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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS

X. WESTERN EUROPE DURING THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES, 476-962 A.D.

Em. Macron, Rediscovering the Path to Europe

» Contents of this Chapter

The Ostrogoths in Italy, 488-553 A.D.   * The Lombards in Italy, 568-774 A.D.   * The Franks under Clovis and His Successors   * The Franks under Charles Martel and Pepin the Short   * The Reign of Charlemagne, 768-814 A.D.   * Charlemagne and the Revival of the Roman Empire, 800 A.D.   * Disruption of Charlemagne's Empire, 814-870 A.D.   * Germany under Saxon Kings, 919-973 A.D.   * Otto the Great and the Restoration of the Roman Empire, 962 A.D.   * The Anglo-Saxons in Britain, 449-839 A.D.   * Christianity in the British Isles   * The Fusion of Germans and Romans

Page 8

THE FRANKS UNDER CHARLES MARTEL AND PEPIN THE SHORT

THE LATER MEROVINGIAN KINGS

After the middle of the seventh century the Frankish rulers, worn out by violence and excesses, degenerated into weaklings, who reigned but did not rule. The actual management of the state passed into the hands of officers, called "mayors of the palace." They left to the kings little more than their title, their long hair,--the badge of royalty among the Franks,--and a scanty allowance for their support. The later Merovingians, accordingly, are often known as the "do-nothing kings."

CHARLES MARTEL

The most illustrious of these mayors was Charles, surnamed Martel, "the Hammer," from the terrible defeat which he administered to the Mohammedans near Tours, in central France. Charles Martel was virtually a king, but he never ventured to set aside the Merovingian ruler and himself ascend the throne. This step was taken, however, by Charles's son, Pepin the Short.

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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents

url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp

IN PRINT

Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy