Great reading, Uwe, one always can learn something! --Where you put
"meanness" in brackets, I wonder whether it should not read "what they had
in common", Gemeinde, Gemeinschaft?
Oda, in BC
Before the Sachsen People were organized into the Frankish Kingdom by
Karl the Great, the farmers were free. However, in the 9th to 11th
century , through forced protection [Zwangsmaßnahmen?] the Frankish
men found themselves on a path of dependency on the lords of manors
[Grundherren]. There was, at the same time as the Count, other
relatives of nobility or the church with their various institutions.
They leased parts of their landed properties to obligated ministerials
and vassals,who acted in their own part as lords of the farms in
conformity with the "Meierrecht".
Since we're going into so much detail we should also mention that the very word
MEIER is nothing but the old Latin MAJOR. The Merowingian line of Frankish kings
started out as weak chieftains who relied on outside lesser chiefs to keep the peace.
The early kings were ineffective and relied on the mayor domo or chief of the
palace to run whatever there was to run in such a state.
A brief review:
A. The Merovingians
1. the Merovingians were the first dynasty of Frankish kings
2. Clovis (481-511)
a) not the most gentle of men; very violent, mean-tempered, cruel and
b) rapacious - very Germanic
c) was a pagan, until converted by his Burgundian wife, Clothilda
3. the Merovingians who followed Clovis were ineffective kings
a) most were very young at accession, and had to rule through regents, never a
desirable situation
b) most were heavy drinkers
c) called the "Do-Nothing Kings", because they did nothing but waste time and
money
4. the kingdom of the Franks was really ruled by the local lords who answered
directly to the king through the butler of the palace, the major domo, or "Mayor of
the House"
a) eventually, the position of Mayor of the Palace became hereditary
b) became a position of tremendous power, in charge of the distribution of royal
land and booty
B. Several of these Mayors became more and more powerful
1. Pepin of Heristal (687-714) virtually ruled Frankia as major domo
2. his son, Charles Martel (715-741) repelled the Muslim advance in 732 as major
domo
3. Charles' son, Pepin the Short (741-758) actually seized the throne, deposed the
last Merovingian, Childeric III, and ruled as king with the Pope's permission and
support
a) settled the de facto/de jure contradiction
(1) when Pepin became king, his first act was to abolish the office of Mayor of the
Palace
(a) was a skillful manipulator and diplomat
Charlemagne was Pepins son and he re-established the system but not at the
palace. He set up outlying stations run by major domos who also worked for the king
but on a much smaller level. The Saxons had to live with this foreign system of
subjugation and often their largest farmers joined the powers to be rather then be
displaced by them. There are quite a number of farms which claim to go back to
these days as Meierhöfe.
Fred
26 Warren St.
Beverly, NJ 08010
FredRump@earthlink.net
609-386-6846
215-205-2841 (cell)
Maybe that is where I came from... my line.. some Major domos that I can't trace..;-))
Gail Meyer Kilgore