In
medieval Europe,
deditio was a ritual of
submission. It was a ceremony of subjection between a monarch and their subject, and included the latter bowing or lying by the feet of the monarch,
barefoot and wearing robes. This display of submission was planned, agreed upon, and used as a strategy for peaceful
conflict resolution to avoid
escalation of conflict. The
deditio took place in public. The individual performing the
deditio was required to demonstrate his self-humiliation by
removing his shoes, donning a penitential robe, or copiously weeping. He was then to throw himself at the feet of the king, begging the king do with him as he would. The king would then raise the supplicant from the ground and show forgiveness with a kiss or a hug. Following a brief symbolic term of imprisonment, the supplicant would then have his previous obligations and offices restored to him in a display of magnanimity by the king. Nothing about this ceremony was spontaneous. The terms under dispute had been fully discussed, explained, clarified, and agreed upon in confidence by the mediators. The
deditio was the carefully staged outcome of these negotiations. The mediators were in most cases the most influential men in the kingdom and were not bound by the king's instructions. Their involvement therefore served as an important constraint on the arbitrary exercise of royal power during the early and high Middle Ages. Their purpose was to show the conflicting parties a way forward by proposing solutions that could be acceptable to both sides. When the king violated an agreement previously entered into, it was not unusual for the mediators to intervene on behalf of the wronged party. ==References==