This session considers the role of warrior aristocracies in creating political order, with special attention paid to the role of spiritual as well as material concerns. Beginning in the familiar territory of western Europe, we explore the nobility’s engagement with crusading and reform as an expression of government. We then turn to the Middle East to examine the way in which Muslim amirs sought to fulfil the role of ideal pious rulers in their cities, before finally looking at the political activity of Buddhist monasteries in Japan.