The successors of Clovis were in general weak and wicked, till, on the death of Dagobert 11. 638, who left two infant sons, the sovereignty was taken from them by the mayors of the palace, who were the first officers of the household. This office, from a personal dignity, be came hereditary in the family of Pepin Heristel. His son, Charles Martel, succeeded to the power of his father, though he still retained the name of mayor of the palace. He delivered France from the ravages of the Saracens, by a dreadful battle, in which they were utterly defeated; fought between Tours and Poictiers, A.D. 732. His grand son, Pepin le Bref, removing from the throne the Mero vingian race, assumed, by the authority of a papal decree, the title of king, and reigned for seventeen years with dignity and success ; the founder of the second race of the French monarchs, known by the name of the Carlovingian race. In his time, the monarchy of the Franks was divided into two large districts, Austrisia and Neustria. On his death bed, he called a council of his grandees, and with their con sent, divided his dominions between his two sons, Charles and Carloman.
Carloman dying a few years after his father, Charles suc ceeded to the undivided sovereignty. This monarch, so honourably known in history by the name of Charlemagne, reigned 45 years, during which period lie extended the limits of his empire beyond the Danube ; subdued Dal matia, Istria, and Dacia, all the barbarous tribes to the banks of the Vistula, made himself master of a large part of Italy, and attacked the Saxons, Saracens, Bulgarians and Huns with success. The Pope first crowned him King of France and the Lombards, and afterwards Emperor of the West. He had no fixed capital, and even in his lifetime lie divided his dominions among his children : he died A. D. 814, in the seventy-second year of his age.
In the time of Pepin le Bref, the system of annual par liaments, held first in March, and afterwards in May, had been established or restored. Charlemagne ordered these assemblies to be held twice a year, in spring and autumn. The business of the first assembly was to prepare and di gest what the second was to enact into laws. Of this as sembly he constituted the people a part, so that it consisted of three estates. The sovereign never was present, unless to ratify its decrees. In this reign also, the kingdom was divided into provinces and districts ; the latter were under the superintendance of royal envoys, chosen from the no bles and clergy, who were bound to visit their territories every three months, and to make their reports to the sove reign at the general assembly.
Of all Charlemagne's lawful sons, only Louis le De bonnaire survived him, who was consecrated Emporer and King of the Franks, at Aix la Chapelle, A. D. 816. Having very imprudently divided his territories, very soon after his succession, among his sons, they made open war against him, and he was compelled to surrender himself a prisoner to his rebellious children. His spirits were thus broken,
his health decayed, and he terminated an inglorious and tur bulent reign, A. D. 840.
Lotharius, his eldest son, 'was now emperor ; but the quarrels among the brothers, which had begun even in their father's lifetime, still continued. Lotharius, in con junction with Pepin his brother's son, took up arms against the two other sons of Louis, Charles the Bald, a son by a second marriage, to whom Aquitaine had been given, and Louis, who had received Bavaria from his father. A dreadful battle was fought at Fontenay, in which Lotha rius was defeated. A council of Bishops was immediately held ; Lotharius was deposed, and his conquerors were permitted to reign by the clergy, on the condition of im plicit obedience to spiritual authority. Lotharius, however, contrived to accommodate matters with his brothers in such a manner, that they agreed to a new division of the empire. By this division, A. D. 843, the western part of France, called Neustria and Aquitaine, was assigned to Charles the Bald. Lotharius retained the title of Emperor, with the nominal ,sovereignty of Italy, and the real pos session of Lorraine, Ft-allelic Compte, Provence, and the Lyonnois ; while the kingdom of Germany was allotted to Louis.
On the death of Lotharius, Charles the Bald assumed the empire, having purchased it from the Pope, on condi tion of holding it from the holy see. This prince was the first of the French monarchs who made dignitaries and honours hereditary : he died by poison, after a weak and inglorious reign, A. D. 877. During his reign, the Nor mans, who had first made their appearance in France in 843, sailed up the Seine, and burned Paris.
Charles the Bald was succeeded by his son Louis the Stammerer, who after reigning only about two years, died in 879, leaving his queen Adelaide pregnant. He was succeeded by Louis III., and Carloman II. his two sons by a former marriage. On the death of these princes, in 884, the Emperor Charles the Fat, son of Louis the German, was elected king of France. Ile disgraced himself, by ceding Friesland to the Normans ; but this cession was not only disgraceful, but impolitic, for it served only as a fresh incentive to depredation. Paris was attacked a second time, but gallantly defended by Count Eudes and Bishop Goslin. A truce was concluded, but the Normans, after leaving Paris, besieged Sens and plundered Burgundy. During these transactions, Charles was deposed by an as sembly of the states, who conferred the crown on Eudes. His title to the throne, however, was never acknowledged by a great part of the states of France, who, on the con trary, gave their allegiance to Charles the Simple, son of Louis the Stammerer, by Adelaide. During a reign of ten years, Eudes manfully withstood the Normans.