In medieval Europe the institution of pilgrimage was a big business. Towns along the pilgrimage route made money provisioning the pilgrims, while the actual holy site itself could become very wealthy on the donations of pilgrims. These donations would then be used to embellish the structures...
Did the Pope ever 'groom' a would-be Pretender to topple a specific foe, with prepared theological justifications for supporting the Pretender and delegitimizing the sitting monarch? Once installed, what would this 'client' be expected to offer the Papacy as payback for their support?
I think perhaps by the later middle ages, 1400-1500, in England at least, evidence for class 'snobbery' becomes more apparent. I think in the Paston letters one writer complains about basically crass 'new money' while the sermons of the day constantly stressed the need to obey one's betters and...
Very interesting. I always thought of medieval Europe as being a place of incredible snobbery, where nobles desperately hid any peasant ancestry. Why do you think Bohemian and Polish royalty emphasized their commoner roots?
Any ideas which Biblical stories/passages a clergyman might use to demonstrate that indeed the former ruler was not worthy and fell from his seat by the hand of God? What is the Papacy typically doing during the early days of a usurper tenure?
As best I understand, in medieval Europe the social hierarchy from king to peasant was thought to be a worldly reflection of the hierarchy of Heaven. To attempt to rise above your station would have been considered the cardinal sin of Vanity (Pride). So how would an archbishop, both at the...
As far as I know, maintenance of Roman roads in western Europe virtual ceased after the disappearance of the empire, especially in Britain. What would it take to maintain at least sections of the road network and which sections would provide the best return on investment? Once the knowledge of...
Does anyone think that the Lombards and Byzantines might go to war over the control of Rome and the Papacy? Which side has the advantage in this conflict militarily and which third powers (Caliphate?) might expand at the expense of either combatant if the war drags on? If the Lombards win a...
Assuming France is partitioned in the wake of Charlemagne' early death, what are some likely outcomes for these Christian entities next to pagan Saxons plus a possible 'Elbean Slav-Bohemia' tribal union. Without a unified France to aid them do they fall to their pagan neighbors, unite into one...
Without a strong Papacy to enforce orthodoxy, might we see the appearance of more 'heresies', particularly those that support the aspirations of local rulers of this more divided Europe?
Without this revival of classical learning, perhaps we would see a further divergence of Ecclesiastical...
This is true OTL, but I'm looking at this through the lens of an ATL in which Kievan Rus expands to the border of Prussian territory, which you stated was not impossible since OTL the Rus managed to subjugate the Lithuanians. If Kievan Rus can stay in the Baltic long enough for repeated missions...
Why would the missions have to be Catholic? Was there no tradition of hagiography in the eastern Orthodox church that could be transmitted along with literacy itself to the Prussians? I would expect there to be a certain number of Prussian martyrs who eventually become canonized in the Orthodox...
Do you see this Bohemian power Christianizing relatively quickly or do you see it remaining pagan for perhaps a couple of centuries longer? Were the Avars in an expansionist phase just prior to the Frankish conquest? In any case, how does a surviving Avar Khaganate affect the prospects of...
Any idea what the likely lines of partition would be? If Asturias falls would that result in a unified Muslim Iberia that dominates the western Mediterranean, or is it more likely to fall prey to factionalism that perhaps sees a partitioning of Iberia that mirrors that of France?
Let's assume that the Franks suffer a Teutoburg Forest level defeat during the First Saxon War and Charlemagne is killed. Within France, who inherits the kingdom and how is the balance of power shifted between the king and his vassals in the wake of such a disaster? How long before we see a...