From Ducatus to Regnum. Ruling Bavaria under the Merovingians and Early Carolingians

Droit militaire romain tardif dans le code de Bavière

“…Indeed, it is wise to begin with the particular region, which has been referred to as Baiuvaria since the early Middle Ages and was arranged by the Franks into a duchy 45 . This latter event took place in the late 530s, likely around the years 537/538, according to the some historians 46 . Thus the formation of the Bavarian duchy aligns with the Eastern Roman reorganization of military and provincial structures in the Balkans, begun around 535 as part of Justinian's plans to drive the Ostrogoths out of Italy 47 .…”

The Changing Fortunes of Early Medieval Bavaria to 907 ad

“…The problem was expressed very neatly by Carl Hammer in a closely-argued study published in 2008: '[W]here we have evidence for the early Bavarian dukes there are no Agilolfings, and where we have evidence for Agilolfings, there are no Bavarian dukes'. 20 Nevertheless, Hammer argued that Garibald was indeed Frankish and that his exile from Bavaria was the consequence of his involvement in the plotted coup of a duke named Rauching in 587, which also brought down the Duke of Alemannia at the same time. The source for Rauching's conspiracy, Gregory of Tours again, does not mention Garibald by name, but does allude darkly to 'many leaving their duchies' around this time.…”

“…The source for Rauching's conspiracy, Gregory of Tours again, does not mention Garibald by name, but does allude darkly to 'many leaving their duchies' around this time. 21 Whatever the Agilolfing dukes' origins, how dependent were they on outside powers, particularly the Franks? The historian whose work has set the framework for all current work on Agilolfing Bavaria is Joachim Jahn, whose magisterial Ducatus Baiuvariorum was published in 1991, shortly before his premature death.…”

“…Carl Hammer has recently proposed a model of Tassilo's reign as an era of 'virtual rule'. 29 The fundamental observation that underlies Hammer's interpretation is that evidence for Tassilo's ideological enterprises -his diplomacy with the papacy and Franks, foundation of monasteries, and a certain amount of rhetoric and artwork preserved from his court -far outweighs evidence for his practical activities waging war or executing the law in his principality. He is only known to have fought one successful military campaign in his own right, against the neighboring Carantanians in 772.…”

“…With the outbreak of civil war between Carolingians in 838, and Louis' efforts to build a larger east Frankish kingdom, however, the charters move to naming him 'King in Eastern Francia' and no longer claim any unique connection between Louis and Bavaria. 46 Rather than treating it as the core of his kingdom after the partitions of the Treaty of Verdun in 843, Louis seems to have used Bavaria, and particularly the Ostmark, in the same way that his father and grandfather had used the teilreiche; a suitable place for a young prince to learn the ropes of warfare and governance. Thus, Louis' son Carloman became 'King of the Bavarians' (rex baiuvariorum) at his father's death in 876, but this title should be seen alongside Louis' plans of 865, which envisioned dividing the eastern kingdom into further subkingdoms, with his other sons receiving Saxony and Swabia.…”