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Instructions for Kings

Secular and Clerical Images of Kingship in Early Ireland and Ancient India

Fomin, Maxim

Empirie und Theorie der Sprachwissenschaft, Bd. 2

2013

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Bibliografische Daten

Abstract

Early Irish and Indian sources afford analogous depictions of the ideal ruler and of ideal governance, based not only on the cosmos, social order and justice, topics universally connected with kingship, but also on moral themes. On the basis of extensive textual evidence, these visions of regal power are taken as idealised, rather than historical, constructs. The sources, newly edited and translated, include Hiberno-Latin and vernacular Irish wisdom-texts, as well as canonical Buddhist sutras in Pāli, which are discussed in the light of early Indian political theory and the royal inscriptions of Ashoka. The manner in which the compilers of these texts used ideological structures inherited from earlier traditions is examined. The way the semantics, syntax and subjectmatter of the compilations was adjusted is also scrutinised, the ethical dimension, epitomised in the dichotomy of the ‘right’ and the ‘righteous’, being seen as a watershed between the old and the new visions of power.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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Contents 5
Acknowledgments 13
Introduction 17
1 Kingship and polity 17
1.1 Representations of ideal kingship 17
1.2 Early medieval Irish polity 19
1.3 Preliminaries on the purpose of research: Irish data 20
1.4 Early Indian sources on polity and ideal kingship 21
2 Philological analysis of similarities between the Irish and Indian polities 23
2.1 Brahmanism and druidism 23
2.2 Religious-cultural development of 3rd c. BC India and 5-8th cc. AD Ireland 25
I Overview of the Celtic scholarship on the subject of righteous kingship 27
1 Fír flathemon in the corpus of gnomic texts 27
2 First editions of early Irish wisdom-texts 28
3 Hiberno-Latin texts on ideal kingship 29
3.1 De duodecim abusiuis 29
3.2 Collectio Canonum Hibernensis 30
4 Early Irish wisdom-literature: Traditionalist approach 31
4.1 The Sagacity of the Irish and the Hindu 31
4.2 The Archaism of Irish Tradition 32
4.3 Roi fainéant and Audacht Moraind 34
4.4 Ma-a-t, Ṛta-, Fír as ‘ethic and cosmic truth’ 36
4.5 Royal consecration formula in tecosc-texts 37
4.6 Fír flatha and the elemental sureties 38
4.7 Latin loanwords and Audacht Morainn 39
4.8 The native ideology of Irish kingship 40
4.9 Marginalia to Audacht Morainn 42
4.10 Microcosmic and macrocosmic entities of the righteous ruler 42
5 Alternative approaches to the study of fír 45
5.1 The Irish royal honour code 45
5.2 The concept of law in early Ireland 46
5.3 The revisionist approach 47
5.4 The religious ethical approach 48
5.5 The cognitive approach 49
5.6 Irish wisdom-texts: their origin, message and authorship 50
5.7 Irish kingship and succession 51
5.8 Law and memory 53
6 The cult of the sacred centre 54
II De rege iniquo ‘On the unjust king’ 57
1 ‘Concerning the twelve abuses’ (De duodecim abusiuis): An overview 57
2 Arguments in favour of the Irish origin of De duodecim 58
3 De rege iniquo section of De duodecim: Structure, text and translation 60
3.1 De rege iniquo – the earliest exposition on ideal kingship in Ireland 60
3.2 The central principle of De rege iniquo 60
3.3 Major divisions of De rege iniquo 61
3.4 De rege iniquo: Introduction 62
3.5 De rege iniquo: Part 1 63
3.6 De rege iniquo: Part 2 64
3.7 De rege iniquo: Part 3 66
3.8 De rege iniquo: Conclusion 67
3.9 De rege iniquo: Literary style 67
3.10 Collectio Canonum Hibernensis on good and bad kings 68
4 De rege iniquo, introduction: Discussion 70
4.1 Connotations of Lat. iniquus 70
4.2 Etymological association rex/(cor)rectus/(cor)rector 71
4.3 Discussion of quoniam in iustitia regis exaltatur solium 72
5 De rege iniquo, first part: Discussion 74
5.1 Neminem iniuste per potentiam opprimere (‘To destroy nobody unjustly by might’) 75
5.2 Sine acceptione personarum inter virum et proximum suum iudicare 77
5.3 Advenis et pupillis et viduis defensorem esse 77
5.4 Furta cohibere, adulteria punire 78
5.5 Iniquos non exaltare. Iustos super regni negotia constituere 80
5.6 Impudicos et striones non nutrire 82
5.7 Impios de terra perdere 83
5.8 Parricidas et periurantes vivere non sinere 83
5.9 Pauperes elemosynis alere 85
5.10 Senes et sapientes et sobrios consiliarios habere 86
5.11 Magorum et hariolorum et pythonissarum superstitionibus non intendere 87
5.12 Per omnia in Deo confidere 88
5.13 Prosperitatibus animum non elevare, cuncta adversaria patienter ferre […] certis horis orationibus insistere 88
5.14 Fidem catholicam in Deum habere 89
5.15 Filios suos non sinere impie agere 90
5.16 Ante horas congruas non gustare cibum. Vae enim terrae, cuius rex est puer et cuius principes mane comedunt! 91
5.17 Haec regni prosperitatem in praesenti faciunt et regem ad caelestia regna meliora perducunt 93
6 De rege iniquo, parts 2 and 3: Discussion 94
6.1 Pax populorum (‘peace of the peoples’) 94
6.2 Natural catastrophes in the Old Testament and Orosius’ Historiae 96
6.3 Fulminum ictus […] pampinos exurunt 100
6.4 Other biblical formulae in Ps.-Cyprian 102
6.5 Bad weathers 102
7 Conclusion 106
III Audacht Morainn, ‘The Testament of Morand’ 111
1 Introduction 111
2 Recension B of Audacht Morainn 111
2.1 §§2-5: Introductory paragraphs 112
2.2 §§6-11: Sequence of parallel sentences 112
2.3 §§12-21: Is tre ḟír flathemon series 113
2.4 §§22-31: Apair fris series 113
2.5 §§32-46: Ad-mestar series 114
2.6 §§47-52: Section containing poetico-legal sentiments 115
2.7 §§54-57: Account of moral characteristics of the righteous ruler 115
2.8 §§58-62: Fourfold classification of ruler 115
3 Recension A of Audacht Morainn: Edition and discussion 116
3.1 Preliminary observations 116
3.2 Text 118
4 Recension A of Audacht Morainn: Discussion 128
4.1 The opening paragraph 128
4.2 §2: Morand’s address to Nere 128
4.3 §§3-4: True value of Morand’s words 129
4.4 §§5-9: Reciprocity in the relationship between a ruler and his justice 131
4.5 §§10-26: Is tre ḟír flathemon series 131
4.6 §§27-43: Apair fris series: warnings against ruining the fortunate rule 136
4.7 §§44-49: Classification of the four types of rulers 141
4.8 §§50-53: Reproof of paganism and idolatry, conclusion 143
IV Tecosca Cormaic ‘The Instructions of Cormac’ 145
1 Discussion of Tecosca Cormaic in the previous scholarship 145
2 Text and translation of Tecosca Cormaic’s sections on kingship 146
2.1 Manuscript tradition 147
2.2 Text and translation 148
3 Discussion of Tecosca Cormaic’s sections on kingship 162
3.1 (§1) Cid as dech do ríg ‘What is best for a king?’ 162
3.2 (§2) Cate cóir rechta ríg ‘What [constitutes] the right way of authority for a king?’ 165
3.3 (§3) Cia dech do les túathe ‘What is best for the benefit of the kingdom?’ 166
3.4 (§3a) Cía etergén sína ‘How do you discern weathers?’ 169
3.5 (§4) Cateat ada flatha 7 chuirmthige ‘What are the prerogatives of a lord and of an ale-house?’ 171
3.6 (§5) Cid asa ngaibther flaithemnas for túathaib 7 chlandaib 7 chenélaib ‘What is it by which the sovereignty is taken over kingdoms and families and kindreds?’ 173
3.7 (§6) Cate téchta flatha ‘What is due of a lord?’ 177
3.8 Conclusion on §§1-6 179
4 Opening and closing formulae 180
4.1 Repetition in openings 180
4.2 Use of superlative adjectives in openings 182
4.3 Closing formulae 182
V De rege iniquo, Audacht Morainn and Tecosca Cormaic in comparison 185
1 De duodecim and early Irish narrative, wisdom and legal traditions 185
1.1 Descriptions of catastrophes in the vernacular tradition 185
1.2 Dependent genitive collocations describing ‘the justice of the king’: syntactic approach 191
1.3 Dependent genitive collocations describing ‘the justice of the king’: semantic approach 193
2 Derivative character of Tecosca Cormaic’s §6? 197
2.1 Parallels between AM (A) §52 and TC §6.3-7, 16-7 197
2.2 Discussion of TC §6.27-50 198
3 The components of righteous rule 203
3.1 Abundance and its immediate ingredients: corn, milk-yields and mast 204
3.2 Multitudes of livestock, of fish and of human progeny 207
3.3 Mildness of the air 208
3.4 Stillness of the sea and its supplies 210
3.5 Fine clothing 211
3.6 Generosity 212
3.7 Provision of liquors and ale 212
3.8 Honouring the men of art 213
4 The figure of the righteous ruler 214
4.1 The righteous ruler in Audacht Morainn 214
4.2 The righteous ruler in Tecosca Cormaic 217
4.3 The martial aspect of the righteous ruler 221
4.4 The righteous ruler and the lower classes 222
4.5 The righteous ruler and the elderly 223
4.6 The middle way policy of an early Irish king 225
4.7 Avoiding harshness and taking part in combat 225
4.8 The faith and the moral standard of the righteous ruler 230
VI Indian and Buddhist Scholars on the Ideal Kingship 233
1 Introduction 233
2 Kingship in the Indian tradition 234
2.1 The divine aspect of Indian kingship 234
2.2 The ancient Indian kingship from the religious point of view 236
2.3 The conception of kingship in India 240
2.4 The ethical ideas in relation to kingship 244
3 Discussing the early Indian treatise Arthaśāstra 249
3.1 The Ur-Arthaśāstra 249
3.2 Investigations in political science 252
3.3 The arthaśāstra and dharmaśāstra traditions 254
3.4 The ancient Indian social structure 257
3.5 The structure of the ancient Indian state 258
3.6 The evolution of the dharmaśāstras text 260
3.7 Conclusion on the nature of the Arthaśāstra 262
4 Buddhist and Aśokan sources on ideal kingship 262
4.1 World Conqueror and World Renouncer 263
4.2 Legitimate force and religious merit 266
4.3 The concept of Universal Monarchy 268
4.4 The Indian basis of the concept of the Universal Monarch 271
5 Conclusion 275
VII Buddhist theory of righteous kingship in a comparative perspective 277
1 Principles of the brahminic and Aśokan political teaching 277
1.1 The brahminic sources on the ideal king 277
1.2 Aśokan political teaching 279
2 Compilation of the Buddhist political teaching 280
2.1 The Sutra of Supreme Knowledge as the earliest source on ideal rule 281
2.2 ‘The Sutra of the Lion’s Roar of the Universal Monarch’ (Cakkavatti-sīhanāda-sutta) 286
2.3 The regression of human society 288
2.4 Criteria of ideal kingship 291
3 Instructing (the) king(s) 293
3.1 Instruction of a royal sage to his son 293
3.2 Fulfilment of the cakravartin’s duty 302
3.3 Rationale of the Universal Conquest campaign 305
4 The figure and the rule of the cakravartin 307
4.1 Portrayal of the cakravartin (‘the World Conqueror’) 308
4.2 Evidence of the early Indian art and epigraphy, Buddhist Jatakas, Vedic ritual and Jain tradition 309
5 The royal warrior’s address to the first thief 316
5.1 The royal warrior’s rule decline 316
5.2 The royal warrior’s instructions to criminals 320
5.3 The Cakkavatti-sutta: A morality-based hierarchy of kings 324
VIII Concept of ideal kingship in Irish and Indian traditions: a comparison 325
1 Celtic scholars on the parallels between Irish and Indian kingship 325
2 Cognitive perception and popular etymology 326
3 The study of alliteration in the history of Celtic scholarship 328
4 The king as ‘corrector’ in De rege iniquo 334
5 Indian sources on the meaning of the word for ‘king’ 338
6 Descriptions of unrighteous kingship in Ireland and India 342
7 Etymologies as the organising principle of the ideal kingship descriptions 347
IX Conclusion 351
Appendices 367
1 Audacht Morainn (Recension A): Edition, translation and notes 367
2 Audacht Morainn (Recension L): Introductory story 423
3 Tecosca Cormaic: Notes 425
4 The Lion’s Roar of the Cakravartin (Cakkavatti-sīhanāda-sutta) 519
5 Provisional List of Terms to Chapters 6-8 545
Abbreviations 549
List of tables and figures 551
References 553