The Daily Life of a Medieval King

Summary

Have you wondered what a medieval king did on a typical day? Thanks to Christine de Pizan, we have an account of what daily life was like for King Charles V of France. Around the year 1404, Christine de Pizan completed her work, Livre des faits et bonnes mœurs du sage roy Charles V. It was both a biography of the French king who reigned from 1364 to 1380 and a guide to how an ideal monarch should live and rule. Christine had a good vantage point to tell this story. Her father, Tommaso di Pizano, was a personal physician and astrologer at Charles’s court, so one can assume she was sometimes present at court herself. Moreover, in later years she was able to consult other men and women who had served the king, including his chamberlain and valet. Their insights, combined with her observations, offered Christine a unique view into the habits and routines of the monarch. Morning Routine and Royal Justice Christine’s account of Charles’s daily life begins with him rising from bed in the morning, typically between six and seven o’clock. After saying a prayer, the king would chat and joke with his servants. She writes: When he had been combed, dressed, and outfitted according to the demands of the day’s programme, his chaplain, a distinguished person and honourable priest, brought him his breviary and helped him to say his hours, according to the canonical day of the calendar. Around eight o’clock he would go to mass, which was celebrated each day with glorious, solemn singing. After mass had finished, Charles would step outside the chapel and into his courtyard, where members of the public gathered to seek his help. Christine notes: As he came out of the chapel, all sorts of people, rich or poor, ladies or maidens, widows or others who had problems, could make their petitions to him and he very kindly would pause to listen to their supplications, responding charitably to those that were reasonable or piteous. More doubtful cases he turned over to some master of requests to...