To Take or to Make?
Contracting for Legitimacy
in the Emerging States of
Twelfth-Century Britain
Leigh A. Gardner=
Jesus College,
University of Oxford
Abstract
The early twelfth century was notable for the centralization and
consolidation of royal governance in the centre as well as the periphery of=
Europe. This paper presents a model of medieval kin=
gship
in which consent for the king’s rule is founded upon a network of
bargains and agreements between the king and magnates who hold local power.=
The
model is applied to the administration of Scotland under King David I
(1124–1153). David I consolidated and expanded his authority by provi=
ding
magnates who held local power with incentives to cooperate through the
strategic distribution of revenue and provision of protection services,
including the enforcement of property rights, dispute resolution and the
facilitation of exchange. This theory is also used to explain Scotland’s appropriation of land in
northern England follo=
wing
the death of Henry I of England
in 1135, and its loss of the same territory after David I died in 1153.
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