_Of the Kingly Officers, commonly call'd_ Mayors of the
Palace.
Before we treat farther of the _uninterrupted Authority_ of the _Publick
Council_, we think it not improper to say somewhat of those Regal great
Officers, which, during the _Merovingian_ Race were called (_Majores
domus_) Masters, or _Mayors of the Palace_. These having for some Time
encroach'd upon the Kingly Power, finding at last a fit Opportunity,
seiz'd upon it entirely as their own. Their Dignity near the Persons of
our Kings seems to have been much the same with that of _Præfecti
Pretorio_, or Generals of the Guards in the Time of the _Roman_
Emperors, who were sometimes also titled _Aulæ Præfecti_. They were
usually appointed in and by the same _Convention_ which chose the
_Kings_, and were wont to be Chiefs or Heads of the _Publick Council_.
And upon this Account we frequently meet with such-like Expressions as
these among our Historians.--"They elected such and such a Man to the
Dignity of _Mayor of the Palace_. _Herchinold, Mayor of the Palace_,
being dead, the _Franks_ conferr'd that Dignity upon _Ebroinus_, and
appointed him to be _Mayor_ in the King's Court." Also--"They chose
_Hilderick_ for their _King_, and _Wolfold_ for _Mayor of the Palace_."
Which Quotations of ours might indeed have been made as properly in out
foregoing Chapter, where we proved that the greater Employments were not
usually given by the _Kings_, but appointed by the Yearly _General_
Council, and conferred upon Men of the greatest Fidelity and Probity.
But in this Magistracy, the same Thing hapned, which _Plutarch_ tells us
(in his Life of _Lysander_) came to pass when _Agesilaus_ was appointed
by the _Lacedemonians_ to be _General_ of their Army, and _Lysander_ to
be Legate or Lieutenant-General: "Even as in Stage-Plays, (says he) the
Actors who represent a Servant or Messenger, have better Parts, and are
more regarded than him that wears the Crown and Scepter, who scarce
speaks a Word in the whole Play: So the chief Authority and Command was
lodg'd in _Lysander_, whilst with the _King_ remained only a naked and
empty Title."--Just so it fell out in our _Francogallia_; Fair
Opportunities of increasing the Power of these _Mayors_ of the Palace,
being offer'd by the Sloth and Negligence of our _Kings_; among whom we
may reckon _Dagobert, Clodoveus, Clotharius, Childericus, Theodoricus_,
&c. For the Author of the History of the _Franks_, often cited by
_Venericus Vercellensis_, tho' without naming him, writes, That during
the Reign of _Clotharius_, Father of _Dagobert_, the Kingdom of the
_Franks_ began to be administred and govern'd by some which were called
_Provisores Regiæ_, or _Majores Domus_. The same says _Godf. Viterb.
parte Chron._ 16. Whereupon, whilst those _Mayors_ of the _Palace_
executed all the important Affairs of the Commonwealth, and commanded
all the Armies in Time of War; and the Kings (spending their Days in
Sloth and Idleness) tarried at Home, content with the bare Title of a
King; Matters at last were brought to such a Pass, that during the Reign
of _Childerick_ the 18th _King_, Pipin, _Mayor of the Palace_, (who in
the King's Name had waged great and long Wars, and had overcome and
reduced the _Saxons_ to Terms of Submission) finding a fit Occasion to
assume the Regal Title which was offer'd him, did not let it slip:
Especially seeing himself at the Head of a great and victorious Army,
that espoused his Interests. Of which we have the Testimony of many
Authors. First, _Otto Frisingius_, Chron. 5. cap. 12. and his
Transcriber _Godf. Viterb._ Part. 16. who write thus.--"The Kings of
_France_, before the Time of _Pipin the Great_, (formerly _Mayor of the
Palace_) were in a Manner but titular Princes, having very little to do
with the Government of the Realm." _Sigebertus_ says almost the same
Thing _sub Anno_ 662.--"From this Time, (says he) the Kings of the
_Franks_ degenerating from their ancient Wisdom and Fortitude, enjoy'd
little more than the bare Name of King. They did indeed bear the Title
according to Custom, _as being of the ancient Regal Race_; but neither
acted nor disposed of any Thing: The whole Administration and Power of
the Kingdom, was lodg'd in the Hands of the _Mayor of the Palace_."
Yet in Reading such-like Authorities, we ought to take this Observation
along with us. That since _Pipin_ and his Sons laboured (as 'tis
probable they did) under a great Load of Envy, for having violently
wrested the Royal Dignity from King _Childerick_, they made it their
Business to find out and employ _plausible ingenious Historians_, who
magnified the Cowardliness of _Childerick_ and his Predecessors,
upbraiding them with Sloth and Idleness, beyond what they deserv'd. And
among such as these, we may reckon _Eguinarthus_, Chancellor to
_Charles_ the _Great_, and one that did him special Service of this
Nature; who in the Beginning of his Book writes thus.--"The Family of
the _Merovingians_, out of which the _Franks_ used to _Elect_ their
Kings, is supposed to have lasted as long as to _Hilderic_; who by the
Appointment of Pope _Stephen_, was deposed, shaven, and thrust into a
Monastery. Now tho' it may be said to have ended in him, yet in Truth,
for a long Time before, it ceased to have any Value or Excellency,
bearing the bare empty Title of King. For both the Riches and Power of
the Kingdom, were at the Disposition of the _Prefects of the Palace_,
commonly called _Majores Domus_; with whom was also lodg'd the Authority
of the Empire: Neither was there any Thing left remaining to the King,
but only that contenting himself with the Title, he should sit on a
Throne, wearing his Hair and Beard very long, and representing the
Person of a Ruler; sometimes giving the first and last Audience to
Ambassadors from Foreign Parts, and returning such Answers as were made
for him, as if they proceeded immediately from himself. But besides the
unprofitable Name of a King, and a precarious Allowance for his private
Expences, (which the Mayor of the Palace was pleased out of Bounty to
give him) he had nothing that he could call his own, except one Village
of very small Revenue, where he had a little House, and a few Servants,
barely sufficient for his necessary Occasions, &c."
_Sigebertus, sub Anno 662._ taking _Eguinarthus_ for his Pattern,
inveighs against the former Kings in almost the same contumelious Terms.
"Whose Custom (says he) it was, indeed, to make an Appearance like a
Prince, according to what had been usual to their Family; but neither to
act, nor dispose of any thing, only to tarry at Home, and to Eat and
Drink like Irrational Creatures."--As if the like Sloth and Cowardise
ought to be imputed to all the former Kings, among whom we nevertheless
find many brave Men, such as _Clodoveus_, who not only defeated a great
Army of _Germans_, which had made an Irruption into _France_, in a great
Battel near _Tolbiacum_; but also drove the Remainder of the _Romans_
out of the Confines of _Gallia_. What shall we say of _Childebert_ and
_Clotharius_, who rooted the _Visigoths_ and _Ostrogoths_ out of
_Provence_ and _Aquitain_, where they had seated themselves? In the
Histories of all which Princes, there is no Mention made of any _Mayor
of the Palace_, but cursorily, and by the By, as one of the _King's
Servants_. This we may see in _Gregorius_, lib 5. cap. 18, where he
speaks of _Gucilius_, _Lib. 6. cap. 9._ and _cap. 45. Lib. 7. cap.
49._ And we find this Employment to have been not only in the _King's_
Palace, but also in the _Queen's_: For the same _Gregorius_, lib. 7.
cap. 27. mentions one _Waddo_ as _Mayor_ of the _Palace_, in the Court
of _Queen Riguntha_: And in very many other Places of their Histories,
we find both _Gregorius_ and _Aimoinus_ making Mention of these _Masters
of the Court_ and _the King's House_.
Now the first Beginning of the great Authority of these _Præfecti
Regii_, was (as we told you before) during the Reign of King
_Clotharius_ the Second, about the Year of our Lord 588. that is, about
130 Years after the constituting the _Francogallican Kingdom_; which we
may also learn from the before-mention'd Historian, so often quoted by
_Venericus_.
Yet there are two other Historians, (tho' not of equal Credit)
_Sigibertus_ and _Trithemius_, who refer the Beginning of so great a
Power in the _Mayor of the Palace_, to the Reign of _Clotair_ the Third;
whose _Magister Palatii_ was one _Ebroinus_, a Man of extraordinary
Wickedness and Cruelty: But however this may be, we find Historians
calling them by several other Appellations; such as _Comites Domus
Regie, Præfecti Aulæ, Comites Palatii, &c._
* * * * *