Royalty recognized on sight in ancient times?

Factual Questions
1

Not sure if this belongs in GQ or not. The question was inspired by a film, but I want to get at the reality of the situation as best we can. The Hollywood device of royalty travelling around in ancient times incognito, only to throw back their hood at a dramatic moment always interrupts my suspension of disbelief.

Without newspapers, and television, or heck for that matter without photography, I would think that only a few dozen people would know the king/queen/prince on sight. And probably none of those people would be peasants, and probably practically nobody living outside of the urban center where the palace was located would recognize them. I would have thought you would known it was the king by the large and heavily armed entourage he travelled with.

Am I missing something? Does it matter how far back into the past we go?

-rainy

2

From Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

There probably is some truth to this. Royalty would have been cleaner and much better dressed than average.

3

Many kings had their image stamped on the coins. That would help.

4

A few thoughts from my time in Cameroon, a place that still had a very strong traditional leader system in place and has parts where life is not that different than medieval Europe.

Local royalty will play a far bigger roles in everyday people’s lives. Local royalty will show up for public events and would probably be easily recognized.

Distant royalty would not. How are you supposed to know what some guy who lives hundreds or thousands of miles away looks like? At best people will have vague rumors and third hand reports. However a royal entourage will be very obvious, especially since stuff like court jesters don’t exist in regular life. Dress would also give royalty away, although you’d be surprised how clean and neat people can look even in extreme poverty. I don’t buy that everyone in the middle ages looked gross all the time.

But upon entering a town, a stranger would probably be expected to present himself to the local authorities. There is a good chance that the local royalty will have met the king before, so then his gig would be up.

I seem to recall seeing some pretty hilariously inaccurate woodcuts of some members of royalty used in some very old newspapers. Without anything to go on besides vague descriptions, they often just made stuff up. I also seem to recall royalty issuing official descriptions or official portraits for newspapers to use. Anyone have any info on this?

5

I would hate to try and positively ID someone based on the image from a coin. I would also guess, that during the times in question, a nations population might be more homogenous, so any identifying factors that stand out to us “He has a Roman nose” would be useless in a setting where nearly everyone has a Roman nose.

6

This is how I always supposed it worked. You know this guy, because he lives in the castle on the hill, and he says that’s the king – good enough for me.

7

More importantly, the large men in his entourage carrying swords and pikes say he’s the king- and that will be good enough for you, if you know what’s good for you.

8

I doubt this ever happened in real life, so it’s hard to know what kind of success it would have. There are recorded instances of the traveling incognito, but the dramatic reveal?

But even in Hollywoodland, the notion isn’t quite as preposterous as it’s made out here.

Kings didn’t sit in castles, apart from the people. You couldn’t govern a country that way. In Britain, for example, the king traveled constantly with his entire retinue, being housed temporarily in the local noble’s castle. From there the king took care of legal business, settled claims, heard disputes, presided over fairs and feasts. He would hit a number of large communities every season, and would draw in as many of the locals and those from surrounding villages as could get away. The feasts alone would guarantee that. Traveling took up several months of the year and a king’s retinue moved slowly. So everybody along the way would have many chances to see the procession as it very slowly passed by.

In capital cities, there were many more chances. The king went out and about to all sorts of events, plays, fairs, feasts, visits, public events, gatherings, and opportunities to show off his face. Most if not all of the Hollywood reveals I remember take place in the city. It would have to. Even a king would need weeks to go out into the countryside for a spy mission. Slipping out of the castle for an evening, though, was hardly a big deal.

Getting a glimpse of the king was always a major event in the life of any commoner. The face would be remembered. A new king’s image probably would be passed around by sketches as soon as he made his first appearance.

Going two thousand years from Rome through quasi-modern Europe allows for too many variables to make generalizations work, and I’m sure some kings somewhere at some time weren’t well known. The other Hollywood cliché should be remembered here, though, the one where the king grumbles about the amount of work he has to do and longs for something fun. Being a king wasn’t about sitting in a castle and looming. It was a constant grind from morning till night, like a modern president. You’re never off duty and somebody always wants you.

9

Right. What are you going to do, ask them to turn to the right so you can see their profile?

10

Not royalty of course, but I remember learning in grade school that George Washington walked to work unescorted and had no significant problems with harrassment/recognition.

Note I have no cite for this - considering in retrospect how much of the information I receieved in grade school was specious, take it for what you will. If a history buff can come along with a real cite I’d love to know if it’s true.

11

Probably specious. Washington could undoubtedly walk to work unprotected in those days, and maybe, given his noted reserve, unharassed. But unrecognized? Not a chance. He was by far the most famous man in America. Everybody knew his face.

12

In ancient Rome, you’d know who was a high ranking official because they’d be escorted by lictors. The more lictors that were accompanying you, the higher your rank.

Also, if you were wearing purple you would obviously be part of the imperial family. So, yes, like Ex_Chemist stated, the better off you were in a society the better you’d be dressed and kept.

13

So everyone can get an idea of how much a medieval monarch traveled through his realm, the Itinerary of King John Project tracks where John was for almost every single day of his 17-year-long reign.

14

This one, perchance?

15

Well, the story goes that Louis XVI was recognized while attempting to escape the Revolution by somebody who knew his face from the coins.

16

Not a coin but a portrait on a note, or assignat, the paper currency of the Revolution. He was recognized by Jean-Baptiste Drouet, the Postmaster at Sainte-Menehould.

Here are his own words:

17

I’m honestly curious: Were there no British sympathizers trying to cleanse the colonies of terrorists?

18

Not to mention taller, fatter, and have much softer skin on their hands.

19

Isn’t that the point of pageantry, to say 'Look at this guy! He’s important!"

And the point of sumptuary laws to be sure no one else tried the game.

If he’s wearing brown homespun and carrying a cheap knife, he’s a commoner. If he’s dressed in ermine and purple and carrying a sword, he’s the king, or close to it.

Plus, as mentioned, he’s got a bunch of heavily armed types around him who will let you know that he is the king.

Regards,
Shodan

20

English coins had a pretty generic portrait in the medieval period. After, say Henry VIII, they start to bear more resemblance to recognisable portraits of the monarch