And yet, however unsatisfactory the treaty of Verdun was for German interests, it must be conceded that in view of the existing situation even the partial union of the Germans into a separate empire of their own was an incalculable advantage. The union of north and south Germany, enforced by Charles I, could bear no fruits because the independent national development was stunted by the enforced alliance of the Germans with Romans, Gauls, and Italians. By the Treaty of Verdun the Germans, on the other hand, were separated from the Guelfs, and even if important purely Germanic stock was cut off, yet the majority still remained combined in one independent state free to develop according to the hereditary spirit.
Finally the empire given to Lothair by the dismemberment of Germany was so contrary to all common sense in its situation and boundaries, that a continuation of this singular arrangement was beyond the range of probability. Lothair’s possessions outside Italy were separated from his principal realm by the Alps; there was absolutely nothing in common between the Italians and the Germans, and at the same time Lothair’s portion on this side of the Alps only consisted of an extremely narrow strip towards the sea, which nowhere offered a suitable protection. Part of this strip of land was inhabited by romanised Germans or Guelfs, and the remaining and greater part by pure Teutons; consequently it was only to be expected that the Guelf portion would struggle to become united to France and the Teutonic to the mother country. This is what actually came to pass later; and therefore in the Treaty of Verdun were to be found the elements for the establishment of a national Teutonic empire and unity. We therefore now look upon that treaty as the foundation of both.e
Germany dates her national existence from the Treaty of Verdun. Eastern or Teutonic was then forever separated from Western or Latin France, which in later times gained exclusive possession of the name, the heart of the Frankish dominions being known as Franconia. The oaths taken respectively by the armies of Ludwig and Charles show that the two languages were already distinct. The Frankish conquerors of Gaul were largely latinised by intercourse with the former subjects of the cæsars; and while the soldiers of Ludwig swore allegiance in old German, the oath of Charles’ army bore an almost equal resemblance to Latin, Provençal, and modern French. The Teutonic and Roman elements in European society and speech were from that moment separate.f
FOOTNOTES
[139] [Though the Germans protested violently against gallicising their Karl der Grosse and Ludwig der Fromme into Charlemagne and Louis de Débonnaire, we prefer to keep the more familiar forms.]
CHAPTER VII
THE BIRTH OF GERMAN NATIONALITY
[843-936 A.D.]
Although by the Treaty of Verdun the empire remained in some measure united and the emperor had a certain pre-eminence over the king, he was certainly not endowed with supreme prerogatives; the districts were as distinct from each other as they once were in the divisions of the Merovingians. The idea of imperial theocracy was gone, the customary arrangement of succession of the Frankish monarchy had prevailed. This victory was rife with consequences for the Frankish kingdom and all the races ruled by the Franks.
Although it was not the interests of the people but those of the rulers which had led to the Treaty of Verdun, it was of great importance for the evolution and cultivation of nationality in the West. Whilst Ludwig’s kingdom almost entirely consisted of German lands, Charles on the other side had those parts of Gaul already permeated by the Roman character; and out of the great German Roman Empire in the East Frankish kingdom there arose a state whose people, albeit separated in clans, were similar in language, customs, and thought, and their connection began to be shown in their language.
In contradistinction to the Roman language of the learned clergy and the Romanised tongue of their southern and western neighbours, they called this language German, i.e., the “popular” tongue, and they called themselves the German-speaking to distinguish themselves from the Romans.
The feeling of their union must necessarily have increased as they were united in one kingdom and were separated by the bond of the kingdom from other races. In like manner the Frankish Roman nationality was more notably evolved in the West Frankish kingdom, after the union with the purely German races was dissolved.
[843-845 A.D.]
The Germans therefore, like the French, and not without reason, regard the Treaty of Verdun as the birth-hour of their nationality. After the breaking up of the Carlovingian kingdom, the natural differences of the various races did not reappear with their narrow, sharp distinctions, but they began to form fresh nationalities upon a wider and more universal basis, and this fact was productive of the most important results. There was much to cause the delay of the further separation of the East and West Frankish kingdom. The political elements which Charles had united in his kingdom were by no means equally distributed over all districts, and they had not gained the same force everywhere. The feudal system had especially gained ground on Gallic soil and there attained to such power that the freedom of the lower classes was quite stifled; all the lower circles of the population were dependent on the powerful feudal princes. The great vassals thereby became so strong that they soon instituted the hereditariness of their fiefs, and the king only retained real power over the crown possessions, having elsewhere only the rights of a chief feudal lord. The royal power such as had been exercised by the Merovingians and the first Carlovingians diminished more and more, and royalty was only instituted here later, on quite a fresh basis.
It was different in the East Frankish kingdom. The freedom of the communities had there taken root too deeply to be so easily displaced; vassaldom only gradually gained ground and mostly only because the royal feudal people were introduced to the people as officials. There was therefore far more strength and union in the government; the king was still the people’s king and he could call directly upon the fighting power of the masses. This was chiefly why Ludwig the German was superior to Charles the Bald and also to Lothair. In almost the same way, Lothair’s kingdom consisted of German and Roman districts without any national unity; it was therefore weak and unstable, albeit the chief lands of the government and the first cities of the kingdom belonged to him.b
The Reign of Ludwig the German (843-876 A.D.)
[845-853 A.D.]
Ludwig’s[140] independent sovereignty commenced at a moment of great national disaster. In the year 845 King Horik of Denmark, who had a large fleet of Norse pirate vessels at his disposal, commenced a general attack upon all the maritime provinces of the Frankish Empire. One division of his fleet, amounting, it is said, to six hundred ships, sailed up the mouth of the Elbe and made an unexpected assault upon Hamburg, the seat of missionary activity in the Scandinavian north. The city was taken and burned to the ground before the local levies (Heerbann) could hasten from the surrounding country to its aid. Many of the inhabitants fell by the Northmen’s swords, the rest were scattered or perished as they fled. Bishop Anskar sought refuge for himself and his books and relics in the desolate moorland between the Elbe and Weser. Another detachment of the Norman fleet wrought hideous havoc in the kingdom of the West Franks; Paris was committed to the flames and most of its inhabitants slaughtered by the Northmen. King Charles the Bald went so far as to collect an army, but he did not dare to confront the invaders; indeed, he was well content to procure the withdrawal of the pirates—who dreaded the vengeance of the patron saints of the churches they had plundered and burned far more than the Frankish arrière-ban—by the payment of a considerable sum of money. The Northmen carried home with them from their raid a deadly pestilence, to which King Horik himself succumbed after grievous suffering. Before his death he sent an embassy to Ludwig the German to entreat his pardon for the destruction of Hamburg, at the same time promising to restore the prisoners and booty.