Missus dominicus

Reign of Charlemagne

Based on Merovingian ad hoc arrangements, using the form missus regis (the "king's envoy") and sending a layman and an ecclesiastic in pairs, the use of missi dominici was fully exploited by Charlemagne (ruling 768–814), who made them a regular part of his administration, "a highly intelligent and plausible innovation in Carolingian government", Norman F. Cantor observes, "and a tribute to the administrative skill of the ecclesiastics, such as Alcuin and Einhard". The missi were at first chosen from Charlemagne's personal, most trusted entourage, of whatever social degree. Soon they were selected only from the secular and ecclesiastical nobility: the entry for 802 in the so-called Lorsch Annals (794–803) states that instead of relying on "poorer vassals", Charlemagne "chose from the kingdom archbishops and bishops and abbots, with dukes and counts, who now had no need to receive gifts from the innocent, and sent them throughout his kingdom, so that they might administer justice to the churches, to widows, orphans and the poor, and to all the people."Tr. Henry R. Loyn and J. Percival, The Reign of Charlemagne. London, 1975. p. 44. Presumably the same year the capitulary usually known as the Capitulare missorum generale was issued, which gives a detailed account of their duties and responsibilities. They were to execute justice, to ensure respect for the king, to control the government of the military dukes and administrative counts (then still royal officials), to receive their oath of allegiance, to let the king's will be known, at times by distributing capitularies around the empire, and to supervise the clergy of their assigned region. In addition special instructions were given to various missi, and many of these have been preserved.

As missi became a conventional part of court machinery, missus ad hoc came to signify missi sent out for some particular purpose.Encyclopedia The districts placed under the ordinary missi, which it was their duty to visit for a month at a time, four times a year, were called missatici or legationes The missi were not permanent officials, but were generally selected from the ranks of officials at the court, and during the reign of Charlemagne high-standing personages undertook this work. Even under the strong rule of Charlemagne it was difficult to find men to discharge these duties impartially, and after his death in 814 it became almost impossible. James Laurence Laughlin, "The decline of the missi dominici in Frankish Gaul", Credit 4.1 (1903:1-).

Reigns of Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald

Under Charlemagne's surviving legitimate son, Louis the Pious (ruling 813–840),the process of disintegration was hastened. Once the king associated the choice of missi with the assembly of nobles, the nobles interfered in the appointment of the missi. The missi were later selected from the district in which their duties lay, The 825 list of missi reveals that the circuits of the missatica now corresponded with provinces, strengthening local powers. The duties of missi, who gradually increased in number, became merged in the ordinary work of the bishops and counts, and under the emperor Charles the Bald About the end of the ninth century, with the implosion of Carolingian power, the missi disappeared from France and during the 10th century from Italy.

The missi were the last attempt to preserve centralised control in the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the ninth century, the forces which were making for feudalism tended to produce inherited fiefdoms as the only way to ensure stability, especially in the face of renewed external aggression in the form of Viking attacks, to which the impaired central power was demonstrated to be impotent.

Notes

References

1. Kikuchi, Shigeto. (2013). "Untersuchungen zu den Missi dominici. Herrschaft, Delegation und Kommunikation in der Karolingerzeit".
2. Points noted in James Laurence Laughlin, "The decline of the ''missi dominici'' in Frankish Gaul", ''Credit'' '''4'''.1 (1903:1–22) p. 5.
3. Michael Frassetto, ''Encyclopedia of barbarian Europe: society in transformation'', 2003, ''s.v,'' "Missi Dominici";
4. Laughlin 1903:4.
5. {{cite EB1911
6. Kikuchi, Shigeto. (2013). "Untersuchungen zu den Missi dominici Herrschaft, Delegation und Kommunikation in der Karolingerzeit".
7. Davis, Jennifer R.. (2017-10-20). "The ʿAbbasid and Carolingian Empires". Brill.
8. Cantor, ''The Civilization of the Middle Ages'', 1993:192.
9. Hannig, Jürgen. (1983). "Pauperiores vassi de infra palatio?". Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung.
10. "They were most likely used to administer oaths of fidelity to Charlemagne in 789 and 792–93" (''Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation'')
11. In short, they were the direct representatives of the king or [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. The inhabitants of the district they administered had to provide for their subsistence, and at times they led the host to battle. The ''missi'' were protected by a triple ''[[wergeld]]'' and resistance to them was punishable by death.Laughlin 1903:6.
12. Werner, Karl Ferdinand. (1980). "Missus-Marchio-Comes entre l'administration centrale et l'administration locale de l'Empire carolingien". Artemis.
13. Kikuchi, Shigeto. (2013). "Untersuchungen zu den Missi dominici Herrschaft, Delegation und Kommunikation in der Karolingerzeit".
14. Grunin, Andrey. (2019). "Réseau politique des agents du pouvoir central : l'exemple des missi dominici". Journal of Interdisciplinary Methodologies and Issues in Sciences.
15. Hannig, Jürgen. (January 1983). "Pauperiores vassi de infra palatio?". Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung.
16. Hannig, Jürgen. (1984-01-01). "Zentrale Kontrolle und regionale Machtbalance". Archiv für Kulturgeschichte.
17. Depreux, Philippe. "L'absence de jugement datant du règne de Louis le Pieux: l'expression d'un mode de gouvernement reposant plus systématiquement sur le recours aux missi". Annales de Bretagne et des Pays de l'Ouest.