The title Duke of the Franks ( la, dux Francorum) has been used for three different offices, always with "duke" implying military command and "prince" implying something approaching sovereign or regalian rights. The term "
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...
" may refer to an ethnic group or to the inhabitants of a territory called
Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks du ...
.
The first office was that of the
mayors of the palace of the
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...
kings of the Franks
The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who con ...
, whose powers increased as those of the kings declined. The second was that of the second-in-command to the early
kings of France
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the fir ...
, the last incumbent of which succeeded to the throne in 987. This title was sometimes rendered as Duke of France (). The third instance was that of the rulers in
East Francia
East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...
(now Germany), the so-called
"tribal" duchy of
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...
.
''Dux et princeps Francorum''
Up until the time after
Dagobert I
Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dyna ...
, the title ''princeps'' (prince) had royal connotations. The first time it was used to describe the mayors of the palace of
Neustria
Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks.
Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...
was in mid-7th-century saints' lives. The ''
Vita Eligii'' refers to unspecified ''principes'' of the ''palatium'' of Neustria, and the ''
Vita Baldechildis'' and ''
Passio Leudegarii
Leodegar of Poitiers ( la, Leodegarius; french: Léger; 615 – October 2, 679 AD) was a martyred Burgundian Bishop of Autun. He was the son of Saint Sigrada and the brother of Saint Warinus.
Leodegar was an opponent of Ebroin, the Frankish Ma ...
'' describe the mayors
Erchinoald Erchinoald (also ''Erkinoald'' and, in French, ''Erchenout'') succeeded Aega as the mayor of the palace of Neustria in 641 and succeeded Flaochad in Burgundy in 642 and remained such until his death in 658.
Family
According to Fredegar, he was a ...
and
Ebroin
Ebroin (died 680 or 681) was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681. In a violent and despotic career, he strove to impose the a ...
as princes.
Pippin II first used the title ''princeps'' after his victory at the
Battle of Tertry
The Battle of Tertry was an important engagement in Merovingian Gaul between the forces of Austrasia under Pepin II on one side and those of Neustria and Burgundy on the other. It took place in 687 at Tertry, Somme, and the battle is presented ...
in 687. Both the ''
Liber historiae Francorum
''Liber Historiae Francorum'' ( en, link=no, "The Book of the History of the Franks") is a chronicle written anonymously during the 8th century. The first sections served as a secondary source for early Franks in the time of Marcomer, giving a ...
'' and the ''
Vita Dagoberti tertii'' refer to him by this title, but the continuation of the ''
Chronicle of Fredegar
The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century.
The chronicle begin ...
'' uses only the title "duke". The historian
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom ...
refers to Pippin II as ''dux Francorum'', but the ninth-century
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
translator of Bede uses the term ''Froncna cyning'' (king of the Franks). The continuator of ''Fredegar'' refers to
Ragamfred as a prince, but he only calls his rival, Pippin's son
Charles Martel
Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesm ...
, a prince after his victory over Ragamfred in 718. The princely title was used continuously from this point on for Charles and his descendants, the
Carolingians
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...
, both in narrative and charter sources.
In 742, Pippin's grandson,
Carloman, held his great ''
Concilium Germanicum The Concilium Germanicum was the first major Church synod to be held in the eastern parts of the Frankish kingdoms. It was called by Carloman on 21 April 742/743 at an unknown location, and presided over by Boniface, who was solidified in his posi ...
'', at which he addressed the assembled "servants of God and my great men ... who are in my kingdom" as "duke and prince of the Franks". The council declared that "without the patronage of the prince of the Franks it is impossible to defend the people of the church, the presbyters, clerics, monks and nuns of God." When in 744 Carloman's brother,
Pippin III
the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.
The younger was the son of t ...
, used the same title, he did not refer to "my kingdom", since by then a
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...
king,
Childeric III
Childeric III ( 717 – 754) was King of Francia from 743 until he was deposed by Pope Zachary in March 751 at the instigation of Pepin the Short. Although his parentage is uncertain, he is considered the last Frankish king from the Merovingian ...
, had been appointed. The ducal/princely title used by the early Carolingians marked them off as peers of the
duke–princes of Aquitaine, also nominally under the Merovingians, rather than as sovereigns over them.
''Dux Franciae''
A charter from the reign of King
Odo (888–898) for the church
Saint-Aignan d'Orléans that titles
Robert the Strong ''dux Francorum'' is a 17th-century forgery.
Between 936 and 943, the title ''dux Francorum'' was revived at the request of
Hugh the Great
Hugh the Great (16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris.
Biography
Hugh was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der E ...
, the most powerful magnate in France. A charter of King
Louis IV of 936 refers to him that way, and a charter of Hugh's own from 937 employs the title. Its usage was not exclusive, however, since the title "count" (''comes'') continued to be used as well. In one charter, Louis explained that Hugh was second to him in all his kingdoms. This interpretation of the title ''dux Francorum'' was not universally accepted. According to
Flodoard of Reims
Flodoard of Reims (; 893/4 – 28 March 966) was a Frankish chronicler and priest of the cathedral church of Reims in the West Frankish kingdom during the decades following the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire. His historical writings are ...
, the king only "invested Hugh with the duchy of France" in 943 in reward for the latter's help in returning the king from exile. The duchy of
Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks du ...
(''ducatus Franciae'') comprised the region between the
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...
and the
Seine
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributa ...
, the ancient kingdom of
Neustria
Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks.
Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...
. On this contemporary understanding, Hugh's title was analogous to that of the dukes of Aquitaine, ''dux Aquitanorum'', where the territorial designation ("of Aquitaine") was eschewed in favour of an ethnic one ("of the Aquitainians"). "Duke of the Franks" thus became the preferred title of the
Robertian
The Robertians (sometimes called the Robertines in modern scholarship) are the proposed Frankish family which was ancestral to the Capetian dynasty, and thus to the royal families of France and of many other countries. The Capetians appear first ...
margraves of Neustria
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...
from 943. Walther Kienast suggested that the title served to connect Hugh with the previous ''duces Francorum'', Pippin II and Charles Martel, and buttress his authority in Francia, from which he was frequently absent on visits to the royal court.
Hugh died in 956 and was succeeded by his son and heir, the child
Hugh Capet
Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...
. In 960, according to Flodoard, "the king
Lothair_of_France">Lothair.html" ;"title="Lothair_of_France.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Lothair of France">Lothair">Lothair_of_France.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Lothair of France">Lothair/nowiki> made Hugh [Capet] a duke, and added for him the County of Poitou, country of Poitou to the land which his father had held." The younger Hugh's first charter with the ducal title dates to 966, while the first royal charter with the title dates to 974. Lothair son, Louis V Louis V may refer to:
* Louis V of France (967–987)
* Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and V of Germany (1282–1347)
* Louis V, Duke of Bavaria (1315–1361)
* Louis V, Elector Palatine (ruled 1508–1544)
* Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt L ...
, already king of the Aquitainians, recognised Hugh as duke of the Franks in a charter of 979. The title fell into abeyance and the Neustrian march ceased to form an administrative unit after Hugh succeeded to the French throne in 987. Nevertheless, the officials and vassals (''fideles'') of the duchy of Francia became the chief men of the king of France after 987. Although the royal demesne was enlarged by Hugh's accession, royal action became more geographically restricted to Francia.
Modern historians have proffered two interpretations of the 10th-century use of ''dux Francorum''. Jan Dhondt and Walther Kienast argued that the title was a royal concession recognising the actual power acquired by the Robertians over the region known as ''Francia'', that is, old Neustria. Thus the title was territorial in nature, reflective of Hugh's real power and a royal (legal) grant. Ferdinand Lot
Ferdinand Victor Henri Lot ( Le Plessis Piquet, 20 September 1866 – Fontenay-aux-Roses, 20 July 1952) was a French historian and medievalist. His masterpiece, '' The End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the Middle Ages'' (1927), ...
argued that the title was viceregal and represented authority in theory over the entire realm and in fact power second only to that of the king.
''Dux Francorum orientalium''
The emergence of the Duchy of Franconia
The Duchy of Franconia (german: Herzogtum Franken) was one of the five stem duchies of East Francia and the medieval Kingdom of Germany emerging in the early 10th century. The word Franconia, first used in a Latin charter of 1053, was applied l ...
from "a position of leadership amongst the Frankish nation in the eastern kingdom" in the late 9th century is poorly documented. The first clear duke was Conrad the Elder, who was also Duke of Thuringia
This is a list of the rulers of Thuringia, a historical and political region of Central Germany.
Kings of Thuringia
*450–500 Bisinus
*500–530 Baderich
*500–530 Berthachar
*500–531 Herminafried
:''Conquered by the Franks. ...
. In 906 he died and was succeeded as duke by his son, Conrad the Younger
Conrad I (; c. 881 – 23 December 918), called the Younger, was the king of East Francia from 911 to 918. He was the first king not of the Carolingian dynasty, the first to be elected by the nobility and the first to be anointed. He was chosen a ...
, who was elected King of Germany
This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Emp ...
in 911, without relinquishing his ducal office. Although it seems likely that Conrad's brother, Eberhard Eberhard is an old Germanic name meaning the strength or courage of a wild boar.
People
First name
*Eberhard of Friuli (815–866), Duke and key figure in the Carolingian Empire
* Eberhard of Béthune (died 1212), Flemish grammarian
*Eberhard I, D ...
, held the duchy of Franconia during the reign of Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the N ...
(919–36), the first reference to him with the title ''dux Francorum'' comes from the early in the reign of Otto I
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
(936–73).
In 956, Otto (II) the Salian inherited Nahegau from his father, Conrad the Red
Conrad ( – 10 August 955), called the Red (german: Konrad der Rote), was Duke of Lorraine from 944 until 953. He became the progenitor of the Imperial Salian dynasty.
Life
He was the son of Werner V (died about 935), a Franconian count in the ...
, then added Wormsgau
The Wormsgau ( la, pagus wormatiensis) was a medieval county in the East Frankish (German) stem duchy of Franconia, comprising the surroundings of the city of Worms and further territories on the left bank of the Upper Rhine river. Together with t ...
, Speyergau
Speyergau was a medieval county in the East Frankish (German) stem duchy of Franconia. It was centred around the administrative centre of Speyer and roughly covered the former Roman administrative area of Civitas Nemetum, which is today the south ...
, Niddagau and between the Neckar and the Rhine the counties of Elsenzgau, Kraichgau
The Kraichgau () is a hilly region in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Odenwald and the Neckar to the North, the Black Forest to the South, and the Upper Rhine Plain to the West. To the east, its boundary is c ...
, Enzgau
The Enz is a river flowing north from the Black Forest to the Neckar in Baden-Württemberg.
It is 106 km long.
Its headstreams – the Little Enz (german: Kleine Enz) and the Great Enz or Big Enz (''Große Enz'') – rise in the Northern B ...
, Pfinzgau
The Pfinz is a right tributary of the Rhine in Baden-Württemberg. Its origin is located at the northern edge of the Black Forest near the Straubenhardt borough of Pfinzweiler. Near Durlach it enters the Upper Rhine Plain and continues, splitting ...
and perhaps Ufgau
Ufgau (Old High German ''Ufgowe'', ''Uffgau''; ''Usgau, Osgau''; ''pagus auciacensis'') was a historical county ('' gowe'') of the duchy of Franconia, along the Oos River and the lower Murg, delimited to the south by the counties of Albgau and O ...
. Otto was Duke of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State ...
from 978 to 985, and after his retirement from Carinthian office was titled ''Wormatiensis dux Francorum'' ("Frankish duke of Worms"), the first titular dukedom in Germany. His son, Conrad, who succeeded him in Carinthia, was also titled "duke of Worms".
Conrad III of Germany
Conrad III (german: Konrad; it, Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III and from 1138 until his death in 1152 ...
, before his election as king, held the title "Duke of the East Franks" (''dux Francorum orientalium'').
Notes
Sources
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Further reading
*
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*
*{{cite encyclopedia , last=Wolfram , first=Herwig , author-link=Herwig Wolfram , title=Intitulatio: Lateinische Königs- und Fürstentitel bis zum ende des 8. jahrhunderts , encyclopedia=Lateinische Herrscher- und Fürstentitel im neunten und zehnten Jahrhundert , volume=21 , publisher=Hermann Böhlaus , year=1967
Francia
10th century in France
10th century in East Francia
Titles