Sections meetings next week: DWP Chapter 6. Please bring it to class.

A Major Problem and an Apology

Charlemagne and the New Order or "Feudalism"

The Problem: The barbarian invasions and the collapse of old Roman central authority led to a decline in urban culture and standards of life. There was no basis for institutional trust: no official currency, no institutionalized system of protection (national army), little in the way of secular culture such as had been known in the Roman period. Given the uncertainties of life, how did the peoples of Europe cope? In this lecture we consider the roles of Charlemagne (Section II), of the church and of "feudalism" (Section III) in the establishment of a new system of order.

1. On the character of life.
   1. Invasions: Chronicles of Xanten [cf. ruin of Britain]
   2. Administration of law: Note that Germanic laws do not deal with principles of equity / justice or rights, but with practical solutions designed to preserve peace.
      1. ordeals. See also the history of the coroner. The case of the wife of Otto III.
      2. Germanic Law: some samples.
      3. And when all else fails, the use of magic.
2. Charlemagne (ca. AD 800) is significant because he marks the first ruler in 400 years who had the military power to secure the peace and create a new and stable institutional structure in Europe.
   1. We reviewed the horrors of the barbarian invasions in the last lectures, note especially the sources on "the ruin of Britain"; on the berserkers. The general effects were the decline in urbanization and in standards of culture
   2. How was Charlemagne to administer an empire efficiently and effectively? And how could one create stable political institutions when the only values that counted were martial prowess and personal oaths of allegiance?
3. The new order: two components. The development of a mutual interdependence between church and state and a new definition of "those who fight, vote" = feudalism characterize the new order:
1. The church provided solutions to both problems faced by the state; namely monks and clerics had the education to administer; and most importantly the church had the "keys to the kingdom". Conversely, the state provided the church with protection for its mission and its property. Hence, the creation of a Holy Roman Empire. How it looked at the time of Charlemagne; and of his grandsons. We will explore church state relations more fully in the next lecture.
2. THE CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE NEW POLITICAL ORDER ...traditionally called "feudalism". Not a medieval word; not easy to define. Characterized by three interrelated concepts:
   1. Fragmentation of political power (as evidence, recall maps presented in last class). New wave of invasions of Northmen, Saracens and Magyars discredited central authorities. The Count (originally the vassal assigned to protect a borderland) had to take responsibility for defense; and began to reckon that what he defended was his own, The small countries..., [but see belo]
   2. Public power in the hands of private persons: For the evidence see the texts below.
      1. The concept of "spear won" property: the Germanic conqueror claimed as his own personal property everything won in his name (that is there was no Frankish property, but rather the property of the Frankish king, etc). During late 9th and 10th cc.
      2. Germanic rulers divided their kingdoms among their children ...an important variant on fragmentation .
      3. sons often unhappy with their share/lot and fought one another. Division among king's sons meant that each one had less to give to attract support; also contributed to fragmentation
   3. A key element in the armed forces --heavy cavalry-- is secured through individual and private agreements that organize violence by providing property (a fief or castle) in return for peronsal loyalty. A word of a caution.
3. Origin of Fiefs= "public power in private hands".
   1. Fief = feudum (i.e., land/income necessary to support a knight in training) not originally hereditary (not restricted to land for military service, could be any kind of service even in church). See text below.
   2. in granting a fief, the lord saved the expense of equipping and maintaining a soldier, but lost the amount of service he might expect.
   3. the role of the oath and of the church.
4. Knights and their evolving status. Armed Retainers / heavy cavalry: Arrangements began to take shape in the 8th c., but had earlier roots. Note: we are looking at "private armies" of [sometimes] hereditary "warlords". That is, there is little in the way of institutional structure--personal oaths sanctified by the church. .
   1. Status of Knights and Lesser Vassals
      1. Inheritance
         1. Fief not secure as property, but reverted to lord on death.
         2. Hence vassals obsessed with problem of securing hereditary rights
      2. Political weakness of knights. Lacked military resources and administrative training to rule a district independently.
4. Summary and Conclusions: By 1100 Western Europe was throughly fragmented. The principle of public power (administration and justice) in private hands was well established; so too was the other element of feudalism, vassalage and fief (for military purposes => knights). That is, there was no institutional loyal to "nation" or to the "crown", but rather an interlocking system of personl relationships sustained by oaths.

Capitulary of Lestinnes, 743: A capitulary of Carlmann, brother of Pippin. It illustrates the land distribution to the warriors, and is the earliest case of appropriation of Church lands which we have. "Because of the threats of war and the attacks of certain tribes on our borders, we have determined, with the consent of God and by the advice of our clergy and people, to appropriate for a time part of the ecclesiastical property for the support of our army. The lands are to be held as precaria for a fixed rent; one solidus, or twelve denarii, shall be paid annually to the church or monastery for each casata [farm]. When the holder dies the whole possession shall return to the church. If, however, the exigency of the time makes it necessary, the prince may require the precarium to be renewed and given out again. Care shall be taken, however, that the churches and monasteries do not incur suffering or poverty through the granting of precatia. If the poverty of the church makes it necessary, the whole possession shall be restored to the church."

Oath of fealty: "I, John of Toul, make known that I am the liege man of the lady Beatrice, countess of Troyes, and of her son, Theobald, count of Champagne, against every creature, living or dead, saving my allegiance to lord Enjorand of Coucy, lord John of Arcis, and the count of Grandpré. If it should happen that the count of Grandpré should be at war with the countess and count of Champagne on his own quarrel, I will aid the count of Grandpré in my own person, and will send to the count and the countess of Champagne the knights whose service I owe to them for the fief which I hold of them. But if the count of Grandpré shall make war on the countess and the count of Champagne on behalf of his friends and not in his own quarrel, I will aid in my own person the countess and count of Champagne, and will send one knight to the count of Grandpré for the service which I owe him for the fief which I hold of him, but I will not go myself into the territory of the count of Grandpré to make war on him."

Comparison to a Japanese "feudal oath" ...courtesy of David Neilson.