Quotation from: Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance PeriodWritten by: Paul Lacroix |
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During the whole of the Merovingian epoch, the _mahl_ (_mallus_), the general and regular assembly of the nation, was held in the month of March. Persons of every class met there clad in armour; political, commercial, and judicial interests were discussed under the presidency of the monarch; but this did not prevent other special assemblies of the King's court (_curia regalis_) being held on urgent occasions. This court formed a parliament (_parlamentum_), which at first was exclusively military, but from the time of Clovis was composed of Franks, Burgundians, Gallo-Romans, as well as of feudal lords and ecclesiastics. As, by degrees, the feudal System became organized, the convocation of national assemblies became more necessary, and the administration of justice more complicated. Charlemagne decided that two _mahls_ should be held annually, one in the month of May, the other in the autumn, and, in addition, that in each county two annual _plaids_ should meet independently of any special _mahls_ and _plaids_ which it should please him to convoke. In 788, the emperor found it necessary to call three general _plaids_, and, besides these, he was pleased to summon his great vassals, both clerical and lay, to the four principal feasts of the year. It may be asserted that the idea of royalty being the central authority in matters of common law dates from the reign of Charlemagne (Fig. 297).
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