ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Pippin III son Charles, who became a king of the Franks on Pippins death and sole king after his brother Carloman died. To be specific, Charlemagne took the idea that a Christian king was responsible for promoting and maintaining Gods peace to justify an effort to limit sharply the use of violence by anyone but himself or his agents. Charlemagnes capitularies that we find the kings sense of his own rights and responsibilities most strongly expressed. In his General Admonition, which was aimed at the reform of the Frankish Church, Charlemagne presented himself as the source of Gods right order in the world. Like his Merovingian predecessors, Charlemagne assumed that he had the right to both extend and retract the bounds of legitimate violence. At the same time as Charlemagne was delegitimizing violence to Gods followers and particular favorites, he was also trying to delegitimize other kinds of violence.
