Manorialism (Mid-Evil Ages)
...time, accelerated by the invasion of the teutonic
tribes - but from a commonly accepted standpoint Rome collapsed in 476
AD.
In its collapse, almost all of the eastern [Western] empire fell along with any
attempt to restore it, while some of the elements from the western empire
never really faded. The structure of tribes that took the place of the Roman
centralized government consisted not only of the Visigoths who sacked
Rome in 410, the Vandals who attempted the same in 455, and the Goths,
there were other tribes who came during this period such as the Franks
under Clovis who established the Merovingian empire - named for Clovis's
father Merowig - . After Clovis' death he passed his kingdom on to his 4
sons, his land divided 4 ways, essentially making 4 different smaller
kingdoms all trying to control it all.
Under Merovingian kings counts and
knights were elected one way or another to assist the king, however in
hiring these counts and knights needed to be paid, and with no basic
currency they were given land. Of course this was a problem, as the king
kept hiring knights and counts for protection and help, and as they passed
thier given land onto there sons, the Merovingian kings power slowly
dissipated leading them to be known as the "Do Nothing Kings." Another
factor that may have led to their downfall was the hiring of the mayor of the
palace. This second in command was atsked with overseeing the kingdom
and the kings finances. With such control one could say that a mayor of a
palace was at the level of the king (though he would certainly never say it)
and in one instance actually overthrew the king, who was coincidently the
last of the Merovingian kings.
The next wave of kings were named the Carolingian kings. These kings
attempted to learn from there...
View Full Essay
