Who was the first emperor of the Frankish Empire. Chronology of the history of the Frankish state

In the first half of the 1st millennium, Germanic tribes historically made themselves known in Western Europe. They gradually spread from their ancestral home (the area between the Rhine and Oder) throughout the northern provinces of the Roman Empire. The Germanic tribes became the external force that accelerated the collapse of Western Roman statehood. On the basis of a new political and legal community, a new, feudal statehood arose in Europe.
The Germanic tribes came into active contact with the Roman Empire and the peoples of Gaul in the 1st century. Then they were at the stage of tribal life and the formation of a supra-community administration. Contact with a more developed empire, the need to wage constant wars with it, and then cooperate on a military basis, accelerated the formation of a proto-state organization among the Germanic peoples (who did not form a single people, but disintegrated into tribal unions). This organization developed without any reliance on cities, which became the most important historical feature of the German path to statehood.
The basis of social relations among the Germans was the clan community with collective ownership of the main means of agricultural production. Individual ownership was unknown, although the use of family holdings and property was already family-wide. Slave labor was used on family farms. A special stratum was made up of freedmen, who were in no way equated with members of the community. A clan nobility stood out, whose social weight was based not only on military merits, but also on traditional advantages in land use and accumulation of wealth.
The uniqueness of the historical situation affected the duality of the proto-state structure of the Germans: the rule of the tribal nobility was intertwined with military-retinue rule, and often even retreated before it. At the head of most tribes and associations were kings and, next to them, military leaders: Royal (royal) power was the power of the elders of the tribe. The leaders commanded the militia of the tribe or association and were elected on the basis of best suitability and personal merit in the war.
The system of military democracy brought to life another phenomenon: great importance squads grouped around military leaders. These squads were formed on the principle of personal devotion and were the most important element in transforming the power of tribal leaders into military kings, who consolidated their influence on the squads with distributions of booty, special feasts and awards. From military-squad relations, the Germans developed the principle of personal service to the king - important for subsequent statehood.
The strengthening of the military-combat principle in the proto-state, the isolation of early royal power (up to its transformation into hereditary power) occurred in the 2nd - 3rd centuries, when, under the influence of global ethnic movements in Europe, the Germans intensified their pressure on the provinces of the Roman Empire.
In the IV - V centuries. large movements of barbarian tribes in Europe (stimulated by the Great Migration of Peoples that began from Asia) became the external cause of the defeat and then collapse of the Roman Empire. New barbarian kingdoms formed on the territory of the former empire. Their organization and power relations in them were built on the interweaving of the traditions of the military-tribal system of the Germans and the institutions of Roman statehood.

1. BARBARIAN KINGDOMS

1.2. VISIGOTHIC AND OSTROGOTHIC KINGDOM

One of the most powerful eastern branches of the Germans, the Visigoths, had its own state even before the final collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Suppressed at the end of the 4th century. from the Danube lands by the Huns during the Great Migration of Peoples, the Visigoths first penetrated into the Eastern Roman Empire, and at the beginning of the 5th century. - to Italy. Relations with the Roman Empire among the Visigoths were initially based on a military-federal alliance. But by the middle of the century it had become nominal. Throughout the 5th century. the Visigoths gained a foothold in southern Gaul and northern Spain.
At this time, Visigothic society was experiencing an accelerated process of forming a proto-state. Until the middle of the 5th century. People's assemblies played the main role in governance. In the second half of the 5th century. Royal power strengthened: kings appropriated the right to hold court and make laws. A special relationship between the kings and the military nobility developed, which gradually seized the right to elect kings from the people's assemblies. The basis for consolidating the power of the nobility was land grants made in the name of the king. Under King Eurich, the Visigoths eliminated the most important remnants of military democracy, published a set of laws (using Roman experience), and created special judges and administrators - comites.
At the beginning of the 6th century. the Visigoths were driven out of southern Gaul by the Franks (the northern branch of the Germans) and formed the Kingdom of Toledo (VI - VIII centuries) in Spain.

The king's power was elective and unstable. Only at the end of the 6th century. one of the Visigothic rulers managed to give it some stability; throughout the 6th century. kings were regularly deposed by murder. The most important role in the Visigothic state was played by meetings of the nobility - the Hardings. They elected kings, passed laws, and decided some court cases. The Hardings met without a specific system, but their consent was necessary for major political decisions. In the 7th century Along with them, the church councils of Toledo became important in the life of the kingdom, where not only church, but also national affairs were decided. The great role of the meetings of the military, church and administrative nobility of the Visigoths in the state implied an increase in its position in the social system: already from the 6th century. here a hierarchy of land ownership was formed, creating different levels of social subordination and privilege.
The evolution of the Visigothic state towards a new statehood was interrupted by the Arab invasion and conquest of Spain in the 8th century. Kingdom of Toledo.
Another part of the East German branch of tribes - the Ostrogoths - after a short federal union with the East Roman Empire, formed their own state in Italy. The territory of the Ostrogothic kingdom (493 - 555) also covered the Alpine Gaul (modern Switzerland, Austria, Hungary) and the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The Ostrogoths seized in their favor up to a third of the lands of the former Roman landowners, previously captured by previous conquerors.
Unlike other Germanic peoples, the Ostrogoths practically retained the former state apparatus of the Roman Empire in their kingdom; The Roman and Gallo-Roman population continued to be subject to their own law, their own administration. The Senate, the praetorian prefect, and municipal authorities continued to exist - and they all remained in the hands of the Romans. The Gothic population was subject to the governance that had developed on the basis of the German military-tribal tradition, which was at the same time national.
The power of the king among the Ostrogoths was very significant from the very time of the conquest of Italy. He was granted the rights of legislation, coinage, appointment of officials, conducting diplomatic relations, and financial powers. This power was considered above the law and outside the laws.

The remnants of military democracy among the Ostrogoths were weaker: at the end of the 5th century. There were practically no semblances of public assemblies. The Royal Council played a much larger role (than it was even in the Roman Empire). It was both a military council and the highest judicial body. It consisted of the king's advisers, his squire, and the palace entourage - the comitat. The committee was in charge of appointing church ministers and determining taxes.
Locally, in special districts, all power belonged to the Gothic comites, or counts, appointed by the king. They had military, judicial, administrative and financial powers over both the Gothic and Roman populations, and they controlled the activities of other officials in their territory. Their tasks also included “maintaining calm” on their lands and police activities. In the border areas, the role of rulers was played by dukes (duces), who, in addition to administrative, military and judicial powers, also owned some legislative rights on their territory. Conditional unity in the work of such a semi-state administration was supposed to be brought by royal envoys - sayons, who were entrusted with a variety of matters, mainly to control other managers and officials (without assigning their functions), to eliminate offenses or particularly important incidents. Their powers also applied equally to the Roman and Gothic populations. The dukes and counts also commanded the Gothic army, which was already permanent in Italy and was supported by the state.
The Ostrogothic kingdom turned out to be short-lived (in the middle of the 6th century, Italy was conquered by Byzantium). But the political system that developed in it was an important historical example of the significant influence of the traditions of the Roman Empire on the formation of a new statehood.

1.2. FRANKIAN STATE OF THE MEROVINGIANS.

At the end of the 5th century. in Northern Gaul (modern Belgium and Northern France) the early state of the Franks, the most powerful union of northern Germanic tribes, emerged. The Franks came into contact with the Roman Empire in the 3rd century, settling from the northern Rhine regions. In the second half of the 4th century. they settled in Gaul as federates of Rome, gradually expanding their possessions and leaving the control of Rome. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Franks (who also called themselves Salic) captured the remnants of Roman possessions in Gaul, defeating the independent semi-kingdoms that had formed there. On the conquered lands, the Franks settled mainly in entire communities-clans, taking partly empty lands, partly the land of the former Roman treasury, and partly the local population. However, in general, the relations of the Franks with the Gallo-Roman population were peaceful. This ensured the further formation of a completely new socio-ethnic community of Celtic-Germanic synthesis.
During the conquest of Gaul, the leader of one of the tribes, Clovis, rose to prominence among the Franks. By 510, he managed to destroy other leaders and declare himself, as it were, a representative of the Roman emperor (the nominal preservation of political ties with the empire was one of the ways of proclaiming his special rights). Throughout the 6th century. Remnants of military democracy remained, the people still participated in legislation. However, the importance of royal power gradually grew. To a large extent, this was facilitated by the increase in income of the kings, who established regular collection of taxes in the form of polyudye. In 496, Clovis with his retinue and part of his fellow tribesmen adopted Christianity, which provided the nascent statehood with the support of the Gallo-Roman church.

Previously, the state of the Franks was weakly centralized, reproducing tribal division in the territorial structure. The country was divided into counties, counties into districts (pagi), the former Roman communities; the lowest unit, but very important, was the hundred. Districts and hundreds retained self-government: district and hundred people's assemblies resolved court cases and were in charge of the distribution of taxes. The count was not a general ruler, he ruled only the king's possessions in the county (in other areas such rulers were called satsebarons); by virtue of domain rights, he had judicial and administrative powers in relation to the subject population.
The basis of state unity initially consisted mainly military organization. The annual meeting of the militia - the “March fields” - played a significant role in resolving state and political issues, in particular war and peace, the adoption of Christianity, etc. By the end of the 6th century. they are out of the ordinary. But in the 7th century. restored again, although they acquired a different content. By the 7th century Not only the Franks, but also the Gallo-Roman population began to be recruited for military service, and not only free, but also dependent land holders - the Lithuanians. Military service began to turn into a national duty, and the “March Fields” became, for the most part, reviews of the military service population.
Center of public administration in the 6th century. became the royal court. Under King Dagobert (VII century), the permanent positions of referendar (also the keeper of the king's seal), royal count (highest judge), head of finance, keeper of treasures, and abbot of the palace were established. The court and immediate surroundings, mostly ecclesiastical, formed a royal council, which influenced the conclusion of treaties, appointments of officials, and land grants. Officials for special affairs, financial, trade and customs agents were appointed by the king and removed at his discretion. The dukes, the rulers of several united districts, had a somewhat special position.

Up to twice a year, meetings of the nobility (bishops, counts, dukes, etc.) took place, where general political affairs, mainly church affairs, and grants were decided. The spring ones were the most numerous and important; the autumn ones were narrower in composition and more palace-like.
By its nature, the early Frankish state was not durable. From the turn of the VI-VII centuries. a noticeable separation of three regions of the kingdom began: Neustria (northwest with a center in Paris), Austrasia (northeast), Burgundy. By the end of the 7th century. Aquitaine stood out in the south. The regions differed markedly in the composition of the population, the degree of feudalization, and the administrative and social system. The ongoing collapse of the state primarily caused a weakening of royal power. At the end of the 7th century. real powers were in the hands of royal mayordomos - rulers of palaces in certain regions. The mayors took over the matter of land grants, and with it control over the local aristocracy and vassals. The last Merovingian kings withdrew from power.

2. FRANKIAN CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE

2.1. FORMATION OF AN EMPIRE

From the end of the 7th century. The formation of the state among the Franks began almost anew, and it took a different political path. Although the established apparatus of the royal court and royal administration created an undoubted historical basis for this process. After a long struggle between different branches of the Frankish nobility, the real control of the country passed to the mayors of Austrasia.
By the beginning of the 8th century. In the lands of the Frankish kingdom, the process of formation of new social forces clearly manifested itself. On the one hand, these are large landowners of Gallo-Roman origin and, less so, of Germanic origin (whose possessions were mostly formed through royal grants and protected by immunities). On the other hand, there is a large category of dependent peasants, freedmen, who entered into bondage or under the protection of large landowners and acquired a status similar to Roman colons. The largest land holdings were concentrated in the Catholic Church, which began to play almost a state-political role in the kingdom. The objective task of the new state was to link the new social structure with political institutions - without such a connection, any statehood would not have gone beyond the royal palaces.
The solution to such a historical task was carried out during the reform of Charles Martel (the first half of the 8th century), the successor of Pitan. Its essence was that land grants from kings (essentially, majordomos) to the military-service strata became not full and independent, but conditional property. The first such awards - benefices - have been known in general since the 730s. on church property. This also restructured the military organization accordingly, which was also especially necessary, since the Frankish monarchy was engaged in active wars with the Arabs in Spain, with the rebellious Germanic tribes and semi-states in the East, and with its own rebellious magnates.

The immediate consequences of the reform were significant. Thanks to her, it was possible to create a large cavalry army, which then came to the fore in the conduct of war - knighthood. But more importantly, a real service-political connection was established between the monarchy and the bulk of the privileged and free population, based on the hierarchy of land ownership - feudal in the narrow sense.
Under Karl's son and successor Pepin the Short, another significant political revolution took place for the state. With the support of the church, Pepin the Short deposed the last of the Merovingians and proclaimed himself the official king of the Franks. The “Assembly of All Franks,” essentially an assembly of nobility, confirmed the election. In order to give the new monarchy a special sacred character, Pepin was crowned through a special procedure of anointing. The new status of royal power, a new military organization and social-land system, special legal, ideological and political relations with the church became the foundations of the new Frankish Carolingian monarchy (751 - 987), named after its most famous representative, Charlemagne.

During the reign of Charlemagne (768 - 814), the territory of the kingdom increased significantly due to successful conquests. The Carolingian possessions covered most of Europe: from Central Spain to the Baltic Sea and from Northern France to Central Italy and the Adriatic coast; Aachen (modern Germany) was chosen as the capital. Such expansion of the state, without any reliance on ethnic and social unity, certainly led to the weakening of the unified state structure. The support of the new monarchy became only the expanding vassal-servant relations and the new state apparatus that grew out of the royal court. In 800, due to special political pressure from the Roman Church (which tried to make the kingdom an instrument of its claims to hegemony in Europe), the state was proclaimed an empire. With this, the status and independence of individual lands in the state should have been significantly reduced.

The general political process of strengthening the new monarchy naturally affected the formation of a qualitatively new state organization. The ways of this formation were, firstly, the repeated strengthening of the political and administrative influence of the royal court, and secondly, the gradual nationalization of local self-government, which was one of the important formative elements for the barbarian early state. The influence of the church and ecclesiastical institutions, as well as the Roman tradition of political institutions, was also great.
Royal (imperial) power acquired a special character and powers. The power and personality of the emperor received sacred recognition from the church, thereby, as it were, a special divine content. Imperial differences in power meant that the Frankish kings seemed to equate themselves with the Byzantine (East Roman) emperors, adopting similar powers and, accordingly, a role in relation to the church. The central state apparatus was still concentrated in the royal court. It grew, and a certain managerial specialization began in it. The position of mayor was abolished by Pepin in the 8th century. State affairs were mainly distributed among 8 palace ranks: the seneschal oversaw the affairs of the palace, the count palatine (or royal count) administered royal justice, the marshal and constable were in charge of military affairs and took command of the army on behalf of the king, the chamberlain was in charge of royal property and the treasury, the chancellor was in charge of diplomatic and national affairs, preparation of legislation.

Under the Carolingians, meetings of the nobility began to be identified with the general assembly of the Franks. They were traditionally held in spring (but already in May) and autumn. The king convened meetings in his palace (under Charlemagne, such meetings were held 35 times). Usually, the king submitted his capitular laws, as well as large acts of land grants, to the consent of the meetings. The discussion lasted 2 - 3 days. The spiritual and secular ranks met separately, but the most important issues were resolved together.
The count remained the main figure in local government, but his status and powers changed significantly. The count was no longer the conditional head of local communities, but a purely royal appointee. The old county districts were destroyed, and 600-700 new ones were formed in their place. The powers of the counts became wider and acquired a mainly government-wide character. Counties were divided into hundreds with judicial and financial powers; the hundred was headed by a vicar or centenary (centurion).
The new administrative institution of the Carolingians was the royal envoys (missi). These were royal appointees with the highest powers of control. Their main task was to control the county administration and carry out some special, often financial and military orders of the king: “Our missions were appointed in order to bring to the attention of all the people about everything that we have decided by our capitularies, and in order to ensure the implementation our decisions by all in their entirety.”
The military organization was based on the theoretically universal conscription of the free population (landowners). However, in reality, those who had the necessary minimum income were required to serve (arms and other supplies were provided at personal expense). The organization of hundreds contributed to the replacement of universal duties with a kind of recruitment: hundreds fielded the required number of warriors. With the development of vassal relations, the clientele of vassals was drawn into the circle of military duties.
The empire represented unity only in a general political sense. In reality, it broke up into various areas, each of which retained, to a greater or lesser extent, its own administrative and political traditions. Since 802, the historical part of the empire was divided into special zones, akin to large ecclesiastical districts; At the head of each such zone was a group of special state envoys (from the highest spiritual and secular ranks) who supervised the counts and other authorities. The annexed regions (Aquitaine, Provence) were divided into the former kingdoms, the heads of which retained the title of princes and, in part, their previous powers. Finally, the outskirts (mainly the eastern ones) were governed very differently; the most typical was administration through appointed prefects.
Church authorities played a large role in state affairs and the current administration - bishops, who not only used church lands and people, but also had general jurisdiction, were part of the military organization.

2.2. THE DISCOVERY OF THE FRANK EMPIRE AND THE FORMATION OF THE GERMAN STATE

Despite the strengthening of the Carolingian royal power and the growing importance of centralized government, the state and political unity of the empire was conditional. With the death of Charlemagne and the transfer of power to his heirs, it became almost illusory. The empire allowed large feudal magnates to grow stronger, who no longer needed a unified statehood, especially one that had taken upon itself the messianic task. Only the church actively advocated for the preservation of the unity of the empire, despite the fact that the positions of a significant part of the bishops individually were different.
The domain traditions of the Carolingians were also in conflict with the interests of statehood as a whole. Even Charlemagne was ready to eliminate the unity of the empire, in 806 he issued a special capitulary on the division of power between his heirs. This division concerned not only territories, but also political powers. Under pressure from the church, Charles's successor, Louis, was forced to change the order of succession to the throne and maintain political unity. According to the capitulary of 817, the historical part of the empire, together with the imperial dignity, was to be inherited according to the principle of primogeniture - one of the sons, the rest received the usual royal titles and rights over the remaining parts of the former empire. The domination of the empire over the other kingdoms was envisaged as more political and ideological than actually governmental. True, the capitulary was soon cancelled. And after several years of political disputes, Charles’s sons concluded the Treaty of Verdun in 843. According to it, the Frankish kingdom was politically divided into three approximately equal parts. Each of the brothers received part of the historical territory of the Frankish state, and then the division proceeded mainly among the established kingdoms.
However, even the resulting kingdoms were too large for the state connections of that time, when they were all based primarily on personal connections and vassalage relations. Already in the middle of the 9th century. Charles the Bald had to enter into additional agreements on power, first with his brothers, then with large feudal lords.
With the collapse of the Carolingian Empire (mid-9th century), an independent East Frankish state was formed in the historical territories of the Germanic tribes. The kingdom included lands with a predominantly German population. Such ethnic cohesion was rare in the Middle Ages. The kingdom did not, however, have state and political unity. By the beginning of the 10th century. Germany represented a collection of duchies, the largest of which were Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, Thuringia, and Saxony.
The duchies were not really interconnected with each other; they differed significantly even in their social structure. In the western regions, patrimonial feudalism was firmly established, there was almost no free peasantry left, and new socio-economic centers - cities - emerged. In the eastern regions, the feudalization of society was weak, the social structure was focused on community ties, and significant territories with the pre-state life of barbarian times were preserved; there only the latest of barbaric truths appeared.
The unity of the state strengthened with the establishment of the Saxon dynasty on the royal throne (919 - 1024). Internecine feuds were temporarily overcome by several successful external wars Basically, the territories belonging to the kingdom were determined, the special political place of the king in the feudal hierarchy was established - King Otto I was crowned (in the conditional center of the state - Aachen). The formation of a unified state organization of the kingdom was unique due to the great dependence of royal power on the tribal duchies. The formation of statehood in Germany relied on the church as the only bearer of the state principle.
The only bodies of government in the kingdom were church institutions: monasteries, abbeys, bishoprics. Only they were really interested in creating a more centralized state: Appointments to the highest church positions were made by the king. Thus, the church administration turned, in essence, into a state administration, given that the priestly experience of most senior hierarchs began only with appointment.

The barbarian kingdoms that emerged in Europe in the second half of the 1st millennium, mainly due to the political formation of the Germanic peoples, were different in territory and existed for very different times - from half a century to several centuries. Despite all the external differences, it was the statehood of one historical type and one form - all of them were early feudal monarchies, related in state organization, the system of power relations in society and the principles of carrying out state activities.
The formation of early feudal monarchies and barbarian kingdoms historically occurred under the enormous influence of the traditions of statehood of the Roman Empire. Not only because almost all of these states of the Germanic peoples existed on the former territory of the empire. The new statehood was formed as a synthesis of institutions, institutions and ideas inherited from Rome, and those that grew on their own basis of political evolution and their own traditions of military-tribal life. In the history of some kingdoms, the influence of Roman traditions and institutions was small at the beginning (the Frankish kingdom), while in others (the Ostrogoths or Lombards) it could be predominant. However, this did not mean that as a result of such a historical synthesis, the former ancient type of state organization was revived. Early feudal monarchies were new states in the broadest sense of the word, distinguished by a number of qualitatively new features of political organization. The main institutions and principles of the early feudal state were equally different from the Roman system and from the proto-state institutions of the Germanic peoples.
Basis political relations in the new states, feudal ties became special, conditioned by new forms of land relations, growing out of military service and the personal relations of the former warriors to their leader-king. These connections formed a special hierarchy of suzerainty-vassalage, expressed both in the possession of the land wealth of the country, and in the principles of military service and legal basis statehood.
One of the two most important axes of the new statehood was therefore the military organization. The second such historical axis was the church organization, which in most early feudal monarchies was not only the most important accumulator of public wealth and financial accumulator, but also a real administrative institution, especially important because by its nature it was subordinate to the unified authority of the Roman spiritual rulers. The monarchy - individual power and the institutions associated with it - did not have a general political character, but was patrimonial, inseparable from the powers and rights of the king in relation to his own estates, where he acted as the most powerful and sovereign master-patron, in his own way and only in his own types that arranged the state. From the very beginning, early feudal statehood was completely devoid of any democratic traditions or guidelines; the class system was the flip side of the early feudal monarchy, and they were strengthened in parallel.
Despite the fact that for the Germanic peoples the early feudal monarchy was also the first historical form of statehood, which grew up for these peoples on the site of proto-state structures (like the ancient polis for Rome and Greece), the early feudal monarchy constituted a new and higher historical form in its influence on society and on the coverage of public relations by government regulation.

Chapter 7. Frankish State

§ 1. The emergence of the Frankish state

In Gaul in the 5th century. profound socio-economic transformations took place. In this richest province of Rome (territory almost coinciding with present-day France), a deep crisis emerged that engulfed the empire. The protests of slaves, colonists, peasants, and the urban poor became more frequent. Rome could no longer defend its borders from invasions of foreign tribes and, above all, the Germans - the eastern neighbors of Gaul. As a result, most of the country was captured by the Visigoths, Burgundians, Franks (Salic and Ripuarian) and some other tribes. Of these Germanic tribes, the Salic Franks ultimately proved to be the most powerful. It took them a little over 20 years to reach the end of the 5th and beginning of the 6th centuries. take over most of the country.

The emergence of a class society among the Franks, which had begun to emerge even before their migration to Gaul, sharply accelerated during the process of its conquest. Each new campaign increased the wealth of the Frankish military-tribal nobility. When dividing the spoils, she received the best lands, a significant number of colones, and livestock. The nobility rose above the ordinary Franks, although the latter still remained personally free and at first did not experience increased economic oppression. They settled in their new homeland in rural communities (marks). The mark was considered the owner of all the land of the community, which included forests, wastelands, meadows, and arable lands. The latter were divided into plots, which quickly became the hereditary use of individual families.

The Gallo-Romans, who were several times larger in number than the Franks, found themselves in the position of a dependent population. At the same time, the Gallo-Roman aristocracy partially retained its wealth. The unity of class interests marked the beginning of a gradual rapprochement between the Frankish and Gallo-Roman nobility, with the former becoming dominant. This manifested itself during the formation of a new government, which was supposed to preserve the captured country, keep the colons and slaves in obedience. The previous tribal organization did not have the necessary forces and means for this. The institutions of the clan-tribal system begin to give way to a new organization headed by a military leader - the king and a squad personally devoted to him. The king and his entourage actually decided all the most important issues in the life of the country, although popular assemblies and other institutions of the previous Frankish system still remained. A new public power was being formed, which no longer coincided directly with the population. It consisted not only of armed people independent of ordinary free people, but also of compulsory institutions that did not exist under the tribal system. The establishment of a new public authority is associated with the division of the population. The lands inhabited by the Franks began to be divided into pagi (districts), consisting of smaller units - hundreds. The management of the population, living in pagi and hundreds, was entrusted to special confidants of the king. In the southern regions of Gaul, where the Gallo-Romans were many times more numerous, the Roman administrative-territorial division was initially preserved. But here, too, the appointment of officials depended on the king.

The emergence of a state among the Franks is associated with the name of one of their military leaders - Clovis (486–511) from the Merovingian clan. Under his leadership the main part of Gaul was conquered. Clovis's far-sighted political step was the adoption of Christianity by him and his squad according to the Catholic model. By this, he secured the support of the Gallo-Roman nobility and the Catholic Church that dominated Gaul.

The formation of the Frankish state occurred relatively quickly - within the life of one generation. In many ways, this process was facilitated by wars of conquest and, as a consequence, the rapid class differentiation of Frankish society.

§ 2. State of the Franks in the VI-IX centuries.

Main features of development. The main feature of the development of Frankish society was the emergence and development of feudalism in its depths. New relations arose in both socio-ethnic groups - Frankish and Gallo-Roman. Each of them had its own main area of ​​settlement (Frankish North and Gallo-Roman South; the conventional boundary between North and South was the Loire River). But the formation of feudal relations among the Franks and Gallo-Romans was far from the same, primarily because it began from different starting points: the Franks entered the era of feudalism in the process of the primitive communal system, the Gallo-Romans - during the collapse of the slave system society.

In this regard, it should be noted important feature: the two main ways of the emergence of feudalism mutually influenced each other, objectively accelerating the formation of a new socio-economic formation. Here, two main stages can be traced in the development of feudalism: the first - VI-VII centuries, known in historiography as the time of the Merovingian monarchy; second - VIII - first half of the IX century. - Carolingian monarchy.

Merovingian monarchy. After the death of Clovis, his sons entered into a long, bloody struggle for supreme power. Feudal feuds continued for more than 100 years with short interruptions. The kingdom more than once broke up into separate, essentially independent states. Only at the beginning of the 7th century. there was some calm. But the events of the previous century had a significant impact on the socio-economic and state development countries. The nobility was generously endowed with land. This was the only way for the kings to win her over to their side.

The donated land became hereditary freely alienable property, the so-called allod. The result of such donations was a sharp intensification of the objectively natural process of “settlement of the squad to the ground.” The endowment of warriors with estates and their transformation into feudal landowners took place in almost all countries of feudal Europe. The peculiarity of the Merovingian monarchy was that here this process acquired an exceptionally large scale.

The church quickly enriched itself, its land holdings constantly increasing.

Strengthening feudal dependence. Important socio-economic changes emerged among the Frankish peasantry. Private ownership of land (allod) is established - first in household plots, and then in arable plots. Since that time, the class division of the community has accelerated significantly. The number of landless peasants increased rapidly. The peasant's loss of his land was accompanied by an attack on his personal freedom. Most often, the landless were enslaved through precarity agreement(from Latin - “request”). The earliest version of this transaction involved the transfer to the peasant of a plot of master's land for use on the terms of fulfilling certain duties: working in the master's fields, paying him part of the harvest, etc. Somewhat later, another type of precaria became widespread - the so-called “precaria granted.” The impoverished peasant gave his small plot (it was believed that he “gifted” it) to the master, who returned it back, sometimes with an additional allotment, but as a holding with the obligation to fulfill the agreed duties in his favor. Formally, the precarious agreement did not establish personal dependence, but it created favorable conditions for this.

During this period there arose patronage system(“patronage”). In the face of increasing oppression and abuse, the peasants were forced to resort to the protection of strong and influential persons. Often the nobility themselves imposed “patronage” on the peasants, since they were interested in this. Placing oneself under “protection” (comendation) has become widespread. Not only the weak and landless were recommended, sometimes the strong and landless became “under the arm” of even stronger ones. The recommendation provided for: 1) transfer of ownership of the land to the master with its subsequent return in the form of holding; 2) establishing the personal dependence of the “weak” on his patron; 3) performing a number of duties in favor of the patron.

All this led to the gradual enslavement of the Frankish peasantry. After several generations, many peasants were already serfs (serfs). Moreover, much earlier, the overwhelming majority of the colons and slaves of the South were among the serfs.

Government system under the Merovingians. The tightening of exploitation of the peasants and the inevitable aggravation of the class struggle as a result led to the interest of the ruling class in strengthening the state mechanism of government.

The strengthening of feudal statehood was not accompanied, however, by strengthening the power of the kings. Bloody feud of the 6th century. turned out to be fatal for the Merovingian dynasty. They were forced to give away almost all the land they owned. As the land fund of the kings (the basis of military-political power in feudal society) decreased, the power of noble families grew. The entire 7th century, with a few exceptions, was marked by the weakening of the power of the kings. And at the end of the 7th century. they were completely sidelined. The time has come, as they said then, for “lazy” kings.

State power was concentrated in the hands of the nobility, who seized all the main positions and, above all, the post of mayor. Initially majordomo(senior of the house) headed the management of the royal palace. However, gradually his powers expand so much that he actually becomes the head of state. At the turn of the 7th–8th centuries. this position became the hereditary property of a noble and wealthy family, which marked the beginning of the Carolingian dynasty.

Carolingian monarchy. Reform of Charles Martel. The name of one of the representatives of this family, Charles Martell (first half of the 8th century), is associated with a very important transformation in the socio-political structure of Frankish society, known as the reform of Charles Martell. The mayordomo sought to strengthen central power. This goal was primarily to be served by the creation of a well-armed cavalry army, which was dependent on the head of state. The need for such an army was also dictated by foreign policy reasons - the threat of invasion by the Arabs, whose main branch of the army was cavalry.

The essence of the reform was as follows. The previous procedure for donating lands into full ownership was abolished. Instead, the lands that Charles Martel confiscated from rebellious magnates and monasteries, together with the peasants who lived on them, were transferred to a conditional lifelong holding - benefice(from Latin - “good deed”). The holder of the benefice was obliged to perform service, mainly military, in favor of the person who awarded the land. The volume of service was determined by the size of the benefit. But in all circumstances, the beneficiary, until reaching a certain age, had to participate as a heavily armed warrior (knight), equipped at his own expense. Refusal to serve deprived the right to benefits.

The significance of the reform was not limited, however, to purely military sphere. It entailed very important changes in the field of socio-political relations. The reform not only spurred the growth of feudal land ownership and the resulting enslavement of peasants, it gave impetus to the formation of a special system of subordination of feudal lords. A contractual relationship was established between the beneficiary and the person who presented the land (they began to be called vassal and lord, respectively), the main element of which was the obligation of military service. In addition to the head of state, the largest feudal lords began to distribute benefits, thus acquiring their own vassals.

Thus, vassalage relations gradually began to form, covering the entire class of feudal lords. The growth of feudal land ownership was accompanied by the strengthening of the military and financial power of individual lords over the peasants living on their lands. This led to an increase in the so-called immunity rights lords, which were established by the Merovingians and consisted in the fact that the activities of state officials did not extend to the estates of the feudal lord who had received the king’s immunity letter, and all state powers were transferred to the owner of the estate. Thus, the power of the feudal lord over the population living in his domain acquired a political, state character to an even greater extent.

The reform of Charles Martel contributed to the temporary strengthening of central power. With the help of the reorganized army, attacks from external enemies were repelled, and the resistance of the rebellious nobility was temporarily broken. The main groups of feudal lords supported this policy. At that time, they were interested in a relatively centralized state, with the help of which they took root in Gaul and enslaved the free Frankish peasants, as well as the population of neighboring countries.

Political system under the Carolingians. In 751, a new dynasty established itself on the throne. At a meeting of the secular and spiritual nobility, Pepin, the son of Charles Martel, who had real power as majordomo, was proclaimed king.

The monarchy reached its highest peak under his son Charles, nicknamed the Great (second half of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century). As a result of large conquests, the Frankish state included territories that now make up Western Germany, Northern Spain, and many other lands.

An indicator of the increased power of the state was the proclamation of Charles as emperor; significant power was concentrated in his hands. However, this did not mean turning the emperor into an absolute monarch. The head of state actually had to share his power with the nobility, without whose consent not a single important decision was made. The largest secular and spiritual feudal lords were part of the permanent council under the emperor. Almost every year a congress of all the nobility was convened (the so-called Great Field).

At the same time, the relative strengthening of the central government led to the formation of government bodies. The features of these bodies were the following: 1) officials who headed the economic management of the feudal lords' estates simultaneously exercised administrative and judicial power over the population living there. The non-separation of economic and state management functions reflected the most important principle of feudal statehood of the era in question - political power was “an attribute of land ownership”; 2) the reward for service was land grants, as well as the right to withhold part of the taxes from the population in their favor; 3) there was no consistent distinction between individual spheres of public administration. Officials, as a rule, combined military, financial, judicial, etc. functions. Only in the central government system did some demarcation of competence emerge. But there was no special apparatus there yet.

Central government bodies. Since the druzhina nobility turned into large landowners and did not live permanently at the royal court, the importance of senior officials increased - ministries. Initially, they represented the main managers of the royal household. At that time, no distinction was made between state and personal royal property; national issues were considered as personal affairs of the royal house. Because of this, the ministers actually headed public administration and the court. Over time, they became owners of large latifundia.

The most important ministries included the following: majordomo(the hereditary holders of this position abolished it after they themselves took the royal throne); Count Palatine- initially supervised the royal servants, and then headed the palace court; thesaurary- “guardian of treasures”, who supervised the accounting of material assets that came to the king’s disposal. In fact, it was the state treasurer, since the state treasury was identified with the personal property of the monarch; marshal- once the “senior of the royal stable”, now the head of the cavalry army, military operations were often carried out under his command; archika-pellan- the king's confessor, the eldest among the palace clergy, an indispensable participant in the royal council.

Local government bodies. The traditional self-government of the free Franks where they lived was gradually replaced by a system of officials appointed initially from the center - the king's commissioners.

The territory of the country was divided into districts - pagi (in the south their borders basically coincided with the previous administrative-territorial division of Roman times). Management of the district was transferred count, who had at his disposal a military detachment and commanded the Paga militia.

The districts were divided into hundreds. Initially they were led by elected officials. However, the Merovingians managed to replace them with appointed persons - centenarii in the North and vicars on South. They obeyed the count and almost duplicated his power within a hundred.

The communities (marks) of the Franks, which were part of the hundred, retained self-government.

Larger ones were created on the border of the country territorial associations- duchies consisting of several districts. Dukes, those who headed their administration were primarily commanders of the local militia. They were entrusted with border defense. Otherwise, they had the same powers as the counts. In the original German lands (the eastern regions of the Frankish state), ducal power was of a slightly different nature. It had its roots in the past, to the time of tribal leaders, whose descendants became dukes of the Frankish kings.

At the beginning of the 7th century. another important trend emerged: the king’s authorized representatives, primarily dukes and counts, gradually turned into the largest local landowners (their holdings increased due to grants from the kings, as well as the appropriation of peasant lands through commendation, etc.). The Edict of King Clothar the Second (614) was an important legal basis favorable to the development of this process. Even then, a procedure was established according to which only the landowner of the corresponding pagi could become a count. Increasingly, positions were inherited, becoming the privilege of individual families. The title of the position (duke, count) began to be considered as a hereditary honorary title.

At the same time, the immune rights of individual lords were strengthened. A bizarre mosaic of the possessions of individual feudal lords, interconnected by relations of vassalage, gradually replaced the previous administrative-territorial division.

Court. The highest judicial power belonged to the monarch. He carried it out jointly with representatives of the nobility. The most serious offenses fell under the jurisdiction of the royal council.

The main judicial institutions of the country, where the vast majority of cases were considered, were "hundreds of courts." Their form has not undergone major changes over the course of several centuries. And this is no coincidence. Having more frequent contact with the people and constantly and directly intervening in their lives, the courts had to have not only coercive power, but also proper authority. Both government At first I couldn’t provide it fully. By preserving the old form of court, the lords sought to take advantage of the respect that the court had among the people. Even then, apparently, they understood the power of tradition - the population was accustomed to a certain form of dispute resolution.

Nevertheless, gradually but steadily, judicial power was concentrated in the hands of the feudal lords. Initially, the count, centenary or vicar only convened Malberg- a meeting of hundreds of free people who chose judges from among themselves - Rakhinburg. The trial was conducted under the leadership of an elected chairman - tungi-na. As a rule, wealthy and respected people were chosen to serve on the court. But all free and full-fledged residents (adult men) of the hundred had to be present at the court hearing. The king's representatives only monitored the correctness of legal proceedings.

Gradually, the king's people (his representatives) become chairmen of the courts instead of the Tungins. The Carolingians completed this process. Their messengers - missions- received the right to appoint members of the court, the so-called Skabins, instead of the Rahinburgs. The obligation of free people to attend the trial was abolished.

The subsequent development of feudalism led to a radical change in the entire judicial structure. Immunist lords expanded their judicial rights against peasants living in their domains. Officials, as well as the highest hierarchs of the church, acquired the features of immunity and judicial powers.

Army. The structure of the army slowly but steadily evolved from a druzhina organization, combined with the people's militia of free Frankish peasants, to a feudal one knightly militia. The military reform of Charles Martel gave the Carolingians a comparatively larger, well-armed mounted knightly army, consisting of benefice holders. Need for people's militia disappeared. The monarchy gained the opportunity to wage successful wars of conquest. The reliability of the knightly army in the fight against popular uprisings was also of great importance.

At the beginning of the 9th century. The Frankish state was at the zenith of its power. Covering the territory of almost all of Western Europe, it seemed indestructible and unshakable; there was no enemy equal to his strength. However, even then it carried elements of approaching decline. Created through conquest, it was a conglomerate of nationalities, not connected by anything except military force. Having temporarily broken the massive resistance of the enslaved peasantry, the Frankish feudal lords lost their former interest in a unified state. During this period, the economy of Frankish society was subsistence in nature. Accordingly, there were no strong, stable economic ties between individual regions. There were no other factors capable of restraining the fragmentation of the country. The Frankish state was completing its development path from the early feudal monarchy to the statehood of the period of feudal fragmentation.

In 843, the split of the state was legally secured in the Treaty of Verdun by the grandchildren of Charlemagne. Three kingdoms became the legal successors of the empire: West Frankish, East Frankish and Middle (future France, Germany and partly Italy).