What question did this study set out to answer?

The research aims to explore the foundations of authority held by Merovingian kings through their control over violence.

June 12, 2026Open Access

Violence and State Power in Merovingian Francia

Puntos clave

The research aims to explore the foundations of authority held by Merovingian kings through their control over violence.
Analyzes historical elements related to Merovingian kingship, focusing on the king's roles as military leader, law-giver, and protector of Christianity.
Examines interactions between kings and the nobility regarding violence control and power dynamics.
Frankish kings attempted to exert power over nobles but ultimately lost real authority by the late 7th century.
The relationship between kings and the nobility regarding violence revealed a paradox where kings weakened their own power.

Resumen

This thesis investigates the foundations of kingly authority in the Merovingian Frankish kingdoms, CE 511-657. In particular, this authority is examined from its material base, the control (or lack thereof) of violence. It proceeds systematically through the three primary elements of Merovingian kingship - the king as military commander, the king as law-giver, and the king as protector of Christianity - to examine the ways kings interacted with the nobility, the class with actual control over the mechanisms of violence. The thesis concludes that, while the Frankish kings tried to use all of these to control the nobles and thereby expand their own power over violence, they in fact achieved the opposite, and by the later 7th century no longer held much real power at all.

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