{{short description|Close associate of a medieval king}} {{For| the use in scientific naming|List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names#F}} {{Wiktionary}}

In the Middle Ages, a '''''familiaris''''' (plural ''familiares''), more formally a ''familiaris regis'' ("familiar of the king") or ''familiaris curiae''<ref>In medieval documents, ''curiae'' may also be spelled ''curiæ'' or ''curie''.</ref> ("familiar of the court"), was, in the words of the historian W. L. Warren, "an intimate, a familiar resident or visitor in the [royal] household, a member of the ''familia'', that wider family which embraces servants, confidents, and close associates."{{sfn|Takayama|1989|p=357}} Warren adds that the term "defies adequate translation", but is distinct from courtier, "for the king employed his ''familiares'' on a variety of administrative tasks."{{sfn|Takayama|1989|p=357 n. 4}}

The ''familiares'' of a king are collectively referred to as the ''familia regis'', which evolved into a private royal council—in England during the reign of Henry III (1216–72) and in France during that of Philip V (1316–22). In England, it was known as the ''concilium familiare'' or ''concilium privatum'' (Privy Council) and in France as the ''magnum consilium'' (great council, the ''Conseil du Roi'').{{sfn|Takayama|1989|pp=357–58}} The ''familiares regis'' may have already formed an inner royal council in Sicily during the reign of Roger II (1130–54).{{sfn|Takayama|1989|p=358|ps=. The ''familiares regis'' were identified with the ἄρχοντες τῆς κραταίας κόρτης (''archontes tes krataias kortes''), "lords of the mighty court" (ἡ κραταία κόρτη, ''he krataia korte''), by the historian Carlo Alberto Garufi.}}

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== {{refbegin}} *{{cite journal |first=Hiroshi |last=Takayama |title=''Familiares Regis'' and the Royal Inner Council in Twelfth-Century Sicily |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=104 |issue=411 |year=1989 |pages=357–72 |doi=10.1093/ehr/civ.ccccxi.357 }} *{{cite journal |first=J. O. |last=Prestwich |title=The Military Household of the Norman Kings |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=96 |issue=378 |year=1981 |pages=1–35 |doi=10.1093/ehr/xcvi.ccclxxviii.1 }} *{{cite journal |first=J. O. |last=Prestwich |title=Anglo-Norman Feudalism and the Problems of Continuity |journal=Past and Present |issue=26 |year=1963 |pages=39–57 |doi=10.1093/past/26.1.39 |doi-access=free }} *{{cite journal |first2=J. W. |last2=Baldwin |first1=C. W. |last1=Hollister |author-link1=C. Warren Hollister |title=The Rise of Administrative Kingship: Henry I and Philip Augustus |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=83 |issue=4 |year=1978 |pages=867–905 |doi=10.2307/1867650 |jstor=1867650 }} {{refend}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *Bournazel, Eric. ''Le Gouvernement Capétien au XII<sup>e</sup> siècle, 1108–1180: Structures sociales et mutations institutionelles''. Paris: 1975. *Chalandon, F. ''Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et Sicile''. 2 vols. Paris: 1907. *Chibnall, M. "Mercenaries and the ''Familia regis'' under Henry I". ''History'' '''62''' (1977), 15–23. *Garufi, C. A. "Sull'ordinamento amministrativo normanno in Sicilia, Exchiquier o diwan? Studi storico diplomatici". ''Archivio storico italiano'', 5th series, '''27''' (1901), 225–63. *Green, Judith A. ''The Government of England under Henry I''. Cambridge: 1986. *Hollister, C. W. ''The Military Organization of Norman England''. Oxford: 1965. *Jolliffe, J. E. A. ''Angevin Kingship''. New York: 1955. *Olivier-Martin, François. ''Histoire du droit français des origines à la Révolution''. 2nd ed. Paris: 1951. *Warren, W. L. ''Henry II''. Berkeley: 1973. *Warren, W. L. ''The Governance of Norman and Angevin England, 1086–1272''. London: 1987. {{refend}}

Category:Medieval occupations