Daily tasks of royalty

[elmenora]

Hey, fellow detailers

Comments

[stormwreath]

Something to bear in mind is that in ancient times monarchs were often expected to travel around a great deal. This let them oversee their local officials and governors, and impress them with the awe and majesty of the King's Army so they weren't tempted to revolt. :-) This custom also had the practical benefit of spreading the financial burden of supporting the royal household around the countryside - though that would be more important in a mostly rural nation (like mediaeval Europe) than a more urbanised one.

Being a war leader was also generally considered a primary duty of monarchs, who were expected to lead their armies personally. The other main duty was 'holding court' - and note that the modern word 'court' means both a king's household and a place where justice was dispensed. in ancient times they were the same thing. Most royal justice can probably be thought of as closer to arbitration: if two of the King' powerful subjects had a dispute, they'd turn to him to resolve it; and in turn he'd have to consider both the law, precedent, and practical politics.

[elmenora]

Excellent, that actually makes the story go a little smoother. I won't have to find excuses for him to be in the right places... he'll just be passing through on regular business.

[marycatelli]

This was known as going on progress -- the modern meaning in fact stems from it.

[thelilyqueen]

It spread the burden of the mess of so many people at court as well... while the monarch and rest of the court were away, a royal residence would sometimes get a more in-depth cleaning, waste like food scraps (wherever it got shoved off to) would get a chance to decay down a bit, etc.