Bachrach, David S., The Benefices of Counts and the Fate of the Comital Office in Carolingian East Francia and Ottonian Germany
David S. Bachrach
Abstract The long-standing historiographical controversy about the nature of comital office in East Francia and Ottonian Germany has turned on same set questions for more than a century: over whom did count exercise jurisdiction, what was basis count's source material assets that allowed counts to perform their duties? Left out these discussions, however, been related problem control exercised by king attached office, denoted variously as res de comitatu , ministerium or simply comitatus . following study examines this question from reign Emperor Louis Pious (814–840) through death Henry II (1002–1024), concludes Carolingian rulers maintained tight fiscal assigned counts, were able recover them reassign royal government saw fit. This conclusion is at odds with much scholarship presents holding erstwhile allodial tenure facto transformation into hereditary possession.
Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte. Germanistische Abteilung