Whose Son was King Lamoni
Ammon et al’s mission to the Lamanites reveals a unique state structure that we never see again in the Book of Mormon. There is a Lamanite high king who is acknowledged by subsidiary kings as their overlord. King Lamoni calls him father, he calls King Lamoni son.
It is very possible that they weren’t father and son. There are numerous examples of ancient monarchies where the ranking monarch calls himself the father of his tributary kings, and they call him son.
On the other hand, Lamoni refers to another tributary king as his friend, not as his brother. I also think it would be unusual for an overlord king to be travelling without retinue to visit a tributary king but less unusual for an irascible dad to just take off on his own to visit his young upstart puppy of a son for some much needed words of remonstrance.
(It is possible that there were retinue there, just not mentioned. In the early stages of state/empire formation–which is where I think the Lamanites were at–the king is still a warrior and expected to maintain challenges to his authority himself.)
(Speaking of the early stages of state/empire formation, the kind of political arrangement you see with a main king and tributary kings is typical of that stage)
(It is also extremely common to appoint trusted sons and brothers as important subrulers and viceroys at any stage in monarchy, not just at the formation stage. See Edward III, Edward IV, or Charles II)
Charles II’s Admiral of the Fleet–his brother James.
Eric
July 9, 2024
It was quite commonplace for the Romans to adopt someone solely for the purposes of designating an heir, even if the adoptee was already an adult, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Lamanite vassal kings had a similar attitude about adoption by their high king if they weren’t biological sons. The book of Alma also mentions that Lamoni was a descendant of Ishmael, while I would assume the high king was always a descendant of Laman.
Lamoni also doesn’t succeed the older king when he dies. So either Lamoni wasn’t the oldest son (and wasn’t heir to the higher throne anyway), or his status as an adopted son put him behind a biological son in matters of succession.
G.
July 10, 2024
It still does seem that Lamoni had some different status than potentially some of the other sub-kings. Anti-Nephi-Lehi is called his “brother” but a different sub-king is his “friend.”
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July 12, 2024
The colonial-era Great Lakes fur trading system was based around a tribute system where the Great White Chief (French or English viceroy) symbolically adopted other chiefs