A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

war.

Genealogy 2.2: The Merovingians*

The royal court—which moved with the kings as they traveled from one palace

to another, as they had no capital city—was the focus of political life. Here gathered

talented young men, clerics—all upwardly mobile aristocrats. The most important

courtiers had official positions: there was, for example, the referendary and the

cupbearer. Highest of all was the “mayor of the palace,” who controlled access to the

king and brokered deals with aristocratic factions.