Piety

Piety meant devotion to God, while penance meant making amends for sins. Fighting could bring victory and wealth, but killing also created a need for repentance. Norman soldiers were required to do penance for the lives taken at Hastings, through acts such as prayer or gifts to the Church.

Numa lived at Cures, a Sabine city, and was renowned for justice, piety and knowledge of human and divine law. The Roman senators recognised that choosing a Sabine would shift the balance of power towards the Sabines, but unanimously agreed to offer Numa the crown. In Livy’s account, his reputation overcame their competing political interests.

Aurangzeb ruled the Mughal Empire from 1658 to 1707. He was a deeply devout Sunni Muslim. His piety meant more than private worship: he believed that the emperor should uphold Islamic law, or sharia, and discourage practices he considered un-Islamic.