The Rise of the Carolingians 600 – 850

The emergence of the rural elite

During the Merovingian period we saw the emergence of a range of landowner estates, based on the lucrative payments the nobility requested from the powerless kings. They soon had properties exceeding the size of the kings and this became a critical part of the demise of the Mervingoian Empire. Equally many monasteries were founded who also received lucrative immunities that again made them independent powerhouses.

Many of these grew into important domains and allowed these new elites  to built their power base often from the remnants of the positions of the ‘comes civiatates’ – the military district commanders of the late Roman cities- these rulers became known as counts. But when they received greater autonomy the moved their power bases to the rural areas such as the fertile valleys of the rivers Maas and Mosel, where they mixed with the large landowners.  The Pippinides are one of the most famous of these rural elites, with Charlemagne born probably at one of these rural castles in Herstal. It is interesting to note that there was already during the late Roman times a network of large landowners in the old Germani cisrhenani region which included parts of modern Brabant, it was with such groups that the Pippinides and others started to mix. While there are certain reference to this , so far no firm evidence of exact locations or estate names are known.

With the arrival of the Carolingians a change to the land payments system was introduced. Charles Martel, didn’t want to fall in the same trap  the  Merovingian kings fell into, who saw their wealth basis  (landownership) rapidly eroding through land donations and immunities. Charles changed the system in one of fiefdom.  In order to not loose ownership, land and privileges were given in fief and at least initially was only for a certain duration (lifetime) slowly unavoidably however,  hereditary crept into this system. It wasn’t until trade started to create a monetary economic system that money started to replace land as the basis of wealth.

During the 6th and early 7th century we also see a more defined split amongst the Germanic tribes. The Frisii occupied the coastal areas above the main rivers all the way to river Elbe in the east. The Franks were situated below the main rivers with Nijmegen the boarder town,  further to the east the Saxons held power. All three groups formed through etnogeneses (combining different tribes into new ethnic groups). Over time these different groups were further combined into what would become the Low Countries.

The organisation was still very much along the lines of the Germanic tribal arrangements. Decisions were taken by the ‘freemen’ (vicini, ceorls, liberi homines) within the tribes during their regular assemblies (ding/mallus/campus) where the freemen decided about the upcoming raids as well as all other major decisions that needed to be made as a community. All freemen were also obliged to provide fyrd (heervaart, leidang) their participation in a  sort of short term militia.

Under Charlemagne the assemblies were limited to three per year and the most important annual campus meetings was moved to May (campus maii). All freemen were now obliged to participate in these  meetings and increasingly the freemen had to make room for the edhilingui (edelingen- nobles).  In an increasingly more Christianised society these events were- especially from 788 onward - also used to issue new canons and law. Under Charlemagne the freemen started to take on juridical positions as scabini (schepenen, sheriffs, bailiffs,  officials). When villages started to emerge these scabini – at a local level - were chosen from among the local freemen. The freemen combined  were also allowed to use and manage the commons. Once feudalism started to set in,  the power of the freeman diminished and was taken over by the (lower) nobility).

 

The Arnulfings

Arnulf of Metz (August 13, 582 – August 16, 640) was a Frankish noble who, as a bishop, had great influence in the Merovingian kingdoms and was later canonized as a saint.

He was born near Nancy. Arnulf stood out for his distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II. At the age of thirty he wanted to retire from public life. Instead, in 614, he was made bishop of Metz, even though he was still a layman at the time. In 613, Arnulf and Pippin I of Landen, led the opposition of Frankish nobles to Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. The revolt led to her overthrow, torture, and eventual execution, and the subsequent reunification of Frankish lands under Chlothar II, the dowager queen’s nephew.

From 623 (with Pippin of Landen, then the Mayor of the Palace), Arnulf was an adviser to Dagobert I. He finally retired in 627 to a mountain site in the Vosges, to implement his lifelong resolution to become a hermit. His friend Romaric had preceded him to the mountains and had already established the monastery of Remiremont there. Arnulf settled there, and remained there until his death twelve years later.

Before he was consecrated, he married Doda and had the following children:

• Ansegisel, married Begga, and their child was Pippin the Middle.
• Chlodulf, like his father, became bishop of Metz.

Before his ordination Chlodulf had married an unknown woman and had begotten a son also called Arnulf.

In 657, he became bishop of Metz, the third successor of his father, and held that office for 40 years. During this time he richly decorated the cathedral St. Stephen. He also was in close contact with his sister-in-law Saint Gertrude of Nivelles and with Remaclus (see both below).

Through Remaclus, Chlodulf also became the tutor of Trudo, a young nobleman from Hebaye, who founded the monastery of Sarchinum (St. Trond) between Landen and Tongeren.

He died on 8 June 696 or 697 in Metz and was buried in the church of St. Arnulf. In Nivelles he was locally venerated as Saint Clou, especially because of his connection to Saint Getrude.

Through Ansegisel the Arnulfings continued their dynasty through the Pippins.

Pippines

Pippin I – Founder of the Carolingians

The Pippin family under the leadership of Pippin I (Pippin of Landen) started in the early 7^th century, they played a key role in the power struggles which took place in the dying days of the regime of Brunhilda. After her death in 613, Pippin took a leading role is reshaping the Merovingian structures in the period after this. He was able to reunite the many fractions and in the meantime carve out a leading position for himself. Through marriages he was also able to influence the various important functions throughout the kingdom. The new king Chlothar II appointed Pippin as the mayor of the palace.

Grimoald I – first attempt to overthrow the Merovingians

After Pippin’s death his wife and daughter moved to Nivelles and played key roles in the religious development of the region. His son Grimoald had to earn his position as mayor, and he proofed his qualities in that respect. He inherited the above mentioned immense properties from his father in Frisia all the way down to the Meuse and Rhine valleys. His main seat of power was the palace in Metz.

He also worked very closely with the female members of the family to further expand religious works of the monks and bishops that went through the region founding new monasteries and churches.

After the death of the young king Sigebert III in 656, Grimoald felt himself strong enough to undertake the first Carolingian coup d’etat. This event had more to do with family intrigue rather than a military intervention. However, in the end it failed.

Pippin II – strengthening catholicism in the region

After Grimoald death in 662, the Pippin line went on through his nephew Pippin II, he represents a direct link with the Arnulfings through his sister Begga, who was married to the Arnulfing Ansegisel.

He had to fight the Neustrian mayor Ebroin in order to regain his family’s prominence as mayors. Finally in 687 at the battle of Tertry, along the old Roman highway near Saint Quentin, he decisively defeated the Neustrians. He became the first of the Pippins mayors to rule the whole Frankish kingdom: Neustria, Austrasia and Burgundy. The kingdom enjoyed a long period of peace under Pippin II, who used the title ‘Prince of the Franks’. He also continued the tradition to support monasteries and churches and as  he was the key supporter of Willibrord.

As a youngster he stayed in Pavia at the court of the Langobards, here he learned about the Roman organisation and once in power he laid the foundation for royal administration and court systems. It is interesting to note here that the political ideas of the Roman Empire remained of great importance during the Middle Ages, eventually resulting in the proclamation of the Holy Roman Empire.

He resided most of the time at his properties in the Meuse valley (Herstal, Jupille and Chevremont – near Liège).

Herstal

Around the end of the Roman era this hamlet had become a fortified stronghold, and then known as Héristal. The major road that linked Tongeren to Aachen crossed the Meuse here, where a ferry likely carried travellers to Jupille.

In the 7th century, Héristal gave its name to the founder of the family that established the Carolingian dynasty, Pippin, lord of Héristal. He probably chose this location as his main residence because of its proximity to the major cities of Aachen, Tongeren, Maastricht, and Liège.

Charlemagne is also supposedly born in Herstal, where he lived for at least fifteen years. Charlemagne later established his capital in Aachen, ending Herstal’s period of medieval glory as capital of the empire.

However, he went back to his castle in Herstal in 788 when he assembled here the nobility and bishops to launch his new set of laws, another groundbreaking event in the history of Europe.

Pippin died in 714 which led to a complex succession. His wife Plectrude had influenced Pippin to not appoint one of his bastard sons, but the son of their murdered son, grandson Theudoald as his successor. However, the Nuestrian nobility seized the opportunity to overthrow the Pippins and again a power struggle between the two groups of nobility raged for several years. Plectrude had to flee to her ancestral home in Cologne and most of the Pippin treasure was seized by the Neustrians.

Charles Martel – stopped Islamic spread in Europe

However, yet again a strong Pippinide Charles, one of Pippin’s illegitimate children was able to regain control over the kingdom. He won a decisive battle with the Neustrians in 717 at Vinchy. He made himself mayor of the Austrasian palace. Two years later he also successfully reclaimed the title of mayor of Neustria.

In 719 he defeated the Frisian after the death of the famous King Radbod. Frisian territory from the Scheldt to the Vlie (the seaway between Holland and the island of Vlieland) were lost to the Franks.

It was also Charles after whom the Carolingians were named (and not after Charles the Great).

He most probably received the nickname ‘Martel’ (the hammer) because of his successful campaigns the most important one (for Europe) was the Battle of Tour in 732, where he stopped the Islamic expansion into Europe. He also introduced heavy cavalry, complemented the still dominating foot based armies of soldiers. Cavalry became feasible with the introduction of the stirrup by the Avars around 550. However, it wasn’t until the year 1000 that a more serious advance was made with this form of fighting.

He also established and officially formalised the system of vassalage, with clear terms and conditions of such arrangements; which in some parts of Europe lasted until the 19^th century (see also the book on the Budde History). Vassalage  is also  discussed here.

While still very supportive of monasteries, missionaries and the Church in general, he also clearly established his authority over the bishops. Over the previous century substantial parts of the Pippin properties had been donated to the church. Charles put an end to this by secularising some of the church properties

When the Merovingian king Theuderic IV died in 737, Charles did not replace him with a new king, but he also didn’t claim the title for himself. Instead he used charters in the name of the deceased king and made new appointments in his name.

The next family succession crisis started after the death of Charles in 741. His son Carloman received Austrasia, Alemannia and Thuringia, Pippin received Burgundy, Neustria and Provence. Grifo a son of his 2^nd (Bavarian) wife received a number of lands scattered across the kingdom.

Ros Beiaard

Interesting folklore in relation to the feuds of the Franks can be found in the Belgium town of Dendermonde. Every ten year the town has the famous Ros Beiaard procession, featuring a huge wooden horse that gets paraded around town, together with other ancient symbols.

It is a story about four brave boys who take on the many intrigues in and around the court of Charles (either Charlemagne or Charles Martel).

At primary school I learned the famous song that describes the adventures of these four Heemskinderen  (Aymon’s children) and their invincible horse. In the legend their father Aymon was the count of Dendermonde, and their mother a niece of Charles.

‘t Ros Beiaard maakt zijn ronde

In de stad van Dendermonde

Die van Aalst die zijn zo kwaad

Omdat hier ’t Ros Beiaard gaat.

In 2007 we visited Dendermonde and of course also the statue of the four heroes and their horse.

Pippin III – dynastic change

The new feud started off with Grifo claiming a more equal share of the inheritance, supported by the Bavarian nobility. While Grifo was imprisoned many of these noble especially in the south of the kingdom kept Carloman and Pippin busy for the next few years. In order to reinforce the legitimacy of their position the placed a new Merovingian king on the throne, Childeric III son of the already deceased Chilperic II.

Carloman and Pippin also worked closely together to reform the Frankish church, restoring statuary rule. Pippin also appointed many of the clergy in administrative positions.

In regions where pagan religion and culture still survived and lack of communication across the land, many priests and bishops had used their own interpretations of Catholicism and there was widespread misuse and corruption. The Frankish mayors took a leading role in these reforms. Interestingly also the pope was inspired by these Frankish actions and convoked a synod at the Lateran where he also condemned clerical immorality, greed and the misuse of religious powers, a clear sign of the increased importance of the lands above the Alps.

In 747 Carloman abdicated and left for Rome where he received the tonsure and retired in a monastery. But the family feud didn’t end here, Carloman’s son Drogo claimed his inheritance and also Grifo’s claims had not gone away, after he had been able to escape from his prison and his move to the Franks arch enemy the Saxons and later on to Bavaria. Pippin action was swift and inflicted military defeats to these challengers; he again captured Grifo, who was later pardoned.

With these victories under his belt Pippin prepared for his next move. The biggest tool he used was public relations and propaganda. Talking up his family and the achievements of his forebears especially Charles Martel.

Without any legitimate power left to him, Pippin decided in 751 to dispose of what would be the last Merovingian King Childeric. This became a decisive moment in history. Kingship was a divine institution and to desolve that in a legitimate way required the authority of the ruling pope  Zacharias. Bishop Boniface went to Rome and established the contact between Pippin and the Pope. To authenticate this move,  Boniface succesfully argued that it was better to have a king that had power and the authority rather than one without it.  This approval arrived and it was Bishop Boniface who in the following year crowned Pippin King of the Franks. The following year the Pope traveled to Paris to ask Pippin for military assistance against the Lombards as his previous protector the Byzantine Emperor had refused to give him his assistance. This led to the Frankish expansion into Italy and to the foundation of what later would turn into the Holy Roman Empire which lasted for more than a millennium.

With the Coup of 751 we also see the arrival of a different concept of government. The Carolingians were hands-on kings both in secular and religious affairs. The role of the king was modelled on the kings of the Old Testament, who instituted God’s law under God’s grace (gratia Dei). Pippin arranged that he received the holy anointment from the pope when inaugurated as king. The Carolingians became an integral part of the Church.

The later emperors would claim their legitimacy at least partly on Charles the Great, who became in 800 the first emperor.   Frederick I Barbarossa (approx 1122 – 1190) even claimed the ‘sainthood’ for the Empire. During his reign also Charles the Great was canonised (but never sainted)..

As mentioned, the immunities that had been handed out under the Merovingians became now ‘protections’. This basically took the power away from the monasteries and made the kings the rulers who did have the obligation to protect the monasteries, without distinguishing ownership. They claimed their credibility by stating that they themselves had arisen from monasteries and churches (Bishop Arnulf and the saintly Abbess Gertrude of Nivelles).

The change of guards also saw the start of change of power within the Church, until know it were the monasteries that had played the leading role but slowly bishops and their bureaucratic structures would take over the lead. With the state and the church now being one, powerful bishops from the aristocracy and closely linked to the royal family would run the church like a state.

This coincided with a church driven reformation also aimed at ensuring control of the church through the Episcopal system as advocated by Boniface, however, his aim was to unify religious control over the various institutions. He very seriously warned against layman control of the church, be it the emperor, kings or counts.

A key role here played Chrodegang of Metz, a cousin of Charles Martel and a member of the nobles of Hesbay. His Rules for Canons, fostered a quasi-monastic regime of communal life amongst the urban clergy, his rule was implemented in virtual all bishoprics. He was appointed Bishop of Metz by Pippin III in 742. After the death of Boniface in 754 he received his archiepiscopal position.

Secular or religious powers

The origin of the power struggle between church and state (Investiture) is closely linked to Roman Emperor Constantine I. He warmed to Christendom, influenced by Bishop Eusebius who held the carrot in front of him that the Emperor was ‘the Expected One’ the ‘David’ of Christian prophecy and his Empire, the Messianic Kingdom. Constantine liked this war-like leadership and while the populace was rather reluctant to give up their pagan Gods, the leadership certainly saw the advantages of this new cult – as it was still seen at that time. Constantine wanted to establish Rome as the centre for the new imperial cult of Christ, however, fierce opposition from this city forced him to establish this centre in the new eastern capital of his empire, Constantinople.

He became the first catholic emperor (being it at only at the very end of his life, on his deathbed in 336).

Forged document (known as the Donatio Constantini) were a few hundred years later used to prove that he donated his palace in Rome, his imperial insignia and all of his authority over the western part of his Empire, including the city of Rome and all of Italy and the islands to the West. Constantine would keep the eastern Empire for himself (Byzantium).

According to this forged document special secular powers were given to the pope. He saw himself as the custodian of what was left of the Western Roman Empire. He used the power vacuum that was created after the death of Emperor Justinian in 565 (he reconquered, for a short while, most of the old Western Empire). It was the church who, at least in Rome and parts of what is now Italy, was able to step into this vacuum and thus obtaining that dual role. However, the Lombards, a Germanic tribe originating from the middle Elbe region, conquered northern Italy in 568 and they didn’t accept papal authority over these papal lands.

Since the reconquest Rome had been part of the Byzantium Empire, however the difference in culture and at occasion religious interpretations as well as the distance did not create a strong relationship between Constantinople and Rome. At the same time the Langobards started to put their stamp on the region and claimed more and more secular powers also in areas which previous fell under the papal jurisdictions. Only after 600, when the Langobards converted from Arianism to Catholicism were they more inclined to treat the popes more favourable, but like the Franks in the north they did see a clear distinction between religious and secular powers.

Ever since the baptism of Clovis, the Frankish kingdom had identified itself with Catholicism. Thanks to Boniface, pope Gregory II had heard of the Franks and their success in the north and was very impressed by Charles Martel’s defeat of the Muslims in Tour. Increasingly he started to look at ways to get the Franks military support to protect the Papal States.

The question is how much these alliances had to do with power and wealth and how much with with true religion. There certainly was piety especially among the women at the court. They were staunch supporters of the missionaries. Especially between the the reigns of Pippin II (700) and Louis the Pious (840). However, on the male side the alliances had perhaps more to do with a good excuse to extend their territories into ‘pagan’ areas. At the Concilium Germanicum in 743 it was established that bishops and priests had to be supported by secular powers in their battle against pagan beliefs and traditions.  The foundation of mission-episcopacy in the new territories such as Osnabrück (783), Paderborn (785),  Münster (802 ) and Hamburg (832) have to be looked at from that perspective.

On a more positive note, as the crowning of kings was a sacrament, the laws and institutions under which the king had to operate were treated as very serious issues. Kings had to be just and protect the people (and the church of course). Over time these laws became more complex and from here the royal and later state institutions started to evolve.

The Frankish-Papal alliances established during this period were continued during the Holy Roman Empire. Holy Emperor Otto I established the episcopate of Magdeburg (968), in charge of christening the region east of the Elbe.

The first campaign against the Langobards

In Italy the power balance between the Langobards, the pope and the Byzantium empire with its stronghold in Ravenna was maintained for nearly 200 years. But by than the pope desperately needed new alliances to withstand the new threat of the Langobards.

However, the Langobards and Franks were united in an alliance to fight the Muslims and Pippin III was, in 734, send to the court of Lombard king Liutprand in Pavia, where he was adopted by the king. So the Franks were not in a hurry to fight the Langobards on behalf of the pope.

Pavia rapidly became Italy’s largest urban centre and remained so for a long time.

In 751 Pippin III took over the rains. As mentioned above, to proof not just his power but also the legitimacy of the coup he secured papal blessing when he was crowned king.

Along the secular and ecclesiastical entanglements as mentioned above,  the pope of course didn’t shy away from asking a favour back and when pope Stephan II  visited Pippin in 754 he asked for his assistance to rid Italy of the Langobards and restore the Papal State. Pippin promises under oath to do so and he was for the 2^nd time crowned king, this time by the pope himself. At the same time his two sons Charles and Carloman were also anointed.

Two years later Pippin indeed forced the Longobards out of Ravenna. Pippin donates  certain lands as well as administration over it to the pope; this donation still forms the foundation of the current Papal State (Donatio Pippini).

Towards the end of the century it has been estimated that the Carolingians had the capability of to mobilise up to 100,000 free men to military services, which easily made them the most powerful military force in Europe.

Collapse of Byzantium influence in Europe

The Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, who assumed the throne in 527, oversaw a period of recovery of former West Roman territories.

In 535, a small Byzantine expedition as sent to Sicily and met with easy success, but the Goths – who had invaded the island a century earlier – soon stiffened their resistance, and victory did not come until 540, when his military leader Belisarius captured Ravenna, after successful sieges of Naples and Rome.

After the death of Emperor Justinian in 565 the old Roman Empire disintegrated to be never united again. The Lombards, a Germanic tribe originating from the middle Elbe region, conquered northern Italy in 568 and they didn’t accept papal authority over these papal lands.

Sicily was in 652 invaded by the Arabs, however their influence remained weak until more serious attempts were made in the 9^th century to capture the island. However, Arab tolerance secured an ongoing influence of Byzantium religion and culture. The Cathedral in Monreale with its most beautiful mosaics is evidence of this (see video clip). Byzantium was able to hold on to their powers in the Southern Italy and Ravenna for another 200 years.

However the difference in culture and at occasion religious interpretations as well as the distance did not create a strong relationship between Constantinople and Rome.

In 753 the Lombard king Aistulf conquered Ravenna and thus ended the last remnant of the Byzantium empire in Northern Italy (however, the bishop of Ravenna did hold on for a bit longer to the Byzantium flavour of Catholicism). The lack of a strong military power that had kept the balance in place since the fall of Rome, was a major set back for the new Pope Stephen II. The Langobards followed Arius’ version of the catholic faith and were seen as heretics, they in turn had little respect for the pope and his version of that same catholic religion.

With the Langobard threat the pope had to turn to the new upcoming power in the west of Europe and this would result in a total shift in European politics.

The battles that followed also brought the Byzantine emperor into southern Italy, where he encroached on the papal states, thus widening the rift between the original inheritors of the Roman empire. Over the years that rift would only increase in size. Eventually the issue of iconoclasm singled out by an ever increasing number of arch conservative Byzantine Emperors would lead to a formal schism in 1054.

In 1025 the Byzantine Emperor planned for another invasion into Sicily to rid the island of the Arabs, however his sudden death stopped this campaign in its tracks. In the end it were Norman mercenary who exploited the intra-dynastic quarrels of the Arab occupation and landed in 1068 and started the reconquest of the island.

As mentioned, in late 753 the pope left Rome in a hurry and crossed the Alps. Charles was send out as a welcoming party as was Chrodegang of Metz and both accompanied Pope  Stephen  II to his meeting with  Pippin III in St Denis where the pope asked for the military assistance of the Franks.

The pope reconfirmed the coronation by Boniface by placing coronets on the heads of Pippin and his two sons, thus also legitimising the Carolingian dynasty.

However, only after consultations with his war lords did Pippin form an army and defeated the Longobards. After the peace broke down several months later the pope again asked Pippin for assistance this time the king refused as he had other wars to fight this time in Aquitaine (which after years and years of campaigning was finally subdued in 768). After this victory the sick Pippin could only just make it back to St Denis were he died and was buried next to his ancestors.

After his death the Empire was split between his two sons. Carloman received the centre with Soison as the capital. However, this only lasted for a short time when he died in 771. While Carloman had two sons, Charles claimed the whole empire. Carloman’s widow Gerberga and her two young sons went to the Court of Desiderius in Pavia.

Under Charlemagne the Carolingian Empire would reach its zenith and his achievements are still reverberating through Europe. He expanded south into Italy, east into the land of the Saxons and even beyond and in the west he secured Aquitaine. Nearly all his life he was on campaign. During the 33 year war against the Saxons, he only twice directly faced his enemy,  both in the same year – 783 –  once near Detmold and once at the River Haase near Osnabrück.

The 2^nd campaign against the Longobards

It was not until 773 before the Franks again responded to a call from Rome this time from Pope Hadrian I. The new king Charles took his troops over the Alps, outside the normal campaigning season, established a winter camp near Pavia and starved the Langobards into a peace agreement that he didn’t get until the summer of 774. He exiled the Lombard king Desiderius and his family to France, demanded homage from the local nobility and installed a strong Frankish garrison in Pavia. By doing so he established clearly that it was him who held the secular power and not the pope, he was now not only the King of the Franks but also the King of the Longobards; the kingdom comprised northern and central Italy down to the March of Spoleto.

While the king moved back to Aachen, many Frankish settlers moved into Lombardy. A whole outside ruling class took over religious, bureaucratic and merchant structures.

Key Frankish families that moved into the region included”

• Unrouchings – the family’s main landholdings, were in modern France, north of the River Seine, and southern Belgium. The family monastery, the centre of their power, was at Cysoing, near Tournai. They settled in Friuli (where they became Berengar’s ancestors).
• Widonen at Spoleto (ancestors of King Wido (Guido or Guy) and Lambertus – rivals of the Berengars). Their ancestors came from Nantes.
• Supponids at Parma ( family of Berengar’s first wife, Bertilla)

In 888 Berengar, a grandson of Louise the Pious become King of Italy. A member of his rival family Wido was King of Italy in 798.

Papal feuds

However, the dramas with the various popes continued, there were assassinations, competing families who claimed the papal throne,  double popes and so on. Charles despised these activities and tried to make changes by implementing new laws (they included canon laws).

Another drama unfolded in 799 when an assassination attempt on Pope Leo III failed, the gravely harmed pope was bandaged up and escorted to Paderborn for safety. Of course Charles was asked to assist, however he didn’t want to take part in the feud. In the end he travelled back with Leo III to Rome and had him officially under oath declare that he was not part of the family feud that had resulted in the attack. For Charles that was the end of the affair.

Paderborn

In 772, at the caste of Eresburg (near Paderborn) Charlemagne crushed the Saxons and demolished  their sacred ‘Irminsul’, it was a large tree trunk that was venerated as one of the pillars of the heaven.

Already in 776 he started to build an impressive stronghold here, this was a totally new town and not based on a previous Roman town or military settlement. The focus point of the building activities was a church-palace, aimed to impress the recently overrun Saxons in the region.

Charlemagne held his first Frankish Imperial Assembly in 777 on recently conquered Saxon ground.

In 799 the meeting between Charlemagne and Pope Leo III takes place here. This also led to the foundation of the bishopric. It has also been suggested that during this meeting, preliminary talks were started regarding  the on crowning Charlemagne Emperor.

While he had very ambitious plans for Paderborn, soon after he had conquered the Saxons the urge to use this city to proof his authority was gone and the grand plans never fully eventuated.

We visited the remnants of his palace (pfalz) and the Dom in 2001.

It looks that rather unexpectedly the opportunity was used to, on Christmas Day 800,  to officially crown Charles Emperor of the Western Roman Empire (included Rome); until that time he had been emperor of the Franks. In various statement Charles had clearly indicated that he was king or emperor and he named the pope ‘father’ making a distinct difference between secular and religious powers.

He followed a long Frankish tradition, already Clothar II had made it clear to Pope Gregory I at the time, that the bishops were his subjects.

Nevertheless in Rome the pope kept his secular powers (until today).

Pic

Kings ask popes for missionaries

As indicated above the pope also claimed secular powers and wanted them to extend them to the Frankish realm as well. However, both Pepin III and Charlemagne ignored this and saw themselves as the secular powers and  Charlemagne even considered to challenge the emperor of the East Roman Empire, but this never eventuated.

This power struggle between church and state was at least for the time being won by Charles the Great who was able to establish his independency from the pope but at the same time as a devout Christian placed the spiritual powers of the pope above the secular ones. Nevertheless he would not accept direct papal interference in his realm but everything he did was also in the name of God. So in other words if somebody would attack the church he would see that as an attack on his empire, if somebody trespassed the catholic rules it was at the same time an offence under secular law.

The strong spiritual powers also provided certain safeguards regarding governance, these kings were obliged under the catholic faith to protect the poor, women and children, they had to be just and were to uphold morality as was laid down in catholic rules and regulations such as the Ten Commandments. Canon Law continued to be  further developed for religious interpretation and finetuning of the laws.

As mentioned above, their strong believe in the scriptures, especially in relation to their eternal life, led many of the rulers to donate large sums of money to monasteries and the clergy; often with the aim to secure ongoing prayers for their souls. Monasteries, chapels, churches as well as their staffing were paid for in this way. The clergy were given property which allowed them to long term income and stability. Monasteries and chapels were built on the lands of the nobility and these landlords were keen to be buried here. These became the first churches, known as ‘proprietary’ churches (Adelskirches – churches of the nobles). The concept of parish churches followed later. It was not until the 9^th century before a  more cohesive network of parish churches was established.

These religious organisations in turn became important advisors, diplomats and bureaucrats and  the monasteries also allowed for the spread of knowledge, they were paid to also look after the poor and the sick and as such played a critical role in the political, social and economic development of Europe throughout the Middle Ages and well into the modern era.

The Carolingians were greatly influenced by the Catholic religion and was stirred by missionaries such as Willibrord and Boniface. He combined the age old Germanic tradition as the warrior chief in charge of the annual campaigns to grab land and booty for himself and his allies, with the divine commission he felt he had to convert the pagans. Charlemagne was still very much a barbarian, however he also appreciated the sophisticated organisation, culture and learning that were brought to him and his regions by the men of the faith. This mixing pot of activities had a profound impact on the shape and future of Europe.

Charlemagne crushed the Saxons

The relationship between the Franks and the  Saxons had always been one of conflict. During Roman times the boarder had been set by the river Rhine but since that time the Saxons had taken another 20 kilometres on then other side of the river and had established strongholds also along the river Diemel. In an act of defiance they had established an important pagan shrine at Eresburg castle in the name of Irminsul, it was a large tree trunk that was venerated as one of the pillars of the heaven.

Irminsul

The Germanic god, Irmin, inferred from the name Irminsul (sul = zuil = pillar) and the tribal name Herminones, is sometimes postulated as the war god of the Saxons. The Old Norse form of Irmin was Jörmunr and interestingly, just like Yggr, it was one of the names of Odin. “Yggr’s horse”, Yggdrasil, was the yew or ash tree from which Odin sacrificed himself, and which connected heaven and earth. It appears, thus, that Irminsul may have represented a World tree corresponding to Yggdrasil among the Saxon tribes of Germany.

Furthermore in 747 the Saxons had provided refuge to Grifo, a son of Charles Martel but exposed of by Pippin and his brother Carloman.

The Frankish wars started increasingly to look like crusades. Weapons were blessed by priests, victories were victories of the Lord and defeats were seen as a punishment for a sinning nation. No longer were these campaigns aimed at grabbing booty to return home and split the spoils between the war lords, instead they became more of a colonisation, the newly conquered areas were integrated into the empire, new secular and religious laws were enforced and many new dukes and counts were appointed.

In 754 Boniface was killed by the Frisii in Dokkum, this apparently had a serious impact on Charlemagne and the life and death of Boniface became an example for his own fundamentalist way of life.

The Saxon campaign – which started in 772 – became the first known Christian crusade. In 772 Charles not simply raided the Saxons but destroyed Irminsul, the first time a political leader became involved in religious affairs, until that time bishops and missionaries had been engaged in such practices but not the secular leaders. New campaigns were launched in 775 and 776.

After an other successful; campaign in 779, three year later in 782 Charles encountered a rare defeat, his response was one of desperation and led to a terrible massacre of the beheading of 4,500 Saxons in Veden on the banks of the river Aller.

In order to underline the progress of his campaigns he started to use the newly conquered lands of the Saxons. As mentioned above in 776 he started to build an impressive stronghold in Paderborn, aimed to impress the recently overrun Saxons in the region.

The leader of the Saxons Widukind fled to Denmark and continued guerrilla warfare during the following years. Again Charles response was merciless killing men, women, children and cattle and burning villages and farms, the region was totally devastated. Rather than killing Widukind, that would have made him an hero, he offered him safe passage to his villa in the Ardennes and offered him gifts in return for his baptism. The strategy worked and many Saxons followed Windukind and were ‘peacefully’ converted. Finally in 785 he had subjugated the Saxons.

There are  indications that the border was established along the river Vechte and at Nordhorn, most probably as elsewhere strongholds were established with bailiffs (schutzen) to guard the border and to ensure that the inhabitants would no longer their pagan religion (See: Barbarians rule). As a consequence Nordhorn started to grow and by 900 had become an independent town.

Frankish control over the Saxons (and for that matter their neighbouring Frissi) remained patchy for at least another century. One of the main problems for the Franks was the fact that these lands were not ruled by dukes or princess but instead contained a network of warlords – Widukind was only one of many of them – on which the Franks never maintained a firm grip. More campaigns followed in 773 and 784-5.

A major revolt took place in 793 and between that year and 799 most of the newly built (wooden)  churches were burnt down and the people reverted back to their pagan believes. However, through massacres and deportations (7,000 in 794 and every third household in 797)  Charles gradually did win these territories back and by 804 he considered the job done.  He also started to take greater control over the region.

For example at a major crossing of the river Vechte he started a fortification that later grew into the city of Nordhorn. What did secure long last stability was that after these revolts he codified Saxon law  and appointed leading Saxons as counts and local officials.

Under the Lex Saxonum, the rigid Saxon structured was altered, taking away the power of the frillingi (freemen) and increasing the power of the edhilingui (edelingen- nobels). In their hatred for the edhilingui, who had deprived of them of their rights, the frillingi refused to accept Catholicism, which led to more bloodshed in the following decades.

After he defeated the Saxons he moved onto Bavaria, where his cousin Tassilo had been supporting the Saxons and Lombards. He rather easily deposed of him and received the full support of the local nobility From here on he also started to venture beyond the land of the Saxons and battles were fought with people further to the east, the Abotrites, the Wiltzes, the Sorbs, the Avars, the Wends and further to the south the Slavs.

In all it estimated that in the end he had brought together anywhere between 200 and 600 territories. ¹  With little central ruing power, arrangements were made with the occupied territories which allowed these regions a large level of autonomy and – similar to Roman times – we see a multicultural development with many of the emperor’s closest advisers coming from concurred lands and beyond. However, this structure did not work very well without central power, and when that collapsed many of the regions eventually fragmented again.

The Capital Aachen 

Grannus Tower Aachen

Charles loved Aachen Aquis grani (Grannus was the Celtic god of water), he had regularly visited the old Roman bath here in which he enjoyed swimming. When we visited Aachen in 2007 we saw the remnants of Roman columns marking the place of the old baths. However in Charles time the town was run down and there wouldn’t have been more than a few hundred inhabitants; a far cry from the 6,000 roman soldiers the ‘resort’ could cater for.

In the first year of his ascension to the throne in 768 he spent his first Christmas in Aachen. While he had very ambitious plans for Paderborn, soon after he had conquered the Saxons the urge to use this city to proof his authority was gone and the grand plans never fully eventuated. It was Aachen that he made his capital.

He built here an impressive complex he started with the royal hall on top of the hill with living quarters and administrative offices on both side of an elongated square forming ‘a bridge’ to the other side on the complex, the lower side, where he built a magnificent basilica in the Byzantium style which he most probably copied from Ravenna. Stretching further was another court yard with buildings that housed a monastery. The way the complex was designed, also reflects Charles vision on the division of powers between the secular and the religious, his palace was situated higher and from there he could overlook the basilica!

He saw Aachen as his new Rome a continuation of the Roman Empire (renovation imperii Romanorum). This also had a tremendous impact on the belief system of the Middle Ages. Church history spoke of the four monarchies before the arrival of the end times (see: Christianity steps into power vacuum). After the collapse of the 4^th empire – the  Romans Empire – the Church authorities were at a loss and the new Frankish Empire was rapidly accepted as a continuation of the Roman Empire pushing the theological problem of the ‘end times’ further towards the future.

From 794 onwards Charlemagne resided often in this palace (pfalz). He employed artists, theologists, scientists, writers and other academics. He founded a court school on the top floor of the palace (pfalz) buildings with housing for the garrison underneath. One of the ivory diptychs from the school is on display in the museum. Charles and his family attended the school an the school traveled with Charles on their wandering throughout his empire.

From the original palace only one Grannus tower (788) still exists as well as some of the walling of the royal living quarters, along the current Katshof, which still reflects the original lay out of the inner court.

The royal hall has since been replaced by the current town hall and this building on the top floor still holds the new royal hall, where later other Holy Roman Emperors have been inaugurated and now every year the European Charlemagne price is awarded in this hall, to people who are advancing the European course. Louise and I had dinner in the cellars of the southern side of the building which still holds the remnant of the old cellars, a very special place indeed.

The original sixteen side rotunda basilica (St Mary’s Church) is still there for anybody to admire. Charlemagne also had  a foundry build that produced the impressive bronze ‘Wolf Doors’ from 800, still preserved in the basilica. Its magnificent marble and mosaic interior was aimed to serve as the throne hall,

similar to the Chrysotriklinios (golden audience hall) in Byzantium. While the church complex has since been extended the original basilica ( in the ancient Roman sense) still forms the core of the complex. The basilica was concentrated in 805 by Pope Leo III.

On the upper ‘emperor’s’ walkway is Charles throne situated, from where he could look upon the altar below.  All German and later Holy Roman Emperors between 936 and 1531 were crowned on this throne.

The Aachen basilica inspired a range of other church buildings and extensions in the region such as the first cathedrals in Rheims and Cologne and in Nivelles I also saw the remnants of the Carolingian church that was built there around 800. This architecture became known as the Carolingian style.

After his death on 28^th January 814 he was buried in this church.

In the museum we saw the Roman Proserpina sarcophagus, which Charlemagne had brought over from Rome and where his remains rested for most probably 400 years.

The museum has lots of treasures, some attributed to Charlemagne, however most are dating from a later period. Charlemagne’s statue grew enormously over the following centuries and kings and emperors fell over each other claiming their links with Charles and in the process donated many treasures to the church. The imperial crown jewels (at least a copy of them) are on display in the town hall. The museum also holds a so called Reichenau evangelary containing the ‘Apotheosis of Otto III’ a printing on gold leaf that seems to represent Otto I flanked by his two successors.

The Charlemagne treasures have over the centuries been very powerful symbols. Some were passed on the Emperors of the Holy Roman Emperor. From the 11^th till the 15^th century the Imperial Regalia (Reichskleinodien) were by the Salian and Hohenstaufen emperors  at the Trifles fortress near the small town of Annweiler, in the Palatinate, Germany we visited the caste in 2009 and also saw the replicas of the jewels; the most important ones are the Imperial Crown, the Holy Lance and the Imperial Sword. From here they ended up at the treasury (Schatzkammer) of the  Hofburg, the palace of the Habsburgers in Vienna, here we had seen the real treasury during our visit in 2003.

After the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843, Lothar I and Lothar II remained at Aachen.

Apart from the civil works in Aachen and Paderborn  he also built a bridge over the river Rhine at Mainz (however, this burnt down in 810). In Ingelheim, close to Mainz he started to built built another palace. In 776 he also built one in the old Roman city Nijmegen, near the River Waal. He also insisted in building and rebuilding churches throughout his empire.

Carolingian Renaissance

As mentioned above, during the reign of Charlemagne  more organised administrative systems started to occur. During the assemblies (ding/mallus/campus) scabini were elected among the freemen who stared to take up juridical tasks throughout the empire.

At school we learned that it had been Charlemagne who had laid the foundation for our education.  Indeed he was the first to institutionalise education. However, perhaps not for the same motives we currently attribute to education.

Of course education was also well established during Greek and Roman times and actually at the Council of Orange in 529 – attended by fourteen bishops – mainly from the newly converted  Gaul and Merovingian (Burgundy) area  it was decreed that priests should educate boys to read the bible in Latin as well as religious prayers.

But that was not enough and Charlemagne desperately needed educated people both for religious needs as well as for the running of his imperial offices. He brought the most learned men from his time  to his court in Aachen, where they adviced him on a large range of topics, from literature to science and religion, music and other forms of art.

For this purpose Charlemagne had brought the English monk Alcuin from York to his court, where he staid from 782 till 796, afterv this he still provided his advice services to Charles from the abbey Saint Martin in Tours. Other include Paul the Deacon, Peter of Pisa and Paulinus of Aquileia and Einhard a Frank born in Maingau.

Christian morals and teachings were also used to enforce the conversion of the pagan Saxons. He therefore needed to educate his aristocracy – who were still largely war lords – that learning and piety were admirable attributes of such a class. In 789 Charlemagne ordered in his ‘ Admonitio Generalis’ edict that every monastery and cathedral should establish a school. The curriculum included: reading, writing, stenography, singing, reckoning and grammar.

He however, did built on earlier initiatives dating back to the sixth century, when cathedrals and monasteries started ecclesiastical schools for the study of the Holy Script. Charlemagne’s father, Pippin III opened his court to ‘men of letters’ and his episcopal appointees were educated.

Charlemagne also built on other educational success stories such as the one of his cousin Tassilo in Bavaria, who had also attached schools to churches as from 772. Charlemagne also certainly built on the old Roman education traditions.

The so called Carolingian cultural renaissance continued after the collapse of a unified empire at the courts of the new kings and their vassal counts and bishops. In our region, under the patronage of Lothar I and his wife learned men such as: Ermengard, Hrbanus Maurus, Angelomus of Luxeuil, and Sedulius Scottus wrote poems and exegetical treatises on the Bible. In Liège, Irishman Sedulius, a man encyclopedic in his learning, settles at the court of Bishop Franco.

If the Carolingians had not collected and copy the Roman books of Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, Julius Caesar, Tacitus, Seneca and others these works might have been lost forever.

Alcuin (also nicknamed Flaccus) organised the palace school and built an impressive imperial library, Latin was restored as a literary language.  Perhaps even more importantly he also introduced a new simplified script known as the Carolingian minuscule, ‘Caroline’ or Carolingian; this was used throughout the ninth century.

This new Carolingian script was also of immense importance for the development of Europe, as texts could now be copied for more quickly. In his 789 capitulary, Charlemagne also ordered to correct the catholic books, often copied, in so called scriptoria or copying rooms, from original writing, by monks with little or no understanding of the actual language. Some 8,000 manuscripts from this time survived into modern times. At the same he forbade the monks from conducting business transaction and this greatly contributed to the secularisation of writing; a new class of non religious scribes started to emerge. This linked to the revival of Roman Law (Justians’ Code)  saw the start of the administrative bureaucracy.

It would take another hundred and fifty years after the death of Charlemagne before we start seeing a revival of cultural and literary activities. The full effect of the secularisation of writing only started proliferate during the 11th and 12th centuries. By that time the centre of study and culture north of the Alps started to move from the Rhineland to Paris.

Charlemagne maintained a large diplomatic network that reached as far as Baghdad in the east and Mercia and Northumbria on the British Isles. In 808 Eardulf, King of Northumbria – as a fugitive – visited the Emperor in Nijmegen. We also mentioned the contacts with the Court in Constantinople.  During the course of one year – in 810 –  Charlemagne concluded peace treaties with the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I, El Hakem the Cruel, Emir of Cordova  and with the Danish  King Hemming. Some of the gifts Charlemagne received during his reign included a Marmarican (Libyan)  lion from the king of Numidia, purple dye-stuff from Spain, the dye of the murex snail of Tyre. He also provided foreign-aid to the Ling of Africa and his Libyan subjects because these people were constantly oppressed by poverty.

According to Notker the Stammerer, monk of Saint Gall, in his book Charlemagne, written a few decades after the death of the Emperor wrote that he also send gifts to foreign rulers, Spanish horses and mules to the ruler of the Persians.  He also send some cloaks from Frisia white, grey, crimson and saphire blue, for these as he discovered, were in short supply in those parts and extremely expensive.

Interestingly Notker also mentions that when Charlemagne’s enemies saw the cloths the Franks wore they also wanted them however, they wore short cloaks rather than the long ones the Franks used. When Charlemagne noticed that the Frisian were selling the short ones for the same price as the long ones, he ordered that no one should pay that price other than for those long cloaks.

Isaak the Jew and Abul-Abbas the elephant.

In order to make contact and learn more about the Abbasid Empire, in 797, Charlemagne send a delegation to the famous Harun al-Rashid (the righteous) the Caliph of Baghdad; led by Isaac the Jew and two other persons Lenterfrid and Sigimund. The Jews were key in east west communications, diplomatic missions and scientific links.

Isaak was the only one who returned and in 802 brought with him a present from the Caliph an elephant called Abul-Abbas. The two travelled back via Egypt and North Africa to Geneva and from here to Aachen.

Charlemagne was very proud of his elephant and took him everywhere, the animal died when, in 802, he took him with him on a campaign to the Frisian, where Abas died on the bank of the river Rhine.

Charlemagne’s wives and children

Charlemagne had twenty children over the course of his life with eight of his ten known wives or concubines. Nonetheless, he only had four legitimate grandsons, the four sons of his third son Louis, plus a grandson who was born illegitimate, but included in the line of inheritance in any case (Bernard of Italy, only son of Charlemagne’s third son Pippin of Italy), so that the claimants to his inheritance remained few.

His first relationship was with Himiltrude. The union with Himiltrude produced two children:

• Amaudru, a daughter. she later on married the Count of Paris.
• Pippin the Hunchback (c. 769-811) – after a conspiracy he ended up in the Monastery of Prüm.

In Nijvel we saw what most probably was the grave of Himiltrude. Perhaps she was disposed when Charlemagne’s mother Betrade arranged the next marriage for her son.

This was with Desiderata, daughter of Desiderius, king of the Longobards. In 770 he was persuaded  by his mother to marry her - despite strong opposition of Pope Stephen III –  however, for unknown reasons the relationship was annulled in 771.

His second wife was the Swabian Hildegard (757 or 758-783), married 771, died 783. By her he had nine children:

• Charles the Younger (c.772-4 December 811), Duke of Maine, and crowned King of the Franks on 25 December 800
• Carloman, renamed Pippin (April 773-8 July 810), King of Italy
• Adalhaid (774), who was born whilst her parents were on campaign in Italy. She was sent back to Francia, but died before reaching Lyons
• Rotrude (or Hruodrud) (775-6 June 810). She was earmarked to mary Constantine VI, the son of the Byzantine Empress Irene. However, negotiations broke down in 787.
• Louis (778-20 June 840), twin of Lothair, King of Aquitaine since 781, crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 813, senior Emperor from 814
• Lothair (778-6 February 779/780), twin of Louis, he died in infancy
• Bertha (779-826)
• Gisela (781-808)
• Hildegarde (782-783)

His third wife was an Eastern Frank princess Fastrada, married 784, died 794. By her he had:

• Theodrada (b.784), abbess of Argenteuil
• Hiltrude (b.787)

His fourth wife was the Almanni princess  Luitgard, married 794, died childless

According to Einhard, after the death of Luitgard, Charlemagne had another four concubines:

• Madelgard, who bore him a daughter Ruothilde
• Gersvinda, a Saxon, who bore him another daughter Adaltrude
• Regina with who he had two sons: Drogo (who became the bishop of Metz)  and Hugo
• Adallinda, the mother of Theodoric

Interestingly, again according to Einhard, he loved his daughters so much that he kept them within his household and against the tradition of the day didn’t give them in marriage, some married after their father’s death.

Charlemagne’s legacy

A very important legacy of Charlemagne is the large volume of legislation, with repeated instructions on all matter secular and ecclesial. Also impressive are – as we saw above – the widespread contacts he established as far afield as Cord0ba, Constantinople and Baghdad as well as international trade with Britain, the Baltic and the key trading ports of those days Birka (Sweden) and Dorestad (Low Countries).

He also reformed his army. Landowners had to train and held ready for service -during set periods of time –  military troops based on the size of their land.

While a more successful central structure was established under Charles the Great. We still can’t really speak about a central government, what he established was more like central governance. He issued hundreds of edicts and employed a large number of royal commissioners to observe if the edicts were tried by the local law-courts. Each commission had one high ranking churchmen and one layman.

In 806 he issued a total carve-up of his lands, known as the ‘Divisio regnorum’. At that stage all of his three senior sons were still alive:

• Louis was to receive the lands south of the plateau of Langres down to the Mediterranean.
• Pippin the Italian kingdom, Bavaria, Carinthia and half of Allemannia
• Charles, everything else.

He even did not make any provision for the title of emperor in this document. But his Testament from 8o6 does include other intersting information, it list all of the 21 metropolitan cities of his empire, part of his treasure had to be used for alms to the poor in these cities. They are: Rome, Ravenna, Milan, Cividale, Grado, Cologne, Mainz, Juvavum (Salzburg), Trier, Sens, Besançon, Lyons, Rouen, Rheims, Arles, Vienne, Moutiers-en-Tarantaise, Embrun, Bordeaux, Tours and Bourges.

The situation changed when before his own death his sons Pippin and Charles died and in 813 – a few months before his own death – he crowned his son Louis as joint-emperor. By doing so he tried to establish a dynasty; very much in line with the old Frankish tradition of personal honour. He however, failed to establish a long lasted structure for centralised Frankish succession. He created a personal empire, held together by his strong personality and a common ideology (Christianity). Rather than investing in the future of the empire  he ‘invested’ in his own soul by donating two thirds of his ‘portable’ wealth to the church. The rest he kept for his own use, while moving to a monastery to die.

Towards the end of his reign most of his efforts were aimed at stopping the Viking raids.

With rapidly declining central power the kings started to see that immunities/privilges were extended to secular rulers. We see them first happening in Italy, under the reign of Berengar. But also increasingly they were issued in other part of the collapsing Empire were the local Lords were often on their own during these raids.

The Carolingians relevant to Brabant (years of death)

Charles the Great                +800

Louise the Pious                 +815

Lotharus I                              +855 (Emperor Carolingian Middle Kingdom)

Lotharus II                            +869 King of Lower Lotharingia –Boundaries: Eifel, Rhine, North Sea,

Charles the Bold                 +855

Zwentibold                            +900

Louis the Pious

As mentioned, by default the empire was not divided because two of Charles sons Charles and Pippin predeceased their father. Hit other son Louis (king of Aquitaine) was crowned emperor in 813, a few month before Charlemagne’s death. In Aquitaine Louis was living the good life of a grand-seigneur, he had been involved only in a few of his father’s campaigns. He had three sons: Lothar, born in 795, Pippin (797) and Louis (806). His reign started of rather well with a range of improvements to the royal administration. He certainly was a pious person,  especially in the beginning of his reign he was seen as an intellectual, refined and energetic leader.

He continued with more rigorous church reforms, stamping out flagrant ecclesiastic abuses and regulations. He was also the first to send missionaries into Scandinavia. This was organised from the newly established frontier archbishopric of Hamburg/Bremen.

He certainly tried to keep the empire together through the ‘Ordinatio Imperii’ from 817. In this document he appointed Lothar as his successor with the title of emperor; this title was heredity to his sons. Pippin was appointed king of Aquitaine and Louis king of Bavaria, both subject to the authority of their elder brother.

After the death of his wife Ermengard in 817 he married Judith daughter of the Bavarian Count Welf. She was beautiful and intelligent and soon all-powerful. She arranged privileges and titles for her family and arranged a range of marriages, creating a web of intrigues and jalousies. After the birth of their daughter, a son -Charles (the Bald) – was born in 823. Judith immediately showed ambitions to wriggle her child into the ‘Ordinato’.

Soon the situation deteriorated where – in good old Frankish tradition - sons fought their father; sons were taken prison and exiled or tonsured; sons take their father prison; the mother gets exiled; and so on. There were numerous fractions which also fought; got exiled; reappointed; etc.  Finally an assembly was convened in Nijmegen in 830 that led to nullification of the ‘Ordinato’ this was replaced by ‘Divisio Regni’; three equal parts between three brothers.  After yet another revolt Charles was given the territory that had been given to Pippin.

After a successful start Louis died with little glory in 840. During all this infighting the Vikings used the opportunities and pillaged the coastal regions of the empire, they were able to progress as far as Dorestad. The empire started to crumble assisted by invasions not just from the Vikings but also from the  Magyars in the east and the Arabs in the south. There was yet another Saxon revolt this time led by the frilingi and the lazzi (a slave revolt against their overlords). This revolt was brutally surprised by Louis, with all the leaders and many others massacred.  According to Notker, after this massacre Louis could never condemn anyone to death.

The 10^th century saw a total collapse of central power, the local counts and dukes no longer received support from a central government. They were faced with various invasions which they had to fight themselves. They started to fortify their houses, arranged their own small armies (knights) and the more powerful soon started a land grab and war and devastation was the order of the day.

In order to ‘buy’ support from these local rulers, the system of immunities as it had started to develop in Merovingian times, now also started to include: toll concessions, market dues, digging moats, building defence walls, building castles and the right to punish and the fines and revenues associated with it. However, in order to not loose ownership, these privileges were given in fief and at least initially was only for a certain duration (lifetime) slowly hereditary elements were added.

This became heavily misused in the feudal system that now started to emerge. In exchange for protection local people were forced to pay taxes to these local war lords and we see the change over from a system of slaves that of serfs.

In the Carolingian period the population density of the Low Countries (as that of Germany and England) is estimated at around 2 to 5 people per square kilometre.

For the continuation see: Lotharingia, East and West Francia – 843-1100, Villages in the Feudal Ages , Brabant emerging and Flanders and Hainault.