If you think your current boss is bad, at
least he doesn’t possess absolute power over everything and anything. If you can’t stand the way he micromanages
you because you didn’t stalk the shelves properly or because you missed the memo about
not wearing socks with sandals into work, consider yourself lucky. At least you have the freedom to complain
to HR or quit your job if necessary. You have it easy when considering that if
you lived during the medieval era and worked under a king, life would be much more stressful. Imagine, for a moment, working under the ultimate
boss, a man who could potentially have you executed with a snap of his fingers if you
messed up. Forget morale boosters, we bet you’d be
plenty motivated to work hard under these frightening circumstances. During medieval times, the king was the most
important figure, the highest-ranking member of the food chain. He exercised total power over his kingdom. As far as the people were concerned, his word
was the word of God. Any rebellious acts or retaliation could result
in death. To work directly under the king – say, as
a personal attendant – was considered a highly distinguished and honorable position. This was a higher level of position only granted
to men of rank or sons of the king’s closest relatives. Servants to the king were thought to be privileged
and, if you happened to have the king’s ear, you possessed more power that would make
others flock to you as a leader. At court, it was best to be on the good side
of those with greatest influence. But, with that power, came great risks. If you ever slipped up and displeased the
king or if people decided to create false allegations against you out of envy for your
position, you could easily find yourself in a great deal of trouble. Lose the trust of the king and you were done
for. Working for a king in this time meant treading
on eggshells. Sure, you were highly esteemed by others,
but you had to maintain a very strict poker face. To even think or imagine the king’s death
was treasonous and there would be no way to prove yourself innocent if someone decided
to accuse you of this based on a fleeting thought your facial expression betrayed. At that point it would be up to the king to
decide your verdict. Therefore, developing a close relationship
with the king was vital for your survival. As long as you remained in his good graces,
you were fine. For certain positions, earning and maintaining
the king’s trust was more essential than others. The more personal the position, the more you
had to be on your guard. Working as a Chamberlain, for instance, meant
being responsible for the king’s private quarters. To be the Master of the Wardrobe meant dressing
the king and being responsible for his apparel. These positions lead the worker to have more
interpersonal interactions with the king, which meant having to be on your best game. So, what is the closest that you could get
to the king to earn the most trust? We should add discretion about a very close,
interpersonal job with arguably one of the highest amounts of importance. This particular position required a lot of
trust. Warning, it is really gross. It had to do with attending the king in the
bathroom. In these days, the king’s health was closely
monitored and constantly looked after by royal physicians. Poop was no exception. His stool had to be consistently checked. The attendant responsible for this not only
had to wipe the king’s behind after he was finished doing his business but, he also had
to look at what came out to ensure that all appeared normal and well. Gross! Yes, it is disgusting to think about but,
at the same time, this guy was most likely to have the king’s ear due to the intimacy
of bathroom chit chat. After all, as the king, you’d need to have
a good relationship to allow a guy to put his hand on your backside. Not the most pleasant way to gain fondness
but, hey, you have to do what you have to do to get ahead right? Other, more fragile positions of great importance
that weren’t as close required looking after the children of the king. We’ve spoken before about the vitality of
kings to produce as many male heirs as possible to inherit the throne. Life was not always guaranteed, and a king
needed plenty of sons for backup. If you worked as a nanny or an official protector
for a young prince and, God forbid, something happened to the boy – let’s say he caught
the plague or sweating sickness – you could find yourself being blamed for his death. After all, he was under your care. He was your responsibility. A matter as grave as this could certainly
lead to your undoing. The physician responsible for the medical
side of things could also find himself under scrutiny. Servants who were responsible for hunting
animals and those tasked with cooking and preparing meals, huntsmen and scullions, were
also had a pivotal role to play. Food had to be of great quality. Meals had to be – literally – fit for
a king and prepared regularly to feed the royal occupants of a castle. Taste testers had the job of putting their
lives on the line by taking the first bite to make sure the food was not poisoned before
being served to his royal highness. If food was poisoned and harmed a taste tester,
investigations would focus on those who were tasked with making it. So, even if you did not intentionally poison
the food or if someone else did it, you could still find yourself in a very vulnerable situation. How could you even hope to prove that it was
not you? Since there is no way for others to be sure
that you are not lying, it is probably safer to just get rid of you and your coworkers
and replace your staff entirely with new royal chefs. You know, just to weed out the culprit. But, in this case, it’s not just your career
you should be worried about. After all, if you are a suspect to plotting
the king’s death, you must have thought about it at some point before attempting it,
which, as we discussed, was a crime in itself. Other important serving positions to the king
included those related to military. Knights, squires, guards, gatekeepers, and
other men at arms were tasked with protecting the king from threats, foreign or domestic. Many guarded the castle which contained the
king. If necessary, they would have to give their
lives to protect him. Any failure or act of cowardice to perform
their duty in the midst of danger would result in dishonor and ostracization. It could be argued that death in defending
the king was preferable to the consequences of living life after failing to protect him. As a military personnel, you were probably
trained not to hesitate in the face of danger but, still, sometimes human nature might push
weaker souls to chicken out. Up until now we’ve discussed predominantly
male servant positions. This is because men were the ones who held
the majority of jobs. Women were considered the more fragile sex. Their job in life was to keep their heads
down, be humble, not speak unless spoken to, obey their husbands and produce children. But what about female servant positions, ladies
in waiting and attendants? Well, they worked mainly under the queen. To be the queen was the highest rank a woman
could ever hope to achieve and to work directly under her as a personal servant was a position
of great privilege. Like servants to the king, however, this job
also came with certain risks. It was important to remain close to the queen
and earn her trust but, similarly, if you displeased her, she could rat you out to her
husband who could simply have you removed. Sometimes though, maintaining a close relationship
with the queen could be very challenging, particularly if you were an attractive girl
who happened to capture the king’s special attention. Often, a king’s beloved mistress had his
ear and could be revered as a person in a position
If you were called to spend a night in the king’s chamber, you couldn’t say no. Yet, to do so could be detrimental to your
relationship with your boss, the queen, creating an awkward, tense situation on the job when
you were confronted with taking care of her needs. However, if you had to choose between remaining
in good graces with the queen vs. the king, the king was probably your best option because,
as the man, he held more power. This is where strategy would come to play
so think of your game plan. Worst case scenario, if you were hated by
the queen but loved by the king as his mistress, you would survive. If the opposite were true, the king’s word
was greater than the queen’s so your wellbeing would be more in jeopardy. If you found yourself in this situation, you
would need to maintain the king’s interest once you had it. Otherwise you’d be left in a very fragile
and precarious position. If you think about it though, maintaining
the king’s romantic attentiveness was easier said than done. While having any woman he wanted at his disposal,
he could easily move on to someone prettier than you who could replace you as his mistress
in an instant. Your position was not a stable one, especially
if he had a wandering eye. This is why the lady, Anne Boleyn, in the
sixteenth century played an excellent hand when she would deny King Henry VIII’s advances
in order to maintain his interest long enough to become his queen. Though it didn’t work out well for her in
the end, she had been a worthy contestant in the risky game of royal love. Still, though she had been brave enough to
stir the pot by telling the king, “no,” it was unheard of for a woman to do so. Anne was considered lucky that, in this instance
of time, her actions sparked his affection rather than fueled his anger. She had also sacrificed her relationship with
queen Katherine of Aragon as her lady in waiting in order to go after the bigger prize. We realize this example comes from towards
the end of the middle ages but, we’d say it still applies as the king possessed absolute
power over Tudor England. Another complication with being an attendant
to the queen had to do with the strength of the king’s relationship with her. If the queen had a bad habit of committing
adultery and cheated on her husband, you’d be torn between two options. Either you maintain her trust by keeping this
a secret and hope she doesn’t get caught, or you rat her out and face the consequences
of your betrayal if she is found innocent. If, however, the queen was caught in the act
and you did not report her wrong-doing, you’d be guilty by association. As you can probably tell, working for the
king or queen came with great honor but also required strategic, critical thinking skills
to stay on top. Like a game of chess, you had to be able to
predict the next move and determine your actions based on the political game that came with
being in a high-ranking servant position. Also, we should mention that there was also
a risk if you were too close to the king and a rebellion overthrew him because then you’d
be considered an enemy of the people. Thus, it was wise to remain informed and alert
at all times. The way you were perceived by others was also
important. Sounds like enough to make your head spin! Yet, knowledge of the system was key to survival. How would you have navigated being a servant
to a medieval king? What decisions would you make based on your
position and whether you were a male or female servant? Be tactful in how you’d answer these questions. We look forward to reading your interesting,
creative responses in the comments! Also, go watch our other video, “Why Did
The King of England Execute His Wives”! As always, don’t forget to like, share and
subscribe for more great content!
