''Roi fainéant'' (), literally "do-nothing king", is a French term primarily used to refer to the later kings of the
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
after they seemed to have lost their initial powers of dominion. It is usually applied to those Frankish rulers approximately from the death of
Dagobert I
Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dyna ...
in 639 AD (or, alternatively, from the accession of
Theuderic III
Theuderic III (or Theuderich, Theoderic, or Theodoric; french: Thierry) (c. 651–691) was the king of Neustria (including Burgundy) on two occasions (673 and 675–691) and king of Austrasia from 679 to his death in 691. Thus, he was the king ...
in 673) until the deposition of
Childeric III in favour of
Pepin the Short
the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.
The younger was the son of ...
in 751.
The appellation goes back to
Einhard
Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; la, E(g)inhardus; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita ...
, who is most notably the author of ''
Vita Karoli Magni
''Vita Karoli Magni'' (''Life of Charlemagne'') is a biography of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, written by Einhard.Ogg, p. 109 The ''Life of Charlemagne'' is a 33 chapter long account starting with the full of the Mero ...
'', the biographer of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
; he described the later Merovingian kings as kings "in nothing but in name":
During the century of the ''rois fainéants'', the Merovingian kings were increasingly dominated by their
mayors of the palace, in the 6th century the office of the manager of the royal household, but in the 7th increasingly the real "
power behind the throne
The phrase "power behind the throne" refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of a high-ranking office, such as a head of state. In politics, it most commonly refers to a relative, aide, or nominal subordinate of a poli ...
" who limited the role of the king to an essentially ceremonial office.
The last Carolingian ruler,
Louis V of France, was also in his turn nicknamed ''le Fainéant'' ("the Do-Nothing"), because his effective rule was limited to the region around
Laon
Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
History
Early history
The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...
.
References
*M. Christian Pfirter, "La Gallia sotto i franchi merovingi: vicende storiche" in ''Storia del mondo medioevale'', vol. I, 1999, pp. 688-711.
*Marie-Nicolas Bouillet, Alexis Chassang, "Rois fainéants" in ''Dictionnaire universel d’histoire et de géographie'', 1878.
*Jean Verseuil, ''Les rois fainéants - De Dagobert à Pépin'', Paris, 1946.
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