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ariel-seagull-wings · 1 year

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FICTIONAL CHARACTER ASK: PETER VENKMAN

@thealmightyemprex @goodanswerfoxmonster @filmcityworld1 @amalthea9 @professorlehnsherr-almashy @parxsisburning @angelixgutz @themousefromfantasyland @spengnitzed @bixiebeet @janeb984 @stantzed @thereisnoblogonly-zuul

Favorite Thing About Them: When at its best written and performed, Peter Venkman is a complex, fun character, who starts far from being the more altruistic kind of person and is full of bravado about saying he is more cool and strong than he actually is, but slowly shows a genuinelly brave, inteligent, patient, vulnerable side that not even him could imagine that existed.

Least Favorite Thing About Them: When at its worst written and performed, he becomes a deplorable character who abuses his title of Univerity Professor to seduce female undergrad students to sleep with him, confuses "being charming" with insisting that a woman goes out with him untill she says yes just so he can stop annoying her, and never takes responsability to apologize when endangering his friends's careers, savings and reputation with authorities.

Three Things I Have In Common With Them:

*I have dark brown hair;

*I have an ironic sense of humour;

*I wouldn't like to be constantly covered in slime;

Three Things I Don’t Have In Common With Them:

*I'm not a Doctor in Psychology and Parapsichology;

*I never worked in a Carnival;

*I'm not born in the United States;

Favorite Line:

From the July 1983 Script Draft for Ghostbusters:

“Sorry I’m late, gentlemen. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

“I was doing some very important sleep research and I guess I lost track of the time.”

“Okay! Hey, thank you, Dean Yaeger. Thank you not only for what you’ve contributed to our work in the paranormal, but I think the whole Board of Regents will want to join me in thanking you for your tremendous effort on behalf of all the sciences and departments of this university wich I am so proud to be associated with. And if I was on that Nobel Committee, I think the story would have been a little different in Stockholm last week.”

“Okay. I know what you’re all thinking: “What are those guys doing down there in the basement of Weaver Hall. I heard they sacrificed a lamb down there and made contact with the Devil.” Well, ladies and gentlemen, NOT TRUE. We are three dedicated scientists who worship only one thing - the quest for knowledge wherever it may lead.”

“My colleague Egon Spengler. Mathmatician, theoretical physicist, genius. Even I don’t know what he’s talking about half the time.”

“Dr. Raymond Stantz. “Ray”. Biochemist, electrical engineer. I’m talking about every major corporation -Army- I’m talking about state of the art all the way and a guy who’s willing to gamble on a theory no matter how nutty it may sound to a less far-sighted person.”

“And me, I’m here to tell you, gentlemen, that the funds you have so graciously granted us in the past have been put to good use down in the Paranormal Studies Laboratory.”

“We believe that supernatural manifestations are indicators of energy that exists outside the reality envelope common to most of us. We don’t know what we don’t know, but we do know that things happen in this world that strongly suggest tremendous forces at work on planes of reality that may be steeming with life of their own. And here, ladies and gentlemen, tangible evidence of a realm beyond.”

“For example, here structural damage to a house caused by unknown hyperkinetic forces. Rashes, bites and welts from a case we studied in Northern Quebec. Here, a double exposure of a polaroid photo showing people who were not there. Incredible. Here is a bent spoon. Self-explanatory. Not only do these things exist, but my associates and I are convinced that such events are about to increase to seriously uncomfortable proportions. The questions is... Will we be ready?”

“That depends on what you mean by “seen”.”

“Just last week we went out to study a rockfall.”

“Yeah. Stones and pebbles somehow materialize an fall out of the sky from an untraceable source.”

“Well, we got there after it happened.”

“What you’ve got, Egon?”

“Let me rephrase it for you, Spengler. It was a stupid colloquialism.”

“Okay, how’s this? What the hell is happening?”

“It means the place is haunted.”

“Fuck off, man. I’m a scientist.”

“One last question. Should this turn out to be real, will you grant us with exclusive commercial rights to this phenomena?”

“”Get her?” That was your whole methodology? ‘Get her’?”

“If we ever do this again we’re going to need a new aproach. Jumpin on ‘em isn’t going to make it, Ray.”

“Solid gold.”

“This is a breaktrough. Professional Paranormal Investigations and Eliminations.”

“You know what this could mean to the University? They’ll probably throw out the Engineering Department and turn their building over to us.”

“I trust you’re moving us to a better space somewhere on campus.”

“Ray, I apologize.”

“I guess my confidence in the Regents was misplaced. They did this to Gallileo, too.”

“Ouch. Well, thanks for terminating our grant, Dean Yaeger. I guess now I can call you “Mort”.”

“You’re always so worried about your reputation. We don’t need the University. Einstein did his best stuff while he was working as a patent clerk. They can’t stop progress.”

“Let me tell you, Ray; everything in life happens for a reason. Call it fate, call it luck, Karma, whatever. I think we were destined to get kicked out of there.”

“To go into business for ourselves and make an enormous bundle of cash.”

“He said a pair of psychologists are better than one. And that’s the whole concept here. Doctor Spengler and myself will staff the clinic and Doctor Stantz will take care of administration.”

“That’s it. A Mini Psich. - Med Centre. No overhead and all income.”

“It’s a completely new X-Ray setup we invented.”

“This might do... I don’t know... it just seems kind of “pricey”, don’t you think? We’re trying to keep our costs down. You know how it is when you’re starting a new business.”

“Hi. How’s it going? Fun job, huh? Here’s copies of our advertising. The business ad in the Times, Voice and Post. The Help Wanted item we’re running for our security man... and this is our Yellow Pages quarter page.”

“Got an apointment? Relax. Just kidding. I’m Venkman. What can I do for you? You got a case for us?”

“Hm. You know, Mr. Zeddemore, I sincerely hate to tell you this but I’m afrayed you may be eminently overqualified for this job. The pay is going to be lousy unless we really hit paydirt right away. When we advertised for a security man, we were really talking about some fairly dirty work with some degree of personal risk.”

“We are going to locate ghosts and spirits, trap them with concentrated beams of quantum energy, and remove them from people’s homes, business and places of worship.”

“Are you acusing me of cheating?”

“Spengler! She likes you! A girl likes you. You’re an animal.”

“Hi. I’m Peter Venkman. You have a problem?”

“Come on in. Let’s talk about it.”

“That’s all right. Just try to relax. You want to tell me about it?”

“We’re professionals, Miss Barrett. Anything you say will be strictly confidential. Trust me.”

“Batteries must be dead. Go ahead, Miss Barrett. I’ll just take notes.”

“Damn it! I’m sorry. We’re just getting organized here. Go ahead. I’ll make mental notes.”

“No, no, no! Wait! Here’s pencils. Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“Thank you. Now tell me everything that happened, exactly as you experienced it.”

“There’s nothing there now and I don’t get any significant readings. But that doesn’t mean that what you saw wasn’t real or that it won’t happen again.”

“If it’s any comfort to you, I don’t think you’re crazy.”

“I’m a qualified psychologist. Hysteria was my specialty and you don’t show any of the classic symptoms. I believe that something happened here and I want to do something about it.”

“That’ll be $5,000 for the entrapment plus $500 for proton recharge and storage.”

“Not only do they exist, they’re all over the place! And that’s why we’re offering you this vitally important service to people in the whole tri-state area. We’re available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have the tools and we have the talent. We’re ready for anything.”

“Okay. Let’s start over. I am Peter Venkman.”

“Wrong. Who is Gozer?”

“A scourge, huh? Sounds heavy. You know what I think? I think we ought to get out of here and talk more about this. Are you hungry?”

“You’re going deeper and deeper... You’re completely relaxed, listening to the sound of my voice.”

“Right... waiting for the Minion of Gozer - okay. But I want to talk to Dana now and I want Dana to answer. Dana... can you answer me?”

“You’re having some kind of experience that I don’t yet. It could be a past life intruding in the present. It could be some kind of personality split. Whatever it is, it’s going to make it almost impossible for you to hold a steady job, so we’re going to work on it more tomorrow. For now, I’m going to count backward from ten and when I get to zero you’ll go peacefully to sleep and wake up in eight hours feeling refreshed and relaxed. Okay? 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-zero.”

“Don’t help me, alright?”

“Mr. Mayor, if you will put your trust in us, I absolutely guarantee that we will deal with every single disturbance that happened as a direct result of the explosion, even tough we do not accept responsibility for it in any way, shape or form.”

“Thank you. We like to think we’re number one in the business.”

“Thanks, Pat.”

“Yeah. Tell me about your friend, Vinz.”

“And he’s looking for the Gatekeeper?”

“I know where it is.”

“78th and Riverside. Now we just better hope that Vinz doesn’t find it.”

From the August 05th 1988 Script for Ghostbusters II:

“Hi, we're back, I'm Peter Venkman and I'm chatting with three lovely ladies tonight, each of whom claims to have had sexual relations with alien beings. Now without getting into any of the gory details, let me ask you, Elaine, did you maybe do something, or were you wearing anything that might have given your alien the idea that you were—-you know--available or interested? In other words, did you come on to this creature in any way?”

“Your alien had a room in the Holiday Inn?”

“No, you can't, and I think that's the whole problem with aliens. You just can't trust them. You may get some nice ones occasionally like Starman or E.T., but most of them turn out to be some kind of lizard. Sarah, now you told me your alien never even got out of the spacecraft.”

“Folks, I appreciate you're coming down and waiting for me, but if you have a question or if you want to be on the show you're going to have to call or write. Nice cat, very unusual. I had a bald collie once myself.”

“Would you folks excuse me? I think the girl I'm going to fall madly in love with is waiting for me over there.”

“I hope to God you're waiting for me.”

“Help! Please, somebody help me! Get him off! Quickly! Please! He's gone completely berserk!”

“There's no doubt about it. The kid's cute. Extremely cute. And smelly. You stink! It's just horrible. You are the stinkiest baby I ever smelled.”

“Call me "Peter."”

“Well, no—-I don't know. Nothing that I notice, but I don't really know that much about babies. Why don't you tell me specifically what's bothering you and let's deal with that.”

“You asked for an honest opinion. I'm a psychologist. I'm telling you that in my experience most of the time things like this turn out not to be supernatural.”

“Wait a second! Take it easy, will you? For all I know the kid could be doing back-flips in there when you're not looking. I'm not saying things like that don't happen. But if something is going on, it's not happening now and at the moment I'm not equipped to do anything but take wild guesses about it. I want to help you, but it may take some time and I think you should be prepared to see much more of me in the next few weeks.”

“That's okay. I'll give you a call later and we'll set something up, and you just call me if anything happens or if you just want to talk: or for any reason, really.”

“I don't, honestly. I think you're a really good mother and you're concerned for your baby and I respect that.”

“I have.”

“Excuse me, Dr. Spengler, but I think you miscalculated there. This should be E over D times the coefficient of the cosmological constant divided by two which would be--let me see—- ten to the twenty—third times the speed of light--well, you can figure it out for yourselves.”

“Forget Landau. The man is light years behind in his thinking.”

“That's the point. We need some fresh new ideas in particle physics and that's why I like to help young students such as yourself. I'm the guy who told Einstein everything is relative.”

“Egon, from here on out I'm just going to nod my head and pretend I understand, so go ahead.”

“Well, you seem a little fuzzy on the details but it sounds like a great theory, Egon. I'm very excited. I can't wait to hear more. Now can I ask you something? Would you be interested in consulting on a very unusual paranormal event that I witnessed personally.”

“No, I swear it. Just a consultation. We won't get in any trouble. I promise.”

“You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.”

“Ray, I think Shakespeare said it best: "The man who steals my purse steals nothing--" Egon, what's that quote about the guy whose purse gets stolen: something about his good name or integrity? Forget it. Ray: The point is there are more important things than money.”

“Ray, I was there. A baby carriage took off by itself and rolled about four blocks at very high speed: it accelerated over level ground.”

“What are you going to do, Egon? Knit him a playsuit?”

“Yeah, you would. Mine or the baby's?”

“We're the Pep Boys, Manny, Moe and Jack. Maybe you've heard of us. Listen, if I give you a free subway token would you go away?”

“What the hell's it look like were doing? We're bustin' our asses over here ‘cause some douchebag downtown ain't got nothin' better to do than make idiots like us work late on a Friday night, right?”

“Just how powerful is this psychomagnetic stuff you're talking about?”

“I'm guessing they don't sell these at Radio Shack.”

“What, I gotta draw you a picture? We got three thousand phones out in the Village and about eight million miles of cable to check.”

“I told ya!”

“Gas leak?”

“We want you, Louis.”

“Because we're broke and you owe us a very big favor.”

“No problem. We were arrested at night. And we'll help you prepare the defense. Do you know anyone smarter than these two guys?”

“And I'll talk to a guy I know downtown about bribing the judge.”

“Seems like a pretty open—minded guy, huh?”

“That's right. We may be incompetent but at least we're sincere.”

“This guy doesn't know what he's talking about.”

“Oh yeah? You've got your head jammed so far up your butt you can't tell your ass from your elbow!”

“Maybe they just want to appeal.”

“You know, I think you were right. They don't really exist.”

“Gentlemen, I believe we're back in business.”

“Egon, is this the kind of problem that could wait or do you want to tell us right now?”

“Ray, the old place never looked great. If we're going to talk about starting up again let's at least be realistic. The place was a redecorated rathole, we worked like mules about sixteen hours a day and we ended up broke and in jail.”

“I think you put your finger on it there, Ray. Our liability insurance didn't cover saving the world.”

“Sweet thought, Egon. Couldn't agree more. I'm not saying we shouldn't save the world if it comes down to that. I just think we ought to charge more for it.”

“It's a lot airier than it used to be, isn't it? I think we're talking major skylights here.”

“Janine? Well, that cinches it for me. No way I'd even consider doing this without a qualified receptionist like Janine. What do you think, Spengs? You going to give up that fat teaching paycheck every week and those crazy physics department babes?”

“Okay, how's this sound? We keep it small, we take it slow, we play it safe. Residential hauntings, personal possessions, little stuff only, and strictly limited liability. What do you say?”

“Look, Janine, I know you left a very good position as an office temp and we appreciate your coming back, but you'll have to bear with us while we get things straightened out, okay? The holes will be fixed tomorrow.”

“Yeah, well, we're going for that whole new unisex thing with the bathrooms. Just look the door when you're in there. Where did Ray and Egon go?”

“Okay, I'll be down there. Let me know if we get any calls.”

“Oh, right. They're supposed to come today.”

“Well, I guess that all depends. I think we're going to charge you an arm and a leg. What seems to be the problem?”

“Somebody get the marshmallows. This guy's incredible.”

“Ninety-five bucks! I better like the way they look. Maybe if you cut down on the fabric you wouldn't have to charge so much.”

“It's what we do. Anyway, it all worked out. We're back in business. How's the baby?”

“Yeah, maybe so. I'll keep checking in with you anyway, just to make sure.”

“Do you like ballet?”

“It's a major passion of mine. Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to get tickets and we're going to the ballet, then we're going to a great restaurant for a late supper. What do you think?”

“The babysitter's included. It's part of the deal. I'll call you later. Okay?”

“You know, the girl who danced Giselle was excellent, but I thought the whole production lacked fire.”

“I was just resting my eyes. You don't believe it, test me, go ahead.”

“The story? Okay, well, as you know ballet is very abstract usually.”

“Okay, in the first act-—this peasant girl, Giselle--uh——drops dead. And then in the second act, her boyfriend drops dead. The rest was mainly just dancing, which, as I said, seemed to lack fire.”

“You're mocking me. when I spend this much on a date I don't expect to be mocked.”

“Okay, good work, big breakthrough. I want to go over the data with you first thing in the morning. Now go home and get some sleep. You earned it.”

“A little too quiet if you ask me.”

“I'll go with you. I'm going to go wake him up, see if he wants to split a brewski.”

“They grow up so fast these days, don't they. Why don't you give the fire department a call.”

“I'm just going to step out on the ledge and have a little talk with the boy.”

“Could things have gotten this bad this soon? You know, you've got your whole life ahead of you--and I mean that literally.”

“In a minute. I just don't want to make any sudden moves. Well, time to go in. What do you say?”

“Yeah, that's Brooklyn all right.”

“Don't let him out of your sight. I'll call you later.”

“Yeah, I was the loud bang.”

“I don't believe it. He blew my socks off.”

“Strange? You mean like birds dropping dead in the trees when he walks by? Or are we actually talking horns and a pitchfork?”

“I guess he's been practicing a lot lately because he seems to have some of those tricks down pretty cold.”

“My mother told me never to get into a car with strangers. Who are you and what do you want?”

“Ray? Excuse me, but I think you're forgetting something. We really don't deal in big-scale phenomena anymore. We pretty much stick to the little stuff now. If you recall, the last time we tried to help the city we ended up risking our lives and in the end all we got for it was some pretty heavy fines and a bunch of major law suits. You remember that, I'm sure: ancient Sumerian deity, big lizard dogs, hundred foot marshmallow man? I have to say we were very disappointed in the way we were treated by the city after that. In fact, we're even considering a move to the West Coast: maybe Los Angeles or the San Diego area.”

“We didn't even get paid for that last one.”

“We certainly do. Dr. Spengler and Dr. Stantz were just briefing us when your men showed up.”

“You got it, Maury.”

“Now you have to figure there must be at least three million miserable assholes in New York City, am I right? So you multiply 3 million times 65 and you get, you know, lots of bad vibes.”

“How bad? How about the complete and total breakdown of urban society? I'm talking anarchy and chaos, indoor soccer riots—-”

“What are you--a Republican?”

“No, Mr. Mayor, that won't be necessary. I'll tell them for you.”

“Unless you've been out of town or asleep for the last couple of days, you probably know there's been a lot of weird stuff going on recently. Unfortunately, we think it's going to get worse, and we've been given this time on all the networks and local stations to ask for your cooperation while we figure out how to deal with it. What we need from you is actually pretty simple but it's going to take lots of patience, understanding and self—control. Basically we need everybody to lighten up for a couple of days. If you start to feel tense or angry or depressed, or if somebody's really starting to bother you, you're going to have to deal with it in some positive way. If you need help, get help. And if nothing else works, sing.”

“This could get really annoying.”

“I see Huey and Dewey, but no Louie.”

“I'm sorry for the way I talked to you about Jason.”

“I'm nice all the time.”

“Forget about it. That's all over now. I just want to nail that creep and send him to the ghost slammer. And I want you to be happy.”

“Ellis Island. We think you'll be safe there. If he tries to get to you there we'll be able to see him coming a mile off.”

“Pretty impressive, huh?”

“From where--Neptune?”

“Ostrov? I've been there. Good party town.”

“A little of everything. Some Irish, some German, some French, Dutch-—the women in my family slept around. And that's what made this country great.”

“Better for him to find out now than to wait until your relationship gets too far along. I know it sounds cruel but that's the kind of bitch goddess you are and you're just going to have to live with it. Now fix your scarf and let's go.”

“What do you want with him? If you have a good reason maybe you and Lane could sit down with a judge and work out some kind of a joint custody thing.”

“Sounds fair enough. No point telling us after he destroys us.”

“You know, I don't think this joint custody thing is going to work out. Call it, Egon.”

“Never fails. They come to New York, it's the first thing they want to see.”

“Back to France, I hope.”

“Better than us ending up like potato chips? Hey, I gotta go with the smart money. Count me in.”

“We need you, Louis. You're going to be the bait. Get Lane and the baby and bring them-— Where do we want this shoot—out to happen?”

“Wait here, okay. When I get off work we can go get something to eat.”

“This is interesting, Ray. We've never destroyed a major national monument before.”

“Well, time to teach Mr. Vigo there's a big difference between freedom and license.”

“I'm not sure, but I don't think you should be allowed to drive a 300 foot statue up Wall Street without a license.”

“This is how I burned out my hairdryer. What do you say, Doc?”

“It kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it.”

“If she's naked under that toga.”

“Did we do it?”

“Is the kid all right? Did he do anything weird when the Statue went down?”

“Me? Sure. I have a feeling the Mayor's not going to be too happy.”

“It's no big deal. You restore it again, you have another big party, lots of fireworks, TV specials, the whole bit: the city will make money on the deal, you'll see, trust me.”

From the Real Ghostbusters Animated Series and Comics:

“Once upon a time, there were four Ghostbusters who had a job to do only they couldn't do it 'cause one of them wouldn't go to sleep! The end!”

“If we don't have one, then it can't malfunction. If it's not malfunctioning, then nothing's wrong. And if nothing's wrong, then it checks, right?”

“DO WHAT HE SAYS! MOVE THE LAKE!”

“You're such a pollyanna, Egon!”

“In fact, this is the sort of thing you can do yourself — 'CAUSE THIS IS NOTHING BUT A CHEAP PUBLICITY STUNT AND WE'RE NOT GONNA TOUCH IT! Have a nice day!”

"Sleep. I remember sleep. If I do sleep, my body won't be angry with me anymore."

"Guys! It worked! Now save me from my success!"

"How come no one ever says My name with exclamation points unless I goof up?"

From the NOW Comics licensed The Real Ghostbusters Starring in Ghostbusters II:

“Milt, your new book is called The End of the World. Isn’t that like writing about gum disease? Yes, it could happen, but do you think anybody wants to read a book about it?”

“This year? That’s cutting it a little close, isn’t it? I mean, just from a sales point of view, the book jsut came out, right? So, your not even looking at the payperback release for maybe a year.”

“Where do you find these people? I tought we were having the telekinetic guy who bends spoons?”

“Skeptical! Norman, I’m a pushover. I think Professional Wrestling is real.”

“Okay, I get it. But I want you to tell Lenny that, because of you, I’m not voting for him!”

“I have a damper? Next time ask me first, okay? I have more than two grades of laundry. There’re lots of subtle levels between clean and dirty.”

“Don’t tell. Let me guess. All-you-can-eat barbecue ribs night at the Sizzler?”

“Darn it! I wish I’d know you were going. I’m stuck with these damn dinner reservations.”

“Roach breeding? Sounds better and better.”

“Dana? The boys are going down under the sewer tonight to look for slime. Egon thinks there might be some kind of big roach breeding surge. Should we forget about dinner and go with them instead?”

“I think we’re going to have to pass on the sewer trip, boys. Let me know what you find out.”

brOTP: Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore,Janine Melnitz, Louis Tully, Sherman Tully, Bryan Welsh, Dani Shpak, Lou Kamaka, Slimer, Kylie Griffin, Eduardo Rivera, Garrett Miller, Roland Jackson.

OTP: Walter Peck, Dana Barrett, Lane Walker, Irena Cortez, Ilyssa Selwin.

nOTP: Samantha Stantz, Louise, Cyntia Crawford, Melanie Ortiz, Ron Alexander.

Random Headcanon: He is a big fan of the Calvin and Hobbs and Garfield newspaper comic strips, and relates to the main characters cynical sense of humour.

Unpopular Opinion: His film encarnation portrayed by Bill Murray comes out as more creepy and mercenary than charming. The script drafts, the novelization, the animated encarnation portrayed by Lorenzo Music and the comics did a better job in presenting Peter Venkman as a character who, while flawed, still showed genuine care for his friends, makes jokes to lift people's mood up rather than humiliating them, aspired to be a Ladies Man but was put on his place by women who weren't afrayed of calling him out, and while afrayed or skeptic of some ghosts and obsessed with money, will help to save the day because he knows is the right thing to do and is a good team player.

Songs I Associate With Them:

I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling

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Who's That Knockin'

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All The Cats Join In

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He's a Tramp

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Do Wah Diddy Diddy

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Last Dance

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Cleaning Up the Town

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Ghostbusters

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Favorite Picture of Them:

From the Real Ghostbusters Promo Pilot

From the Real Ghostbusters Animated Series

From the Extreme Ghostbusters Animated Series

From the IDW licensed comics

#fictional character ask #character ask meme #pop culture #western animation #fandom musings #ghostbusters 1984 #the real ghostbusters #extreme ghostbusters #idw ghostbusters #ghostbusters novelization #peter venkman #lorenzo music #Youtube

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vesseloftherevolution · 11 months

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Balancing Acts: Power in the Middle Ages

Something I have noticed a lot in my reading around the Middle Ages, and into the Renaissance, is how much of a rulers business is maintaining the balance of power, be it between the Church and State, the Nobles and the Commons, and even between the private and public aspects of a ruler’s personality.

Church and State:

During the Middle Ages, the Church rose from a position of a purely spiritual force across Europe to one of the greatest landholders, and a major political power, almost acting as its own city state, with authority coming directly from the Vatican (apart from during the Great Schism, when the church somewhat fell apart thanks to the Avignon Papacy).

For the rulers of Europe, this posed a problem. There was a major part of their country and populace who were not directly under their governance, and could cause major disruption without immediate and severe ramifications. And so, over the Middle Ages, there is a constant flow of power between the secular and spiritual aspects of a state, and the monarch is expected to keep the balance.

One of the first examples that comes to mind is the conflict between Thomas Becket and Henry II. Although Becket was Henry’s loyal friend and advisor, his allegiance automatically switched to the Church once he was ordained. Henry realised that the power balance had shifted dramatically, as shown by the support of the populace for Becket, and ended up taking drastic measures to grab the reins again. However, the Church still demanded that he make public penance for the murder of an Archbishop, placing the King in a position of less power, despite the fact he was one of the foremost leaders in Europe at the time.

Nobles and Commons:

This balancing act is one that is harder to get wrong, thanks to the ingrained structure of the feudal system in most of Medieval society. The Commons are mostly working in agriculture for a liege Lord, be that a Noble, or the King himself, and the bureaucracy of government makes it very clear what exactly is owed to whom. The Lords offer protection, accommodation and a place to grow food, and in return the labourers work the noble’s land, fight in his armies, and pay taxes to use certain equipment.

However, with the advent of the Black Death, thé working population is hit hard. The number of labourers available to work the land is much lower, and Lords start offering payed wages if tenants will desert their lords and join them. The working classes gain a new sense of freedom, and demand specific privileges from their lords. When the lords disagree, and attempt to reinstate the more formal system that was in place before the pandemic, the peasants revolt, as was the case early in Richard II’s reign.

The fourteen year old Richard II was faced with a rather difficult choice. If he were to side with the commons, then he could well turn influential nobles against him, and so damage his fledgling rule. On the other hand, going against the people could prove to mean immediate death, given the fact that he was confronted with a mass of rather angry men with pikes. The decision he made, to agree on a face level with the commons, then to revoke the rights granted, is a decision that can be seen as tyrannical, but given the complications of being a child ruler, I think that keeping closer to the nobles until you have enough self assurance of power is vital.

Public and Private:

As Shakespeare so brilliantly states in Henry V, Act 4 Scene 1:

We must bear all. O hard condition,

Twin-born with greatness, subject to the breath

Of every fool whose sense no more can feel

But his own wringing! What infinite heart’s ease

Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy!

And what have kings, that privates have not too,

Save ceremony, save general ceremony?

The majesty of a king, with all its trappings of charisma, charm, and the glittering splendour of wealth, is all an illusion constructed around a man. And one of the most complicated balancing acts a ruler has to face is that between his personal emotions and motivations, and the way he acts for the good is the state.

The example I am going to give is the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy in Renaissance Florence, where there was an attempt against the lives of Lorenzo and Guiliano de Medici, who were the de facto rulers of Florence. During Easter Mass on 26 April 1478, priests and members of the Pazzi family tried to kill the brothers. Lorenzo escaped with a slash to the neck, thanks to the imbecilic priest putting a hand on his shoulder before stabbing him. Guiliano wasn’t so lucky, and was stabbed multiple times in the chest.

Despite the fact that his younger brother had just been murdered in front of him, and the inevitable shock and grief that must have been numbing his mind, Lorenzo had to try and stop the angry Florentine mob from lynching several important political figures associated with the conspiracy. Immediately afterwards, Florence was placed under an interdict, and was at war with half of Italy. Lorenzo had to lay aside any personal feelings, and take the risk of visiting the sadistic and unstable King of Naples, in an attempt to cease hostilities. It was months before he could properly give time to the personal tragedy of his brother dying.

The job of a ruler in the Middle Ages was taxing on many levels, and in many ways. I think it’s interesting how many things they had to balance at once, on top of ordinary finance, and the day to day politics of ruling.

(If there is anything I have got wrong, or something that could be added, please do say.)

#middle ages #political history #church and state #henry ii #thomas becket #richard ii of england #Peasant’s Revolt #lorenzo de medici #Guiliano de Medici #Pazzi conspiracy #historical musings

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