Monopolizing Violence: Gewalt , Self‐Control, and the Law in Heinrich von Veldeke's Eneasroman

Heinrich von Veldeke's Eneasroman is one of the first courtly romances in the German language. Until now, the role of the law in the text has gone largely unexplored; this article argues that the Eneasroman functions as an integral part of the twelfth‐century legal system in order to promulgate a reduction in violence and project an idealized monopoly of violence as its final goal. It further argues that this is part of the program of courtliness, understood in line with Norbert Elias and Stephen Jaeger as emphasizing self‐control in the courtly warrior and reducing violence. Courtliness is thus viewed as a largely fictional precursor to the modern state monopoly on violence with correspondences in real twelfth‐century legislation, primarily that of the Landfrieden . A study of these issues grants us a better understanding of the development of law in medieval society on its way to modernity.