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LECTURE 20 National assemblies ifthe Franks; their primitive character, and rapid decline under the Merovingians. ~ They regain importance under the Carlovingians; andare heldregularly under Charlemagne. ~ Letterif Archbishop Hincmar De ordine Palatii. NATIONAL assemblies were held among the Franks long previously to their settlement in the Roman empire, and to the establishment of monarchy amongst them. In these assemblies were discussed, in Germany, all the affairs ofthe confederation, tribe, or band. All the free men, that is to say, all the warriors , were present; but the authority of these assemblies, like the authority of the kings, was uncertain and precarious. They were formed, not in virtue ofthe principle ofthe sovereignty ofthe people, but in virtue ofthe right ofevery free man to have the sole disposal ofhimsel£ They were convoked especially to determine on military expeditions. Beyond this, every man acted independently, and was answerable for his conduct to none but the local authorities. The Champ de Mars, or autumnal assembly, ofwhich we find traces at the beginning of the monarchy, was habitually held for the purpose of dividing the booty which had been gained. The dispersion ofthe free men, the increasing inequality ofsocial conditions , and the subordination ofthe comrades to their chief, soon caused the national assemblies of the Franks to lose their character of universality. They ceased to be attended by any but the large landowners, the Leudes, and the superior clergy. In this state, they appear to have existed under most of the Merovingian kings. Mention is sometimes made of the people in general; but evidently the great majority ofthe free men neither could, nor did attend these assemblies. Those who possessed power and wealth were almost the only persons who attended; and they regulated the business brought under their notice solely with a view to their own interest. The increasing disorder, and continual dislocations of the kingdom, rendered these assemblies less frequent. They reappear, however, at the establishment of the authority of the Mayors of the Palace. As leaders ofthe aristocracy ofthe great independent landowners, they LECTURE 20 had need oftheir support. The substitution ofa new family ofkings, instead of the ancient race, was favourable to the importance ofthe assemblies. They became , under the first Carlovingians, what they had been under the first Merovingians,-a great council of government, in which all great affairs were discussed. Pepin transferred the Champs de Mars to the month of May; and Charlemagne held these assemblies with a regularity heretofore unknown. In order to form a correct idea ofwhat they were under his reign, you must read the text, and the entire text, of the letter written in 882, sixty-eight years after the death of Charlemagne, by the celebrated Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, in compliance with the request of some ofthe nobles ofthe kingdom who had asked his advice with regard to the government ofCarloman, one ofthe sons of Louis the Stammerer. In this letter, Hincmar, as he himself informs us, does nothing but copy a treatise On the Order ofthe Palace, De ordine Palatii, written before 826 by the celebrated Adalhard, abbot ofCorbia, and one ofthe principal advisers ofCharlemagne. It is, therefore, a contemporary document, and its authority is great. "It was the usage at that time," says Hincmar, to hold in each year two assemblies, (placita,) and no more. The first took place in the spring; at it were regulated the general affairs ofthe whole kingdom; no occurrence, unless it were an imperious and universal necessity, could alter what had been decreed thereat. In this assembly, met together all the great men (majores), both lay and ecclesiastic ; the more influential (seniores), to discuss business and agree on decisions; the less influential (minores), to receive these decisions , and sometimes also to deliberate upon them and confirm them, not by a formal consent, but by the exercise of their opinion and the assent oftheir understanding. The other assembly, in which the general gifts of the realm were received, was composed only ofthe more influential members (seniores) ofthe first assembly, and ofthe principal councillors. Here the affairs of the following year were treated of, if there were any which it was necessary to deliberate upon beforehand; as also those which might have occurred during the course ofthe year which was about to expire, and which required provisional attention without delay. For example, if, in any part ofthe kingdom, the governors of the frontiers (marchisi) had concluded a truce for any time, the course to be pursued on the expiration ofthese truces was...

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