The Dynasty Of The Royal Stewards
(638--768.)
The Steward of the Royal Household. --His Government of the Royal
Lehen. --His Position and Opportunities. --Pippin of Landen.
--His Sway in Germany. --Gradual Transfer of Power. --Grimoald,
Steward of France. --Pippin of Heristall. --His Successes.
--Cooperation with the Church of Rome. --Quarrels between his
Heirs. --Karl defeats his Rivals. --Becomes sole Steward of the<
r />
Empire. --He favors Christian Missions. --The Labors of Winfried
(Bishop Bonifacius). --Invasion of the Saracens. --The Great Battle
of Poitiers. --Karl is surnamed Martel, the Hammer. --His Wars and
Marches. --His Death and Character. --Pippin the Short. --He
subdues the German Dukes. --Assists Pope Zacharias. --Is anointed
King. --Death of Bonifacius. --Pippin defeats the Lombards. --Gives
the Pope Temporal Power. --His Death.
[Sidenote: 638.]
We have mentioned Pippin of Landen as the Royal Steward of Clotar II.
His office gave birth to the new power which grew up beside the
Merovingian rule and finally suppressed it. In the chronicles of the
time the officer is called the Majordomus of the King,--a word which
is best translated by "Steward of the Royal Household"; but in reality,
it embraced much more extended and important powers than the title would
imply. In their conquests, the Franks--as we have already
stated--usually claimed at least one-third of the territory which fell
into their hands. A part of this was portioned out among the chief men
and the soldiers; a part was set aside as the king's share, and still
another part became the common property of the people. The latter,
therefore, fell into the habit of electing a Steward to guard and
superintend this property in their interest; and, as the kings became
involved in their family feuds, the charge of the royal estates was
intrusted to the hands of the same steward.
The latter estates soon became, by conquest, so extensive and important,
that the king gave the use of many of them for a term of years, or for
life, to private individuals in return for military services. This was
called the Lehen (lien, or loan) system, to distinguish it from the
Allod (allotment), whereby a part of the conquered lands were divided
by lot, and became the free property of those to whom they fell. The
Lehen gave rise to a new class, whose fortunes were immediately
dependent on the favor of the king, and who consequently, when they
appeared at the national assemblies, voted on his side. Such a "loaned"
estate was also called feod, whence the term "feudal system," which,
gradually modified by time, grew from this basis. The importance of the
Royal Steward in the kingdom is thus explained. The office, at first,
had probably a mere business character. After Chlodwig's time, the civil
wars by which the estates of the king and the people became subject to
constant change, gave the steward a political power, which increased
with each generation. He stood between the monarch and his subjects,
with the best opportunity for acquiring an ascendency over the minds of
both. At first, he was only elected for a year, and his reelection
depended on the honesty and ability with which he had discharged his
duties. During the convulsions of the dynasty, he, in common with king
and nobles, gained what rights the people lost: he began to retain his
office for a longer time, then for life, and finally demanded that it
should be hereditary in his family.
[Sidenote: 638. THE "LEHEN" SYSTEM.]
The Royal Stewards of Burgundy and Germany played an important part in
the last struggle between Clotar II. and Brunhilde. When the successful
king, in 622, found that the increasing difference of language and
habits between the eastern and western portions of his realm required a
separation of the government, and made his young son, Dagobert, ruler
over the German half, he was compelled to recognize Pippin of Landen as
his Steward, and to trust Dagobert entirely to his hands. The dividing
line between "Austria" and "Neustria" was drawn along the chain of the
Vosges, through the forest of Ardennes, and terminated near the mouth of
the Schelde,--almost the same line which divides the German and French
languages, at this day.
Pippin was a Frank, born in the Netherlands, a man of energy and
intelligence, but of little principle. He had, nevertheless, shrewdness
enough to see the necessity of maintaining the unity and peace of the
kingdom, and he endeavored, in conjunction with Bishop Arnulf of Metz,
to make a good king of Dagobert. They made him, indeed, amiable and
well-meaning, but they could not overcome the instability of his
character. After Clotar II.'s death, in 628, Dagobert passed the
remaining ten years of his life in France, under the control of others,
and the actual government of Germany was exercised by Pippin.
[Sidenote: 670.]
The period of transition between the power of the kings, gradually
sinking, and the power of the Stewards, steadily rising, lasted about
fifty years. The latter power, however, was not allowed to increase
without frequent struggles, partly from the jealousy of the nobility and
priesthood, partly from the Resistance of the people to the extinction
of their remaining rights. But, after the devastation left behind by the
fratricidal wars of the Merovingians, all parties felt the necessity of
a strong and well-regulated government, and the long experience of the
Stewards gave them the advantage.
Grimoald, the son and successor of Pippin in the stewardship of Germany,
made an attempt to usurp the royal power, but failed. This event, and
the interference of a Steward of France with the rights of the dynasty,
led the Franks, in 670--when the whole kingdom was again united under
Childeric II.--to decree that the Stewards should be elected annually by
the people, as in the beginning. But when Childeric II., like the most
of his predecessors, was murdered, the deposed Steward of France
regained his power, forced the people to accept him, and attempted to
extend his government over Germany. In spite of a fierce resistance,
headed by Pippin of Heristall, the grandson of Pippin of Landen, he
partly maintained his authority until the year 681, when he was murdered
in turn.
Pippin of Heristall was also the grandson of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz,
whose son, Anchises, had married Begga, the daughter of Pippin of
Landen. He was thus of Roman blood by his father's, and Frank by his
mother's side. As soon as his authority was secured, as Royal Steward of
Germany, he invaded France, and a desperate struggle for the stewardship
of the whole kingdom ensued. It was ended in 687 by a battle near St.
Quentin, in which Pippin was victorious. He used his success with a
moderation very rare in those days: he did honor to the Frank king,
Theuderich III., who had fallen into his hands, spared the lives and
possessions of all who had fought against him, on their promise not to
take up arms against his authority, and even continued many of the chief
officials of the Franks in their former places.
[Sidenote: 687. PIPPIN OF HERISTALL.]
From this date the Merovingian monarch became a shadow. Pippin paid him
all external signs of allegiance, kept up the ceremonies of his Court,
supplied him with ample revenues, and governed the kingdom in his name;
but the actual power was concentrated in his own hands. France,
Switzerland and the greater part of Germany were subjected to his
government, although there were still elements of discontent within the
realm, and of trouble outside of its borders. The dependent dukedoms of
Aquitaine, Burgundy, Alemannia, Bavaria and Thuringia were restless
under the yoke; the Saxons and Frisians on the north were hostile and
defiant, and the Slavonic races all along the eastern frontier had not
yet given up their invasions.
Pippin, like the French rulers after him, down to the present day,
perceived the advantage of having the Church on his side. Moreover, he
was the grandson of a Bishop, which circumstance--although it did not
prevent him from taking two wives--enabled him better to understand the
power of the ecclesiastical system of Rome. In the early part of the
seventh century, several Christian missionaries, principally Irish, had
begun their labors among the Alemanni and the Bavarians, but the greater
part of these people, with all the Thuringians, Saxons and Frisians,
were still worshippers of the old pagan gods. Pippin saw that the latter
must be taught submission, and accustomed to authority through the
Church, and, with his aid, all the southern part of Germany became
Christian in a few years. Force was employed, as well as persuasion;
but, at that time, the end was considered to sanction any means.
Pippin's rule (we can not call it reign) was characterized by the
greatest activity, patience and prudence. From year to year the kingdom
of the Franks became better organized and stronger in all its features
of government. Brittany, Burgundy and Aquitaine were kept quiet; the
northern part of Holland was conquered, and immediately given into
charge of a band of Anglo-Saxon monks; and Germany, although restless
and dissatisfied, was held more firmly than ever. Pippin of Heristall,
while he was simply called a Royal Steward, exercised a wider power
than any monarch of his time.
[Sidenote: 714.]
When he died, in the year 714, the kingdom was for a while convulsed by
feuds which threatened to repeat the bloody annals of the Merovingians.
His heirs were Theudowald, his grandson by his wife Plektrude, and Karl
and Hildebrand, his sons by his wife Alpheid. He chose the former as his
successor, and Plektrude, in order to suppress any opposition to this
arrangement, imprisoned her step-son Karl. But the Burgundians
immediately revolted, elected one of their chiefs, Raginfried, to the
office of Royal Steward, and defeated the Franks in a battle in which
Theudowald was slain. Karl, having escaped from prison, put himself at
the head of affairs, supported by a majority of the German Franks. He
was a man of strong personal influence, and inspired his followers with
enthusiasm and faith; but his chances seemed very desperate. His
step-mother, Plektrude, opposed him: the Burgundians and French Franks,
led by Raginfried, were marching against him, and Radbod, Duke of
Friesland, invaded the territory which he was bound by his office to
defend.
Karl had the choice of three enemies, and he took the one which seemed
most dangerous. He attacked Radbod, but was forced to fall back, and
this repulse emboldened the Saxons to make a foray into the land of the
Hessians, as the old Germanic tribe of the Chatti were now called.
Radbod advanced to Cologne, which was held by Plektrude and her
followers: at the same time Raginfried approached from the west, and the
city was thus besieged by two separate armies, hostile to each other,
yet both having the same end in view. Between the two, Karl managed to
escape, and retreated to the forest of Ardennes, where he set about
reconstructing his shattered army.
Cologne was too strong to be assailed, and Plektrude, who possessed
large treasures, soon succeeded in buying off Radbod and Raginfried. The
latter, on his return to France, came into collision with Karl, who,
though repelled at first, finally drove him in confusion to the walls of
Paris. Karl then suddenly wheeled about and marched against Cologne,
which fell into his hands: Plektrude, leaving her wealth as his booty,
fled to Bavaria. This victory secured to Karl the stewardship over
Germany, but a king was wanting, to make the forms of royalty complete.
The direct Merovingian line had run out, and Raginfried had been
obliged to take a monk, an offshoot of the family, and place him on the
throne, under the name of Chilperic II. Karl, after a little search,
discovered another Merovingian, whom he installed in the German half of
the kingdom, as Clotar III. That done, he attacked the invading Saxons,
defeated and drove them beyond the Weser river.
[Sidenote: 719. KARL, STEWARD OF THE EMPIRE.]
He was now free to meet the rebellious Franks of France, who in the
meantime had strengthened themselves by offering to Duke Eudo of
Aquitaine the acknowledgment of his independent sovereignty in return
for his support. A decisive battle was fought in the year 719, and Karl
was again victorious. The nominal king, Chilperic II., Raginfried and
Duke Eudo fled into the south of France. Karl began negotiations with
the latter for the delivery of the fugitive king; but just at this time
his own puppet, Clotar III., happened to die, and, as there was no other
Merovingian left, the pretence upon which his stewardship was based
obliged him to recognize Chilperic II. Raginfried resigned his office,
and Karl was at last nominal Steward, and actual monarch, of the kingdom
of the Franks.
His first movement was to deliver Germany from its invaders, and
reestablish the dependency of its native Dukes. The death of the fierce
Radbod enabled him to reconquer West Friesland: the Saxons were then
driven back and firmly held within their original boundaries, and
finally the Alemanni and Bavarians were compelled to make a formal
acknowledgment of the Frank rule. As regards Thuringia, which seems to
have remained a Dukedom, the chronicles of the time give us little
information. It is probable, however, that the invasions of the Saxons
on the north and the Slavonic tribes on the east gave the people of
Central Germany no opportunity to resist the authority of the Franks.
The work of conversion, encouraged by Pippin of Heristall as a political
measure, was still continued by the zeal of the Irish and Anglo-Saxon
missionaries, and in the beginning of the eighth century it received a
powerful impulse from a new apostle, a man of singular ability and
courage.
He was a Saxon of England, born in Devonshire in the year 680, and
Winfried by name. Educated in a monastery, at a time when the struggle
between Christianity and the old Germanic faith was at its height, he
resolved to devote his life to missionary labors. He first went to
Friesland, during the reign of Radbod, and spent three years in a vain
attempt to convert the people. Then he visited Rome, offered his
services to the Pope, and was commissioned to undertake the work of
christianizing Central Germany. On reaching the field of his labors, he
manifested such zeal and intelligence that he soon became the leader and
director of the missionary enterprise. It is related that at Geismar, in
the land of the Hessians, he cut down with his own hands an aged
oak-tree, sacred to the god Thor. This and other similar acts inspired
the people with such awe that they began to believe that their old gods
were either dead or helpless, and they submissively accepted the new
faith without understanding its character, or following it otherwise
than in observing the external forms of worship.
[Sidenote: 725.]
On a second visit to Rome, Winfried was appointed by the Pope Archbishop
of Mayence, and ordered to take, thenceforth, the name of Bonifacius
(Benefactor), by which he is known in history. He was confirmed in this
office by Karl, to whom he had rendered valuable political services by
the conversion of the Thuringians, and who had a genuine respect for his
lofty and unselfish character. The spot where he built the first
Christian church in Central Germany, about twelve miles from Gotha, at
the foot of the Thuringian Mountains, is now marked by a colossal
candle-stick of granite, surmounted by a golden flame.
After Karl had been for several years actively employed in regulating
the affairs of his great realm, and especially, with the aid of Bishop
Bonifacius, in establishing an authority in Germany equal to that he
possessed in France, he had every prospect of a powerful and peaceful
rule. But suddenly a new danger threatened not only the Franks, but all
Europe. The Saracens, crossing from Africa, defeated the Visigoths and
slew Roderick, their king, in the year 711. Gradually possessing
themselves of all Spain, they next collected a tremendous army, and in
731, under the command of Abderrahman, Viceroy of the Caliph of
Damascus, set out for the conquest of France. Thus the new Christian
faith of Europe, still engaged in quelling the last strength of the
ancient paganism, was suddenly called upon to meet the newer faith of
Mohammed, which had determined to subdue the world.
[Sidenote: 732. THE BATTLE OF POITIERS.]
Not only France, but the Eastern Empire, Italy and England looked to
Karl, in this emergency. The Saracens crossed the Pyrenees with 350,000
warriors, accompanied by their wives and children, as if they were sure
of victory and meant to possess the land. Karl called the military
strength of the whole broad kingdom into the field, collected an army
nearly equal in numbers, and finally, in October, 732, the two hosts
stood face to face, near the city of Poitiers. It was a struggle almost
as grand, and as fraught with important consequences to the world, as
that of Aetius and Attila, nearly 300 years before. Six days were spent
in preparations, and on the seventh the battle began. The Saracens
attacked with that daring and impetuosity which had gained them so many
victories; but, as the old chronicle says, "the Franks, with their
strong hearts and powerful bodies, stood like a wall, and hewed down the
Arabs with iron hands." When night fell, 200,000 dead and wounded lay
upon the field. Karl made preparations for resuming the battle on the
following morning, but he found no enemy. The Saracens had retired
during the night, leaving their camps and stores behind them, and their
leader, Abderrahman, among the slain. This was the first great check the
cause of Islam received, after a series of victories more wonderful than
those of Rome. From that day the people bestowed upon Karl the surname
of Martel, the Hammer, and as Charles Martel he is best known in
history.
He was not able to follow up his advantage immediately, for the
possibility of his defeat by the Saracens had emboldened his enemies at
home and abroad, to rise against his authority. The Frisians, under
Poppo, their new Duke, made another invasion; the Saxons followed their
example; the Burgundians attempted a rebellion, and the sons of Duke
Eudo of Aquitaine, imitating the example of their ancestors, the
Merovingian kings, began to quarrel about the succession. While Karl
Martel (as we must now call him) was engaged in suppressing all these
troubles, the Saracens, with the aid of the malcontent Burgundians,
occupied all the territory bordering the Mediterranean, on both sides of
the Rhone. He was not free to march against them until 737, when he made
his appearance with a large army, retook Avignon, Arles and Nismes, and
left them in possession only of Narbonne, which was too strongly
fortified to be taken by assault.
Karl Martel was recalled to the opposite end of the kingdom by a fresh
invasion of the Saxons. When this had been repelled, and the northern
frontier in Germany strengthened against the hostile race, the
Burgundian nobles in Provence sought a fresh alliance with the Saracens,
and compelled him to return instantly from the Weser to the shores of
the Mediterranean. He suppressed the rebellion, but was obliged to leave
the Saracens in possession of a part of the coast, between the Rhone and
the Pyrenees. During his stay in the south of France, the Pope, Gregory
II., entreated him to come to Italy and relieve Rome from the oppression
of Luitprand, king of the Longobards. He did not accept the invitation,
but it appears that, as mediator, he assisted in concluding a treaty
between the Pope and king, which arranged their differences for a time.
[Sidenote: 741.]
Worn out by his life of marches and battles, Karl Martel became
prematurely old, and died in 741, at the age of fifty, after a reign of
twenty-seven years. He inherited the activity, the ability, and also the
easy principles of his father, Pippin of Heristall. But his authority
was greatly increased, and he used it to lessen the remnant of their
original freedom which the people still retained. The free Germanic
Franks were accustomed to meet every year, in the month of March (as on
the Champ de Mars, or March-field, at Paris), and discuss all national
matters. In Chlodwig's time the royal dependents were added to the free
citizens and allowed an equal voice, which threw an additional power
into the hands of the monarch. Karl Martel convoked the national
assembly, declared war or made peace, without asking the people's
consent; while, by adding the priesthood and the nobles, with their
dependents, to the number of those entitled to vote, he broke down the
ancient power of the state and laid the foundation of a more absolute
system.
Shortly before his death, Karl Martel summoned a council of the princes
and nobles of his realm, and obtained their consent that his eldest son,
Karloman, should succeed him as Royal Steward of Germany, and his second
son, Pippin, surnamed the Short, as Royal Steward of France and
Burgundy. The Merovingian throne had already been vacant for four years,
but the monarch had become so insignificant that this circumstance was
scarcely noticed. On his death-bed, however, Karl Martel was persuaded
by Swanhilde, one of his wives, to bequeath a part of his dominions to
her son, Grifo. This gave rise to great discontent among the people, and
furnished the subject Dukes of Bavaria, Alemannia and Aquitaine with
another opportunity for endeavoring to regain their lost independence.
[Sidenote: 752. PIPPIN THE SHORT MADE KING.]
Karloman and Pippin, in order to strengthen their cause, sought for a
descendant of the Merovingian line, and, having found him, they
proclaimed him king, under the name of Childeric III. This step secured
to them the allegiance of the Franks, but the conflict with the
refractory Dukedoms lasted several years. Battles were fought on the
Loire, on the Lech, in Bavaria, and then again on the Saxon frontier:
finally Aquitaine was subdued, Alemannia lost its Duke and became a
Frank province, and Bavaria agreed to a truce. In this struggle,
Karloman and Pippin received important support from Bonifacius, a part
of whose aim it was to bring all the Christian communities to
acknowledge the Pope of Rome as the sole head of the Church. They gave
him their support in return, and thus the Franks were drawn into closer
relations with the ecclesiastical power.
In the year 747, Karloman resigned his power, went to Rome, and was made
a monk by Pope Zacharias. Soon afterwards Grifo, the son of Karl Martel
and Swanhilde, made a second attempt to conquer his rights, with the aid
of the Saxons. Pippin the Short allied himself with the Wends, a
Slavonic race settled in Prussia, and ravaged the Saxon land, forcing a
part of the inhabitants, at the point of the sword, to be baptized as
Christians. Grifo fled to Bavaria, where the Duke, Tassilo, espoused his
cause, but Pippin the Short followed close upon his heels with so strong
a force that resistance was no longer possible. A treaty was made
whereby Grifo was consigned to private life, the hereditary rights of
the Bavarian Dukes recognized by the Franks, and the sovereignty of the
Franks accepted by the Bavarians.
Pippin the Short had found, through his own experience as well as that
of his ancestors, that the pretence of a Merovingian king only worked
confusion in the realm of the Franks, since it furnished to the
subordinate races and principalities a constant pretext for revolt.
When, therefore, Pope Zacharias found himself threatened by Aistulf, the
successor of Luitprand as king of the Longobards, and sent an embassy to
Pippin the Short appealing for his assistance, the latter returned to
him this question: "Does the kingdom belong to him who exercises the
power, without the name, or to him who bears the name, without
possessing the power?" The answer was what he expected: a general
assembly was called together in 752, Pippin was anointed King by the
Archbishop Bonifacius, then lifted on a shield according to the ancient
custom and accepted by the nobles and people. The shadowy Merovingian
king, Childeric III., was shorn of his long hair, the sign of royalty,
and sent into a monastery, where he disappeared from the world. Pippin
now possessed sole and unlimited sway over the kingdom of the Franks,
and named himself "King by the Grace of God,"--an example which has been
followed by most monarchs, down to our day. On the other hand, the
decision of Zacharias was a great step gained by the Papal power, which
thenceforth began to exalt its prerogatives over those of the rulers of
nations.
[Sidenote: 755.]
Pippin's first duty, as king, was to repel a new invasion of the Saxons.
His power was so much increased by his title that he was able, at once,
to lead against them such a force that they were compelled to pay a
tribute of 300 horses annually, and to allow Christian missionaries to
reside among them. The latter condition was undoubtedly the suggestion
of Bonifacius, who determined to carry the cross to the North Sea, and
complete the conversion of Germany. He himself undertook a mission to
Friesland, where he had failed as a young monk, and there, in 755, at
the age of seventy-five, he was slain by the fierce pagans. He died like
a martyr; refusing to defend himself, and was enrolled among the number
of Saints.
In the year 754, Pope Stephen II., the successor of Zacharias, appeared
in France as a personal supplicant for the aid of King Pippin. Aistulf,
the Longobard king, who had driven the Byzantines out of the Exarchy of
Ravenna, was marching against Rome, which still nominally belonged to
the Eastern Empire. To make his entreaty more acceptable, the Pope
bestowed on Pippin the title of "Patrician of Rome," and solemnly
crowned both him and his young sons, Karl and Karloman, in the chapel of
St. Denis, near Paris. At the same time he issued a ban of
excommunication against all persons who should support a monarch
belonging to any other than the reigning dynasty.
Pippin first endeavored to negotiate with Aistulf, but, failing therein,
he marched into Italy, defeated the Longobards in several battles, and
besieged the king in Pavia, his capital. Aistulf was compelled to
promise that he would give up the Exarchy and leave the Pope in peace;
but no sooner had Pippin returned to France than he violated all his
promises. On the renewed appeals of the Pope, Pippin came to Italy a
second time, again defeated the Longobards, and forced Aistulf not only
to fulfil his former promises, but also to pay the expenses of the
second war. He remained in Italy until the conditions were fulfilled,
and his son Karl (Charlemagne), then fourteen years old, spent some time
in Rome.
[Sidenote: 768. DEATH OF PIPPIN.]
The Byzantine Emperor demanded that the cities of the Exarchy should be
given back to him, but Pippin transferred them to the Pope, who already
exercised a temporal power in Rome. They were held by the latter, for
some time afterwards, in the name of the Eastern Empire. The worldly
sovereignty of the Popes grew gradually from this basis, but was not yet
recognized, or even claimed. Pippin, nevertheless, greatly strengthened
the influence of the Church by gifts of land, by increasing the
privileges of the priesthood, and by allowing the ecclesiastical synods,
in many cases, to interfere in matters of civil government.
The only other events of his reign were another expedition against the
unsubdued Saxons, and the expulsion of the Saracens from the territory
they held between Narbonne and the Pyrenees. He died in 768, King
instead of Royal Steward, leaving to his sons, Karl and Karloman, a
greater, stronger and better organized dominion than Europe had seen
since the downfall of the Roman Empire.