Great powers rise and great power s fall.
Some collapse, most withered away into oblivion.
The Mérovingien, the first major power in Western Europe following the decline of the
Western Roman Empire, was no exception.
But its slow descent into irrelevance allowed the rise of a new dynasty, a dynasty whose
members would shape the face of Europe for the centuries to come, les Carolingiens!
This is a tale of wars, murders, intrigue, treason, and politics, this is a tale of two
dynasties.
Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, Gaul became the theatre of numerous
conflicts as different factions fought for its control, but in the end, it is the Franks
that came atop, led by Clovis, a member of the powerful Mérovingien family, and the
first Frankish king to convert to Christianism.
By the end of his reign, the Frankish Kingdom spread vastly across Western Europe, including
most of current France, and had become the first major power in Europe since the Roman
Empire.
But just two centuries later, they had lost most of the great power that they once held.
The reasons for this are numerous, but chief among them was how the Franks viewed their
lands.
In their culture, a kingdom was seen as the private possession of the king, thus allowing
them to sell their lands and split it among their heirs.
The latter was very significant as opposed to primogeniture succession, where the first-born
child, usually male, gained control of the entire kingdom, it was custom for Frankish
kings to split their lands between their children, creating large rivalries between siblings
as well as dividing the kingdom.
Despite early attempts to keep the Frankish kingdom united, greed inevitably led to numerous
conflicts, and fratricides, the act of killing your sibling, became all too common within
the Mérovingien family.
This was exacerbated by the Germanic custom of private justice, known as the “faide”.
These customs created such an unstable environment that it took only two generations following
Clovis for the disputes to spiral into the infamous royal faide, a 40 years long series
of murders that would eventually lead to the dynasty’s downfall.
I promise you, this is some Game of Thrones stuff.
Our story starts in 568.
The Frankish kingdom was then split between the three remaining son s of Clotaire, the
son of Clovis.
Chilpéric 1er had inherited what would later become Neustria, Sigebert 1er what would later
become Austrasia, and Gontran, Burgundy.
Chilpéric had recently married Frédégonde, a serf who used her beauty and mostly intelligence
to get her hand on the King.
To do so, she got rid of two queens, the first, through a cunning stratagem, where she convinced
the queen to become her daughter’s godmother, which made it illegal under Catholic law for
the king to sleep with her.
As a result, she was repudiated.
The second one, Frédégonde simply ordered strangled.
However, the latter wife was the elder sister of Brunhilde, the wife of Sigebert, who was
also renowned for being both beautiful and intelligent.
Brunhilde accused Frédégonde of killing her sister and asked for vengeance under the
customs of the faide.
To avoid bloodshed, Chilpéric accepted to compensate his brother by giving him some
land in Aquitaine, before immediately backstabbing him and attempting to take it back by declaring
war!
The war did not last long but neither did the peace as Chilpéric, this time allied
with Gontran, attacked once more.
It was a devastating defeat and their brother counterattacked so violently that Gontran
sued for peace while Chilpéric lost all noble support in Neustria to Sigebert, who was recognized
as the new king.
But on his way to his crowning, he was assassinated by two slaves of Frédégonde, and thus the
nobles pled their allegiance to Chilpéric once more.
Following that, Frédégonde, who had become increasingly paranoid over time, went on a
killing frenzy, and got rid of anyone who might get in between her son, Clotaire II,
and the throne.
She killed off her husband’s first wife, had their daughter raped so she was unable
to inherit the throne, and murdered their four sons.
Frédégonde even attempted to murder her own daughter by jamming her head into a chest.
She would do anything it took to ensure that Clotaire became king of Neustria, and above
all, Rex Francorum.
This was far from an easy task, especially since her husband was assassinated while hunting,
which left the Neustrian kingdom extremely unstable as nobles pillaged the royal coffers
before fleeing to Austrasia while many cities defected thanks to the political machinations
of Brunhilde.
Nevertheless, at a great cost, Frédégonde was able to get a few nobles to support her
son.
And support they would need as, having sent ambassadors to Gontran who were actually assassins,
the Burgundians were now allied with Austrasia, leaving her alone with a destabilized kingdom
and a young ruler.
In 592, Gontran died and thus Childebert inherited his entire Kingdom, becoming an immeasurable
threat that the small Kingdom of Neustria could not hope to face.
That threat continued despite the death of Childebert as his two sons wisely allied themselves
against Neustria.
Foolishly, Clotaire attempted to attack them but he was decidedly defeated and his son,
captured, was assassinated under orders of Brunhilde.
And so, he changed strategy and manipulated the King of Burgundy into defeating his own
brother and have him executed along with his children.
However, he died but a few years later and in 613, a desperate Brunhilde put her great
grandson on the throne despite being only 11 years old.
The nobles did not support this new king and were increasingly put off by Brunhilde’s
growing centralization of power and increased taxation.
As such, they united behind Clotaire, who took over Austrasia and Burgundy, and had
the king executed.
Remembering his mother’s deep hatred for Brunhilde, Clotaire brutally executed her
by attaching her hair and her leg to a horse that was then sent away on a full gallop.
But at least the Frankish Kingdom was once more reunited, and the royale faide had finally
come to an end.
As you can see, this was a tumultuous time.
And to win, if not, just survive these familial feuds, it became imperative for the Mérovingien
Kings to get the support of the noble families.
To do so, they started giving out more and more of their land as well as large bribes,
which significantly impoverished them.
Soon enough, the Mérovingiens had fought themselves into a precipice all the while
a growing aristocratic class had now become the arbiters of the fate of their regents,
as seen by the treason of the nobles which allowed Clotaire to become Rex Francorum.
One of these nobles was Pépin de Landen, the first member of the Pippinid family, who
as a result was given the title of Maior Domus of Austrasia.
Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia.
The Mayor of the Palace was the head of the aristocracy, and what was once a basic administrative
job had become increasingly important along with the growing importance of the aristocracy
itself.
This was especially true following the death of Dagobert Ier in 639, which was followed
by a series of kings later known as the “Rois fainéants”, the “Do-Nothing Kings.”
This, however, was a misnomer.
More often than not, it was not by choice but circumstances that these kings were unable
to do anything.
First, many of them were enthroned very young and died young too, for example, Dagobert’s
son was put on the throne at 6 and died at 24.
They were also quite impoverished as the lack of conquest had failed to replenish the royal
coffers while the constant bribing of nobles and civil wars had emptied them.
Added to this was an extremely corrupt administrative system that regularly embezzled money.
And so, the Mérovingien were now broke and powerless while nobles such as Pépin de Hérstal,
the grandson of Pépin de Landen, held both a lot of wealth and land.
And, above all, a lot of power having inherited the title of Maior Domus, a title which now
allowed him to declare wars, lead the armies, control the treasury, negotiate treaties with
foreign nations, and nominate the bishops, dukes and counts of the kingdom.
It was clear that the Mérovingiens had become mere figureheads and the true administrators
of the Frankish kingdom were the Mayors of the Palace of Neustria and of Austrasia.
Conflict soon arose between the two and the extremely powerful Major Domus of Neustria
threatened to take over the entire Frankish Kingdom, but thankfully, he was assassinated
and his successor was no match to Pépin, who eventually prevailed and became the sole
Major Domus of the entire Frankish Kingdom, although by then the Duchy of Aquitaine had
become quasi-independent.
Following that, the Mérovingien dynasty was but a toy that the Mayor of the Palace could
change and move around as he deemed fit, keeping them merely as symbolic figures meant to bring
legitimacy to their reign.
In fact, Pépin had gone as far as naming himself “Duke and Prince of the Franks”,
but his power was still very much tied to his own person, not to his name, and so his
death in 714 led to numerous nobles uprisings.
It would be his son that would bring legitimacy to his family and unite the Frankish kingdoms
once more, the first of the Carolingiens, Charles Martel.
Charles Martel was born in 688 through the mistress of Pépin De Hérstal.
As polygamy was still a common practice back then, he was considered legitimate and was
heir to the role of maior domus following the assassination of his half-brother.
However, his father’s wife had convinced Pépin to name his grandson as his heir despite
being only 6 years old, and Charles was therefore imprisoned in Cologne.
Meanwhile, in defiance of Pippinid control of the Frankish realm, the king of Neustria
had chosen a Maior Domus that was not part of the dynasty, effectively declaring independence
from Austrasian rule.
They then allied themselves with the Burgundians against Austrasian supremacy, and decisively
defeated Pépin’s grandson in 715.
As a result, Charles escaped from prison and was elected as Maior Domus instead.
But ill prepared and having little time to gather men, the beginning of his reign was
marked by a large defeat against the Neustrians.
The only defeat of his long career.
Charles retreated to nearby hills to regroup and train his army before falling unto the
Neustrians just a few months later, completely catching them by surprise and quickly sending
them unto a rout in a battle that would begin his reputation as a military genius.
This triumph significantly improved his reputation and encouraged many nobles to join his cause.
Charles’ fortunes were finally turning around.
Following this, the King of Neustria allied himself with the Duke of Aquitaine but despite
their alliance, they were no match to Charles’ military genius, and they were soon defeated,
forcing the king to flee to Aquitaine, where the Duke surrendered him in exchange of Charles’
recognition of his independence.
Nevertheless, the King was not executed but was made instead Rex Francorum as long as
Charles could be the major domus, which we know was the true ruler of the kingdom.
Or what was left as much of it had either revolted, declared independence, or been invaded
And thus started a long period of power consolidation as he subjugated the Lower Frisians, and then
later on the rest of Frisia, he then subjugated the Alemanni and kicked out the Saxons that
had raided Austrasia, making sure to ravage their lands to ensure that they never came
back.
Finally, he subjugated the Burgundians and replaced their counts and dukes with loyal
supporters to avoid further dissidence.
But while he was doing all that, a new threat had risen in Western Europe, the Umayyad Caliphate.
Indeed, from the beginning of the 8th century, the Umayyad Caliphate had conquered most of
the Iberian Peninsula and were now pushing past the Pyrenees having subjugated Septimania
in 725.
Despite initial successes against the Umayyad army, the Duke of Aquitaine could no longer
contain the Muslim invasion and asked Charles for help, who agreed in exchange of the Duke’s
submission to his authority.
Finally, in 732, the Frankish army encountered the Muslim invaders near Tours.
Charles had successfully outmaneuvered them and held a considerable terrain advantage
as well as having situated himself between the Muslim army and the town of Tours, which
compelled the Muslim commander to attack.
Instead, it was Charles that struck deep into their lines, much like a hammer, hence his
nickname, “Charles Martel.”
The Muslim commander was soon killed and as a result, the Umayyad army decided to retreat
back to Iberia, thus putting a definite end to Muslim expansion in Western Europe.
Now, historians are questioning whether this Umayyad army was truly an invading force or
merely a raiding party, which had been recurrent in Aquitaine since 720.
Nevertheless, raid or not, this battle and the subsequent reconquests by Charles Martel
allowed him to further cement his legitimacy and created a myth that painted him as the
savior of Catholic Europe.
And that cannot be overstated.
In fact, his legitimacy had become such that following the death of the Mérovingien king
in 737, Charles did not even bother appointing a new king and simply ruled
by himself having taken the title of “Duke and Prince of the Franks” like his father.
He died four years later, in 741, having never truly been King of the Franks, an honor that
would go to his son, Pépin le Bref.
Pépin le Bref was born in 714.
He was named le Bref for his apparent short stature, which is quite reductive considering
the fact that he was unquestionably one of the most successful and powerful leaders of
his time.
At his father’s death, the realm was split between him and his older brother, but contrary
to most kingdom partitions back then, their relationship was quite cordial, and they regularly
fought together rather than against each other.
Eventually Pépin peacefully took control of the entire kingdom after his brother withdrew
to a monastic life in Italy, although it’s speculated that he was pressured to do so
by the Pope following a request by Pépin himself.
Pépin, now master of the entire Frankish Kingdom, was ready to get rid of the Mérovingien
King that his older brother had put on the throne following their father’s death.
As such, he contacted the pope, making a simple suggestion, “In regard to the kings of the
Franks who no longer possesses the royal power: is this state of things proper?”
Threatened by the Lombards in Italy and welcoming this Pippinid family that had already shown
its desire to protect Catholicism, the Pope agreed that it was not proper and ruled that
de facto power mattered more than de jure.
As a result, the last of the Mérovingiens Kings was deposed, his head was shaved, an
insult to a family known for its long hair, and he was forced into a monastery.
Pépin le Bref was crowned in 754 by the Pope himself, the first crowning of a ruler by
a pope.
After more than one hundred years of work in the shadows, the Pippinids had finally
taken over the throne, and with that throne, Pépin did not shy on imposing his might.
He started by declaring war to the Lombards and then gave the conquered lands to the Pope,
thus creating the Papal States, and cementing the Frankish alliance with the church, he
then headed down to Septimania and submitted it to Frankish control and kicked out the
last remaining Muslims by taking back Narbonne in 759, after four decades of Muslim rule.
He then went on a long campaign to finally subdue Aquitaine to Frankish rule, who, despite
having reluctantly pled allegiance to his father, were still pretty much independent.
After spending close to a decade spreading terror in the region through fire, pillaging,
besieging and more, he finally subdued them in 768.
But alas, this would be the last thing he ever did as he died in campaign that same
year, having never been defeated.
Despite his military achievements, his spread of Christianism, his development of heavy
cavalry, which would become the backbone of medieval armies, and the foundations he laid for feudalism,
the backbone of medieval society, Pépin le Bref is often forgotten, overshadowed by his
father and above all, his son, the creator of an Empire, Charlemagne.
The Carolingiens and their (successors) would define the history of Europe, and above all,
France, for the centuries to come.
Talking of France, the History Gang and myself are doing a huge collab on France in August
so make sure to stay tuned for that!
But until then, check out the rest of our videos on the Mérovingiens in the playlist
in the description.