KINGS CONCENTRATE WEALTH, THEN MAKE IT CIRCULATE

THEY CONTROL COMMERCE
AND DISTRIBUTE ITS GAINS 

• In 13th-century Afghanistan

Marco Polo negociates rubies with a king,

but he avoids a "wild" place 

where he cannot trade
because there is no ruler

Internet, no source named
-- The voyage of Marco Polo by V. Chklovski, n.d.

• In 19th century Africa...

Ashanti king, Internet, photographer not named

Showing wealth, an aspect of royalty

° The Ashanti suzerain (Ghana) uses weights that are one-third heavier than others and declares that only kings or men of high rank deal with commerce, "as I do." 

° The Mossi ruler (Burkina Faso) has a monopoly. 

° The wives of the Yoruba king (southern Nigeria) wrap their wares in a cloth that lets them be housed and avoid tolls...

-- -- Aubin 445 ; references and a page of examples, n. 42

• In 17th-century France,

the same system on a much larger scale

Louis XIV grants their privileges to the East India Company, 1664, India Company Museum, town of Lorient

Colbert presents members of the Royal Academy of  Sciences to Louis XIV by Henri Testelin, 1667, chateau of Versailles

• Royal control is much more extensive

than usually said:

These details are examples of
clues slipping into accounts

without further comment 

° Monarchs set up state monopolies: Catherine de Medicis initiates silk production a century before Louis IV establishes the famous production of mirrors and tapestries (and more).

° The independent search is under the king's control, indirect (through the guilds) or direct (Louis XIV gives Madame de Montespan, a favorite, three pirate ships to raid the Levant). 

-- ° The king's way: by Françoise Chandeneggor, 1981, 294

But Nicolas Fouquet makes his Brittany fortress a center of Atlantic commerce without informing Louis XIV, hastening his fall. 

° Fouquet's project described:

 Fouquet's trial by Simone Bertière, 2013, 103 (in French)

• Suzerains distribute the wealth

to retain or gain supporters

and maintain the balance between clans,
practices that keep it from being invested 

Thirteenth-century Roman fresco, Internet, source not named

• Such distribution -- or its absence --

can indicate stability or change

° When an Anglo-Saxon chief is called "ring-giver" he is behaving as expected, and his society is probably cohesive.

° When the formula "The Pharaoh gave this" suddenly appears in Egyptian tombs, it may show that he seizes and distributes wealth, which suggests a growing economy. 

° France's Henri IV establishes a much more powerful kingship and amasses treasure at the same time (toward 1600). 

° "The queen is too kind..." is nobles' formula of thanks when Henri's widow, Marie de Médicis, shores up the start of her regency by distributing that treasure. Later she gives royal income to a favori, a sign of growing power. 

"Greedy" kings do not redistribute.

Mention of them usually means that 
their power expands. 

*     *     *

Next,

African kings, prestige and constraint

AFRICAN KINGS, PRESTIGE AND CONSTRAINT

CONTROL OF ECONOMIES
WOULD LEAD RULERS TO EXTEND THEIR POWER,
BUT SYMBOLS OF ROYALTY RESTRAIN THEM

-- On constraints' universality:

The Golden Bough, a study of magic and religion by Sir James Frazer, 1890

 • Isolation

 Narrative of travels and discoveries in northern and central Africa in 1821, 1822, 1823
by Captain Hugh Clapperton, London, 1826
.

"The Sultan of Bornu receives the mission"

The barrier emphasizes the aura of the sultan of Bornu (in Northern Nigeria), while separating him. In practice, his entourage filters.

• Headdresses

"Those whose turbans seemed the most carefully arranged were obliged... to lean their heads to one side... that of the sultan was largest of all."

-- Clapperton, following the image above

  

Same idea 

Hapi IV, king of Bana (Cameroon) in Rois d'Afrique by Daniel Lainé, 1991

Persian ruler, Internet, no source given

• Obesity, 

prestigious when food is scarce

"Large bellies... are indispensable attributes for whoever serves the court of Bornu. Those whom nature has not favored... compensate... with a quantity of stuffing that when they are on horseback, give their bellies the singular appearance of hanging over the saddle." 

"His death was attributed to his extreme corpulence... his exhausted horse refused to go on...

-- Clapperton, 76-77  

• Being in the heart of battle but not allowed to fight --

exploits would reinforce them

That king who "according to custom was not armed, sat down under a tree surrounded by his eunuchs... he calmly awaited his death... and was pierced by a hundred spears." 

 -- Same (bold added)

In Darfur, the army surrounds the ruler "as a ring surrounds the finger." When a king enters a fight nevertheless, his vassals abandon him and say, "All we ask is that you ride with us in the center of the army. We do the fighting..."

They strangle him.

 -- Al-Tunisi, Voyage to Darfur, 1845, 79 (bold added)

 • Ritual

Though known for his energy, king Gelele of Dahomey is so exhausted after eight hours of parading in noise and dust that he cancels the rest of the festivities.  

-- Richard Burton, A visit to Gelele, king of Dahomey (1864), 1966: 186-7

    

"Kings do not travel as quickly as ordinary men
and I must convey you as slowly as possible."  

-- John and Richard Lander, 257

 *     *     *

Next,
Another brake, "absurd" succession practices

ANOTHER BRAKE: "ABSURD" SUCCESSION PRACTICES...

TO PREVENT THE RISE OF POWERFUL DYNASTIES,
 STOP THE TRANSMISSION OF WEALTH

-- "Absurd:" 
Anne Raffenel, Voyage en Afrique occidentale, 1846, 280

• Throughout Africa until about 1800
kings cannot leave their wealth to sons,
which encourages them to distribute it
and keeps monarchies weak. 

Succession practices differ,
but have the same effect 

° Succession goes from brother to brother, and since a "vicious principle" extends the term to cousins, it is "impossible that he who governs not be of an advanced age" (on the Senegal and Middle Niger).

-- Raffenel

° Reigns last only two years (in Futa Toro, Senegal)

° Succession struggles disperse treasure (in Borgu, Nigeria).

° When a local chief dies his wives, slaves and horses are sent to his superior (in Mossi, Burkina Faso).

° A ruler's death brings generalized pillaging (in Bonduku and Anno, Ivory Coast).

° A king's riches are buried with him (in Ashanti, Ghana).

° A ruler's favorite wife destroys all he owns and then takes poison herself (in Oyo, Nigeria),

 -- Lander tells of the wife of an Oyo chief who tries to survive: 1832, I, 112

For the other references: Aubin, 473-4, n.148-156

 • Elsewhere? 

The death of Sardonopolus by Eugene Delacroix, 1827, Louvre

An Assyrian king has all his property destroyed, including horses, wives and concubines, before committing suicide.

That Old Testament drama may -- or may not -- be connected with succession. But it is probably a clue to underlying change of some kind, because such stories are rarely remembered unless they point so something deeper.   

That there be no study
of the tie between succession practices 
and the rise of strong kingship in Europe
seems impossible. 

But most historians seem unaware
of the interest of such a question. 

*     *     *
 
Next,
For kings of medieval Europe, comparable containment

FOR KINGS OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE, COMPARABLE CONTAINMENT

THEY TOO MAKE RICHES CIRCULATE 
AND THEY TOO ARE KEPT IN CHECK

• Royal entries, symbols of permanence

Standing or seated,

their image is static 

• Crowns and heavy robes keep them from moving. 
Holding emblems of power,
they cannot use their hands 

All photos from the Internet unless otherwise said

Alphonso X, Castille

 British Museum

Saint-Jean d'Acre 

Westminster Abbey

 Richard II, England

Bible cover

  Louis IX and Blanche de Castille, France

Altarpiece of Ghent by Jan van Eyck, 1532

Ramsay Rawson

Venice

• Western iconography's likely origin:
Crusaders' discovery of the Byzantine Jesus

• The concept is universal  

In Persia, different angle, same idea

• But in 16th-century Europe...

Tapestry (detail), Renaissance Museum

 King David, Brussels, about 1520

He is not dressed for combat.

Vassals surround him so he cannot fight, as in parts of the African savannah.

Yet he's on horseback.

Riding a horse implies action:
To be continued.

*     *     * 

Next,
Commercial peoples' highlighted subordination

COMMERCIAL PEOPLES' HIGHLIGHTED SUBORDINATION

KINGS SUBJUGATE MONEY PROFESSIONALS

In Africa,

traders have no provisions, guides

or contact with the population

until the king approves them

Eighteenth-century drawing of traders in the kingdom of Kongo / Internet, no source given

Explorers are associated with traders.

Until it has seen the Bornu ruler (Northern Nigeria) a British mission is completely isolated, but then "our hut was filled with so many visitors that we could take no rest and the heat was unbearable."

In Darfur, the merchant W.G. Browne finds his letters of recommendation useless until he has seen the Sultan, "for until then no one knew how to treat me." 

In Bundu (Senegal) the explorer Raffenel leaves the capital without the king's permission and cannot even obtain water... 

Bornu:
 Captain Hugh Clapperton, 1826
Other citations : Aubin 447, n. 45

• They favor vulnerable outsiders

to keep indigeous rivals from emerging 

° In animist or Christian Africa,

kings impose Muslim merchants

 In turn-of-the-18th-century Ashanti (Ghana) the animist ruler welcomes Muslim traders but confiscates the gold of those who are local. 

At about the same time, the king of Christian Shoa (Ethiopia) lets Muslims trade in goods that he monopolizes, asks few taxes and favors them in disputes.  

-- Aubin 448, n. 46

 ° In early medieval Europe,

Jews cannot own land 

and Christians cannot trade 

The ruler of Luxembourg grants Jews a charter to trade, about 1340 / Internet, no source given

The king is granting trading rights to Jews, not Christians.

• When the economy grows 
Christian merchants replace Jews,

but stronger power contains them

  
° The Church

The annual fair at Saint-Denis (detail), basilica publication

At the Saint-Denis fair, the abbot dominates the traders and his benediction is an act of authority.

 ° Tougher monarchy 

Both photos, Claude Abron

Louis XIV's  royal gates loom over trade routes (the Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin gates, 1674).

The inscription announces that the merchants of Paris have financed both monuments, "in homage to the great king."

 Foreshadowing --
under the obligatory praise 
ascendant French merchants are stating, 

 "We are here!"

End of this chapter.

*      *      * 

Next chapter,

III, 2.
Ritualized warfare, another barrier to growth