Kingdom Of France Research Paper

The Kingdom of France emerged out of the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne aimed to recreate the Roman Empire from his own empire. He governed his large empire though counts who were in charge of the local administration. After his death, the empire was divided. The Treaty of Verdun in 843 organized the land into three parts, then called West Francia, East Francia and Lotharingia (the Middle Kingdom). During this time, the government was decentralized and the Kingdoms were marked by “a period of political and territorial fragmentation” (Price, 1994, p. 26). The population had to protect themselves due to fragmented and indirect rule. The numerous invasions, particularly the invasion of the Vikings in the 9th century in Normandy, mirrored the

Opello and Rosow (1999) identified this practice as “a chain of personal bonds and loyalty” (p.33). This new organization reached its peak under the reign of Philipp Augustus (1180-1223). Due to the weakness of the political body and the need for security, feudalism was established in France. The Pope was considered to be the vassal of God. The king was the vassal of the Pope and he had direct vassals who had their own vassals. A balance of power is characteristic of the feudal system in France. A powerful ruler still needed faithful men to help with the land and the army. The faithful men received in exchange protection. This vassalage is viewed as a mutual relationship from which both sides profited via loyalty or protection (Opello & Rosow, 1999, p.34). The relationship was represented by the “fief” given during a ceremony. Indeed, the vassal sworn loyalty to the Lord. He held in return a fief (large earthly domain). However, he had to provide in compensation soldiers and assured revenues to the Lord who protected him, in return, with his army. Feudalism marked inevitably the process of state-building in France. Indeed, this new politico-military system gave the king the power to make decisions, to enforce and maintain order within the

Opello and Rosow (1999) identified the estates as “a group to which rights and privileges were attached to corporate them” (p.37). The clergy had their own hierarchy. Its power and wealthy created tensions between the Church and feudal rulers (pp. 37-39). The clergy claimed to be under the control of the Pope and God. This made them independent from the king and at times they appeared to be uncontrollable. The second estate - the knights - emerged out of the belief in the common ownership of politico-military power (39-41). The last estate was composed of workers and peasants. Hall (1984, p.5) declared that “this extended network of interlocking ties and obligations produced an inevitable ‘fragmentation of each large system of rule into many smaller, increasingly autonomous systems’ (Poggi, 1978, p. 27)”. The kingdom was divided into many territories: duchies, counties and other areas ruled by lords. Indeed, a certain territory was under the authority of different political actors, which created problem for the king in governing his kingdom. The fragmentation of the territory was inevitable due to the absence of a communication infrastructure. The decline of feudalism led to “feudal anarchy” which occurred in France during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This anarchy caused probably the largest decentralization of power known in France at