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Mayor of the Palace
(
person
)
by
LeoDV
Mon Nov 29 2004 at 13:15:07
The
barbarian Kings
who caused
the end
of the Roman Empire were
nomads
. While the
Romans
and the
Church
used
cities
as administrative and political centers,
Europe
's new rulers distrusted urban concentration and preferred to stay
on the road
with their
court
.
To this effect, they had
villas
built all over their land. They were not like the
castles
that would come later or the
châteaux
they would turn into. They were a cross between a
ranch
and a small regal village, with fields, stables, cattle, etc. and the small population required to make it run. They were also surrounded by woods where the sovereigns could enjoy their favourite past time of
hunting
. The upkeep of each of these villas was entrusted to a
magister palatii
("Master/Mayor of the Palace") so that whenever the King and his court might drop by the villa would be ready to accomodate.
However during the
6th century
, as the Barbarian Monarchs discovered the pleasures of sedentarism, the role of Mayor of the King's main palace took a political taint. In the palace, the Mayor's role started out as that of a
secretary
, or
chief of staff
: he would coordinate between the King's ministers, and between the King and his ministers. As the horse-riding warriors sunk deeper into decadence and debauchery, disregarding the affairs of the kingdom altogether, the position of Mayor of the Palace became central to the life of the palace, and therefore the kingdom altogether. The position was similar to that of a
Prime Minister
, until it became hereditary and the Mayor of the Palace was the
de facto
King.
The most famous Mayors are of course the Mayors of the
regnum francorum
, the Frankish kingdom started by
Clovis
in the
5th century
. His descendents, the
Merovingian
Kings, had shattered what had been Europe's greatest country (already!), and their Mayors brought it back together and turned it into something even grander. The last Frankish Mayors of the Palace are called the
Pippinids
, after
Pepin of Landen
(613-642), the first predominant Mayor of the Palace in a line that would only grow grander and grander in the next few generations:
his grandson,
Pepin of Herstal
(679-714), Mayor of the Palace, undisputed ruler of the
regnum francorum
, established the tradition that Mayors of the Palace would be Pippinids;
Charles Martel
(689-741) was Pepin of Herstal's illegitimate son but nonetheless inherited the job as Mayor of the Palace. He earned his name Martel (Hammer) by defeating a million-strong
Arab
army of invasion at the
Battle of Poitiers
. He also took on the title of
viceroy
of the Franks to insure his descendents' succession, and the
byzantine
titles of
Patrician
and
Consul
;
his son,
Pepin the Short
(752-768), was the first Pippinid to relinquish the title of Mayor of the Palace and be sacred King of the Franks even though, as we've seen, his line had ruled the
regnum francorum
for generations. You might also have heard of his son,
Charlemagne
(768-814).
To the anonymous softlinker of
Stewards of Gondor
: yes, the Mayors of the Palace are what
Tolkien
based the Stewards on. I also softlinked
Gríma Wormtongue
.
Charlemagne
Merovingian
Stewards of Gondor
French Monarchs
Gríma Wormtongue
Charles Martel
Pepin the Short
bakufu
Carolingian Dynasty
Pepin of Herstal
Shogun
Ranch
Roman Catholic Church
Roman Empire
Landen's transformation
Battle of Poitiers
Secretary-General
Medieval European Castles
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire
Villa
Viceroy
Patrician
Nomadism
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