Franks - History of the Franks

Most of the barbarian kingdoms formed from the destruction of the Western Roman Empire were short-lived. Saxons, Visigoths, Alamo Ostrogoths, Burgundians and other peoples did not resist external pressure and ended up being dominated or destroyed. Only the Franks managed to structure themselves and take root in Gaul. Then they expanded their domains over territories that correspond to France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and eight other European countries. The word frank comes from the Old German frekkr and means strong, daring, courageous. These were exactly the qualities that Charlemagne sought to flaunt as the greatest ruler of the Franks and great Christian warrior. Therefore, Charlemagne was crowned by Pope Leo III with the title of Emperor in an attempt to rescue the authority of the ancient Roman Empire.

Of all the Germanic barbarian peoples, the Franks deserve special attention, as they managed to structure a powerful state of great significance in the High European Middle Ages. This Frankish state was formed and expanded under the rule of two dynasties:

Dynasty of the Merovingian Kings (5th to 8th centuries) - period of the formation of the Frankish kingdom, its first territorial expansions and the alliance established between the king and the Roman Catholic Church.

Dynasty of the Carolingian Kings (8th and 9th centuries) - period of the apogee of the Franks, their maximum territorial expansion and the attempt to revive, under the government of the Franks, the authority of a universal empire.

The Merovingians

Meroveus was leader of the Franks in the first half of the 5th century, leading his people in the fight against the Huns (Battle of the Catalunic Fields). By descent from Merovingian, the first dynasty of Frankish kings is Merovingian-dominated.

In actual terms, the first Merovingian king was Clovis (grandson of Meroveus), who ruled for twenty-nine years (482-511). Clovis managed to promote the unification of the Franks, expanded his territorial domains and converted to Catholic Christianity.

After Clovis' death, his four sons divided the Frankish kingdom, weakening it politically. Only with King Dagobert (629-639) there was a new reunification of the Franks. However, after his death, new internal struggles arose that accelerated the collapse of the power of the Merovingian kings.

Dagobert's successors had their powers absorbed by a high official of the court, the prefect of the palace (paço steward) who, in practice, played the role of the true king. As for the Merovingian kings, they assumed a life of pleasure and idleness, which earned them the title of indolent kings.

At the end of the 7th century, the butler of the palace Pepin of Herstal (679-714) made his position hereditary. His successor, Charles Martel (714-741), acquired great prestige and power, especially after managing to stop the advance of Muslim Arabs towards Western Europe.

It was at the famous Battle of Poitiers in 732 that Charles Martel defeated the Arab emir Abdher-Raman, relying on the efforts of Frankish infantry. Halting the Muslim advance towards Europe, Charles Martel became known as the savior of Western Christendom.

When dying, Carlos Martel distributed his dominions between his two children:Carloman and Pepino. In 747 Carloman entered the monastic life, leaving to Pepin all the political powers left by his father. In 751, Pepin dethroned the last and weakened Merovingian king, Childeric III, and founded the Carolingian dynasty.

The Carolingians

Pepin the Short obtained recognition from Pope Zechariah for the dethronement of the last Merovingian king, who retired to a monastery. Elected king of all the Franks, Pepin was solemnly blessed by Archbishop Boniface, representative of the pope.

Before he died, in 768, Pepin divided his kingdom between his two sons:Charlemagne and Carloman. However, three years after receiving his share of the kingdom (771), Carloman died and Charlemagne became absolute ruler of the Frankish kingdom. Through several wars, Charlemagne expanded the domains of the Franks, taking possession of regions such as Soxony, Bavaria, Lombardy and almost all of Italy. His conquests brought him prestige and power.

Carolingian Empire

The Catholic Church allied itself with Charlemagne, as it wanted the protection of a powerful and Christian sovereign that would allow the expansion of Christianity. Thus, on December 25, 800, Charlemagne received from Pope Leo III the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

It was a pompous and solemn ceremony, intended to revive, through the new emperor, the authority of the Western Roman Empire, which disappeared in 476 with the Germanic invasions. In this way, Charlemagne was crowned the legitimate successor of the great Roman emperors.

At first, the Byzantine Empire did not collect the title granted to Charlemagne. The Byzantine Emperor Michael I demanded, in order to give his recognition, territorial concessions from the region of Dalmatia and Istria.

The Administration of the Empire

The Franco empire had no fixed capital. Its seat depended on the place where the emperor and his court were located. In general, Charlemagne stayed longer in the city of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle).

Seeking to provide an organization more suited to the uses and customs prevailing in the empire, Charlemagne issued written norms known as capitulars.

Counts, Marquises and Missi-Dominici

Charlemagne created administrative subdivisions, putting the counts, marquises and missi-dominici in charge of controlling them.

It was up to the counts, responsible for the interior territories (counties), to enforce the capitulants and collect taxes in the name of Charlemagne.

It was up to the marquises to defend and administer the territories located on the borders of the empire, that is, the brands.

The missi-dominici, royal inspectors, traveled throughout the empire and had full powers to control the action of local administrators.

The Beneficium and the King's Vassals

During Charlemagne's rule, many lands in the empire were granted in beneficium to various local nobles. These nobles then became vassals of the king, having a duty of fidelity to him. Because they were direct vassals of the king, many of these nobles refused to obey the instructions of administrative authority, like the missi-dominici.

This attitude of the nobles was an important element for the formation of the deudal society, with the fragmentation of power in the hands of several noble landowners, united only by the ties of vassalage.

The Carolingian Renaissance

An audacious warrior, Charlemagne devoted himself, throughout his life, more to the sword than to the cultivation of the spirit, remaining practically illiterate until adulthood. However, as administrator, he was concerned with promoting the cultural development of the Frankish Empire, perhaps to give legitimacy to the intended re-creation of the Western Roman Empire.

Advised by intellectuals such as the monk Alcuíno, the librarian Leidrade and the historians Paulo Diácomo and Eginardo, Charlemagne opened schools and monasteries, encouraged the translation and copying of ancient manuscripts and protected artists.

Thus, his period of government was marked by significant cultural activity, which encompassed the sectors of letters, arts and education. This is the so-called Carolingian renaissance, which contributed to the preservation and transmission of values ​​of the culture of Classical Antiquity.

The Division and Decay of the Empire

Upon his death in 814, Charlemagne left imperial power to his son Louis I the Pious. Under Louis I, the Carolingian Empire still managed to maintain its political unity, but after his death in 840, the empire was disputed by their children, in an exhausting civil war.

By the Treaty of Verdun, signed in 843, the sons of Louis I signed the peace, establishing the following division of the Frankish Empire:

Charles II, the Bald, took the western part, comprising the region of present-day France;

Louis the German took the eastern part, comprising the region of present-day Germany;

Lothair took the central part, comprising regions stretching from Italy to the North Sea.

In each of these Carolingian regions, power was gradually lost, with successive internal divisions of the kingdoms. Thus, the ora of political unity realized by Charlemagne failed to survive a century after his death.

Causes of decay:crisis and invasions

The dismemberment of royal power from the Carolingian monarchs was accompanied by the increasing independence and autonomy of the agrarian nobility. There was strong decentralization and fragmentation of political power, evidencing the internal crisis experienced by the empire.

After a period without invasions, Christianized Europe suffered a series of new invasions, in the 9th and 10th centuries, on three major fronts:east, north and south.

From the east came the Hungarians (Magyars), who carried out periodic attacks, looting villages, monasteries and rural properties.

From the north came the invasion of the Vikings (Scandinavians), who, coming from Denmark via the North Sea, launched themselves into constant local piracy attacks on the European coast. In 911, the Frankish king Charles the Simple ceded the territory of Normandy to one of the Ciking chiefs, Rollon. In return, Rollon became a vassal of the Frankish king.

From the south arrived the Arabs, of Muslim religion, who, dominating navigation by the sea, Mediterranean, launched themselves in successive attacks of looting in different regions of Italy (Rome, Campania and Lazio) and the great islands (Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia). ).

The renowned historian Henri Pirenne defends the thesis that trade between Europe and the East remained active, even if weakened, even with the end of the Western Roman Empire. It was only with the establishment of Arab rule in the Mediterranean Sea that there was a strong retraction in Eastern European trade:

"The fact that the Islamic expansion closed the Mediterranean, in the 7th century, resulted in the very rapid decline of trade. During the 8th century, merchants disappeared due to the interruption of trade. Urban life, which still remained, thanks to to these merchants, failed at the same time.

Then there was a general impoverishment. The gold coin, inherited from the Romans, disappeared, being replaced by the silver coin of the Carolingians. This is clear proof of the break with the characteristically Mediterranean ancient economy."

The Formation of Feudal Societies

The climate of insecurity and uneasiness spread across the wave of invasions led European Christians to build fortified villages and castles surrounded with large stakes.

This whole defensive system created by the private initiative of the nobles of each region demonstrated the lack of power of the kings to organize the defense of society as a whole. Each defended himself as best he could, associating with more powerful lords in search of protection. In this sense, the "invasions" marked an essential date in the formation of western feudal societies.

Watch our video lessons: