The receptionist of a shabby boarding house stood facing the front door and therefore showed the hypostasis of a gloomy mafioso. Leon reassured him from the doorway, just winking and casually dropping a hundred euro bill on the counter in front of his menacing nose. He frowned, fussed (nevertheless, the tip was unexpectedly fat) and turned a brutal face to the computer, showing the guests the gracious profile of the Pope ...

After the spaciousness of the Burgundian house, their outrageously cramped nook, carved at the end of the corridor, apparently from some former toilet or pantry, Aya was not exactly shocked, but puzzled.

- We won't. Tomorrow we fly to Genoa.

“To Genoa…” she echoed, raising her swallow-tailed eyebrows. - What is it? - throwing back the curtain on the window, she felt the nickel-plated handles our transport, folded and leaning against the wall. Leon admired again: he instantly noticed - here is observation, a diamond eye!

- It's a wheelchair.

- So-so ... And who is disabled here?

“Me,” he said curtly. Aya remained silent as she continued to look around. You'll learn to keep quiet here, Leon thought almost gratefully. If she had flung open the doors of the flimsy cupboard wedged into the wall, she would have found there a stick with a cross at the bottom. Both, as well as a black orthopedic boot, Leon acquired in Grand Pharmacy Doumer Passy.

His favorite character, Ariadna Arnoldovna von (!) Schneller (this, Shauli said, already looks like an obsession) sometimes cheered up, got up and shkandybala, leaning on a stick: you can’t drag a wheelchair everywhere. And sometimes, as it was once in Prague, downright ten years younger. Why, at the same time, Leon made up like a Young Lady in his old age, he could not explain. Eska, who had already fallen into insanity, narrated so many times about the noble Ariadne, who accepted Jewish death, that in Leon's imagination the two old women merged into one image he cherished.

In addition, there was another nuance here: after all, Leon did not just release the revived Ariadne into the world: he sent her to revenge. Seven decades after her disappearance, the old woman appeared in the chaos of this dirty world as a punishing angel, an outstretched muscle that destroys evil.

“You can still sleep,” Leon suggested, pulling out his suitcase and opening it on the bedside table. - There is time...

“Bastards,” she said angrily, pulling her sweater over her head, unbuttoning her jeans and stepping over them. - Shameless rip-off!

“Yes, this is not a farm in Bussy ...

She ducked behind the curtain and turned on the shower.

- It works, thank God! shouted from there. - And the pressure is decent ... We'll be back to the farm, aren't we, Leon? Promise me. I fell in love with them all so much… You know, there is one novice there – Nectaria. She is an Egyptian, the daughter of a diplomat, terribly smart, such a scribe, oh-she-she. It looks like a pharaoh in a sarcophagus, in the sense - dried up, like a mummy. And silent all the time...

He did not listen to what she was mumbling there, but the combination of her voice with the sound of water gave him a strange pleasure, inexplicable at first, then he realized: that shower on the penis, when he had to wash her with his own hands - thin, like a teenage boy, with this scar under her left shoulder blade, watering from a distance and dying from the desire to climb up to her right in her clothes and hug her, and so on.

It suddenly occurred to him to try it out on Aya right away… Exactly! Why not? And he smiled, anticipating her reaction ...

He took it out of his suitcase and opened a small plastic "box with a surprise."

It was three-story: each bottom was pulled out, revealing some kind of boring jars, tweezers, tampons and brushes, patches of grayish wrinkled skin resembling the skin of a lizard, transparent plates with hairs of eyebrows, mustaches and beards of different colors that seemed to have sprouted through them ... And several lenses on the eyes, which, however, he rarely used, considering it unnecessary trickery.

- ... And then someone brought an unprecedented pampering as a gift to the nuns: black caviar! She was thrown out of the cans into a tub and placed in the refectory on a common table. The Egyptian woman served herself, as usual, rice porridge, flavored it with caviar and sprinkled it well with sugar. And she began to choke on this vodka - with a stone face. Can you imagine? Humility is more than pride. And no one said anything to her - so as not to embarrass ...

At least the showers here worked well, and Aya took her time, enjoying lathering herself from head to toe with cheap hotel shampoo, splashing handfuls of water in her face, snorting and continuing to loudly pour impressions out of monastery bins:

- And there is also such an old nun from Holland, well, this one is generally a miracle of miracles. I go into the kitchen yesterday and see a nightmarish picture, you can not believe it: skinny feet in shoes stick out of a huge red-hot oven! I'm screaming in horror! And she crawls out feet first - in a nylon cassock, without a single burn, and not a hole in her clothes. Here, she says, she is hungry, she decided to cut herself a piece of the pie. And he stands in the very depths of the furnace.

Leon by heart glued the wrinkled bags under his eyes, almost without looking at his reflection in the mirror. His fingers thoroughly knew every protrusion, every muscle and depression of the face, the superciliary ridges, the hump of a predatory nose, and ran, slapping a wrinkle somewhere, gathering a wrinkle somewhere, pressing down a very natural wart above the right eyebrow ...

In the theater, he was known for not resorting to the services of make-up artists; and one of them, a Chinese woman Zhe Chen, when she was free, came to see how he put on makeup. She hovered silently around him, breathed into the back of his head, frowned somewhere at his temple, blew his cheek with an inaudible exhalation. She said: Maestro Etinger, I am studying. You apply make-up, as you take a note: exactly in tune ...

- ... I jump around her: how are you, what are you, but is it necessary to help ... And she told me with such calm dignity: thanks, they say, I did it. At the age of ten, you become somehow more independent ... In general, I will definitely return there and make a series of stories about the monastery and the village - what faces are there, Leon, what faces!

She finally emerged from behind the curtain, wrapped in a large towel. With another towel, smaller, she tousled the dark brown mane of already grown hair, something animatedly tambourine from under the terry cloth. She stumbled upon the silently standing Leon and raised her head.

She didn’t make a sound, only recoiled with her whole body, dropped the towel and sank down on the coffee table: the trembling head of a gray-haired old woman with such sickening gilded clip-ons was placed against Leon’s body that this alone could terrify anyone.

“We saw her,” the terrible old woman said with the distinct lips of Leon. - I've been slacking off here. Pick up the tits, shameless!

Aya changed her face, slowly got up on trembling legs and, swinging so that the towel encircling her fell off, with force covered the old woman with a well-aimed sparkling crack.

She picked up the clip, uttered a short neigh and hurriedly said:

– It’s okay, it’s a shock… Come on, Supets, I’m just to check… – and again I got hit in the muzzle from the other hand, for balance (oh, and those were heavy hands when Aya invested).

In short, the experiment, summed up Leon, after about five minutes drying her dark chestnut head with a hair dryer, the experiment was a success.

She called him a clown when she came to. Lord, she said, throwing disgusted glances at the wrinkled image, too naturalistic, in her opinion, fancy, - who I contacted! Who did you contact!

- With Ariadna Arnoldovna von Schneller, - Leon softly explained to her, slightly grazing. - Wait, here we still have to properly think you through… After all, you yourself been in this business, A? A beret scarf, you see, is not enough here, it's all nonsense. A person's hairstyle changes dramatically. Here I stole a couple of nice wigs of Roman legionnaires from the dressing room, I have to choose, try on ... - And he gasped resentfully, like a hostess, whose pie the guests did not praise: - Why - in the ass? Well, what's the ass, Supets! By the way, you also need to think about it: your walk is not sexy enough ... Don't twitch! Treat it all like a grand spectacle. You are an artist! You are the storyteller...

Later, after all, he took off his make-up (she wouldn’t let him into bed) and, lying on a mercilessly lumpy mattress thrown on some metal goats, in the yellowish twilight of their disgusting twilight painted Aya Portofino and Cinque Terre - five Ligurian villages, "Five lands, five borgo where he has never been before...

She lay with her cheek on his shoulder, throwing her hand around his neck, sleepily asking again, already completely asleep ... and suddenly again asking some question.

There was a funny feeling that he was putting down a restless child, who had already run and tired, and listened to three tales, and gave honestly close his eyes tightly, but suddenly he opens them wide, brilliant, full of animation, and trustingly asks: is it true that God sees when a person is awake, even if his eyes are closed? And you answer: the truth is the truth, come on, go to sleep, finally!

He needed to think retribution in the smallest detail, to go over the possibilities, to foresee punctures, not to miss anything. In addition, he wanted (and this vaguely felt like a betrayal of Aya) to mentally be alone with Nicole, say goodbye for real she deserved it.

In the 5th century Gaul, the former Roman province, attacked by the barbarian Germans, was divided between the Visigoths, Franks and Burgundians. The most powerful among them were the Salian Franks. Franks- a Germanic tribe that has two main branches: Salic (seaside) Franks and Ripuarian (river) Franks.

In the 80s. 5th century Clovis the Great became the tribal leader of the Salic Franks, who began active conquest operations and actually became the founder of the Frankish state. Under Clovis the Great, the Salic Franks converted to Christianity.

In the VI-VII centuries. (officially until 751) the ruling Frankish dynasty were Merovingians, whose family, according to legend, went back to the legendary "sea elder" In 751-843. The Frankish state was led Carolingians, although in fact they took the reins of government (still as major-domo) earlier.

The Frankish state was an early feudal monarchy. It was dominated palace system. The manager of the royal household, the majordomo (majordom), was especially towering.

The founder of the majordomo dynasty (and later the royal dynasty) of the Carolingians was Pepin Herstalsky(late 7th century).

Son of Pepin of Geristal, majordomo (in 715–741) Karl Martell, carried out a number of reforms to strengthen the Frankish state. In 732, the Franks under the command of Charles Martel managed to defeat the Arabs near Poitiers, thereby protecting all of Europe from the Muslim invasion of the Pyrenees. To create the cavalry troops necessary for the defense of the country, Karl Martel engaged in the confiscation of the lands of his political opponents and partial secularization. He distributed the land he received on the terms of not allods, but beneficiaries (conditional inherited land tenure), which laid the foundation for the feudal system. Everyone who received benefices from Charles Martel was obliged to put at his disposal a certain number of armed people, and he himself had to come "horse and arms", that is, to be a knight.

Son of Charles Martell Pepin Short, in 751 he overthrew the last Frankish king from the Merovingian dynasty, thus founding the royal Carolingian dynasty.

Pepin the Short's son, king Charlemagne, ruled by the Franks 768–814 Under King Charlemagne, the Frankish state occupied the territories of the following modern Western European countries France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the western lands of Germany, the northern provinces of Italy and Spain. In 800, the pope crowned Charlemagne with the imperial crown. Thus, the Western Roman Empire was formally restored.

Once a year, all free Franks gathered in the "March Fields" (under the Carolingians - "May Fields") - an anachronism left over from the days of military democracy.

The positions (later turned into hereditary titles) of earls (local governors) and dukes (military governors of several counties) were introduced.

The emergence of the state among the Franks is associated with the name of one of the military leaders - Clovis from the Merovingian clan. Under his leadership at the turn of the 5th-6th centuries. The Franks conquered the main part of Gaul.

The formation of a new state was accompanied by the development of feudalism in the depths of the Frankish society, the formation of new property relations and the formation

The development of the feudal state among the Franks can be divided into two stages:

1) VI-VII centuries. - the period of the Merovingian monarchy;

2) VIII century. - first half of the ninth century period of the Carolingian monarchy.

Politically, the Frankish kingdom under the Merovingians was not a single state. The sons of Clovis, after his death, began an internecine war, which continued with short breaks for more than a hundred years. But it was during this period that the formation of new social class relations took place. In order to attract the Frankish nobility, the kings practiced a wide distribution of land. Donated lands became hereditary and freely alienable property (allod). Gradually, the combatants were transformed into feudal landowners.

Important changes also took place among the peasantry. In the mark (a peasant community among the Franks), private ownership of land (allod) was established. The process of property stratification and landlessness of the peasants intensified, which was accompanied by the attack of the feudal lords on their personal freedom. There were two forms of enslavement: with the help of precaria and commendation. A precarium was an agreement under which the feudal lord provided the peasant with a plot of land on the terms of performing certain duties; formally, this agreement did not establish personal dependence, but created favorable conditions.

Commendation meant transferring oneself under the patronage of a feudal lord. It provided for the transfer of ownership of land to the master with its subsequent return in the form of holding, the establishment of personal dependence of the “weak” on his patron and the performance of a number of duties in his favor.

All this gradually led to the enslavement of the Frankish peasantry.

The distribution of land by the Frankish kings led to an increase in the power of noble families and a weakening of the position of royal power. Over time, the positions of the nobles strengthened so much that they essentially ruled the state, holding the post of mayor. At the turn of the VII-VIII centuries. this position becomes the hereditary property of the noble and wealthy family of the Carolingians, who laid the foundation for a new dynasty.

In the first half of the 8th century The major of this kind, Charles Martell, carried out a series of reforms that had major consequences for the structure of Frankish society.

The essence of the reforms was as follows. The lands and the peasants who lived on them began to be transferred not to full ownership, but to a conditional lifetime holding - beneficiaries. The holder of the beneficiary had to perform service, mainly military, in favor of the person who handed over the land. The volume of service was determined by the size of the beneficiation. Refusal to serve deprived the right to beneficiaries. Thus, a well-armed cavalry army was created, which strengthened the position of the central government. Gradually, in addition to the head of state, large feudal lords began to distribute benefices. This is how relations of subordination of feudal lords began to take shape, later called vassalage.

The growth of feudal landownership was accompanied by the strengthening of the military, financial and judicial power of the feudal lords over the peasants who lived on their lands.

This was expressed in an increase in the so-called immunity rights of the feudal lords. The feudal lord, who received an immunity letter from the king, exercised full financial, administrative and judicial power on the territory subject to him without the intervention of royal officials.

The strengthening of central power led to the proclamation in 751 of the son of Charles Martel, Pepin, king of the Franks. Under his son Charles, nicknamed the Great, the Frankish kingdom reaches its peak. And in 800 Charlemagne takes the title of emperor. The evolution of the state system during this period went in two directions: the strengthening of royal power itself and the elimination of local self-government.

Already the first Frankish kings wielded considerable power. They convene the people's assembly, the militia and command them during the war, issue generally binding orders, repair the highest court in the state, and collect taxes. Failure to comply with the royal command was punishable by a large fine or mutilation, up to and including the death penalty.

Gradually, local forms of self-government were liquidated - traditional meetings of villages and their associations (hundreds). The country was divided into districts headed by a royal official (count). He carried out the administrative, judicial and military power in the assigned district.

The central administration was at that time relatively simple: the mayor was the first dignitary (under the Carolingians, this post was abolished); the marshal - the head of the royal cavalry (often commanded the entire army), the count palatine - headed the royal court, the referendary - the head of the chancellery, the thesaurary - the "keeper of treasures", in fact the state treasurer, etc.

Royal officials were awarded estates, had a part of the collected court fees. Over time, the estates passed into the feudal property of their owners, and the title of the position - into an honorary hereditary title.

The source of law in this period is custom. During the period of the V-IX centuries. on the territory of the Frankish state, the customs of the tribes are recorded in the form of the so-called barbarian truths. Salic, Rinoir, Burgundian, Alleman and other truths are created. In 802, by order of Charlemagne, the truths of the tribes that were part of his state, but which by that time did not have records of customary law, were compiled.

With the growth of royal power, the monarchs begin to create legislative decrees - capitularies, which had a universally binding significance. Immunity letters and formulas can also be attributed to the sources of early feudal law. Immunity charters issued by the king to the feudal lords removed this territory from the judicial, financial and police jurisdiction of the state, transferring these powers to the feudal lords.

The formulas were samples of charters, contracts and other official documents.

The supreme judicial power in the kingdom of the Franks belonged to the monarch. In the localities, most cases were considered in the "courts of hundreds", but gradually the judicial power was concentrated in the hands of the feudal lords.

At the beginning of the 9th century, after the death of Charlemagne, the Frankish monarchy ceases to exist and breaks up into a number of independent states.

One of the West Germanic tribal groups that lived along the banks of the Rhine River was called the Franks by Roman authors. The mention of them in the sources under the title refers to the first half of III in the History of State and Law in Russia and Foreign Countries: Textbook / Ed. Ed. Doctor of Law, Prof., Academician, Honored scientist Russian Federation V. P. Salnikov. - M .: TsOKR of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2006. S. 60. . The Franks who lived along the lower reaches of the Rhine, in the seaside, were called salic (from the Celt. "sal" - the sea), and those who lived along the middle reaches of the Rhine - ripuarian (from the Latin "ripa" - coast) Ilyinsky N.I. History of the State and Law of Foreign Countries: A Course of Lectures / N.I. Ilyinsky. - M.: Publishing house of business and studies. lit., 2003. S. 209 ..

The conquest of the territory of the former Roman Empire and the conquest of the peoples who lived there Germanic tribes was the direct cause of the formation of the state of the Franks. The conquest accelerated the enrichment of the nobility and the stratification of the population, undermined the importance of the tribal division of the population of the Franks and brought to the fore the division of the population along territorial lines. In order to keep the conquered peoples in obedience, to control the huge masses of the population, an urgent need arose for a strong central authority, which was not there under the tribal system. The state has become more effective in solving the problems facing society.

Salic Franks in the middle of the 4th century. were defeated by the Romans, but remained on the rights of federates. They were hired by the emperor, actively intervened in the internal affairs of the state. The first leaders of the Franks were the legendary Merovi, after whom the first Frankish dynasty was called the Merovingians, and Chilperic. After the death of the latter, his son Clovis (c. 466 - 511, king since 481) becomes king. Stepanov V.E., Shevelenko A.A. History of the Middle Ages: Reader. Ch. 1. S. 27., who came to power “on blood”, having killed relatives of the Ripuarian princes Sigibert, Hararik, Khladerik, who also claimed the royal throne. Ibid. pp. 28 - 29..

Having led the squads of the Salic Franks, who lived along the banks of the small river Sali in the Netherlands, Clovis at the turn of the 5th-6th centuries. won the bulk Gaul. The formation of a new state was accompanied by the development of feudalism in the depths of the Frankish society, the formation of new property relations and the formation of new classes Ilyinsky N.I. History of the State and Law of Foreign Countries: A Course of Lectures / N.I. Ilyinsky. - M.: Publishing house of business and studies. lit., 2003. S. 210.

Social system. Salic truth testifies to the existence among the Franks of various social groups: serving nobility, free community Franks, litas and slaves.

The Frankish nobility was formed as a result of the conquest and settlement of the Gallic lands. The distribution of lands by the kings to their combatants and close associates contributed to the formation of a layer of large landowners. The ranks of the nobility were replenished by the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, which entered the service of the Frankish kings. Along with the nobility, the rise of the clergy should be noted. The Frankish kings sought support from the church for their state policy and endowed the church with large land plots and privileges.

In the V-VI centuries. the Franks retain communal-tribal ties. The main population of the Frankish north and center are free rural community members, grouped into a neighboring rural community - the mark. The community had collective ownership of the land; annually, arable land was divided into plots between families and fenced off with a fence. After harvesting in autumn, the hedges were removed and cattle were allowed to graze on the plots. Mark chose the headman, was bound by mutual responsibility and the joint payment of fines. From the age of 12, the Franks already participated in military campaigns, in the militia they had to be armed and with a supply of food for several days. In addition, five francs were to appear along with the equipped wagon.

In several cases, the settlement of strangers in the mark was allowed: by unanimous decision of the community meeting; if a stranger lived for a year on the territory of the community, and at the same time no one spoke out against his residence; and by charter of the king. And vice versa, the wealthy Franks sought to stand out from the community. The one who decided to renounce communal kinship had to appear at the court session, break three branches a cubit long above his head and, scattering them on four sides, declare that he renounces swearing, inheritance and any accounts with the community .

The litas are a semi-free population that was not part of the community and is land tenants. They were in personal and partially material dependence on the owners, to carry out certain services and pay dues to their master. Certain rights were recognized for the litas: to have property, to marry, to conclude contracts, to speak in court and to take a “cleansing oath” (oath). Litas were also obliged to carry out military service together with the owners.

Slaves. The source of slavery was military captivity. The Frankish state from the very beginning of its formation is formed as a feudal state, and slave labor is not the basis of production. Slaves were used mainly as servants in the houses of the nobility, and were also “planted” on the ground, where they ran their own household, performing duties in relation to their master: corvée and dues. Marriages between freemen and slaves were forbidden, and the one who committed such a marriage lost his freedom and became a slave himself. Responsibility for a crime committed by a slave was borne by the owner, who was obliged to compensate for the damage caused.

The emergence and development of feudal relations. The process of feudalization of the Frankish society is closely connected with the emergence of private ownership of land History of State and Law in Russia and foreign countries: Textbook / Ed. Ed. Doctor of Law, Prof., Academician, Honored scientist of the Russian Federation V.P. Salnikov. - M .: TsOKR of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2006. S. 63-64. . At the beginning of the VI century. appears allodium- landed property, not burdened with duties in favor of the seigneur. The wide distribution by the king to his associates, the nobility, the church of lands marked the beginning of the emergence of the main forms of feudal land tenure - beneficiation and feud. Benefice- land ownership received from the king for service and on condition of service. Usually the benefices were of a life-long nature. In contrast, the feud was hereditary in nature. Unlike him fief was hereditary land.

The absence of strong economic ties between the individual parts of the state, the weakness of the central government made it inevitable that the king transferred the right to judicial and administrative power over the peasants, close associates, officials, military nobility, and those who had significant possessions. These rights are called immunities, they increased the dependence of the peasants on the nobility. Possession of land, immunities, bearing public service becomes a privilege of the emerging class of feudal lords. Doing Agriculture, the burden of the tax burden falls on the shoulders of dependent peasants. The establishment of the feudal dependence of the peasants largely contributed to the development of patronage relations. Fleeing from the harassment and extortion of royal officials, an extremely burdensome military service, the peasants were given under the patronage of people with strength and power. They continued to cultivate their land, but also precaria- subject to the performance of duties in favor of his patron. Patronage relations with the peasants were established by the nobility and forcibly. Free community members and residents of the former Roman Empire are replaced by dependent and even attached to the land peasants. This is how the class of landowners-feudal lords appeared, who had broad power over the population living on their lands, and the class of feudal-dependent peasants.

In the VI century. The Frankish state significantly expands its borders. The Franks accept Christianity. Unity Frankish kingdom largely based on military force. It was a typically military monarchy, composed of successful conquerors from different tribes and nationalities, which did not have common language, culture, common law, was not united in a whole and economically. That is why the Frankish monarchy did not become a stable state association Kosarev A.I. History of State and Law of Foreign Countries: Textbook for High Schools. - M.: Publishing house NORMA (Publishing group NORMA - INFRA. M), 2002. S. 156-157. .

The development of the feudal state among the Franks can be divided into two periods:

1) VI - the middle of the VIII century. - the period of the Merovingian monarchy;

2) VIII - the first half of the IX century. - the period of the reign of the Carolingian monarchy Ilyinsky N.I. History of the State and Law of Foreign Countries: A Course of Lectures / N.I. Ilyinsky. - M.: Publishing house of business and studies. lit., 2003. S. 212.

State system during the reign of the Merovingians. The Germanic peoples did not have any traditions of government. Therefore, when creating a new state, the administrative management system had to be actually created anew.

There are several ways in which institutions can be formed. government controlled at the Franks.

Some government posts grew out of tribal ones, but at the same time they were filled with new content and meaning. Part of the institutions evolved from the domestic services of the royal palace. And some part of the state administration was partly borrowed from the former Roman organization.

The head of the Frankish state was the king. The former tribal leader, in the view of the Franks, he remained for a long time, therefore, he had to reckon with the opinion of his subjects, who once elected him. The king was considered the owner of all the land. He issued laws, led the military forces, ruled the court, declared war and made peace. Management was carried out from the palace, there was no permanent place at the “palace”, like the king himself, he moved from villa to villa. On the ground, the king personally controlled local government and exercised judicial powers.

The Frankish king was enthroned by raising him on a shield, as an insignia there was only one spear, instead of a diadem and a scepter. He was distinguished by long hair, the right to wear which only representatives of the royal family had.

From the Roman Empire, the Frankish royalty tried to preserve what could be adapted to some extent to its needs, especially the tax system. The Roman monetary system also remained for some time. However, sometimes only titles and names taken from the dictionary of the late Roman Empire were used to a greater extent, and their content and meaning were already completely different.

Many administrative positions of the state were carried out by employees who were also in charge of the domestic services of the royal house. This service staff originally consisted in the vast majority of slaves or freedmen. Their functions gradually began to expand over time. This is the already mentioned mayor (from lat. senior in the house) - originally the manager of the palace, in VI - the middle of VIII he was the highest official in the state, and in the reign of the last Merovingians, in fact, the rulers of the state. After Major Pepin the Short became king, the position was eliminated, and the powers were divided among several palace counts. Seneschal (from lat. senior slave or servant) - the manager of the royal palace (V-VIII centuries), from the VIII century. he began to belong to the judicial and military functions. Marshal (from other German - a slave, a servant in charge of horses, a groom) - obeyed the constable. Constable (late Latin - head of the stable) - head of the royal stables, under the Carolingians he was one of the five highest state officials. The referendary was the custodian of the royal seal ring, he headed the office of the royal official papers. There were several referendaries, at their disposal was a whole staff of clerks. At the head of them was the chief referendary. The position of referendary was perhaps the only position that has survived from the legacy of the Roman Empire.

Preserved popular assemblies Franks collected in the spring and which are sometimes mistakenly called "March fields", in fact it was the "Field of Mars", "the battlefield", and it did not cease to be so when, with the advent of the cavalry of the Franks, they began to be carried out in May. At this meeting, a spring review of the troops was held, royal decrees - capitularies - were made public. Much more important were the meetings of the Frankish nobility that preceded them, which were held in the spring on the eve of popular meetings and a more extended meeting in the autumn (Great Field), at which questions were discussed domestic policy and decisions were made on military action.

Local government. The territory of the kingdom was divided into districts (pagi) and hundreds. The district was ruled by a count, who was appointed by the king from among the large landowners. In his district, he was endowed with administrative, military, financial and judicial power. They were not paid a salary, they lived off the income from their positions, primarily from taxes and fines. The count's assistants in the first period of the kingdom were vicars and centurions or tungins. In a hundred, a hundred assembly was assembled, which performed judicial functions. The brand preserved the bodies of communal self-government - the village assembly and the officials elected at it.

Government during the reign of the Carolingians. Under Charlemagne, popular assemblies held in the month of May were still preserved, but their role was insignificant. More important are the meetings held at the beginning of the summer and called the general assembly or general assembly. It was believed that the whole empire was present at these meetings, although the meeting was attended, as a rule, only by the aristocracy. These assemblies were convened on the eve of the war (since wars were fought almost annually) before the troops set out on a campaign and, as a result, the illusion of direct contact between the people and the emperor was created. The emperor ruled the state with the help of a limited number of advisers, senior dignitaries and employees. Most of the previous positions have been preserved (seneschal, constable, etc.). new position became the position of chaplain or archchaplain (senior chapel), who was the confessor of the Carolingian kings, the abbot of the court and played a large role in government. A prominent role in the administration of the state belonged to the palace count, who carried out the administration of justice and led the royal administration. Under the Carolingians, there were several counts of the palace. The chancellor was at the head of the office, was in charge of diplomatic and national affairs, prepared bills. Camerarius - was in charge of the royal property and treasury.

Local government. Basic administrative unit under the Carolingians, the county continued to remain. The count's assistant was the viscount - his confidant, whose candidacy he himself proposed to the emperor for approval, and the vicar. The frontier counties were called margraves, and the counts who ruled them were called margraves. Their most important task was the protection of the county from enemy attack. Bishoprics arise under the Carolingians. Generally, two counties constituted a bishopric. Bishops exercised spiritual authority: they carried out local church management, watched over the flock and fought against heresies. In addition, they had to monitor the behavior of the graphs.

As the territory expanded, in order to better rally the different parts of the empire, the institution of “state envoys” was revived (missi dominici) which acted sporadically even under the Merovingians. Now, annually, two to five special officials were sent to check the activities of the local administration. Each group of sovereign envoys, most often of two people - the count and the bishop - had to go around all the counties. They were supposed to provide Good work departments, monitor the strict implementation of the measures prescribed by the emperor, listen to the complaints of subjects and cancel lawless decisions.

They took an oath from the population of allegiance to the king and even had the right to remove the counts from the post of manager. As the royal power strengthened, the patrols missi become more and more frequent, so by 812 they began to be held in some provinces up to four times a year. History of the State and Law of Russia and Foreign Countries: Textbook / Ed. Ed. Doctor of Law, Prof., Academician, Honored scientist of the Russian Federation V.P. Salnikov. - M .: TsOKR of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2006. S. 64-66.

Thus, at the beginning of the IX century. The Frankish state was at the zenith of its power.

Covering the territory of almost all of Western Europe, it seemed indestructible and unshakable; there was no enemy equal to his strength. However, even then it carried elements of an approaching, decline. Created by conquest, it was a conglomerate of peoples, nothing but military power, not connected.

Having broken for a while the mass resistance of the enslaved peasantry, the Frankish feudal lords lost their former interest in a single state. During this period, the economics of Frankish society had a natural character. Accordingly, there were no strong, stable economic ties between individual regions.

There were no other factors that could contain the fragmentation of the country. The Frankish state was completing its path of development from the early feudal monarchy to the statehood of the period of feudal fragmentation.