- the combination (early Middle Ages) - between centralized Roman power and fragmented barbarian organization => a variety of governmental systems
    - politically fragmented Celtic and Slavic societies
    - the Frankish kingdoms - the descendants of Clovis (combining the Roman institutions + the Frankish tradition)

What was the relationship between the king and the aristocrats?
Gregory of Tour: Clovis was dividing up the booty after his victory at Soissons when the bishop of the city approached and asked him to return a large pitcher. Clovis wanted to do so and asked his warriors to grant him the pitcher over and above Clovis's normal share of the spoils. All agreed except for one Frank => who struck the pitcher with his battle-ax => You shall have none of this booty except your fair share"
Clovis - did nothing to this warrior => BUT at the annual military muster - he berated him for the poor condition of his weapons and threw his ax to the ground => as the man bent over to pick it up => Clovis used his ax to split open the man's head (That is for what you did to my pitcher in Soissons)

==> the story: the strength and the weakness of early medieval monarchs

Kings: primarily military commanders
- during campaigns and at the annual Marchfield (when the free warriors assembled) - the king was all powerful
- other times: his power - strictly limited => his direct authority extended over the members of his household  + his personal warrior band
- the king position in administering justice: he was not the source of law (the customs of the past)
- the king: not responsible for enforcing the customs of the past (the family and individuals did so)
BUT: Clovis - compiled the Salic law
Kings: tried to incorporate the local administration and taxation
Kings: assumed the role of protector of the Church (intervene in the disputes between clergy and laity)

- early medieval kings: did not have a fixed capital => they were on the move
- representatives of the king => aristocracy
* the Franks => counts (loyal aristocracy)/ counties (territory)

- Merovingian dynasty - initiated by Clovis => presided over the synthesis of Roman and Germanic societies => followed by Carolingians => who forged a new Europe
7th C: the power was held by regional strongmen => dukes
- the most important faction was led by - Charles Martel (688 - 741) and his heirs => the Carolingians
- Charles Martel - was the mayor of the palace (the highest official => advised the king, stood between the king and the aristocrats)
8th C.: Charles Martel - was the acknowledged ruler of the Frankish kingdom (he was not the king)
    - he crushed rivals in his family => united the Franks
    - he based his power on the cavalry - the most effective military force (the warriors - heavily armed/ very costly) => Martel financed them with property confiscated from his enemies and from the Church
    - the warriors - oaths => of absolute fidelity/ in return: Martel gave his followers (vassals) estates which they held (if they were faithful to the Carolingians)
Martel: control over religious and cultural institutions => the hierarchical style of Christianity - served his interests in centralization (he also appointed his loyal supporters as bishops and abbots)
Charles Martel: supported the Roman papacy
732: Charles defeated a Muslim force (Tours) => a few years later the Pope asked from protection from the Frankish leader (against the Lombards)
Pippin (714-768): the alliance with the papacy
- more than the power - he needed a title => BUT he was not of royal family(not a Merovingian) ( only an aristocrat)
- there was no Frankish tradition => by which a rival family might displace the Merovingians
==> he asked for help from the Pope
    - the Pope => the individual who had the power of king ought to have the title => the last Merovingian - deposed
751: a representative of the pope anointed Pippin - king of the Franks
* from now on the office of the king required the active participation of the Church

- Charlemagne - Pippin's son; 6 feet tall (large man)
                        - a generous lord - for his friends
                        - a man of iron - for his enemies
- a conqueror
- a religious reformer
- a state builder
- a patron of the arts
- he governed for more than 40 years => changed the West more profoundly than any other ruler (since Augustus)

The Carolingian Renaissance:

Charlemagne - reform the spiritual life of his kingdom => he needed educated clergy
- recruited leading intellectuals (England, Spain, Ireland, Italy) - to organize an educational program
=> Alcuin of York (leading figure)
Charlemagne - supported schools in monasteries (educated young clerics and laymen)
- needed books => brought from Italy (the classics) => Alcuin and others corrected and copied classical texts => the earliest manuscripts of all the classics of Roman antiquity date from late 8th C/ early 9th C.
- a new style in handwriting - the Carolingian minuscule = clear and readable (during the Renaissance humanists took those manuscripts as originals)
Reform of ecclesiastical institutions:
Charlemagne: established the Benedictine rule - as the norm for monastic life
- the monasteries - should provide competent clerics to serve the royal administration at every level
- the Frankish synods made tithing - mandatory (one tenth of all agricultural harvests - for the maintenance of church buildings, the support of the clergy + to care for the poor) => monasteries - rich (with donations of land and slaves captured in battles)
- monasteries - efficiently organized  to maximize productivity

Government:

Charlemagne: appointed counts throughout Europe
- they were part of the Frankish families (loyal to the king) => imperial aristocracy
        - administrative + military functions
        - presided over local courts
the king - controlled the counts => sending teams of emissaries or missi dominici (bishops + counts)
- he did not impose the Frankish legal and cultural traditions on all his subjects => the only universal system (unified the kingdom) - the Roman Christianity
Center of the Carolingian government - the mobile palace
Carolingian Empire - the territory - approached that of old Roman Empire in the west  (only Britain, southern Italy and parts of Spain remained outside)
Charlemagne - compared with Constantine => Charlemagne conquered Lombardy and protected the Pope (Leo III) - a role traditionally played by the byzantine emperors
* in the Byzantine Empire - ruler: Irene => the Western male leaders - unfit for such an office by reason of her sex
800: Charlemagne - imperial coronation => on Christmas Day (St. Peter's Basilica in Rome) => for the next thousand years Germanic kings traveled to Rome to receive the imperial diadem and title from the Pope => they strengthened papal claims to enthrone (and dethrone) emperors

Art:
Charlemagne - invited Italian and Byzantine artists and artisans - to teach a representational form of art - that would educate
==> a synthesis of Mediterranean and northern artistic traditions
- manuscript illuminations
- frescoes
- ivories
- bas - reliefs => stories arranged in narrative cycles (engage the mind and the eye)

* the Utrecht Psalter - the masterpiece