A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 14

Source--Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_ (Pertz ed.), Vol. I., pp. 178-179.

[Sidenote: Buildings on the estate of Asnapium]

We found in the imperial estate of Asnapium a royal house built of stone in the very best manner, having 3 rooms. The entire house was surrounded with balconies and it had 11 apartments for women.

Underneath was 1 cellar. There were 2 porticoes. There were 17 other houses built of wood within the court-yard, with a similar number of rooms and other fixtures, all well constructed. There was 1 stable, 1 kitchen, 1 mill, 1 granary, and 3 barns.

The yard was enclosed with a hedge and a stone gateway, and above was a balcony from which distributions can be made. There was also an inner yard, surrounded by a hedge, well arranged, and planted with various kinds of trees.

Of vestments: coverings for 1 bed, 1 table-cloth, and 1 towel.

Of utensils: 2 bra.s.s kettles; 2 drinking cups; 2 bra.s.s cauldrons; 1 iron cauldron; 1 frying-pan; 1 gramalmin; 1 pair of andirons; 1 lamp; 2 hatchets; 1 chisel; 2 augers; 1 axe; 1 knife; 1 large plane; 1 small plane; 2 scythes; 2 sickles; 2 spades edged with iron; and a sufficient supply of utensils of wood.

[Sidenote: Supplies of various sorts]

Of farm produce: old spelt[159] from last year, 90 baskets which can be made into 450 weight[160] of flour; and 100 measures[161] of barley. From the present year, 110 baskets of spelt, of which 60 baskets had been planted, but the rest we found; 100 measures of wheat, 60 sown, the rest we found; 98 measures of rye all sown; 1,800 measures of barley, 1,100 sown, the rest we found; 430 measures of oats; 1 measure of beans; 12 measures of peas. At 5 mills were found 800 measures of small size. At 4 breweries, 650 measures of small size, 240 given to the prebendaries,[162] the rest we found. At 2 bridges, 60 measures of salt and 2 shillings.

At 4 gardens, 11 shillings. Also honey, 3 measures; about 1 measure of b.u.t.ter; lard, from last year 10 sides; new sides, 200, with fragments and fats; cheese from the present year, 43 weights.

[Sidenote: Kinds and number of animals]

Of cattle: 51 head of larger cattle; 5 three-year olds; 7 two-year olds; 7 yearlings; 10 two-year old colts; 8 yearlings; 3 stallions; 16 cows; 2 a.s.ses; 50 cows with calves; 20 young bulls; 38 yearling calves; 3 bulls; 260 hogs; 100 pigs; 5 boars; 150 sheep with lambs; 200 yearling lambs; 120 rams; 30 goats with kids; 30 yearling kids; 3 male goats; 30 geese; 80 chickens; 22 peac.o.c.ks.

Also concerning the manors[163] which belong to the above mansion.

In the villa of Grisio we found domain buildings, where there are 3 barns and a yard enclosed by a hedge. There were, besides, 1 garden with trees, 10 geese, 8 ducks, 30 chickens.

In another villa we found domain buildings and a yard surrounded by a hedge, and within 3 barns; 1 arpent[164] of vines; 1 garden with trees; 15 geese; 20 chickens.

In a third villa, domain buildings, with 2 barns; 1 granary; 1 garden and 1 yard well enclosed by a hedge.

We found all the dry and liquid measures just as in the palace. We did not find any goldsmiths, silversmiths, blacksmiths, huntsmen, or persons engaged in other services.

[Sidenote: Vegetables and trees]

The garden herbs which we found were lily, putchuck,[165] mint, parsley, rue, celery, libestic.u.m, sage, savory, juniper, leeks, garlic, tansy, wild mint, coriander, scullions, onions, cabbage, kohlrabi,[166] betony.[167] Trees: pears, apples, medlars, peaches, filberts, walnuts, mulberries, quinces.[168]

20. Charlemagne Crowned Emperor (800)

The occasion of Charlemagne's presence in Rome in 800 was a conflict between Pope Leo III. and a faction of the populace led by two nephews of the preceding pope, Hadrian I. It seems that in 799 Leo had been practically driven out of the papal capital and imprisoned in a neighboring monastery, but that through the planning of a subordinate official he had soon contrived to escape. At any rate he got out of Italy as speedily as he could and made his way across the Alps to seek aid at the court of Charlemagne. The Frankish king was still busy with the Saxon war and did not allow the prospect of a papal visit to interfere with his intended campaign; but at Paderborn, in the very heart of the Saxon country, where he could personally direct the operations of his troops, he established his headquarters and awaited the coming of the refugee pope. The meeting of the two dignitaries resulted in a pledge of the king once more to take up the burden of defending the Roman Church and the Vicar of Christ, this time not against outside foes but against internal disturbers. After about a year Charlemagne repaired to Rome and called upon the Pope and his adversaries to appear before him for judgment. When the leaders of the hostile faction refused to comply, they were summarily condemned to death, though it is said that through the generous advice of Leo they were afterwards released on a sentence of exile. During the ceremonies which followed in celebration of Christmas occurred the famous coronation which is described in the two pa.s.sages given below.

Although the coronation has been regarded as so important as to have been called "the central event of the Middle Ages,"[169] it is by no means an easy task to determine precisely what significance it was thought to have at the time. We can look back upon it now and see that it marked the beginning of the so-called "Holy Roman Empire"--a creation that endured in _fact_ only a very short time but whose name and theory survived all the way down to Napoleon's reorganization of the German states in 1806. One view of the matter is that Charlemagne's coronation meant that a Frankish king had become the successor of Emperor Constantine VI., just deposed at Constantinople, and that therefore the universal Roman Empire was again to be ruled from a western capital as it had been before the time of the first Constantine. It will be observed that extract (a), taken from the Annals of Lauresheim, and therefore of German origin, at least suggests this explanation. But, whether or not precisely this idea was in the mind of those who took part in the ceremony, in actual fact no such transfer of universal sovereignty from Constantinople to the Frankish capital ever took place. The Eastern Empire lived right on under its own line of rulers and, so far as we know, aside from some rather vague negotiations for a marriage of Charlemagne and the Empress Irene, the new western Emperor seems never to have contemplated the extension of his authority over the East. His great aspiration had been to consolidate all the Germanic peoples of western continental Europe under the leadership of the Franks; that, by 800, he had practically done; he had no desire to go farther. His dominion was always limited strictly to the West, and at the most he can be regarded after 800 as not more than the reviver of the old western half of the Empire, and hence as the successor of Romulus Augustulus.

But even this view is perhaps somewhat strained. The chroniclers of the time liked to set up fine theories of the sort, and later it came to be to the interest of papal and imperial rivals to make large use, in one way or another, of such theories. But we to-day may look upon the coronation as nothing more than a formal recognition of a condition of things already existing. By his numerous conquests Charlemagne had drawn under his control such a number of peoples and countries that his position had come to be that which we think of as an emperor's rather than that of simple king of the Franks. The Pope did not give Charlemagne his empire; the energetic king had built it for himself. At the most, what Leo did was simply to bestow a t.i.tle already earned and to give with it presumably the blessing and favor of the Church, whose devoted servant Charlemagne repeatedly professed to be. That the idea of imperial unity still survived in the West is certain, and without doubt many men looked upon the ceremony of 800 as re-establishing such unity; but as events worked out it was not so much Charlemagne's empire as the papacy itself that was the real continuation of the power of the Caesars. Conditions had so changed that it was impossible in the nature of things for Charlemagne to be a Roman emperor in the old sense. The coronation gave him a new t.i.tle and new prestige, but no new subjects, no larger army, no more princely income. The basis of his power continued to be, in every sense, his Frankish kingdom. The structural element in the revived empire was Frankish; the Roman was merely ornamental.

Sources--(a) _Annales Laureshamensis_ ["Annals of Lauresheim"], Chap. 34. Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores_ (Pertz ed.), Vol. I., p. 38.

(b) _Vitae Pontificorum Romanorum_ ["Lives of the Roman Pontiffs"]. Text in Muratori, _Rerum Italicarum Scriptores_, Vol. III., pp. 284-285.

(a)

And because the name of emperor had now ceased among the Greeks, and their empire was possessed by a woman,[170] it seemed both to Leo the pope himself, and to all the holy fathers who were present in the self-same council,[171] as well as to the rest of the Christian people, that they ought to take to be emperor Charles, king of the Franks, who held Rome herself, where the Caesars had always been wont to sit, and all the other regions which he ruled through Italy and Gaul and Germany; and inasmuch as G.o.d had given all these lands into his hand, it seemed right that with the help of G.o.d, and at the prayer of the whole Christian people, he should have the name of emperor also. [The Pope's] pet.i.tion King Charles willed not to refuse,[172] but submitting himself with all humility to G.o.d, and at the prayer of the priests, and of the whole Christian people, on the day of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, he took on himself the name of emperor, being consecrated by the Pope Leo.... For this also was done by the will of G.o.d ...

that the heathen might not mock the Christians if the name of emperor should have ceased among them.

(b)

After these things, on the day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, when all the people were a.s.sembled in the Church of the blessed St. Peter,[173] the venerable and gracious Pope with his own hands crowned him [Charlemagne] with an exceedingly precious crown. Then all the faithful Romans, beholding the choice of such a friend and defender of the holy Roman Church, and of the pontiff, did by the will of G.o.d and of the blessed Peter, the key-bearer of the heavenly kingdom, cry with a loud voice, "To Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned of G.o.d, the great and peace-giving Emperor, be life and victory." While he, before the altar of the church, was calling upon many of the saints, it was proclaimed three times, and by the common voice of all he was chosen to be emperor of the Romans. Then the most holy high priest and pontiff anointed Charles with holy oil, and also his most excellent son to be king,[174]

upon the very day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

21. The General Capitulary for the Missi (802)

Throughout the larger part of Charlemagne's dominion the chief local unit of administration was the county, presided over by the count. The count was appointed by the Emperor, generally from among the most important landed proprietors of the district. His duties included the levy of troops, the publication of the royal decrees or capitularies, the administration of justice, and the collection of revenues. On the frontiers, where the need of defense was greatest, these local officers exercised military functions of a special character and were commonly known as "counts of the march," or dukes, or sometimes as margraves. In order that these royal officials, in whatever part of the country, might not abuse their authority as against their fellow-subjects, or engage in plots against the unity of the empire, Charlemagne devised a plan of sending out at stated intervals men who were known as _missi dominici_ ("the lord's messengers") to visit the various counties, hear complaints of the people, inquire into the administration of the counts, and report conditions to the Emperor.

They were to serve as connecting links between the central and local governments and as safeguards against the ever powerful forces of disintegration. Such itinerant royal agents had not been unknown in Merovingian times, and they had probably been made use of pretty frequently by Charles Martel and Pepin the Short. But it was Charlemagne who reduced the employment of _missi_ to a system and made it a fixed part of the governmental machinery of the Frankish kingdom.

This he did mainly by the _Capitulare Missorum Generale_, promulgated early in 802 at an a.s.sembly at the favorite capital Aix-la-Chapelle.

The whole empire was divided into districts, or _missaticae_, and each of these was to be visited annually by two of the _missi_. A churchman and a layman were usually sent out together, probably because they were to have jurisdiction over both the clergy and the laity, and also that they might restrain each other from injustice or other misconduct. They were appointed by the Emperor, at first from his lower order of va.s.sals, but after a time from the leading bishops, abbots, and n.o.bles of the empire. They were given power to depose minor officials for misdemeanors, and to summon higher ones before the Emperor. By 812, at least, they were required to make four rounds of inspection each year.

In the capitulary for the _missi_ Charlemagne took occasion to include a considerable number of regulations and instructions regarding the general character of the local governments, the conduct of local officers, the manner of life of the clergy, the management of the monasteries, and other things of vital importance to the strength of the empire and the well-being of the people. The capitulary may be regarded as a broad outline of policy and conduct which its author, lately become emperor, wished to see realized throughout his vast dominion.

Source--Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_ (Boretius ed.), Vol. I., No. 33, pp. 91-99. Translated by Dana C. Munro in _Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints_, Vol.

VI., No. 5, pp. 16-27.

[Sidenote: The missi sent out]

=1.= Concerning the emba.s.sy sent out by the lord emperor.

Therefore, the most serene and most Christian lord emperor Charles has chosen from his n.o.bles the wisest and most prudent men, both archbishops and some of the other bishops also, and venerable abbots and pious laymen, and has sent them throughout his whole kingdom, and through them he would have all the various cla.s.ses of persons mentioned in the following chapters live in accordance with the correct law. Moreover, where anything which is not right and just has been enacted in the law, he has ordered them to inquire into this most diligently and to inform him of it. He desires, G.o.d granting, to reform it. And let no one, through his cleverness or craft, dare to oppose or thwart the written law, as many are wont to do, or the judicial sentence pa.s.sed upon him, or to do injury to the churches of G.o.d, or the poor, or the widows, or the wards, or any Christian. But all shall live entirely in accordance with G.o.d's precept, honestly and under a just rule, and each one shall be admonished to live in harmony with his fellows in his business or profession; the canonical clergy[175] ought to observe in every respect a canonical life without heeding base gain; nuns ought to keep diligent watch over their lives; laymen and the secular clergy[176] ought rightly to observe their laws without malicious fraud; and all ought to live in mutual charity and perfect peace.

[Sidenote: The duties of the missi]

And let the _missi_ themselves make a diligent investigation whenever any man claims that an injustice has been done him by any one, just as they desire to deserve the grace of omnipotent G.o.d and to keep their fidelity promised to Him, so that in all cases, in accordance with the will and fear of G.o.d, they shall administer the law fully and justly in the case of the holy churches of G.o.d and of the poor, of wards and widows, and of the whole people. And if there be anything of such a nature that they, together with the provincial counts, are not able of themselves to correct it and to do justice concerning it, they shall, without any reservation, refer it, together with their reports, to the judgment of the emperor; and the straight path of justice shall not be impeded by any one on account of flattery or gifts, or on account of any relationship, or from fear of the powerful.[177]

[Sidenote: Oath to be taken to Charlemagne as emperor]

=2.= Concerning the fidelity to be promised to the lord emperor.

He has commanded that every man in his whole kingdom, whether ecclesiastic or layman, and each one according to his vow and occupation, should now promise to him as emperor the fidelity which he had previously promised to him as king; and all of those who had not yet made that promise should do likewise, down to those who were twelve years old. And that it shall be announced to all in public, so that each one might know, how great and how many things are comprehended in that oath; not merely, as many have thought hitherto, fidelity to the lord emperor as regards his life, and not introducing any enemy into his kingdom out of enmity, and not consenting to or concealing another's faithlessness to him; but that all may know that this oath contains in itself the following meaning:

[Sidenote: What the new oath was to mean]

=3.= First, that each one voluntarily shall strive, in accordance with his knowledge and ability, to live completely in the holy service of G.o.d, in accordance with the precept of G.o.d and in accordance with his own promise, because the lord emperor is unable to give to all individually the necessary care and discipline.

=4.= Secondly, that no man, either through perjury or any other wile or fraud, or on account of the flattery or gift of any one, shall refuse to give back or dare to take possession of or conceal a serf of the lord emperor, or a district, or land, or anything that belongs to him; and that no one shall presume, through perjury or other wile, to conceal or entice away his fugitive fiscaline serfs[178] who unjustly and fraudulently say that they are free.

=5.= That no one shall presume to rob or do any injury fraudulently to the churches of G.o.d, or widows, or orphans, or pilgrims;[179]

for the lord emperor himself, under G.o.d and His saints, has const.i.tuted himself their protector and defender.

=6.= That no one shall dare to lay waste a benefice[180] of the lord emperor, or to make it his own property.

=7.= That no one shall presume to neglect a summons to war from the lord emperor; and that no one of the counts shall be so presumptuous as to dare to excuse any one of those who owe military service, either on account of relationship, or flattery, or gifts from any one.