ress
of the Cardinal de Saint-Ange and of the Comte Thibaut de Champagne. His
defence, apart from the inherent improbability of the story, seems to be
quite convincing.

The centre of authority, for both the nation and the capital, was
naturally the king, though, as we have seen, his power was often
furiously contested and at times very precarious. Under the
Merovingians, the crown was both elective and hereditary, that is to
say, the brother of the deceased monarch was frequently chosen in the
place of his eldest son, too young to bear worthily the sword and the
sceptre. The royal authority was practically unlimited, the king decreed
constitution and laws, made war, and signed treaties of peace; he wore
the Roman costume, spoke and wrote in Latin, sate, like the Emperor, in
the praetorium to judge, and was given the titles of _Dominus_, of
Excellency, and of Majesty. For the personal service of the king, and
for the public service, there were a great number of officers,--the
_major domus_ or mayor of the palace, who eventually pushed the monarch
off the throne and mounted it himself; the marshal, the treasurer, the
cup-bearer, the chamberlain, and a multitude of inferior officers. The
political officers were more particularly the _Comte du Palais_, who
sate in the king's tribunal, and the _Referendaire_, a sort of
chancellor, who kept the royal signet-ring and sealed the royal decrees.
The court, or _palatium_, was crowded with important personages, counts,
dukes, and bishops, any of whom might be called to the king's council or
to sit in his tribunal. In the provinces, the royal authority was
represented in the _comtes_, which corresponded to the _civitates_ of
the Romans, by the _comtes_, who were at once judges, generals, and
financial administrators, and the _ducs_ whose administrative province
included several _comtes_. The bishops already enjoyed very considerable
political power, and the role of the king in their election, by the
people and the clerks of their diocese, was confined to confirmation,--a
limitation which they very frequently disregarded.

In the edict, or perpetual constitution, drawn up by the assembly of
seventy-nine bishops and the _leudes_ or great vassals of the three
kingdoms, held at Paris in 615, the interference of the king in the
election of the bishops was expressly forbidden, and his authority was
in many other matters seriously impaired in favor of the double
aristocracy, ecclesiasti