A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Taylor Bayard

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      CHAPTER X.

       Table of Contents

      THE DYNASTY OF THE ROYAL STEWARDS.

      (638—768.)

      638.

      We have mentioned Pippin of Landen as the Royal Steward of Clotar II. His office gave birth to the new power which grew up beside the Merovingian rule and finally suppressed it. In the chronicles of the time the officer is called the Majordomus of the King—a word which is best translated by "Steward of the Royal Household"; but in reality, it embraced much more extended and important powers than the title would imply. In their conquests, the Franks—as we have already stated—usually claimed at least one-third of the territory which fell into their hands. A part of this was portioned out among the chief men and the soldiers; a part was set aside as the king's share, and still another part became the common property of the people. The latter, therefore, fell into the habit of electing a Steward to guard and superintend this property in their interest; and, as the kings became involved in their family feuds, the charge of the royal estates was intrusted to the hands of the same steward.

      The latter estates soon became, by conquest, so extensive and important, that the king gave the use of many of them for a term of years, or for life, to private individuals in return for military services. This was called the Lehen (lien, or loan) system, to distinguish it from the Allod (allotment), whereby a part of the conquered lands were divided by lot, and became the free property of those to whom they fell. The Lehen gave rise to a new class, whose fortunes were immediately dependent on the favor of the king, and who consequently, when they appeared at the national assemblies, voted on his side. Such a "loaned" estate was also called feod, whence the term "feudal system," which, gradually modified by time, grew from this basis. The importance of the Royal Steward in the kingdom is thus explained. The office, at first, had probably a mere business character. After Chlodwig's time, the civil wars by which the estates of the king and the people became subject to constant change, gave the steward a political power, which increased with each generation. He stood between the monarch and his subjects, with the best opportunity for acquiring an ascendency over the minds of both. At first, he was only elected for a year, and his reëlection depended on the honesty and ability with which he had discharged his duties. During the convulsions of the dynasty, he, in common with king and nobles, gained what rights the people lost: he began to retain his office for a longer time, then for life, and finally demanded that it should be hereditary in his family.

      638. THE "LEHEN" SYSTEM.

      The Royal Stewards of Burgundy and Germany played an important part in the last struggle between Clotar II. and Brunhilde. When the successful king, in 622, found that the increasing difference of language and habits between the eastern and western portions of his realm required a separation of the government, and made his young son, Dagobert, ruler over the German half, he was compelled to recognize Pippin of Landen as his Steward, and to trust Dagobert entirely to his hands. The dividing line between "Austria" and "Neustria" was drawn along the chain of the Vosges, through the forest of Ardennes, and terminated near the mouth of the Schelde—almost the same line which divides the German and French languages, at this day.

      Pippin was a Frank, born in the Netherlands, a man of energy and intelligence, but of little principle. He had, nevertheless, shrewdness enough to see the necessity of maintaining the unity and peace of the kingdom, and he endeavored, in conjunction with Bishop Arnulf of Metz, to make a good king of Dagobert. They made him, indeed, amiable and well-meaning, but they could not overcome the instability of his character. After Clotar II.'s death, in 628, Dagobert passed the remaining ten years of his life in France, under the control of others, and the actual government of Germany was exercised by Pippin.

      670.

      The period of transition between the power of the kings, gradually sinking, and the power of the Stewards, steadily rising, lasted about fifty years. The latter power, however, was not allowed to increase without frequent struggles, partly from the jealousy of the nobility and priesthood, partly from the Resistance of the people to the extinction of their remaining rights. But, after the devastation left behind by the fratricidal wars of the Merovingians, all parties felt the necessity of a strong and well-regulated government, and the long experience of the Stewards gave them the advantage.

      Grimoald, the son and successor of Pippin in the stewardship of Germany, made an attempt to usurp the royal power, but failed. This event, and the interference of a Steward of France with the rights of the dynasty, led the Franks, in 670—when the whole kingdom was again united under Childeric II.—to decree that the Stewards should be elected annually by the people, as in the beginning. But when Childeric II., like the most of his predecessors, was murdered, the deposed Steward of France regained his power, forced the people to accept him, and attempted to СКАЧАТЬ