Royal Lineage
Monarchies were an essential part of medieval Europe. Royal bloodlines were central to political stability and the births, marriages and deaths of ruling families had the power to shape nations and change history. We spoke to historian Robert Bartlett, author of Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe, about the practices of royal dynasties, how they expressed their identities and the legacy of medieval dynastic politics today.
Why is the topic of monarchy so important?
I think it’s important historically because, for a very long period of time, most of Europe was ruled by hereditary monarchies. The nature of power in those states was dictated by something that is much less important nowadays – the internal family politics of the ruling dynasties. If you want to look at human history, and particularly European medieval history, I think you have to take dynasties very seriously. You have to think about them as ruling families and as one of the things that explain the politics. Since you don’t have it in the modern world, some people can forget about it and think that it’s just not important or trivialise it – but I think that it should be absolutely central to the political analysis of medieval Europe.
What did a dynasty need to do to be successful?
A dynasty is a biological as well as a political entity. They
