How did medieval observers imagine kingship to be created? How did they apply biblical, classical and patristic models when writing about the origins of their own communities? The period c. 1000–c.1200 witnessed the emergence of several new realms. They fall into three broad, overlapping categories. Some were forged by conquest (like Sicily, Jerusalem and Cyprus). Some were established communities whose rulers, in the process of converting to Christianity, adopted the language and framework of Christian kingship (Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Poland). In a third group, powerful local or regional rulers assumed or were awarded the title of king (Bohemia, Portugal, Sicily). All faced a similar problem: in some ways, they violated the right order of the world by assuming a title that, in theory, only god could grant. How did contemporaries get around this problem? Chapter 3 answers this question partly by sketching a general pattern of emerging kingship, partly by focussing on two especially well documented case studies: Poland and Sicily. The defining themes in these accounts are virtuous rule, equitable justice, the consent of the ruled, power greater than that of any mere duke or prince and divine backing.