conseil du Roi, also known as the Royal Council, is a general term for the administrative and governmental apparatus around the King of France during the Ancien Régime designed to prepare his decisions and to advise him. It should not be confused with the role and title of a "Conseil du Roi", a type of public prosecutor in the French legal system at the same period.

Maison du Roi

Maison du Roi

The Maison du Roi was the royal household of the King of France. It comprised the military, domestic, and religious entourage of the French royal family during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration.

House of Capet

House of Capet

The House of Capet ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians.

Parlement

Parlement

Under the French Ancien Régime, a parlement was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern French term parlement and the English word parliament derive from this French term, the Ancien Régime parlements were not legislative bodies and the modern and ancient terminology are not interchangeable.

Poland

The Royal Council of Poland [pl] in early medieval times was composed exclusively by King's will. Over time, in addition to King's appointments, certain higher dignitaries were assumed to belong to the Council owing to their functions. The following dignitaries were permanent members of the Council in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland:

By the end of the 15th century the Royal Council was transformed into the Senate of Poland.

Source: "Curia regis", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 21st), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curia_regis.

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Further Reading

Parliament

Witan

History of the constitution of the United Kingdom

Lord Chancellor

France in the Middle Ages

Kingdom of England

Exchequer of Pleas

Henry de Bracton

Privy Council of England

Court of Common Pleas (England)

Mikołaj Trąba

Government in medieval Scotland

Master of the treasury

History of monarchy in the United Kingdom
See also
References
  1. ^ Adams 1926, p. 1.
  2. ^ Holdsworth 1922, p. 32.
  3. ^ a b c d Adams 1907, p. 12.
  4. ^ Adams 1926, pp. 5–6 & 10.
  5. ^ Holdsworth 1922, p. 33.
  6. ^ Adams 1907, pp. 13–14.
  7. ^ Butt 1989, p. 23.
  8. ^ a b William Kibler, Medieval France: An Encyclopaedia (Routledge, 1995), p. 255
  9. ^ Arthur Augustus Tilley, Medieval France: A Companion to French Studies (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1922), p. 72

Bibliography

  • Adams, George Burton (October 1907). "The Descendants of the Curia Regis". The American Historical Review. 13 (1): 11–15. doi:10.1086/ahr/13.1.11. JSTOR 1834884.
  • Adams, George Burton (1926). Council and Courts in Anglo-Norman England. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780598892126.
  • Butt, Ronald (1989). A History of Parliament: The Middle Ages. London: Constable. ISBN 0094562202.
  • Holdsworth, William Searle (1922). A History of English Law. Vol. I. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.
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