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Halphen indicates that Charlemagne, in introducing a compulsory oath of fealty from all his subjects, introduced the concept of a citizen’s duty to the interests of the state, the powerful idea of ‘respublica’ which had disappeared since the collapse of the Roman Empire. Thus alongside the intensification of the reforming program, there were instances of new aspects in administrative change post-800.

The notion that Charlemagne implemented no serious long-lasting change in imperial organisation is absurd. Whilst one may not have been able to measure the changes on one's chronograph, they certainly were taking place. The impact of Charles’s methods and measures are visible throughout the ninth century and beyond. One example is that ‘powers had been placed in the hands of monarchs that no subsequent weakness could finally destroy.’ That the years following 800 witnessed an administrative decline is unacceptable as it was in this period that Charlemagne intensified previous reforms while occasionally adding innovative ones which together would have a long-term impact on the administration of realms.