Editing Merovingian dynasty (section)

== Government ==
{{See also|Royal household under the Merovingians and Carolingians}}
[[File:Metz Saint Pierre R02.jpg|thumb|The Merovingian Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains in [[Metz]], capital of [[Austrasia]] ]]
The Merovingian king redistributed conquered wealth among his followers, both material wealth and the land (including its indentured peasantry), though these powers were not absolute. As Rouche points out, "When he died his property was divided equally among his heirs as though it were private property: the kingdom was a form of patrimony."{{sfn|Rouche|1987|p=420}} Some scholars have attributed this to the Merovingians' lacking a sense of ''[[res publica]]'', but other historians have criticized this view as an oversimplification.

The kings appointed magnates to be ''[[comes|comites]]'' (counts), charging them with [[defense (military)|defense]], [[administration (government)|administration]], and the judgment of disputes. This happened against the backdrop of a newly isolated Europe without its Roman systems of [[taxation]] and [[bureaucracy]], the Franks having taken over administration as they gradually penetrated into the thoroughly Romanised west and south of Gaul. By the time of [[Dagobert I]], governmental documents were recognizably Roman, it is by then written in Latin on imported papyrus similar to Roman bureaucratic norms and where it also made use of the old legal formulae. While laymen made up most of the administrators, there was a gradual shift to a clerical presence from the reign of Clotaire II.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=James |first1=Edward |title=The Oxford History of Medieval Europe |last2=Holmes |first2=George |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1988 |location=Great Britain |pages=88 |language=en}}</ref>

The counts had to provide armies, enlisting their ''milites'' and endowing them with land in return. These armies were subject to the king's call for military support. Annual national assemblies of the nobles and their armed retainers decided major policies of war making. The army also acclaimed new kings by raising them on its shields continuing an ancient practice that made the king leader of the warrior-band. Furthermore, the king was expected to support himself with the products of his private domain ([[royal demesne]]), which was called the ''[[fisc]]''. This system developed in time into [[feudalism]], and expectations of royal self-sufficiency lasted until the [[Hundred Years' War]].

Trade declined with the fall of the [[Roman Empire]], and agricultural estates were mostly self-sufficient. The remaining international trade was dominated by [[Middle East]]ern merchants, often Jewish [[Radhanite]]s.

=== Law ===
{{See also|Slavery in Merovingian Francia}}
Merovingian law was not universal law equally applicable to all; it was applied to each man according to his origin: Ripuarian Franks were subject to their own {{lang|la|[[Lex Ripuaria]]}}, codified at a late date,{{sfn|Beyerle|Buchner|1954}} while the so-called {{lang|la|Lex Salica}} ([[Salic Law]]) of the Salian clans, first tentatively codified in 511{{sfn|Rouche|1987|p=423}} was invoked under medieval exigencies as late as the [[House of Valois|Valois]] era. In this the Franks lagged behind the Burgundians and the Visigoths, that they had no universal Roman-based law. In Merovingian times, law was handled by officials called ''rachimburgs'', who memorised the set of legal precedents which formed the basis for their society's laws, for Merovingian society did not allow the concept of creating ''new'' law, only of maintaining tradition. Nor did its [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] traditions offer any code of [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] required of urbanised society, such as [[Justinian I]] caused to be assembled and promulgated in the [[Byzantine Empire]]. The few surviving Merovingian edicts are almost entirely concerned with settling divisions of estates among heirs.

=== Coinage ===
[[File:Theodebert I 534 548 king of Metz.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Theudebert I]], 534–548]]
[[Byzantine coinage]] was in use in [[Francia]] before [[Theudebert I]] began minting his own money at the start of his reign. He was the first to issue distinctly Merovingian coinage. On gold coins struck in his royal workshop, Theudebert is shown in the pearl-studded regalia of the Byzantine emperor; [[Childebert I]] is shown in profile in the ancient style, wearing a [[toga]] and a [[diadem]]. The [[solidus (coin)|solidus]] and [[triens]] were minted in Francia between 534 and 679. The [[denarius]] (or [[French denier|denier]]) appeared later, in the name of [[Childeric II]] and various non-royals around 673–675. A Carolingian denarius replaced the Merovingian one, and the [[Frisians|Frisian]] [[Pfennig|penning]], in Gaul from 755 to the 11th century.

Merovingian coins are on display at the [[Monnaie de Paris]] in Paris; there are Merovingian gold coins at the [[Bibliothèque Nationale]], [[Cabinet des Médailles]].