The emergence of the Frankish state in what year. Frankish Empire (Frankish State). Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties. Ups and downs

The emergence of the Frankish state in what year.  Frankish Empire (Frankish State).  Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties.  Ups and downs
The emergence of the Frankish state in what year. Frankish Empire (Frankish State). Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties. Ups and downs

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)
- Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India (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)
- English Civil War (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)
- unification of Italy (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)


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Introduction

1. Frankish state

1.1 The emergence of a state among the Franks

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The topic of the test is “The emergence of the state among the Franks.”

The Frankish state occupied almost all of Gaul and a significant part of Germany, being the largest barbarian kingdom in the West. It included different ethnic territories. Individual regions - Neustria, Austrasia and Burgundy - differed in the level of their socio-economic development. In Neustria and Burgundy, which included the old Gallo-Roman territories, large landholdings had a large share and the process of feudalization advanced significantly. In Austrasia, where the Germanic population predominated, medium and small landownership was more common.

At the head of individual regions of the Frankish state were independent kings from the Merovingian dynasty, who sought to seize each other's possessions, which led to long internecine wars. The most important source for studying the social system of the Franks is the Salic Truth.

The purpose of the test is to study the emergence of the state among the Franks.

Achieving this goal is due to the solution of the following tasks:

1. Consider the process of the emergence of the state among the Franks.

2. Reveal the role of conquest in the emergence of statehood among the Franks.

The object of the test is the history of the state and the law of foreign countries.

The subject is the emergence of the state among the Franks.

1. Frankish state

1.1 The emergence of a state among the Franks

The Frankish state was the ancestral home of present-day France. The conquest of the territory of the former Roman Empire and the conquest of the peoples living there by Germanic tribes served as the direct reason for the formation of the Frankish state. Kosarev A.I. History of state and law of foreign countries. - 2nd ed. - M.: Jurisprudence, 2007. - p. 127

Many barbarian tribes were scattered across the vast territory of the Roman Empire: Goths, Franks, Burgundians, Alamanni, Anglo-Saxons, etc.

The Romans increasingly used Germans as mercenary soldiers and settled them on their borders. In the 5th century The highest ranks of Roman magistrates began to be held by the leaders of barbarian tribes, who led the armies allied to Rome, who entered into an agreement to come under the rule of Rome.

The decline of imperial power and the growing unpopularity of Roman rule created favorable conditions for the allied kings of Rome to expand their powers to satisfy their political claims. They often, with reference to the imperial commission, appropriated full power, levied taxes from the local population, etc.

The Visigoths, for example, settled by Rome as their foederati in 412 in Aquitaine (Southern France), subsequently expanded the territory of their Toulouse kingdom through territorial conquests recognized in 475 by the Roman emperor. In 507 this kingdom was conquered by the Franks. In 476, power in the Western Roman Empire was seized by one of the barbarian military leaders, Odoacer. He was killed in 493 by the founder of the Ostrogothic kingdom, Theodoric I, who established his sole rule over all of Italy. This kingdom fell in 555. Other “tribal states” of barbarians also emerged and were absorbed as a result of bloody wars and civil strife.

But a special role in Western Europe was destined to be played by the Salic (maritime) Franks, who were part of the alliance of Germanic tribes that formed in the 3rd century. on the northeastern border of Gaul, a province of the Roman Empire.

The initial stage in the formation of the Frankish state was the conquest of part of Gaul in 486 by the Salic Franks, led by King Clovis of the Merovingian dynasty. By 510, Clovis became the ruler of the lands and ruler of a single kingdom, stretching from the middle reaches of the Rhine to the Pyrenees. He acquires the right to dictate his own laws, collect taxes from the local population, etc. Under him, the Salic truth was written down - a record of the customary law of the Salic Franks.

The formation of the Frankish state occurred relatively quickly. This process was largely facilitated by victorious wars and, as a consequence, the class differentiation of Frankish society. By its type, the Frankish state is an early feudal monarchy. It contains elements of the old communal organization and institutions of tribal democracy, since it arose in a society that was entering the era of feudalism in the process of decomposition of the primitive communal system, bypassing the stage of slavery in its development. Such a society is characterized by multistructure (a combination of slaveholding, tribal, communal, feudal relations) and the incompleteness of the process of creating the main classes of feudal society.

In the history of the Frankish state, two periods can be distinguished, each of which is associated with the reign of a particular dynasty:

From the end of the 5th century. until the 7th century - Merovingian monarchy;

From the 8th century to the 9th century - Carolingian monarchy.

1.2 The role of conquest in the emergence of statehood among the Franks

The conquest of Gaul served as a powerful impetus for the creation of a new state apparatus among the Franks, for it required the organization of administration of the conquered regions and their protection. Clovis was the first Frankish king to assert his exclusive position as sole ruler. From a simple military leader, he turns into a monarch, achieving this position by all means: treachery, cunning, destruction of relatives, other tribal leaders. One of the most important political actions of Clovis, which strengthened the position of the Frankish state through the support of the Gallo-Roman clergy, was the adoption of Christianity.

With the adoption of Christianity by Clovis, the church became a powerful factor in strengthening royal power. It was the church that gave into the hands of the Frankish kings such a justification for wars of conquest as a reference to the “true faith”, the unification in faith of many peoples under the auspices of a single king as the supreme, not only secular, but also spiritual head of their peoples.

The gradual transition of the Gallic elite to the Christian faith also becomes an important historical factor in the unification of Gaul and the development of a special regional feudal-Christian, Western European (Romano-Germanic) civilization.

Socio-economic, religious-ideological, ethnographic and other changes in Gallic society had a direct impact on the processes of formation and development of specific features of the state apparatus of the Frankish empire, which absorbed in the 8th-9th centuries. most of the barbarian states of Western Europe. Already in the 5th century. Among the Franks, the place of the old clan community is finally replaced by a territorial community (mark), and with it a territorial division into districts (pagi), hundreds. Salic truth already speaks of the existence of officials of the kingdom: counts, satsebarons, etc. At the same time, it testifies to the significant role of communal government bodies. At this time, the Franks no longer had a tribal people's assembly. It was replaced by a review of the troops - first in March ("March fields"), then (under the Carolingians) in May ("May fields"). But local assemblies of hundreds ("malus") continued to exist, performing judicial functions under the chairmanship of the Tuigins, who, together with the Rakhinburgs, experts in law ("passing judgment"), were representatives of the community.

The role of the community in court cases was exceptionally great. The community was responsible for a murder committed on its territory, nominated fellow jurors to testify to the good name of its member, the relatives themselves brought their relative to court, and together with him paid the wergeld.

The emerging state apparatus is also characterized by extreme amorphousness, the absence of clearly demarcated official powers, subordination, and organization of office work. The threads of government are concentrated in the hands of royal servants and associates. Among them are the palace count, referendarium, and chamberlain.

State power was concentrated in the hands of the nobility, who seized all the main positions and, above all, the post of mayor. Initially, the mayordomo (senior of the house) headed the management of the royal palace. However, gradually his powers expand so much that he actually becomes the head of state. At the turn of the 7th - 8th centuries. this position became the hereditary property of a noble and wealthy family, which laid the foundation for the Carolingian dynasty. Batyr K.I. History of state and law of foreign countries. -- 4th ed., revised. and additional - M.: TK Welby, 2006. - p.123

Royal officials were awarded estates and had a portion of the collected court fees. Over time, the estates became the feudal property of their owners, and the title of the position became an honorary hereditary title.

The highest judicial power in the kingdom of the Franks belonged to the monarch; locally, most cases were considered in the “community courts,” but gradually judicial power was concentrated in the hands of the feudal lords. Milekhina E.V. History of state and law of foreign countries. - M.: Eksmo, 2007. - p. 30 At the same time, the newly emerging organs of the state apparatus of the Franks, copying some late Roman state orders, had a different character and social purpose. These were authorities that expressed the interests primarily of the German service nobility and large Gallo-Roman landowners. They were built on different organizational foundations. For example, the king’s warriors were widely used in the public service.

In the second half of the 7th century. A new system of political domination and management is emerging, a kind of “democracy of the nobility,” which presupposes the direct participation of the top of the emerging class of feudal lords in governing the state. From the middle of the 7th century, during the era of the so-called lazy kings, the nobility directly took the reins of power into their own hands, removing the king. This is done first by increasingly strengthening the role and importance of the position of majordomo, and then by directly removing the king. A striking example of this is the very change of the royal dynasty among the Franks.

Agrarian revolution of the 8th century. contributed to the further development of the feudal state, that administrative system in which patrimonial authorities began to play the main role. The new restructuring of the administrative apparatus was facilitated by the widespread dissemination of immunity letters at that time, by virtue of which the territory belonging to the owner of immunity was withdrawn (partially or completely) from the jurisdiction of state authorities in judicial, tax, and administrative matters. The votchinnik thus gained political power over his peasants. Charters of immunity, as a rule, sanctioned the already established relations of political dependence of peasants on their patrimonial lords.

The system of immunities inevitably entailed increased fragmentation and local separatism. But under Charlemagne (768-814), the Frankish state reached its greatest power, covering a vast territory. Krasheninnikova N.A. History of state and law of foreign countries. Part 1. - M. - NORM Publishing House, 2005. - p.256

Covering the territory of almost all of Western Europe, it seemed indestructible and unshakable; there was no enemy equal to his strength. However, even then it carried within itself elements of approaching decline. 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 no other factors capable of restraining the fragmentation of the country. The Frankish state completed 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 secured in the Treaty of 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).

statehood franc political society

Conclusion

The state of the Franks in its form was an early feudal monarchy. It arose in a transitional society from communal to feudal society, which in its development passed the stage of slavery. This society is characterized by a multistructure (a combination of slaveholding, tribal, communal, feudal relations), and the incompleteness of the process of creating the main classes of feudal society. Because of this, the early feudal state bears a significant imprint of the old communal organization and the institutions of tribal democracy.

The Frankish state went through two main periods in its development (from the end of the 5th to the 7th century and from the 8th to the mid-9th century). The boundary separating these periods is characterized not only by a change of ruling dynasties (the Merovingians were replaced by the Carolingians). It marked the beginning of a new stage in the deep socio-economic and political restructuring of Frankish society, during which the feudal state itself gradually took shape in the form of a seigneurial monarchy. In the second period, the creation of large feudal land ownership, two main classes of feudal society was basically completed: a closed, hierarchically subordinate class of feudal lords bound by vassal bonds, on the one hand, and the dependent peasantry exploited by it, on the other.

In the processes of formation and development of the state apparatus of the Franks, three main directions can be identified. The first direction, especially characteristic of the initial stage (V-VII centuries), manifested itself in the degeneration of the organs of tribal democracy of the Franks into organs of new, public power, into state organs proper. The second was determined by the development of the bodies of patrimonial administration, the third was associated with the gradual transformation of the state power of the Frankish monarchs into the “private” power of the lord-sovereigns with the formation of the seigneurial monarchy, which was fully revealed at the final stage of the development of Frankish society (VIII-IX centuries). .

Bibliography

1) Batyr K.I. History of the state and the law of foreign countries. -- 4th ed., revised. and additional - M.: TK Velby, 2006. - 496 p.

2) Zheludkov A.V. History of state and law of foreign countries (lecture notes). - M.: “Prior-izdat”, 2006. - 176 p.

3) Kosarev A.I. History of state and law of foreign countries. - 2nd ed. - M.: Jurisprudence, 2007 - 376 p.

4) Krasheninnikova N.A. History of state and law of foreign countries. Part 1. - M. - NORM Publishing House, 2005. - 480 p.

5) Milekhina E.V. History of state and law of foreign countries. - M.: Eksmo, 2007. - 215 p.

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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, 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 what is 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.

A classic example of early feudal society on the territory of the Western Roman Empire conquered by Germanic tribes was the society of the Franks, in which the decomposition of the primitive communal system was accelerated as a result of the influence of Roman orders.

The name of the Franks appeared in historical monuments starting from the 3rd century, and Roman writers called many Germanic tribes that bore different names Franks.

Apparently, the Franks represented a new, very extensive tribal association, which included a number of Germanic tribes that merged or mixed during the migrations.

The Franks split into two large branches - the maritime, or Salic, Franks (from the Latin word "salum", which means sea), who lived at the mouth of the Rhine, and the coastal, or Ripuarian, Franks (from the Latin word "ripa", which means shore) who lived further south along the banks of the Rhine and Meuse.

The Franks repeatedly crossed the Rhine, raiding Roman possessions in Gaul or settling there as allies of Rome.

In the 5th century The Franks captured a significant part of the territory of the Roman Empire, namely North-Eastern Gaul. At the head of the Frankish possessions were the leaders of the former tribes. Of the Frankish leaders, Merovian is known, under whom the Franks fought against Attila on the Catalaunian fields (451) and from whose name the name of the Merovingian royal family came.

The son and successor of Merovey was the leader Childeric, whose grave was found near Tournai. The son and heir of Childeric was the most prominent representative of the Merovingian family - King Clovis (481-511).

Having become king of the Salic Franks, Clovis, together with other leaders who, like him, acted in the interests of the Frankish nobility, undertook the conquest of vast regions of Gaul. In 486, the Franks captured the Soissons region (the last Roman possession in Gaul), and subsequently the territory between the Seine and Loire. At the end of the 5th century. The Franks inflicted a strong defeat on the German tribe of the Alamanni (Alamans) and partially drove them out of Gaul back across the Rhine.

In 496, Clovis was baptized, accepting Christianity along with 3 thousand of his warriors. The baptism was a clever political move on Clovis's part. He was baptized according to the rite accepted by the Western (Roman) Church. The Germanic tribes that moved along the Black Sea coast - the Ostrogoths and Visigoths, as well as the Vandals and Burgundians - were, from the point of view of the Roman Church, heretics, since they were lassos who denied some of its dogmas.

At the beginning of the 6th century. Frankish squads opposed the Visigoths, who owned all of Southern Gaul. At the same time, the great benefits flowing from the baptism of Clovis affected.

The entire clergy of the Western Christian Church living beyond the Loire took his side, and many cities and fortified points that served as the residence of these clergy immediately opened their gates to the Franks.

In the decisive battle of Poitiers (507), the Franks won a complete victory over the Visigoths, whose dominance from then on was limited only to Spain.

Thus, as a result of the conquests, a large Frankish state was created, which covered almost all of former Roman Gaul. Under the sons of Clovis, Burgundy was annexed to the Frankish kingdom.

The reasons for such rapid successes of the Franks, who still had very strong communal ties, were that they settled in North-Eastern Gaul in compact masses, without dissolving among the local population (like, for example, the Visigoths).

Moving deeper into Gaul, the Franks did not break ties with their former homeland and constantly drew new strength for conquest there.

At the same time, the kings and Frankish nobility were often content with the vast lands of the former imperial fiscus, without entering into conflicts with the local Gallo-Roman population.

Finally, the clergy provided constant support to Clovis during his conquests.

November 26, 2014

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, 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. There is not only written, but also material evidence of this. 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 the Salic Truth, which is one of the earliest Barbarian Truths. “Truth” is a set of unwritten norms and customs that state authorities have 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 baptizer 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.