184 EARLY MEDIEVAL SPAINand also the Frankish state, under its new Carolingian dynasty, posed
a more serious threat than had been the case under the previous
Merovingians.
The effective imposition of unitary royal authority over all of Francia,
finally achieved by Charlemagne (768-814), made the threat of Frank-
ish involvement in the affairs of the peninsula a reality for the first
time since the days of Dagobert I (d. 639). However, after
Charlemagne's fruitless expedition into the Ebro valley in 778, and
the formation of the 'Frankish March' around Barcelona in the first
decade of the ninth century, a relative stability came into being on
this frontier. The programme of settlement and the rapid decline of
Frankish royal authority in the course of the ninth century halted
further expansion, and put Barcelona and the other counties of the
march firmly on the defensive.
As for the states of Pamplona and the Asturias, these, by virtue
of developing more sophisticated political and social organisation,
became much easier for the Umayyads to control by diplomacy or
force than had been possible with their tribal predecessors. On the
other hand when that control was not or could not be exercised, they
presented a more concentrated and coherent threat to their south-
ern neighbours, and eventually came to expand at their expense.
They took advantage of the internal difficulties of the Umayyad state,
in the way that the Basques had those of the Visigoths, and also
manipulated them to more concrete advantage. It is notable, though,
that in this there is no evidence of their being assisted by the Chris-
tian communities in Al-Andalus. As in the Visigothic period, the de-
fence of local interests usually outweighed any considerations of
common race-or religion.
The advantages or liberties that could be taken by the Christian
states depended much less on their own military capabilities, than on
the degree to which the southerners were embroiled in their internal
disorders. Once 'Abd al-Ra~man III (912-961) had finally quelled
the many revolts and disturbances within his own frontiers, it did not
take long for him to bring the kingdoms of Asturias-Leon and
Pamplona-Navarre to heel. He did not, however, any more than the
even more successful Al-Man{iUr, seek to terminate their existence.
The complicated relationships between the Umayyads, discontented
elements amongst their subjects, and the Christian states need to be
examined in more detail.
It is best to look first at the difficulties that the amirs faced in