The Peace and Truce of God

The Church Attempts to Regulate the Behavior of Medieval Noblemen

May 2, 2009

Amidst the rampant violence of the early European Middle ages, these papal decrees emerged as a means of restoring order to Europe, and to protect the church from attack.

In an attempt to quell the violence of the middle ages, the church issued the Peace and Truce of God over the course of the 11th and 12th centuries. These decrees helped to establish a pattern of knightly behavior for the largely independent nobility of the time.

Feudalism and Violence

The Carolingian empire in France was divided among Charlemagne's successors at the Treaty of Verdun in 843, and the feudal lords sought to secure their positions in the increasingly unstable social order. At the time of the Carolingian Empire, the granting of a benefice was an old Roman practice which survived the fall of Rome and became an important way to reward loyal men. This was a grant of land given for life. However, these claims were increasingly willed to the eldest son upon the lord’s death, which weakened the central authority of the Kings whose land it had initially been. This spurred a great deal of violence over hereditary claims and land disputes.

Pax Dei

The first recorded instances of Church bans upon secular warfare come around the Tenth Century, when churchmen would invite warring nobles to assemble and bid them to swear oaths of peace upon relics of saints. This bore limited success, as often nobles would not attend these meetings, or would break their oaths later.

At the Synod of Charroux in 989, the first pax dei was issued by Gunbald, Archbishop of Bordeaux. This forbade warfare against the poor or the clergy, or attacking Churches. It placed a threat of excommunication and anathema (curse) upon anyone who broke these rules.

This decree, followed by similar decrees at subsequent Synods at Narbonne and Puy, soon spread throughout France and Burgundy. It was adopted officially and required the Churches and the lords nearby to aid in enforcing it. These provisions were strongly supported by the Abbots of Cluny, who were independent of the feudal social order and answered only to the Pope.

Treva Dei

Normally, the military campaign season in Medieval Europe was a period of about forty days, as this was the usual agreed-upon amount of military service owed by a vassal knight to his liege lord. In a further attempt to limit secular warfare, a limit was placed upon the days during the week in which war could be waged. In 1063, Drogo, The Bishop of Terouanne; and Count Baldwin of Hainault decreed that from sunset on Wednesday until sunrise on Monday. The first provision was that “During those four days and five nights no man or woman shall assault, wound, or slay another, or attack, seize, or destroy a castle, burg, or villa, by craft or by violence.”, which was a major ban in a time when warfare was largely siege-based. They reiterated the bans of the pax dei against harming the poor or the clergy, banned fighting on holy days, and imposed a system of penances upon those who violated the truce.

These provisions were emphasized in 1095 when Pope Urban II preached the first Crusade. This was necessary to unite the squabbling nobles against “The enemies of Christendom”. By the 12th century, very little of the year remained in which fighting could take place.

Knighthood and The Church

In order to solidify the tenets of the Pax and Treva, the church became increasingly involved in the lives of feudal nobles. The dubbing ceremonies in which new knights were created became rife with religious trappings. For example, in the past, the knights would simply swear fealty to a Nobleman with some sort of oath, and then perform some sort of symbolic act, be it kissing the feet of the new liege or the old Germanic custom of presentation of arms. By the thirteenth century, the creation of a new knight was a drawn-out, celebratory affair, in which he fasted and prayed the night before his dubbing, and wore a white tunic to symbolize purity of soul. His hair would be cut as a symbol of the shedding of the sin of Pride—a common vice among feudal nobles. He would be blessed by a priest, and then would swear an oath to uphold the Pax and the Treva.

By this time, an informal code of knightly virtues had arisen, many of which stemmed directly from the Pax Dei, such as the defense of the weak, the poor, and pilgrims; courteous behavior, and obedience to the church. Out of these, we see the myth—and myth it was—of the chivalrous warrior, Chaucer’s “Very parfit gentil knyght,” which pervaded the popular romances of Chretien de Troyes and others.

"Carolingian empire." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 2, 2009).

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