A. D. 800-888 change of embassies and laborious negotiations, the three CHAP. III kings held a conference in which "the rights of fraternity and charity" were proclaimed to be inviolable, and the confraternity was thus established. The compact was, in substance, based upon two pledges: (1) not to inflict injuries upon one another; and (2) to render mutual assistance. It was, in effect, an attempt to create in place of the unitary empire which the partition had practically dissolved, a federal empire in which the three brothers were co-sovereigns. The whole period following the accession of Lewis the The new inPious was not only filled with family feuds and civil strife, vasions but devastation was spread over the whole Empire by the barbarian invaders who beset its borders, ascending its rivers, and penetrating far into the interior. The ships of the Vikings harried the coasts and ravaged the valleys of the North and West; the Arabs attacked the shores of the Mediterranean, occupying Sicily and Southern Italy; while the Hungarians swept over Eastern Germany, at first without resistance. Devoid of central authority, weakened by civil war, and preoccupied with its dynastic dissensions, the divided Empire was unable to afford protection to its frontiers; and the invaders, emboldened by its impotence, extended their incursions farther into the interior. The Arabs of Sicily sent their piratical craft to the rich ports of Northern Italy, and a band of Spanish Moors seized and held the seagirt fortress of Fraxinet, from which they ravaged the south of France. The whole valley of the Rhone was pillaged, and bands of plundering Magyars and Saracens are said to have met and fought each other near Neuchâtel, in the very heart of the Empire. After devastating the land, the Danes even plundered the old capital of Aachen, stabling their horses in its cathedral and desecrating the tomb of Charles the Great. dalism The rapid movements of the invaders and the absence of The developeffective strongholds presented difficulties with which neither ment of feuthe imperial nor the royal powers were competent to deal. Local defence became necessary everywhere, and only local A. D. 800-888 CHAP. III authority was able to provide for it. The feudal land tenure had for a long time prepared the way for feudal government. The domination of the counts and bishops, so ably held in check by Charles the Great, had found a new opportunity in the dissensions of the Empire, and had increased enormously; for, as central power was relaxed, local power became more absolute. The warring kings of the divided Empire sought to propitiate the favor of the greater nobles, and these were thus confirmed in their local freedom and importance. The situation of the Emperor When, therefore, the invaders came, it was to the counts and bishops, rather than to their distant rulers, that the people looked for protection. The rivers were defended by fortified bridges; castles, hitherto unknown in the Frankish realms, were erected in great numbers and of formidable strength; and while the population, seeking protection from the invaders, gathered under their walls, mailed horsemen went forth to defend the fields. Thus grew up a new social system, military at first, but finally also political; for the feudal castle became the seat of public authority as well as the general asylum of shelter, and the armed horseman who possessed it with his retinue of retainers was the only representative of effective government. Thus garrisoned, the country was able to put an end to the incursions and pillage of the invader, but a new political order had been thereby engendered. The protector and the protected, the lord and his vassal, the castle and the land, the knight and his retainers,-these were to remain when the Arab, the Viking, and the Magyar had departed; for they were enduring elements of social reorganization, and, though kings and emperors were still to be crowned, it was the feudal barons in their strongholds who were to rule the people, as they had saved the land in its hour of danger. While the partition of Verdun had made as nearly as possible an equal division of the imperial territory between the three monarchs, it had accorded to Lothair the title of Emperor. Although no provision was made for exercising the A. D. 800-888 titular primacy thus bestowed upon him, his central position CHAP. III between his brothers gave him the balance of power and the place of a pacificator; for, by turning his hand to one or the other side, he could secure their observance of the principles of the confraternity. It was impossible, however, for the Emperor to forget that the alliance of his brothers by the Oath of Strasburg had created the existing condition of affairs. Isolated, he was powerless to accomplish his will with either. United, they were, in reality, the masters of the situation. Jealous of the good understanding between Charles the Bald and Lewis the German, Lothair endeavored first to make a personal alliance with Lewis; then, having failed in this attempt, to form a closer union with Charles. The long story of the diplomatic negotiations between the three monarchs is of too little importance to the history of Europe to be recounted here. Nor is the Treaty of Mersen of 851, by which the confraternity became a specific compact, of great significance. The personal alliance which Lothair sought was secured by the Treaty of Liège of 854, but it bore no fruits either to him or to Charles the Bald, who was obliged to depend upon himself alone in suppressing the uprising of Pippin of Aquitaine and in withstanding the army sent against him by Lewis the German. territories The death of Lothair I, on September 28, 855, occasioned The partition a further dismemberment of the Empire, by which the im- of Lothair's perial title, with Italy, passed to Lewis II; Lotharingia to Lothair II; and Provence to a third son, Charles. The conditions of equilibrium were now profoundly modified, for the imperial power was still further reduced, and the Emperor was virtually only King of Italy, while Provence was the heritage of an epileptic child, and Lotharingia was too feeble to serve as an effective mediator between France and Germany. Resolved to overthrow Charles the Bald and make himself master of his brother's kingdom, Lewis the German undertook first to win as his ally Lothair II, and afterward the Emperor, Lewis II; with the result that, although he suc A. D. CHAP. III ceeded in making the Emperor his friend, he could not secure the alliance of Lothair II, who cast in his lot with Charles. 800-888 The rescue of bishops Failing to isolate Charles by his alliances, Lewis now entered into relations with the rebels of Aquitaine, who had never fully submitted to the King's supremacy, and with the feudal lords who were disloyal to him. Notwithstanding the energetic efforts of Charles to repress this disaffection, in July, 858, Count Eudes, representing the disaffected nobles, formally requested the intervention of Lewis the German to put an end to the alleged tyranny of Charles. The critical moment had arrived, and Lewis promptly invaded his brother's kingdom. Hastening from the scene of his conflict with the Norman France by the invaders, to meet the attack of Lewis, Charles found himself too feeble to resist him, and entered upon a course of negotiations. After sending five embassies to his brother, Charles discovered that the emissaries of Lewis were energetically sowing the seeds of disloyalty among his nobles; and, perceiving himself abandoned by great numbers, he retreated into Burgundy. Marching through the country without opposition, Lewis now dated royal documents from the palace of Attigny as King of France, and exercised all the rights of sovereignty. It was at this moment that the power of the Church made itself felt in a remarkable manner. Lewis had boldly disregarded the treaty of confraternity, and was, in fact, performing an act of usurpation. In order to render his sovereignty legitimate, he now convoked the bishops for November 25, 858, at Reims, with the pretext of restoring the interests of the Church. Under the leadership of Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims, the French bishops met at Quierzy, and addressed a letter to Lewis, in which, with great skill, they explained their non-appearance before him, distinctly put in issue the question of his legitimate authority, and asserted that, for the eviction of a recognized and consecrated sovereign a general assembly of the bishops of the realm was neces A. D. 800-888 Coblenz sary. The document is an instructive commentary upon the CHAP. III power of the Church as a counterpoise to the lay nobles, who, at this critical moment, left the monarch helpless and alone. Informed by Hincmar of the rebuff administered to Lewis, Charles now rallied his forces and surprised his brother at the monastery of St. Quentin, whither he had retired to celebrate the festivities of Christmas. Lewis, without resistance, on January 15, 859, retreated over the. Rhine, and Charles again took possession of his kingdom. Having restored their sovereign to his throne, the bishops The Peace of now sought to close the incident by consolidating peace. Representing a synod called at Metz, in May, Hincmar and a delegation of French bishops presented themselves before Lewis the German, at Worms, on June 4, 859, with the text of a treaty in their hands. Lewis received them kindly, saying that, if he had offended them in any respect, he wished to be pardoned; but he would make no agreement until he had consulted his own bishops. Regarding the diplomacy of Charles as likely to be less formidable than that of his representatives, Lewis besought a private interview, which occurred not far from Andernach, in July, 859. The meeting on a little island of the Rhine having been arranged, each of the two kings was accompanied by the same number of adherents to the opposite banks of the river. There, they left their escorts and proceeded by boat to the island, where they conducted their interview face to face and alone. Charles demanded that the nobles who had betrayed him should be abandoned to his will. This Lewis absolutely refused. Ending without result, the conference was adjourned till the following October, when Lothair II was to be present. As Lothair was then absent in Italy, the meeting never occurred; but on June 1, 860, the three kings with their bishops and nobles assembled at Coblenz to establish peace. After five days of negotiation, a treaty was ratified in which Charles surrendered his claim to punish his rebels for their disloyalty, and the strange doctrine was thereby accepted that |