John of Bohemia and his retainers. The concept of the greatness of "familia" in the Chronicle of Zbraslav of Peter of Zittau
Abstract
The paper deals with the idea of greatness or smallness of the court and the retinue of John the Blind, king of Bohemia and count of Luxembourg, discussed throughout the Chronicle of Zbraslav by Peter of Zittau. According to the chronicler, a plentiful court is an ideal connected with the honour of the king; a large and well organized familia is a sign and even a condition of a regular and efficient government; a smallness of a court or a retinue becomes a serious problem when it comes to the conflict with nobles or princes of an inferior status.
The king has to be accompanied by a larger familia than the most powerful nobles of his kingdom and his splendour should impress his neighbours. His retinue must be appropriate, for the king should not be confused with a servitor.