A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 16

[126] When Charlemagne captured Pavia, the Lombard capital, in 774, he found Peter the Pisan teaching in that city. With characteristic zeal for the advancement of education among his own people he proceeded to transfer the learned deacon to the Frankish Palace School [see p.

144].

[127] Alcuin was born at York in 735. He took up his residence at Charlemagne's court about 782, and died in the office of abbot of St.

Martin of Tours in 804.

[128] During the Napoleonic period many of these columns were taken possession of by the French and transported to Paris. Only recently have they been replaced in the Aix-la-Chapelle cathedral. Most of them came originally from the palace of the Exarch of Ravenna.

[129] These statements of Einhard respecting the lavishness of Charlemagne's gifts must be taken with some allowance. They were doubtless considerable for the day, but Charlemagne's revenues were not such as to enable him to display wealth which in modern times would be regarded as befitting a monarch of so exalted rank.

[130] In 774, 781, 787, and 800.

[131] Charlemagne became joint ruler of the Franks with his brother Karlmann in 768; hence when he died, in 814, he had reigned only forty-six years instead of forty-seven.

[132] Ephraim Emerton, _Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages_ (Boston, 1903), p. 189.

[133] The war really lasted only thirty, or at the most thirty-one, years.

[134] The only notable act of vengeance during the war was the beheading of 4,500 Saxons in a single day at Verden, on the Weser. It was occasioned by a great Saxon revolt in 782, led by the chieftain Widukind.

[135] The formula of renunciation and confession generally employed in the Christianizing of the Germans, and therefore in all probability in the conversion of the Saxons, was as follows:

Question. Forsakest thou the devil?

Answer. I forsake the devil.

Ques. And all the devil's service?

Ans. And I forsake all the devil's service.

Ques. And all the devil's works?

Ans. And I forsake all the devil's works and words. Thor and Woden and Saxnot and all the evil spirits that are their companions.

Ques. Believest thou in G.o.d the Almighty Father?

Ans. I believe in G.o.d the Almighty Father.

Ques. Believest thou in Christ the Son of G.o.d?

Ans. I believe in Christ the Son of G.o.d.

Ques. Believest thou in the Holy Ghost?

Ans. I believe in the Holy Ghost.

"Accepting Christianity was to the German very much like changing of allegiance from one political sovereign to another. He gave up Thor and Woden (Odin) and Saxnot, and in their place took the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."--Emerton, _Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages_, pp. 155-156. Text of these "Interrogationes et Responsiones Baptismales" is in the _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_ (Boretius ed.), Vol. II., No. 107.

[136] That is, the more important offenses, involving capital punishment, as contrasted with the later "lesser chapters" dealing with minor misdemeanors.

[137] The Saxons were to be won to the Church through the protection it afforded, but they were likewise to be made to stand in awe of the sanct.i.ty of its property.

[138] The apparent harshness of this whole body of regulations was considerably diminished in practice by the large discretion left to the priests, as in this case. They were exhorted to exercise care and to take circ.u.mstances into account in judging a man's guilt or innocence.

[139] From this point the capitulary deals with the "lesser chapters,"

i.e., non-capital offenses.

[140] For the value of the _solidus_, see p. 61.

[141] Three cla.s.ses of society are distinguished--n.o.bles, freemen, and serfs. The ordinary freeman pays half as much as the n.o.ble, and the serf half as much as the freeman.

[142] A prominent characteristic of the early Teutonic religion was that its ceremonies were invariably conducted out of doors. Tacitus, in the _Germania_ (Chap. 9), tells us that the Germans had no temples or other buildings for religious purposes, but worshipped in sacred groves. The "Irmensaule," probably a giant tree-trunk, was the central shrine of the Saxon people, and Charlemagne's destruction of it in 772 was the most serious offense that could have been committed against them.

[143] The Germans reckoned by nights rather than by days, as explained by Tacitus, _Germania_, Chap. 11 [see p. 27].

[144] A sum a.s.sessed by the king, in this case against the illegal harboring of criminals.

[145] The counts, together with the bishops, were the local representatives or agents of the king. They presided over judicial a.s.semblies, collected revenues, and preserved order. There were about three hundred of them in Charlemagne's empire when at its greatest extent.

[146] An officer sent out by the king to investigate the administration of the counts and render judgment in certain cases. As a rule two were sent together, a layman and an ecclesiastic [see p.

134].

[147] Under ordinary circ.u.mstances the priests were thus charged with the responsibility of seeing that local government in their various communities was just and legal.

[148] Bemont and Monod, _Mediaeval Europe_ (New York, 1902), p. 202.

[149] Chapter 62 is here given out of order because it contains a comprehensive survey of the products and activities upon which the royal stewards were expected to report. The other chapters are more specific. It is likely that they have not come down to us in their original order.

[150] The ordinary estate in this period, whether royal or not, consisted of two parts. One was the demesne, which the owner kept under his immediate control; the other was the remaining lands, which were divided among tenants who paid certain rentals for their use and also performed stated services on the lord's demesne. Charlemagne instructs his stewards to report upon both sorts of land.

[151] Probably payments for the right to keep pigs in the woods. The most common meat in the Middle Ages was pork and the use of the oak forests as hog pasture was a privilege of considerable value.

[152] Fines imposed upon offenders to free them from crime or to repair damages done.

[153] Panic was a kind of gra.s.s, the seeds of which were not infrequently used for food.

[154] The serfs were a semi-free cla.s.s of country people. They did not own the land on which they lived and were not allowed to move off it without the owner's consent. They cultivated the soil and paid rents of one kind or another to their masters--in the present case, to the agents of the king.

[155] A variety of fermented liquor made of salt fish.

[156] A blue coloring matter derived from the leaves of a plant of the same name.

[157] A red coloring matter derived from a plant of the same name.

[158] Burrs of the teasel plant, stiff and p.r.i.c.kly, with hooked bracts; used in primitive manufacturing for raising a nap on woolen cloth.

[159] A kind of grain still widely cultivated for food in Germany and Switzerland; sometimes known as German wheat.

[160] The unit of weight was the pound. Charlemagne replaced the old Gallic pound by the Roman, which was a tenth less.