How did Royal Marriages work?

Question

i'm talking medievalish ages.
Lets say, for example there are two kingdoms that don't get along. the answer would be the marry off the children right?
I'm writing a story where a King of a magical land offers his daughter as a peace offering to the mortal lands. the idea is to have nine men who come forward and try and win her hand in marriage. who would these nine men be? would they be princes? lords? How does it all work?
they all want peace between the lands, so why would they fight over it?

if you can help explain/ give me ideas that'd be great!

Answer 1

You are writing a story it can be a factious as you want to make it, but in reality no...... Kings did 'sell off' their daughters often when they were very young...



Sir John, created Baron Harrington at the time of the coronation of King James 1st. of England.Lord Harrington owned Coombe Abbey in Warks, Burley Hall and Exton Hall in Rutland. Sir John had found favour with the new King when he entertained him at Burley House on his journey south from Scotland to take the throne of England on the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603.

This elevation became a mixed blessing when he was made guardian of King James' daughter, Elizabeth, who was 5 years old. The high cost of entertaining, educating and bring her up ruined him. He was driven to minting his own money, made of brass, but this was valueless, leading to the saying "not worth a brass farthing".

In 1612 Frederick, the Elector Palantine arrived in London to marry the Princess this was not a 'love match' but an agreement which enabled peace between countries in Europe, and I am sure several potential suitors would have been around at that time but who would pay the King what he wanted for her and what country was it best to have peace with?Within three weeks the Princess’s brother Henry, Prince of Wales had died of typhoid leaving his brother, the future Charles I as heir to the throne. The wedding was delayed until the following year. Lord Harrington, now 73 and in poor health was obliged to undertake his final duty in escorting the Princess to her new home in Heidelberg, Germany. After the Princess married the Elector Palatine she became the Queen of Bohemia.

This young Princess while in John Harrington care/guardianship in 1604 just before the Gun Powder Plot... Guy Fawkes became involved with a small group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, planned to assassinate Elizabeths father Protestant King James and replace him with her who was then third in the line of succession, Princess Elizabeth, she was born in 1596 so was only 8 years old at the time and 15/16 when she was taken to be married

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Stuart,_Queen_of_Bohemia

Answer 2

"they all want peace between the lands, so why would they fight over it?" I don't know. It's your plot, and you've just identified a major problem with it.



First, you don't marry your kid off because you don't get along with someone else and vaguely hope for goodwill. You marry your kid off to cement some sort agreement between the two groups. And it is distinctly two groups. If England marries a royal daughter into Spanish royalty, it only cements a relationship with Spain, not with all of Europe.



So if this magical king wants peace with a land led by many independent rulers, marrying his daughter off to one of them isn't overly helpful.



If the mortal leader is a king, the daughter would be married to a prince i.e. a son of the king. The king is in no way impressed if the magical daughter was married off to one of his lords.

Answer 3

Nothing like that ever occured in actual history or ever would. Certainly royal marriages were considered matters of great diplomatic and political importance but the King of England, for example, never in a million years would have had kings or royal dukes or heirs from 9 other European kingdoms/duchies, whatever, battle it out for his daughter's hand. That would have left way too much up to chance and guarantee he'd have 8 more enemies when all was said and done and possibly not the alliance he was looking for. It happened all the time in fairy tales though.