Aegis 2021
---tIdeal Kingship: 24
How Christianity Was Seen as an Important Instrument to Authoritarian Rule in the Frankish Empire By Josh Wolf
Throughout the Frankish Kingdom’s almost four-hundred-year existence, various groups of people would record how its ruling class managed to extend their jurisdiction over a wide swath of land on the European continent. In his chronology, History of the Franks, Gallish Bishop Gregory of Tours identified strict Christian adherence as the most influential component in the establishment of the Frankish Empire as it enabled the rulers to unite all of the tribes that lived in Central Europe, including the Franks, Byzantines, and Anatolians, under a central government in the 5th century A.D.i These people were viewed as “Barbarians” by members of the Catholic Church who needed to be tamed through the adoption of Christian beliefs and dismantling of their former hunter-gatherer lifestyle.ii Gregory of Tours was not alone in his beliefs. Two hundred years later, during the 8th century, a young noble named Einhard who served under the leadership of King Charlemagne would also correlate ideal Frankish leadership with strict religious Christianity while the latter ruler made plans to bring the remaining sovereignties of Germany and
northern Italy under his control through military force during the late 8th century.iii However, as opposed to Gregory of Tours, Einhard identified political unity in the Frankish Empire as possible only through aggressive war campaigns and military tactics.iv Einhard further stated in his book, Two Lives of Charlemagne, that the king based his style of authority off of other rulers who came before him, like his father Pippin.v Frankish kingship was a hereditary structure of brutal dominance and religious enactment forced upon all of the ethnic groups within Central Europe who were incorporated into their realm. Although they were composed during different time intervals, the written accounts of Einhard and Gregory of Tours both portray the ideals of Frankish kingship as having been emanated from the usage of Christian religion as a means of political authority. Since its founding in 481 A.D., the Frankish Empire emerged as the largest and most powerful kingdom within most of Europe for the large number of territories that its rulers had managed to conquer throughout a four-hundred-year
