FRANKS
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FRANKS
Merovingian princes. Brunehilde, who, throughout
the reigns of her son and grandsons, had been very
influential, now assumed the guardianship of her great-
grandson, Sigebert II, and the government of the two
kingdoms. But the earlier struggle between monar-
chical absolutism and the independence of the Prank-
ish nobility now broke out with tragic violence. It had
long been latent, but the sight of a woman exercising
absolute power caused it to break forth with boundless
fury. The Austrasian nobles, eager to avenge the sad
fate of Theudebert on the descendants of Thierry,
joined with Clotaire II, King of Neustria, who took
possession of the Kingdoms of Burgundy and Austrasia.
The children of Thierry II were slain. Brunehilde,
who fell into the hands of the victor, was tied to the
tail of a wild horse and perished (613). She had erred
in imposing a despotic government on a people who
chafed under government of any kind. Her punish-
ment was a frightful death and the cruel calumnies
with which her conquerors blackened her memory.
The nobles had triumphed. They dictated to Clotaire II the terms of victory and he accepted them in the celebrated edict of 614, at least a partial capitulation of Frankish royalty to the nobility. The king prom- ised to withdraw his counts from the provinces under his rule, i. e. he was virtually to abandon these parts to the nobles, who were also to have a voice in the selection of his prime minister or " mayor of the pal- ace", as he was then called. He likewise promised to abolish the new taxes and to respect the immunity of the clergy, and not to interfere in the elections of bishops. He had also to continue Austrasia and Neus- tria as separate governments. Thus ended the conflict between the Frankish aristocracy and the monarchical power ; with its close began a new period in the history of the Merovingian monarchy. As time went on royalty had to reckon more and more with the aristoc- racy. The Merovingian dynasty, traditionally accus- tomed to absolutism, and incapable of altering its point of view, was gradually deprived of all exer- cise of authority by the trivunphant nobility. In the shadow of the throne the new power continued to grow rapidly, became the successful rival of the royal house, and finally supplanted it. The great power of the aristocracy was vested in the " mayor of the pal- ace" {major domus), originally the chief of the royal household. During the minority of the Frankish kings he acquired steadily greater importance until he came to share the royal prerogative, and eventually reached the exalted position of prime minister to the sovereign. The indifference of the latter, usually more absorbed in his pleasures than in public affairs, favoured the encroachments of the "mayor of the palace", and this office finally became the hereditary right of one family, which was destined to replace the Merovin- gians and become the national dynasty of the Franks. Such then were the transformations which occurred in the political life of the Franks after the downfall of Brunehilde and during the reign of Clotaire II (614- 29). WhilethiskinggovernedNeustriahe wasobliged, as has been said, to give Austrasia a separate govern- ment, his son Dagobert becoming its king, with Arnulf of Metz as councillor and Pepin of Landen as mayor of the palace (623). These two men were the ancestors of the Carlovingian family. Arnulf was Bishop of Metz, though resident at court, but in 627 he resigned his episcopal see and retired into monastic solitude at Remiremont, where he died in the odour of sanctity. Pepin, incorrectly called of Landen (since it was only in the twelfth century that the chroniclers of Brabant began to associate him with that locality), was a great lord from Kastrni Belgium. With Arnulf he had been at the head of the Austrasian opposition to Brune- hilde.
On the death of Clotaire II, Dagobert I, his only heir, re-established the unity of the Frankish mon- p,rchy and took up his residence in Paris, as Clovis had
done in the past. He too was soon forced to give Aus-
trasia a separate government, which he confided to
his son Sigebert III, with Cunibert of ("ologne as his
councillor and Adalgisil, son of Arnulf of Metz and son-
in-law of Pepin, as mayor of the palace. Pepin, who
had lost royal favour, was temporarily deprived of any
voice in the government. The reign of Dagobert I
was one of such great pomp and outward show, that
contemporaries compared it to that of Solomon ; how-
ever, it marked a decline in the military prowess of the
Franks. They subdued, it is true, the small nations of
the Bretons and Basques, but were themselves beaten
by the Frankish merchant Samo, who had created a
Slavonic kingdom on their eastern confines. Dagobert
relieved the situation only by exterminating the Bul-
gars who had taken refuge in Bavaria. Like most
of his race, Dagobert was subject to the females of his
family. He died young and was buried in the cele-
brated Abbey of Saint-Denis which he had founded
and which subsequently became the burial-place of the
kings of France. After his death Austrasia and Neus-
tria (the latter united with Burgundy) had the same
destiny imder their respective kings and mayors of
the palace. In Neustria the young king, Clovis II,
reigned under the guardianship of his mother, Nan-
thilde, with Aega, and later Erkinoald, as mayor of
the palace. Sigebert III reigned in Austrasia with
Pepin of Landen, who had returned and was installed
as mayor of the palace after the death of Dagobert.
The history of Austrasia is better known to us as far as
657 because, at that time, it had a chronicler. On the
death of Pepin of Landen in 639, Otto, mayor of the
palace, took the reins of power, but was overthrown
and replaced by Grimoald, son of Pepin. Grimoald
went even further; when, in 656, Sigebert III died, he
conceived the bold plan of seizing the crown for the
benefit of his family. He banished young Dagobert II,
son of Sigebert, to an Irish monastery. Not daring to
ascend the throne himself, he followed the e.xaraple of
Odoaeer and gave it to his son Childebert. But this
attempt, as bold as it was premature, caused his down-
fall. He was delivered up to Clovis II by the Austra-
sian nobles and, so far as can be ascertained, seems
to have perished in prison. Clovis II remained sole
master of the entire Frankish monarchy, but died the
following year, 657.
Clotaire III (657-70), son of Clovis, succeeded his father as head of the entire monarchy under the guar- dianship of his mother, Bathilde, with Erkinoald as mayor of the palace. But like Clotaire II, in 614, Clovis was constrained in 660 to grant Austrasia a separate rule, and appointed his brother Childeric II its king, with Wulfoald as mayor of the palace. Aus- trasia was now overshadowed by Neustria owing to the strong personality of Ebroin, Erkinoald's suc- cessor as mayor of the palace. Like Brunehilde,Ebroin sought to establish a strong government and, like her, drew upon himself the passionate opposition of the aristocracy. The latter, under the leadership of St. Leger (Leodegarius), Bishop of Autun, succeeded in overthrowing Ebroin. He and King Thierry III who, in 670, had succeeded his brother Clotaire III, were con- signed to a convent, Childeric II, King of Austrasia, being summoned to replace him. Once again monar- chical unity was re-established, but it was not destined to last long. Wulfoald, mayor of Austrasia, was ban- ished, also St. Ledger. Childeric II was assassinated and for a short time general anarchy reigned. However, Wulfoald, who managed to return, proclaimed King of Austrasia young Dagobert II, wlio had come back from exile in Ireland, while St. L(5ger, reinstated in Neustria, upheld King Thierry III. But Ebroin, who meanwhile ha<l been forgotten, escaped from prison. He invaded Neustria, defeated the mayor Leude- sius, Erkinoald's son, who, with the approval of St. lif^ger, was governing this kingdom, reassumed the power, and maltreated the Bishop of Autun, whom he
