THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE
15. Charlemagne the Man
Biographical writings make up a not inconsiderable part of mediaeval
literature, but unfortunately the greater portion of them are to be
trusted in only a limited degree by the student of history. Many
biographies, especially the lives of the saints and other noted
Christian leaders, were prepared expressly for the purpose of giving
the world concrete examples of how men ought to live. Their authors,
therefore, were apt to relate only the good deeds of the persons about
whom they wrote, and these were often much exaggerated for the sake of
effect. The people of the time generally were superstitious and easily
appealed to by strange stories and the recital of marvelous events.
They were not critical, and even such of them as were able to read at
all could be made to believe almost anything that the writers of books
cared to say. And since these writers themselves shared in the
superstition and credulousness of the age, naturally such biographies
as were written abounded in tales which anybody to-day would know at a
glance could not be true. To all this Einhard's _Life of Charles the
Great_ stands as a notable exception. It has its inaccuracies, but it
still deserves to be ranked almost in a class of its own as a
trustworthy biographical contribution to our knowledge of the earlier
Middle Ages.
Einhard (or Eginhard) was a Frank, born about 770 near the Odenwald in
Franconia. After being educated at the monastery of Fulda he was
presented at the Frankish court, some time between 791 and 796, where
he remained twenty years as secretary and companion of the king, and
later emperor, Charlemagne. He was made what practically corresponds
to a modern minister of public works and in that capacity is thought
to have supervised the building of the palace and basilica of the
temple at Aachen, the palace of Ingelheim, the bridge over the Rhine
at Mainz, and many other notable constructions of the king, though
regarding the precise work of this sort which he did there is a
general lack of definite proof. Despite the fact that he was a layman,
he was given charge of a number of abbeys. His last years were spent
at the Benedictine monastery of Seligenstadt, where he died about 840.
There is a legend that Einhard's wife, Emma, was a daughter of
Charlemagne, but this is to be regarded as merely a twelfth-century
invention.
The _Vita Caroli Magni_ was written as an expression of the author's
gratitude to his royal friend and patron, though it did not appear
until shortly after the latter's death in 814. "It contains the
history of a very great and distinguished man," says Einhard in his
preface, "but there is nothing in it to wonder at, besides his deeds,
except the fact that I, who am a barbarian, and very little versed in
the Roman language, seem to suppose myself capable of writing
gracefully and respectably in Latin." It is considered ordinarily that
Einhard endeavored to imitate the style of the Roman Suetonius, the
biographer of the first twelve Caesars, though in reality his writing
is perhaps superior to that of Suetonius and there are scholars who
hold that if he really followed a classical model at all that model
was Julius Caesar. Aside from the matter of literary style, there can
be no reasonable doubt that the idea of writing a biography of his
master was suggested to Einhard by the biographies of Suetonius,
particularly that of the Emperor Augustus. Despite his limitations,
says Mr. Hodgkin, the fact remains that "almost all our real,
vivifying knowledge of Charles the Great is derived from Einhard, and
that the _Vita Caroli_ is one of the most precious literary bequests
of the early Middle Ages."[119] Certainly few mediaeval writers had so
good an opportunity as did Einhard to know the truth about the persons
and events they undertook to describe.
Source--Einhard, _Vita Caroli Magni_ ["Life of Charles the
Great"], Chaps. 22-27. Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica,
Scriptores_ (Pertz ed.), Vol. II., pp. 455-457. Adapted from
translation by Samuel Epes Turner in "Harper's School
Classics" (New York, 1880), pp. 56-65.
[Sidenote: Personal appearance]
=22.= Charles was large and strong, and of lofty stature, though
not excessively tall. The upper part of his head was round, his
eyes very large and animated, nose a little long, hair auburn, and
face laughing and merry. His appearance was always stately and
dignified, whether he was standing or sitting, although his neck
was thick and somewhat short and his abdomen rather prominent. The
symmetry of the rest of his body concealed these defects. His gait
was firm, his whole carriage manly, and his voice clear, but not so
strong as his size led one to expect. His health was excellent,
except during the four years preceding his death, when he was
subject to frequent fevers; toward the end of his life he limped a
little with one foot. Even in his later years he lived rather
according to his own inclinations than the advice of physicians;
the latter indeed he very much disliked, because they wanted him to
give up roasts, to which he was accustomed, and to eat boiled meat
instead. In accordance with the national custom, he took frequent
exercise on horseback and in the chase, in which sports scarcely
any people in the world can equal the Franks. He enjoyed the vapors
from natural warm springs, and often indulged in swimming, in which
he was so skilful that none could surpass him; and hence it was
that he built his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, and lived there
constantly during his later years....[120]
[Sidenote: Manner of dress]
=23.= His custom was to wear the national, that is to say, the
Frankish, dress--next his skin a linen shirt and linen breeches,
and above these a tunic fringed with silk; while hose fastened by
bands covered his lower limbs, and shoes his feet. In winter he
protected his shoulders and chest by a close-fitting coat of otter
or marten skins. Over all he flung a blue cloak, and he always had
a sword girt about him, usually one with a gold or silver hilt and
belt. He sometimes carried a jeweled sword, but only on great
feast-days or at the reception of ambassadors from foreign nations.
He despised foreign costumes, however handsome, and never allowed
himself to be robed in them, except twice in Rome, when he donned
the Roman tunic, chlamys,[121] and shoes; the first time at the
request of Pope Hadrian,[122] the second to gratify Leo, Hadrian's
successor.[123] On great feast-days he made use of embroidered
clothes, and shoes adorned with precious stones; his cloak was
fastened with a golden buckle, and he appeared crowned with a
diadem of gold and gems; but on other days his dress differed
little from that of ordinary people.
[Sidenote: Every-day life]
=24.= Charles was temperate in eating, and especially so in
drinking, for he abhorred drunkenness in anybody, much more in
himself and those of his household; but he could not easily abstain
from food, and often complained that fasts injured his health. He
gave entertainments but rarely, only on great feast-days, and then
to large numbers of people. His meals consisted ordinarily of four
courses, not counting the roast, which his huntsmen were accustomed
to bring in on the spit; he was more fond of this than of any other
dish. While at table, he listened to reading or music. The subjects
of the readings were the stories and deeds of olden time. He was
fond, too, of St. Augustine's books, and especially of the one
entitled _The City of God_.[124] He was so moderate in the use of
wine and all sorts of drink that he rarely allowed himself more
than three cups in the course of a meal. In summer, after the
midday meal, he would eat some fruit, drain a single cup, put off
his clothes and shoes, just as he did for the night, and rest for
two or three hours. While he was dressing and putting on his shoes,
he not only gave audience to his friends, but if the Count of the
Palace[125] told him of any suit in which his judgment was
necessary, he had the parties brought before him forthwith, heard
the case, and gave his decision, just as if he were sitting in the
judgment-seat. This was not the only business that he transacted at
this time, but he performed any duty of the day whatever, whether
he had to attend to the matter himself, or to give commands
concerning it to his officers.
[Sidenote: Education and accomplishments]
=25.= Charles had the gift of ready and fluent speech, and could
express whatever he had to say with the utmost clearness. He was
not satisfied with ability to use his native language merely, but
gave attention to the study of foreign ones, and in particular was
such a master of Latin that he could speak it as well as his native
tongue; but he could understand Greek better than he could speak
it. He was so eloquent, indeed, that he might have been taken for a
teacher of oratory. He most zealously cherished the liberal arts,
held those who taught them in great esteem, and conferred great
honors upon them. He took lessons in grammar of the deacon Peter of
Pisa, at that time an aged man.[126] Another deacon, Albin of
Britain, surnamed Alcuin, a man of Saxon birth, who was the
greatest scholar of the day, was his teacher in other branches of
learning.[127] The king spent much time and labor with him studying
rhetoric, dialectic, and especially astronomy. He learned to make
calculations, and used to investigate with much curiosity and
intelligence the motions of the heavenly bodies. He also tried to
write, and used to keep tablets and blanks in bed under his pillow,
that at leisure hours he might accustom his hand to form the
letters; however, as he began his efforts late in life, and not at
the proper time, they met with little success.
[Sidenote: Interest in religion and the Church]
=26.= He cherished with the greatest fervor and devotion the
principles of the Christian religion, which had been instilled into
him from infancy. Hence it was that he built the beautiful basilica
at Aix-la-Chapelle, which he adorned with gold and silver and
lamps, and with rails and doors of solid brass. He had the columns
and marbles for this structure brought from Rome and Ravenna, for
he could not find such as were suitable elsewhere.[128] He was a
constant worshipper at this church as long as his health permitted,
going morning and evening, even after nightfall, besides attending
mass. He took care that all the services there conducted should be
held in the best possible manner, very often warning the sextons
not to let any improper or unclean thing be brought into the
building, or remain in it. He provided it with a number of sacred
vessels of gold and silver, and with such a quantity of clerical
robes that not even the door-keepers, who filled the humblest
office in the church, were obliged to wear their everyday clothes
when in the performance of their duties. He took great pains to
improve the church reading and singing, for he was well skilled in
both, although he neither read in public nor sang, except in a low
tone and with others.
[Sidenote: Generosity and charities]
=27.= He was very active in aiding the poor, and in that open
generosity which the Greeks call alms; so much so, indeed, that he
not only made a point of giving in his own country and his own
kingdom, but when he discovered that there were Christians living
in poverty in Syria, Egypt, and Africa, at Jerusalem, Alexandria,
and Carthage, he had compassion on their wants, and used to send
money over the seas to them. The reason that he earnestly strove to
make friends with the kings beyond seas was that he might get help
and relief to the Christians living under their rule. He cared for
the Church Of St. Peter the Apostle at Rome above all other holy
and sacred places, and heaped high its treasury with a vast wealth
of gold, silver, and precious stones. He sent great and countless
gifts to the popes;[129] and throughout his whole reign the wish
that he had nearest his heart was to re-establish the ancient
authority of the city of Rome under his care and by his influence,
and to defend and protect the Church of St. Peter, and to beautify
and enrich it out of his own store above all other churches.
Nevertheless, although he held it in such veneration, only four
times[130] did he repair to Rome to pay his vows and make his
supplications during the whole forty-seven years that he
reigned.[131]
16. The War with the Saxons (772-803)
When Charlemagne became sole ruler of the Franks, in 771, he found his
kingdom pretty well hemmed in by a belt of kindred, though more or
less hostile, Germanic peoples. The most important of these were the
Visigoths in northern Spain, the Lombards in the Po Valley, the
Bavarians in the region of the upper Danube, and the Saxons between
the Rhine and the Elbe. The policy of the new king, perhaps only dimly
outlined at the beginning of the reign but growing ever more definite
as time went on, was to bring all of these neighboring peoples under
the Frankish dominion, and so to build up a great state which should
include the whole Germanic race of western and northern continental
Europe. Most of the king's time during the first thirty years, or
two-thirds, of the reign was devoted to this stupendous task. The
first great step was taken in the conquest of the Lombards in 774,
after which Charlemagne assumed the title of King of the Lombards. In
787 Bavaria was annexed to the Frankish kingdom, the settlement in
this case being in the nature of a complete absorption rather than a
mere personal union such as followed the Lombard conquest. The next
year an expedition across the Pyrenees resulted in the annexation of
the Spanish March--a region in which the Visigoths had managed to
maintain some degree of independence against the Saracens. In all
these directions little fighting was necessary and for one reason or
another the sovereignty of the Frankish king was recognized without
much delay or resistance.
The problem of reducing the Saxons was, however, a very different one.
The Saxons of Charlemagne's day were a people of purest Germanic stock
dwelling in the land along the Rhine, Ems, Weser, and Elbe, and inland
as far as the low mountains of Hesse and Thuringia--the regions which
now bear the names of Hanover, Brunswick, Oldenburg, and Westphalia.
The Saxons, influenced as yet scarcely at all by contact with the
Romans, retained substantially the manner of life described seven
centuries earlier by Tacitus in the _Germania_. They lived in small
villages, had only the loosest sort of government, and clung
tenaciously to the warlike mythology of their ancestors. Before
Charlemagne's time they had engaged in frequent border wars with the
Franks and had shown capacity for making very obstinate resistance.
And when Charlemagne himself undertook to subdue them he entered upon
a task which kept him busy much of the time for over thirty years,
that is, from 772 to 803. In all not fewer than eighteen distinct
campaigns were made into the enemy's territory. The ordinary course
of events was that Charlemagne would lead his army across the Rhine in
the spring, the Saxons would make some little resistance and then
disperse or withdraw toward the Baltic, and the Franks would leave a
garrison and return home for the winter. As soon as the enemy's back
was turned the Saxons would rally, expel or massacre the garrison, and
assert their complete independence of Frankish authority. The next
year the whole thing would have to be done over again. There were not
more than two great battles in the entire contest; the war consisted
rather of a monotonous series of "military parades," apparent
submissions, revolts, and re-submissions. As Professor Emerton puts
it, "From the year 772 to 803, a period of over thirty years, this war
was always on the programme of the Frankish policy, now resting for a
few years, and now breaking out with increased fury, until finally the
Saxon people, worn out with the long struggle against a superior foe,
gave it up and became a part of the Frankish Empire."[132]
It is to be regretted that we have no Saxon account of the great
contest except the well-meant, but very inadequate, history by
Widukind, a monk of Corbie, written about the middle of the tenth
century. However, the following passage from Einhard, the secretary
and biographer of Charlemagne, doubtless describes with fair accuracy
the conditions and character of the struggle. A few of the writer's
strongest statements regarding Saxon perfidy should be accepted only
with some allowance for Frankish prejudice.
Source--Einhard, _Vita Caroli Magni_, Chap. 7. Text in
_Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores_ (Pertz ed.), Vol.
II., pp. 446-447. Adapted from translation by Samuel Epes
Turner in "Harper's School Classics" (New York, 1880), pp.
26-28.
[Sidenote: Lack of a natural frontier]
No war ever undertaken by the Frankish nation was carried on with
such persistence and bitterness, or cost so much labor, because the
Saxons, like almost all the tribes of Germany, were a fierce
people, given to the worship of devils and hostile to our religion,
and did not consider it dishonorable to transgress and violate all
law, human and divine. Then there were peculiar circumstances that
tended to cause a breach of peace every day. Except in a few
places, where large forests or mountain-ridges intervened and made
the boundaries certain, the line between ourselves and the Saxons
passed almost in its whole extent through an open country, so that
there was no end to the murders, thefts, and arsons on both sides.
In this way the Franks became so embittered that they at last
resolved to make reprisals no longer, but to come to open war with
the Saxons.
[Sidenote: Faithlessness of the Saxons]
[Sidenote: Charlemagne's settlement of Saxons in Gaul and Germany]
[Sidenote: The terms of peace]
Accordingly, war was begun against them, and was waged for
thirty-three successive years[133] with great fury; more, however,
to the disadvantage of the Saxons than of the Franks. It could
doubtless have been brought to an end sooner, had it not been for
the faithlessness of the Saxons. It is hard to say how often they
were conquered, and, humbly submitting to the king, promised to do
what was enjoined upon them, gave without hesitation the required
hostages, and received the officers sent them from the king. They
were sometimes so much weakened and reduced that they promised to
renounce the worship of devils and to adopt Christianity; but they
were no less ready to violate these terms than prompt to accept
them, so that it is impossible to tell which came easier to them to
do; scarcely a year passed from the beginning of the war without
such changes on their part. But the king did not suffer his high
purpose and steadfastness--firm alike in good and evil fortune--to
be wearied by any fickleness on their part, or to be turned from
the task that he had undertaken; on the contrary, he never allowed
their faithless behavior to go unpunished, but either took the
field against them in person, or sent his counts with an army to
wreak vengeance and exact righteous satisfaction.[134] At last,
after conquering and subduing all who had offered resistance, he
took ten thousand of those who lived on the banks of the Elbe, and
settled them, with their wives and children, in many different
bodies here and there in Gaul and Germany. The war that had lasted
so many years was at length ended by their acceding to the terms
offered by the king; which were renunciation of their national
religious customs and the worship of devils, acceptance of the
sacraments of the Christian religion,[135] and union with the
Franks to form one people.
17. The Capitulary Concerning the Saxon Territory (cir. 780)
Just as the Saxons were the most formidable of Charlemagne's foes to
meet and defeat in open battle, so were they the most difficult to
maintain in anything like orderly allegiance after they had been
tentatively conquered. This was true in part because of their untamed,
freedom-loving character, but also in no small measure because of the
thoroughgoing revolution which the Frankish king sought to work in
their conditions of life, and especially in their religion. Before the
Saxon war was far advanced it had very clearly assumed the character
of a crusade of the Christian Franks against the "pagans of the
north." And when the Saxon had been brought to give sullen promise of
submission, it was his dearest possession--his fierce, heroic
mythology--that was first to be swept away. By the stern decree of the
conqueror Woden and Thor and Freya must go. In their stead was to be
set up the Christian religion with its churches, its priests, its
fastings, its ceremonial observances. Death was to be the penalty for
eating meat during Lent, if done "out of contempt for Christianity,"
and death also for "causing the body of a dead man to be burned in
accordance with pagan rites." Even for merely scorning "to come to
baptism," or "wishing to remain a pagan," a man was to forfeit his
life. The selections which follow are taken from the capitulary _De
Partibus Saxoniae_, which was issued by Charlemagne probably at the
Frankish assembly held at Paderborn in 780. If this date is correct
(and it cannot be far wrong) the regulations embodied in the
capitulary were established for the Saxon territories when there
perhaps seemed to be a good prospect of peace but when, as later
events showed, there yet remained twenty-three years of war before the
final subjugation. From the beginning of the struggle the Church had
been busy setting up new centers of influence--some abbeys and
especially the great bishoprics of Bremen, Minden, Paderborn, Verden,
Osnabrueck, and Halberstadt--among the Saxon pagans, and the primary
object of Charlemagne in this capitulary was to give to these
ecclesiastical foundations the task of civilizing the country and to
protect them, together with his counts or governing agents, while they
should be engaged in this work. The severity of the Saxon war was
responsible for the unusually stringent character of this body of
regulations. In 797, at a great assembly at Aix-la-Chapelle, another
capitulary for the Saxons was issued, known as the _Capitulum
Saxonicum_, and in this the harsh features of the earlier capitulary
were considerably relaxed. By 797 the resistance of the Saxons was
pretty well broken, and it had become Charlemagne's policy to give his
conquered subjects a government as nearly as possible like that the
Franks themselves enjoyed. The chief importance of Charlemagne's
conquests toward the east lies in the fact that by them broad
stretches of German territory were brought for the first time within
the pale of civilization.
These capitularies, like the hundreds of others that were issued by
the various kings of the Franks, were edicts or decrees drawn up under
the king's direction, discussed and adopted in the assembly of the
people, and published in the local districts of the kingdom by the
counts and bishops. They were of a less permanent and fixed character
than the so-called "leges," or laws established by long usage and
custom.
Source--Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_
(Boretius ed.), Vol. I., No. 26, pp. 68-70. Translated by Dana
C. Munro in _University of Pennsylvania Translations and
Reprints_, Vol. VI., No. 5, pp. 2-5.
First, concerning the greater chapters it has been enacted:[136]
It is pleasing to all that the churches of Christ, which are now
being built in Saxony and consecrated to God, should not have less,
but greater and more illustrious honor than the shrines of the
idols have had.
[Sidenote: The churches as a place of refuge]
=2.= If any one shall have fled to a church for refuge, let no one
presume to expel him from the church by violence, but he shall be
left in peace until he shall be brought to the judicial assemblage;
and on account of the honor due to God and the saints, and the
reverence due to the church itself, let his life and all his
members be granted to him. Moreover, let him plead his cause as
best he can and he shall be judged; and so let him be led to the
presence of the lord king, and the latter shall send him where it
shall seem fitting to his clemency.
=3.= If any one shall have entered a church by violence and shall
have carried off anything in it by force or theft, or shall have
burned the church itself, let him be punished by death.[137]
[Sidenote: Offenses against the Church]
=4.= If any one, out of contempt for Christianity, shall have
despised the holy Lenten feast and shall have eaten flesh, let him
be punished by death. But, nevertheless, let it be taken into
consideration by a priest, lest perchance any one from necessity
has been led to eat flesh.[138]
=5.= If any one shall have killed a bishop or priest or deacon let
him likewise be punished capitally.
=6.= If any one, deceived by the devil, shall have believed, after
the manner of the pagans, that any man or woman is a witch and eats
men, and on this account shall have burned the person, or shall
have given the person's flesh to others to eat, or shall have eaten
it himself, let him be punished by a capital sentence.
=7.= If any one, in accordance with pagan rites, shall have caused
the body of a dead man to be burned, and shall have reduced his
bones to ashes, let him be punished capitally.
[Sidenote: Refusal to be baptized]
=8.= If any one of the race of the Saxons hereafter, concealed
among them, shall have wished to hide himself unbaptized, and shall
have scorned to come to baptism, and shall have wished to remain a
pagan, let him be punished by death.
=9.= If any one shall have sacrificed a man to the devil, and,
after the manner of the pagans, shall have presented him as a
victim to the demons, let him be punished by death.
[Sidenote: Conspiracy against Christians]
=10.= If any one shall have formed a conspiracy with the pagans
against the Christians, or shall have wished to join with them in
opposition to the Christians, let him be punished by death; and
whosoever shall have consented fraudulently to this same against
the king and the Christian people, let him be punished by death.
=11.= If any one shall have shown himself unfaithful to the lord
king, let him be punished with a capital sentence.
=13.= If any one shall have killed his lord or lady, let him be
punished in a like manner.
=14.= If, indeed, for these mortal crimes secretly committed any
one shall have fled of his own accord to a priest, and after
confession shall have wished to do penance, let him be freed by the
testimony of the priest from death....[139]
[Sidenote: Observance of the Sabbath and of festival days]
=18.= On the Lord's day no meetings or public judicial assemblages
shall be held, unless perchance in a case of great necessity, or
when war compels it, but all shall go to church to hear the word of
God, and shall be free for prayers or good works. Likewise, also,
on the special festivals they shall devote themselves to God and to
the services of the Church, and shall refrain from secular
assemblies.
[Sidenote: Baptism of infants]
=19.= Likewise, it has been pleasing to insert in these decrees
that all infants shall be baptized within a year; and we have
decreed this, that if any one shall have refused to bring his
infant to baptism within the course of a year, without the advice
or permission of the priest, if he is a noble he shall pay 120
_solidi_[140] to the treasury; if a freeman, 60; if a _litus_,
30.[141]
=20.= If any one shall have contracted a prohibited or illegal
marriage, if a noble, 60 _solidi_; if a freeman, 30; if a _litus_,
15.
[Sidenote: Keeping up heathen rites]
=21.= If any one shall have made a vow at springs or trees or
groves,[142] or shall have made an offering after the manner of the
heathen and shall have partaken of a repast in honor of the demons,
if he shall be a noble, 60 _solidi_; if a freeman, 30; if a
_litus_, 15. If, indeed, they have not the means of paying at once,
they shall be given into the service of the Church until the
_solidi_ are paid.
=22.= We command that the bodies of Saxon Christians shall be
carried to the church cemeteries, and not to the mounds of the
pagans.
=23.= We have ordered that diviners and soothsayers shall be handed
over to the churches and priests.
[Sidenote: Fugitive criminals]
=24.= Concerning robbers and malefactors who shall have fled from
one county to another, if any one shall receive them into his
protection and shall keep them with him for seven nights,[143]
except for the purpose of bringing them to justice, let him pay our
ban.[144] Likewise, if a count[145] shall have concealed them, and
shall be unwilling to bring them forward so that justice may be
done, and is not able to excuse himself for this, let him lose his
office.
=26.= No one shall presume to impede any man coming to us to seek
justice; and if anyone shall have attempted to do this, he shall
pay our ban.
[Sidenote: Public assemblies]
=34.= We have forbidden that Saxons shall hold public assemblies in
general, unless perchance our _missus_[146] shall have caused them
to come together in accordance with our command; but each count
shall hold judicial assemblies and administer justice in his
jurisdiction. And this shall be cared for by the priests, lest it
be done otherwise.[147]
18. The Capitulary Concerning the Royal Domains (cir. 800)
The revenues which came into Charlemagne's treasury were derived
chiefly from his royal domains. There was no system of general
taxation, such as modern nations maintain, and the funds realized from
gifts, fines, rents, booty, and tribute money, were quite insufficient
to meet the needs of the court, modest though they were. Charlemagne's
interest in his villas, or private farms, was due therefore not less
to his financial dependence upon them than to his personal liking for
thrifty agriculture and thoroughgoing administration. The royal
domains of the Frankish kingdom, already extensive at Charlemagne's
accession, were considerably increased during his reign. It has been
well said that Charlemagne was doubtless the greatest landed
proprietor of the realm and that he "supervised the administration of
these lands as a sovereign who knows that his power rests partly on
his riches."[148] He gave the closest personal attention to his
estates and was always watchful lest he be defrauded out of even the
smallest portion of their products which was due him. The capitulary
_De Villis_, from which the following passages have been selected, is
a lengthy document in which Charlemagne sought to prescribe clearly
and minutely the manifold duties of the stewards in charge of these
estates. We may regard it, however, as in the nature of an ideal
catalogue of what the king would like to have on his domains rather
than as a definite statement of what was always actually to be found
there. From it may be gleaned many interesting facts regarding rural
life in western Europe during the eighth and ninth centuries. Its date
is uncertain, but it was about 800--possibly somewhat earlier.
Source--Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_
(Boretius ed.), Vol. I., No. 32, pp. 82-91. Translated by
Roland P. Falkner in _Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints_,
Vol. III., No. 2, pp. 2-4.
[Sidenote: Report to be made to the king by his stewards each
Christmas-tide]
=62.=[149] We desire that each steward shall make an annual
statement of all our income, with an account of our lands
cultivated by the oxen which our plowmen drive, and of our lands
which the tenants of farms ought to plow;[150] an account of the
pigs, of the rents,[151] of the obligations and fines; of the game
taken in our forests without our permission; of the various
compositions;[152] of the mills, of the forest, of the fields, and
of the bridges and ships; of the freemen and the districts under
obligations to our treasury; of markets, vineyards, and those who
owe wine to us; of the hay, fire-wood, torches, planks, and other
kinds of lumber; of the waste-lands; of the vegetables, millet, and
panic;[153] and of the wool, flax, and hemp; of the fruits of the
trees; of the nut trees, larger and smaller; of the grafted trees
of all kinds; of the gardens; of the turnips; of the fish-ponds; of
the hides, skins, and horns; of the honey and wax; of the fat,
tallow and soap; of the mulberry wine, cooked wine, mead, vinegar,
beer, wine new and old; of the new grain and the old; of the hens
and eggs; of the geese; of the number of fishermen, smiths,
sword-makers, and shoe-makers; of the bins and boxes; of the
turners and saddlers; of the forges and mines, that is iron and
other mines; of the lead mines; of the colts and fillies. They
shall make all these known to us, set forth separately and in
order, at Christmas, in order that we may know what and how much of
each thing we have.
[Sidenote: Domestic animals]
=23.= On each of our estates our stewards are to have as many
cow-houses, pig-sties, sheep-folds, stables for goats, as possible,
and they ought never to be without these. And let them have in
addition cows furnished by our serfs[154] for performing their
service, so that the cow-houses and plows shall be in no way
diminished by the service on our demesne. And when they have to
provide meat, let them have steers lame, but healthy, and cows and
horses which are not mangy, or other beasts which are not diseased
and, as we have said, our cow-houses and plows are not to be
diminished for this.
[Sidenote: Cleanliness enjoined]
=34.= They must provide with the greatest care that whatever is
prepared or made with the hands, that is, lard, smoked meat, salt
meat, partially salted meat, wine, vinegar, mulberry wine, cooked
wine, _garns_,[155] mustard, cheese, butter, malt, beer, mead,
honey, wax, flour, all should be prepared and made with the
greatest cleanliness.
=40.= That each steward on each of our domains shall always have,
for the sake of ornament, swans, peacocks, pheasants, ducks,
pigeons, partridges, turtle-doves.
[Sidenote: Household furniture]
=42.= That in each of our estates, the chambers shall be provided
with counterpanes, cushions, pillows, bed-clothes, coverings for
the tables and benches; vessels of brass, lead, iron and wood;
andirons, chains, pot-hooks, adzes, axes, augers, cutlasses, and
all other kinds of tools, so that it shall never be necessary to go
elsewhere for them, or to borrow them. And the weapons, which are
carried against the enemy, shall be well-cared for, so as to keep
them in good condition; and when they are brought back they shall
be placed in the chamber.
=43.= For our women's work they are to give at the proper time, as
has been ordered, the materials, that is the linen, wool,
woad,[156] vermilion, madder,[157] wool-combs, teasels,[158] soap,
grease, vessels, and the other objects which are necessary.
[Sidenote: Supplies to be furnished the king]
=44.= Of the food products other than meat, two-thirds shall be
sent each year for our own use, that is of the vegetables, fish,
cheese, butter, honey, mustard, vinegar, millet, panic, dried and
green herbs, radishes, and in addition of the wax, soap and other
small products; and they shall tell us how much is left by a
statement, as we have said above; and they shall not neglect this
as in the past; because from those two-thirds, we wish to know how
much remains.
[Sidenote: Workmen on the estates]
=45.= That each steward shall have in his district good workmen,
namely, blacksmiths, gold-smith, silver-smith, shoe-makers,
turners, carpenters, sword-makers, fishermen, foilers, soap-makers,
men who know how to make beer, cider, berry, and all the other
kinds of beverages, bakers to make pastry for our table, net-makers
who know how to make nets for hunting, fishing and fowling, and the
others who are too numerous to be designated.
19. An Inventory of One of Charlemagne's Estates
In the following inventory we have a specimen of the annual statements
required by Charlemagne from the stewards on his royal domains. The
location of Asnapium is unknown, but it is evident that this estate
was one of the smaller sort. Like all the rest, it was liable
occasionally to become the temporary abiding place of the king. The
detailed character of the inventory is worthy of note, as is also the
number of industries which must have been engaged in by the
inhabitants of the estate and its dependent villas.
Source--Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_ (Pertz
ed.), Vol. I., pp. 178-179.
[Sidenote: Buildings on the estate of Asnapium]
We found in the imperial estate of Asnapium a royal house built of
stone in the very best manner, having 3 rooms. The entire house was
surrounded with balconies and it had 11 apartments for women.
Underneath was 1 cellar. There were 2 porticoes. There were 17
other houses built of wood within the court-yard, with a similar
number of rooms and other fixtures, all well constructed. There was
1 stable, 1 kitchen, 1 mill, 1 granary, and 3 barns.
The yard was enclosed with a hedge and a stone gateway, and above
was a balcony from which distributions can be made. There was also
an inner yard, surrounded by a hedge, well arranged, and planted
with various kinds of trees.
Of vestments: coverings for 1 bed, 1 table-cloth, and 1 towel.
Of utensils: 2 brass kettles; 2 drinking cups; 2 brass cauldrons; 1
iron cauldron; 1 frying-pan; 1 gramalmin; 1 pair of andirons; 1
lamp; 2 hatchets; 1 chisel; 2 augers; 1 axe; 1 knife; 1 large
plane; 1 small plane; 2 scythes; 2 sickles; 2 spades edged with
iron; and a sufficient supply of utensils of wood.
[Sidenote: Supplies of various sorts]
Of farm produce: old spelt[159] from last year, 90 baskets which
can be made into 450 weight[160] of flour; and 100 measures[161] of
barley. From the present year, 110 baskets of spelt, of which 60
baskets had been planted, but the rest we found; 100 measures of
wheat, 60 sown, the rest we found; 98 measures of rye all sown;
1,800 measures of barley, 1,100 sown, the rest we found; 430
measures of oats; 1 measure of beans; 12 measures of peas. At 5
mills were found 800 measures of small size. At 4 breweries, 650
measures of small size, 240 given to the prebendaries,[162] the
rest we found. At 2 bridges, 60 measures of salt and 2 shillings.
At 4 gardens, 11 shillings. Also honey, 3 measures; about 1 measure
of butter; lard, from last year 10 sides; new sides, 200, with
fragments and fats; cheese from the present year, 43 weights.
[Sidenote: Kinds and number of animals]
Of cattle: 51 head of larger cattle; 5 three-year olds; 7 two-year
olds; 7 yearlings; 10 two-year old colts; 8 yearlings; 3
stallions; 16 cows; 2 asses; 50 cows with calves; 20 young bulls;
38 yearling calves; 3 bulls; 260 hogs; 100 pigs; 5 boars; 150 sheep
with lambs; 200 yearling lambs; 120 rams; 30 goats with kids; 30
yearling kids; 3 male goats; 30 geese; 80 chickens; 22 peacocks.
Also concerning the manors[163] which belong to the above mansion.
In the villa of Grisio we found domain buildings, where there are 3
barns and a yard enclosed by a hedge. There were, besides, 1 garden
with trees, 10 geese, 8 ducks, 30 chickens.
In another villa we found domain buildings and a yard surrounded by
a hedge, and within 3 barns; 1 arpent[164] of vines; 1 garden with
trees; 15 geese; 20 chickens.
In a third villa, domain buildings, with 2 barns; 1 granary; 1
garden and 1 yard well enclosed by a hedge.
We found all the dry and liquid measures just as in the palace. We
did not find any goldsmiths, silversmiths, blacksmiths, huntsmen,
or persons engaged in other services.
[Sidenote: Vegetables and trees]
The garden herbs which we found were lily, putchuck,[165] mint,
parsley, rue, celery, libesticum, sage, savory, juniper, leeks,
garlic, tansy, wild mint, coriander, scullions, onions, cabbage,
kohlrabi,[166] betony.[167] Trees: pears, apples, medlars, peaches,
filberts, walnuts, mulberries, quinces.[168]
20. Charlemagne Crowned Emperor (800)
The occasion of Charlemagne's presence in Rome in 800 was a conflict
between Pope Leo III. and a faction of the populace led by two nephews
of the preceding pope, Hadrian I. It seems that in 799 Leo had been
practically driven out of the papal capital and imprisoned in a
neighboring monastery, but that through the planning of a subordinate
official he had soon contrived to escape. At any rate he got out of
Italy as speedily as he could and made his way across the Alps to seek
aid at the court of Charlemagne. The Frankish king was still busy with
the Saxon war and did not allow the prospect of a papal visit to
interfere with his intended campaign; but at Paderborn, in the very
heart of the Saxon country, where he could personally direct the
operations of his troops, he established his headquarters and awaited
the coming of the refugee pope. The meeting of the two dignitaries
resulted in a pledge of the king once more to take up the burden of
defending the Roman Church and the Vicar of Christ, this time not
against outside foes but against internal disturbers. After about a
year Charlemagne repaired to Rome and called upon the Pope and his
adversaries to appear before him for judgment. When the leaders of the
hostile faction refused to comply, they were summarily condemned to
death, though it is said that through the generous advice of Leo they
were afterwards released on a sentence of exile. During the ceremonies
which followed in celebration of Christmas occurred the famous
coronation which is described in the two passages given below.
Although the coronation has been regarded as so important as to have
been called "the central event of the Middle Ages,"[169] it is by no
means an easy task to determine precisely what significance it was
thought to have at the time. We can look back upon it now and see
that it marked the beginning of the so-called "Holy Roman Empire"--a
creation that endured in _fact_ only a very short time but whose name
and theory survived all the way down to Napoleon's reorganization of
the German states in 1806. One view of the matter is that
Charlemagne's coronation meant that a Frankish king had become the
successor of Emperor Constantine VI., just deposed at Constantinople,
and that therefore the universal Roman Empire was again to be ruled
from a western capital as it had been before the time of the first
Constantine. It will be observed that extract (a), taken from the
Annals of Lauresheim, and therefore of German origin, at least
suggests this explanation. But, whether or not precisely this idea was
in the mind of those who took part in the ceremony, in actual fact no
such transfer of universal sovereignty from Constantinople to the
Frankish capital ever took place. The Eastern Empire lived right on
under its own line of rulers and, so far as we know, aside from some
rather vague negotiations for a marriage of Charlemagne and the
Empress Irene, the new western Emperor seems never to have
contemplated the extension of his authority over the East. His great
aspiration had been to consolidate all the Germanic peoples of western
continental Europe under the leadership of the Franks; that, by 800,
he had practically done; he had no desire to go farther. His dominion
was always limited strictly to the West, and at the most he can be
regarded after 800 as not more than the reviver of the old western
half of the Empire, and hence as the successor of Romulus Augustulus.
But even this view is perhaps somewhat strained. The chroniclers of
the time liked to set up fine theories of the sort, and later it came
to be to the interest of papal and imperial rivals to make large use,
in one way or another, of such theories. But we to-day may look upon
the coronation as nothing more than a formal recognition of a
condition of things already existing. By his numerous conquests
Charlemagne had drawn under his control such a number of peoples and
countries that his position had come to be that which we think of as
an emperor's rather than that of simple king of the Franks. The Pope
did not give Charlemagne his empire; the energetic king had built it
for himself. At the most, what Leo did was simply to bestow a title
already earned and to give with it presumably the blessing and favor
of the Church, whose devoted servant Charlemagne repeatedly professed
to be. That the idea of imperial unity still survived in the West is
certain, and without doubt many men looked upon the ceremony of 800 as
re-establishing such unity; but as events worked out it was not so
much Charlemagne's empire as the papacy itself that was the real
continuation of the power of the Caesars. Conditions had so changed
that it was impossible in the nature of things for Charlemagne to be a
Roman emperor in the old sense. The coronation gave him a new title
and new prestige, but no new subjects, no larger army, no more
princely income. The basis of his power continued to be, in every
sense, his Frankish kingdom. The structural element in the revived
empire was Frankish; the Roman was merely ornamental.
Sources--(a) _Annales Laureshamensis_ ["Annals of
Lauresheim"], Chap. 34. Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica,
Scriptores_ (Pertz ed.), Vol. I., p. 38.
(b) _Vitae Pontificorum Romanorum_ ["Lives of the Roman
Pontiffs"]. Text in Muratori, _Rerum Italicarum Scriptores_,
Vol. III., pp. 284-285.
(a)
And because the name of emperor had now ceased among the Greeks,
and their empire was possessed by a woman,[170] it seemed both to
Leo the pope himself, and to all the holy fathers who were present
in the self-same council,[171] as well as to the rest of the
Christian people, that they ought to take to be emperor Charles,
king of the Franks, who held Rome herself, where the Caesars had
always been wont to sit, and all the other regions which he ruled
through Italy and Gaul and Germany; and inasmuch as God had given
all these lands into his hand, it seemed right that with the help
of God, and at the prayer of the whole Christian people, he should
have the name of emperor also. [The Pope's] petition King Charles
willed not to refuse,[172] but submitting himself with all humility
to God, and at the prayer of the priests, and of the whole
Christian people, on the day of the nativity of our Lord Jesus
Christ, he took on himself the name of emperor, being consecrated
by the Pope Leo.... For this also was done by the will of God ...
that the heathen might not mock the Christians if the name of
emperor should have ceased among them.
(b)
After these things, on the day of the birth of our Lord Jesus
Christ, when all the people were assembled in the Church of the
blessed St. Peter,[173] the venerable and gracious Pope with his
own hands crowned him [Charlemagne] with an exceedingly precious
crown. Then all the faithful Romans, beholding the choice of such a
friend and defender of the holy Roman Church, and of the pontiff,
did by the will of God and of the blessed Peter, the key-bearer of
the heavenly kingdom, cry with a loud voice, "To Charles, the most
pious Augustus, crowned of God, the great and peace-giving Emperor,
be life and victory." While he, before the altar of the church, was
calling upon many of the saints, it was proclaimed three times, and
by the common voice of all he was chosen to be emperor of the
Romans. Then the most holy high priest and pontiff anointed Charles
with holy oil, and also his most excellent son to be king,[174]
upon the very day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21. The General Capitulary for the Missi (802)
Throughout the larger part of Charlemagne's dominion the chief local
unit of administration was the county, presided over by the count. The
count was appointed by the Emperor, generally from among the most
important landed proprietors of the district. His duties included the
levy of troops, the publication of the royal decrees or capitularies,
the administration of justice, and the collection of revenues. On the
frontiers, where the need of defense was greatest, these local
officers exercised military functions of a special character and were
commonly known as "counts of the march," or dukes, or sometimes as
margraves. In order that these royal officials, in whatever part of
the country, might not abuse their authority as against their
fellow-subjects, or engage in plots against the unity of the empire,
Charlemagne devised a plan of sending out at stated intervals men who
were known as _missi dominici_ ("the lord's messengers") to visit the
various counties, hear complaints of the people, inquire into the
administration of the counts, and report conditions to the Emperor.
They were to serve as connecting links between the central and local
governments and as safeguards against the ever powerful forces of
disintegration. Such itinerant royal agents had not been unknown in
Merovingian times, and they had probably been made use of pretty
frequently by Charles Martel and Pepin the Short. But it was
Charlemagne who reduced the employment of _missi_ to a system and made
it a fixed part of the governmental machinery of the Frankish kingdom.
This he did mainly by the _Capitulare Missorum Generale_, promulgated
early in 802 at an assembly at the favorite capital Aix-la-Chapelle.
The whole empire was divided into districts, or _missaticae_, and each
of these was to be visited annually by two of the _missi_. A churchman
and a layman were usually sent out together, probably because they
were to have jurisdiction over both the clergy and the laity, and also
that they might restrain each other from injustice or other
misconduct. They were appointed by the Emperor, at first from his
lower order of vassals, but after a time from the leading bishops,
abbots, and nobles of the empire. They were given power to depose
minor officials for misdemeanors, and to summon higher ones before the
Emperor. By 812, at least, they were required to make four rounds of
inspection each year.
In the capitulary for the _missi_ Charlemagne took occasion to include
a considerable number of regulations and instructions regarding the
general character of the local governments, the conduct of local
officers, the manner of life of the clergy, the management of the
monasteries, and other things of vital importance to the strength of
the empire and the well-being of the people. The capitulary may be
regarded as a broad outline of policy and conduct which its author,
lately become emperor, wished to see realized throughout his vast
dominion.
Source--Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_
(Boretius ed.), Vol. I., No. 33, pp. 91-99. Translated by Dana
C. Munro in _Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints_, Vol.
VI., No. 5, pp. 16-27.
[Sidenote: The missi sent out]
=1.= Concerning the embassy sent out by the lord emperor.
Therefore, the most serene and most Christian lord emperor Charles
has chosen from his nobles the wisest and most prudent men, both
archbishops and some of the other bishops also, and venerable
abbots and pious laymen, and has sent them throughout his whole
kingdom, and through them he would have all the various classes of
persons mentioned in the following chapters live in accordance
with the correct law. Moreover, where anything which is not right
and just has been enacted in the law, he has ordered them to
inquire into this most diligently and to inform him of it. He
desires, God granting, to reform it. And let no one, through his
cleverness or craft, dare to oppose or thwart the written law, as
many are wont to do, or the judicial sentence passed upon him, or
to do injury to the churches of God, or the poor, or the widows, or
the wards, or any Christian. But all shall live entirely in
accordance with God's precept, honestly and under a just rule, and
each one shall be admonished to live in harmony with his fellows in
his business or profession; the canonical clergy[175] ought to
observe in every respect a canonical life without heeding base
gain; nuns ought to keep diligent watch over their lives; laymen
and the secular clergy[176] ought rightly to observe their laws
without malicious fraud; and all ought to live in mutual charity
and perfect peace.
[Sidenote: The duties of the missi]
And let the _missi_ themselves make a diligent investigation
whenever any man claims that an injustice has been done him by any
one, just as they desire to deserve the grace of omnipotent God and
to keep their fidelity promised to Him, so that in all cases, in
accordance with the will and fear of God, they shall administer the
law fully and justly in the case of the holy churches of God and of
the poor, of wards and widows, and of the whole people. And if
there be anything of such a nature that they, together with the
provincial counts, are not able of themselves to correct it and to
do justice concerning it, they shall, without any reservation,
refer it, together with their reports, to the judgment of the
emperor; and the straight path of justice shall not be impeded by
any one on account of flattery or gifts, or on account of any
relationship, or from fear of the powerful.[177]
[Sidenote: Oath to be taken to Charlemagne as emperor]
=2.= Concerning the fidelity to be promised to the lord emperor.
He has commanded that every man in his whole kingdom, whether
ecclesiastic or layman, and each one according to his vow and
occupation, should now promise to him as emperor the fidelity which
he had previously promised to him as king; and all of those who had
not yet made that promise should do likewise, down to those who
were twelve years old. And that it shall be announced to all in
public, so that each one might know, how great and how many things
are comprehended in that oath; not merely, as many have thought
hitherto, fidelity to the lord emperor as regards his life, and not
introducing any enemy into his kingdom out of enmity, and not
consenting to or concealing another's faithlessness to him; but
that all may know that this oath contains in itself the following
meaning:
[Sidenote: What the new oath was to mean]
=3.= First, that each one voluntarily shall strive, in accordance
with his knowledge and ability, to live completely in the holy
service of God, in accordance with the precept of God and in
accordance with his own promise, because the lord emperor is unable
to give to all individually the necessary care and discipline.
=4.= Secondly, that no man, either through perjury or any other
wile or fraud, or on account of the flattery or gift of any one,
shall refuse to give back or dare to take possession of or conceal
a serf of the lord emperor, or a district, or land, or anything
that belongs to him; and that no one shall presume, through perjury
or other wile, to conceal or entice away his fugitive fiscaline
serfs[178] who unjustly and fraudulently say that they are free.
=5.= That no one shall presume to rob or do any injury fraudulently
to the churches of God, or widows, or orphans, or pilgrims;[179]
for the lord emperor himself, under God and His saints, has
constituted himself their protector and defender.
=6.= That no one shall dare to lay waste a benefice[180] of the
lord emperor, or to make it his own property.
=7.= That no one shall presume to neglect a summons to war from the
lord emperor; and that no one of the counts shall be so
presumptuous as to dare to excuse any one of those who owe military
service, either on account of relationship, or flattery, or gifts
from any one.
=8.= That no one shall presume to impede at all in any way a
ban[181] or command of the lord emperor, or to tamper with his
work, or to impede, or to lessen, or in any way to act contrary to
his will or commands. And that no one shall dare to neglect to pay
his dues or tax.
[Sidenote: Justice to be rendered in the courts]
=9.= That no one, for any reason, shall make a practice in court of
defending another unjustly, either from any desire of gain when the
cause is weak, or by impeding a just judgment by his skill in
reasoning, or by a desire of oppressing when the cause is weak. But
each one shall answer for his own cause or tax or debt, unless any
one is infirm or ignorant of pleading;[182] for these the _missi_,
or the chiefs who are in the court, or the judge who knows the case
in question, shall plead before the court; or, if it is necessary,
such a person may be allowed as is acceptable to all and knows the
case well; but this shall be done wholly according to the
convenience of the chiefs or _missi_ who are present. But in every
case it shall be done in accordance with justice and the law; and
no one shall have the power to impede justice by a gift, reward, or
any kind of evil flattery, or from any hindrance of relationship.
And no one shall unjustly consent to another in anything, but with
all zeal and good-will all shall be prepared to carry out justice.
For all the above mentioned ought to be observed by the imperial
oath.[183]
=10.= [We ordain] that bishops and priests shall live according to
the canons[184] and shall teach others to do the same.
[Sidenote: Obligations of the clergy]
=11.= That bishops, abbots, and abbesses who are in charge of
others, with the greatest veneration shall strive to surpass their
subjects in this diligence and shall not oppress their subjects
with a harsh rule or tyranny, but with a sincere love shall
carefully guard the flock committed to them with mercy and charity,
or by the examples of good works.
=14.= That bishops, abbots and abbesses, and counts shall be
mutually in accord, following the law in order to render a just
judgment with all charity and unity of peace, and that they shall
live faithfully in accordance with the will of God, so that always
everywhere through them and among them a just judgment shall be
rendered. The poor, widows, orphans, and pilgrims shall have
consolation and defense from them; so that we, through the
good-will of these, may deserve the reward of eternal life rather
than punishment.
=19.= That no bishops, abbots, priests, deacons, or other members
of the clergy shall presume to have dogs for hunting, or hawks,
falcons, and sparrow-hawks, but each shall observe fully the
canons or rule of his order.[185] If any one shall presume to do
so, let him know that he shall lose his office. And in addition he
shall suffer such punishment for his misconduct that the others
will be afraid to possess such things for themselves.
=27.= And we command that no one in our whole kingdom shall dare to
deny hospitality to rich, or poor, or pilgrims; that is, let no one
deny shelter and fire and water to pilgrims traversing our country
in God's name, or to any one traveling for the love of God, or for
the safety of his own soul.
[Sidenote: The missi to be helped on their way]
=28.= Concerning embassies coming from the lord emperor. That the
counts and _centenarii_[186] shall provide most carefully, as they
desire the good-will of the lord emperor, for the _missi_ who are
sent out, so that they may go through their territories without any
delay; and the emperor commands all everywhere that they see to it
that no delay is encountered anywhere, but they shall cause the
_missi_ to go on their way in all haste and shall provide for them
in such a manner as they may direct.
[Sidenote: The crime of murder]
=32.= Murders, by which a multitude of the Christian people perish,
we command in every way to be shunned and to be forbidden....
Nevertheless, lest sin should also increase, in order that the
greatest enmities may not arise among Christians, when by the
persuasions of the devil murders happen, the criminal shall
immediately hasten to make amends and with all speed shall pay to
the relatives of the murdered man the fitting composition for the
evil done. And we forbid firmly that the relatives of the murdered
man shall dare in any way to continue their enmities on account of
the evil done, or shall refuse to grant peace to him who asks it,
but, having given their pledges, they shall receive the fitting
composition and shall make a perpetual peace; moreover, the guilty
one shall not delay to pay the composition....[187] But if any one
shall have scorned to make the fitting composition, he shall be
deprived of his property until we shall render our decision.[188]
[Sidenote: Theft of game from the royal forests]
=39.= That in our forests no one shall dare to steal our game,
which we have already many times forbidden to be done; and now we
again strictly forbid that any one shall do so in the future; just
as each one desires to preserve the fidelity promised to us, so let
him take heed to himself....
=40.= Lastly, therefore, we desire all our decrees to be known in
the whole kingdom through our _missi_ now sent out, either among
the men of the Church, bishops, abbots, priests, deacons, canons,
all monks or nuns, so that each one in his ministry or profession
may keep our ban or decree, or where it may be fitting to thank the
citizens for their good-will, or to furnish aid, or where there may
be need still of correcting anything.... Where we believe there is
anything unpunished, we shall so strive to correct it with all our
zeal and will that with God's aid we may bring it to correction,
both for our own eternal glory and that of all our faithful.
22. A Letter of Charlemagne to Abbot Fulrad
In Charlemagne's governmental and military system the clergy, both
regular and secular, had a place of large importance. From early
Frankish times the bishoprics and monasteries had been acquiring
large landed estates on which they enjoyed peculiar political and
judicial privileges. These lands came to the church authorities partly
by purchase, largely by gift, and not infrequently through concessions
by small land-holders who wished to get the Church's favor and
protection without actually moving off the little farms they had been
accustomed to cultivate. However acquired, the lands were administered
by the clergy with larger independence than was apt to be allowed the
average lay owner. Still, they were as much a part of the empire as
before and the powerful bishops and abbots were expected to see that
certain services were forthcoming when the Emperor found himself in
need of them. Among these was the duty of leading, or sending, a quota
of troops under arms to the yearly assembly. In the selection below we
have a letter written by Charlemagne some time between 804 and 811 to
Fulrad, abbot of St. Quentin (about sixty miles northeast of Paris),
respecting the fulfilment of this important obligation. The closing
sentence indicates very clearly the price exacted by the Emperor in
return for concessions of temporal authority to ecclesiastical
magnates.
Source--Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_
(Boretius ed.), Vol. I., No. 75, p. 168.
[Sidenote: The troops to be brought: their equipment]
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Charles, most
serene, august, crowned of God, great pacific Emperor, who, by
God's mercy, is King of the Franks and Lombards, to Abbot Fulrad.
Let it be known to you that we have determined to hold our general
assembly[189] this year in the eastern part of Saxony, on the River
Bode, at the place which is known as Strassfurt.[190] Therefore,
we enjoin that you come to this meeting-place, with all your men
well armed and equipped, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of
July, that is, seven days before the festival of St. John the
Baptist.[191] Come, therefore, so prepared with your men to the
aforesaid place that you may be able to go thence well equipped in
any direction in which our command shall direct; that is, with arms
and accoutrements also, and other provisions for war in the way of
food and clothing. Each horseman will be expected to have a shield,
a lance, a sword, a dagger, a bow, and quivers with arrows; and in
your carts shall be implements of various kinds, that is, axes,
planes, augers, boards, spades, iron shovels, and other utensils
which are necessary in an army. In the wagons also should be
supplies of food for three months, dating from the time of the
assembly, together with arms and clothing for six months. And
furthermore we command that you see to it that you proceed
peacefully to the aforesaid place, through whatever part of our
realm your journey shall be made; that is, that you presume to take
nothing except fodder, wood, and water. And let the followers of
each one of your vassals march along with the carts and horsemen,
and let the leader always be with them until they reach the
aforesaid place, so that the absence of a lord may not give to his
men an opportunity to do evil.
[Sidenote: Gifts for the Emperor]
Send your gifts,[192] which you ought to present to us at our
assembly in the middle of the month of May, to the place where we
then shall be. If it happens that your journey shall be such that
on your march you are able in person to present these gifts of
yours to us, we shall be greatly pleased. Be careful to show no
negligence in the future if you care to have our favor.
23. The Carolingian Revival of Learning
One of Charlemagne's chief claims to distinction is that his reign,
largely through his own influence, comprised the most important period
of the so-called Carolingian renaissance, or revival of learning. From
the times of the Frankish conquest of Gaul until about the middle of
the eighth century, education in western Europe, except in Ireland and
Britain, was at a very low ebb and literary production quite
insignificant. The old Roman intellectual activity had nearly ceased,
and two or three centuries of settled life had been required to bring
the Franks to the point of appreciating and encouraging art and
letters. Even by Charlemagne's time people generally were far from
being awake to the importance of education, though a few of the more
far-sighted leaders, and especially Charlemagne himself, had come to
lament the gross ignorance which everywhere prevailed and were ready
to adopt strong measures to overcome it. Charlemagne was certainly no
scholar, judged even by the standards of his own time; but had he been
the most learned man in the world his interest in education could not
have been greater. Before studying the selection given below, it would
be well to read what Einhard said about his master's zeal for learning
and the amount of progress he made personally in getting an education
[see pp. 112--113].
The most conspicuous of Charlemagne's educational measures was his
enlarging and strengthening of the Scola Palatina, or Palace School.
This was an institution which had existed in the reign of his father
Pepin, and probably even earlier. It consisted of a group of scholars
gathered at the Frankish court for the purpose of studying and writing
literature, educating the royal household, and stimulating learning
throughout the country. It formed what we to-day might call an academy
of sciences. Under Charlemagne's care it came to include such men of
distinction as Paul the Deacon, historian of the Lombards, Paulinus of
Aquileia, a theologian, Peter of Pisa, a grammarian, and above all
Alcuin, a skilled teacher and writer from the school of York in
England. Its history falls into three main periods: (1) from the
middle of the eighth century to the year 782--the period during which
it was dominated by Paul the Deacon and his Italian colleagues; (2)
from 782 to about 800, when its leading spirit was Alcuin; and (3)
from 800 to the years of its decadence in the later ninth century,
when Frankish rather than foreign names appear most prominently in its
annals.
It was Charlemagne's ideal that throughout his entire dominion
opportunity should be open to all to obtain at least an elementary
education and to carry their studies as much farther as they liked. To
this end a regular system of schools was planned, beginning with the
village school, in charge of the parish priest for the most elementary
studies, and leading up through monastic and cathedral schools to the
School of the Palace. In the intermediate stages, corresponding to our
high schools and academies to-day, the subjects studied were
essentially the same as those which received attention in the Scola
Palatina. They were divided into two groups: (1) the _trivium_,
including grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic (or philosophy), and (2)
the _quadrivium_, including geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and
music. The system thus planned was never fully put in operation
throughout Frankland, for after Charlemagne's death the work which he
had so well begun was seriously interfered with by the falling off in
intellectual aggressiveness of the sovereigns, by civil war, and by
the ravages of the Hungarian and Norse invaders [see p. 163]. A
capitulary of Louis the Pious in 817, for example, forbade the
continuance of secular education in monastic schools. Still, much of
what had been done remained, and never thereafter did learning among
the Frankish people fall to quite so low a stage as it had passed
through in the sixth and seventh centuries.
Charlemagne's interest in education may be studied best of all in his
capitularies. In the extract below we have the so-called letter _De
Litteris Colendis_, written some time between 780 and 800, which,
though addressed personally to Abbot Baugulf, of the monastery of
Fulda, was in reality a capitulary establishing certain regulations
regarding education in connection with the work of the monks. To the
Church was intrusted the task of raising the level of intelligence
among the masses, and the clergy were admonished to bring together the
children of both freemen and serfs in schools in which they might be
trained, even as the sons of the nobles were trained at the royal
court.
Source--Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_
(Boretius ed.), Vol. I., No. 29, pp. 78-79. Adapted from
translation by Dana C. Munro in _Univ. of Pa. Translations and
Reprints_, Vol. VI., No. 5, pp. 12-14.
Charles, by the grace of God, king of the Franks and Lombards and
Patrician of the Romans.[193] To Abbot Baugulf, and to all the
congregation--also to the faithful placed under your care--we have
sent loving greetings by our ambassadors in the name of
all-powerful God.
[Sidenote: Men of the Church charged with the work of education]
[Sidenote: Even the clergy often unable to speak and write
correctly]
Be it known, therefore, to you, devoted and acceptable to God, that
we, together with our faithful, have deemed it expedient that the
bishoprics and monasteries intrusted by the favor of Christ to our
control, in addition to the order of monastic life and the
relationships of holy religion, should be zealous also in the
cherishing of letters, and in teaching those who by the gift of God
are able to learn, according as each has capacity. So that, just as
the observance of the rule[194] adds order and grace to the
integrity of morals, so also zeal in teaching and learning may do
the same for sentences, to the end that those who wish to please
God by living rightly should not fail to please Him also by
speaking correctly. For it is written, "Either from thy words thou
shall be justified or from thy words thou shalt be condemned"
[Matt., xii. 37]. Although right conduct may be better than
knowledge, nevertheless knowledge goes before conduct. Therefore
each one ought to study what he desires to accomplish, in order
that so much the more fully the mind may know what ought to be
done. as the tongue speeds in the praises of all-powerful God
without the hindrances of mistakes. For while errors should be
shunned by all men, so much the more ought they to be avoided, as
far as possible, by those who are chosen for this very purpose
alone.[195] They ought to be the specially devoted servants of
truth. For often in recent years when letters have been written to
us from monasteries, in which it was stated that the brethren who
dwelt there offered up in our behalf sacred and pious prayers, we
have recognized, in most cases, both correct thoughts and uncouth
expressions; because what pious devotion dictated faithfully to the
mind, the tongue, uneducated on account of the neglect of study,
was not able to express in the letter without error. Whence it
happened that we began to fear lest perchance, as the skill in
writing was less, so also the wisdom for understanding the Holy
Scriptures might be much less than it rightly ought to be. And we
all know well that, although errors of speech are dangerous, far
more dangerous are errors of the understanding.
[Sidenote: Education essential to an understanding of the
Scriptures]
Therefore, we exhort you not only not to neglect the study of
letters, but also with most humble mind, pleasing to God, to study
earnestly in order that you may be able more easily and more
correctly to penetrate the mysteries of the divine Scriptures.
Since, moreover, images [similes], tropes[196] and like figures are
found in the sacred pages, nobody doubts that each one in reading
these will understand the spiritual sense more quickly if
previously he shall have been fully instructed in the mastery of
letters. Such men truly are to be chosen for this work as have both
the will and the ability to learn and a desire to instruct others.
And may this be done with a zeal as great as the earnestness with
which we command it. For we desire you to be, as the soldiers of
the Church ought to be, devout in mind, learned in discourse,
chaste in conduct, and eloquent in speech, so that when any one
shall seek to see you, whether out of reverence for God or on
account of your reputation for holy conduct, just as he is edified
by your appearance, he may also be instructed by the wisdom which
he has learned from your reading or singing, and may go away
gladly, giving thanks to Almighty God.
FOOTNOTES:
[119] Thomas Hodgkin, _Charles the Great_ (London, 1903), p. 222.
[120] The German name for Aix-la-Chapelle was Aachen. From Roman times
the place was noted throughout Europe for its warm sulphur springs and
for centuries before Charlemagne's day it had been a favorite resort
for health-seekers. It was about the middle of his reign that
Charlemagne determined to have the small palace already existing
rebuilt, together with its accompanying chapel. Marbles and mosaics
were obtained at Rome and Ravenna, and architects and artisans were
brought together for the work from all Christendom. The chapel was
completed in 805 and was dedicated by Pope Leo III. Both palace and
chapel were destroyed a short time before the Emperor's death,
probably as the result of an earthquake. The present town-house of
Aix-la-Chapelle has been constructed on the ruins of this palace. The
chapel, rebuilt on the ancient octagonal plan in 983, contains the
tomb of Charlemagne, marked by a stone bearing the inscription "Carolo
Magno." Besides Aachen, Charlemagne had many other residences, as
Compiegne, Worms, Attigny, Mainz, Paderborn, Ratisbon, Heristal, and
Thionville.
[121] A loose, flowing outer garment, or cloak. It was a feature of
ancient Greek dress.
[122] Hadrian I., 772-775. Charlemagne's first visit to Rome was in
774.
[123] Leo III., 795-816. The Roman dress was donned by Charlemagne
during his visit in 800 [see p. 130].
[124] St. Augustine, the greatest of the Church fathers, was born in
Numidia in 354. He spent a considerable part of his early life
studying in Rome and other Italian cities. The _De Civitate Dei_
("City of God"), generally regarded as his most important work, was
completed in 426, its purpose being to convince the Romans that even
though the supposedly eternal city of Rome had recently been sacked by
the barbarian Visigoths, the true "city of God" was in the hearts of
men beyond the reach of desecrating invaders. When he wrote the book
Augustine was bishop of Hippo, an important city of northern Africa.
His death occurred in 430, during the siege of Hippo by Gaiseric and
his horde of Vandals.
[125] The Count of the Palace was one of the coterie of officials by
whose aid Charlemagne managed the affairs of the state. He was
primarily an officer of justice, corresponding in a way to the old
Mayor of the Palace, but with very much less power.
[126] When Charlemagne captured Pavia, the Lombard capital, in 774, he
found Peter the Pisan teaching in that city. With characteristic zeal
for the advancement of education among his own people he proceeded to
transfer the learned deacon to the Frankish Palace School [see p.
144].
[127] Alcuin was born at York in 735. He took up his residence at
Charlemagne's court about 782, and died in the office of abbot of St.
Martin of Tours in 804.
[128] During the Napoleonic period many of these columns were taken
possession of by the French and transported to Paris. Only recently
have they been replaced in the Aix-la-Chapelle cathedral. Most of them
came originally from the palace of the Exarch of Ravenna.
[129] These statements of Einhard respecting the lavishness of
Charlemagne's gifts must be taken with some allowance. They were
doubtless considerable for the day, but Charlemagne's revenues were
not such as to enable him to display wealth which in modern times
would be regarded as befitting a monarch of so exalted rank.
[130] In 774, 781, 787, and 800.
[131] Charlemagne became joint ruler of the Franks with his brother
Karlmann in 768; hence when he died, in 814, he had reigned only
forty-six years instead of forty-seven.
[132] Ephraim Emerton, _Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages_
(Boston, 1903), p. 189.
[133] The war really lasted only thirty, or at the most thirty-one,
years.
[134] The only notable act of vengeance during the war was the
beheading of 4,500 Saxons in a single day at Verden, on the Weser. It
was occasioned by a great Saxon revolt in 782, led by the chieftain
Widukind.
[135] The formula of renunciation and confession generally employed in
the Christianizing of the Germans, and therefore in all probability in
the conversion of the Saxons, was as follows:
Question. Forsakest thou the devil?
Answer. I forsake the devil.
Ques. And all the devil's service?
Ans. And I forsake all the devil's service.
Ques. And all the devil's works?
Ans. And I forsake all the devil's works and words. Thor and Woden and
Saxnot and all the evil spirits that are their companions.
Ques. Believest thou in God the Almighty Father?
Ans. I believe in God the Almighty Father.
Ques. Believest thou in Christ the Son of God?
Ans. I believe in Christ the Son of God.
Ques. Believest thou in the Holy Ghost?
Ans. I believe in the Holy Ghost.
"Accepting Christianity was to the German very much like changing of
allegiance from one political sovereign to another. He gave up Thor
and Woden (Odin) and Saxnot, and in their place took the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost."--Emerton, _Introduction to the Study of the
Middle Ages_, pp. 155-156. Text of these "Interrogationes et
Responsiones Baptismales" is in the _Monumenta Germaniae Historica,
Leges_ (Boretius ed.), Vol. II., No. 107.
[136] That is, the more important offenses, involving capital
punishment, as contrasted with the later "lesser chapters" dealing
with minor misdemeanors.
[137] The Saxons were to be won to the Church through the protection
it afforded, but they were likewise to be made to stand in awe of the
sanctity of its property.
[138] The apparent harshness of this whole body of regulations was
considerably diminished in practice by the large discretion left to
the priests, as in this case. They were exhorted to exercise care and
to take circumstances into account in judging a man's guilt or
innocence.
[139] From this point the capitulary deals with the "lesser chapters,"
i.e., non-capital offenses.
[140] For the value of the _solidus_, see p. 61.
[141] Three classes of society are distinguished--nobles, freemen, and
serfs. The ordinary freeman pays half as much as the noble, and the
serf half as much as the freeman.
[142] A prominent characteristic of the early Teutonic religion was
that its ceremonies were invariably conducted out of doors. Tacitus,
in the _Germania_ (Chap. 9), tells us that the Germans had no temples
or other buildings for religious purposes, but worshipped in sacred
groves. The "Irmensaule," probably a giant tree-trunk, was the central
shrine of the Saxon people, and Charlemagne's destruction of it in 772
was the most serious offense that could have been committed against
them.
[143] The Germans reckoned by nights rather than by days, as explained
by Tacitus, _Germania_, Chap. 11 [see p. 27].
[144] A sum assessed by the king, in this case against the illegal
harboring of criminals.
[145] The counts, together with the bishops, were the local
representatives or agents of the king. They presided over judicial
assemblies, collected revenues, and preserved order. There were about
three hundred of them in Charlemagne's empire when at its greatest
extent.
[146] An officer sent out by the king to investigate the
administration of the counts and render judgment in certain cases. As
a rule two were sent together, a layman and an ecclesiastic [see p.
134].
[147] Under ordinary circumstances the priests were thus charged with
the responsibility of seeing that local government in their various
communities was just and legal.
[148] Bemont and Monod, _Mediaeval Europe_ (New York, 1902), p. 202.
[149] Chapter 62 is here given out of order because it contains a
comprehensive survey of the products and activities upon which the
royal stewards were expected to report. The other chapters are more
specific. It is likely that they have not come down to us in their
original order.
[150] The ordinary estate in this period, whether royal or not,
consisted of two parts. One was the demesne, which the owner kept
under his immediate control; the other was the remaining lands, which
were divided among tenants who paid certain rentals for their use and
also performed stated services on the lord's demesne. Charlemagne
instructs his stewards to report upon both sorts of land.
[151] Probably payments for the right to keep pigs in the woods. The
most common meat in the Middle Ages was pork and the use of the oak
forests as hog pasture was a privilege of considerable value.
[152] Fines imposed upon offenders to free them from crime or to
repair damages done.
[153] Panic was a kind of grass, the seeds of which were not
infrequently used for food.
[154] The serfs were a semi-free class of country people. They did not
own the land on which they lived and were not allowed to move off it
without the owner's consent. They cultivated the soil and paid rents
of one kind or another to their masters--in the present case, to the
agents of the king.
[155] A variety of fermented liquor made of salt fish.
[156] A blue coloring matter derived from the leaves of a plant of the
same name.
[157] A red coloring matter derived from a plant of the same name.
[158] Burrs of the teasel plant, stiff and prickly, with hooked
bracts; used in primitive manufacturing for raising a nap on woolen
cloth.
[159] A kind of grain still widely cultivated for food in Germany and
Switzerland; sometimes known as German wheat.
[160] The unit of weight was the pound. Charlemagne replaced the old
Gallic pound by the Roman, which was a tenth less.
[161] The unit of measure was the _muid_. Charlemagne had a standard
measure (_modius publicus_) constructed and in a number of his
capitularies enjoined that it be taken as a model by all his subjects.
It contained probably a little less than six pecks. A smaller measure
was the _setier_, containing about five and two-thirds pints.
[162] Clergymen attached to the church on or near the estate.
[163] "Attached to the royal villa, in the center of which stood the
palace or manse, were numerous dependent and humbler dwellings,
occupied by mechanics, artisans, and tradesmen, or rather
manufacturers and craftsmen, in great numbers. The dairy, the bakery,
the butchery, the brewery, the flour-mill were there.... The villa was
a city in embryo, and in due course it grew into one, for as it
supplied in many respects the wants of the surrounding country, so it
attracted population and became a center of commerce."--Jacob I.
Mombert, _Charles the Great_ (New York, 1888), pp. 401-402.
[164] An ancient Gallic land measure, equivalent to about half a Roman
_jugerum_ (the _jugerum_ was about two-thirds of an acre). The arpent
in modern France has varied greatly in different localities. In Paris
it is 4,088 square yards.
[165] The same as "pachak." The fragrant roots of this plant are still
exported from India to be used for burning as incense.
[166] A kind of cabbage. The edible part is a large turnip-like
swelling of the stem above the surface of the ground.
[167] A plant used both as a medicine and as a dye.
[168] "All the cereals grown in the country were cultivated. The
flower gardens were furnished with the choicest specimens for beauty
and fragrance, the orchards and kitchen gardens produced the richest
and best varieties of fruit and vegetables. Charles specified by name
not less than seventy-four varieties of herbs which he commanded to be
cultivated; all the vegetables still raised in Central Europe,
together with many herbs now found in botanical gardens only, bloomed
on his villas; his orchards yielded a rich harvest in cherries,
apples, pears, prunes, peaches, figs, chestnuts, and mulberries. The
hill-sides were vineyards laden with the finest varieties of
grapes."--Mombert, _Charles the Great_, p. 400.
[169] James Bryce, _The Holy Roman Empire_ (new ed., New York, 1904),
p. 50.
[170] Irene, the wife of Emperor Leo IV. After the death of her
husband in 780 she became regent during the minority of her son,
Constantine VI., then only nine years of age. In 790 Constantine
succeeded in taking the government out of her hands; but seven years
afterwards she caused him to be blinded and shut up in a dungeon,
where he soon died. The revolting crimes by which Irene established
her supremacy at Constantinople were considered, even in her day, a
disgrace to Christendom.
[171] This expression has given rise to a view which will be found in
some books that Pope Leo convened a general council of Frankish and
Italian clergy to consider the advisability of giving the imperial
title to Charlemagne. The whole matter is in doubt, but it does not
seem likely that there was any such formal deliberation. Leo certainly
ascertained that the leading lay and ecclesiastical magnates would
approve the contemplated step, but that a definite election in council
took place may be pretty confidently denied. The writer of the Annals
of Lauresheim was interested in making the case of Charlemagne, and
therefore of the later emperors, as strong as possible.
[172] Einhard, Charlemagne's biographer, says that the king at first
had such aversion to the titles of Emperor and Augustus "that he
declared he would not have set foot in the church the day that they
were conferred, although it was a great feast-day, if he could have
foreseen the design of the Pope" (_Vita Caroli Magni_, Chap. 28).
Despite this statement, however, we are not to regard the coronation
as a genuine surprise to anybody concerned. In all probability there
had previously been a more or less definite understanding between the
king and the Pope that in due time the imperial title should be
conferred. It is easy to believe, though, that Charlemagne had had no
idea that the ceremony was to be performed on this particular occasion
and it is likely enough that he had plans of his own as to the proper
time and place for it, plans which Leo rather rudely interfered with,
but which the manifest good-will of everybody constrained the king to
allow to be sacrificed. It may well be that Charlemagne had decided
simply to assume the imperial crown without a papal coronation at all,
in order that the whole question of papal supremacy, which threatened
to be a troublesome one, might be kept in the background.
[173] The celebration of the Nativity was by far the greatest festival
of the Church. At this season the basilica of St. Peter at Rome was
the scene of gorgeous ceremonials, and to its sumptuous shrine
thronged the devout of all Christendom. Its magnificence on the famous
Christmas of 800 was greater than ever, for only recently Charlemagne
had bestowed the most costly of all his gifts upon it--the spoils of
the Avar wars.
[174] Charles, the eldest son, since 789 king of Maine. In reality, of
course, he was but an under-king, since Maine was an integral part of
Charlemagne's dominion. He was anointed by Pope Leo in 800 as
heir-apparent to the new imperial dignity of his father.
[175] The term "canonical" was applied more particularly to the clergy
attached to a cathedral church, the clergy being known individually as
"canons," collectively as a "chapter." In the present connection,
however, it probably refers to the monks, who, living as they did by
"canons" or rules, were in that sense "canonical clergy."
[176] The secular clergy were the bishops, priests, deacons, and other
church officers, who lived with the people in the _saeculum_, or world,
as distinguished from the monks, ascetics, cenobites, anchorites, and
others, who dwelt in monasteries or other places of seclusion.
[177] This is really as splendid a guarantee of equality before the
law as is to be found in Magna Charta or the Constitution of the
United States. Unfortunately there was not adequate machinery in the
Frankish government to enforce it, though we may suppose that while
the _missi_ continued efficient (which was not more than a hundred
years) considerable progress was made in this direction.
[178] Serfs who worked on the fiscal lands, or, in other words, on the
royal estates.
[179] Compare chapters 14 and 27.
[180] A benefice, as the term is here used, was land granted by the
Emperor to a friend or dependent. The holder was to use such land on
stated terms for his own and the Emperor's gain, but was in no case to
claim ownership of it.
[181] The word has at least three distinct meanings--a royal edict, a
judicial fine, and a territorial jurisdiction. It is here used in the
first of these senses.
[182] There was little room under Charlemagne's system for
professional lawyers or advocates.
[183] In other words, when the oath of allegiance is taken, as it must
be by every man and boy above the age of twelve, all the obligations
mentioned from Chap. 3 to Chap. 9 are to be considered as assumed
along with that of fidelity to the person and government of the
Emperor.
[184] That is, the laws of the Church.
[185] One of the greatest temptations of the mediaeval clergy was to
spend time in hunting, to the neglect of religious duties. Apparently
this evil was pretty common in Charlemagne's day.
[186] The _centenarii_ were minor local officials, subordinate to the
counts, and confined in authority to their particular district or
"hundred."
[187] In the Frankish kingdom, as commonly among Germanic peoples of
the period, murder not only might be, but was expected to be, atoned
for by a money payment to the slain man's relatives. The payment,
known as the _wergeld_, would vary according to the rank of the man
killed. If it were properly made, such "composition" was bound to be
accepted as complete reparation for the injury. In this regulation we
can discern a distinct advance over the old system of blood-feud under
which a murder almost invariably led to family and clan wars. Plainly
the Franks were becoming more civilized.
[188] If a murderer refused to pay the required composition his
property was to be taken possession of by the Emperor's officers and
the case must be laid before the Emperor himself. If the latter chose,
he might order the restoration of the property, but this he was not
likely to do.
[189] Beginning with the reign of Charlemagne there were really two
assemblies each year--one in the spring, the other in the autumn; but
the one in the spring, the so-called "May-field," was much the more
important. All the nobles and higher clergy attended, and if a
campaign was in prospect all who owed military service would be called
upon to bring with them their portion of the war-host, with specified
supplies. Charlemagne proposed all measures, the higher magnates
discussed them with him, and the lower ones gave a perfunctory
sanction to acts already determined upon. The meeting place was
changed from year to year, being rotated irregularly among the royal
residences, as Aix-la-Chapelle, Paderborn, Ingelheim, and Thionville;
occasionally they were held, as in this instance, in places otherwise
almost unknown.
[190] Strassfurt was some distance south of Magdeburg.
[191] The date of the festival of St. John the Baptist was June 22.
[192] From earliest Germanic times we catch glimpses of this practice
of requiring gifts from a king's subjects. By Charlemagne's day it had
crystallized into an established custom and was a very important
source of revenue, though other sources had been opened up which were
quite unknown to the German sovereigns of three or four hundred years
before. Ordinarily these gifts, in money, jewels, or provisions, were
presented to the sovereign each year at the May assembly.
[193] The title "Patricius of Rome" was conferred on Charlemagne by
Pope Hadrian I., in 774. Its bestowal was a token of papal
appreciation of the king's renewal of Pepin's grant of lands to the
papacy. In practice the title had little or no meaning. It was dropped
in 800 when Charlemagne was crowned emperor [see p. 130].
[194] That is, the law of the Church; in case of the monasteries, more
especially the regulations laid down for their order, e.g., the
Benedictine Rule.
[195] In the Middle Ages it was assumed that churchmen were educated;
few other men had any claim to learning. Charlemagne here says that it
is bad indeed when men who have been put in ecclesiastical positions
because of their supposed education fall into errors which ought to be
expected only from ordinary people.
[196] In rhetoric a trope is ordinarily defined as the use of a word
or expression in a different sense from that which properly belongs to
it. The most common varieties are metaphor, metonomy, synechdoche, and
irony.