Was there a "Hand of the King" position in real-life Middle Ages?

[Grip]

In Sweden we had a famous "Rikskansler" named Axel Oxenstierna, to a child queen whose name I can't remember atm, but he was more of a Lord Protector until the heir comes of age, rather than a Hand who held the office by royal appointment.

Yeah but he was a bit late, active in the first half of the 17th century. But he would make for a great Hand, he was arguably the "best" or most highly respected "politician" of his time. That he worked so well under/with Gustavus Adolphus is one of the reasons for the asstounding success that Sweden had during the Thirty Years War.

[lareine]

Chancellor, in England, could be as powerful.

A Chancellor might be a great noble, but was more likely to be a clever clergyman or lawyer. More likely to be a talented younger son, or from the gentry, rather than the higher nobility.

In fact, in Westeros, Hands seem to be members of the Royal Family and high nobility, although Septon Barth is an exception.

That's a very good point. I think I remember reading somewhere that particular trend started with Henry VII as a way to curb the power of the greater nobility in the aftermath of the War of the Roses. He liked to pick capable men of the lower nobility (Edmund Dudley, Richard Empson) or of even humbler origins (like Cardinal Wolsey, the son of a butcher) who would owe their power and position to him alone and he could be sure of their loyalty. Henry VII was not a very beloved king, but he was a very shrewd one; he'd have done well in Westeros!

[joluoto]

The viziers were all slaves. The kul system in the Ottoman Empire is one of the most interesting I've ever read about. Only non-Muslims could be enslaved, so the Ottomans went around wherever they'd been conquering heathens & drafted the smartest, most talented little boys (and girls) in a process called the 'devishirme'. They were converted & assessed & sent where they'd do most good. Some were slated for the army, some for work as gardeners, and others for governing. The young bureaucrats were raised entirely at the palace, living with the Sultan, so their alliance would ONLY be to the Sultan.

Eventually, the slaves would be sent of to posts all around the astonishingly vast Ottoman Empire, and they did all the real governing in the realm.

The idea that there might be an official who sort of metonymically represents the ruler might fit, but the actual structure of the Ottoman government doesn't. There are no nobles to speak of among the Ottomans -- which is why they managed one of the longest, unbroken dynastic successions in history.

There was a reason the Ottoman sultans depended on slaves to govern their realm, ironically they tended to be more loyal than the Tutkic clan chiefs and aristocrats.

[Aerys Blackfyre]

Strange thing, in Italian Hand of the King is translated with the term Primo Cavaliere (FIrst Knight) which is basically what Lancelot was to King Arthur in this film