Origins of the Holy Roman Empire: Part 3

The third part of this series explores predominantly the 8th century, focusing upon the roles of the monasteries and the movement away from Merovingian customs.

Monasteries were just for secluded monks, right?

This is the common take away in most European and American schools regarding the monastic system of the Middle Ages. As with most commentary regarding the medieval Church, the monasteries are often causally dismissed as only locally important, or as hiding spots for illegitimate children. At most, a comment with regard to the scriptoria, where texts were produced, is injected anecdotally, surviving only as an afterthought as students are told to turn the page to the 18th century.

To say that medieval monasteries were only locally important would be a tremendous understatement, considering that the monasteries were the key to the rise of the Carolingians. The groundwork for the structural reforms that Charlemagne introduced in the political, educational, and economical arenas had actually been laid by his great-grandfather, Pippin II (635 – 714), whose life had been dedicated to slowly relieving the Merovingian Kings of their power.

Commonly referred to as Pippin of Herstal (a town in modern-day Belgium) in the former Kingdom of Austrasia, Pippin II was determined to unite the Frankish realms under a single rule, but could only do so with the support of the powerful abbeys that funded his campaigns.

Binding the the Monasteries

Pippin II was born to the son of Saint Arnulf of Metz, Ansegisel, and the daughter of Pippin I, Saint Begga, during the reign of the last great Merovingian monarch, Dagobert I. This union of the Pippinid and the Arnulfing families established a new lineage that would later be named the Carolingian Dynasty.

Although just a boy when King Dagobert I died (638 AD), Pippin II was raised in a culture where his two grandfathers, Pippin I and Saint Arnulf of Metz, had acted as the two key advisors to the late king. Pippin I’s role as Mayor of the Austrasian Palace, and Saint Arnulf’s role as Bishop of Metz, brought both the secular and ecclesiastical realms together, certainly influencing Pippin II’s policy of gaining the support of the abbeys later on.

Pippin II’s ability as a warrior and leader of the Austrasian armies established a clear connection between himself and his grandfather (and namesake), Pippin I, who in turn followed in the tradition of the Frankish duces. However, Pippin II’s greatest achievements were with his ability to sway abbots and bishops to his side.

It is important to keep in mind that many bishops had sons during the Early Middle Ages, as the reforms of the Investiture Controversy did not occur until the turn of the 12th century—nearly 400 years after Pippin’s death. Furthermore, abbots and bishops often filled a political role, but not entirely of their own volition.

Politics of the Middle Ages were interwoven in the genealogies of the nobles, from whose ranks many young men entered the clergy, either willingly or forcibly (though a greater proportion certainly chose the vocation). These men sometimes acted as agents of the secular courts, a trend that oscillated over the course of the following centuries.