Franco-Gallia

Of the Sacred Authority of the Publick Council; and what Affairs were wont to be transacted therein.

We think it necessary in this Place to consider what Kind of Affairs were wont to be transacted in this general Annual Council, and to admire the great Wisdom of our Ancestors in constituting our Republick. We have (in short) observed that they are these that follow. First, the Creating or abdicating of their Kings. Next, the declaring of Peace or War. The making of all Publick Laws: The Conferring of all great Honours, Commands, or Offices belonging to the Commonwealth: The assigning of any part of the deceased King's Patrimony to his Children, or giving Portions to his Daughters, which they usually called by a German Name Abannagium; that is, pars exclusoria, a Part set out for younger Children. Lastly, all such Matters as in Popular Speech are commonly called Affairs of State: Because it was not lawful to determine or debate of any Thing relating to the Commonwealth, but in the General Council of the States.

We have already produced sufficient Proofs of the Electing and Abdicating their Kings, as well from the last Will and Testament of Charles the Great, as from several other Authors: To which we will add this one Passage more out of Aimoinus, lib. 5. cap. 17. where speaking of Charles the Bald, he says thus,—"Having summon'd a General Council at [Footnote: Crecy.] Carifiacum, he there first gave his Son Charles arma virilia; that is, he girt him with a Sword, or knighted him, and putting a Regal Crown upon his Head, assign'd Neustria to him, as he did Aquitain to Pippin."

Now concerning the Administration of the Kingdom, Aimoinus gives us this remarkable Instance, lib. 5. cap. 35. speaking of Charles the Bald. "Charles (says he) being about taking a Journey to Rome, held a general Placitum on the Kalends of June at Compeign; and therein was ordained under particular Heads, after what Manner his Son Lewis should govern the Kingdom of France, in Conjunction with his Nobles, and the rest of the Faithful People of the Realm, till such time as he returned from Rome."

Also in the same Book, cap. 42. speaking of Charles the Simple: "Whose Youth (says he) the principal Men of France judging (as it was indeed) very unfit for the exercise of the Government of the Realm, they held a General Council touching these weighty Affairs; and the great Men of the Franks, Burgundians, and Aquitanians being assembled, elected Odo to be Charles's Tutor and Governor of the Kingdom."

Now concerning the Power of making Laws and Ordinances, that single Passage in Gaguinus's Life of St. Lewis is a sufficient Proof. "As soon (says he) as King Lewis arrived at Paris, he called a General Convention, and therein reformed the Commonwealth; making excellent Statutes relating to the Judges, and against the Venality of Offices, &c."

Concerning the conferring the great Honours and Employments upon Persons of approved Worth, Aimoinus lib. 5. cap. 36. gives us this Instance; speaking of Charles the Bald, he tells us, "That whereas he began (before his Inauguration) to distribute the Governments and great Offices of the Realm according to his own liking; the Great Men summoned a General Council, and sent Ambassadors to the King; neither would they admit him to be crowned till he had made use of their Advice and Authority in disposing of those great Employments. The Nobles (says he) being very much displeas'd, because the King conferr'd Honours without their Consent; for that Reason, agreed together against him, and summoned a general Convention in the Town of Witmar, from whence they sent Ambassadors to Lewis, as Lewis likewise sent his Ambassadors to them, &c."

Also the Appendix to Gregory of Tours, lib. 11. cap. 54. "That same Year (says he) King Clotharius, cum Proceribus & Leudibus, i. e. with the Nobility and free Subjects of Burgundy, met at Troyes, and when he earnestly solicited them to advance another Person to the same Place and Degree of Honour which Warnhar (lately deceased) had enjoy'd, they unanimously refused to do it; and said, they would by no Means have any Mayor of the Palace, earnestly desiring the King to excuse them:" And thus they gained their Point with the King.

To this Head may be referr'd all the Contentions of such Princes, as were foreseen might be dangerous to the Commonwealth. These were debated in the General Council. For Aimoinus, lib. 4 cap. I. where he speaks of Clotharius, Son of Chilperic, from whom Queen Brunechild demanded the Kingdom of Austratia, says thus:—"Clotharius made answer, that she ought to call a Convention of the Nobles of the Franks, and there debate (by common Consent) an Affair relating to the Community. That as for him, he would submit to their judgment in all Things, and would not obstruct in any Measure whatever they should command." The same Thing is recorded in the Appendix to Gregory of Tours, lib. II. "Clotharius (says he) made Answer to her, that he would refer the Difference between them, to the Determination of the Select Franks, and promis'd to fulfil whatsoever they should ordain." Also Aimoinus lib. 5. cap. 12. where he speaks of King Lewis the Pious, who was grievously tormented with the Contentions of his Sons, says thus,—"When Autumn approached, they whose Sentiments differ'd from the Emperor's, were for having the General Convention held in some Town of France.—Item cap.13. He appointed the General Convention of his People to be held at Thionville. And after a little Time, summon'd his People to meet on the Feast of St. Martin, and used all his Endeavours to recal his Son Pipin who had absented himself; but he refused to come, &c." Gaguinus making Mention of this Same Passage, says; "When the Conspirators found out they should not be able to dethrone the King, without the Consent of the Nobility in Convention, they labour'd by all Means to have the Great Council held within the Limits of France. But Lewis knowing for certain that those Franks were gained by his Enemies against him, refused it, and summon'd the Convention to meet at Mentz, and ordered that none should be admitted Armed to the Council. But his Sons, (who had conspired against their Father) lest they should want the Authority of a Publick Convention, assembled a Council at Compiegne, consisting of the Bishops and Nobility of the Kingdom. And Lotharius taking his Father out of Custody, brought him to Compiegne."

Again, Aimoinus, lib. 5. cap. 38. where he speaks of Lewis the Stammerer, who held a Council at Marsua, wherein he treated a Peace with his Cousin, says: "In that Placitum, or Parliament, these Articles which follow were agreed upon between them, by and with the Consent of the faithful Subjects of the Realm."

To proceed, We find further, that it was the Custom (when any Prince, or Person of Extraordinary Quality, was accused of any Crime) to summon him to appear before the Great Council, and there he was to stand his Trial. Thus in the Reign of King Clotharius, when Queen Brunechild stood accused, and was found guilty of many capital Crimes, the King made a Speech to the Estates of the Great Council of Francogallia, in these Words; which are recorded by Aimoinus, lib. 4. cap 1. "It belongs to you, my most dear Fellow-Soldiers, and high Nobility of France, to appoint what Kind of Punishment ought to be inflicted on a Person guilty of such enormous Crimes, &c." And Ado Ætat 6. sub Anno 583. tells us, "The Franks passing Sentence upon her in the King's Presence, condemn'd her to be torn in Pieces by wild Horses."

Now concerning the dividing of the Royal Patrimon, and the Appanages, we have the same Person's Testimony, lib. 5. cap. 94. where speaking of Charlemagn, he has these Words—"These Matters being ended, the King held a Convention of the Nobility and Gentry of the Franks, for the making and maintaining a firm Peace among his Sons, and dividing the Kingdom into Three Parts, that every one of them might know what Part of it he ought to defend and govern, in Case they survived him."—Also in that Place where he speaks of the Partition made among the Children of Lewis, lib. 5. cap. 40. he says thus.—"They went to Amiens, and there they divided their Father's Kingdom among them, according to the Advice and Direction of their faithful Subjects." Further, cap. 41. where he writes of Carloman, who held his Great Council then at Worms.—"To this Placitum (says he) came Hugo, and preferred his Petition for that Part of the Kingdom, which his Brother Lewis (in Locarium acceperat) had rented of him, or received in Pawn."

We may further observe, from very many Instances, that whenever the King had any expensive Design in Hand, such as the Building of Churches or Monasteries, he took first the Advice of the Council of the Estates. For Aimoinus, lib. 4. cap. 41. where he speaks of Clodoveus the Second, tells us, that sitting on his Throne, he began his Oration to the General Council in these Words.—"Quamquam Franciginæ cives, &c. Altho' (says he) the Care I ought to take of my Kingdom, obliges me to take your Advice in all Matters relating to the Publick, &c."

And thus much may suffice on this Point. From all which we think it appears plainly, that the whole Power of the Administration of the Kingdom was lodg'd in the Publick Council, which they called Placitum; because according to the Idiom of the Latin Tongue, that is properly termed Placitum, which after having been proposed and debated in a Council of many Persons, is at last agreed to, and resolved upon by them. And therefore Cicero, with others of the Ancients, were wont to call such-like Determinations, Placita Philosophorum.

Since therefore the Matter is so, I hope the Opinion which we have formerly given in some of our other Books, will not be esteemed absurd; viz. That the common Form used by the King's Secretary in the last Clause of our Ordinances and Edits, Quia tale est PLACITUM nostrum, arises from hence: For anciently those Laws were written in the Latin Tongue, (as is sufficiently proved by Aimoinus, the Capitulary of Charles the Great, and many other Records); but afterwards when the King's Secretaries or Clerks began to make Use of the Vulgar Tongue, thro' Ignorance, or rather Malice, they translated it thus,—Car tel est nostre Plaisir: For such is our Will and Pleasure.

Now as to the Power of the People, we have this farther Argument extant in the same Capitulary of Charles the Great.—"Let the People (says it) be consulted touching all the Heads of the new Laws, which are to be added to the former; and after they have all given their Consents, let them set their Hands and Seals to every Article."

From which Words, 'tis apparent that the People of France were wont to be bound by such Laws only, as they had publickly agreed to in their Parliaments. Also in fine Leg. Aleman. we find this Passage.—"This is decreed by the King and his Nobles, and all the Christian People which compose the Kingdom of the Merovingians." Also Aimoinus, lib. 5 cap. 38.—"In this Placitum the Laws which follow were agreed upon, to be observed between them, by the Consent of the faithful Subjects.—An Agreement made between the Glorious Kings, &c. by the Advice and Consent of their faithful Commons, &c."

Lastly, we cannot omit observing, that so great was the Reputation and Authority of this General Council, even among Strangers, that foreign Princes submitted to have their Controversies and Differences decided by it. The Appendix to Greg. Turon. lib. 11. cap. 37. Anno 12. of Theodorick's Reign, has this Passage in it.—"When Alsaciones, [perhaps Alsatia] in which Country he had been brought up, and which was left him by his Father Childebert, fell nevertheless to Theodebert, according to the Custom in Use among the Barbarians; the two Kings agreed that their Difference should be decided by the judgment of the Franks, (in Salocissa castro) in their Camp near the River Sala."

Of the Kingly Officers, commonly call'd Mayors of the Palace.

Before we treat farther of the uninterrupted Authority of the Publick Council, we think it not improper to say somewhat of those Regal great Officers, which, during the Merovingian Race were called (Majores domus) Masters, or Mayors of the Palace. These having for some Time encroach'd upon the Kingly Power, finding at last a fit Opportunity, seiz'd upon it entirely as their own. Their Dignity near the Persons of our Kings seems to have been much the same with that of Præfecti Pretorio, or Generals of the Guards in the Time of the Roman Emperors, who were sometimes also titled Aulæ Præfecti. They were usually appointed in and by the same Convention which chose the Kings, and were wont to be Chiefs or Heads of the Publick Council. And upon this Account we frequently meet with such-like Expressions as these among our Historians.—"They elected such and such a Man to the Dignity of Mayor of the Palace. Herchinold, Mayor of the Palace, being dead, the Franks conferr'd that Dignity upon Ebroinus, and appointed him to be Mayor in the King's Court." Also—"They chose Hilderick for their King, and Wolfold for Mayor of the Palace." Which Quotations of ours might indeed have been made as properly in out foregoing Chapter, where we proved that the greater Employments were not usually given by the Kings, but appointed by the Yearly General Council, and conferred upon Men of the greatest Fidelity and Probity.

But in this Magistracy, the same Thing hapned, which Plutarch tells us (in his Life of Lysander) came to pass when Agesilaus was appointed by the Lacedemonians to be General of their Army, and Lysander to be Legate or Lieutenant-General: "Even as in Stage-Plays, (says he) the Actors who represent a Servant or Messenger, have better Parts, and are more regarded than him that wears the Crown and Scepter, who scarce speaks a Word in the whole Play: So the chief Authority and Command was lodg'd in Lysander, whilst with the King remained only a naked and empty Title."—Just so it fell out in our Francogallia; Fair Opportunities of increasing the Power of these Mayors of the Palace, being offer'd by the Sloth and Negligence of our Kings; among whom we may reckon Dagobert, Clodoveus, Clotharius, Childericus, Theodoricus, &c. For the Author of the History of the Franks, often cited by Venericus Vercellensis, tho' without naming him, writes, That during the Reign of Clotharius, Father of Dagobert, the Kingdom of the Franks began to be administred and govern'd by some which were called Provisores Regiæ, or Majores Domus. The same says Godf. Viterb. parte Chron. 16. Whereupon, whilst those Mayors of the Palace executed all the important Affairs of the Commonwealth, and commanded all the Armies in Time of War; and the Kings (spending their Days in Sloth and Idleness) tarried at Home, content with the bare Title of a King; Matters at last were brought to such a Pass, that during the Reign of Childerick the 18th King, Pipin, Mayor of the Palace, (who in the King's Name had waged great and long Wars, and had overcome and reduced the Saxons to Terms of Submission) finding a fit Occasion to assume the Regal Title which was offer'd him, did not let it slip: Especially seeing himself at the Head of a great and victorious Army, that espoused his Interests. Of which we have the Testimony of many Authors. First, Otto Frisingius, Chron. 5. cap. 12. and his Transcriber Godf. Viterb. Part. 16. who write thus.—"The Kings of France, before the Time of Pipin the Great, (formerly Mayor of the Palace) were in a Manner but titular Princes, having very little to do with the Government of the Realm." Sigebertus says almost the same Thing sub Anno 662.—"From this Time, (says he) the Kings of the Franks degenerating from their ancient Wisdom and Fortitude, enjoy'd little more than the bare Name of King. They did indeed bear the Title according to Custom, as being of the ancient Regal Race; but neither acted nor disposed of any Thing: The whole Administration and Power of the Kingdom, was lodg'd in the Hands of the Mayor of the Palace."

Yet in Reading such-like Authorities, we ought to take this Observation along with us. That since Pipin and his Sons laboured (as 'tis probable they did) under a great Load of Envy, for having violently wrested the Royal Dignity from King Childerick, they made it their Business to find out and employ plausible ingenious Historians, who magnified the Cowardliness of Childerick and his Predecessors, upbraiding them with Sloth and Idleness, beyond what they deserv'd. And among such as these, we may reckon Eguinarthus, Chancellor to Charles the Great, and one that did him special Service of this Nature; who in the Beginning of his Book writes thus.—"The Family of the Merovingians, out of which the Franks used to Elect their Kings, is supposed to have lasted as long as to Hilderic; who by the Appointment of Pope Stephen, was deposed, shaven, and thrust into a Monastery. Now tho' it may be said to have ended in him, yet in Truth, for a long Time before, it ceased to have any Value or Excellency, bearing the bare empty Title of King. For both the Riches and Power of the Kingdom, were at the Disposition of the Prefects of the Palace, commonly called Majores Domus; with whom was also lodg'd the Authority of the Empire: Neither was there any Thing left remaining to the King, but only that contenting himself with the Title, he should sit on a Throne, wearing his Hair and Beard very long, and representing the Person of a Ruler; sometimes giving the first and last Audience to Ambassadors from Foreign Parts, and returning such Answers as were made for him, as if they proceeded immediately from himself. But besides the unprofitable Name of a King, and a precarious Allowance for his private Expences, (which the Mayor of the Palace was pleased out of Bounty to give him) he had nothing that he could call his own, except one Village of very small Revenue, where he had a little House, and a few Servants, barely sufficient for his necessary Occasions, &c."

Sigebertus, sub Anno 662. taking Eguinarthus for his Pattern, inveighs against the former Kings in almost the same contumelious Terms. "Whose Custom (says he) it was, indeed, to make an Appearance like a Prince, according to what had been usual to their Family; but neither to act, nor dispose of any thing, only to tarry at Home, and to Eat and Drink like Irrational Creatures."—As if the like Sloth and Cowardise ought to be imputed to all the former Kings, among whom we nevertheless find many brave Men, such as Clodoveus, who not only defeated a great Army of Germans, which had made an Irruption into France, in a great Battel near Tolbiacum; but also drove the Remainder of the Romans out of the Confines of Gallia. What shall we say of Childebert and Clotharius, who rooted the Visigoths and Ostrogoths out of Provence and Aquitain, where they had seated themselves? In the Histories of all which Princes, there is no Mention made of any Mayor of the Palace, but cursorily, and by the By, as one of the King's Servants. This we may see in Gregorius, lib 5. cap. 18, where he speaks of Gucilius, Lib. 6. cap. 9. and cap. 45. Lib. 7. cap. 49. And we find this Employment to have been not only in the King's Palace, but also in the Queen's: For the same Gregorius, lib. 7. cap. 27. mentions one Waddo as Mayor of the Palace, in the Court of Queen Riguntha: And in very many other Places of their Histories, we find both Gregorius and Aimoinus making Mention of these Masters of the Court and the King's House.

Now the first Beginning of the great Authority of these Præfecti Regii, was (as we told you before) during the Reign of King Clotharius the Second, about the Year of our Lord 588. that is, about 130 Years after the constituting the Francogallican Kingdom; which we may also learn from the before-mention'd Historian, so often quoted by Venericus.

Yet there are two other Historians, (tho' not of equal Credit) Sigibertus and Trithemius, who refer the Beginning of so great a Power in the Mayor of the Palace, to the Reign of Clotair the Third; whose Magister Palatii was one Ebroinus, a Man of extraordinary Wickedness and Cruelty: But however this may be, we find Historians calling them by several other Appellations; such as Comites Domus Regie, Præfecti Aulæ, Comites Palatii, &c.

Whether Pipin was created King by the Pope, or by the Authority of the Francogallican Council.

Having in the former Chapter given an Account, that after the Expulsion of Childerick, (a stupid Prince, in whom the Line of the Merovingians ended) Pipin, from being Mayor of the Palace, was created King; It will be worth our Enquiry, to know by whose Authority the Kingdom was conferr'd upon him. For Pope Gelasius says thus, Cap. 75. Quest. 6. —"A Roman Pope, viz. Zacharias, deposed the King of the Franks, not so much because of his evil Actions, as because he was stupid, and unfit for the Exercise of so great a Trust; and in his Stead, substituted Pipin, Father of Charles the Emperor: Absolving all the Franks from the Oath of Allegiance to Childeric."

And there is scarce an Author who does not acquiesce in this Testimony of one Pope, concerning the Power of another: Thus Ado, Lambertus, Rhegino, Sigibertus, Aimoinus, Landulphus, nay, even Venericus Vercellensis, (in the Book which we formerly quoted) cites these Words out of the Epistle of Pope Gregory the VIIth. to Herman Bishop or Metz; viz. "A certain Pope of Rome deposed the King of the Franks from his Kingdom, nor so much for his Wickedness, as his being unfit for so great a Power; and after having absolved all the Franks from the Oath of Fidelity they had sworn to him, placed Pipin in his Room.—Which Otto Frisingius, lib. Chron. 5. cap. 23. and Godfrey, Chron. Part. 17. laying presently hold of, break out into this Exclamation—From this Action, the Popes of Rome derive an Authority of changing and deposing Princes, &c."

But pray let us enquire whether the Truth of this Story, as to the Matter of Fact, be sufficiently proved and attested. For in the first Place, 'tis manifest, That not one of all that great Number of Kings of the Franks, which we have instanced to have been Elected or Abdicated, was either created or abdicated by the Pope's Authority. On the contrary we have irrefragably prov'd, that the whole Right, both of making and deposing their Kings, was lodg'd in the yearly great Council of the Nation; so that it seems incredible the Franks shou'd neglect or forgo their Right, in this single Instance of Pipin. But to make few Words of this Matter, Venericus Vercellensis gives us the Testimony of an ancient Historian, who has written of all the Francogallican Affairs; whereby that whole Story of the Pope, is prov'd to be a Lye: And 'tis clearly demonstrated, that both Childerick was deposed, and Pipin chosen in his room, according to the usual Custom of the Franks, and the Institutions of our Ancestors: That is to say, by a solemn General Council of the Nation; in whose Power only it was, to transact a Matter of so great Weight and Moment; as we have before made it appear. The Words of that Historian are these:—"That by the Counsel, and with the Consent of all the Franks, (a Relation of this Affair being sent to the Apostolick See, and its Advice had) the most noble Pipin was advanced to the Throne of the Kingdom, By the Election of the whole Nation, the Homage of the Nobility, with the Consecration of the Bishops, &c." From which Words, 'tis most apparent that Pipin was not appointed King by the Pope, but by the People themselves, and the States of the Realm. And Venericus explains this Matter out of the same Historian. "Pipin, Mayor of the Palace (says he) having all along had the Administration of the Regal Power in his Hands, was the first that was appointed and elected to be King, from being Mayor of the Palace; the Opinion of Pope Zachary being first known, because the Consent and Countenance of a Pope of Rome, was thought necessary in an Affair of this Nature."—And presently after he tells us; "The Pope finding that what the Ambassadors had deposed was just and profitable, agreed to it; and Pipin was made King by the unanimous Suffrages and Votes of the Nobility, &c."—To the very same Purpose writes Ado of Vienna, Ætat. 6. sub Anno 727.—"Ambassadors (says he) were sent to Pope Zacharias, to propose this Question to him; Whether or no the Kings of the Franks, who had scarce any Power in their Hands, but contented themselves with the bare Title, were fit to continue to be Kings?" To which Zacharias return'd this Answer,—"That he thought the Person who governed the Commonwealth, ought rather to have also the Title of King: Whereupon the Franks, after the Return of the Ambassadors, cast out Childeric, who then had the Title of King; and by the Advice of the Ambassadors, and of Pope Zacharias, Elected Pipin, and made him King."

Besides the above Proofs, we have Aimoinus's Testimony to the same Purpose, lib. 4. cap. 61. where he concludes thus.—"This Year Pipin got the Appellation of King of the Franks, and according to their ancient Customs was elevated to the Royal Throne in the City of Soissons, &c." Nay, even Godfrey of Viterbo himself; Chron. part. 17. cap. 4. "Pipin (says he) was made King by Pope Zacharias, (ex electione Francorum) through the Election of the Franks, Hilderic their slothful King being, by the Franks, thrust into a Monastery."

In like Manner Sigebertus, sub Anno 752.— The Authors of the Miscellany History, lib. 22. —Otto Frising. lib. 5. Cap. 21, 22, 23. And the Author of the Book intituled Fasciculus temperum, do all clearly agree in the Account given of this Transaction. From which we may easily gather, that altho' the Franks did consult the Pope before they created Pipin King, yet it cannot therefore be any Ways inferr'd from thence, that he was made King by the Pope's Authority; for 'tis one Thing to make a King, and another to give Advice touching the making him: 'Tis one Thing to have a Right of Creation, and another that of only giving Advice; nay; no Man has a Right of so much as giving Advice in Matters of this Nature, but he whose Advice is first ask'd.

Lastly, no Man has more clearly explain'd this whole Matter than Marsilius Patavinus; who during the Reign of Lewis of Bavaria, writ a Book—de translatione imperii, in which, Cap. 6. he has these Words.—"Pipin, a very valiant Man, and Son of Charles Martel, was (as we read) raised to the Dignity of being King of the Franks, by pope Zacharias. But Aimoinus more truly informs us, in his History of the franks, that Pipin was legally elected King by the Franks themselves, and by the Nobility of the Kingdom was placed in the Throne. At the same Time Childeric, a dissolute Prince, who contenting himself with the bare Title of a King, wasted both his Time and Body in Wantonness, was by them shaven for a Monk: So that Zacharias had no Hand in the deposing him, but consented (as some say) to those that did. For such deposing of a King for just Causes, and and electing of another, does not belong to any Bishop or Ecclesiastick, nor to any College of Clergymen; but to the whole Body of citizens [ad universitatem civium] inhabiting that Region, and to the Nobles of it, or to the Majority of them both." Therefore those Pretences of the Popes, to a Power of creating or abdicating Kings, are apparently false to every Body. But besides this fabulous Device, which is a sufficient Instance of their Wickedness and Malice, I think it worth my while to add a remarkable Letter of Pope Stephen, adapted to the foregoing Fable; by which we may make a judgment of the Madness and folly of that old crafty Knave. This Letter is extant in Rhegino, a Benedictine Monk, and Abbot of Prunay, [Footnote: Abbot Pruniacensis] an irrefragable Testimony in an Affair of this Nature; 'tis in Chron. anni 753. —"Stephen the Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, &c. As no Man ought to boast of his Merits, so neither ought the wonderful Works of God which are wrought upon his Saints without their Desert, to be buried in Silence, but published abroad as the Angel admonished Tobias. I being constrained thro' the Oppression of the holy Church, by that most wicked, blasphemous, and not worthy to be named Wretch, Aistolphus, to fly for Refuge to that excellent and faithful Votary of St. Peter, Lord Pipin, the most Christian King, took my Journey into France; where I fell into a mortal Distemper and remained some Time in the District of Paris, in the venerable Monastery of St. Denis the Martyr. And being now past Hopes of Recovery, methought I was one Day at Prayers in the Church of the same blessed Martyr, in a Place under the Bells: And that I saw standing before the great Altar our Master Peter; and that great Master of the Gentiles, our Master Paul; whom I knew very well by their Vestments. And a little after, I saw the blessed Lord Denis, a tall and slender Man, standing at the Right Hand of our Lord Peter. And then that good Pastor the Lord Peter said—This good Brother of ours asks for Health. Then reply'd the blessed Paul—He shall be healed presently. And thereupon approaching to our Lord Denis, he amicably put his Hand upon his Breast, and look'd back upon our Lord Peter, and Lord Peter with a chearful Countenance said to our Lord Denis, His Health shall be your particular Act of Favour. Then presently Lord Denis taking a Censer full of Incense, and holding a Branch of Palm-tree in his Hand, accompanied with a Presbyter and Deacon, who assisted him, came near to me, and said, Peace be with thee, Brother, be not afraid, thou shalt not die until thou return in Prosperity to thy own See. Rise and be healed, and dedicate this Altar to the Honour of God, and the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, whom thou seest standing before thee, with Masses of Thanksgiving. Whereupon I was presently made whole. And being about to accomplish that which I was commanded to do, they that were present said I was mad. So I related all that I had seen, to them, to the King, and all his People, and how I had been cured; and I fulfilled all that I was bid to do. These Things happen'd in the 753d Year, from the Incarnation of our Lord on the Ides of August; at which Time being strengthned by the Power of Christ, between the Celebration of the Consecration of the above-mention'd Altar, and the Oblation of the Sacrifice, I anointed King Pipin and his two Sons, Charles and Carloman, Kings of the Franks. Moreover, I laid Hands upon, and blessed Bertranda the King's Wife, cloathed with her Royal Mantle, and the Grace of the Sevenfold Holy Spirit: And the Nobles of the Franks being sanctified by the Apostolical Benediction, and the Authority delivered by Christ to St. Peter, obliged themselves solemnly, and protested, That neither they, nor any of their Posterity, wou'd at any Time hereafter, presume to constitute any Person, as King over them, but only such as were of the Race of King Pipin."

Of the Constable, and Peers of France.

Besides the great Office of Mayor of the Palace before spoken of, there was another which we must take Notice of; because it seems, in the Memory of our Forefathers, to have succeeded in Place of the former: And that was the Office of Count of the King's Stable; called at first, Comes stabuli; and by Corruption at last, Connestabuli. Now all those who enjoy'd any extraordinary Honours or Employments in the King's Court, and assisted in the Administration of the Commonwealth, were commonly called Comites, Counts; which was likewise the Custom of the Ancients, as I have in some other of my Works demonstrated. So Cicero, in many Places, calls Callisthenes, Comitem Alexandri magni. This Comes stabuli was in a Manner the same with the Magister Equitum among the Romans, that is, General of the Horse; to whom were subject those Keepers of the Horses commonly called Querries. Greg. Turen lib. 5. cap. 39. says,—"The Treasurer of Clodoveus being taken out of the City of Bourges, by Cuppan, Count of the Stable, was sent in Bonds to the Queen, &c." And again, cap. 48. where he speaks of Leudastes,—"She took him (says he) into Favour, rais'd him, and made him Keeper of the best Horses; which so filled him with Pride and Vanity, that he put in for the Constableship; [Comitatum Stabuloram] and having got it, began to despise and undervalue every Body." From these Quotations it appears, that tho' the Custody of the Horses was a very honourable Employment, yet 'twas much inferior to that of Constable. Aimoinus, lib. 3. cap. 43. gives the same Account of this Leudastes.—"Being grown very intimate with the Queen, he was first made Keeper of the Horse; and afterwards obtaining the Constableship above the rest of the Keepers, he was (after the Queen's Death) made by King Charibert, Count of Tours." And cap. 70. "Leudegesilus, Præfect of the King's Horses, whom they commonly call Constable, being made General of that Expedition by the King, order'd the Engines to be drawn down &c." Also lib. 4. cap, 95. where he speaks of Charles the Great,—"The same Year (says he) he sent Burchard, Comitem Stabuli sui, which we corruptly call Constabulum, with a Fleet against Corsica"—. The Appendix to Gregory calls him, Comestabulum, lib. II. Brunechildis (says he) was brought out of the Village, ab exporre Comestabulo.

This being so, Albertus Krantzius, lib. Suet. 5. cap. 41. ventures to affirm, that this Constable was the same with what the Germans call Mareschal. "They named (says he) a Governor, one of the best Soldiers, who might have the Power of Convocating the Assembly of the Kingdom, and of acting in all Matters like the Prince. Our Countrymen call him a Mareschal, the French call him Constable, &c." This seems the more probable, because I do not remember any Mention to have been made in ancient Times, of a Mareschal in our Francogallia; so that 'tis very likely to have been an Institution of our latter Kings, accommodated to the Custom of the Germans.

That this Comitatus Stabulorum, a Constableship, had its Rise from the Institution of the Roman Emperors, I do not at all question; altho' it grew by Degrees among us from slender Beginnings, to the Heighth of chief Governor of the Palace. In former Times that Dignity was a Sort of Tribunatus Militaris. Ammianus, lib. 26. has this Expression where he speaks of Valentinian the Emperor,—"Having fixed his Stages, or Days Journeys, he at last entred into Nicomedia; and about the Kalends of March, appointed his Brother Valens to be Governor of his Stables, cum tribunatus dignitate, with tribunitial Dignity." What Kind of Dignity that was, we may find in the Code of Justinian, lib. 1. Cod. de comitibus & tribunis Schol. Where 'tis reckoned as a great Honour for them to preside over the Emperor's Banquets, when they might adore his Purple. Also in lib. 3. Cod. Theodos. de annon. & tribut, perpensa, 29. Cod. Theod. de equorum Collatione & lib. 1. Cod. Theod. wherein we may find a Power allowed them, of exacting Contribution to a certain Value from the Provincials who were to furnish War-Horses for the Emperor's Service.

It now remains that we discourse a little of those Magistrates, which were commonly called Peers of France; whereof we can find no Records or Monuments, tho' our Endeavours have not been wanting. For among so great a Number of Books, as are called Chronicles and Annals of Francogallia, not one affords us any probable Account of this Institution. For what Gaguinus, and Paulus Æmilius (who was not so much an Historian of French Affairs, as of the Pope's) and other common Writers do affirm, to wit, That those Magistrates were instituted by Pipin or Charlemagn, appears plainly to be absurd; because not one of all the German Historians, who wrote during the Reigns of those Kings, or for some Time after, makes the least Mention of those Magistrates. Aimoinus himself who wrote a History of the Military Atchievements and Institutions of the Franks, down to the Reign of Lewis the Pious, and the Appendix, which reaches as far as the Time of Lewis the Younger, being the 37th King, speak not one Word of these Peers in any Place of their Histories; so that till I am better inform'd, I must concur in Opinion with Gervase of Tilbury, who (as Gaguinus says in the Book which he wrote to the Emperor Otho the IVth, de otiis imperialibus) affirms. That this Institution is first owing to King Arthur of Britain, who ruled some time in Part of France.

For I suppose the Original of that Institution to be this; that as in the Feudal Law such are called, Pares curie beneficiari, i. e. equal Tenants by Homage of the Court, or Clientes, ὁμότιμοι Clients of like holding, or Convassilli, Fellow Vassals, who hold their Fiefs and Benefices from one and the same Lord and Patron; and upon that Account are bound to him in Fealty and Obedience: just so King Arthur having acquired a new Principality, selected twelve great Men, to whom he distributed the several Parts and Satrapies of his Kingdom, whole Assistance and Advice he made use of in the Administration of the Government. For I cannot approve of their Judgment, who write, that they were called Peers, because they were Pares Regi, the King's Equals; since their Parity his no Relation to the Regal Dignity, but only to that Authority and Dignity they had agreed should be common among them. Their Names were these, the Dukes of Burgundy, Normandy, and Aquitain; the Counts of Flanders, Tholouse, and Champagne; the Archbishops of Rheims, Laon, and Langres; the Bishops of Beauvais, Noyon, and Chalons. And as the Pares Curtis, or Curiæ, in the Feudal Law, can neither be created, but by the Consent of the Fraternity; nor abdicated, but by Tryal before their Colleagues; nor impeach'd before any other Court of Judicature; so these Peers were not bound by any judgment or Sentence, but that of the Parliament, that is, of this imaginary Council; nor could be elected into the Society, or ejected out of it, but by their Fellows in Collegio.

Now altho' this Magistracy might owe its Original to a foreign Prince; yet when he was driven out, the succeeding Kings finding it accommodated to their own Ends and Conveniences, ('tis most probable) continued and made use of it. The first mention I find made of these Peers, was at the Inauguration of Philip the Fair, by whom also (as many affirm) the Six Ecclestastical Peers were first created.

But Budæus, an extraordinary Learned Man, calls these Peers by the Name of Patritians; and is of Opinion that they were instituted by one of our Kings, who was at the same Time Emperor of Germany; because, Justinian says, those Patres were chosen by the Emperor, quasi Reipub. patronos tutoresque, as it were Patrons and Tutors of the Commonwealth. I do not reject this Opinion of that Learned Person; such a Thing being very agreeable to the Dignity of these Peers. For in the Times of the later Roman Emperors, we find the Patritian Dignity not to have been very unlike that of the Peers; because (as Suidas assures us,) they were (partly) the Fathers of the Republick, and were of Council with the Emperor in all weighty Concerns, and made use of the same Ensigns of Authority with the Consuls; and had greater Honour and Power than the Præfectus Prætorio, tho' less than the Consul; as we may learn ex Justiniani Novellis; from Sidon. Apollin. Claudian; and Cassiadorus especially.

But when the Empire was transferr'd to the Germans, we do not believe this Honour was in use among them. Neither is it likely, that none of the German Historians should have made the least Mention of it, if any Patritians of that Kind had been instituted by a German Emperor, who at the same Time was King of Francogallia.

Lastly, The same Badæus tells us in that Place, tho' a little doubtingly, that the like Dignity of Peers had been made use of in other neighbouring Nations; and that in the Royal Commentaries, Anno 1224, 'tis found written, that a certain Gentleman of Flanders, called Joannes Nigellanus, having, a Controversy there, appeal'd from the Countess of Flanders to the Peers of France; having first taken his Oath that he could not expect a fair and equal Tryal before the Peers of Flanders. And when afterwards the Cause was by the Countess revok'd to the judgment of the Peers of Flanders, it was at Length for certain Reasons decreed, that the Peers of France should take Cognisance of it. What the Reasons were of transferring, that Tryal, Budæus does not tell us; which one versed in the Feudal Laws should never have omitted. But 'tis Time to return to our principal Business.

Of the continued Authority and Power of the Sacred Council, during the Reign of the Carlovingian Family.

We have, as we suppose, sufficiently explain'd what was the Form and Constitution of our Commonwealth, and how great the Authority of the Publick Council was during the Reigns of the Kings of the Merovingian Family. We must now proceed to give an Account of it under the Carlovingian Race. And as well all our own as the German Historians, give us Reason to believe that the very same Power and Authority of the Orders or States of the Kingdom, was kept entire. So that the last Resort and Disposal of all Things, was not lodged in Pipin, Charles, or Lewis, but in the Regal Majesty. The true and proper Seat of which was (as is above demonstrated) in the Annual General Council. Of this Eguinarthus gives us an Account, in that little Book we have already so much commended. Where, speaking of what happen'd after the Death of Pipin, he tells us, "that the Franks having solemnly assembled their general Convention, did therein constitute both Pipin's Sons their Kings, upon this Condition, That they should equally divide the whole Body of the Kingdom between them; and that Charles should govern that Part of it which their Father Pipin had possess'd, and Carlomannus the other Part which their Uncle Carlomannus had enjoy'd, &c." From whence 'tis easily inferr'd, that the States of the Kingdom still retain'd in themselves the same Power, which they had always hitherto been in Possession of (during near 300 Years) in the Reigns of the Merovingian Kings. So that altho' the deceased King left Sons behind him, yet there came not to the Crown so much thro' any Right of Succession, as thro' the Appointment and Election of the States of the Realm. Now that all the other weighty Affairs of the Nation used to be determined by the same General Council, Aimoinus is our Witness, lib. 4. cap. 71. where he speaks of the War with the Saxons. "The King (says he) in the Beginning of the Spring went to Nimeguen; and because he was to hold a General Convention of his People at a Place called Paderburn, he marched from thence with a great Army into Saxony." And again, cap. 77.—"Winter being over, he held a Publick Convention of his People in a Town called Paderburn, according to the yearly Custom." Also cap. 79.— "And meeting with his Wife in the City of Wormes, he resolved to hold there the General Council of his People." In all which Places he speaks of that Charles, who thro' his warlike Atchievements had acquired the Dominion of almost all Europe, and by the universal Consent of Nations had obtained the Sirname of the Great: Yet for all that it was not in his Power to deprive the Franks of their ancient Right and Liberty. Nay, he never so much as endeavour'd to undertake the least Matter of Moment without the Advice and Authority of his People and Nobles. And there is no doubt of it, after Charles's Death, Lewis his Son administred the Kingdom upon the same Terms and Conditions. For the Appendix to Aimoinus, lib. 5. cap. 10. tells us, that when Charles was dead, Lewis the Emperor, thro' a certain Kind of Foreknowledge, summon'd the general Council of his People to meet at Doue, near the Loire. And again, cap. 38. where he makes Mention of the Articles of Peace, concluded between King Lewis and his Cousin Lewis, "—They summoned, says he, a PLACITUM, and in that PLACITUM, by the Advice and Consent of their faithful Subjects, they agreed to observe and keep the Articles which follow. In which Placitum it was also by common Consent found convenient, that both Kings should return with a Guard [redirent cum scarâ] &c." Also cap. 41. where he speaks of Carloman the Son of Lewis the Stammerer,— "And so (says he) he departed from the Normans, and returned to Wormes, where he was on the Kalends of November to hold his Placitum." Also in the following Chapter, where he speaks of Charles the Simple,—"Whose Youth (says he) the great Men of France thinking unfit for the Administration of the Government, they held a Council concerning the State of the Nation."

But it would be an infinite Labour, and indeed a superfluous one, to quote all the Instances which might be given of this Matter: From what we have already produced, I think 'tis apparent to every man, that till Charles the Simple's Reign, that is, for more than 550 Years, the Judgment and Determination of all the weighty Affairs of the Commonwealth, belonged to the great Assembly of the People, or (as we now call it) to the Convention of the Estates: And that this Institution of our Ancestors was esteemed sacred and inviolable during so many Ages. So that I cannot forbear admiring the Confidence of some Modern Authors, who have had the Face to publish in their Writings, That King Pipin was the first to whom the Institution of the Publick Council is owing. Since Eguinarthus, Charles the Great's own Chancellor, has most clearly proved, that it was the constant Practice of the whole Merovingian Line, to hold every Year the Publick Convention of the People on the Kalends of May; and that the Kings were carried to that Assembly in a Chariot or Waggon drawn by Oxen.

But to come to a Matter of greater Consequence, wherein the Prudence and Wisdom of our Ancestors does most clearly shew it self. Is it not apparent how great and manifest a Distinction they made between the King and the Kingdom? For thus the Case stands. The King is one principal Single Person; but the Kingdom is the whole Body of the Citizens and Subjects. "And Ulpian defines him to be a Traytor, who is stirred up with a Hostile Mind against the Commonwealth, or against the Prince." And in the Saxon Laws, Tit. 3. 'tis Written, "Whosoever shall contrive any Thing against the Kingdom, or the King of the Franks, shall lose his Head."—And again, "The King has the same Relation to the Kingdom that a Father has to his Family; a Tutor to his Pupil; a Guardian to his Ward; a Pilot to his Ship, or a General to his Army."— As therefore a Pupil is not appointed for the Sake of his Tutor, nor a Ship for the Sake of the Pilot, nor an Army for the Sake of a General, but on the contrary, all these are made such for the Sake of those they have in Charge: Even so the People is not designed for the Sake of the King; but the King is sought out and instituted for the Peoples Sake. For a People can subsist without a King, and be governed by its Nobility, or by it Self: But 'tis even impossible to conceive a Thought of a King without a People. Let us consider more Differences between them. A King as well as any private Person is a Mortal Man. A Kingdom is perpetual, and consider'd as immortal; as Civilians use to say, when they speak of Corporations, and aggregate Bodies. A King may be a Fool or Madman, like our Charles VI who gave away his Kingdom to the English: Neither is there any Sort of Men more easily cast down from a Sound State of Mind, through the Blandishments of unlawful Pleasures and Luxury. But a Kingdom has within it self a perpetual and sure Principle of Safety in the Wisdom of its Senators, and of Persons well skill'd in Affairs. A King in one Battel, in one Day may be overcome, or taken Prisoner and carried away Captive by the Enemy; as it happen'd to St. Lewis, to King John, and to Francis the First. But a Kingdom though it has lost its King, remains entire; and immediately upon such a Misfortune a Convention is call'd, and proper Remedies are sought by the chief Men of the Nation against the present Mischiefs; Which we know has been done upon like Accidents. A King, either through Infirmities of Age, of Levity of Mind, may not only be missed by some covetous, rapacious or lustful Counsellor; may not only be seduced and depraved by debauch'd Youths of Quality, or of equal Age with himself; may be infatuated by a silly Wench, so far as to deliver and fling up the Reins of Government wholly into her Power. Few Persons, I suppose, are ignorant how many sad Examples we have of these Mischiefs: But a Kingdom is continually supplied with the Wisdom and Advice of the grave Persons that are in it. Solomon, the wisest of Mankind, was in his old Age seduced by Harlots; Rehoboam, by young Men; Ninus, by his own Mother Semiramis; Ptolomæus sirnamed Auletes, by Harpers and Pipers. Our Ancestors left to their Kings the Choice of their own Privy-Counsellors, who might advice them in the Management of their private Affairs; but such Senators as were to consult in common, and take care of the publick Administration, and instruct the King in the Government of his Kingdom, they reserved to the Designation of the Publick Convention.

In the Year 1356: after King John had been taken Prisoner by the English, and carried into England, a Publick Council of the Kingdom was held at Paris. And when some of the King's Privy-Counsellors appeared at that Convention, they were commanded to leave the Assembly; and it was openly declared, that the Deputies of the Publick Council wou'd meet no more, if those Privy-Counsellors shou'd hereafter presume to approach that Sanctuary of the Kingdom. Which Instance is recorded in the Great Chronicle writ in French, Vol. 2. sub Rege Johanne, fol. 169. Neither has there ever yet been any Age wherein this plain Distinction between a King and a Kingdom, has not been observed. The King of the Lacedemonians (as Xenophon assures us) and the Ephori, renewed every Month a mutual Oath between each other; the King swore that he wou'd govern according to the written Laws; and the Ephori swore that they wou'd preserve the Royal Dignity, provided he kept his Oath. Cicero, in one of his Epistles to Brutus, writes: "Thou knowest that I was always of Opinion, that our Commonwealth ought not only to be deliver'd from a King, but even from Kingship, Scis mihi semper placuisse non Rege folum, sed Regno liberari rempublicam."—Also in his Third Book de Legibus—"But because a Regal State in our Commonwealth, once indeed approved of, was abolish'd, not so much upon the Account of the Faults of a Kingly Government, as of the Kings who governed; it may seem that only the Name of a King was then abolish'd, &c."