Maybe a weird/stupid question. Today we have mass media, and any new law/political scandal that happens reaches almost everyone instantly. Previously, radio broadcasts. Before telecommunications, information could go around presumably by letters, word of mouth, etc. Before even any of that, how would entire populations in, for example, the 11th century find out about new laws that were passed in their country, or if their country was going to war, and was it ever possible to communicate this fairly quickly (that is, within a week or two?)
In: 1822
Medieval rule was essentially a family business. Quite often getting a key appointment was based just on being someone known to the king, and usually related to them in some way as well.
Without elections, political scandals didn’t matter as much – the king didn’t have to answer to “the people.”
They did have political relations with the other lords out there and with powerful towns or guild leaders. So the circle of people who “actually mattered” would be more like 200 to 1,500 key people.
The Court itself was often the center of social life; the people who mattered would visit court frequently or have some trusted relative go on their behalf to keep them updated on events.
Medieval logistics were not great, so raising an army was slow and cumbersome; rulers who could build, maintain, and field a large army for more than just a campaign season were rare and usually fairly powerful.
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