By 750, nine years after his father’s death, Pepin’s grasp of Francia was strong, but not ironclad. He and his brother Carloman had reinstated the Merovingian kingship in 743 with the elevation of Childeric III, probably as a way to validate and legitimize their rule of the kingdom. They had quashed the various rebellions that had erupted once Martel left the scene. When Carloman decided to abdicate his rule in Austrasia in 746, Pepin was left in sole control, but there were rumblings through the land.
Pepin’s first son Charles (Charlemagne) had been born around 747 or 748, but he was illegitimate, as Pepin did not marry Bertrada until 749. Although Carloman had abdicated his share of the realm, he and Pepin had first agreed that Carloman’s son Drogo would eventually hold authority in his stead. This meant that there was a potential power struggle ahead, once Drogo claimed Austrasia. In addition there was the problem of Grifo, Pepin and Carloman’s half-brother who had been granted some territory on the death of Martel, but had been pushed out. Grifo was still around and making trouble, and even allied himself with Waifar of Aquitaine.
“The long-haired kings.” The phrase is familiar, but of all things why would hair be the signifier of kingship? The sources don’t tell us why, but they do tell us that long hair was important.
Seal of Childeric I (5th century)
Gregory of Tours has a couple of examples. While summarizing some of the earliest writings about the Franks, he notes that they came from Pannonia and “set up in each country district and each city long-haired kings.”1.Gregory, History, book II, section 9
Gregory also tells the story of Chararic, a rival king of Clovis I. Clovis defeated the king and sons, then “had their hair cut short.” He did not kill them, but had them imprisoned in a monastery.2.People too important to kill but too troublesome to let loose were commonly sent to a monastery. Later, however, when the sons “were threatening to let their hair grow again and then to kill [Clovis], he had their heads cut off.”3.Gregory, History, book II, section 41
It is easy to say that kings were important and that they ruled kingdoms. Easy but meaningless – we need a working definition. What did it mean to be a king in the 8th century?
The nature of kingship had evolved since the Germanic tribes moved west over the Rhine to displace Roman rule in the first centuries after Christ. Evidence is sparse and sketchy, but the tribes were ruled by war band leaders that the Romans interpreted as kings. The members of the tribe owed personal allegiance to the leader, received protection from him, and shared in the victories and defeats of the tribe.
Tomb of Clovis I, Saint Denis, Paris
These early kings came from powerful families that came to be characterized as “noble.” Gregory of Tours noted that after the Franks crossed the Rhine they “set up in each country district and city long-haired kings chosen from the foremost and most noble family of their race.”1.Gregory, History of the Franks, book 2, chapter 7 Thus the Merovingian line was founded, and Clovis became their first great king.
The king also functioned as a lawgiver and judge. While the kings would discuss and debate matters at the yearly general assembly of the Franks, the resulting capitularieswere issued over the king’s signature. As the maker of the laws, the king was also the ultimate judge. The nobility had the privilege and access to take their disputes to the king for resolution.
It is not solely with temporal responsibilities that a king is known. The early Germanic leaders were believed to possess a special connection to the supranatural world. The king was not a god, like the pharaohs, or deified after death like the Roman emperors, but a liaison to the gods. That special connection persisted through the bloodline, and so rule descended through families. This religious and spiritual element devolved easily to Christianity as the faith spread through Europe. The king was still a war leader, and it was in the fulfillment of this duty that his hold on power rested. But he had also become God’s representative, His chosen vassal on earth.
At this point in history we do not yet see healing powers ascribed to the king. That would come late in the tenth century with Robert II. 2.Fichtenau, Living In The Tenth Century, p162
The king’s religious and spiritual role did not change the fact that the leader of a people must be seen and heard to be effective. The dukes and counts of the realm needed the king’s presence to validate their own rule.3.Bernhardt, Itinerant Kingship, p50 Pepin and Charlemagne spent much of the year traveling, either at the head of their armies, or to the annual assembly, or to various towns and manors. It was a traveling court. When they could not go themselves, they sent personal delegates, missi dominci, in their place.
To all this we must add the non-material but crucial role of symbol of the nation, of the gens, of the people. In our own day western societies continue to maintain the symbolic position of head of state, be it a republican president or monarchical queen. In a non-technocratic age when so much was personal, the king was essential.
Essential but not omnipotent. When Pepin was raised as the first Carolingian king, one near-contemporaneous account notes that, “King Pepin had been raised to the throne of the kingdom by [the pope and ritual] and election by all the Franks.”4.Dutton, Carolingian Civilization, p.13 As early as the first century Tacitus noted that “The power even of the kings is not absolute or arbitrary.”5.Tacitus, Germania, book 7 As noted above, the capitularies issued by the king were written after debate amongst the great men. The king ruled in conjunction with and the approval of the ecclesiastical and secular magnates of the kingdom.
War leader, law giver, judge, symbol of the tribe, and bridge between god and man, the early medieval king filled many roles. No mere Mayor of the Palace or duke would do.
Our recent lunar eclipse was nothing that the Franks hadn’t seen before. The learned and literate believed in the Aristotelian egocentric “concentric spheres” model of the cosmos, which held sway until the 16th century. While we chuckle at the spheres, the model does put the moon in orbit around the earth, and thus does explain that eclipses are caused by the intersection of the earth, moon, and sun.
The understanding of a lunar eclipse by the common people was far more lively.
The common folk believed that the moon was under attack by some malevolent spirit or demon. Before you chuckle at that, consider the evidence: the moon, on the night it is full, so powerfully bright and white, is suddenly and unexpectedly turning an ominous red. This mystifying transition happens slowly, yet inexorably, turning the moon, normally a festive friend, the only real light after sundown, into a shadow of its former self.
There you are in the year 774, court astronomer to Charles, son of Pepin, and you have some exciting news. You burst in and tell him, “Terra ingenti impetu gamma radios ictus est, duo facit atros concursu!”1.I have no idea how accurate Google Translate is with a sentence like this – they only added Latin a year or two ago, and of course modern scientific terms and concepts don’t always come across in ancient languages. Although I remember a column in the NY Times, decades ago, describing the use of Latin for terms like space shuttle. Which, in finding it now, makes me realize that I embarrassed myself not long after the article came out. He would have looked at you blankly, and, depending on the king’s mood, either laughed at you or had you tossed into the rain to make your way back across the Channel to your cold Irish monastery.
What else could he do? You had just informed him that the Earth had been hit by a tremendous gamma ray burst, caused by the collision of two black holes. It hardly makes sense today.
Scientific American has the scoop, although the news was carried fairly widely. Not completely relevant to anything here, but interesting nonetheless.
I have no idea how accurate Google Translate is with a sentence like this – they only added Latin a year or two ago, and of course modern scientific terms and concepts don’t always come across in ancient languages. Although I remember a column in the NY Times, decades ago, describing the use of Latin for terms like space shuttle. Which, in finding it now, makes me realize that I embarrassed myself not long after the article came out.
