Ever wondered why there’s a bishop on a chessboard? Well, I have, and the answer is rather interesting. Here it is.
In the past, bishops were not considered purely religious figures as they are today. In a not-so-secular world, their role was also political and carried a crusading, military aspect. ‘Bishop’, from the Greek episkopos, meaning ‘overseer,’ was first used for government officials. Later, it came to mean church leaders who also exercised government, and therefore military, power. Medieval bishops also frequently served with armies.
All the pieces on a chessboard are significant in a military context. Chess originated in India in the sixth century CE. It was developed from a game called ‘chaturanga’, which translates to ‘four divisions of the military’. One of the four divisions in the original game was represented by elephants, which have been used in wars overseas for thousands of years. But when chess became popular in Europe during the eleventh century, players on the continent had no idea what elephants were. They hastily replaced them with bishops. Why is this important? Well, it tells us that church goers in the Middle Ages recognised bishops not as standing for peace, but for war.
Medieval bishops: less powerful than kings, queens and castles, but worth the same as knights. A little less jumpy though …