Sacral King
In many historical societies, the position of kingship carries a sacral meaning, that is, it is identical with that of a high priest and of judge. The concept of theocracy is related, although a sacred king need not necessarily rule through his religious authority; rather, the temporal position itself has a religious significance.
Germanic kingship refers to the customs and practices surrounding kings among the pagan Germanic tribes of the Migration period (circa AD 300-700) and the kingdoms of the Early Middle Ages (circa AD 700-1000). The title of king (Proto-Germanic:*kuningaz) is in origin that of the leader elected as sacral and military leader from out of a noble family, usually considered of divine ancestry, in the pagan period.
The Germanic monarchies were originally pagan, but their contact, during the Völkerwanderung or Migration Period, with the Roman Empire and the Christian Church greatly altered their structure and developed into the feudal monarchy of the High Middle Ages.
The term “barbarian monarchy” is sometimes used in the context of those Germanic rulers that after AD 476 and during the 6th century ruled territories formerly part of the Western Roman Empire, especially the Barbarian kings of Italy. In the same context, Germanic law is also termed leges barbarorum ”barbarian law” etc.
Election of a King at “The Stones Of Mora” by Olaus Magnus
The Germanic king originally had three main functions:
- To serve as judge during the popular assemblies.
- To serve as a priest during the sacrifices.
- To serve as a military leader during wars.
The office was received hereditarily, but a new king required the consent of the people before assuming the throne. All sons of the king had the right to claim the throne, which often led to co-rulership (diarchy) where two brothers were elected kings at the same time. This evolved into the territories being considered the hereditary property of the kings, patrimonies, a system which fueled feudal wars, because the kings could claim ownership of lands beyond their de facto rule.
As a sort of pagan high priest, the king often claimed descent from some deity. In the Scandinavian nations, he administered blóts at important cult sites, such as the Temple at Uppsala. Refusal to administer the blóts could lead to the king losing power (see Haakon the Good and Anund Gårdske).
According to the testimony of Tacitus (Germania), the early Germanic peoples had an elective monarchy already in the 1st century.
“They choose their kings by birth, their generals for merit. These kings have not unlimited or arbitrary power, and the generals do more by example than by authority.
The notion has prehistoric roots and is found worldwide, on Java as in sub-Saharan Africa, with shaman-kings credited with rain-making and assuring fertility and good fortune. On the other hand, the king might also be designated to suffer and atone for his people, meaning that the sacral king could be the pre-ordained victim of a human sacrifice, either regularly killed at the end of his term in the position, or sacrificed in times of crisis (e.g. Domalde).
Among the Ashanti, a new king was flogged before being enthroned.
From the Bronze Age Near East, enthronement and anointment of a monarch is a central religious ritual, reflected in the titles Messiah or Christwhich became separated from worldly kingship. Thus, Sargon of Akkad described himself as “deputy of Ishtar”, just as the Pope is considered the “Vicar of Christ”.
The king is styled as a shepherd from earliest times, e.g., the term was applied to Sumerian princes such as Lugalbanda in the 3rd millennium BC. The image of the shepherd combines the themes of leadership and the responsibility to supply food and protection as well as superiority.
As the mediator between the people and the divine, the sacral king was credited with special wisdom (e.g. Solomon) or vision (oneiromancy).
Examples
- Pharaoh
- Imperial cult
- Kingdom of Israel
- there is evidence for sacral kingship in Proto-Indo-European society
- High King of Ireland
- Germanic monarchy
- Shah
- King of Rome
- Rex Sacrorum
- Pontifex Maximus
- Roman triumph, according to legend first enacted by Romulus
- Augustus
- Holy Roman Emperor
- The temporal power of the Papacy
- Khagan (Ashina)
- Mikado
- Luba Kingdom
Sacral kingship was carried into the Middle Ages by considering kings installed by the grace of god
- Capetian Miracle
- Royal touch, supernatural powers attributed to the Kings of England and France
- The Hungarian House of Árpád (known during the Medieval Times as the dynasty of the Holy Kings)
Dan Halloran performs a ceremony with other members of his faith.
Dan Halloran from his Paganspace Web page.
![Last Heathen king of Sweden
Sweyn (Swedish: Blot-Sven, Sweyn the Sacrificer or the Blood Swain) was a Swedish king c. 1080, who replaced his Christian brother-in-law Inge as King of Sweden, when Inge had refused to administer the blóts (pagan sacrifices) at the Temple at Uppsala. There is no mention of Sweyn in the regnal list of the Westrogothic law, which suggests that his rule did not reachVästergötland. According to Swedish historian Adolf Schück he was probably the same person as Håkan the Red and was called the Blood Swain (a swain who was willing to perform the blood rites) as an epithet rather than a personal name.
The Norsta Runestone (U 861) on the drive of Wik Castle outsideUppsala was probably made by Sweyn and his family, as it mentions two people called Sweyn and Møy. It is the only existing mention of a Møy (“maiden”) besides the mention of Sweyn’s sister Mær (the Old Icelandic form of Møy) in Hervarar saga, and it is contemporary with Sweyn[1]
The earliest source that deals with Blot-Sweyn’s coming to power is the Icelandic legendary saga Hervarar saga:
“King Ingi married a woman called Mær who had a brother called Svein. King Ingi liked Svein better than any other man, and Svein became thereby the greatest man in Sweden.[3]”
However, Inge did not permit the people to follow the old ways, unlike his father Stenkil. The Swedes reacted strongly and asked Inge to either comply with the old traditions or abdicate. When Inge proclaimed that he would not abandon Christianity, the people pelted him with stones and chased him away. This was the opportunity for Sweyn to assume power, and the account provided by Hervarar saga concerning his inauguration contains a rare description of the ancient Indo-European ritual of horse sacrifice:
“Svein, the King’s brother-in-law, remained behind in the assembly, and offered the Swedes to do sacrifices on their behalf if they would give him the Kingdom. They all agreed to accept Svein’s offer, and he was then recognized as King over all Sweden. A horse was then brought to the assembly and hewn in pieces and cut up for eating, and the sacred tree was smeared with blood. Then all the Swedes abandoned Christianity, and sacrifices started again. They drove King Ingi away; and he went intoVestergötland.[3]According to Hervarar saga, Sweyn’s rule was not to last. Before long, the Christian Inge decided to kill the Pagan Sweyn in a less than honourable way:
Svein the Sacrificer was King of Sweden for three years. King Ingi set off with his retinue and some of his followers, though it was but as small force. He then rode eastwards by Småland and into Östergötlandand then into Sweden. He rode both day and night, and came upon Svein suddenly in the early morning. They caught him in his house and set it on fire and burned the band of men who were within. There was a baron called Thjof who was burnt inside. He had been previously in the retinue of Svein the Sacrificer. Svein himself left the house, but was slain immediately.
It is possible that Ingi was not immediately accepted by the stubbornly pagan Swedes of Uppland. The 13th century historian Snorri Sturlusson wrote in the Heimskringla that Blót-Sweyn had a pagan successor who continued the sacrifices (Eirik Arsale):
“At that time there were many people all around in the Swedish dominions who were heathens, and many were bad Christians; for there were some of the kings who renounced Christianity, and continued heathen sacrifices, as Blotsvein, and afterwards Eirik Arsale, had done.[6]”
Blot-Sweyn is believed to have been the father of Eric of Good Harvests (Eirik Arsale). This Eric is mentioned by a plausible source as the father of Sverker the Elder, and so Blot-Sweyn could be the progenitor of theHouse of Sverker.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lb7e6rUzRf1qer9b0o1_500.jpg)
