Book of Medb hErenn

 
Throughout the legendary Iron Age in Ireland, kingship was very different from what it would become in post-Roman Britain or Medieval Europe. Though it began to change into a more absolute monarchy during the Christian Era, it wasn't until the invasion of the Anglo-Normans in the twelfth century that true European-style kingship was introduced.

Until then, kings were essentially glorified clan or tribal chieftains, even those who ruled minor kingdoms and whole provinces. This is because ultimate political authority rested not with the warrior elite, but with the clan or tribe as a whole. While only a warrior could be chief, a chiefship was not dynastic, and often a chief did not rule for life. Instead, the clan or tribe elected its chief at least once a year, and either reaffirmed their decision the next year or selected a new chief. As such, a chief could rule only with the consent of the clan or tribe, and he would lose his rule if he lost the support of the people.

This was true even of the kingdom and provincial kings. Each kingdom was a collection of tribes and clans, with one tribe paramount over the others. The chief of that tribe became the king of the kingdom, but his rule derived not only from his own tribe, but also from the consent of the other tribes as well. If the other tribes became discontent with his rule, and his tribe did not choose a new king, they could depose him and select another tribal chief to be king, thereby making his tribe paramount. Provincial kings ruled with the consent of the other clan and tribal chiefs and kings rather than that of the tribes themselves, but it amounted to the same thing.

Politically, this meant that the chiefs and kings were not absolute rulers. They could command only their own tribes, yet even so the tribes could depose their kings at will. Otherwise they ruled by example and suggestion and respect. In a crisis they could take personal command, yet no tribal member or subordinate chief was required to obey their orders. As such, it was not unusual for a king to take the field with little more than his personal retinue, but as king he had the resources and authority to create as large a force as he could maintain. Otherwise, a king would have to persuade his subordinates to join him, usually by bribing them with a promise of rich booty. Of course, the subordinate chiefs would have to do the same thing with their clan or tribal warriors, so it was an expected part of society. But considering that booty was the right of every warrior, and the warrior code demanded they participate in war, it generally wasn't difficult to recruit soldiers for battle. Even so, there was nothing to prevent warriors, clans, tribes, kingdoms, or even whole provinces from opting out and staying home, if they felt it was to their advantage.

In essence, Iron Age Irish kingship was a form of charismatic leadership, especially in the modern sense of the king using his personality and powers of persuasion to convince others to obey him. Often, kings were inaugurated in religious ceremonies that required ritual marriage to or mating with a local fertility or sovereignty goddess, thereby not only endowing them with divine blessings, but also demonstrating their own prowess at stimulating tribal prosperity. Then too, if a crisis occurred that the king could not deal with, he risked being sacrificed to appease the bloodthirsty Irish gods.

More importantly, however, Irish kings were perceived as servants of the tribe and its members, as opposed to the Medieval concept of the people being servants of the king. The duty of the king was to protect the tribe, its land, and its wealth; to insure justice and keep the peace; and to increase the tribe's possessions and power. He could take no more than his fair share of booty; in fact, he was expected to sacrifice his own wealth to provide largess to his tribe. Unlike Medieval kings, he did not create laws — the tribe as a whole was responsible for that — nor was he above the law; in fact, he was required to see that the laws were fairly applied to everyone. And he was required to protect the slaves, squatters, and other dependents who lived on tribal land but were not themselves members of the tribe.