Places

Francia travelogue – Septimania

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Today the French Mediterranean coast is known for soft sandy beaches and elegant resorts. Thirteen centuries ago the region was on the brink of years of battle and bloodshed.

Septimania was a vaguely rectangular region that ran from the French southwest Mediterranean coast to the northeast for perhaps 150 miles, and from the sea to about fifty miles inland. It was bounded by the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean, and the river Rhone to the east. First named for the Roman seventh legion who settled there, the region included one of the first Roman roads in Gaul, the Via Domitia, that ran from Italy to Spain. The Via Aquitania split off from that and ran to Bordeaux. The towns of Narbonne and Agde were ports and trading sites in Roman times, and salt was extracted from around Narbonne. The province remained more Roman than Rome as the barbarians closed around the mother city in the fourth and fifth centuries. Finally in 462 the Romans handed it to the Visigoths.

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The matter of Britain

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The Carolingian kings and dukes did not operate in an international vacuum. While the concept of the ‘state’ as we moderns understand the concept would need another half-dozen centuries or so to germinate, the idea of international relations was as sound as it had been in the classical era. There were a few different ways that Francia and Britain interacted in the eighth century. Rulers interacted with other rulers, traded moved across borders, and scholars spread the faith.

In the sixth century the Frankish princess Bertha was married to king Ethelbert of Kent.1.Bede, Ecclesiastical History, bk1, ch25. Charlemagne and king Offa of Kent got into a spat in 790 when Charlemagne wanted to marry his eldest son, also Charles, to Offa’s daughter. Offa would only agree to this if his son would marry Charlemagne’s daughter.2.Ganshof, The Carolingians, p169-70. Charlemagne regarded his relations with Offa as either important enough, or touchy enough, to appoint only one ambassador to him, Abbot Gervold of St Wandrille. Charlemagne regarded this as a great insult, but he was always a little touchy about his daughters.3.Einhard even mentions this in chapter 19 of the vita, saying, “it is strange to have to report that he never wanted to give any of them away in marriage to anyone, whether it be to a Frankish noble or a foreigner.”

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, bk1, ch25.
↑2 Ganshof, The Carolingians, p169-70. Charlemagne regarded his relations with Offa as either important enough, or touchy enough, to appoint only one ambassador to him, Abbot Gervold of St Wandrille.
↑3 Einhard even mentions this in chapter 19 of the vita, saying, “it is strange to have to report that he never wanted to give any of them away in marriage to anyone, whether it be to a Frankish noble or a foreigner.”

Two Halves Of a Kingdom – Neustria

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Neustria was the other of the two “halves” of Francia (Austrasia being the other) that Charles Martel finally consolidated into something close to a cohesive whole by 721.

Neustria, meaning something like “new western lands,” as opposed to eastern Austrasia, was bordered on the north by the English channel, to the west by Brittany, to the south by river Loire, and to the east by much fuzzier boundaries. The kingdom of Burgundy was absorbed by the Neustrian kings early in the 7th century.

Neustria and Austrasia fought each other for most of the Merovingian centuries. Occasionally they would unite under a king for a time, but inevitably the Frankish inheritance rules broke the realms apart again. Finally in 687 Pippin of Herstal1.Pippin was of Austrasian descent, as were his descendents, Pepin and Charlemagne. defeated the Neustrian king at the battle of Tertry. After that the two kingdoms were ruled as one, while still subject to division in support of co-rulers. We can get some idea of how 7th century kings thought the various regions compared to each other from Fredegar, who says, “All the Austrasian magnates, the bishops and all the warriors of Sigebert, swore with hands raised that after Dagobert’s death Neustria and Burgundy united should belong to Clovis while Austrasia, which had the same population and extent of territory, should be entirely Sigebert’s.”2.Fredegar, Fourth Book, 76

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Pippin was of Austrasian descent, as were his descendents, Pepin and Charlemagne.
↑2 Fredegar, Fourth Book, 76

The Most Famous Battle of the Eighth Century

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Let’s look at the most famous battle of the eighth century, and one of the most famous in world history, the Battle of Tours.

First we have to figure out what to call it. Battles are usually named for a location, but the archaeologists have yet to pinpoint the exact location of this battle. It was fought somewhere between the towns of Poitiers and Tours, and so you’ll see it called either one of those. There was another Battle of Poitiers fought during the Hundred Years War, which is one reason why more people refer to the Battle of Tours, to avoid confusion.

The battle was fought in 732 between Charles Martel, father of Pepin and grandfather of Charlemagne, and the Arab ‘Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi of the Umayyad dynasty. The result was a sharp defeat for the Arabs, who withdrew to their kingdoms south of the Pyrenees and along the Mediterranean. Let’s set the stage:

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Aquitaine, the Heart of France

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Aquitaine occupied the central region of modern France. The Atlantic to the west, the Loire river to the north and east, while to the southwest the Garonne river is the border between Aquitaine and Gascony. The region of Septimania bordered Aquitaine to the southeast. The area is mostly flat, with hills and mountains in the southeast. It was one of the richest regions of Europe at the time. Patrick Geary describes it thusly: “The riches of Aquitaine, not only its agricultural produce but also its salt, wood, furs, marble, lead, iron, and silver mines had long made it a valued Frankish possession.”1.Geary, Before France and Germany, p.202. He and Fouracre, below, outline the political social situation in more detail.

The major towns and cities included Poitiers, Bordeaux, Nantes, Cahors, and Liguge. The town and mines of Melle produced much of the silver for the Carolingian coinage.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Geary, Before France and Germany, p.202. He and Fouracre, below, outline the political social situation in more detail.