In the medieval period, as throughout our world today, the use and abuse of power was a subject of intense discussion, inspiring works of art that expose the divide between political ideals and realities. Royal courts, civic governments, and the Christian church all played a prominent role in the power structures of medieval Europe.
The works of art in this exhibition, drawn from the Getty’s collection, reveal the intersections between power, justice, and tyranny and illustrate the constant struggle between noble aspirations and base human instincts.
POWER
“Blessed, unquestionably, is he who has it in his POWER to do evil, yet does it not.” —Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, 16th century
The Coronation of Pepin (written 1463–1465; illuminated 1467–1472) by Loyset Liédet and Pol FruitThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Since political and religious authorities inherited their positions of power or were appointed by favor, usually for life, they could not be removed from office no matter what level of deceit, mismanagement, or poor leadership they demonstrated.
In Soissons Cathedral in France, Pepin the Short is crowned king of the Franks in 751. Medieval sovereigns such as Pepin believed they had a God-given right to rule. As the highest authority in the land, kings were free to enact whatever policies they chose.
The author of this text, who later became Pope Pius II, wrote about the ever-shifting hold of power among rival parties and within ruling families at European courts. This bloody scene portrays the aftermath of a quest for power between factions. With its gory welter of bodies, the image depicts the inherent dangers of political strife.
Pope Urban VI and the Anti-Pope Clement VII (about 1480–1483) by Master of the Getty FroissartThe J. Paul Getty Museum
This page from a medieval chronicle illustrates the factions created when rival popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon, France, each claimed to be the supreme leader of the Catholic Church.
The Italian Pope Urban VI . . .
. . . and French Anti-Pope Clement VII . . .
. . . are surrounded by their respective supporters, who turn their backs to each other in discord. Neither faction was willing to make the slightest concession: political and diplomatic chaos across Europe ensued. As a result, every level of society faced hardship as well as a loss of faith that leaders would put the people's welfare first.
Initial P: Gillion's Companion Hertan in Disguise Kneeling Before King Fabur (1464) by Lieven van Lathem and David AubertThe J. Paul Getty Museum
The story of Gillion de Trazegnies follows a fictional Christian knight on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem who is captured by Muslim soldiers in northern Africa.
Gillion’s companion Hertan blackens his face and passes himself off as an African jailer. According to the text, Hertan’s disguise fools the sultan, and Gillion easily escapes. Fueled by Christian white supremacy, this account portrays Gillion’s captors as inferior and gullible because of both their religion and their race.
The text and image reassured medieval readers that white men would always outsmart and remain superior to "Moors," as Black Africans are contemptuously referred to in the text.
Orsines Presents a Gift to Alexander and the Execution of Orsines (about 1470 - 1475)The J. Paul Getty Museum
The life of ancient Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great served as a model of both good and bad leadership in medieval courts.
The author of this text tells us that “in order to avoid a bad example,” he changed the gender of Alexander’s influential eunuch lover Bagoas and called the individual Bagoe (the French feminine version of the name).
This account reveals the prejudice of the time against same-sex relationships as well as the misogynistic casting of women as powerful seductresses. This example is one of several from the book that are intended to illustrate Alexander’s immoral behavior. The defeated Persian general Orsines kneels to offer gifts to the ruler but also offends Bagoe.
Bagoe convinces Alexander to execute the commander.
There was, however, no higher power in the minds of most medieval Europeans than the Christian God. The anonymous Christian author of this text wrote that on the last day before the end of time, the earth and sky will burn with intense heat. This final event in a series of global crises caused by human injustice will precede divine judgment of humanity.
Doomsday will begin with rising then receding oceans, followed by sea creatures surfacing and bellowing unintelligibly, waters burning or evaporating in all directions, and plant life secreting blood; all buildings will collapse, the sky will go dark, and great earthquakes will strike.
Humans will speak but fail to comprehend each other, stars will fall from the sky, and the dead will emerge from their graves. Rulers watched for these portents and prepared their souls to meet final judgment.
JUSTICE
“If you come to reign, do that which befits a king, that is, be so just as to deviate in nothing from JUSTICE, whatever may befall you.” —Louis IX, King of France, 13th century
Initial I: Scenes of Secular and Ecclesiastical Justice (about 1170–1180) by UnknownThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Those in power during the Middle Ages were expected to embrace justice, a virtue associated with godly rule. This legal manuscript was authored by Gratian, a teacher at the University of Bologna in the 1100s. The artist organized the illumination to underscore the division of power between secular and religious authorities, a concept Gratian outlined in his text.
A large initial I running the length of the left margin begins the sentence with “In prima parte agitur de iusticia” (In the first part, justice is administered). The upper roundels depict kings with swords dispensing secular justice . . .
. . . while bishops in the lower roundels oversee religious law.
Saint Leonard Liberating a Child from Prison (about 1460) by UnknownThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Holding the broken bars of a prison window in one hand, a compassionate Saint Leonard extends the other hand to free a caged child.
In the margin above, a woman (perhaps the boy’s mother) lifts her hands in an expression of gratitude.
Leonard had earned the right to free prisoners who had been unjustly detained—a privilege otherwise held only by the king.
A Young Nobleman Leaving a Young Woman in the Care of an Abbess (about 1475) by UnknownThe J. Paul Getty Museum
A nobleman presents a young woman to two nuns at the front gate of a convent. The accompanying text, which explains that the knight had sexually assaulted the woman the night before, reflects the biases of the medieval male author, who described the attack in terms that cast blame on the victim.
Since women could be abused by even those in the highest positions, few options for them beyond prayer existed. In this case, the Virgin Mary intervenes and divine retribution strikes the malefactor dead the next day.
TYRANNY
“When government is unjustly exercised by one man who seeks personal profit from his position instead of the good of the community subject to him, such a ruler is called a TYRANT.” —Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Catholic Church, 13th century
Christ Led from Herod to Pilate (about 1525–1530) by Simon BeningThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Whether or not leaders met the lofty expectations for good governance set out for them, hierarchies embedded in society and religion perpetually disenfranchised women, the poor, and people perceived as foreign or different. Tyranny was a vice that could lead to a ruler’s downfall and even divine retribution.
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, looks down on Jesus from the portico of a palace. Pilate initially insisted that Jesus had committed no crime but ultimately gave in to the crowd’s desire to have him crucified.
The artist represented Pilate—the weak leader who played to his base by unjustly condemning the accused to death—as an isolated, corpulent figure dressed in crimson and gold robes.
The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket (early 1460s) by Willem VrelantThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Over a thousand years later, in England, King Henry II found himself with blood on his hands. Unable to control the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, the king complained bitterly. His soldiers interpreted his angry words as an assassination order and acted swiftly.
Thomas Becket bends before an altar just moments before his brutal murder at the hands of a soldier of King Henry II in 1170. Within two years of his death, Becket was canonized as a saint, and his cult spread rapidly across Europe. The king, meanwhile, performed public penance for the violence his words inspired.
For nearly six centuries, Christian rulers aggressively pursued the violent conquest of Muslim kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Feudal laws, such as the ones contained in this manuscript, regulated many of the daily activities of Jews and Muslims in these Christian-ruled territories, restricting and controlling their lives in an often tyrannical manner.
Accompanying a statute for baptism, the Christian rite of initiation is performed on a Black African (referred to as a “moro,” or Moor). Muslims appear as Black and white interchangeably in Iberian art, but the artist here chose to represent the convert as a Black man to emphasize his difference. Religion, not race, conferred one’s rights in the Kingdom of Aragon. The text makes clear that those who converted to Christianity could enjoy certain (restricted) privileges.
Three richly dressed figures stand together in hell, flames licking their feet, in this collection of biographies detailing the fortunes and calamities of famous people. Roman emperors Caligula and Tiberius flank the female figure of Messalina, the wife of the emperor Claudius, as all three discuss their various sins and debate who had perpetrated the worst. The image is a reminder that divine punishment spares no one, not even the most powerful.
Political fortunes in the Middle Ages, much as they remain today, were always subject to change. Winged and blindfolded, the allegorical figure of Fortune uses both hands to turn a wooden wheel. A king sits comfortably on top, momentarily triumphant, but he will soon be crushed when the wheel turns, elevating the man who follows him.
Given the power structures of hereditary monarchy and the Christian Church that supported the idea of a divine and innate right to rule, it was often the case that unelected secular and religious leaders of the medieval period could not be held accountable for poor governance or unfair treatment of their constituents.
In our world today at least some power is held by the people who have the opportunity to influence the direction of their fortunes, rectify instances of tyranny, and uphold fundamental principles of justice.
© 2020 J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles
This presentation complements "Power, Justice, and Tyranny in the Middle Ages," an exhibition organized by the Manuscripts Department at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles ( May 25–August 15, 2021).
To cite these texts, please use: "Power, Justice, and Tyranny in the Middle Ages" published online in 2020, Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
