The Historians' History of the World 07 [The History of the Later Roman Empire]

If we rightly regard the highest art of the lawgiver as consisting in the ability to perceive with a keen eye every germ of moral life that he meets with in the customs and institutions of his people, and so to care for it that the most beautiful fruit of which it is capable will be obtained from it, then Charles was one of the greatest lawgivers the world has ever seen. No native impulse of the Germanic character was allowed by him to die; every one on the contrary was placed under cultivation, ennobled, and made capable of producing more splendid flowers and more useful fruit. As the Frankish political system in general, aside from its ecclesiastical elements, rested primarily on a Germanic basis, so too above all it was Germanic elements that were made use of in the political creation of Charles. The content of his laws, aside from the theocratic admixtures, is thoroughly German, although the capitularies as well as the national laws were written in Latin. In a certain sense the entire past of the Germanic nations flows into these laws, their whole future life flows from them. The Romans called the laws of the Twelve Tables the source of their entire political organisation; with equal right the Germans, indeed all the nations of Europe, could say the same of the laws of Charles. With veneration and holy awe one opens the capitularies of the great emperor, which combined form a legislative work that had a fruitful effect upon many centuries. The image of the Carlovingian state is here presented to our eyes with vivid actuality; we see how great things were accomplished and the highest striven for.

The strongest agency in holding the empire together was the Roman Catholic church; it disseminated one faith, one moral law, like religious institutions over nations that had previously been distinct from one another in language, customs, and laws, and enclosed them in its ingenious compact organisation as with a fine-meshed net. Church councils and imperial assemblies generally met together, and in the latter the voice of the clergy possessed the most weighty influence. The bishops were regarded as the most skilful agents in all political negotiations, they enjoyed a respect equal to that of counts. Like the temporal nobles, they were rich landowners, often led their retainers to war in person, and not seldom exchanged the crosier for the sword. Though the clergy had formerly been almost exclusively of Roman origin, now many Germans also devoted themselves to the clerical estate; sermons were preached in the German language, religious books were translated into German. In this way the clergy approached nearer to the peculiar character of the Germanic peoples, but did not on that account serve the universal aims of their estate and of the empire any the less effectively, especially since the compact union of the church had in recent times been rather strengthened than weakened.

A second, if not equally strong bond for the empire, was the Frankish nationality and the political institutions based upon it. With their swords the victorious Franks had gained control of the West, had made themselves rulers of the Germanic and Latin world; the empire, though it called itself Roman, was nevertheless only an extension of the kingdom of the Franks. The Frankish king was the sovereign of the empire; the divisions of the latter, the provinces, districts, and hundreds, or whatever other provincial name they may have borne, were for the most part ruled by Frankish nobles. Everywhere throughout the wide extent of the empire palaces and courts of the Frankish kings, castles and extensive possessions of the Frankish nobles were to be met with. The elements of the Frankish constitution were imposed both upon the conquered German lands and upon subject Italy. The Frankish people penetrated and surrounded the entire West with their political institutions; not strong enough to destroy the other nationalities, they had however attained such power that they could hold them down and make them serviceable to themselves.

As head of the western church and as king of the Franks the emperor was supreme in every way. The bishops, chosen always in accordance with his will, though not often directly by him, almost seemed to be the mere instruments of his designs. And in no less degree the entire civil government of the state proceeds from him. He alone appoints the counts, who in his name administer the military and judicial authority in their counties; their position is merely that of imperial officials who can be removed or dismissed when the common welfare demands it. He designates the royal messengers who travel annually in pairs through the various divisions of the empire, oversee the officials, receive complaints against them, uphold the rights of the throne in all parts of the monarchy, and maintain a constant communication between the divisions and the emperor. He is himself the supreme judge with unlimited jurisdiction; he has sole jurisdiction over the nobles and can assume all jurisdiction over others. He has the right to call to arms, decides upon war and peace, leads the army in person or appoints a commander-in-chief as well as dukes (Herzöge) of the forces of the separate peoples for the duration of the war. Legislation is also essentially vested in his hands, although in it he consults the imperial assembly and his council of state.