Say a emperoror decides to visit a kingdom and orders the king to vacate their throne and allow the emperor to sit upon it. for as long as he was in the kingdom’s capital Would the king be bound to listen to his “king”? Could the emperor, as the king’s ruler, overrule any of the king’s rulings as per his wish? Say the king wanted to avoid war with a neighboring country but the emperor wanted it, who would the people listen to?
In: Other
Generally no, for a few reasons.
1) Most empires did not include any kingdoms, or had a single kingdom that was held by the ruler of the empire. (The British and French Empires, for example). In these places there was only one king. Now the empire might have client states that had their own kings, but at least basic respect to the autonomy of client states would suggest an emperor would not insult them by going and demanding their chair.
2) Many emperors weren’t particularly powerful. Being the Holy Roman Emperor was a dangerous matter that put you in the sights of a lot scheming German dukes and princes that might well be more powerful then you are. Others were mostly symbolic. A Japanese or Great Ming Emperor could, on a good day, pick what they would have for lunch and get some paper to write a pome on.
Latest Answers