Under the Merovingian dynasty, the mayor of the palace or majordomo,Cambridge Dictionary Consulted 09 July 2024. ( or ) was the manager of the household of the Frankish king. He was the head of the Merovingian administrative ladder and orchestrated the operation of the entire court. He was appointed by the king from among the magnates, the most powerful families.Yitzhak Hen, The Merovingian Polity: A Network of Courts and Courtiers, in: Bonnie Effros and Isabel Moreira (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, p. 226 Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy had their own mayor of the palace. After Chlothar II, who ruled over the entire Frankish Kingdom, had ordered the execution of Warnachar, the mayor of Burgundy, the magnates of Burgundy declared in 626 not to want their own mayor anymore. This declaration marks the effective end of the Burgundian court and the beginning of the Neustrian-Burgundian political alliance against Austrasian influence. The Austrasian magnates revolted and the Battle of Tertry of 687 became the Austrasian victory with Pepin of Herstal as their leader and the new mayor of the palace.

During the second half of the seventh century, the office evolved into the "power behind the throne". At that time the mayor of the palace held and wielded the real and effective power to make decisions affecting the kingdom, while the kings were increasingly reduced to performing merely ceremonial functions, which made them little more than figureheads (, 'do-nothing kings').

In 687, after victory over the western kingdom of Neustria, the Austrasian mayor, Pippin of Herstal, took the title Duke of the Franks to signify his augmented rule. His son and successor, Charles Martel, ruled without elevating a new king during the last four years of his reign (737–741). His sons Carloman and Pepin the Short elevated another Merovingian king, Childeric III, but he was eventually deposed in 751 by Pepin, who was crowned king in his place.

Lists of mayors of the palaces

Austrasia

Name In office Family RemarksParthenius531–548court position is unknownCarloman, father of Pepin of Landenc. 550-560Gogo567–581court position is mentioned as 'comes' and 'nutricius'Wandalenus581–583Waltrichs...Florentianusby 589...Protadus595–600Claudius600Gondulphus600–612Merowingians (uncert.)Warnachar613Short after the assassination of Sigibert IIRado613–616/617Hugh (Chucus)617–622Hugobertins (uncert.)Pepin of Landen 624/25–634PippinidsFirst timeAdalgisel634–639Pepin of Landen639–640PippinidsSecond timeOtto640–643Grimoald I643–657 or 662PippinidsAnsegisel657 or 662–662ArnulfingiansWulfoald662–679Etichonen (uncert.)Pepin of Herstal679–714PippinidsTheudoald714–715Pippinidsde jure under his grandmother PlectrudeCharles Martel715–741PippinidsAfter the Battle of Soissons (718) Maior Domus in all parts of the realmCarloman741–747PippinidsAustrasia containing also AlemaniaPepin the Short747–751PippinidsMaior Domus for the whole realm

Neustria Mummolin (566) Landric, under Clotaire II Gundoland (613 or 616–639) Aega (639–641), also in Burgundy Erchinoald (641–658) Ebroin (658–673), deposed Wulfoald (673–675), also in Austrasia (662–680) Leudesius (675), chosen but later deposed Ebroin (675–680), again Waratto (680 or 681–682), deposed by his son Gistemar Gistemar (682), usurper his father Waratton Waratto (682–684 or 686), again Berchar (686–688 or 689), murdered in 688 or 689 Nordebert 687-695), under protection of Pippin of Herstal Grimoald II (695–714) Theudoald (714–715), also in Austrasia. Driven out of Neustria by the nobility, surrendered claim in 716. Ragenfrid (715–718), took power in Neustria in 714 or 715 but defeated by Charles Martel first in 717 and definitively in 718 Charles Martel (718–741), also in Austrasia (715–741) Pepin the Short (741 or 742–751), became king of the Franks in 751

Burgundy

Warnachar I (596–599) Berthoald (before 603–604) Protadius (604–606) Claudius Rado (613–617) Warnachar II (617–626), also in Austrasia Godinus (626–627) ... Aega (639–641), also in Neustria Flaochad (642) Radobertus (642–662)

Hereafter the office remained vacant, with Burgundy a separate realm under the King of Neustria and Burgundy. The administration of Burgundy was briefly separate under:

Drogo (695–708), also duke of Champagne from 690 and duke of Burgundy from 697

Aquitaine

Brodulf (627–628)

Further reading Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages, 476–918. London: Rivingtons, 1914.

References