Editing Missus dominicus (section)

==Reign of Charlemagne==

Based on [[Merovingian]] ''ad hoc'' arrangements,<ref>Michael Frassetto, ''Encyclopedia of barbarian Europe: society in transformation'', 2003, ''s.v,'' "Missi Dominici";</ref> using the form ''missus regis'' (the "king's envoy") and sending a layman and an ecclesiastic in pairs,<ref>Laughlin 1903:4.</ref> the use of ''missi dominici'' was fully exploited by [[Charlemagne]] (ruling 768–814), who made them a regular part of his administration,<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Missi Dominici |volume=18 |page=583}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Untersuchungen zu den Missi dominici Herrschaft, Delegation und Kommunikation in der Karolingerzeit|last=Kikuchi|first=Shigeto|year=2013|pages=220–229|oclc=950017512}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Davis|first=Jennifer R.|title=The ʿAbbasid and Carolingian Empires|chapter=Inventing the Missi|date=2017-10-20|chapter-url=http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/b9789004353046_003|pages=11–51|editor-last=Tor|editor-first=D.G.|publisher=Brill|language=en|doi=10.1163/9789004353046_003|isbn=9789004353046|access-date=2019-07-30}}</ref> "a highly intelligent and plausible innovation in Carolingian government", [[Norman F. Cantor]] observes,<ref>Cantor, ''The Civilization of the Middle Ages'', 1993:192.</ref> "and a tribute to the administrative skill of the ecclesiastics, such as [[Alcuin]] and [[Einhard]]". The ''missi'' were at first chosen from Charlemagne's personal, most trusted entourage, of whatever social degree. Soon they were selected only from the secular and ecclesiastical nobility: the entry for 802 in the so-called [[Lorsch Annals]] (794–803) states that instead of relying on "poorer [[vassal]]s",<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hannig|first=Jürgen|date=1983|title=Pauperiores vassi de infra palatio?|url=http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/miog.1983.91.issue-3-4/miog.1983.91.34.309/miog.1983.91.34.309.xml|journal=Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung|volume=91|issue=3–4|pages=309–74|doi=10.7767/miog.1983.91.34.309|s2cid=163735932 |issn=2307-2903|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Charlemagne "chose from the kingdom archbishops and bishops and abbots, with dukes and counts, who now had no need to receive gifts from the innocent, and sent them throughout his kingdom, so that they might administer justice to the churches, to widows, orphans and the poor, and to all the people."<ref>Tr. Henry R. Loyn and J. Percival, ''The Reign of Charlemagne''. London, 1975. p. 44.
</ref> Presumably the same year the [[capitulary]] usually known as the ''[[Capitulare missorum generale]]'' was issued, which gives a detailed account of their duties and responsibilities. They were to execute justice, to ensure respect for the king, to control the government of the military [[duke]]s and administrative [[count]]s (then still royal officials), to receive their oath of allegiance,<ref>"They were most likely used to administer oaths of fidelity to Charlemagne in 789 and 792–93" (''Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation'')</ref> to let the king's will be known, at times by distributing capitularies around the empire, and to supervise the clergy of their assigned region.<ref name=EB1911/> In short, they were the direct representatives of the king or [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. The inhabitants of the district they administered had to provide for their subsistence, and at times they led the host to battle.<ref name=EB1911/> The ''missi'' were protected by a triple ''[[wergeld]]'' and resistance to them was punishable by death.<ref name="Laughlin 1903:6">Laughlin 1903:6.</ref> In addition special instructions were given to various ''missi'', and many of these have been preserved.<ref name=EB1911/>

As ''missi'' became a conventional part of court machinery, ''missus ad hoc'' came to signify ''missi'' sent out for some particular purpose.<ref>''Encyclopedia''
</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Missus-Marchio-Comes entre l'administration centrale et l'administration locale de l'Empire carolingien|last=Werner|first=Karl Ferdinand|publisher=Artemis|year=1980|pages=210|oclc=690511467}}</ref> The districts placed under the ordinary ''missi'', which it was their duty to visit for a month at a time, four times a year, were called ''missatici'' or ''legationes''<ref name=EB1911/> (a term illustrating the analogy with a [[papal legate]]); the ''missatica'' (singular ''missaticum'') avoided division along the lines of the existing [[diocese]]s or [[province]]s.<ref name="Laughlin 1903:6"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=Missus-Marchio-Comes entre l'administration centrale et l'administration locale de l'Empire carolingien|last=Werner|first=Karl Ferdinand|publisher=Artemis|year=1980|pages=196–205|oclc=690511467}}</ref> The ''missi'' were not permanent officials, but were generally selected from the ranks of officials at the court, and during the reign of Charlemagne high-standing personages undertook this work.<ref name=EB1911/> They were sent out collegially, usually in twos, an ecclesiastic and a layman, and were generally complete strangers to the district which they administered,<ref name=EB1911/> to deter them from putting out local roots and acting on their own initiative, as the counts were doing. In addition extraordinary ''missi'' represented the emperor on special occasions, and at times beyond the limits of his dominions.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bemerkungen zum frühmittelalterlichen Boten- und Gesandtschaftswesen. Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters{{!}}Der frühmittelalterliche Staat Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse 386. Band{{!}}|last=Scior|first=Volker|publisher=oeaw|year=2009|pages=315–317|oclc=757169049}}</ref> Even under the strong rule of Charlemagne it was difficult to find men to discharge these duties impartially, and after his death in 814 it became almost impossible.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>
James Laurence Laughlin, "The decline of the ''missi dominici'' in Frankish Gaul", ''Credit'' '''4'''.1 (1903:1-).</ref>