This polity represents the late period of the Merovingian Kingdom, from 687 to 751 CE.
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.
[1]
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).
[2]
[1]
Groups of cities and counts could be placed under a duke for military and administrative purposes.
[3]
In contrast, there was no elaborate central administration, the highest non-royal official being a figure known as the mayor of the palace.
[4]
The king’s capital and main residence was at Paris, where the population may have reached 30,000 by the 8th century CE,
[5]
although the court was always a peripatetic institution.
[6]
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.
[7]
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’.
[8]
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),
[9]
Burgundy (where the Liber Constitutionum was developed), and Austrasia (by the Rhine and Meuse, which came to possess its own mayor of the palace
[10]
and followed the Lex Ribvaria).
[9]
A fourth area, Aquitaine, had a special status due to its distance from the royal centres and was under less direct Merovingian control.
[11]
[1]: (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.
[2]: (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.
[3]: (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.
[4]: (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.
[5]: (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.
[6]: (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.
[7]: (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.
[8]: (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.
[9]: (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.
[10]: (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.
[11]: (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.
| 31 U |
| Proto-Carolingian |
| Paris |
| Merovingian Kingdom | |
| Merovingian Kingdoms | |
| Franks | |
| Frankish Kingdom | |
| Frankish Kingdoms |
| none |
| Carolingian Empire I |
| continuity |
| Succeeding: Carolingian Empire I (fr_carolingian_emp_1) [continuity] | |
| Preceding: Middle Merovingian (fr_merovingian_emp_2) [continuity] |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| present |
| unknown |
| absent |
| present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| Year Range | Proto-Carolingian (fr_merovingian_emp_3) was in: |
|---|---|
| (687 CE 750 CE) | Paris Basin |
New dynasty composed of a different branch of elites, but no substantial population change, and no elite migration.
in squared kilometers. 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.
Total area divided by six regions.
This figure is for the total area: 1,400,000: 690-730 CE; 1,500,000: 740-750 CE
8th Century Alaman region independent again?
[1]
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).
481 = 17,494px = 349,880 km2490 = 30,307px = 606,140 km2500 = 30,307px = 606,140 km2510 = 50,647px = 1,012,940 km2520 = 50,647px = 1,012,940 km2530 = 50,647px = 1,012,940 km2540 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2550 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2560 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2570 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2580 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2590 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2600 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2610 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2620 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2630 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2640 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2650 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2660 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2670 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2680 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2690 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2700 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2710 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2720 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2730 = 71,853px = 1,437,060 km2740 = 75,820px = 1,516,400 km2750 = 75,820px = 1,516,400 km2
[1]: (Wood 1994, 161)
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 divided by six regions.
[6,000,000-7,000,000]
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
[1]: (Damminger in Wood ed. 1998, 61-69)
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. Confused picture. Coded as previous polity in the chronology.
640s CE and onwards the main forces were personal armed followings (bodyguards). Mayors of the Palace dominate the court.
[1]
Bodyguard was the core military force.
[2]
King / Mayor of the Palaceantrustiones - Merovingian royal body guards
puer regis - lower lever bodyguardssent to punish people of Limoges for revolting against tax collectors. March 579 CE.
[3]
leudes - soldiers in attendance intermittently
spathani - ?
Dukes / Magnatesalso had bodyguards
Countsalso had bodyguards
Troops raised from city
Bishopsalso had bodyguards
Not in this period?
4. 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"
[4]
Kings usually lead the army at least until Sigibert III. After this Mayor of the Palace always involved.
[5]
Forces usually lead by a commander. Sometimes by a king.
[6]
3. Duke
Armies commanded by duces (dukes)
[7]
At times of war Merovingian kings were supported by their leudes and aristocrats.
[8]
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."
[9]
2. Comes
Local levy usually commanded by count of civitas
[10]
Garrisons in cities not the same source as the local levy.
[11]
Garrison commander and local levy commander were two different people.
[11]
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.
[8]
1. Tribunus
Garrison commander
Milites at Tours served under a tribunus, not a count
[3]
Milites - garrisoned fortifications
[12]
Laeti - protected fortresses and served as antrustiones in centenae
[12]
[1]: (Bachrach 1972, 109-112)
[2]: (Halsall 2003, 48)
[3]: (Bachrach 1972, 51)
[4]: (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
[5]: (Halsall 2003, 28-29)
[6]: (Bachrach 1972, 54)
[7]: (Halsall 2003, 45)
[8]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 245-249)
[9]: (Wood 1994, 64)
[10]: (Bachrach 1972, 67)
[11]: (Bachrach 1972, 127)
[12]: (Bachrach 1972, 33)
levels.
1. King
Basic territorial divisions (622 CE onwards 2 divisions East / West)Neustria - centred on the Seine and Oise rivers.
Burgundy
Austrasia - based on the Rhine and Meuse
Acquitane - usually had unique status
[1]
_Court institution_
It was a peripatetic institution
[2]
2. Senior Palace official was known as "Mayor of the Palace"
[3]
maior domus
[2]
3. Treasurer
[2]
4. Notaries and scribes
640s CE and onwards Mayors of the Palace dominate the court. Kings lost control to mayors and magnates.
[4]
Comes palatii
[2]
Magnates known as Obtimates, consulted by king at annual gathering around March 1st.
[5]
_Regional government_
2. Maior domus (Burgundy) / Mayor of the Palace (Autrasia)Under Chlothar II (584-629 CE, reign from 613 CE) Burgundy had a maior domus (regional official). this official was at level below the court in Paris and in later years was alternately removed, then reinstated. also dux / duchy / districts
[6]
The region of Austrasia had its own Mayor of the Palace
[7]
2. Dukes and Bishops (directly appointed by king)"Many bishops owed their position to the king" and "were royal servants with no known connections with their sees."
[8]
Aristocrats dependent on patronage from king.
[9]
Group of cities and counts could be placed under a duke (for military and administrative purposes).
[10]
Magnates (dux?) and Church (bishops)
Individuals in charge of multiple civitates? called dux (pl. duces).
[11]
Alternative ruling structures had been innovated such as dukedom (higher scale) and the pagi (lower scale).
[12]
Aquitaine - duchy, dux/duces. Merovingians claimed over-lordship in Southern England 550s CE.
[13]
3. Comes (count) of the Civitas (city-district)4. local law-men called rachinburgi
[14]
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.
[12]
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.
[15]
Civitas administration "provided dominant source of tax revenue" and some of the manpower for the army.
[16]
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.
[12]
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.
[12]
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
[12]
5. City archives two levels? e.g. manager and assistant inferred level
4. PagiSub-division of the civitates. Replaces civitates in some parts of Gaul
[17]
Alternative ruling structures had been innovated such as dukedom (higher scale) and the pagi (lower scale).
[12]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 146)
[2]: (Wood 1994, 150-153)
[3]: (Halsall 2003, 28)
[4]: (Bachrach 1972, 109-112)
[5]: (Wood 1994, 104)
[6]: (Wood 1994, 144-145 and 236)
[7]: (Medieval France: An Encylopedia 1995, 157)
[8]: (Wood 1994, 78)
[9]: (Halsall in Wood ed. 1998, 149)
[10]: (Bachrach 1972, 67)
[11]: (Wood 1994, 61)
[12]: (Loseby in Wood ed. 1998, 245-249)
[13]: (Wood 1994, 176)
[14]: (Wood 1994, 107)
[15]: (Wood 1994, 60)
[16]: (Wood 1994, 64)
[17]: (Halsall 2003, 48)
"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]
[2]
[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
[2]: (Fouracre in Wood ed. 1998, 286-289)
King and royal courtletters, precepts, edicts, decrees, pacts.
Merovingian law books: Pactus Legis Salicae and Lex Ribvaria.
[1]
Pactus pro tenore pacis on theft
[2]
Patriae (kings?)
[3]
Pactus legis Salicae territorial law-code.
[4]
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.
[5]
No royal legislation survives beyond 614 CE. However there are literature references to royal edicts after this date.
[6]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 103-104)
[2]: (Wood 1994, 106)
[3]: (Wood 1994, 115)
[4]: (Halsall in Wood ed. 1998, 151)
[5]: (Wood 1994, 112-115)
[6]: (Fouracre in Wood ed. 1998, 286-289)
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)
In Paris there was a merchant’s quarter. "... in the cities of Provence, the curator or defensor civitatis was also responsible for the supervision of the market." [1] Large annual market of St. Denis, near Paris "founded and granted with toll privileges by King Dagobert I". 9th October, after religious celebration of St. Denis. [2] Dagobert I (603-639 CE).
[1]: (Hen 1995, 232)
[2]: (Hen 1995, 232-233)
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)
Liber Historia Francorum 727 CE [1] Liber Historiae Francorum 727 CE. Point of view of Neustrian aristocracy and Paris Basin. Annales Mettenses Priones. Point of view of Carolingians (says Battle of Tertry lead to Pippinid rule in Neustria but transition not that simple). [2] Hagiography [3] 12 vitae between 670-700 CE in "Barbarous Latin": Gregory of Tours; Venatius Fortunatus; Jonas of Bobbio (Columbonus and disciples); John of Reome; Vedast (bishop of Arras p.313); Many anonymous works
[1]: (Wood 1994, 34)
[2]: (Wood 1994, 257-261)
[3]: (Wood 1994, 246)
Non-monetary economy at local level. Bullion not coin used on eastern frontiers. West = coin archaeology. East = scales for weighing bullion found. [1] Roman coinage finds in Merovingian burials suggests use of late Roman coins, perhaps as bullion due to high metal content. [2]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 217-219)
[2]: (Wood ed. 1998, 407)
c570 CE gold coins. Solidus. coins bear name of mint, moneyer and sometimes a king, saint or church (i.e. not all royal issue). debased with silver until 660s CE when new silver denarius created. [1] Proportion of gold in coins fell rapidly from 630s CE. Officially replaced by silver in late seventh century. Possible "inflationary period after 700 until Charlemagne devalued the solidus," also a lack of gold. [2] Quentovic: Coin mint centre; 7th century gold trientes until c670 CE; 8th century silver sceattas or pennies. trading coinage. no fiscal role. high value and consistent in quality. [3] Dorestad [3] : Coin mint centre; gold trientes until c650 CE; 8th century silver sceattas or pennies. trading coinage. no fiscal role. high value and consistent in quality. In Frisia and Quentovic (Frankish port) silver sceattas. Mercantile coin. [1]
[1]: (Wood 1994, 217-219)
[2]: (Wood ed. 1998, 409)
[3]: (Wood 1994, 293-297)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Carolingian period: "Carolingian military organization was based primarily on that of their Merovingian predecessors, who had built on later Roman institutions ... Archers and slingers fighting on foot supported the battle line." [1]
[1]: (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
"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)
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
[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
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.