In the early Merovingian period (481-543 CE), numerous Frankish kingdoms were united under the nominal leadership of Clovis I, who is traditionally considered to have become king of the Salian Franks in 481 CE.
[1]
Under Clovis, the capital moved from Tournai to Paris.
[2]
[3]
Population and political organization
Merovingian France was a largely decentralized kingdom based on the pre-existing Roman administrative system, in which cities were the basic units.
[4]
The city rulers, known as counts or grafio, who sent the king his tax revenue and carried out judicial and administrative functions, had access to both administrative officials and city archives (gesta municipalia).
[5]
[4]
Groups of cities and counts could be placed under a duke for military and administrative purposes.
[6]
In contrast, there was no elaborate central administration, the highest non-royal official being a figure known as the mayor of the palace.
[7]
The king’s capital and main residence was at Paris, where the population may have reached 30,000 by the 8th century CE,
[8]
although the court was always a peripatetic institution.
[9]
The king consulted a group of magnates (obtimates) at an annual gathering around 1 March. Written references to royal edicts are known from 614 CE onwards, but earlier royal legislation has not survived.
[10]
Merovingian kings had the authority to appoint dukes and counts as well as bishops, who were often ’royal servants with no known connections with their sees’.
[11]
From 622 CE onwards the basic territorial divisions of the Merovingian Kingdom were Neustria (centred on the Seine and Oise rivers and associated with the Pactus Legis Salicae law code),
[12]
Burgundy (where the Liber Constitutionum was developed), and Austrasia (by the Rhine and Meuse, which came to possess its own mayor of the palace
[13]
and followed the Lex Ribvaria).
[12]
A fourth area, Aquitaine, had a special status due to its distance from the royal centres and was under less direct Merovingian control.
[14]
In the earliest times, Merovingian administration beyond the Rhine (in modern-day Germany) was less elaborate than that imposed further to the west: counts sent to rule in the east did not attempt to introduce literacy, currency or Christianity to their domains.
[15]
[1]: (Drew 1991, 5) Drew, Katherine Fischer. 1991. “Introduction.” In The Laws of the Salian Franks: Translated and with an Introduction by Katherine Fischer Drew, 1-56. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/BT6A8ZH6.
[2]: (Wood 1994, 41) Wood, Ian. 1994. The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751. London: Longman. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ARUIRN35.
[3]: (DeVries and Smith 2007, 230) DeVries, Kelly, and Robert D. Smith. 2007. Medieval Weapons: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ZDQNCFQQ.
[4]: (Loseby 1998, 245-49) Loseby, S. T. 1998. “Gregory’s Cities: Urban Functions in Sixth-Century Gaul.” In Franks and Alamanni in the Merovingian Period: An Ethnographic Perspective, edited by I. N. Wood, 239-69. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DT5E5GNS.
[5]: (Wood 1994, 204) Wood, Ian. 1994. The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751. London: Longman. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ARUIRN35.
[6]: (Bachrach 1972, 67) Bachrach, Bernard S. 1972. Merovingian Military Organization 481-751. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SG5XNFPG.
[7]: (Halsall 2003, 28) Halsall, Guy. 2003. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z5EZBP2R.
[8]: (Clark and Henneman, Jr. 1995, 1316) Clark, William W., and John Bell Henneman, Jr. 1995. “Paris.” In Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, edited by William W. Kibler, Grover A. Zinn, Lawrence Earp, and John Bell Henneman, Jr., 1314-30. New York: Garland Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HS8644XK.
[9]: (Wood 1994, 150-53) Wood, Ian. 1994. The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751. London: Longman. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ARUIRN35.
[10]: (Fouracre 1998, 286-89) Fouracre, P. J. 1998. “The Nature of Frankish Political Institutions in the Seventh Century.” In Franks and Alamanni in the Merovingian Period: An Ethnographic Perspective, edited by Ian Wood, 285-316. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GT2AINW4.
[11]: (Wood 1994, 78) Wood, Ian. 1994. The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751. London: Longman. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ARUIRN35.
[12]: (Wood 1994, 112-15) Wood, Ian. 1994. The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751. London: Longman. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ARUIRN35.
[13]: (Fanning 1995, 157) Fanning, Steven. 1995. “Austrasia.” In Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, edited by William W. Kibler, Grover A. Zinn, Lawrence Earp, and John Bell Henneman, Jr., 156-57. New York: Garland Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GR2MKFDX.
[14]: (Wood 1994, 100, 146) Wood, Ian. 1994. The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751. London: Longman. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ARUIRN35.
[15]: (Anderson 2013, 126-27) Anderson, Perry. 2013. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. London: Verso. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/K6F5NBFF.
31 U |
Early Merovingian |
Paris |
regnum Francorum | |
Francia | |
Neustria | |
Merovingian Kingdom | |
Franks | |
Frankish Kingdom | |
Frankish Kingdoms |
none |
NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI |
Middle Merovingian |
elite migration |
UNCLEAR: [elite replacement] | |
Succeeding: Middle Merovingian (fr_merovingian_emp_2) [continuity] |
nominal | |
loose | |
confederated state | |
quasi-polity |
[20,000 to 30,000] people |
[200,000 to 300,000] km2 |
[1,250,000 to 1,750,000] people |
present |
inferred present |
present |
inferred present |
unknown |
inferred absent |
unknown |
present |
present |
present |
inferred present |
present |
present |
present |
unknown |
absent |
unknown |
unknown |
unknown |
present |
inferred present |
inferred present |
inferred present |
present |
unknown |
unknown |
present |
unknown |
present |
present |
present |
inferred present |
unknown |
present |
unknown |
absent |
present |
unknown |
inferred present |
inferred present |
unknown |
absent |
inferred present |
inferred present |
present |
present |
present |
absent |
absent |
absent |
unknown |
absent |
unknown |
present |
present |
unknown |
present |
present |
present |
present |
unknown |
unknown |
present |
present |
present |
present |
present |
unknown |
Year Range | Early Merovingian (fr_merovingian_emp_1) was in: |
---|---|
(481 CE 542 CE) | Paris Basin |
First wave of the plague of Justinian struck Gaul in 543 CE.
Clovis ascends the throne. 481 CE is the earliest possible date. Start of Merovingian rule in the Paris Basin from 486 CE.
The start of Merovingian rule in the Paris basin: 486, when the territory was conquered from Syragrius.
The start of Merovingian rule in the Paris basin: 486, when the territory was conquered from Syragrius.
When divided kingdom more like a confederation. Division was not a governing structure.
[1]
"There are two levels operating simultaneously... regnum and regna. A variable number of kingdoms within the Merovingian polity as a whole."
[2]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 112-115)
[2]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 174)
When divided kingdom more like a confederation. Division was not a governing structure.
[1]
"There are two levels operating simultaneously... regnum and regna. A variable number of kingdoms within the Merovingian polity as a whole."
[2]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 112-115)
[2]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 174)
in squared kilometers. 250,000: 511 CE. Total area divided by four regions.
Merovingian kingdoms was a quasi-polity in terms of territory that could be militarily controlled. This figure represents the average sized kingdom within the polity.Merovingian kingdoms was a quasi-polity in terms of population that could be militarily controlled. This figure represents the average sized kingdom within the polity.
Total area divided by 4 regions.
These figures are for the total area: 350,000: 481 CE; 600,000; 490 CE; 600,000: 500 CE; 1,000,000: 510 CE; 1,000,000: 520 CE; 1,000,000: 530 CE; 1,400,000: 540 CE; 1,400,000: 550 CE; 1,400,000: 560 CE
These numbers are based on the maps at Geacon EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: http://geacron.com/home-en/?&sid=GeaCron10372 worked out from number of pixels (which you can find from image editor if you take a screen cap of the maps at the same scale) Scale: 200 km. 1 pixel = 20 km2. Figures rounded to memorable number (otherwise false precision).
Clovis victorious over Alamans c506 CE. Land annexed.
[1]
511 CE Kingdom divided: new regions ruled from Rheims (Theuderic), Orleans (Choldomer), Paris (Childebert I) and Soissons (Clothar I).
[2]
531 CE Thuringian Kingdom annexed by Theuderic and Clothat I.
[2]
534 CE conquest of Burgundy
[3]
536 CE received most of the Gothic territory in Provence.
[4]
537 CE acquires Provence
[5]
Clother sole monarch 558-561 CE. 561 CE Clother dies. Kingdom again divided. Paris (Charibert I)
Orleans (Guntram), Rheims (Sigibert I), Soissons (Chilperic I)
[6]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 161)
[2]: (Wood 1994, 50)
[3]: (Wood 1994, 53-55)
[4]: (Wood 1994, 33)
[5]: (Wood 1994, 54)
[6]: (Wood 1994, 57)
[1,250,000-1,750,000]: 511 CE Merovingian kingdoms was a quasi-polity in terms of population that could be militarily controlled. This figure represents the average sized kingdom within the polity.
Total: [300,000-500,000]: 481 CE; [2,000,000-3,000,000]: 500 CE; [5,500,000-6,500,000]: 550 CE
Estimated from below.
Population of France
[1]
400 CE = 5
500 CE = 4.75
600 CE = 4.5
700 CE = 4.75
800 CE = 5
Population of Belgium and Luxembourg
[2]
400 CE = 0.3
500 CE = 0.3
600 CE = 0.3
700 CE = 0.3
800 CE = 0.3
Population of Netherlands
[3]
400 CE = 0.2
500 CE = 0.2
600 CE = 0.2
700 CE = 0.2
800 CE = 0.2
Population of Germany
[4]
400 CE = 3.5
500 CE = 3.25
600 CE = 3.0
700 CE = 3.0
800 CE = 3.25
Merovingian South West Germany. "activity radius of about 1km around early Neolithic settlements. This gives an area of slightly over 3 km2, of which 10 percent were fields and gardens. It was exploited by about 100 individuals (Kuster 1995:76-7). This implied a population density of about 30 inhabitants per km2. If we assume one settlement with about 200 inhabitants and some smaller settlements in one Gemarkung, we obtain a figure of 50-60 inhabitants per km2 for the Merovingian period."
[5]
[1]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 57) McEvedy, C and Jones, R. 1978. Atlas of World Population History. Allen Lane. London.
[2]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 63)
[3]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 65)
[4]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 69)
[5]: (Damminger in Wood ed. 1998, 69)
levels.
1. City
2. Town3. Village or Gemarkungen settlement4. Hamlet or Farmstead
Possible settlement levels
[1]
Estimated size of farmstead populations: 10-25 people.
Village
Gemarkungen settlement (idealised as 6km2 hexagon, 300-360 people - Lower Rhine area)
Towns
Cities
Clovis victorious over Alamans c506 CE. Region retained own identity and law code. Dux/duces.
[2]
[1]: (Damminger in Wood ed. 1998, 61-69)
[2]: (Wood 1994, 161)
levels.
1. Pope
Christian state after baptism Clovis 508 CE. Catholic church.
[1]
1. King ("Like Constantine, the Merovingian King was considered the reflection of God on Earth. The succession to the kingship could never been anything but the expression of a higher will"
[2]
Kings involved in ecclesiastical legislation
[3]
Kings gave money for shrines of saints.
[4]
"Many bishops owed their position to the king" and "were royal servants with no known connections with their sees."
[5]
2. Bishop in diocesesBishop in every civitas. Bishop’s church called ecclesia, other churches were basilicae. City had complex of religious buildings, usually included a number of churches, a baptistery, and the bishop’s home (domus ecclesiae). Other religious officials were the clergy. Outside the city were funerary basilicas, sacred sites (shrines called loca sancta), mausoleums, tombs and cemeteries. Authorities secular and often came into conflict with religious authorities.
[6]
Dioceses provided basic structure of Merovingian Church, "the ecclesiastical counterparts of the civitates" and in the same place, except in the north and east.
[7]
3. Subordinate bishopsDioceses had provinces (like civitates)
[7]
4. Priests5. Lesser clergy
[1]: (Wood 1994, 72)
[2]: (Schutz 2004, 18) Schutz, H. 2004. The Carolingians in Central Europe, Their History, Arts, and Architecture: A Cultural History of Central Europe, 750-900. BRILL
[3]: (Wood 1994, 105)
[4]: (Wood 1994, 66)
[5]: (Wood 1994, 78)
[6]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 252-253)
[7]: (Wood 1994, 71)
levels.
1. King
Kings usually lead the army at least until Sigibert III. After this Mayor of the Palace always involved.
[1]
Forces usually lead by a commander. Sometimes by a king.
[2]
2. DukeArmies commanded by duces (dukes)
[3]
At times of war Merovingian kings were supported by their leudes and aristocrats.
[4]
Leudes: "military followers apparently of considerable social status and influence, though probably to be distinguished from the greatest magnates of the realm, many of whom had military followings of their own, and might be expected to fight for the king both inside and outside his kingdom."
[5]
2. ComesLocal levy usually commanded by count of civitas
[6]
Garrisons in cities not the same source as the local levy.
[7]
Garrison commander and local levy commander were two different people.
[7]
There are "indications of city-based system of military service" similar to Roman one. For example, in 578 CE Chilperic took the men of Tours, Poitiers, Bayeux, Le Mans and Angers to war in Brittany.
[4]
3. officer level? inferred4. Individual Soldier
1. Tribunus
Garrison commander
Milites at Tours served under a tribunus, not a count
[8]
Milites - garrisoned fortifications
[9]
Laeti - protected fortresses and served as antrustiones in centenae
[9]
Bodyguard was the core military force.
[10]
Kingsantrustiones - Merovingian royal body guards
puer regis - lower lever bodyguards
leudes - soldiers in attendance intermittently
spathani - ?
Dukes / Magnatesalso had bodyguards
Countsalso had bodyguards
Troops raised from city
Bishopsalso had bodyguards
[1]: (Halsall 2003, 28-29)
[2]: (Bachrach 1972, 54)
[3]: (Halsall 2003, 45)
[4]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 245-249)
[5]: (Wood 1994, 64)
[6]: (Bachrach 1972, 67)
[7]: (Bachrach 1972, 127)
[8]: (Bachrach 1972, 51)
[9]: (Bachrach 1972, 33)
[10]: (Halsall 2003, 48)
levels.
"Merovingian administration was singularly crude and poor: neither literacy, currency nor Christianity were introduced by the counts dispatched to rule beyond the Rhine. In its economic, social and political structures, Western Europe had left behind the precarious dualism of the first decades after Antiquity; a rough mixing process had occurred, but the results still remained unformed and heteroclite. Neither simple juxtaposition nor crude mixture could release a new general mode of production, capable of surmounting the impasse of slavery and colonate, and with it a new and internally coherent social order."
[1]
1. King
The court was a peripatetic institution
[2]
_ Court institution_
2. Senior Palace official was known as "Mayor of the Palace"
[3]
maior domus
[2]
3. Treasurer
[2]
4. Notaries and scribes
Comes palatii
[2]
Magnates known as Obtimates, were consulted by the king at an annual gathering around March 1st.
[4]
_Regional government_
2. Dukes and BishopsGroup of cities and counts could be placed under a duke (for military and administrative purposes).
[5]
Magnates (dux?) and Church (bishops)
"Many bishops owed their position to the king" and "were royal servants with no known connections with their sees."
[6]
Individuals in charge of multiple civitates? called dux (pl. duces).
[7]
Aristocrats dependent on patronage from king.
[8]
Alternative ruling structures had been innovated such as dukedom (higher scale) and the pagi (lower scale).
[9]
3. Comes (count) of the Civitas (city-district)Merovingians maintained existing Roman administrative systems where possible. Gregory of Tours (538-594 CE) writings show cities are the basic units of the administrative system.
[9]
local law-men called rachinburgi
[10]
City archives: defensor, curator, magister, militum. Known from Formularies from a few civitates but no evidence uniform across polity. Senior official of civitas was the comes (pl. comites) or count (lit. "companion). Heard law-suits, enforced justice, lead the military. In north graphiones instead of comes.
[11]
Civitas administration "provided dominant source of tax revenue" and some of the manpower for the army.
[12]
In sixth century the role of the Roman curiales had been taken over by a single official appointed by the Merovingian king, the "count" or the "grafio" in the Frankish homelands. This official - where present the most important city official - had its origins in the Roman imperial comes civitatis. The first such official in Gaul is known from 471 CE. They executed judicial and administrative functions and sent the king his tax revenue. Rule through these city officials gradually spread across Gaul in the post-Roman period.
Gregory of Tours refers to "leading officials" who could be members of a local council.
[9]
Gregory of Tours’ region in central Gaul likely had longest persisting continuity with Roman structures of city-based rule. These were the "basic building-blocks of which the various Merovingian regna were composed." However, in Frankish regions the rule-through-city framework may have been less pervasive.
[9]
Internal administrative regions due to the city based taxation system. The "guiding imperative behind the divisions would appear to be the sharing out of the profits from various forms of taxation" on the civitas
[9]
4. PagiSub-division of the civitates. Replaces civitates in some parts of Gaul
[13]
Alternative ruling structures had been innovated such as dukedom (higher scale) and the pagi (lower scale).
[9]
[1]: (Anderson 2013, 126-127) Anderson, Perry. 2013. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. Verso Books.
[2]: (Wood 1994, 150-153)
[3]: (Halsall 2003, 28)
[4]: (Wood 1994, 104)
[5]: (Bachrach 1972, 67)
[6]: (Wood 1994, 78)
[7]: (Wood 1994, 61)
[8]: (Halsall in Wood ed. 1998, 149)
[9]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 245-249)
[10]: (Wood 1994, 107)
[11]: (Wood 1994, 60)
[12]: (Wood 1994, 64)
[13]: (Halsall 2003, 48)
inferred continuity with earlier/later periods, with no clear evidence of discontinuity
inferred continuity with earlier/later periods, with no clear evidence of discontinuity
Mints and municipal archives.
"During the Lombard and Carolingian periods, only the profession of notary survived in Italy, in the courts of bishops or counts. Along with the rediscovery of Roman law and the rise of canon law, the figure of the lawyer reappeared during the 12th-13th centuries, when, too, the profession of notary spread from Italy as it obtained from the pope, emperor or princes the privilege of certifying writs as authentic." [1]
[1]: Jean-Louis Halpérin. Panorama historique des métiers du droit en France et à l’étranger. Annales des Mines - Enjeux Numériques, 2018, Les métiers du droit au défi du numérique, 3. halshs-03282138. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VMZMGQK2/library
Pactus legis Salicae territorial law-code.
[1]
First Merovingian law code can be dated before 511 CE. First sixty five titles of Pactus Legis Salicae "antedates the Liber Constitutionum of the Burgundians by at least a decade." Pagan elements within original work suggest Frankish origin in addition to some Christian Roman involvement. Pactus Legis Salicae most associated in with Neustria region, Lex Ribvaria with Austrasia and Liber Constitutionum (or Lex Gundobada) with Burgundy.
[2]
No royal legislation survives beyond 614 CE. However there are literature references to royal edicts after this date.
[3]
Law
letters, precepts, edicts, decrees, pacts.
Merovingian law books: Pactus Legis Salicae and Lex Ribvaria.
[4]
Pactus pro tenore pacis on theft
[5]
"The Lombards made no effort to repeat Ostrogothic parallelism in Italy. They recast the civil and juridicial system of the country in the regions which they occupied, promulgating a new legal code based on traditional Germanic norms, but drafted in Latin, which soon predominated over Roman law. The Merovingian kings retained a double legal system, but with the growing anarchy of their rule, Latin memories and norms progressively faded. Germanic law became progressively dominant, while the land taxes inherited from Rome broke down administ the resistance of the population and Church to a fiscality which no longer corresponded to any public services or integrated State. Taxation progressively lapsed altogether in the Frankish kingdoms."
[6]
[1]: (Halsall in Wood ed. 1998, 151)
[2]: (Wood 1994, 112-115)
[3]: (Fouracre in Wood ed. 1998, 286-289)
[4]: (Wood 1994, 103-104)
[5]: (Wood 1994, 106)
[6]: (Anderson 2013, 124) Anderson, Perry. 2013. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. Verso Books.
Legal procedure known from Formularies and case records. Courts. Used Roman tradition of written evidence. Law not homogeneous "each person was entitled to be judged according to the law of his or her place of birth or ethnic group." Royal Court was the highest court, settled disputes between magnates.
[1]
[1]: (Fouracre in Wood ed. 1998, 286-289)
Bishops dug irrigation canals. [1] The king was Christian and many bishops owed their position to the king. If bishops dug irrigation canals then they are partly working on behalf of the king.
[1]: (http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/thierry-the-historical-essays-and-narratives-of-the-merovingian-era)
Bishops (non-state) took an interest in water-supply. [1] Gregory of Tours mentions one aqueduct, not certain whether current or from 500 CE. [1] "The political collapse of the Western Roman Empire did not coincided with a parallel collapse of Roman traditions of engineering. The technology did not disappear - it was adapted to new ends in late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Even before the "Fall of Rome" hydraulic patronage was shifting away from secular munificence of large-scale aqueducts and luxurious public baths to more modest ecclesiastical structures such as baptistery fonts, charitable baths and atrium fountains. These new Christian waterworks helped to preserve the knowledge of subterranean pipes, hydraulic cement, and even inverted siphons. Some classical aqueducts were restored or remained in use during the Early Middle Ages, often thanks to episcopal patronage." [2]
[1]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 260)
[2]: (Glick, Steven Livesey and Wallis 2014, 505-506)
Via Belgica "Still, it is possible - perhaps even likely- that the Merovingian kings and queens repaired the roads. It is due to these maintenance efforts of later rulers that the road is still recognizable on many places and is usually still in use. It has been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage." [1] Via Regia "After the Thuringian kingdom’s fall in 531/534, the territory through which the road passed was under Merovingian domination". [2]
[1]: (http://www.livius.org/place/chaussee-brunehaut-via-belgica/)
[2]: (http://www.via-regia.org/eng/viaregiageschichte/versuch.php)
Port at Marseille.
[1]
[2]
Francia-England-Frisia trading network
[3]
Domberg - another trade centre in north
[4]
Quentovic: trade centre/port in north
[4]
Dorestad: 240 ha site. 80 wells.
[4]
: trade centre/port in north
[1]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 259)
[2]: (Hen 1995, 232)
[3]: (Wood 1994, 302)
[4]: (Wood 1994, 293-297)
620-625 CE repair work was undertaken on the reventments of the Corbulo canal at the Roman castellum of Leiden-Room-burg (Matilo). [1]
[1]: (Lodewijckx ed. 2004, 19) Lodewijckx, M ed. 2004. Bruc ealles well: archaeological essays concerning the peoples of North-West Europe in the first millennium AD. Leuven University Press. Leuven.
"France possesses no precious metal resources and little copper. Iron ores are abundant, and there are regional deposits of lead, zinc, and coal. All of these were exploited during the Middle Ages. Evidence for ironworking exists from Merovingian France onward." [1]
[1]: (Hall in Kibler et al 1995, 1177)
Manuscript production at Luxeuil and Corbie important to Merovingian culture. However, no "great scholar" equivalent to Bede. [1] 5th century: religious writings: Caesarius (Bishop of Arles, 503-543 CE) wrote on monastic rules, and authored many sermons. [2] ; two Gallic chronicles survive from the 5th century [3] ; Nearly all literature from southern and central regions of Gaul [4]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 323)
[2]: (Wood 1994, 23)
[3]: (Wood 1994, 31)
[4]: (Wood 1994, 20)
6th century: letter-collections: Ruricius of Limoges, Avitus of Vienne, Ferreolus of Uzes, Ennodius of Pavia (originally from Provence). [1] Dynamius [2] ;(rhetoric), advisor to Theudebert I. [3] ; Epistulae Austrasiacae - collection of 48 letters, 460-c590 CE [2]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 24)
[2]: (Wood 1994, 26)
[3]: (Wood 1994, 25)
General reference for Western Europe 11th and 12th centuries CE: fortifications typically consisted of earth ramparts and timber palisades which were generally surrounded by dry ditches (rather than water-filled for a moat). In the early 12th century CE stone began to replace earth-and-timber defences for walls and for castles (previously often wooden). [1] Since palisades are a very ancient form of fortification we could code inferred present for the period earlier than the 12th century (when it is known they were still used).
[1]: (Jones 1999, 171-172) Richard L C Jones. Fortifications and Sieges in Western Europe, c.800-1450. Maurice Keen. ed. 1999. Medieval Warfare: A History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
Walled cities. [1] City walls present in sixth century. [2]
[1]: (Bachrach 1972, 127) Bachrach, B S. 1972. Merovingian Military Organization 481-751. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis.
[2]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 245-249) Loseby, S. T. 1998. “Gregory’s Cities: Urban Functions in Sixth-Century Gaul.” In Franks and Alamanni in the Merovingian Period: An Ethnographic Perspective, edited by I. N. Wood, 239-69. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DT5E5GNS.
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
General reference for Western Europe 11th and 12th centuries CE: fortifications typically consisted of earth ramparts and timber palisades which were generally surrounded by dry ditches (rather than water-filled for a moat). In the early 12th century CE stone began to replace earth-and-timber defences for walls and for castles (previously often wooden). [1] Since earth ramparts are a very ancient form of fortification we could code inferred present for the period earlier than the 12th century (when it is known they were still used).
[1]: (Jones 1999, 171-172) Richard L C Jones. Fortifications and Sieges in Western Europe, c.800-1450. Maurice Keen. ed. 1999. Medieval Warfare: A History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
General reference for Western Europe 11th and 12th centuries CE: fortifications typically consisted of earth ramparts and timber palisades which were generally surrounded by dry ditches (rather than water-filled for a moat). In the early 12th century CE stone began to replace earth-and-timber defences for walls and for castles (previously often wooden). [1] Since ditches are a very ancient form of fortification we could code inferred present for the period earlier than the 12th century (when it is known they were still used). Thuringians dug ditches in the fields against Merovingian horses. [2]
[1]: (Jones 1999, 171-172) Richard L C Jones. Fortifications and Sieges in Western Europe, c.800-1450. Maurice Keen. ed. 1999. Medieval Warfare: A History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Bachrach 1972, 19, 135) Bachrach, B S. 1972. Merovingian Military Organization 481-751. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis.
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
Need evidence for high-quality steel. One of Charlemagne’s vassals left an Indian sword (spatha indica) in his will [1] , which suggests it was far superior to the steel sword the Franks possessed. Writing in the 14th century, Ibn Hudhayl "described Frankish swords as mudakkar with ’steel edges on an iron body, unlike those of India.’" [1] Two-edged steel sword used by cavalry. [2]
[1]: (Williams 2012, 35) Alan Williams. 2012. The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords Up to the 16th Century. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Halsall 2003, 163-176) Halsall, Guy. 2003. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900. Routledge. London.
Need evidence for high-quality steel. One of Charlemagne’s vassals left an Indian sword (spatha indica) in his will [1] , which suggests it was far superior to the steel sword the Franks possessed. Writing in the 14th century, Ibn Hudhayl "described Frankish swords as mudakkar with ’steel edges on an iron body, unlike those of India.’" [1] Two-edged steel sword used by cavalry. [2]
[1]: (Williams 2012, 35) Alan Williams. 2012. The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords Up to the 16th Century. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Halsall 2003, 163-176) Halsall, Guy. 2003. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900. Routledge. London.
Slingers were used in Charlemagne’s army. [1] "Carolingian military organization was based primarily on that of their Merovingian predecessors, who had built on later Roman institutions." and "Archers and slingers fighting on foot supported the battle line." [2]
[1]: (Halsall 2003, 150) Halsall, Guy. 2003. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Bachrach 2001, x) Barnard S Bachrach. 2001. Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia.
Bows and quivers [1] Merovingians and Carolingians used a "short, simple bow" which was "gradually replaced, beginning in the ninth century, by the composite bow." [2]
[1]: (Halsall 2003, 163-176) Halsall, Guy. 2003. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Frassetto 2003, 366) Frassetto, M. 2003. Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation. ABC CLIO
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
"The crossbow, or arbaleste, was reintroduced into France ca. 950 and was commonly used thereafter to ca. 1550, primarily by special infantry units placed from ca. 1200 to 1534 under the overall authority of a grand master of the crossbowmen (arbalest[r]iers)." [1]
[1]: (Boulton in Kibler et al 1995, 127)
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
Sword (long-straight for mounted use, steel, two-edged) [1] Short sword. [2]
[1]: (Halsall 2003, 163-176) Halsall, Guy. 2003. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900. Routledge. London.
[2]: p.30-32 Medieval Weapons: An Illustrated History of Their Impact By Kelly DeVries, Robert Douglas Smith
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
[1] "Few appear to have had helmets, or indeed any covering for the head; but their hair was allowed to grow sufficiently long in front to be tied over the crown of the head, so as to deaden considerably the force of a blow from a weapon." [2]
[1]: (Halsall 2003, 163-176) Halsall, Guy. 2003. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900. Routledge. London.
[2]: People’s Magazine. 1867. People’s Magazine: An Illustrated Miscellany for Family Reading. Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge. London. p. 381
Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
Naval forces - in 515 CE used vs Danes. [1] Imperial naval base in the 5th century. Ships not Frankish in origin. [2] "Roman vessels utilized the rivers and coastal waters to transport merchandise and military personnel. The early Franks developed fleets for use in trade and war. Their vessels were propelled by oars and probably a single square sail. Charlemagne used a fleet against the Slavs, Saxons, Avars, and others. Because of their Italian interests, the Franks also maintained a small Mediterranean fleet in the 9th century." [3]
[1]: (Bachrach 1972, 128) Bachrach, B S. 1972. Merovingian Military Organization 481-751. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis.
[2]: (Bachrach 1972, 35) Bachrach, B S. 1972. Merovingian Military Organization 481-751. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis.
[3]: (Runyan 1995, 1246-1247) Timothy J Runyan. 1995. Naval Power. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Garland Publishing, Inc. New York.
Not discussed in consulted literature - RA.