A missus dominicus (plural missi dominici), Latin for "envoy[s] of the lord [ruler]" or palace inspector, also known in Dutch as Zendgraaf (German: Sendgraf), meaning "sent Graf", was an official commissioned by the Frankish king or Holy Roman Emperor to supervise the administration, mainly of justice, in parts of his dominions too remote for frequent personal visits. [1] As such, the missus performed important intermediary functions between royal and local administrations. There are superficial points of comparison with the original Roman corrector , except that the missus was sent out on a regular basis. Four points made the missi effective as instruments of the centralized monarchy: the personal character of the missus, yearly change, isolation from local interests and the free choice of the king. [2]
Based on Merovingian ad hoc arrangements, [3] using the form missus regis (the "king's envoy") and sending a layman and an ecclesiastic in pairs, [4] the use of missi dominici was fully exploited by Charlemagne (ruling 768—814), who made them a regular part of his administration, [5] [6] [7] "a highly intelligent and plausible innovation in Carolingian government", Norman F. Cantor observes, [8] "and a tribute to the administrative skill of the ecclesiastics, such as Alcuin and Einhard". The missi were at first chosen from Charlemagne's personal, most trusted entourage, of whatever social degree. Soon they were selected only from the secular and ecclesiastical nobility: the entry for 802 in the so-called Lorsch Annals (794–803) states that instead of relying on "poorer vassals", [9] Charlemagne "chose from the kingdom archbishops and bishops and abbots, with dukes and counts, who now had no need to receive gifts from the innocent, and sent them throughout his kingdom, so that they might administer justice to the churches, to widows, orphans and the poor, and to all the people." [10] Presumably the same year the capitulary usually known as the Capitulare missorum generale was issued, which gives a detailed account of their duties and responsibilities. They were to execute justice, to ensure respect for the king, to control the government of the military dukes and administrative counts (then still royal officials), to receive their oath of allegiance, [11] to let the king's will be known, at times by distributing capitularies around the empire, and to supervise the clergy of their assigned region. [5] In short, they were the direct representatives of the king or Holy Roman Emperor. The inhabitants of the district they administered had to provide for their subsistence, and at times they led the host to battle. [5] The missi were protected by a triple wergeld and resistance to them was punishable by death. [12] In addition special instructions were given to various missi, and many of these have been preserved. [5]
As missi became a conventional part of court machinery, missus ad hoc came to signify missi sent out for some particular purpose. [13] [14] The districts placed under the ordinary missi, which it was their duty to visit for a month at a time, four times a year, were called missatici or legationes [5] (a term illustrating the analogy with a papal legate); the missatica (singular missaticum) avoided division along the lines of the existing dioceses or provinces. [12] [15] The missi were not permanent officials, but were generally selected from the ranks of officials at the court, and during the reign of Charlemagne high-standing personages undertook this work. [5] They were sent out collegially, usually in twos, an ecclesiastic and a layman, and were generally complete strangers to the district which they administered, [5] to deter them from putting out local roots and acting on their own initiative, as the counts were doing. In addition extraordinary missi represented the emperor on special occasions, and at times beyond the limits of his dominions. [16] Even under the strong rule of Charlemagne it was difficult to find men to discharge these duties impartially, and after his death in 814 it became almost impossible. [5] [17]
Under Charlemagne's surviving legitimate son, Louis the Pious (ruling 813–840),the process of disintegration was hastened. [18] Once the king associated the choice of missi with the assembly of nobles, the nobles interfered in the appointment of the missi. The missi were later selected from the district in which their duties lay, [19] [20] [5] which led to their association with local hereditary filiations and in general a focus upon their own interests rather than that of the king. [21] [22] The 825 list of missi reveals that the circuits of the missatica now corresponded with provinces, strengthening local powers. The duties of missi, who gradually increased in number, became merged in the ordinary work of the bishops and counts, [23] and under the emperor Charles the Bald [5] (ruling 843–877), who was repeatedly pressured by bishops to send out missi, they took control of associations for the preservation of the peace. [5] Louis the German (ruling 843–876) is not known to have sent out missi. [24] About the end of the ninth century, with the implosion of Carolingian power, the missi disappeared from France and during the 10th century from Italy. [5] [25]
The missi were the last attempt to preserve centralised control in the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the ninth century, the forces which were making for feudalism tended to produce inherited fiefdoms as the only way to ensure stability, especially in the face of renewed external aggression in the form of Viking attacks, to which the impaired central power was demonstrated to be impotent.
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Charles the Bald, also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious, Charles succeeded, by the Treaty of Verdun (843), in acquiring the western third of the empire. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife, Judith.
The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombards in Italy from 774. In 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in an effort to transfer the Roman Empire from Byzantine Empire to Europe. The Carolingian Empire is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.
Bertrada of Laon, also known as Bertrada the Younger or Bertha Broadfoot, was a Frankish queen. She was the wife of Pepin the Short and the mother of Charlemagne, Carloman and Gisela, plus five other children.
Hildegard, was a Frankish queen consort who was the second wife of Charlemagne and mother of Louis the Pious. Little is known about her life, because, like all women related to Charlemagne, she became notable only from a political background, recording her parentage, wedding, death, and her role as a mother.
A capitulary was a series of legislative or administrative acts emanating from the Frankish court of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, especially that of Charlemagne, the first emperor of the Romans in the west since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century. They were so called because they were formally divided into sections called capitula.
Louis Sigismond Isaac Halphen was a French medieval specialist and the author of many important books over a long career. He was noteworthy as the editor of a modern edition of the famous classic Einhard's "Vie de Charlemagne", He was also known as being one of the general editors of the monumental series Peuples et civilisations.
Lièpvre is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. A monastery was built here in the eighth century by Saint Fulrad, who filled it with relics of Saint Cucuphas and Saint Alexander.
Christian Settipani is a French genealogist, historian and IT professional, currently working as the Technical Director of a company in Paris.
Eduard Koschwitz was a Romance philologist.
Robert Folz was a French medievalist and specialist on the Carolingian era.
The Palace of Aachen was a group of buildings with residential, political and religious purposes chosen by Charlemagne to be the centre of power of the Carolingian Empire. The palace was located at the north of the current city of Aachen, today in the German Land of North Rhine-Westphalia. Most of the Carolingian palace was built in the 790s but the works went on until Charlemagne's death in 814. The plans, drawn by Odo of Metz, were part of the programme of renovation of the kingdom decided by the ruler. Today much of the palace is destroyed, but the Palatine Chapel has been preserved and is considered as a masterpiece of Carolingian architecture and a characteristic example of architecture from the Carolingian Renaissance.
The Admonitio generalis is a collection of legislation known as a capitulary issued by Charlemagne in 789, which covers educational and ecclesiastical reform within the Frankish kingdom. Capitularies were used in the Frankish kingdom during the Carolingian dynasty by government and administration bodies and covered a variety of topics, sorted into chapters. Admonitio generalis is actually just one of many Charlemagne's capitularies that outlined his desire for a well-governed, disciplined Christian Frankish kingdom. The reforms issued in these capitularies by Charlemagne during the late 8th century reflect the cultural revival known as the Carolingian Renaissance.
Karl Ferdinand Werner was a German historian. He particularly studied historiography, the Early Middle Ages and the origins of European nobility.
Karolus magnus et Leo papa, sometimes called the Paderborn Epic or the Aachen Epic, is a Carolingian Latin epic poem of which only the third of four books is extant. It recounts the meeting of Charlemagne, king of the Franks, with Pope Leo III, in AD 799.
Wulfar or Wulfaire was the archbishop of Reims from 812 until his death. He was an important administrator in the Carolingian Empire, both before and during his episcopate, under the emperors Charlemagne and Louis the Pious.
The Capitulare missorum generale and Capitularia missorum specialia, both issued in 802, were acts of Charlemagne whereby the role and functions of the missi dominici were defined and placed on a permanent footing, as well as specific instructions sent out to the various missatica.
The Synods of Aachen between 816 and 819 were a landmark in regulations for the monastic life in the Frankish realm. The Benedictine Rule was declared the universally valid norm for communities of monks and nuns, while canonical orders were distinguished from monastic communities and unique regulations were laid down for them: the Institutio canonicorum Aquisgranensis. The synods of 817 and 818/819 completed the reforms. Among other things, the relationship of church properties to the king was clarified.
The royal household of the early kings of the Franks is the subject of considerable discussion and remains controversial. This discussion is aimed at identifying the major categories of participants in the administration and those who made the major historical impacts. Every king of the Franks from Clovis I to Charles the Bald had a large cadre of advisors and bureaucrats that helped implement their regime. These supporters of the crown are frequently unknown, but often are ancestors of the later rulers of France. This is not intended to be a complete list of those supporting the kings but to serve as a guide for further study. A general discussion of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties can be found in the associated main articles. See also Government of the Carolingian Empire.
Tamara Scheer is an Austrian Historian. Scheer studied history at the University of Vienna and achieved her doctorate in 2006 at the same university. Since then she taught and worked at several institutions: from 2010 to 2012 Post-Doc-Head of the Doctoral School and ÖAD-Fellow at Andrássy University Budapest, FWF-Hertha-Firnberg-Fellow at Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Historical Social Science (2013-2017). Short-Term Fellowships brought her to Trinity College Dublin (2014), Czech Academy of Sciences (2016) European University Institut Florence (2017/18), and the University of Oslo (2018).
The Treaty of Coulaines, named after the western French locality of Coulaines near Le Mans, was concluded in late 843 between Charles the Bald, king of West Francia, and his nobility and clergy. Since its validity was limited to West Francia, it has been interpreted as marking the start of a divergence between the respective legal orders of what would become the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Germany, just a few months after the two realms had been defined by the Treaty of Verdun. The treaty restricted the powers of the king and guaranteed rights of the nobility and clergy.
