A Study Of The Merovingian Dynasty

At the end of the Roman Empire,barbarian tribes rashed into the empire,and the Franks were one of them.The Franks leader Clovis unified most of Gaul by means of warfare and opened the Merovingian dynasty(481-751).According to Gregory of Tours(538-594),after the death of Clovis,his four sons,Theuderic I,Chlodomer,Childebert I and Lorthar I inherited his kingdom and divided the country.Later,in the history of the Merovingian dynasty,there have been several instances in which these princes inherited part of the territory.This phenomenon is also considered to ’be a typical feature of the political structure of the Frankish Kingdom.Due to Gregory’s writing position,the traditional view is that this phenomenon is a result of following traditional habits.However,when we examine the specific history of this phenomenon,we can hardly see the traditional habits playing a role.The political struggle between the Merovingian royal family is the main reason for this phenomenon.In addition,regarding the impact of this phenomenon,some scholars often see this division as the chief culprit of the decline of the Merovingian dynasty:after the country was divided,the political situation was confusing.In order to compete for spheres of influence,the kings continued to launch civil war,which caused the kingship to fall,the nobles benefited and gradually manipulated the kingdom,eventually leading to the end of the dynasty.However,if one analyzes the historical materials,it’s easy to be found that the division is not the main reason for the decline of the Merovingian dynasty.The Merovingian kingdom after the division was first of all a unity,and the coexistence of multiple kings also ensured that the royal power of the Merovingian family was not overrun.In addition,Gregory’s extensive description of the civil war affected people’s estimates of the civil war.In fact,the civil war was only part of the political life of the The Merovingian kingdom,and this period’s civil war revolved around the royal court,during which the The ruling power of the Merovingian family was not questioned,so the civil war played a centripetal role for the kingdom.