>>17769158No, no. The Caroligininan inheritance practices were a problem but said customs were practiced by the Merovingians and most non-Roman rulers. The problem was the size of the Frankish empire. The emperor could not respond to all issues consistently or at all, especially when dealing with swift raiding parties of Norsemen or Hungarians, so soon enough local nobles turned to regional strongmen who could devote their entire attention to their portion of the empire. The united Frankish empire literally collapsed as a result of apathy and dissatisfaction.
Regarding Salic law, Louis the Pious tried to make his eldest son ruler of almost all his territory, with the younger sons as small vassals and some receiving nothing, but this was completely out of step with the custom of the era and Louis’ sons quickly found magnates willing to fight for their inheritance. Louis was forced to agree to divide the empire as had been done for preceding royal sons and thus the empire became a series of large detached realms all competing with each other for supremacy. The title of emperor reduced to mere prestige without authority.
