The Visigoth kingdom in Spain had been conquered by the Muslims in 711, leaving only a fringe to the North, Asturias, unoccupied.
The islands of the Western Mediterranean, as well as the southern tip of Italy, the city of Venice were still Byzantine. The Lombard
kingdom of Italy had converted to Catholicism in 680. The Frankish Kingdom was catholic since 496. Then there were the British isles.
The English church, at the synod of Whitby, had adopted the Roman rite. Scotland and Ireland sticked to their traditional rite, and
therefore had estranged relations to Rome. Politically, England, Scotland and Ireland were divided in many petty kingdoms. The Frankish
kingdom, the largest and strongest Catholic state, was far from united. The MEROVINGIAN kings were weak; the real power lay in the
hands of the MAYORS of NEUSTRIA and AUSTRASIA. CHARLES MARTEL was able to obtain both positions. In 732, he lead an army into
AQUITANIA to force the duke to acknowledge his authority, when he ran into a Saracen force which had been raiding the countryside.
The Franks defeated the Saracens in the BATTLE OF TOURS AND POITIERS.
To the North and East of the catholic world lived pagan peoples - the Saxons, Frisians, Danes, Norse, the Bavarians, the Slavic peoples,
the Avars. Like the barbarian peoples, the Franks had been generations earlier, they threatened to ravage and invade the Christian
countries of the west. To the south lay the Empires of the Umayyads in Spain and the Byzantine possessions in southern Italy. The
Franks, even the Popes, treated the Byzantines with suspicion. Experience with Byzantine diplomacy taught that they were not to be
trusted. However, from Byzantine and Arab point of view, the Franks were a Barbarian people, The country of the Franks was not inviting to
the Arabs, heavily forested, with swamps, a few cities in a poor condition, too moist, too cold, it had too little to offer.
B.) THE CAROLINGIAN DYNASTY : PEPIN AND CHARLEMAGNE
Charles Martel ultimately established himself as the unquestioned ruler of the Frankish Empire. When he died in 741, his two sons, Pepin and
Carloman, inherited the position of Mayor in Austrasia respective Neustria. On the occasion of his brothers death in 747,
PEPIN III. THE SHORT claimed both offices. In 750 he wrote a letter to POPE ZACHARY, asking who should rule the country - a king who only
nominally was in charge (the last Merovingian, CHILDERIC III.), or the person who really was in charge (himself). Pope Zachary opted
for Pepin, who in 751 deposed Childeric III., who was forced to retire into a monastery. Then Pepin had himself elected King of the Franks, thus
founding the CAROLINGIAN DYNASTY. Pepin died in 768, his Empire being divided under his sons Carloman and Charles, to us known
as CHARLEMAGNE. After Carloman's death, Charlemagne was sole king of the Frankish Empire. During his reign, which lasted 46 years, he
expanded the kingdom, conquering SAXONY (772-804), the Lombard kingdom of Italy (773/774), Bavaria (788) and destroying the
Kingdom of the Avars (791). In addition, he established the SPANISH MARCH (795/812). He reformed the Frankish administration; new
versions of POPULAR LAWS were edited (after screening) at his court. As the Frankish nobility, including himself, were analphabets, he involved
the clergy in the state's administration. He assured the conversion of the heathen Saxons, Frisians and Bavarians. He invited famous scholars,
such as Alcuin of York, Peter the Grammarian, Paul the Deacon to his court at AACHEN. Here a number of publications were
written; the activity of these scholars is called the CAROLINGIAN RENAISSANCE. In 800, Charlemagne visited Rome, where POPE LEO III.
crowned him (Roman) EMPEROR, thus bestowing upon Charles a title which had not been claimed since the year 476.
The title of Emperor exalted Charles over all other kings in Latin Christianity (in fact, there were few worthy to mention). It acknowledged the fact
that Charles was much more than just king of the Franks - he also ruled over Swabians, Bavarians, Saxons, Frisians, Lombards, Burgundians,
Visigoths, the Slavic population of the Eastern March and the Romanic population not mentioned. As in the 5th century, there was just
one Emperor in the Western World, who towered over the kings. Leo and Charles had established a tradition which would last for over 1000
years.
C.) STAGNATION AND PARTITION : THE DECLINE UNDER CHARLES' SUCCESSORS
Charlemagne was succeeded by his son LOUIS THE PIOUS (814-840). Under his reign, the Empire not only seized to expand, but it suffered
numerous setbacks : the SPANISH MARCH as well as parts of the Eastern March slipped out of Frankish control. Worse, the
VIKINGS began to raid the Frankish shores. Striking suddenly and unannounced, the Franks were unable to establish an effective system of
defense. Early success attracted more raiders; the Viking parties swell up to form entire armies. Louis the Pious had his son
LOTHAIR confirmed Frankish king in 817, his designated successor. However, his other sons, according to Frankish law, were entitled to their
shares : Pepin received Aquitania, CHARLES THE BALD Swabia, LOUIS II. THE GERMAN Bavaria. When Louis the Pious died
in 840, Lothair succeeded him as Emperor. In 843, his half-brothers Charles and Louis pressed him for a partition on equal terms : In the
TREATY OF VERDUN, the Empire was divided into a WEST FRANKISH KINGDOM (Charles the bald), a MIDDLE FRANKISH KINGDOM stretching
from Italy across BURGUNDY and LORRAINE to Frisia (Lothair) and an EAST FRANKISH KINGDOM (Louis the German). Although there
were more partitions, and the borders were changed, this partition had lasting consequences : the West Frankish kingdom developed into
France, the East Frankish kingdom into Germany, out of the middle Frankish kingdom emerged the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy,
with other areas such as Lorraine being contested over a long time.
After every individual king's death his realm was partitioned under his sons. The Middle Frankish Kingdom disintegrated after Lothair's death in
855. In other cases, such partitions were only temporary. CHARLES THE FAT, son of Louis the German, in 876 inherited only Swabia.
By 880 his brothers had died, and he was uncontested king of the East Frankish Kingdom. In 884 the line of Charles the Bald in the West Frankish
Kingdom had died out, and he inherited that kingdom as well, uniting the Frankish lands (without Italy and Burgundy) for a last time in history.
However, he found a Viking army laying siege to Paris. Unable to defeat them, he paid them to spare Paris and raid Burgundy instead (which lay
outside of his realm). Charles the Fat was deposed in 887. In the East Frankish Kingdom, the Carolingian dynasty ended in 887; in the West
Frankish Kingdom, the first non-Carolingian king, Odo, ruled 888-898, the last Carolingian Louis V. died 987.
D.) THE STRUCTURE OF THE FRANKISH KINGDOMS
The Carolingian Kingdom was focussed on the position of king, which had united the functions of Merovingian king and their powerful head of
administration, the mayor. The kings lived at their court (curtis or palatium), of which there were numerous, the more important being
AACHEN, Ingelheim, Herstal, Tournai, Attigny, Poitiers, Chalons. According to the size and importance of
his Empire, the king had a large entourage of officials and servants. With a poorly developed market, they lived at one royal court until the locally
stocked provisions ran out, and then moved to another; the Empire lacked a capital. The highest ranking officials were DUKES, which originally
had offices of the royal household : marshal or constabulary (in charge of the stables), royal cup-bearer etc.; they were placed in
charge of provinces, which, after them, were called DUCHIES. Under the dukes served the COUNTS, in charge of smaller areas. The kingdom,
however, could not rest upon (illiterate) noblemen alone. Soon, the higher clergy - bishops and abbots - joined the ranks of those who served
in the king's administration.
The weakness of the Carolingian kingdom lay in the person of the king himself. Strong personalities in good health, such as Charlemagne,
could guarantee prosperity asnd longevity. But the death of a king resulted too often in partitions, which meant the establishment of a new state
administration on a much smaller scale. As these changes, under the successors of Louis the Pious, occurred very frequently, the royal
authority suffered considerably, the kings having both much less resources than their predecessors, and less experience.The administration,
split up and newly formed with every partition, was unable to amend this deficiency.
E.) CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES OF 887/888
The weakness of the Frankish kingdoms virtually invited the VIKINGS to invade the country. The dukes of the Frankish Kingdoms were forced by
the situation to act. King Charles the Fat was deposed. The nobility of the East Frankish Kingdom elected DUKE ARNULF OF CARINTHIA king in 887
(-900). The nobility of the West Frankish Kingdom elected COUNT ODO OF PARIS king instead (888-898). These acts resulted in constitutional
changes : the king's sons' right to divide the country among themselves after their father's death was terminated. Instead, the oldest son was
to inherit the throne. If there was none, the kingdom's nobility was to elect a new king (elective kingdom). These acts were meant to stabilize
the East respectively West Frankish Kingdom. They, eventually, resulted in the creation of the kingdoms of France and Germany.
F.) FRANKS, FRENCH AND GERMANS
In the English language, French names for persons and places of Frankish history are used : Charlemagne (Lat. Carolus Magnus,
Ger. Karl der Grosse), Pepin the Short (Ger.: Pippin der Kurze) etc. The Franks, until the time of Charlemagne himself, were a
Germanic people. Charlemagne spoke Frankish, a Germanic language.
In the Frankish Empire there lived many peoples : the (Germanic) Franks, who made up the majority of the population along the banks of the lower
and middle Rhine, as well as in Franconia; the (Germanic) Frisians inhabiting the lowlands along the shores of the North Sea; the (Germanic)
Saxons in the northeast; the (Germanic) Swabians along the bankd of the upper Rhine, including the Alsace and parts of modern Switzerland, the
(Germanic) Bavarians in the southeast. In these areas, the Germanics formed the dominating element of the population. Then there were the Seine,
Loire, Rhone basin, Aquitaine and the Provence, and Northern Italy. In these areas Germanics had settled - Franks, Burgundians, Lombards,
Visigoths. But they formed only a small part of the population; the Romanic population dominated.
The Carolingian administration was aware of this. With Latin being the official language of writing and administration, attempts were made to create
a standardized German and a standardized French (written) language, the oldest document of both being the OATHS OF STRASSBURG (840). At
the end of the 9th century, the border between the Romanic and Germanic speaking areas appeared, running from the North Sea coast north of
Calais, south of Brussels, north of Liege, then abruptly turning south, near Metz, then along the Vosges and the Jura mountains, then south of
Bern, dividing the Valais, then through the Alps. This LANGUAGE BORDER changed little over the centuries.
In 962, King Otto I. of the East Frankish (German) Kingdom was crowned (Roman) Emperor. From that time onward, only the East Frankish king
could claim the title of Emperor. This was manifested by documents using the expression Roman king in place of (East) Frankish king. As
the (West) Frankish kings continued to use this title, the West Frankish kingdom monopolized the title and came to be called as France. France is
one of the successor states of the Frankish kingdom; however the name "France" should not be used for the time preceding the constitutional
reform of 888, and is, for the period between 888 and 962, misleading, as during this period there were two kingdoms using that title.
This page is part of World History at KMLA Last revised on August 28th 2001
