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A New Rome? The Carolingians of Francia
Francia in 700 Europa and Christendom
Clovis (c. 466 - 511) • Bishop Gregory of Tours on Clovis in
Historia Francorum
• Good relations w/ landed aristocracy
• Common religion, intermarriage
• Single aristocratic order
• French monarchy & Church
“Oh woe, for I travel among strangers and have none of my kinfolk to help me!” …
“He did not refer to their deaths out of grief, but craftily, to see if he could bring to light some new relative to kill.”
Late Merovingian Dynasty
• Aristocratic families more powerful than Merovingians
• Inheritance practices
• Francia divided: – Neustria – Austrasia – Burgundy
Decline of the Merovingians
• The Carolingians: power base in Austrasia – Comitatus – Wise marriages
• Maior Domus - “Mayor of the palace” – Position hereditary – Became real rulers – Pepin of Heristal & Battle of Tetry (687) – Take over Neustria and then Burgundy
Early Carolingians
• Charles Martel (d. 741) – Fought back Muslims (732) – Consolidated power
• Divided succession – Carloman & Pepin the Short (r. 751-68) – Carloman retires – Pepin takes over
The tomb of Charles Martel
Pepin’s Revolution
• Pepin’s dilemma – Sent messengers to Rome – Pope’s response
• Support from Church – Kingship no longer won by
blood right – Qualities of a king – Last Merovingian to monastery
“Is it right that a powerless ruler should continue to bear the title of king?”
…better for the man who had power to be called king rather than the one who remained without royal power, and, to avoid a disturbance of the right ordering of things, he commanded by apostolic authority that Pepin should become king.
Franco-Papal Alliance • Pope Stephen II crowns Pepin
• Franco-Papal alliance: Why?
• Popes no longer seek aid from Byzantium
• Lombards capture Ravenna (751) – Pepin donates land – Donation of Constantine (forgery)
Fresco depicting donation of Constantine, 11th c.
Charlemagne: the Man
• Charles the Great – Einhard – Charlemagne’s attributes
• Outlawed polygamy – Legal distinction re: heirs – Divorces & concubines – Daughters & lovers
Illustration from Einhard’s biography, 13th c.
Charlemagne: Warrior-King
• Always at war – Lombards conquered (774) – “King of the Franks & Lombards”
• Expansion of eastern frontier – Absorbed Bavaria (787) – Saxons in northeast (804)
Charlemagne equestrian statue, 9th c.
Carolingian Empire, c. 814
Charlemagne: Roman Emperor • Master of the West
– Christmas Day, 800 – Consequences of imperial coronation
• Aspired to be like Byzantium – Set up capital at Aachen – Coronation similar to Constantinople
• Pope’s benefits
• Prologue to bitter struggle Charlemagne’s chapel at Aachen
Carolingian Renewal & Education
• Alcuin (d. 804) – Revitalized Christian society – Educational reform – Cathedrals & monasteries to
operate schools
Alcuin, in the middle, from a 9th c. Carolingian manuscript
Carolingian Manuscripts & Paleography
• 8,000 manuscripts survive from 8th/9th cents.! – Book-producing centers (scriptoria) – Books borrowed/exchanged – Copied books; no original works
• Clearer forms of handwriting
• Replaced Merovingian script
Carolingian manuscript, 9th c.
Merovingian Script (sample)
qualitas astringit saepe namque alii suffi(-)
ciunt quae aliis prosunt quia & plerumq(u)e
Carolingian Minuscule • “Caroline” script
– Improvements for reading – Spread quickly
• Types of books/documents – Church treatises – Chronicles – Early Latin works – Saints’ lives
After Charlemagne
• Carolingian empire short-lived – Inheritance practices – Regional interests/localism – Separate cultures, languages, customs
• Inspired later rulers
Next Class • Early Medieval Britain • Course Packet readings:
– Anglo-Saxon Chronicle – Annals of Cambriae – Focus on the structures of these histories; what is
the meaning of these forms?
• Documentary (Adventure of English, 50 mins) – linked on the website
Recommended