The Birth
Of
France and Germany
And
The Formation
Of the
European Continent
France and Germany
• The collapse of the Carolingian Empire left a
political vacuum in Europe.
• It resulted in the emergence of the Capetians and
the Ottonians as the new ruling dynasties.
• After the Carolingian dynasty died out in the
male line in East Francia in 911, Conrad I, the
first of a series of territorial dukes, was elected
king.
France and Germany
• Conrad was followed a
vigorous line of ambitious
Saxon rulers; the most
successful Saxon was
Otto I;
• Claimed the Lombard
Kingdom in Italy;
• Defeated an Hungarian
(Magyar) army in
955AD;
• Had himself crowned
Holy Roman Emperor in
Rome in 962AD.
France and Germany
• In contrast in West Francia the last of the
Carolingian rulers was succeeded by Hugh Capet,
or the Capetian dynasty.
• Ruled in mostly the River Seine valley and Paris.
• Though powerful in their local regions, mostly
overshadowed by other stronger territorial Lords
and Barons. Essentially shared power with other
castellans or castle dwellers.
France and Germany
• East Francia would be
different, Otto I managed to
avoid sharing power.
• And, for a time became the
strongest Christian Dynasty on
the European continent;
• The Ottonians became the
corner stone of the Holy
Roman Empire; They hijacked
the emperor title for
themselves and their heirs.
France and Germany
• Each section developed
different identities;
• Different political and
social structures;
• Different nationalist
identities;
• They became uniquely
German and French
France and Germany
• As the Carolingian Empire eroded into memory;
Various local aristocrats began to seize local
power forming small familial dynasties;
• This dissolution of Carolingian power is known
as Devolution. Power in the hands of the Counts
not Carolingian Rulers; everyday power now held
at lower level;
• West Francia (France) would always be weaker
for the most part than East Francia (Germany)
France and Germany
• 64$ question is how and why did each
geographical region develop the way it did?
• It begins with the Treaty of Verdun—Francia is
divided equally—three in the beginning, but
quickly became just two regions—east and west.
• 9th century Carolingians lost control and loyalty
of the west to the Counts, especially the
Capetians at first.
France and Germany
• Counts essentially seized
power;
• Recall Charlemagne gave
each Count a county to
administer, as did Louis the
Pious;
• However, the sons wishing to
attract alliances gave Counts
several counties to administer
for their loyalty;
• This backfired on them
France and Germany
• The Counts exacted a
hereditary order to the office
or title of Count;
• Charlemagne and Louis had
always appointed the counts—
so they could fire them;
• Now the Count title would be
passed on to male heirs; no
longer accountable to
Carolingian rulers
France and Germany
• These Counts would take Gavelkind to the next level;
• They assumed all royal lands, property, estates for
themselves; Passed along in primogeniture and entail;
• Stopped paying tribute, fines and taxes to the Carolingian
rulers;
• Assumed control of the ecclesiastical appointments;
created their own law courts—used to be kingly powers
were now held in the hands of the Counts at the local
level; Devolution of power.
France and Germany
• First true creation of the
landed gentry and
Aristocracy; would from
then always be a thorn in
any Monarch’s side;
• how does one gain respect
of the peasantry—one
must first now gain
respect of the Aristocracy;
• Louis XVI-be his undoing
France and Germany
• By 900AD, there were
over 30 independent
principalities in West
Francia; mostly
squabbling;
• No longer answered or
acknowledged Carolingian
rule;
• Carolingian Rulers were
not welcomed in their area
of influence.
France and Germany
• East Francia developed very differently;
• Dukes became administers of Duchies; Duchies were an
area consuming several counties;
• Dukes over saw several Duchies; this limited the
amount of devolution of power;
• They too, appointed Bishops and Abbotts;
• Essentially east Francia did not fragment as much as
West Francia, where West had over 30 political units, the
East had five or six; easier to manage and colelctively
secure.
France and Germany
• Devolution stopped with
the Dukes in the east;
• A family dynasty
emerged; Otto I (10th
century);
• Germans have always
accepted regimentation
and authoritarianism more
easily than other
Europeans
France and Germany
• Political structure and devolution did encourage
differences and fragmentation;
• Need more explanation; The Viking Raids were
more severe in the West; Rivers in the west were
more navigable and entered big trade centers;
• West Francia bordered Al-Andalus (Spain); not
easy rivals; mostly warred against one another
France and Germany
• East Francia, less navigable rivers, less Viking
interference;
• Frontier with illiterate Pagan Slavs; the slavs
were fragmented into many villages and
principalities; they were difficult to conquer but
easy to raid;
• So inward bellicosity could always be turned
outward, away from internal Civil War
France and Germany
• Unexpected; Castellans;
• As the Counts ousted the
Carolingians, the
castellans erected castles
and essentially ousted the
Counts, at least as the
dominant power;
• Castellan—someone who
possessed a castle or
several castles.
Castellans
• Castellans and their Knights were considered the
lowest rank of European Aristocracy; however,
wielded great military power.
• Charlemagne, if he found a castle, he destroyed it
and punished one for erecting it; a castle was
viewed as a direct challenge to the Carolingian
rule;
• To own a castle was akin to owning a tank;
powerful and dangerous. Counts saw these as a
challenge to their rule—what goes around …
Castellans
• As did the Counts, the Castellans seized property,
monasteries, land and the local courts and placed
them under their jurisdiction or armed influence;
• For instance, if your Manure Cart was speeding
through castellan lands, one did not go to the
Count’s courts for fines, it was done under the
authority of the castellan and enforced by hid
Knights;
• How did, Castellans secure this power? I’m glad
you asked.
Castellans and Knights
• He established a Seigneurial
Dues;
• List of taxes and fines to be
paid by all in his jurisdictional
area—usually 15-20 mile
radius of the castle;
• Still enforcement was an issue;
he hired armed Thugs (or
muscle) to strong arm and
enforce this so-called
protection and police force.
• Knights were more closely
resembled to Tony Soprano
than Sir Lancelot.
Castellans and Knights
• Knights did not work for free;
• They were given a parcel of
land to support themselves; a
Fief or Feudum;
• This became known as the
“Feudal Revolution” so many
castellans hired so many
Knights for enforcement, large
increases in feudal Fiefdoms;
• Also created internal jealousy
and strife.
France and Germany
• West Francia would be a political mess for many years;
• Eventually the Capetians would after a long tenure of
mediocre power establish a claim to the French
thrown—for a while the counts and castellans agreed the
king as a superior title, but they disregarded any king as
worth their time.
• Hughs Capet eventually established a line that would
rule France for hundreds of years—his reign began in
Paris—but would take many years before gaining
monarchical power.
France and Germany
• East Francia developed somewhat differently;
• German aristocracy elected one of its own named
Conrad—he was ambitious, but spent too much
time fighting other German Aristocrats; he
ignored a big problem, the eastern frontier and the
Magyar invasion;
• Henry I confronted the Magyar issue and became
the true first Ottonian King; he negotiated a truce
with the Magyars; paid a tribute for peace …
France and Germany
• Just buying time, and
in933AD at battle of
Riade he defeated the
Magyars(related to the
Huns);
• Crushed them in 955AD
Battle of Lechfeld;
• Ottonians a legitimate
ruling dynasty and very
much Christian
France and Germany
• Otto very ambitious; sought Pope to coronate him
as Holy Roman Emperor; birth of the Holy Roman
Empire; he defeated the Lombard's in northern
Italy and negotiated a deal with the Pope;
• To assure his eminence over the Pope, Otto issued
a charter, the Ottonianum—gave Monarchical
ower over the Pope—for a Pope to be elected, he
first would have to notify the King of Germany
and await the Kings approval before undergoing
consecration—in fact before a Pope could be
elected, one must be approved by Otto.
France and Germany
• Jealous Italian families,
however, murdered many
German appointed Popes;
• East Francia became the
new Kingdom of
Germany (1st Reich);
• No longer the regnum
Francorum now the
regnum Teutonicum.
Conclusion
• East Francia or now the Kingdom of Germany had
succeeded in consolidating power and established
a Holy Roman Empire that looked to be successful
for centuries to come;
• West Francia, fragmented and squabbling, looked
to be weak and negligible at best;
• But West Francia, or the Kingdom of France
would become the most powerful Kingdom on the
European continent—who would’a thunk!!