Since the 1980s, historical research on the Middle Ages has gained numerous new insights into high medieval royalty. The German royal rule in the Middle Ages was no longer perceived as a history of decline. Rather, the king and the nobility are seen as "natural and natural main partners in the empire". The older image of the selfish princes who only wanted to weaken the kingship was put into perspective by pointing out that the nobility repeatedly tried to settle the throne dispute. The newer research shifted the focus to the communication and interaction of the ruler with his great ones. Philip's actions were no longer questioned about the increase in monarchical power, but rather about the means by which he tried to enforce his kingship in the aristocratic network of relationships.