Page:Western Europe in the Middle Ages.djvu/78

62 hierarchy of ruler, provincial governor, local administrator, and subjects.

This Carolingian system was buttressed by the bishops and the counts. The bishops owed their offices to the kings and usually gave them effective support. The counts, though they were usually chosen from the class of local landlords, had not yet made their positions hereditary and could hope to gain greater power and wealth by supporting the kings. But the growing disorder in the Carolingian realms gradually weakened the loyalty of both ruling groups. The bishops, on the whole, tried to preserve the Carolingian state, but were slowly forced to look for protection to local magnates. The counts, who had always had tendencies toward independence, took full advantage of the confusion caused by civil war and invasion. They first made their offices hereditary, and then set themselves up as practically autonomous rulers of the regions where they were strong. The long chain of lordship, reaching from the king through the counts to the local magnates and ordinary freemen, was beginning to break. The breaks did not always come at the same place and some links in the chain held in spite of the terrible strain which they endured. This meant that feudalism did not have the same structure in all parts of the Carolingian realms and that not all regions were completely feudalized. Generally speaking, the process was most complete and most logical in the part of France north of the Loire. There the counts gained practical independence of the king while keeping control of most of their subordinates. Able and aggressive counts then attacked their neighbors and built up large feudal states composed of many counties. Southern France was more chaotic. Many lesser landowners never became involved in feudal relationships and the great counts never succeeded in gaining control over all the lesser lords. The hilly region of the Massif Central was especially disorderly; there the owner of a small castle might rule a few square miles without worrying about any superior. In Germany the king retained more