| Abstrakt: |
Between the eighth and the twelfth century, several kings on the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula repeatedly referred to themselves as imperator or were called so by others. This paper compares the imperial titles used in royal charters and asks what the medieval terms imperium or imperator meant to contemporaries. Indeed, many Anglo-Saxon and Spanish royal charters reveal which ideas rulers or their scribes connected with imperial titles. This paper presents four major patterns of explanation for these exalted royal titles: Power over people, over territories, over other rulers, and over different religions. Thus, the use of imperial titles does not indicate sophisticated concepts of imperial rule, but rather highlights the increased power of individual successful rulers. This interpretation ties in with the contemporary "name theory" common in Carolingian sources in the 9th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
