The historical background

As we saw in chapter 9, the fifth century AD is marked by the complete breakdown of the Roman state in the West. During this period of disintegration the process of infiltration of the western provinces by Germanic barbarians, first as legionaries and later as settlers, became greatly accelerated until whole nations migrated into Roman territory, power passing from Roman officials to Germanic kings.

With the disintegration of the Roman empire Europe moved slowly but surely into what is generally known as the Middle Ages.

By the end of the sixth century the great Germanic migrations into western Europe were over. But of all the Germanic kingdoms established in the lands of the former Roman empire of the West only that of the Franks was destined to endure, whilst most of the others disappeared after a brief existence.^[1333] The first great Frankish dynasty was that of the Merovingians, founded by Clovis (481-511).

The greatest monarch in the Carolingian line was Pippin's son Charles, known to history as Charlemagne (768-814), who became sole ruler of the Franks on the death of his brother Carloman in 771. After a long series of wars Charlemagne put an end to the Lombard kingdom in northern Italy making himself its ruler (774), subdued the Saxons adding a large tract of territory in Germany to the Frankish realm, strengthened his suzerainty over Bavaria and the area which would later become Austria and repulsed the Arabs beyond the Pyrenees gaining control of Barcelona. Like his predecessors, he followed a policy of close cooperation with the Church. He confirmed the grant of territory in Italy which had been previously presented to the Pope by his father and made it part of his policy to spread the Christian faith in the newly conquered lands. The partnership between the Carolingians and the Papacy culminated in Charlemagne's coronation by Pope Leo III as Emperor in Rome on 25 December 800.^[1335] In internal affairs Charlemagne did much to promote centralised rule. He exercised general supervision over the Church using the Church organisation as a vehicle for extending his authority, held the nobles in check (although he often sought their advice in matters of state policy), and ensured closer supervision of the administration by appointing counts and margraves to govern the various parts of his realm. Moreover, he ordered the unwritten laws of the various tribes to be written down, and earlier codes, such as the Salic Code of the Franks {Lex Salica), to be edited authoritatively. Although the legal traditions of each locality were fully respected, Charlemagne, by virtue of his position as head of the empire, issued edicts, known as capitularies, applicable to all his subjects. These statutes were not merely statements of popular customs promulgated by a ruling chief; they were the decrees of a sovereign ruler whose will was the source of law, according to the well-known doctrine of Roman law.

The establishment of a Western empire by Charlemagne was one of the most important events in the rise of a new society in western Europe. Just as the reign of Justinian had precipitated the emergence of Byzantine civilisation, so the achievements of Charlemagne helped to mould the civilisation of western Europe which began to take shape in his time. But in the years following Charlemagne's death the unity of the Frankish empire was broken and political authority everywhere tended to disintegrate. During the ninth and tenth centuries new invaders - Norse Vikings, Saracens, Magyars and Slavs - threatened Europe from all sides and Charlemagne's successors, weakened by continuous dynastic struggles, were unable to check their advance. In the wake of the devastation caused by war and plundering economic conditions worsened, living standards remained at a low level and learning was stifled. The permanent threat of invasion and the inability of the kings to protect and assert their authority over the local communities of their realms strengthened the centrifugal tendencies in the West and feudalism, with its politically divisive and economically retarding influences, became widespread.^[1336] As the influence of central authority diminished real power passed into the hands of feudal lords, who came to enjoy essential sovereignty in their own domains, being virtually immune from royal interference. Moreover, the weakness of central authority led to the rise of the power of the Church, which adapted itself to the feudal system by building up vast landholdings and by extending its influence through its own vassals and serfs.

In the eleventh century Europe entered a period of political, economic and cultural transformation. The decentralising tendencies which had led to political fragmentation and the expansion of feudalism gradually receded as political authority grew progressively stronger with the rise of powerful new monarchies. The Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, which had been established in the middle of the tenth century by Otto the Great (936-973), asserted its authority throughout the domains of the Carolingian Empire, with the exception of France, and expanded its territories to the east; the kingdom of France, under a new line of rulers initiated by Hugh Capet (987-996), was consolidating itself; well organised Norman kingdoms were being formed in southern Italy and in England; in Spain Arab power declined and, by the close of the eleventh century, Christian rule had been extended beyond the centre of the Iberian peninsula. At the same time the government of the Church was centralised at Rome and, strengthened by a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII (1073­1085), was soon able to enter into a contest for supremacy with the empire itself. Improved political conditions and the gradual return of order facilitated economic growth and gave medieval thought and culture a more favourable environment for development.

One of the most important developments which stimulated the economic and cultural revival of the eleventh and twelfth centuries was the rise of towns and the emergence of a new urban civilisation. Potent factors in urban growth were the rapid expansion of trade and the increase in popularity of fairs, i.e. organised occasions for commercial exchange. During the crusades the Mediterranean had been reopened as a major West European trading route and new trading possibilities were recognised and exploited. First to profit from this were the Italian coastal cities, such as Venice, Genoa and Pisa, which gained in strength, independence and prosperity. The increasing number, size and power of commercial cities naturally led to the growth of the urban middle class and the expansion of its political influence. This new urban class was a powerful force generating new currents in medieval Europe, as opposed to the inertia of the old agrarian feudal order. The latter was characterised by localism, uniformity and repetition, which made it inherently stagnant and custom­bound; by contrast, the urban movement, based upon diversity, novelty and a dynamic and more tolerant outlook on life promoted the introduction of novel social, economic, political and legal elements into medieval life and stimulated cultural endeavours. Townspeople, through their struggle for greater economic and political freedom, redirected the political evolution of Europe, speeding up the decline of feudalism and paving the way for the rise of nation states.

The new upward trend of culture manifested itself in a significant increase in literary and artistic output and educational activity, and a revival of classical studies. Side by side with the traditional forms of education, centred around monasteries and churches, secular education emerged as a vital force in the intellectual development of the European society. Unlike the ecclesiastical schools, where teaching concentrated mainly on dialectic and theology, secular schools focused also on practical subjects, such as medicine and law. It was in connection with the study of law that one of the most significant cultural developments occurred - the establishment of the first medieval universities. The organisation and administration of the medieval universities varied considerably, but there was a common element, namely they were organised like the guilds under a corporate form of control. In the early medieval schools, such as the famous law-school of Bologna, teachers and mature students organised themselves into closely knit communities in order to be able to pursue their scholarly interests free from outside interference. From the thirteenth century onwards an increasing number of universities were established throughout Europe and, by the close of the Middle Ages, more than seventy were in existence.

The eleventh and twelfth centuries are marked also by the long struggle for supremacy between the empire and the papacy. This struggle became known as the 'investiture contest' because it revolved around the right of secular authorities to participate in the choice of bishops and other churchmen and to invest them not only with their secular but also their spiritual authority. Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) rejected the concept of the papacy as a bishopric of the emperor, demanding supreme authority in all Church affairs and asserting the supremacy of the Church over the state. Drawing upon the writings of early Church fathers, such as St Augustine, he contended that a ruler, whether a king or an emperor, was subject to the universal power of the Church and could only hold office as long as he performed his duties in accordance with Christian principles. The supporters of monarchical authority countered with the theory of the divine right of kings, arguing that while a king should rule justly and for the benefit of his subjects, for his failures he was answerable to God alone and not to priests. Gregory's theories and policies led to conflict with Emperor Henry IV (1056-1106) and war between the papal and the imperial parties raged sporadically throughout Europe until 1122. In that year a compromise was reached by means of a Concordat signed in the German city of Worms. The Concordat of Worms stipulated that the emperor should abandon the right of investing his bishops with the symbols of their spiritual authority and recognised the Church as a separate, autonomous body vested with jurisdiction over a defined constituency and governed by a distinct body of law, the canon law. At the same time recognition was given to non-ecclesiastical political entities and secular legal orders. The Concordat of Worms was a compromise which reflected a gain for the papacy. It was not until monarchs became powerful in fact, towards the close of the Medieval era, that they were able to effectively challenge the supremacy of the Church.

The period between the thirteenth and the fifteenth centuries witnessed the gradual transition of European civilisation from medievalism to the modem age. The most important factors in the institutional background of the decline of the medieval order was the emergence of strong nationalistic monarchies, the growth of towns and of the urban middle class and the decline of the Roman Catholic Church. In the years following the death of Emperor Frederick II (1250) the medieval concept of emperorship was undermined and Germany became, and for centuries remained, a collection of more or less independent principalities, duchies and bishoprics. Not until the rise of Prussia in the seventeenth century was there created a power which ultimately was able to unify the German states. In France feudal institutions were gradually abandoned and the country moved in the direction of a centralised state under the authority of the king. During the reigns of Louis IX (1226-1270) and his grandson Philip IV 'the Fair' (1285-1314) the power of the feudal lords was curbed, the administration was centralised and the jurisdiction of the king's courts was extended over the entire country. Philip became the first European monarch who was able to defy the Roman Catholic Church and, after his victory over Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303), the papacy could never again safely contest the power of the French monarchy. In England, as in France, centralised political authority grew stronger. In Italy, after the decline of the German imperial influence, city states such as Venice, Genoa, Florence and Milan grew to independence and established themselves as leading financial, commercial and cultural centres. Finally, in the closing phase of the Middle Ages the power of the papacy, which had raised its pretensions to the highest level under Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), declined sharply following the triumph of nationalism and of nationalistic political theory over medieval theocratic unity. By the end of the fifteenth century the institutional basis of medievalism, namely a dominant agricultural economy, feudal politics and a universal and omnipotent Church was breaking down and, with the coming of the Renaissance, the dawn of the modem age was at hand.