A History of Medieval Europe: from Constantine to Saint Louis [3 ed.] 9780582784628, 058278462X, 2005051002

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of plates
List of maps
List of figures
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Preface to the Third Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the Revised Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Dedication
Part One: The Dark Ages
Introduction
1. Constantine the Great: the New Rome and Christianity
Further reading
2. The barbarian invasions
Appendix: Coping with the barbarians
Further reading
3. Three reactions to the barbarian invasions
1. St Augustine (354–430)
2. Theodoric the Ostrogoth
3. Reconquest: the Emperor Justinian (527–565)
Further reading
4. The Church and the Papacy
1. Development of ecclesiastical organization up to the end of the fifth century
2. Benedictine monasticism
3. Pope Gregory the Great (590–604)
Postscript: Gregory and Benedict
Further reading
5. Islam
1. The Prophet Mohammed (c. 570–632)
2. The conquests
3. The results of the conquests
Further reading
6. The Franks
1. The Merovingian Kingdom
2. The transference of power from the Merovingians to the Carolingians (639–751)
3. Charlemagne (768–814)
Postscript
Further reading
7. The break-up of the Carolingian Empire
1. The sons and grandsons of Charlemagne
2. Vikings, Saracens and Hungarians
Appendix: The Battle of the Dyle (891)
Postscript: The Vikings
Further reading
8. Europe at the end of the ninth century: economic survey
1. Trade and commerce
2. Agrarian economy
Postscript
Further reading
Postscript to Part One
Further reading
Part Two: The High Middle Ages (900–1250)
Introduction
1. The Saxon Empire
Appendix: A bishop reproved
Postscript
Further reading
2. The reform of the Papacy
1. Before Gregory VII
2. Gregory VII and the break with the Empire
3. War
Appendix: The eye of prudence
Further reading
3. Monasticism in the eleventh and twelfth centuries
Appendix: A miracle of St Bernard
Further reading
4. Jerusalem regained and lost: the first three Crusades
Postscript
Further reading
5. Feudal monarchy and the French Kingdom (1066–1223)
Appendix: A charter of Philip Augustus
Postscript: a note on feudalism
Further reading
6. The Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1152–1190)
1. Germany
2. Italy
3. Revenge
Further reading
7. The crisis of the Church
1. Innocent III (1198–1216): orthodox reform
2. St Francis (1182–1226): inspiration and authority
Appendix I: The novice who wanted a psalter
Appendix II: Conversion without tears
Further reading
8. The new era in monarchy
1. Frederick II (1197–1250)
2. Louis IX (1226–1270)
Further reading
9. Europe in the middle of the thirteenth century:an economic survey
Postscript: Demography
Further reading
Epilogue: the Mongols
Further reading
Postscript to Part Two
Index

Citation preview

A History of Medieval Europe

This page intentionally left blank

A History of Medieval Europe

R. H. C. Davis Third edition by R. I. Moore with the assistance of Joanna Huntington

First published 1957 by Pearson Education Limited Second edition 1988 Third edition published in Great Britain in 2006

Published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA 5RXWOHGJHLVDQLPSULQWRIWKH7D\ORU )UDQFLV*URXSDQLQIRUPDEXVLQHVV Copyright © 1957, 2006, Taylor & Francis. The right of R.H.C. Davis to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. ISBN 13: 978-0-582-78462-8 (pbk) British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Davis, R. H. C. (Ralph Henry Carless), 1918–1991 A history of medieval Europe from Constantine to Saint Louis / R.H.C. Davis ; with commentary provided by R.I. Moore.—3rd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-582-78462-8 ISBN-10: 0-582-78462-X 1. Middle Ages—History. 2. Civilization, Medieval. 3. Europe—History—476-1492. I. Moore, R. I. (Robert Ian), 1941– II. Title. D118.D29 2005 940.1—dc22

Set by 35 in 10/13.5 Sabon

2005051002

Contents

List of plates

ix

List of maps

x

List of figures

xi

Acknowledgements

xii

Abbreviations

xiii

Preface to the Third Edition

xiv

Preface to the Second Edition

xvi

Preface to the Revised Edition

xvii

Preface to the First Edition

xvii

PART ONE : THE DARK AGES Introduction 1

Constantine the Great: the New Rome and Christianity

3

10

Further reading 24 2

The barbarian invasions

25

Appendix: Coping with the barbarians 41 Further reading 42 3

Three reactions to the barbarian invasions 1. St Augustine (354–430) 45 2. Theodoric the Ostrogoth 48 3. Reconquest: the Emperor Justinian (527–565) 58 Further reading 69

43

vi

CONTENTS

4

The Church and the Papacy

71

1. Development of ecclesiastical organization up to the end of the fifth century 72 2. Benedictine monasticism 79 3. Pope Gregory the Great (590–604) 84 Postscript: Gregory and Benedict 92 Further reading 94 5

Islam

95

1. The Prophet Mohammed (c. 570–632) 97 2. The conquests 101 3. The results of the conquests 108 Further reading 114 6

The Franks

116

1. The Merovingian Kingdom 120 2. The transference of power from the Merovingians to the Carolingians (639–751) 129 3. Charlemagne (768–814) 143 Postscript 159 Further reading 161 7

The break-up of the Carolingian Empire

163

1. The sons and grandsons of Charlemagne 164 2. Vikings, Saracens and Hungarians 174 Appendix: The Battle of the Dyle (891) 183 Postscript: The Vikings 186 Further reading 189 8

Europe at the end of the ninth century: economic survey 190 1. Trade and commerce 190 2. Agrarian economy 200 Postscript 211 Further reading 212

Postscript to Part One Further reading 221

214

CONTENTS

PART TWO : THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES (900–1250)

1

Introduction

225

The Saxon Empire

233

Appendix: A bishop reproved 253 Postscript 254 Further reading 255 2

The reform of the Papacy

257

1. Before Gregory VII 258 2. Gregory VII and the break with the Empire 263 3. War 272 Appendix: The eye of prudence 280 Further reading 282 3

Monasticism in the eleventh and twelfth centuries

284

Appendix: A miracle of St Bernard 300 Further reading 301 4

Jerusalem regained and lost: the first three Crusades

303

Postscript 320 Further reading 321 5

Feudal monarchy and the French Kingdom (1066–1223)

323

Appendix: A charter of Philip Augustus 342 Postscript: a note on feudalism 343 Further reading 347 6

The Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1152–1190)

349

1. Germany 352 2. Italy 358 3. Revenge 367 Further reading 374 7

The crisis of the Church 1. Innocent III (1198–1216): orthodox reform 378 2. St Francis (1182–1226): inspiration and authority 388 Appendix I: The novice who wanted a psalter 399

376

vii

viii

CONTENTS

Appendix II: Conversion without tears 400 Further reading 401 8

The new era in monarchy

403

1. Frederick II (1197–1250) 405 2. Louis IX (1226–1270) 418 Further reading 425 9

Europe in the middle of the thirteenth century: an economic survey

427

Postscript: Demography 440 Further reading 444

Epilogue: the Mongols

445

Further reading 450

Postscript to Part Two

451

Index

459

List of plates

1. Hadrianic plaque from the Arch of Constantine, c. 117–38, showing a sacrifice to Apollo

18

2. Constantinian relief from the Arch of Constantine: the people listening to Constantine (far right)

19

3. A cross of gold and semi-precious stones from Visigothic Spain (seventh century)

28

4. A church with its patrons: a mosaic from the sixth-century basilica at Istria (Porec)

75

5. An eighth-century manuscript of the Rule of St Benedict

81

6. The Courtyard of the Great Mosque at Damascus

111

7. Pope Leo III’s mosaic (restored)

158

8. A Viking dragon ship

178

9. Trier Cathedral: the west front

227

10. St Lawrence-without-the-walls, Rome: the nave, 1216–27

230

11. The Emperor Otto II

250

12. Cluny: the abbey church c. 1157

291

13. Cistercian monks splitting logs

293

14. A thirteenth-century map of the world

307

15. The siege of Dinant (1064)

328

16. Amiens Cathedral: the nave, 1220–36

340

17. Frederick Barbarossa with his sons

351

18. Giotto: a dream of Innocent III

389

19. The Emperor Frederick II

407

20. A commune receiving its charter

429

List of maps

1. Europe

4

2. Constantinople

13

3. Rome and the barbarians

29

4. The Muslim conquests

104

5. The partition of the Frankish Kingdom, 567 A.D.

128

6. The partition of 768 A.D.

129

7. The Empire of Charlemagne

150

8. The partition of Verdun, 841 A.D.

171

9. Vikings, Hungarians and Saracens in the tenth century

176

10. The Saxon Empire

235

11. Routes of the crusaders

305

12. Palestine and Syria at the time of the Crusades

311

13. The French Kingdom c. 1100

329

14. The French Kingdom c. 1170

332

15. Italy in the twelfth century

360

16. Towns and trade in the High Middle Ages

432

List of figures

1.

The Arnulfings

136

2.

The sons and grandsons of Charlemagne

168

3.

A ‘family tree’ of Cistercian houses

298

4.

Guelfs and Ghibellines

353

5.

The feudal hierarchy in twelfth-century Germany

370

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material: Messrs. Jonathan Cape Ltd. for extracts from The Travels of Ibn Jubayr, translated by R. J. C. Broadhurst; The Clarendon Press, Oxford, for extracts from History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours, translated by O. M. Dalton; and Columbia University Press for extracts from Correspondence of Pope Gregory VII, translated by E. Emerton (1932). Illustrations 1, 2, 7 and 10 Fratelli Alinari, Florence; Illustrations 4, 6 and 9 akg-images, London; Illustrations 3, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19 The Bridgeman Art Library; Illustration 16 Corbis; Illustration 5 The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford; Illustration 20 Bibliothèque royale de Belgique; Map 11 Taylor and Francis, Atlas of Medieval Europe, edited by Angus Mackay and David Ditchburn, 1996, Routledge. In some instances we may have been unable to trace the owners of copyright material, and we would appreciate any information that would enable us to do so.

Abbreviations

Fliche et Martin

Augustin Fliche and Victor Martin, eds, Histoire de l’Eglise, depuis les origines jusqu’a nos jours, 24 vols (Paris, 1934–64).

Migne, P.L.

Patrologia Cursus Completus, series latina, ed. J. P. Migne.

M.G.H.

Monumenta Germaniae Historica.

M.G.H.S.S.

Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum ex Monumentis Germaniae Historicis recusi.

R.S.

Rolls Series.

Preface to the Third Edition

R. H. C. Davis and A History of Medieval Europe hen A History of Medieval Europe appeared in 1957 it was widely welcomed as the best single-volume account of its period, from about 300 A.D. to about 1270 A.D. After half a century in which our knowledge of that period has grown immeasurably it remains unsurpassed as a substantial introduction which is balanced and subtle in its judgements, and yet entirely straightforward and remarkably approachable, outstanding above all for the clarity and directness of its argument and style. In those respects it faithfully reflects the personality of its author. R. H. C. Davis (1918–91) was a wonderfully lucid and sympathetic teacher, and one of the leading medievalists of his generation, whose research made fundamental contributions to many aspects of English history between the reigns of Alfred the Great, at the end of the ninth century, and Stephen, in the middle of the twelfth. The qualities that made both teacher and scholar are those that have kept this book fresh – scepticism of received and conventional interpretations (though Davis never went out of his way to dramatize his differences with fellow scholars), the ability to cut ruthlessly through irrelevance and obscurity, openness to new ideas and approaches, and the disconcertingly steady and clear but always humane gaze with which he regarded people and their doings. They stem not only from Davis’s technical accomplishments as an academic historian but from his profound and passionate conviction of the importance of history and how it is taught and understood. His firm belief that people, and peoples, are shaped and formed by their shared sense and understanding of their common past was not only a personal opinion but also a scholarly conclusion refined and reinforced by some of his most original research, on the Vikings and the Normans (see pp. 188, 221). That just as a common past could make a people, a fraudulent or forgotten past could destroy one he saw when, as a student, he travelled in Nazi Germany in the summer of 1939. He continued to fight against partial history, and ignorance of

W

PREFACE

history, throughout his life, in the 1980s serving on a commission to develop a history syllabus that could be honestly taught in every part of Ireland, and founding a pressure group which persuaded Mrs Thatcher’s ministers that all British students need to learn history until the age of 16. His observation of the distortion and manipulation of the past by the tyrants of the twentieth century led Davis to two simple but crucial conclusions: that ‘the only defence against the abuse of history is knowledge. It is only if we understand the ways in which history can be manipulated that we will be able to protect ourselves from pseudo-history and propaganda’; and that ‘bias is usually created not so much by statements which are untrue as by the omission of facts which are inconvenient’. Since ‘no presentation of history, whatever form it takes, can fail to convey some ideas (and) even the barest list of facts, written in note form, conveys ideas, because it is necessarily selective and has to start and end at arbitrary dates’, history should be studied continuously over long periods before particular aspects or problems are examined in detail, and historians must make their framework and assumptions as clear as possible.1 Those principles account for the style and structure of this book and show another reason for its success. For Davis, history – all of history – mattered. It was not just material for examinations or a game for academics and intellectuals, ‘irrelevant’ to ordinary people, but both as knowledge and as a way of thinking an essential condition and safeguard of human freedom and dignity. This new edition has followed Davis’s principles and practice. The appearance of the book has been modernized and the number of maps, tables and illustrations increased, as he would have liked if the technology had been available to him, but this remains a book for reading and for arguing about what its author considered the central developments of a millennium of European history. The new Postscripts to Parts One and Two, like the Postscripts which Davis added to several chapters in the second edition (1988), are intended not to list every new discovery or interpretation but to comment on some of the main issues which readers may encounter arising from research published, or arguments developed, since Davis wrote. A new Postscript has also been added to Part Two, Chapter 8, where recent work makes some further explanation necessary. Quotations originally in Latin or French have been translated and references have been expanded and regularized according to modern conventions, but otherwise Davis’s text is unaltered. 1

‘The Content of History’, in R. H. C. Davis, From Alfred the Great to Stephen (London, Hambledon Press, 1991), pp. 293–306; the quotations are from p. 305.

xv

xvi

PREFACE

This is not primarily a work of reference and it neither pretends nor attempts to cover everything that mattered, nor everything that historians might legitimately find interesting. We have taken advantage of the immense increase in the number and variety of primary sources available in English translation even since the last edition to add a selection of them to the Further Reading which Davis recommended for each chapter, but for secondary works we have respected his rule that for every new recommendation an old one should be left out. However, these are not simply lists of ‘up to date’ – and therefore rapidly dating – ‘authorities’. The foundations which dictated the shape and structure of medieval history and of European history as they were understood in the second half of the twentieth century were laid, for the most part, by German and French historians before and immediately after the Great War of 1914–18. This was the intellectual legacy with which Davis grew up and he was more familiar with its great landmarks, at first hand, than most English historians of his generation. Many of his references to these works have been left in place, not only because they show where he was coming from but because they will help modern students to situate their own reading and reflection in a context and tradition that continue to influence us more than we often realize. They remind us that we shape our future through the argument that we conduct with our past. The decisions described above and all errors are the responsibility of the Editor. The former would have been less sound, and the latter very much more numerous, without the assistance of Joanna Huntington, who has done most of the hard work of preparing this edition. Mine, to use one of Ralph Davis’s favourite words about history, has been the fun part. R. I. Moore April 2005

Preface to the Second Edition In revising a book of this sort it is difficult to know how much or how little to change. I have no desire to alter its general shape, but have had to acknowledge that in the thirty years since it was written historical research has advanced apace and forced everyone to see some topics in a new light. Faced with this difficulty, I have corrected factual errors but have otherwise left the main text more or less as it stood, while adding Postscripts to those chapters which, if I had been writing a new book, I would now have tackled differently. In all cases I have updated the lists of books for further

PREFACE

reading. Believing as I do that it is both depressing and confusing to confront students with over-long book-lists, I have tried (though often without success) to omit as many old titles as I have added new ones. This should not be taken as an expression of disapproval, let alone condemnation. R. H. C. D. 11 January 1987

Preface to the Revised Edition In this revised edition some errors have been corrected, the lists of books for further reading have been revised, and three short appendices have been added. R. H. C. D. 16 March 1970

Preface to the First Edition In the History Department at University College, London, it was, and still is, the custom to make all ‘modernists’ attend a course of lectures on medieval European history. No examination was involved and the purpose of the course was officially described as ‘mere broadening’. The lecturer was allotted twenty-five lectures and invited to talk about the things he thought important. It was a challenge which could not fail to be stimulating, and so far as I myself am concerned it has led to the writing of this book. My thanks are due to all my former colleagues whose advice was sought, and freely given, on points too numerous to be set out in detail. They will, I hope, excuse me if I tender them any thanks en bloc. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to the Honourable David Roberts of Christ’s Hospital who, before his untimely death, did far more to shape the pattern of this book than he would ever admit. I have also to thank Mr. Philip D. Whitting, G. M., of St Paul’s School for reading a large part of the typescript and making many valuable suggestions, Mr. J. Campbell of Merton College for reading the proofs and detecting many errors, and Mrs. A. Munro for the exemplary skill and patience which she showed in typing the whole manuscript. R. H. C. D. 28 December 1956

xvii

For E. M. D.

PA RT O N E

The Dark Ages

This page intentionally left blank

Introduction

The introduction sets the scene for the chapters that follow. European civilization is defined not so much by geography as by cultural identities. The Romans conquered the cities on all the shores of the Mediterranean, establishing the sea as the cultural and economic focus of the Empire. Roman identity was dependent on empire, not geography. Unity on the shores of the Mediterranean was maintained by a quintessentially Roman belief that Roman law was based on nature, common to all peoples, and that all civilized men would therefore recognize it. Similarly, they held that the gods of different peoples were the same gods known by different names and therefore any pantheistic religion could be accommodated within the Roman infrastructure of a common religion. The Roman Empire, then, was centred on the unity of the Mediterranean, peoples and gods. Later chapters will trace the fragmentation of this unity, as the Empire came into contact with a religion that insisted upon one God and invaders who prized their racial identities more than an imperial common identity.

he civilization that we call European is not spread evenly over the continent of Europe, nor is it confined to Europe. Sometimes it has expanded and sometimes it has contracted. Kinglake came to the end of ‘wheel-going Europe’ and started his exploration of ‘the Splendour and the Havoc of the East’ in the Muslim quarter of

T

4

A HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE

SCANDINAVIA

BRITISH ISLES

SCOTLAND SWEDISH ' PLAIN

IRELAND

NORTH

SEA

"WALES v - ENGLAND

%

7 /

y,

NQn

II

t h e

u r o p e

I"?

A T L A N T I C

R. R hin e

\^ e LO ^

® Q:/ P3)K

■gK"

f cANtabr,anMtS

F> ^

%

^

VOSGES BAVARIAN PLAINS StG otthard Late Constance Simplon «. p c , St. Bernard A L r &

M A S S IF MASSIF C E N T R A Ll CENTRAL

Col du Si Somoort

^

/ JZ>s t E £’G

>C

hu NQ^

nI fee"

/,

A V 'V X

Col du Perthus

/

CORSICA f

R. Tagu s

-v SARDINIA

Straits of Gibraltar

(V

C o l d u M o n t g e n e v re _ v '- i

S/ERRA NEVAO^>

BALEARIC ISLANDS

v\

^

/>w

w

X.

\

V \ SICILY

T t u a s

IONIAN SEA

m o u n t a i n s

/O

£ SAHARA

0

300 miles

0

500 km

MAP 1 Europe

O

/

T

£

INTRODUCTION

’ c n |p

S i t M ] M N 'r '( ! p jo >

> i» c jiU

o

c e s s M M M ^ e

"

p u IS tfJT llH / e

TW BU St|U |m

x

OXD\RUlSSl«>f i N T r e R u ^ L io ^

m

c e x o y p tv u sD c p

i c T

U

/ • U S T 'U I B t 'n o O ) !




Antwerp . Louvain 9 Aachen

* B° nn

•

PrOm Paris

-

y Nantes

Noirmoutier(*T^~ i. Deas

Luxeuil

Cunauld

•Basle :

St. P o urg aini

St. Claude

Tournus •

r-

N

►Gt. St. Bernard

► Dordogne

^ Lot

Pavia

'V a le n c e *

Garonne Arles ^Luna

, # eV ^Lisbon

B a rc e lo n a ^

, Nice

CORSICA e

Valencia SARDINIA \C adiz

Murcia^ M E D

0 0

I'

T E RR R

500 miles

—I

800 km

MAP 9 Vikings, Hungarians and Saracens in the tenth century

Tunis

. )| Pisa

THE BREAK-UP OF THE CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE

Main Viking lines of attack Hungarian \

Saracen

o

Boundaries of Charlemagne’s Empire

V \A

R prip0t

%

k

^ B ra tis la v a

Aquileia*'

yo

KC.

i -s> i

__

%

»Ragusa

o S,Rome_., /\ \\ _ ♦ Monte Cassino X B a ri* Taranto j

j'lp a le r m o

BLACK

R. Danube

C o n s ta n tin o p le ^

SEA

177

c u tn la m in e

jm p jn m

.n

i

faaiuxf

v m

u ejre u m o pr.vtw

c A e li Se u lo c a

ix'ilro i- e c r o

net* f u i e i i c

tJ a m n e v a

VX cn\ ^ (ie tiJUtef tic tn.llro jirfnAercpt-oini

\,

jfiy

r f j

•

\^/rno nuvlt i t i .f u L t o i n / r ~ J i ’ ^ y jt i 8

r a n b

- r c l n i jX jL u K m K f a a

c o n t!n u r j^ ^ ,m

^ \

*(J>!l

l u r e t n {le lfa S

^ , m u tu r n fuerax- b o m t t i i o :^ ^ ^ /

t

i

p

ff

ccxciv dicatw - ppv a-

B w v-/an-c> vyu *

jfljauilualt iti^eiuo < \e&S$e^Vill itit •1nLcrer^ v. mfam

B B b d t c tv •e c m c x r c ' Cjd d i t r ^ ,

■

£ U

" ^ y lia l.m i irranicm tilr n S

A Viking dragon ship, as depicted in a tenth-century Anglo-Saxon manuscript (British Museum, London, UK/Bridgeman Art Library).

f

Vj.Ct • Cologne • ZD

^^Mark THURINGIA Fulda •

&

FRANCONIA

7(

Laon Attigny

^

Rouen

Soissons |

Beauvais

/ * --------

7 Compi6gne Beaumonts-Oise _ /

VEXIN

• Reims

• Dammartin Montmorency

Meulan Mantes • x —

f S • St-Denis Dreux • r j

"

• Meaux

* Chalons

Paris

IV Montfort I N ogent-le-Roi#

f l

\ 50

Senlis

M onthlh6rv)

iEpernon r

*

Rochefort

CHAM PAGNE

Melun

*

Chartres

Etampes \ Troyes

Le P u iset*

A NJOU

Orleans

/T v venaome •

» Sens

St-Benoit-sur—v Loire

• Joigny g

A t in a is • Auxerre

Blois •y Tours

•/— B ERR Y

■

BURGUNDY

Bourges

A Q U ITA IN E • Bourbon

MAP 13 The French Kingdom, c. 1100

a knight as a fief, in which case the appropriate military service had to be enforced. Alternatively, the serfs of a village might owe the king a proportion of their produce (champipart), a moneyrent (census), or labour services (which went under the generic name of la corvée). The king had to know exactly what were his rights in every single village, and exercise them

329

330

A HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE

every year. For if he did not exercise them he would lose them. In the Middle Ages, ‘twice made a custom’ and custom had the force of law. It was the same with the various royal rights and revenues which he exercised in his demesne. No coinage might be minted without the king’s authority, but if a moneyer succeeded in establishing an unlawful mint, and worked it for several years without let or hindrance, he would have established a custom. Similarly, no fairs or markets could be held without the king’s permission, but the king would lose this privilege in any place where he did not forcibly close a fair which had come into existence unlawfully. He had the right of demanding hospitality (hospitium, la gîte) for himself and his court at certain places, but if he did not demand it regularly he might discover that the custom had lapsed. It was the same with a number of other rights, such as the holding of a court of justice, the collection of toll, purveyance, and the right to receive the tithe of some particular crop or the chattels of a villein who died without heirs. No right was secure unless it was exercised ceaselessly. The same was true in regard to larger issues such as the control of the greater churches of his demesne. The king expected, in spite of occasional opposition from the Pope, to have the last word in the appointment of bishops and abbots in his demesne, but he was well aware that the first essential for a successful intervention in the affairs of the Church was speed. If he was at Orléans when the Bishop of Beauvais died, he could not afford to delay. He had to take to his horse and make his intervention in person. If he was too slow, the canons of Beauvais might proceed to an election before the king’s views were known, and then there would be trouble; for though the Pope might turn a blind eye to friendly interventions by the king, he could not willingly allow him to overturn a canonical election which had already been made. If such an event were to occur twice running, ‘twice made a custom’ and the king had lost all hope of control. He had to be ready, therefore, to intervene without delay, and to ride from Paris to Bourges or from St Denis to St Benoit-sur-Loire, exercising his rights punctually. It was for this reason that Louis VI paid such ceaseless attention to the affairs of his demesne. The reward of his labour was that, by the end of his reign, his authority as feudal lord of his demesne was secure. He was not yet a feudal monarch, because he was not yet the feudal lord of his whole kingdom. But at least he had made a start. In his own demesne nobody dared to disobey him, and in this respect he was already more fortunate than many of the greater nobles of his kingdom. The Dukes of Burgundy and Aquitaine, for example, could not boast nearly so much authority in

FEUDAL MONARCHY AND THE FRENCH KINGDOM (1066 –1223)

their demesnes, and consequently their respect for the king increased. As soon as they saw that he was a really powerful man they became more mindful of their obligations to him. Thus in the second half of his reign Louis VI was able to look beyond the immediate concerns of his kingdom. In 1122 he led an army to the Auvergne to reinstate the Bishop of Clermont who had been expelled from his see, and in 1127 he made a similar expedition to Bruges to avenge the murder of Charles, Count of Flanders. The latter expedition was only partially successful, since he failed, probably owing to the influence of English gold, to establish his own nominee, William Clito, as the new count, but at least it showed his determination to intervene in Flemish affairs whenever he thought it necessary. The great triumph of his reign, however, occurred in 1124. In that year the Emperor Henry V invaded France from the east, and Louis VI summoned the whole army of his kingdom to assemble at Reims. Contingents came from Reims, Châlons-sur-Marne, Laon, Soissons, Orléans, Etampes, Paris, St Denis, St Quentin, Ponthieu, Amiens, and Beauvais, and amongst the nobles who obeyed the summons were the Counts of Flanders, Anjou, Brittany, Chartres, Troyes, Vermandois, and Nevers, and the Dukes of Burgundy and Aquitaine. Even though the Duke of Normandy was absent, since he was in alliance with the Emperor against the king, the army was a most splendid display of the military power of Francia. The Emperor did not challenge it in battle, but beat a hasty retreat, and Louis VI had the immense satisfaction of having successfully exercised a royal prerogative which had been dormant for more than a century. When even the Dukes of Aquitaine and Burgundy obeyed his summons, he could begin to think that some day he might revive the glories of Charlemagne. A similar thought may well have been in his mind when, at Reims in 1131, he himself crowned his son Louis as his associate in the kingdom, in the presence of Pope Innocent II. But the essential aim which he and his chief minister, Suger, Abbot of St Denis, kept in mind was always that the royal demesne had to be consolidated and enlarged. In 1137, just before his death, he succeeded in marrying his son, Louis VII, to Eleanor, the only daughter and heir of William X, Duke of Aquitaine. It was a glorious match, and one that gave promise of an expansion of the royal demesne beyond all bounds. Unfortunately the young Louis could not abide his wife. He restrained himself during Abbot Suger’s lifetime, but almost as soon as that great minister was dead he divorced her. It was the most unfortunate action of his career, for it meant that he lost Aquitaine, which had seemed within his grasp, and that he

331

332

A HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE

London