The Medieval Church · 882
On the Governance of the Palace
De Ordine Palatii
Hincmar of Reims · 806 – 882
What it is
Written for a young king in the last year of Hincmar's life, describing how Charlemagne's court was run — the officers, the twice-yearly assemblies, who advised on what — and arguing that a king who rules without counsel is a tyrant and that the bishops are owed a hearing.
Why it lasted
The nearest thing the Carolingian world produced to a constitution, and the fullest statement of the claim that royal power is an office with duties rather than a possession. Both sides of the later investiture quarrel quoted Hincmar.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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