Nobility and Expansion Dynamic - Effect on surrounding peoples
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(SMITH)

Einhard reports Byz proverb: ‘Have a Frank as a friend, not  a neighbour’.

Frankish strategy = negotiation + force if req. Diplomacy + gift-exchange practised; but equal terms only with Byz emperor and amir of Cordoba. Imperial rhetoric broke down at the frontier.

Consider views of Francia from the periphery.

Transformation: pressure to conform to Car will à creation of new pol systems. Huge change by 900. Car policy preferred to deal with single relatively powerful prince to competing claimants à e.g. Brittany dev of princely dynasty after 831. Acquisition and control of landed resources / judicial supervision by Car è complementary contribution to mould periphery in image of Car state.

Missionary activity / Car schemes of ecc admin contributed to pol transformation.

All this had far-reaching influence on later dev of national identity.

3.       Balance of power between central authority and regional kingdoms

Nelson: dynamics of the relationship

·       Geography crucial - dependence on location / quality of lands under central control (e.g. Lombards - Po valley / West Saxons - Somerset). Frankish royal lands (‘fisc’) based on old Roman structures. 751 - Carolingians added family lands to Merovingian fisc à base in Meuse / Moselle / Rhineland.

·       Every kingdom retained some royal demesne - this not hampered by dynastic change (Seine palaces e.g. Compiègne disappeared early C8 then reappeared in Car hands).

·       Division between heirs sometimes à partition of core lands (e.g. Charlemagne + brother in 768), but done with care.

·       Careful management of estatesà perpetuation of royal power; provision of horses / arms. Also sustenance of royal household - king itinerant but valuable base, lengthy stays.

·       Charlemagne - royal travelling essentially for campaign purposes. Aachen = his sedes regni after 794, surrounded by many royal lands. Protection of demesne / fisc = prerequisite for kingdom’s survival.

·       Not a fixed area - enlarged by gift / inheritance, or by conFISCation due to treason / disloyalty. Also used to reward followers, bits outside heartlands were often granted away as they were difficult to manage anyway. Conquest; use of victim’s fisc as new resource for ruling extended area.

·       Difficulties of control - Einhard - Charlemagne’s empire ‘amplified’ to 1,200,000 sq km. Access to inland areas via rivers + use of Roman roads in some regions but retaining outlying fisc lands was tricky + of limited use (unless the base was otherwise used for military base).

·       Still real power; F stability depended upon chronic instability of environs - momentum via exploiting neighbours. Likeliest ally = neighbour's neighbour. Expansion provided kings with wherewithal to maintain aristocratic / family loyalty.

·       New problems of resource management (e.g. Aquitaine created for 3yr old Louis the Pious in 781 - Charlemagne had to intervene to control grasping magnates. Reorganisation of fisc à four major rural palaces. This kept until absorbed back into realm of Charles the Bald in 838. Gascons remained independent of F control, but even late C9 some royal influence - King Odo spent much time in Aq in ecc accommodation).

Wormald:

w         Imperial ideal ressurrected under Charlemagne – but Franks did not see govt. as an aggregate of states (civil wars). Noblemen gained little from idea of untied kingdoms. Not only brothers jockeying for position – royal aristocracies in conflict. Francia moving towards a feudal society – but ‘service in return for reward’ system had always been a feature of traditional barbarian ethics.

w         F fragmentation thus revolves around warrior aristocracies with too much drive for war. Opportunities in E but geog restrictions of W Gaul. 888 fragmentation thus reflects regional competition as well as waning Car power.

w         French history as dialogue between royal authority and regional identities … state of flux. Francia too large for control to be realistic even in C16.

w         Ideological blow 834-5, but general allusions to new imperial strength; self-confidence was a Car legacy attributable largely to C.

Other Notes in this Category

1. Basis of Power
2. Carolignian Geneaology
3. Carolignians and Italy
4. Chronological Analysis
5. Church
6. Communications
7. Did growth lead to a more systematic style of government?
8. Domestic government and power bases
9. Ideology of Power
10. Importance of the West 814 - 898
11. Kingship and Royal Government - Janet Nelson
12. Logistics of Power
13. Nobility and Expansion Dynamic
14. Nobility and Expansion Dynamic - Effect on surrounding peoples
15. Plunder and Tribute in the Carolignian Empire
16. Society and Politics
17. Sociology of Power
18. The Carolignian Experiment - EF James
19. Vikings

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