Part 26 – The Republic in 1162
This chapter will look at the state of the Republic at the death of King Leofric.
Islam within the Republic
The position of the Islamic clergy within the Republic’s new domains was important and served to make the integration of these provinces much harder. They bitterly resented being ruled by infidels and worked hard to fan the flames of rebellion. The absence of a formal hierarchy (as found in Roman Catholicism) did undermine their efforts at a coordinated rebellion, but also hindered the Republic’s efforts to calm things down.
There were sporadic outbreaks of violence, yet during Leofric’s reign they never really turned into a major revolt. These outbreaks of violence were very localised and often centred on rumours of anti-Islamic activity. For example, rumour would go round that a Greek merchant had defiled a copy of the Koran; a mob would start to form; the protest would get louder and more aggressive. Eventually the local nobles (be they indigenous or immigrants) would use force to put down the mob and a brittle peace would reign again.
The local nobility (be they Arab, Turk or Berber) found themselves in an increasingly difficult position. The sheiks and emirs had accepted vassalisation to retain their position and wealth, but now found themselves ruling a hostile populace. They were able to avoid some of the incidental offence that a Greek count would have caused, but became figures of popular hatred once they began to convert to Orthodox Christianity. Sheiks became counts, and took on European ways, which began to spread down to the local Minor Nobility as well. They became increasingly divorced from their Muslim subjects, and increasingly reliant on their Christian neighbours.
The Church and the Peasantry
The Orthodox Church had an overwhelmingly favourable view of King Leofric and therefore of the Uffasons as a dynasty. Islam had been driven back, churches built and new areas opened up for missionary activity. It was no surprise that they had beatified him on his death, nor that they agreed to King Slavek’s request to elevate him swiftly to sainthood as Saint Leofric of Thessalonike.
The Catholic Church within the Republic gave the Uffasons their guarded support. No attempt had been made to force them to renounce Rome or to interfere on doctrinal matters, and they were not really losing any believers to Orthodox missionaries.
Both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches told the Peasantry to “render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s” and the Peasantry generally did as they were told. The only real exceptions were when they were led into revolt by ambitious noblemen. These rebellions were rarely in the peasants’ interests, as it was their villages that got looted and their sons who were cut down in the melee. Nobles tended to come through these rebellions unscathed, protected by expensive walls and armour.
The Burghers
For the Burghers of the Republic’s towns and cities the Republic was viewed as a complete success, and this success was credited solely to King Leofric. He had ensured the Republic’s Assembly (where they were represented) was strong enough to serve as a counterweight to the aristocratic Senate. This freed them from the worst abuses of their local nobles or the central Government, and protected them from arbitrary taxation. They had also seen King Leofric go to war to reopen their most prized trade routes.
They had grown more prosperous than they had been in generations, and were overwhelmingly loyal to the Royal Family. The Uffasons were (quite rightly) seen as their protectors from foes inside and outside the Republic.
The Minor Nobility
The tale of the Minor Nobility under King Leofric really has three parts.
Firstly there are the indigenous Minor Nobles of Europe – Greeks, Italians, Serbs, Bulgars. These were largely keeping alive their way of life as it was before the Uffason’s, under the overlordship of their own High Nobility. Yet even here there were changes. They faced Burghers who were wealthier and more confident than before. More likely to stand up for their town’s rights, and appeal all the way to the Republic’s Assembly if threatened with force. These indigenous Minor Nobles were not natural supporters of the Uffasons.
Secondly there were the Arab, Turkish and Berber Minor Nobles of the new domains. The influence of these was severely weakened during the conflicts that lead to their masters being vassalised. Many were killed, and even more went into exile to avoid being ruled by infidels. Those who remained tended to be either grizzled old men, widows, children, and those who were prepared to put their pragmatism ahead of their faith. These were not particularly loyal to the Republic, but not reckless enough to cause trouble.
Thirdly there were the Helleno-Varangian Minor Nobles. By now these were an even more mixed bag than they had been even at the start of Leofric’s reign. The largest group of Helleno-Varangians were those born within the Republic. They boasted of their English or Scandinavian ancestry, but this was a rather small branch of their family tree. They continued to speak Greek sprinkled to Saxon loan-words, and retained just enough distinctiveness in dress and behaviour to stand out from the ordinary Greeks. A smaller group were first generation immigrants who had arrived in the Republic and been taken on by High Nobles eager to increase the number of huscarls at their command. These tended to marry into the Helleno-Varangian community. By this point the greatest number of incomers were Orthodox Russians displaced by the growth of the pagan Republic of Vyatichs. With their longstanding Scandinavian links they adapted rather well to Helleno-Varangian life.
The Helleno-Varangian Minor Nobility that had developed under the Uffasons and was built around the territorial expansion that the Uffasons had delivered. In a Helleno-Varangian household younger sons were not sent to join the clergy or learn a trade. They were trained to fight from an early age, with the expectation that they would enter the warband of some earl or count and eventually be rewarded with an estate of their own. The landless young huscarl usually ended up as a prosperous thegn (gentleman) or went to an early grave.
It was mostly these young men who filled the gap left by the departure of much of the local Minor Nobility in the Republic’s new Muslim provinces. Their skill at arms and willingness to use force (where needed) propped up the rule of the vassalised sheiks, tying the new provinces closer to the Republic.
The High Nobility
For information about the High Nobility we can once again turn to Aldwulfson’s Peerage. Sadly none of the copies from 1162 survive, but my father obtained a copy from 1165, which still gives us a good impression of the peerage at the time.
The first thing we notice is that the peerage has become more stratified during King Leofric’s reign. The title of prince or duke can still be used virtually interchangeably, but moving down to the peerage’s lower tier there are three fixed titles:
• A man can only call himself an
earl if his title has been created by the King through a grant of land from the Royal demesne.
• A man can only call himself a
count if his title has been specifically confirmed by the King. Usually this happens through vassalisation in war.
• Those who have received their title from a prince or duke (rather than the King) can only call themselves a
viscount.
A viscount may have all the power and money of an earl, but will always rank behind him in the order of precedence, and his title will make this plain for all to see.
The second thing we see is that the peerage has been rocked by a couple of major inheritances. The Doukas family (descended from the last Christian Emperor of Byzantium) have inherited the Principality of Achaea from the Kourtikes family. A cadet branch of the Iasites family (Princes of Athens) have inherited the Principality of Karvuna from the (Bulgarian) Balik family. These gains might not garner the glory of conquest, but the wealth they bring is just as real.
Turning to the culture of the High Nobility we can see a great degree of diversity. Greek culture (including its bastard Helleno-Varangian offspring) covers 51% of the peers, but the peerage is increasingly diverse in its composition. Back in 1124 Greek & Helleno-Varangians made up 79% of the peerage, so the drop to 51% in 1165 was a dramatic change.
By the end of King Leofric’s reign the political debate had formed around three main positions. These were not political parties in the modern sense, but rather groups of individuals who shared a common perspective.
1. The Royalists. These were the people who supported the Dictatorship turning into a hereditary position passed from father to son within the Uffason family. Its supporters were mainly drawn from the Uffason family and the new Arab peers. The latter regarded an Uffason monarch as providing protection from the land-hungry Greeks. It is a little ironic that they feared replacement by Greek nobles, while busily creating estates for their new Helleno-Varangian retainers.
2. The Oligarchists. These believed the basic structure of the Republic was sound, but that the Dictator should be elected for life by the Senate. In practice this would mean the Dictator was always likely to be a prince from one of the Republic’s most important families. Unsurprisingly then, the supporters of this faction tended to be peers from the great families of the Republic (Greeks, Serbs and Bulgars).
3. The Constitutionalists. These agued for the letter of the constitution, i.e. that the Dictatorship was an emergency position and should now be removed. The Republic should instead be headed by a pair of consuls elected by the Senate AND the Assembly. This faction was supported mainly by lower peers (earls and counts) from Europe who were not vassals of any prince, being bound only by their vows to King Leofric. Following the constitution would give them a chance for personal advancement, as it would emasculate the Uffasons and the Princes.
We can also see how much more secure the Uffason’s hold on power was by 1165 than in 1124. In 1124 the factions that supported keeping an Uffason as Dictator could only command the support of 27% of the nobility (and even that support was divided between supporters of King Leofric’s two potential heirs). By 1165, their supporters (the Royalist faction) had the support of 61% of peers.
The big losers in this period of stability were the Greek and Serbian princes. They had seen new nobles (who were natural supporters of the Crown) join the senate, and had also lost the support of many earls and counts to the Constitutionalist faction. They had dropped from controlling 67% of the Senate to only 18%.
If King Leofric could generally count on the willing support of the Senate and Assembly, he could also call on a significant amount of raw power if required. The Crown and the Minor Royals control 35% of the provinces (and soldiers) in the Republic. A further 10% was controlled by the Church and ennobled courtiers, who were overwhelmingly likely to follow the Crown. Anyone trying to seize control of the Republic by force would need almost unanimous support from the remainder of the aristocracy, and that was incredibly unlikely while the Greeks continued to look down on the other peers.