Largesse-art - 11/17/02
"A Brief Note on Largesse" by Baron Hrolf Herjolfssen OP. The concept of largesse in period and its evolution.
NOTE: See also the files: largess-ideas-msg, baby-gifts-msg, beads-msg, 12th-nite-msg, coins-msg, coronations-msg, Byzantine-msg.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at
florilegium.org
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A Brief Note on Largesse
by Baron Hrolf Herjolfssen
OP
Seeing that we are coming up to our first Coronation, we should
be starting to seriously think about the ceremony and the customs we wish to
have in our new Kingdom. One that we could look at is the issue of
largesse. In the Lochac this is typically done in chocolate coin,
although some groups have struck their own coin for this purpose
(1). In the West Kingdom the Moneyers and Coiners Guild has operated
for some time for the main purpose of producing coin for this
purpose.
According to the Macquarie Dictionary, largesse is the "generous
bestowal of gifts". In the SCA it means the distribution of coins or
goods to various groups. Typical examples would be processing Royalty
either themselves, or through servants, casting coins to the populace as they
enter Court or the same Royalty afterwards conferring mead upon a group of
Guardsmen. Where does this practice come from? Is it
something we have evolved ourselves, or does it have historical roots?
Rest
assured, what we see in these examples is exactly historical
practice. The giving of gifts in money or kind to the soldiers dates
from tribal and pre-period times in most cultures. For example, the
Romans (and later the Byzantines) formalised the institution under officials,
called the largitones, who gave out their largesse (often called a
donative) at appropriate times, such as the ascension or anniversary of
an Emperor. This money was very distinct from the annual distribution
of wages (called the annonae) and of allowances
(sitēresia). A particular early example of largesse is that
the loot gained from the sacking of pagan temples was used by Constantine to
ensure the loyalty of the army during the period where Christianity was made the
sole and official religion by broadcasting it widely. So
institutionalised was the practice that there was a special name for the ‘day of
an imperial largesse’ — the dōreas basilikēs hēmera. Liutprand
of Cremona records the activity of one such occasion where the distribution took
three days.
This distribution could be very sizeable. Tiberius II,
in 578, gave 7,200 lb of gold, or 518,400 solidi, besides silver and
silk. There was an inevitable trickle down effect as other persons
than the Emperor started to hand out largesse. This prompted
legislation to control the practice. "It shall not be permitted for a
private individual to distribute a pure silk garment as largesse at any
performance of the games. We also confirm by this law that, ordinary
consuls excepted, absolutely no one else shall have the right of giving away a
gift in gold, or a diptych in ivory. When public ceremonies are
enacted, silver coin shall be used for gifts, and another material for
diptychs. Nor is it permitted to expend a silver coin larger than
that which is customarily formed when a pound of silver is divided into sixty
pieces of coin. And We permit those who wish to give a smaller one to
do so not only freely, but even honourably." Emperors Valentian II,
Theodosius and Arcadius, Augusti, 25 July 384.
This law remained on the books
(although sometimes largesse was banned) until it was superseded in
538. The new law said that "And so We better regulate the consular
scattering of largesse to the people in these seven processions, just as the law
of Marcian of Blessed Memory states (2). This law forbid entirely the
exercise of munificence, but We amend it, acting at the suggestion of the
individual who has the honour of holding the consulship. Now if the
holder does not wish to scatter anything We do not compel him to do so, and if
he wishes to restore the situation and honour the people with gifts of money We
do not forbid him to do so. Nevertheless We command him not to
scatter gold, whether small in form or — and more particularly — large, whether
of medium size either struck or simply weighed, but to scatter silver only, just
as We have commanded above. For to scatter gold is reserved for the
emperor, since it is to him alone that the summit of fortune has given the
capacity to despise gold. Silver, which is considered most precious
directly after gold, is a suitable largesse for other consuls. There
fore We command them to scatter largesse in what are called miliarēsia
and mēla and kaukia and tetragōnia and so
on. For the smaller the objects that are scattered, the greater the
number of recipients." This law continued in use for some
time.
Largesse continued through into our period in the only state wealthy
enough to institutionalise it (and it seems that our SCA custom of casting coin
derives from these Byzantine examples). However the coins used
declined in value. A late thirteenth century example (after the
stripping of wealth from the Empire by the treachery of the Fourth Crusade)
talks of silver and copper nomismata being thrown to the populace during
a Palm Sunday procession. It is also interesting to note (for our
purposes) that largesse did not come from public funds, but from private
ones. It does appear that it became institutionalised that, as well
as the bounty to the populace, officers of the Emperor were given a separate
largesse (or donative) upon a Coronation.
These concepts were
transferred poorly to the barbarian West through ambassadors, mercenaries and
merchants who visited the civilised Byzantine Empire. I cannot find
any repeated examples in the West of the main form of largesse used in the SCA
despite it being lauded as one of the prime virtues of a knight. In
most Western cases largesse became a matter of donation or charity to individual
recipients or to the Church. However this was not always the
case. Although Marc Bloch cites examples that note that largesse was
the "lady or queen in whose light all virtues shine", he goes on to show how
this became reduced to an almost potlatch mentality with many nobles
(3). In a cited example in Limousin several knights competed in
largesse. One had a plot of ground sown with silver
coin. Another had meals cooked with wax candles and a third had
thirty of his horses burnt alive.
This behaviour is not however
universal, and was condemned by many. Machiavelli wrote: "So as a
prince cannot practise the virtue of generosity in such a way that he is noted
for it, except to his cost, he should be prudent nor mind being called a
miser." A middle path was however preferred. John of
Salisbury, who was well thought of in our period, wrote in 1159 that "Although
prodigality is palpably at fault, I think there should be no place for avarice …
If, however, one possesses wealth, there is nothing more glorious than the type
of liberality which expresses itself in giving." This is
the attitude I believe that we should look towards in our rulers.
Notes
Sources
Liutbrand of Cremona Legatio Constantinopolitana (1915)
edited J Becker, Hanover
Michael F Hendy (1985) Studies in the Byzantine
Monetary Economy c300 — 1450 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Marc
Bloch (1971) Feudal Society Vol II Social Classes and Political Organisation
translated by L. A. Manyon Routledge and Kegan Paul, London
Niccolò
Machiavelli The Prince (1961) translated George Bull, Penguin,
Middlesex
John of Salisbury Politicratus (1979) edited Murray
Markland, Frederick Ungar Publishing, New York
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Copyright 2002 by Cary J Lenehan, 16 Maweena Pl, Kingston,
Tasmania, 7050, Australia. <lenehan at our.net.au>. Permission is granted
for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited
and receives a copy.
If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.
<the end>