Although some writings by Alcuin during the reign of Charles the Great already bear some essential features of the Mirrors for Princes, the first flourishing of the genre is usually dated to the ninth century, in the context of Car-olingian courts. Scholars have rightly pointed out that some authors of this century draw on previous works, such as the already mentioned De duodecim abusivis seculi. Nevertheless, Smaragd of Saint Mihiel’s Via regia (813), Jonas of Orleans’ De institutione regia (831), Sedulius Scottus’ De rectoribus christianis (855-859), together with some works by Hincmar of Reims’ (806-882) build up the first noteworthy body of texts explicitly devoted to the moral instruction of the ruler. A common feature of such treatises is the focus on the personal Christian virtues of the sovereign. They represent therefore an important source for the history of virtue ethics in the early Middle Ages, since authors such as Smaragd are persuaded that the ruler should possess the same virtues as other Christians, obviously at the highest level. A striking feature of Smaragd’s mirror, is that it overlaps in part the Diadema monachorum (a sort of manual for monks) of the same author. From this point of view, Carolingian Mirrors for Princes can be regarded as a source for the ethical doctrines of the period, which are in turn heavily influenced by the monastic background of their authors.
From the point of view of the history of political thought, such ‘‘mirrors’’ share the implicit assumption that the well-being of the kingdom depends almost exclusively on the moral righteousness of the ruler. As far as the relationship between the secular rulers and religious authority is concerned, the authors of such ‘‘mirrors’’ consider the king or the emperor as the highest authority of a community that is temporal and spiritual at the same time. Sacerdotium and regnum are conceived of as integral parts of a whole. Sedulius Scottus (De rectoribus christianis) defines the temporal ruler as God’s vicar in his church. Notwithstanding this, as Jurgen Miethke has pointed out, authors such as Jonas of Orleans, writing in the troubled period of Louis the Pious’ empire, try to draw at least some boundaries dividing the sphere belonging to the spiritual power (mainly understood as the power of bishops) from temporal jurisdiction, without excluding however, the possibility of interference. In case of necessity, for example, the temporal ruler is allowed to have recourse to church goods, but on the other hand, he should submit to the judgment of the bishop when he fails to fulfill his duties.
World History
