This book focuses on why the diffusion of the political theology of royal wisdom created 'Solomonic' princes with intellectual interests all around the medieval West and how these learned rulers changed the face of western Europe through their policies and the cultural power of medieval monarchy.

Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña is a Professor of Medieval History at the Universidad CEU San Pablo, Madrid. His research focuses on the intersection of cultural history and medieval rulership. He is the author of numerous books, including Sage Kings. Wisdom and Royal Power in Antiquity and Early Christianity (2021). He has also edited five books on topics such as Carolingian civilization, the Iberian medieval frontier, and medieval "fake news".

Introduction 1. Sapiential Rulership in the Carolingian Renaissance and Its Anglo-Saxon and Ottonian Continuators 2. The Salian Reich and Frontier Europe: The Reception of Sapiential Sacral Rulership around the Year Thousand 3. The King as Miles Litteratus: Literacy, Knighthood, and Feudal Rulership 4. The Twelfth-Century Renaissance: Culture and Statecraft 5. The Clerk King: Administrative Kingship and Royal Knowledge in the Norman Kingdoms and Capetian France (c. 1050-1250) 6. The Hohenstaufen Emperors: Empire and Wisdom in the Twelfth-Century 7. Two Philosopher-Kings in the Thirteenth-Century: Frederick II of Sicily and Alfonso X of Castile