State of the Ostrogoths. Theodoric.

Even earlier, in 534, this fate befell the Vandal state; the Frankish state turned out to be the most viable and dynamic. In 534 they conquered the state of the Burgundians. The further history of the barbarian states is connected with the aggressive policy of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. In addition to North Africa and Italy, in 551 he managed to take away a number of cities in Southern Spain from the weakened Visigoths: Cartagena, Cordova, Malaga, etc. But the Byzantines were no longer able to develop their success. In 568, pressed by the Avars, the Lombards invaded the Apennine Peninsula and in a matter of years captured most of Northern and Southern Italy, after which Constantinople went on the defensive and no longer tried to expand the empire’s possessions.

Meanwhile, the stabilized Visigothic state went on the offensive. In 585, they put an end to the independence of the Sueves and at the same time began to push back the Byzantines, recapturing the southern part of the peninsula by 636. North Africa remained in the hands of Constantinople until the Arab conquest in the 60s of the 7th century. At the beginning of the 8th century, the Arabs reached the Strait of Gibraltar, crossed it and in a few years completely destroyed the Visigothic state.

The emergence of the Frankish state. Clovis.

The tribal union of the Franks arose from the union of the Sigambri, Bructeri, and some other Lower Rhine tribes. Starting from the 4th century. they act as federates of the Roman Empire and receive land for settlement in the far north of Gaul. By the end of the empire, the Franks controlled the territory up to the Somme.

In 486, as a result of the Frankish conquest, the Frankish state arose in Northern Gaul, headed by the leader of the Salic Franks, Clovis (486-511) from the Merovian family (hence the Merovingian dynasty). Thus began the first period in the history of the Frankish state - from the end of the 5th to the end of the 7th century, usually called the Merovingian period.

The Merovingians are a dynasty of Frankish kings, the first in the history of the Frankish state. Ruled from the end of the 5th to the middle of the 8th century. After the first historical leader, Chlodion, legend calls Merovian the king of the Salic Franks (mid-5th century), from whom the Merovingian dynasty supposedly took its name. The first historically reliable representative of the dynasty is Childeric I. Known for his victory over the Alemanni. His son Clovis (466-511), who became king in 481, was the true founder of the Frankish kingdom; he united the Franks under his rule, and also captured all of Gaul. Clovis's successes in the war with the Visigoths were facilitated by the adoption of Christianity. The annexation of the region of the future Provence dates back to the time of the sons of Clovis.

Under Clovis, Aquitaine was conquered (507), under his successors - Burgundy (534); The Ostrogoths ceded Provence to the Franks (536). By the middle of the 6th century. The Frankish state included almost the entire territory of the former Roman province of Gaul. The Franks also subjugated a number of Germanic tribes living beyond the Rhine: the supreme power of the Franks was recognized by the Thuringians, Alamans and Bavarians, and the Saxons were forced to pay them an annual tribute. The Frankish state lasted much longer than all the other barbarian kingdoms of continental Europe, many of which (first part of the Visigothic and Burgundian, then Lombard) it included in its composition.

The history of the Frankish state allows us to trace the development of feudal relations from the earliest stage to the predominance of the feudal system in this territory; from the origins of the early feudal state to its heyday in the form of the first medieval empire in Western Europe - the Carolingian. The process of feudalization took place here in the form of a synthesis of decaying late Roman and Germanic tribal relations. The ratio of both was different in the north and south of the kingdom. North of the Loire, the Romanization of the Gallic population in the 1st - early 5th centuries. was noticeably weaker than in the south of the country.

At the first stage of the existence of the Frankish state (end of the 5th - end of the 7th century) in the north of Gaul, late Roman and barbarian structures existed in the form of various structures: decaying slaveholding and barbarian, tribal, as well as the emerging feudal (colonate, various forms of land dependence, friendly relations among francs), to whom the future belonged.

At the end of the 7th century, actual power in all areas of the kingdom was in the hands of the mayors. Initially, these were officials who headed the royal palace administration (maiordomus - senior at home, managing the household of the court). Then the mayors became the largest landowners. All administration of each of the named regions of the kingdom was concentrated in their hands, the majordomo acted as the leader and military leader of the local land aristocracy. The kings of the Merovingian house, having lost all real power, were appointed and removed at the will of the majordomos and received the dismissive nickname of “lazy kings” from their contemporaries.

After a long struggle among the Frankish nobility in 687, Pepin of Geristal became the mayor of the entire Frankish state. He succeeded because in Austrasia, where large landownership was weaker than in other parts of the kingdom, the majordomos could rely on a fairly significant layer of small and medium-sized patrimonial owners, as well as free allodists of the peasant type, interested in strengthening the central government to combat the oppression of large landowners, suppression of the peasantry drawn into dependence and to conquer new lands. With the support of these social strata, the mayors of Austrasia were able to reunite the entire Frankish kingdom under their rule.

List of the most important events (processes, phenomena) in the history of foreign countries.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire (476)
- emergence of the Frankish state (about 500)
- Justinian's reign in the Byzantine Empire (527 - 565)
- emergence of Islam (610)
- emergence of the state among the Arabs (632)
- proclamation of Charlemagne as emperor (800)
- collapse of the Frankish Empire (843)
- formation of the Holy Roman Empire (962)
- division of the Christian Church into Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) (1054)
- Norman conquest of England (1066)
- Crusades (1096-1291)
- capture of Constantinople by the crusaders (April 13, 1204)
- adoption of the Magna Carta in England (1215)
- emergence of the English Parliament (1265)
- convening of the Estates General in France (1302 -1789)
- Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)
- Jacquerie in France (1358)
- uprising led by W. Tyler in England (1382)
- Battle of Kosovo (1389)
- Hussite wars (1419-1435)
- invention of printing by I. Guttenberg (1440s)
- War of the Roses in England (1455-1485)
- reign of Louis XI in France (1461-1483)
- fall of the Byzantine Empire (May 29, 1453)
- reign of Henry VII in England (1485-1509)
- discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (October 12, 1492)
- completion of the Reconquista on the Iberian Peninsula (1492)
- discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama (July 8, 1497)
- speech by M. Luther with 95 theses, the beginning of the Reformation in Germany (1517)
- circumnavigation of the expedition of F. Magellan (1519-1522)
- Worms Reichstag. Condemnation of M. Luther (1521)
- Peasant War in Germany (1524-1526)
- beginning of the Reformation in England (1534)
- Augsburg religious peace (1555)
- religious wars in France (1562-1598)
- war of liberation in the Netherlands (1566-1609)
- formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569)
- St. Bartholomew's Night in France (August 23-24, 1572)
- Union of Utrecht (1579)
- defeat of the Invincible Armada by England (August 8, 1588)
- Edict of Nantes by Henry IV in France (1598)
- Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)
- activities of Cardinal Richelieu as First Minister of France (1624-1642)
- the beginning of the Long Parliament in England, the beginning of the English bourgeois revolution (1640)
- adoption by the English Parliament of the “Great Remonstrance” (1641)
- Civil War in England (1642-1651)
- reign of the French king Louis XIV (1643-1715)
- Peace of Westphalia (1648)
- execution of the English king Charles I (January 30, 1649)
- proclamation of England as a republic (1650)
- protectorate of O. Cromwell (1653)
- restoration of the Stuart dynasty in England (1660)
- “Glorious Revolution” in England (1688)
- reign of Louis XV in France (1715-1774)
- reign of Frederick II in Prussia (1740-1788)
- Luddite movement in England (1811)
- “Boston Tea Party” (1773)
- adoption of the US Declaration of Independence (1776)
- adoption of the US Constitution (1787)
- beginning of the revolution in France (1789)
- adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (August 26, 1789)
- adoption of the Bill of Rights in the USA (1791)
- presidency of George Washington in the USA (1789-1797)
- the beginning of the revolutionary wars of France (1792-1801)
- collapse of the monarchy in France (1792)
- the Jacobins came to power in France (1793-1794)
- execution of King Louis XVI in France (1793)
- Italian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte (1796-1797)
- Egyptian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte (1798-1801)
- coup d'état of Napoleon Bonaparte of 18-19 Brumaire (1799)
- proclamation of Napoleon as Emperor of France (1804)
- Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)
- overthrow of Napoleon (1814)
- “One Hundred Days” of Napoleon (March 1, 1815-July 7, 1815)
- proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine in the USA (1823)
- revolution in France (1830)
- Chartist movement in England (1836-1848)
- “spring of nations”: revolutions in European countries (1849-1849)
- American Civil War (1861 -1865)
- Italian unification (1860s)
- Bismarck’s activities at the head of Prussia and Germany (50s - 60s of the 19th century)
- Meiji revolution in Japan (1868-1869)
- Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871)
- proclamation of the German Empire (1871)
- creation of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) (1882)
- creation of the Entente (Russia, England and France) (1907)
- Balkan Wars (1912-191 Zgg.)
- “Sarajevo Incident”, the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1914)
- First World War (1914-1918)
- revolution in Germany (1918)
- Paris Peace Conference (1919-1921)
- establishment of the League of Nations (1919)
- Washington Conference (1921-1922)
- the fascists came to power in Italy (October 1922)
- global economic crisis, “great depression” (1929-1933)
- Hitler's rise to power in Germany (January 30, 1933)
- F. Roosevelt’s “new course” in the USA (1933-1939)
- fascist revolt and civil war in Spain (1936-1939)
- Anti-Comintern Pact between Germany and Japan (November 25, 1936)
- capture of Austria by Nazi Germany (Anschluss) (1938)
- signing of the Munich Agreement (1938)
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the US entry into the war (December 7, 1941)
- landing of Anglo-American troops in Normandy. Opening of the Second Front (1944)
- US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and 9, 1945)
- Japanese surrender. End of World War II (September 2, 1945)
- Nuremberg trial of Nazi criminals (1945-1946)
- NATO formation (April 4, 1949)
- proclamation of the People's Republic of China (1949)
- victory of the revolution in Cuba (1959)
- US war in Vietnam (1965-1973)
- “Cultural Revolution” in China (1966-1976)
- “velvet” revolutions in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (1989)
- unification of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany (1990)

The Franks were a large tribal union formed from several more ancient Germanic tribes (Sigambri, Hamavs, Bructeri, Tencteri, etc.). They lived east of the lower reaches of the Rhine and were divided, like a wall, by the Charbonniere forests into two groups: the Salii and the Ripuarii. In the second half of the 4th century. The Franks occupied Toxandria (the area between the Meuse and the Scheldt), settling here as federates of the empire.

Orange shows the territory inhabited by the Ripuarian Franks in the second half of the 5th century.

During the great migration of peoples, the Merovingian dynasty took the dominant position among the Salians. At the end of the 5th century, one of its representatives, Clovis (466-511), stood at the head of the Salic Franks. This cunning and enterprising king laid the foundation for the powerful Frankish monarchy.

Reims Cathedral - where kings take their oaths

The first king to be crowned in Reims was the Frankish leader Clovis. This happened in 481. Tradition tells that on the eve of the coronation a miracle happened: a dove sent from heaven brought in its beak a vial full of oil necessary to anoint the king as king.

The last Roman possession in Gaul was Soissons and its surrounding territories. Holdwig, who knew from the experience of his father about the untouched riches of the cities and villages of the Paris Basin, and about the precariousness of the authorities that remained the heirs of the Roman Empire, in 486. in the battle of Soissons, he defeated the troops of the Roman governor in Gaul, Syagrius, and seized power in this region of the former empire.

To expand his possessions to the lower reaches of the Rhine, he goes with an army to the Cologne region against the Alemanni, who have ousted the Ripuarian Franks. The Battle of Tolbiac took place on the Wollerheim Heath field near the German town of Zulpich. This battle is extremely important in its consequences. Clovis's wife, the Burgundian princess Clotilde, was a Christian and had long convinced her husband to leave paganism. But Clovis hesitated.

They say that in the battle with the Alemanni, when the enemy began to gain the upper hand, Clovis vowed in a loud voice to be baptized if he won. There were many Gallo-Roman Christians in his army; upon hearing the vow, they were inspired and helped win the battle. The Alemanni king fell in battle, his warriors, in order to stop the murder, turn to Clovis with the words: “Have mercy, we obey you” (Gregory of Tours).

This victory makes the Alemanni dependent on the Franks. The territory along the left bank of the Rhine, the area of ​​the Neckar River (the right tributary of the Rhine) and the lands up to the lower reaches of the Main pass to Clovis...

François-Louis Hardy Dejuynes - The Baptism of Clovis at Reims in 496

Holdvig donated a lot of wealth to the church and replaced the white banner on his banner, which depicted three golden toads, with a blue one, later, with the image of a fleur-de-lis, which was a symbol of St. Martin, the patron saint of France. Clovis allegedly chose this flower as a symbol of purification after baptism.

Along with the king, a significant part of his squad was baptized. The people, after the king’s speech, exclaimed: “Dear king, we renounce mortal gods and are ready to follow the immortal God whom Remigius preaches.” The Franks received baptism from the Catholic clergy; Thus, they became of the same faith with the Gallo - Roman population, and could merge with them into one people. This clever political move provided Clovis with the opportunity, under the banner of the fight against heresy, to oppose the neighboring Visigoth tribe and other barbarian tribes.

In 506, Clovis created a coalition against the Visigothic king Alaric II, who owned a quarter of south-west Gaul. In 507, he defeated Alaric's army at Vouillet, near Poitiers, pushing the Visigoths beyond the Pyrenees. For this victory, the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I granted him the honorary title of Roman consul, sending him the signs of this rank: a crown and a purple mantle, and thereby, in the eyes of the Gallic population, seemed to confirm the power of Clovis in the newly conquered regions. He enjoys the support of the bishops, who see Clovis as a winner in the fight against Arianism, which they consider heresy.

Many of the Roman and Gallic nobility hastened to recognize the power of Clovis, thanks to which they retained their lands and dependent people. They also helped Clovis rule the country. The rich Romans became related to the Frankish leaders and gradually began to form a single ruling stratum of the population. At the same time, the Eastern Empire was primarily focused on its own benefits, primarily in foreign policy terms.

The efforts of imperial diplomacy around the Frankish “kingdom” of Clovis were aimed both at achieving a favorable balance of power in the West and at creating a stronghold here against other Germans, in particular the Goths. In this regard, Byzantine diplomacy continued the traditional policy of the Roman Empire: it was preferable to deal with the barbarians with their own hands.

By order of Clovis, the law was codified, the ancient judicial customs of the Franks and the new decrees of the king were recorded. Clovis became the sole supreme ruler of the state. Not only all Frankish tribes, but also the population of the entire country now submitted to him. The power of the king was much stronger than the power of the military leader. The king passed it on as inheritance to his sons. Actions against the king were punishable by death. In each region of the vast country, Clovis appointed rulers from people close to him - counts. They collected taxes from the population, commanded detachments of warriors, and supervised the courts. The highest judge was the king.

In order to conquer and, most importantly, retain new lands, a military leader must rely on the proven loyalty of his military retinue, which accompanies and protects him everywhere. Only a full treasury can give him such an opportunity, and only the seizure of funds contained in the treasury of his rivals can make him able to acquire the loyalty of new warriors, and this is necessary if territorial claims extend to the whole of Gaul. Clovis and his successors, strengthening their power and ensuring themselves the ability to control the acquired territories, generously gave away lands to their associates and warriors as a reward for their service. The result of such donations was a sharp intensification of the natural process of “settlement of the squad to the ground.” The endowment of warriors with estates and their transformation into feudal landowners took place in almost all countries of feudal Europe. Very soon, noble people turned into large landowners.

At the same time, Clovis tried to unite the Frankish tribes subordinate to the other Merovingians under his rule. He achieved this goal by cunning and atrocities, destroying the Frankish leaders who were his allies in the conquest of Gaul, while showing a lot of cunning and cruelty. The Merovingians were called “long-haired kings” because, according to legend, they did not have the right to cut their hair, because this could bring misfortune to the kingdom and was punishable by immediate deprivation of the throne. Therefore, at first the rulers of the Franks did not kill their rivals, but simply cut off their hair. But the hair grew back quickly... and soon they began to cut it off along with the head. The beginning of this “tradition” was laid by the son of Childeric and the grandson of Merovey - Clovis, who exterminated almost all relatives - the leaders of the Salic Franks: Syagray, Hararic, Ragnahar and their children, his brothers Rahar and Rignomer and their children.

He eliminated the king of the Ripuarian Franks, Sigebert, by persuading his own son to kill his father, and then sent assassins to his son. After the murder of Sigebert and his son, Clovis also proclaimed himself king of the Ripuarian Franks. At the end of the 5th century, tribes of Germans calling themselves Franks formed a new state (the future France), which, under the Merovingians, covered the territory of present-day France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and part of Germany.

The long-awaited moment came for Clovis - he became the sole ruler of the Franks, but not for long, he died in the same year. He was buried in Paris in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which he himself built with his wife (now the Church of Saint Genevieve).

Considering the kingdom as his own, he left it to his four sons. Thierry, Chlodomir, Childebert and Chlothar inherited the kingdom and divided it among themselves into equal parts, only occasionally uniting for joint campaigns of conquest. There were several kings, the kingdom was still one, although divided into several parts, to which German historians gave the name “Shared Kingdom”. The power of the Frankish kings underwent changes in the period from the end of the 5th to the middle of the 6th century. Being at first only a power over one people or nationality, uniting people for war, it became a power over a certain territory, and because of this, a permanent power over several peoples.

The fragmentation of the kingdom did not prevent the Franks from uniting their efforts for joint action against the Burgundians, whose state was conquered after a protracted war in 520-530. The annexation of the region of the future Provence, which turned out to be bloodless, also dates back to the time of the sons of Clovis. The Merovingians managed to achieve the transfer of these lands from the Ostrogoths, who were embroiled in a long war against Byzantium. In 536, the Ostrogothic king Witigis abandoned Provence in favor of the Franks. In the 30s In the 6th century, the Alpine possessions of the Alemanni and the lands of the Thuringians between the Weser and Elbe were also conquered, and in the 50s. - lands of the Bavarians on the Danube.

But apparent unity could no longer hide the signs of future strife. An inevitable consequence of the partition was civil strife in the Merovingian family. These civil strife were accompanied by cruelties and treacherous murders.

Jean-Louis Besard as Childebert I, third son of King Clovis I and Clotilde of Burgundy

In 523-524. Together with his brothers, he took part in two campaigns against Burgundy. After the death of Chlodomer during the second campaign, a bloody conspiracy between Childeber and Chlothar occurred, who plotted to kill their nephews and divide their inheritance among themselves. So Childebert became king of Orleans, recognizing Chlothar as his heir.

In 542, Childebert, together with Chlothar, organized a campaign in Spain against the Visigoths. They captured Pamplona and besieged Zaragoza, but were forced to retreat.

From this campaign, Childebert brought to Paris a Christian relic - the tunic of St. Vincent, in whose honor he founded a monastery in Paris, later known as the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. In 555, together with his nephew Temple, Childebert rebelled against Chlothar I and plundered part of his lands. After Childebert's death, Chlothar took possession of his kingdom.

In 558, all of Gaul was united under the rule of Clothar I. He also had four heirs, which led to a new division of the state into three parts - Burgundy, Austrasia and Neustria. In the southeast was Aquitaine, which was considered the common territory of all three Frankish kings. The Merovingian power was an ephemeral political entity. It lacked not only economic and ethnic community, but also political and judicial-administrative unity. The social system of different parts of the Frankish state was not the same. At the beginning of the 7th century, under King Clothar II, the landed nobility obtained from him major concessions listed in the edict of 614, and thereby limited his power.

The last significant Merovingian king was Dagobert (son of Clothar II). The Merovingians who followed were more insignificant than each other. Under them, the decision of state affairs passes into the hands of the mayors, appointed by the king in each kingdom from representatives of the most noble families. Amid this chaos and turmoil, one position particularly stood out and achieved the highest power: that of the palace manager. The manager of the palace, the chamber mayor, or major domus, in the 6th century did not yet stand out from many other positions; in the 7th century he began to occupy first place after the king.

The Frankish state split into two main parts: the eastern, Austrasia, or the German lands proper, and the western, Neustria, or Gaul.

One Austrasian mayor, Pishsh of Geristal, was already so powerful that he forced himself to be recognized as mayor in Neustria. As a result of his campaigns of conquest, he expanded the territory of the state and the tribes of the Saxons and Bavarians paid him tribute. His son Charles, by his side wife Alpaida, also kept both halves under his rule.

In 725 and 728, Charles Pepin undertook two campaigns in Bavaria, as a result of which it was subordinated to his kingdom, although it continued to be governed by its duke. In the early 730s he conquered Alemannia, which in the past was part of the Frankish state.

Charles significantly strengthened the military power of the Frankish kingdom. Under him, the military art of the Franks received further development. This was due to the appearance of heavily armed cavalry of the Frankish nobility - which in the near future became knightly cavalry.

Karl came up with an original move. He began to issue state lands not as full, but as conditional ownership. Thus, in the Frankish state, a special type of land ownership developed - benefices. The condition was complete “self-arming” and performing mounted military service. If the owner of the land refused, for whatever reason, his plot was confiscated back to the state.

Charles carried out a wide distribution of benefices. The fund for these grants was at first the lands confiscated from the rebellious magnates, and when these lands dried up, he carried out partial secularization (the removal of something from ecclesiastical, spiritual jurisdiction and transfer to the secular, civil), due to which he allocated a large number of beneficiaries. Using part of the church lands to strengthen the beneficiary system, Charles at the same time actively contributed to the spread of Christianity and the enrichment of churchmen in the lands he conquered, and saw in the church a means of strengthening his power. His patronage of the missionary activities of St. is known. Boniface - "Apostle of Germany".

The Arabs, having conquered Spain, invaded Gaul. Near the city of Poitiers in 732, the troops of the Frankish mayor Charles defeated the army of the Andalusian emir Abderrahman al-Ghafaki, who decided to punish the Duke of Aquitaine Ed.

A battle took place in which the desperate courage of the Muslims was crushed by the fortress of the Franks. The battle turned out to be in many ways a turning point in the history of medieval Europe. The Battle of Poitiers saved it from Arab conquest, and at the same time demonstrated the full power of the newly created knightly cavalry. The Arabs returned to Spain and stopped advancing north of the Pyrenees. Only a small part of Southern Gaul - Septimania - was now left in the hands of the Arabs. It is believed that it was after this battle that Charles received the nickname “Martell” - Hammer.

In 733 and 734 he conquered the lands of the Frisians, accompanying the conquest with the active planting of Christianity among them. Repeatedly (in 718, 720, 724, 738) Charles Martell made campaigns across the Rhine against the Saxons and imposed tribute on them.

However, he stood only on the threshold of the true historical greatness of the Frankish state. Before his death, he divided the Frankish kingdom between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin the Short, the first of them received majordom in Austrasia, Swabia and Thuringia, the second in Neustria, Burgundy and Provence.

Charles Martell was succeeded by his son Pitsch the Short, so nicknamed for his small stature, which did not prevent him from possessing great physical strength. In 751, Major Pepin the Short imprisoned the last Merovingian (Childeric III) in a monastery and turned to the Pope with the question: “Who should be called king - the one who has only the title, or the one who has real power?” and the understanding dad answered exactly as the questioner wanted. This seemingly simple question challenged the ancestral sacredness of the Franks embodied in the Merovingians.

Francois Dubois - Anointing of Pepin the Short in the Abbey of Saint-Denis

Holy Bishop Boniface anointed Pepin as king, and then Pope Stephen II, who arrived to ask for help against the Lombards, himself repeated this rite of anointing. In 751, at a meeting of the Frankish nobility and his vassals in Soissons, Pepin was officially proclaimed king of the Franks. Pepin knew how to be grateful: by force of arms he forced the Lombard king to give the pope the cities of the Roman region and the lands of the Ravenna exarchate that he had previously captured. On these lands in Central Italy, the Papal State arose in 756. So Pepin became a monarch, and the pope who sanctioned the coup received an invaluable gift, a hugely important precedent for the future: the right to remove kings and entire dynasties from power.

Charles Martell and Pepin the Short understood that the spread of Christianity and the establishment of church government in the German countries would bring the latter closer to the Frankish state. Even earlier, individual preachers (missionaries), especially from Ireland and Scotland, came to the Germans and spread Christianity among them.

After the death of Pepin the Short in 768, the Crown passed to his son Charles, later called the Great. The mayors of Austrasia from the house of Pipinids (descendants of Pepin of Geristal), becoming the rulers of the united Frankish state, laid the foundation for a new dynasty of Frankish kings. After Charles, the Pipinid dynasty was called the Carolingians.

During the reign of the Carolingians, the foundations of the feudal system were laid in Frankish society. The growth of large-scale land ownership accelerated due to social stratification within the community where it remained, the ruin of the mass of free peasants who, losing their allods, gradually turned into landed and then personally dependent people. This process, which began under the Merovingians, in the 8th-9th centuries. took on a violent character.

Continuing the aggressive policy of his predecessors, Charles in 774 made a campaign in Italy, overthrew the last Lombard king Desiderius and annexed the Lombard kingdom to the Frankish state. In June 774, after another siege, Charles took Pavia, proclaiming it the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

Charlemagne went from defensive to offensive and against the Arabs in Spain. He made his first trip there in 778, but was only able to reach Saragossa and, without taking it, was forced to return beyond the Pyrenees. The events of this campaign served as the plot basis for the famous medieval French epic “Songs of Roland”. Its hero was one of Charles’s military leaders, Roland, who died in a skirmish with the Basques along with the rearguard of the Frankish troops, covering the Franks’ retreat in the Roncesvalles Gorge. Despite the initial failure, Charles continued to try to advance south of the Pyrenees. In 801, he managed to capture Barcelona and establish a border territory in the northeast of Spain - the Spanish March.

Charles fought the longest and bloodiest wars in Saxony (from 772 to 802), located between the Ems and Lower Rhine rivers in the west, the Elbe in the east and the Eider in the north. In order to break the rebellious, Charles entered into a temporary alliance with their eastern neighbors, the Polabian Slavs, the Obodrites, who had long been at enmity with the Saxons. During the war and after its completion in 804, Charles practiced mass migrations of Saxons to the interior regions of the Frankish kingdom, and Franks and Obodrites to Saxony.

Charles's conquests were also directed to the southeast. In 788, he finally annexed Bavaria, eliminating the ducal power there. Thanks to this, the influence of the Franks spread to neighboring Carinthia (Horutania), inhabited by the Slavs - the Slovenes. On the southeastern borders of the expanding Frankish state, Charles encountered the Avar Khaganate in Pannonia. The nomadic Avars carried out constant predatory raids on neighboring agricultural tribes. In 788, they also attacked the Frankish state, marking the beginning of the Frankish-Avar wars, which continued intermittently until 803. A decisive blow to the Avars was dealt by the capture of a system of ring-shaped fortifications called “hrings”, surrounded by stone walls and a palisade made of thick logs; Many settlements were located among these fortifications. Having stormed the fortifications, the Franks enriched themselves with countless treasures. The main hring was protected by nine successive walls. The war with the Avars lasted for many years, and only the alliance of the Franks with the southern Slavs allowed them, with the participation of the Khorutan prince Voinomir, who led this campaign, to defeat the central fortress of the Avars in 796. As a result, the Avar state collapsed, and Pannonia temporarily found itself in the hands of the Slavs.

Charlemagne is the first ruler who decided to unite Europe. The Frankish state now covered a vast territory. It extended from the middle reaches of the Ebro River and Barcelona in the southwest to the Elbe, Sala, the Bohemian Mountains and the Vienna Woods in the east, from the border of Jutland in the north to Central Italy in the south. This territory was inhabited by many tribes and nationalities, varying in level of development. From the moment of its inception, the administrative organization of the new Frankish empire was aimed at universal education, the development of art, religion and culture. Under him, capitularies were issued - acts of Carolingian legislation, and land reforms were carried out that contributed to the feudalization of Frankish society. By forming border areas - the so-called Marches - he strengthened the defense capability of the state. The era of Charles went down in history as the era of the “Carolingian Renaissance”. It was at this time that the Frankish Empire became the link between antiquity and medieval Europe. Scientists and poets gathered at his court, he promoted the spread of culture and literacy through monastic schools and through the activities of monastic educators.

Under the leadership of the great Anglo-Saxon scientist Alcuin, and with the participation of such famous figures as Theodulf, Paul the Deacon, Eingard and many others, the education system was actively revived, which was called the Carolingian Renaissance. He led the church's struggle against the iconoclasts and insisted that the pope include the filioque (the provision of the procession of the Holy Spirit not only from the Father, but also from the Son) in the Creed.

Architectural art is experiencing a great boom; numerous palaces and temples are being built, the monumental appearance of which was characteristic of the early Romanesque style. It should be noted, however, that the term “Renaissance” can be used here only conditionally, since Charles’s activities took place during the era of the spread of religious-ascetic dogmas, which for several centuries became an obstacle to the development of humanistic ideas and the true revival of cultural values ​​created in the ancient era.

Through his vast conquests, Charlemagne demonstrated a desire for imperial universality, which found its religious counterpart in the universality of the Christian Church. This religious and political synthesis, in addition to being symbolic, also had great practical significance for organizing the internal life of the state and ensuring the unity of its heterogeneous parts. Secular power, when necessary, used the authority of the church to assert its prestige. However, this was an unstable union: the church, seeing its support in the state, laid claim to political leadership. On the other hand, the secular power, whose strength gradually grew, sought to subjugate the papacy. Therefore, the relationship between church and state in Western Europe included confrontation and inevitable conflict situations.

Charles could no longer rule numerous countries and peoples while continuing to bear the title of King of the Franks. In order to reconcile and merge together all the heterogeneous elements in his kingdom - the German tribes of the Franks, Saxons, Frisians, Lombards, Bavarians, Alamanni with the Roman, Slavic and other components of the state - Charles needed to accept a new, so to speak, neutral title that could would give it undeniable authority and significance in the eyes of all subjects. Such a title could only be that of a Roman emperor, and the only question was how to obtain it. The proclamation of Charles as emperor could only happen in Rome, and the opportunity soon presented itself. Taking advantage of the fact that Pope Leo III, fleeing from the hostile Roman nobility, took refuge at the court of the Frankish king, Charles undertook a campaign to Rome in defense of the pope. The grateful pope, not without pressure from Charles, crowned him with the imperial crown in 800 in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, solemnly placing on him the imperial crown with the title "Charles Augustus, crowned by God the great and peace-making Roman Emperor."

Charlemagne's new Roman Empire was half the size of the previous one, Charlemagne was German rather than Roman, preferring to rule from Aachen or wage war. The Holy Roman Empire of the German nation lasted a thousand years until it was destroyed by another great conqueror - Napoleon, who called himself the successor of Charlemagne.

The word king did not exist before Charlemagne. It came from his name. The anagram of Charlemagne encrypts his name - Karolus.

Despite the efforts of Charlemagne, the Frankish state never achieved political unity, and weakening as a result of external threats accelerated its collapse. From that time on, only church unity was preserved in Europe, and culture found refuge in monasteries for a long time.

The fragmentation of the empire by the grandchildren of Charlemagne in 843 meant the end of the political unity of the Frankish state. Charlemagne's empire collapsed due to feudalization. Under the weak sovereigns, who turned out to be his son and grandsons, the centrifugal forces of feudalism tore it apart.

According to the Treaty of Verdun in 843, it was divided between the descendants of Charlemagne into three large parts: the West Frankish, East Frankish kingdoms and an empire that included Italy and the lands along the Rhine (the empire of Lothair, one of Charles's grandsons). The partition marked the beginning of the history of three modern European states - France, Germany and Italy.

The formation of the “kingdom” of the Franks is a kind of result of the long historical path traversed by the West German tribal world over hundreds of years. Of all the “states” formed by the Germans, the state of the Franks lasted the longest and played the most important role. Perhaps this is explained by the fact that the Franks settled in large numbers, completely displacing the “Roman” population from certain territories.

In place of the slaveholding territories of Ancient Rome, free peasant communities were formed, the formation of large feudal estates began - the era of feudalism, or the era of the Middle Ages, began. And the formation of French civilization begins, as part of European civilization.

In modern Europe, Charlemagne is considered one of the forerunners of European integration. Since 1950, the annual Charlemagne Prize for contributions to European unity has been awarded in Aachen, the capital of Charles' empire.

In Gaul in the 5th century. profound socio-economic transformations took place. In this richest province of Rome (territory almost coinciding with present-day France), a deep crisis emerged that engulfed the Empire. The protests of slaves, colonists, peasants, and the urban poor became more frequent. Rome could no longer defend its borders from invasions of foreign tribes and, above all, the Germans - the eastern neighbors of Gaul. As a result, most of the country was captured by the Visigoths, Burgundians, Franks (Salic and Ripuarian) and some other tribes. Of these Germanic tribes, the Salic Franks ultimately turned out to be the most powerful (perhaps this was the name of one of the rivers of what is now Holland in ancient times). It took them a little over 20 years to reach the end of the 5th and beginning of the 6th centuries. take over most of the country.

The main judicial institutions of the country, where the overwhelming majority of cases were considered, were the “courts of the hundred.” Their form has not undergone major changes over the course of several centuries. And this is no coincidence. Most often in contact with the people, constantly and directly intervening in their lives, the courts had to have not only coercive power, but also the proper authority. At first, state power could not fully provide both of these. By preserving the old form of court, the lords sought to take advantage of the respect that the court had among the people. Even then, apparently, they understood the power of tradition - the population was accustomed to a certain form of dispute resolution.

Nevertheless, gradually but steadily, judicial power was concentrated in the hands of the feudal lords. Initially, the count, centenary or vicar only convened a malberg - a meeting of hundreds of free people who chose judges - rakhinburgs - from among themselves. The trial was conducted under the leadership of an elected chairman - Tungin. As a rule, wealthy and respected people were chosen to serve on the court. But all free and full-fledged residents (adult men) of the hundred had to be present at the court hearing. The king's representatives only monitored the correctness of legal proceedings.

Gradually, the king's people (his representatives) become chairmen of the courts instead of the Tungins. The Carolingians completed this process. Their envoys - the missions - received the right to appoint members of the court, the so-called Skabins, instead of the Rahinburgs. The obligation of free people to attend the trial was abolished.

The subsequent development of feudalism led to a radical change in the entire judicial structure. Immunist lords expanded their rights in the field of trial over peasants living in their domains. Officials, as well as the highest hierarchs of the church, acquired the features of immunity and judicial powers.

Army. The structure of the army slowly but steadily evolved from a squad organization, combined with the people's militia of free Frankish peasants, to a feudal knightly militia. The military reform of Charles Martel gave the Carolingians a relatively large, well-armed cavalry knightly army, consisting of beneficiary holders. The need for a people's militia disappeared. The monarchy gained the opportunity to wage successful wars of conquest. The reliability of the knightly army in the fight against popular uprisings was also of great importance.

At the beginning of the 9th century. The Frankish state was at the zenith of its power. Covering the territory of almost all of Western Europe and not having on its borders an enemy equal in strength, it seemed indestructible and unshakable. However, even then it carried within itself elements of approaching decline and collapse. Created through conquest, it was a conglomerate of nationalities, not connected by anything except military force. Having temporarily broken the massive resistance of the enslaved peasantry, the Frankish feudal lords lost their former interest in a unified state. During this period, the economy of Frankish society was subsistence in nature. Accordingly, there were no strong, stable economic ties between individual regions. There were also no other factors capable of restraining the fragmentation of the country. The Frankish state was completing its development path from the early feudal monarchy to the statehood of the period of feudal fragmentation.

In 843, the split of the state was legally enshrined in a treaty concluded at Verdun by the grandchildren of Charlemagne. Three kingdoms became the legal successors of the empire: West Frankish, East Frankish and Middle (future France, Germany and partly Italy).

The first ruling dynasty of the Frankish state was the Merovingians, whose ancestors are considered more mythical than real personalities. There was little accurate information about them, and this gave the descendants the right to attribute divine origin to themselves. One way or another, but representatives of this particular dynasty ensured the emergence of the Frankish state.

Myths and legends of medieval France

Just as in Russia there is a source, “The Tale of Bygone Years,” some of whose data is disputed by later research, so in France there is an anonymous chronicle, “The Book of the History of the Franks,” or “The Acts of the Frankish Kings.” Just as the authorship of the Russian chronicle is attributed to the monk Nestor, the French source was allegedly compiled by the Bishop of the city of Tours, Gregory of Tours. According to this book, the Merovingian family can be traced back to King Priam, the last ruler of Troy, whose children numbered 5 dozen. One of them was Marcomir, the leader of the Franks in the 4th century. And his son Pharamond, according to the source mentioned above, was for a long time considered the first king of the Merovingian dynasty. But later its very existence was questioned. So Pharamond as the first ruler of the Frankish state disappears.

Origins of the great dynasty

His son, Chlodion the Longhair (390-447), who reigned approximately 427-447, is also a legendary or mythical figure. Although a little more is known about him. He is considered the king of the Salic or West Franks. This branch separated from the rest of the people and lived in Toxandria (North Brabant, between the rivers Meuse and Scheldt) from 420, then in Tournai, a city located near present-day Brussels. Chlodion received the nickname “Long-haired” because his uncut hair from birth hinted at divine origin and belonging to the highest royal caste. He is famous for the fact that his son and successor Merovey is already considered a semi-legendary person, and it is believed that it was because of his name that the name of the first ruling dynasty of the Frankish state of the Merovingians was given. But he is not the first ruler of the Frankish state. However, some sources attribute the victory over the Huns on the Catalaunian fields to him. Attila retreated, and the Salic Franks settled permanently in Gaul.

A real person

Merovey died after a ten-year reign, and his son Childeric I succeeded to the throne. And now he is a real person. This is not only written, but also In 1653, near the Church of Saint-Brice, now part of the canton of Northern Cognac, during the construction of the foundation for the shelter, the grave of Helderic was found with his weapons, personal belongings and jewelry, on which his name was engraved, translated as “powerful warrior.” He expanded the territory of the future Frankish state, defeated the Saxons and occupied Anjou. He was the ruler of the Salic Franks from 457 to 481. Died at approximately 40 years of age.

First Christian ruler

His successor was Clovis I (466-511), the most talented and powerful king of the Merovingian dynasty. He ruled the country from 481 to 511. It is he who is the creator and first ruler of the Frankish state. Having concluded a close alliance with the Pope, he turned the Frankish state, which had become the most powerful on the ruins of the Roman Empire, into a stronghold of Catholicism. Under him, the country became not only powerful, but also Christian. In 496, having destroyed the Allemans (an ancient Germanic tribe translated from German as “all people”), Clovis converted to Catholicism. He was considered the embodiment of a combination of intelligence and cruelty, valor and deceit. Thanks to these qualities, the Frankish state expanded its territory several times. The motto of his reign was the slogan: “The end justifies the means.” But after his death, the powerful power collapsed.

Ups and downs

Throughout its existence from the 5th to the 9th centuries, Frankia (the first mentions date back to the 3rd century) knew ups and downs, had great rulers and their mediocre followers. The first ruler of the Frankish state and its last king - Clovis I and Charlemagne - were significant personalities in both French and world history. The merits of the first king, in addition to the significant expansion of territory and the adoption of the Christian religion, also include the fact that he founded his residence in Paris and, having greatly strengthened royal power, made it hereditary. The first ruler of the Frankish state, Clovis I, contributed to the writing of one of the earliest “Barbarian Truths”. “Truth” is a set of unwritten norms and customs that were sanctioned. That is, it was an attempt to create a judicial-administrative apparatus. The merits of this king are great in many areas. But to the question of who was the baptist of France, there is a clear answer: the first ruler of the Frankish state, Clovis I.

Government structure

But still, in the state of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages there was a weak centralization of power. Essentially, the territorial structure was dominated by tribal division. The inferior but prominent units, the hundreds, were grouped into pagi, or districts, which were modified Roman communities. They were no longer tribal, but were neighboring, or territorial (according to Engels - “marks”). The communities, in turn, were united into counties, the totality of which constituted the early Frankish state. The rulers of the regions of the Frankish state - the counts - did not have general power; they were in charge only of the local possessions of the king. Communities were in charge of laws, their implementation, and tax collection. But under Clovis, the royal court gradually began to rule the country.

Strengthening royal power

With the expansion of the state and the strengthening of the power of the supreme ruler throughout its territory, people's assemblies lose their importance. The king also becomes the supreme judge. In his free time from the war, he traveled around the country in order to solve serious crimes. Minor violations continued to be brought before the communities. Over time, the king's governors in the regions, the counts, strengthened their power and became real rulers exercising general governance. It must be emphasized that the first ruler of the Frankish state was crowned in 481 in the cathedral of Reims. There is a legend about Clovis being chosen by God. On the eve of the coronation, a dove brought from heaven a vial full of oil to anoint the king as king. In the same cathedral five years later, in 486, Clovis I was baptized.