Everything about The Kingdom Of Germany totally explained
The
Kingdom of Germany was a medieval state which grew out of that of
East Francia in the tenth century. The eastern partition of the
Treaty of Verdun of
843 was never entirely
Frankish and consisted of large populations of
Saxons,
Bavarii,
Thuringii, and
Alemanni. When the crown passed to a non-Frankish dynasty (the
Liudolfings), the term
regnum Teutonicum or
Teutonicorum came into informal use.
By the
High Middle Ages, the German character of the united
stem duchies was generally recognised. As the other various states of the
Carolingian then
Holy Roman Empire removed themselves from its orbit, leaving solely Germany, her kings holding the imperial title and struggling for it, the German state became synonymous with the Empire and in the time of the
Renaissance, the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" united the two concepts of empire and kingdom. In that sense, the German kingdom survived until the abdication of
Francis II in 1806.
The term
rex Teutonicorum, or "king of the Germans", first came into recorded formal use during the
Investiture Controversy perhaps as a polemical tool against the
Emperor Henry IV by
Pope Gregory VII in the late eleventh century. In the twelfth century, in order to stress the imperial and transnational character of their office, the emperors began to employ the title
rex Romanorum or "
king of the Romans" on their election (by the
prince-electors, seven German bishops and noblemen). The royal titles of Germany, Italy, and Burgundy, which traditionally had their own courts, laws, and chanceries, remained nominally with the Holy Roman Emperors until the abdication of
Francis II in 1806.
Terminology
The eastern division of the Treaty of Verdun was called the
regnum Francorum Orientalium or
Francia Orientalis: the Kingdom of the Eastern Franks or simply East Francia. It was the eastern half of the old
Merovingian regnum Austrasiorum. The "east Franks" (or Austrasians) themselves were the people of
Franconia, which had been settled by Franks. The other peoples of East Francia were Saxons, Frisians, Thuringii, and the like, referred to as
Teutonici (or Germans) and sometimes as Franks as ethnic identities changed over the course of the ninth century.
An entry in the
Annales Iuvavenses (or
Salzburg Annals)
sub anno 919, roughly contemporary but surviving only in a twelfth century copy, record that
Baiuarii sponte se reddiderunt Arnolfo duci et regnare ei fecerunt in regno teutonicorum, for example that "
Arnulf, Duke of the Bavarians, was elected to reign in the Kingdom of the Germans". Although some historians, such as Gillingham and Reindal, were sceptical about the contemporaneousness of this entry and more generally the 10th century German identity of the Kingdom, others such as
Susan Reynolds and Beumann are less so and believe that the Kingdom had already taken its German identity, as opposed to eastern Frankish identity, by the 10th century. However, there's general agreement that the German identity is firmly established by the eleventh century.
Beginning in the late eleventh century, the
Papal curia began to use the term
regnum teutonicorum to refer to the realm of
Henry IV in an effort to reduce him to the level of the other kings of Europe while he himself began to use the title
rex Romanorum or
King of the Romans to emphasise is divine right to the
imperium Romanum. This title was employed most frequently by the German king themselves, though they did deign to employ "Teutonic" titles when it proved diplomatic, such as
Frederick Barbarossa's letter to the pope referring to his receiving the
coronam Theutonici regni (crown of the German kingdom). Foreign kings and ecclesiastics continued to refer to the
regnum Alemanniae and
règne or
royaume d'Allemagne. The terms
imperium/
imperator or empire/emperor was often employed for German kingdom and its rulers, which indicates a recognition of their imperial stature but combined with "Teutonic" and "Alemannic" references a denial of their
Romanitas and universal rule. The term
regnum Germaniae (literally "Kingdom of Germany") begins to appear in even German sources beginning in the fourteenth century.
Development
Carolingian age, 843–911
The tripartite division of the Carolingian Empire effected by the Treaty of Verdun was challenged very early on with the death of the
Emperor Lothair I in 855. He had divided his kingdom of
Middle Francia between his three sons and immediately the northernmost of the three divisions,
Lotharingia, was disputed between the kings of East and
West Francia. The war over Lotharingia lasted until 925.
Lothair II of Lotharingia died in 869 and the
Treaty of Meerssen (870) divided his kingdom between East and West Francia, but the West Frankish sovereigns relinquished their rightful portion to East Francia by the
Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Ribemont determined the border between France and Germany until the fourteenth century. The Lotharingian nobility tried to preserve their independence of East of West Frankish rule by switching allegiance at will with the death of king
Louis the Child in 911, but in 925 Lotharingia was finally ceded to East Francia by
Rudolph of West Francia and it thereafter formed the
Duchy of Lorraine within the East Frankish kingdom.
East Francia was itself divided into three parts at the death of Louis the German (875). Traditionally referred to as "Saxony", "Bavaria", and "Swabia" (or "Alemannia"), these kingdoms were ruled by the three sons of Louis in cooperation and were reunited by
Charles the Fat in 882. Regional differences existed between the peoples of the different regions of the kingdom and the each region could be readily described by contemporaries as a
regnum, though each was certainly not a kingdom of its own. The common
Germanic language and the tradition of common rule dating to 843 preserved political ties between the different
regna and prevented the kingdom from coming apart after the death of Charles the Fat. The work of Louis the German to maintain his kingdom and give it a strong royal government also went a long way to creating an East Frankish (ie German) state.
Stem duchies
One of the most controversial aspects of the development of medieval Germany is the creation of what in German historiography are called the
jüngeres Stammenherzogtum, or "younger stem (or tribal) duchies." They are contrasted with the "older" stem duchies of the
Merovingian era, namely
Bavaria,
Alemannia, and
Thuringia. Bavaria and Alemannia (as
Swabia) formed two of the younger duchies, while
Saxony and
Franconia were two other new creations. Whether or not Lorraine, Thuringia, and
Frisia were stem duchies in the ninth and tenth centuries is debated. Just exactly what a stem duchy was is debated by scholars and probably depended on the viewpoint of contemporaries. While the dukes preferred to see themselves as representatives of their tribes to the king, the royal court preferred to view them as the king's delegated authorities in the regions of the kingdom.
Bavaria and Saxony had very different histories, but each saw the rise of a one family to ducal prominence in the final decades of the ninth century, while Alemannia and Franconia, whose histories were likewise very different, struggled under the infighting of families and factions vying for power and influence. In Bavaria the
Liutpoldings and in Saxony the
Liudolfings creating dynasties which were to rule until well into the tenth century, while Franconia never succeeded in establishing a dynasty and came under direct royal rule after the failed rebellion of its duke,
Eberhard, in 938. Alemannia (Swabia) failed to develop into a hereditary duchy until the late tenth century and then never formed as strong a polity as the more established stem duchies. By the late twelfth century, the power of the stem duchies had been broken by the kings.
Saxons and Salians, 911–1125
The distinction between the kingdoms of
Eastern Francia and Germany is to some extent the product of later retrospection. It is impossible to base this distinction on primary sources, as Eastern Francia remains in use long after Kingdom of Germany comes into use. The 12th century imperial historian
Otto von Freising reported that the election of
Henry the Fowler was widely regarded as marking the beginning of the kingdom, though Otto himself disagreed with this. Thus:
From this point some reckon a kingdom of the Germans as supplanting that of the Franks. Hence, they say that Pope Leo in the decrees of the popes, called Henry's son Otto the first king of the Germans. For that Henry of whom we're speaking refused, it's said, the honor offered by the supreme pontiff. But it seems to me that the kingdom of the Germans — which today, as we see, has possession of Rome — is a part of the kingdom of the Franks. For, as is perfectly clear in what precedes, at the time of Charles the boundaries of the kingdom of the Franks included the whole of Gaul and all Germany, from the Rhine to Illyricum. When the realm was divided between his son's sons, one part was called eastern, the other western, yet both together were called the Kingdom of the Franks. So then in the eastern part, which is called the Kingdom of the Germans, Henry was the first of the race of Saxons to succeed to the throne when the line of Charles failed ... [westernFranks discussed] ... Henry's son Otto, because he restored to the German East Franks the empire which had been usurped by the Lombards, is called the first king of the Germans — not, perhaps, because he was the first king to reign among the Germans.
It is here and elsewhere that Otto distinguishes the first German king (Henry I) and the first German king to hold imperial power (Otto I).
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