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Carolingian

Carolingian

The Carolingians (also known as the "Carlovingians") were a dynasty of rulers that eventually controlled the Frankish realm and its successors from the 8th to the 10th century, officially taking over the kingdoms from the Merovingian dynasty in 751. The name Carolingian itself comes from Charles Martel, who defeated the Moors at Poitiers in 732. The dynasty's most prominent member is Charlemagne (in Latin: Carolus Magnus). The dynasty is usually considered to have been founded by Arnulf of Metz, Bishop of Metz in the late 7th century, who wielded a great deal of power and influence in the Merovingian kingdoms. Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of the Kingdom of Austrasia, was succeeded by his son Charles Martel as Mayor, who in turn was the father of Pippin III, called "the Short". Pippin had become king after having used his position as Mayor to garner support among many of the leading Franks, as well as Pope Zacharias, in order to depose the last Merovingian king, Childeric in 751. Charlemagne, Pippin's son, became King of the Franks in 768 and was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800. After the division of the empire among Charlemagne's three grandsons with the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the Carolingians initially continued to hold the throne in all three sections that were created.
- In the West, which was the nucleus of later France, they continued to be the ruling dynasty until a minor branch of the family, the Capetians, ascended the (by that time) French throne in 987.
- In the Middle, with the empty title of "Emperor" and the kingdom of Lotharingia which included Northern Italy, the major branch of the family ruled till 887, but further division was based on the Treaty of Mersen in 870.
- In the East, the kernel of the later Holy Roman Empire, the Carolingians ruled only until 911, the death of Louis the Child. Here, the dukes of the stem duchies eventually acclaimed a Saxon dynasty, commonly referred to as the Ottonians, who consciously modelled themselves as Carolingian successors.

See also


- Franks (main history of Frankish empire)
- List of Frankish Kings
- List of French monarchs
- List of German monarchs
- List of Holy Roman Emperors
- Kings of France family tree
- Carolingian minuscule
- Carolingian Renaissance Category:French monarchy Category:German nobility Category:Matter of France Carolingian Category:Franks Category:History of France ja:カロリング朝

Franks

:Francia redirects here. For the Bolognese artist, see Francesco Raibolini. The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic tribes who entered the late Roman Empire from Frisia as foederati and established a lasting realm (sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia, Rhineland, Hesse), forming the historic kernel of both these two modern countries. The conversion to Christianity of the pagan Frankish king Clovis was a crucial event in the history of Europe. The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided their property among surviving sons, and lacking a broad sense of a res publica, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections. The contraction of literacy while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few written records. In essence however, two dynasties of leaders succeeded each other, first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians. The Merovingian kings claimed descent of their dynasty from the Sicambri, a Scythian or Cimmerian tribe, asserting that this tribe had changed their name to "Franks" in 11 BC, following their defeat and relocation by Drusus, under the leadership of a certain chieftain called Franko. The ethnonym has also been traced to a
- frankon "javelin, lance" (Old English franca, compare the Saxons, named after the seax, and the Lombards, named after the battle-axe; the throwing axe of the Franks is known as the Francisca), but conversely, the weapon may also have been named after the tribe. The meaning of "free" (English frank, frankly) arose because after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks had the status of freemen. Initially two main subdivisions existed within the Franks: the Salian ("salty") and the Ripuarian ("river") Franks. By the 9th century, if not earlier, this division had in practice become virtually non-existent, but continued for some time to have implications for the legal system under which a person could go on trial.

The earliest records of the Franks

9th century, Germany.]] The earliest Frankish history remains relatively unclear. Our main source, the Gallo-Roman chronicler Gregory of Tours, whose Historia Francorum (History of the Franks) covers the period up to 594, quotes from otherwise lost sources like Sulpicius Alexander and Frigeridus and profits from Gregory's personal contact with many Frankish notables. Apart from Gregory's History there exist some earlier Roman sources, such as Ammianus and Sidonius Apollinaris. Gregory states that the Franks originally lived in Pannonia, but later settled on the banks of the Rhine. Additional early sources likewise relate that the Franks migrated in prehistoric times from the mouth of the Danube on the Black Sea, to the Rhine, where they adopted their name (circa. 11 BC) in honour of a hereditary chieftain called Franko – replacing the earlier tribal name Sicambri (or Sugambri) – said to be an offshoot of the Cimmerians or Scythians. This legend of a Scythian or Cimmerian background is thus consistent with the origin legends of nearly all other European nations as well. Modern scholars of the period of the migrations have similarly suggested that the Frankish Confederacy emerged from the unification of various earlier, smaller Germanic groups (including the Sugambri, Usipeti, Tencteri, and Bructeri) who inhabited the Rhine valley and lands immediately to the east – a social development perhaps accelerated by increasing upheaval in the area arising from the war between Rome and the Marcomanni beginning in 166, and subsequent conflicts of the late 2nd century and the 3rd century. A region in the north-east of the modern-day Netherlands – north of the erstwhile Roman border – bears the name Salland, and may have received that name from the Salians – likewise, the island of Sjælland in Denmark. Around 250, one group of Franks, taking advantage of a weakened Roman Empire, penetrated as far as Tarragona in present-day Spain, plaguing this region for about a decade before Roman forces subdued them and expelled them from Roman territory. About forty years later, the Franks had the Scheldt region under control and interfered with the waterways to Britain; Roman forces pacified the region, but did not expel the Franks.

Foundation of the Frankish kingdom

In 355–358, the later Emperor Julian once again found the shipping lanes on the Rhine under control of the Franks and again pacified them. Rome granted a considerable part of Gallia Belgica to the Franks. From this time on they became foederati of the Roman Empire. A region roughly corresponding to present-day Flanders and the Netherlands south of the rivers remains a Germanic-speaking region to this day. (The West Germanic language known as Dutch predominates there now.) The Franks thus became the first Germanic people who permanently settled within Roman territory. See this [http://www.roman-emperors.org/nouest4.htm external map]. From their heartland, the Franks gradually conquered most of Roman Gaul north of the Loire valley and east of Visigothic Aquitaine. At first they helped defend the border as allies; for example, when a major invasion of mostly East Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine in 406, the Franks fought against these invaders. The major thrust of the invasion passed south of the Loire river. (In the region of Paris, Roman control persisted until 486, a decade after the fall of the emperors of Ravenna, in part due to alliances with the Franks.)

The Merovingians

:Main article: Merovingian. The reigns of earlier Frankish chieftains – Pharamond (about 419 until about 427) and Clodio (Chlodio) (about 427 until about 447) – seem to owe more to myth than fact, and their relationship to the Merovingian line remains uncertain. Gregory mentions Chlodio as the first king who started the conquest of Gaul by taking Camaracum (Cambrai) and expanding the border of frankish territory south to the Somme. This probably took some time; Sidonius relates that Aëtius surprised the Franks and drove them back (probably around 431). This period marks the beginning of a situation that would endure for many centuries: the Germanic Franks became rulers over an increasing number of Gallo-Roman subjects. In 451, Aëtius called upon his Germanic allies on Roman soil to help fight off an invasion by the Huns. The Salian Franks answered the call, the Ripuarians fought on both sides as some of them lived outside the Empire. Gregory's sources tentatively identify Meroveus (Merovech) as king of the Franks and possibly a son of Chlodio. Meroveus was succeeded by Childeric I, whose grave, rediscovered in 1653, contained a ring that identified him as king of the Franks.

Clovis

:Main article: Clovis I Childeric's son Clovis engaged in a campaign of consolidating the various Frankish kingdoms in Gaul and the Rhineland, which included defeating Syagrius in 486. This victory ended Roman control in the Paris region. In the Battle of Vouillé (507), Clovis, with the help of the Burgundians, defeated the Visigoths, expanding his realm eastwards down to the Pyrenees mountains. The conversion of Clovis to Trinitarian Roman Christianity, after his marriage to the Catholic Burgundian princess Clothilde in 493, may have helped to increase his standing in the eyes of the Pope and the other orthodox Christian rulers. Clovis' conversion signalled the conversion of the rest of the Franks. Because they were able to worship with their Catholic neighbours, the newly-Christianized Franks found much easier acceptance from the local Gallo-Roman population than did the Arian Visigoths, Vandals or Burgundians. The Merovingians thus built what eventually proved the most stable of the successor-kingdoms in the west. :Main article: Merovingian Stability, however, did not feature day-to-day in the Merovingian era. While casual violence existed to a degree in late Roman times, the introduction of the Germanic practice of the blood-feud to obtain personal justice led to a perception of increased lawlessness. Disruptions to trade occurred, and civic life became increasingly difficult, which led to an increasingly localized and fragmented society based on self-sufficient villas. Literacy practically disappeared outside of churches and monasteries. The Merovingian chieftains adhered to the Germanic practice of dividing their lands among their sons, and the frequent division, reunification and redivision of territories often resulted in murder and warfare within the leading families. So though Clovis drove the Visigoths out of Gaul, at his death in 511, his four sons divided his realm between themselves, and over the next two centuries his descendants shared the kingship. The Frankish area expanded further under Clovis' sons, eventually covering most of present-day France, but including areas east of the Rhine river as well, such as Alamannia (today's southwestern Germany) and Thuringia (from 531). Saxony, however, remained outside the Frankish realm until conquered by Charlemagne centuries later. After a temporary reunification of the separate kingdoms under Clotaire I, the Frankish lands split once again in 561 into Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy, which had been absorbed into the Frankish realms through a combination of political marriage and force of arms. In each Frankish kingdom the Mayor of the Palace served as the chief officer of state. A series of premature deaths beginning with that of Dagobert I in 639 led to a series of under age kings. By the turn of the 8th century, this had allowed the Austrasian Mayors to consolidate power in their own hereditary regency, laying the foundation for a new dynasty: their descendants the Carolingians.

The Carolingians

:Main articles: Carolingian, Carolingian Empire The Carolingian kingship traditionally begins with the deposition of the last Merovingian king, with papal assent, and the accession in 751 of Pippin the Short, father of Charlemagne. Pippin had succeeded his own father, Charles Martel, as Mayor of the Palace of a reunited and re-erected Frankish kingdom comprised of the formerly independent parts. Pippin reigned as an elected king. Although such elections happened infrequently, a general rule in Germanic law stated that the king relied on the support of his leading men. These men reserved the right to choose a new "kingworthy" leader out of the ruling clan if they felt that the old one could not lead them in profitable battle. While in later France the kingdom became hereditary, the kings of the later Holy Roman Empire proved unable to abolish the elective tradition and continued as elected rulers until the Empire's formal end in 1806. Pippin solidified his position in 754 by entering into an alliance with Pope Stephen III, who presented the king of the Franks a copy of the forged "Donation of Constantine" at Paris and in a magnificent ceremony at Saint-Denis anointed the king and his family and declared him patricius Romanorum ("protector of the Romans"). The following year Pippin fulfilled his promise to the pope and retrieved the Exarchate of Ravenna, recently fallen to the Lombards, and returned it, not to the Byzantine emperor again, but to the Papacy. Pippin donated the re-conquered areas around Rome to the Pope, laying the foundation for the Papal States in the "Donation of Pippin" which he laid on the tomb of St Peter. The papacy had good cause to expect that the remade Frankish monarchy would provide a deferential power base (potestas) in the creation of a new world order, centred on the Pope.

Charlemagne

:Main article Charlemagne Upon Pippin's death in 768, his sons, Charles and Carloman, once again divided the kingdom between themselves. However, Carloman withdrew to a monastery and died shortly thereafter, leaving sole rule to his brother, who would later become known as Charlemagne or Karl der Große (Charles the Great), a powerful, intelligent, and modestly literate figure who became a legend for the later history of both France and Germany. Charlemagne restored an equal balance between emperor and pope. From 772 onwards, Charles conquered and eventually defeated the Saxons to incorporate their realm into the Frankish kingdom. This campaign expanded the practice of non-Roman Christian rulers undertaking the conversion of their neighbours by armed force; Frankish Catholic missionaries, along with others from Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England, had entered Saxon lands since the mid-8th century, resulting in increasing conflict with the Saxons, who resisted the missionary efforts and parallel military incursions. Charles' main Saxon opponent, Widukind, accepted baptism in 785 as part of a peace agreement, but other Saxon leaders continued to fight. Upon his victory in 787 at Verden, Charles ordered the wholesale killing of thousands of pagan Saxon prisoners. After several more uprisings, the Saxons suffered definitive defeat in 804. This expanded the Frankish kingdom eastwards as far as the Elbe river, something the Roman empire had only attempted once, and at which it failed in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD). In order to more effectively Christianize the Saxons, Charles founded several bishoprics, among them Bremen, Münster, Paderborn, and Osnabrück. At the same time (773–774), Charles conquered the Lombards and thus could include northern Italy in his sphere of influence. He renewed the Vatican donation and the promise to the papacy of continued Frankish protection. In 788, Tassilo, dux (duke) of Bavaria rebelled against Charles. Quashing the rebellion incorporated Bavaria into Charles' kingdom. This not only added to the royal fisc, but also drastically reduced the power and influence of the Agilolfings (Tassilo's family), another leading family among the Franks and potential rivals. Until 796, Charles continued to expand the kingdom even farther southeast, into today's Austria and parts of Croatia. Croatia when a treaty split it amongst his grandsons: Central Franks ruled by Lothair I (green), East Franks ruled by Louis the German (yellow), and Charles the Bald led West Franks (purple).]] Charles thus created a realm that reached from the Pyrenees in the southwest (actually, including an area in Northern Spain (Marca Hispanica) after 795) over almost all of today's France (except Brittany, which the Franks never conquered) eastwards to most of today's Germany, including northern Italy and today's Austria. In the hierarchy of the church, bishops and abbots looked to the patronage of the king's palace, where the sources of patronage and security lay. Charles had fully emerged as the leader of Western Christendom, and his patronage of monastic centres of learning gave rise to the "Carolingian Renaissance" of literate culture. On Christmas Day, 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charles as "Emperor of the Romans" in Rome in a ceremony presented as if a surprise (Charlemagne did not wish to be indebted to the bishop of Rome), a further papal move in the series of symbolic gestures that had been defining the mutual roles of papal auctoritas and imperial potestas. Though Charlemagne, in deference to Byzantine outrage, preferred the title "Emperor, king of the Franks and Lombards", the ceremony formally acknowledged the Frankish Empire as the successor of the (Western) Roman one (although only the forged "Donation" gave the pope political authority to do this), thus triggering a series of disputes with the Byzantines around the Roman name. After an initial protest at the usurpation, in 812, the Byzantine Emperor Michael I Rhangabes acknowledged Charlemagne as co-Emperor. The coronation gave permanent legitimacy to Carolingian primacy among the Franks. The Ottonians later resurrected this connection in 962. Upon Charlemagne's death on January 28, 814 in Aachen, he was buried in his own Palace Chapel at Aachen.

Later Carolingians

Charlemagne had several sons, but only one survived him. This son, Louis the Pious, followed his father as the ruler of a united Empire. But sole inheritance remained a matter of chance, rather than intent. When Louis died in 840, the Carolingians adhered to the custom of partible inheritance, and the Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the Empire in three: # Louis' eldest surviving son Lothair I became Emperor and ruler of the Central Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom between them into Lotharingia, Burgundy and (Northern) Italy. These areas would later vanish as separate kingdoms. # Louis' second son, Louis the German, became King of the East Franks. This area formed the kernel of the later Holy Roman Empire, which eventually evolved into modern Germany. For a list of successors, see the List of German Kings and Emperors. # His third son Charles the Bald became King of the West Franks; this area became the foundation for the later France. For his successors, see the List of French monarchs. Subsequently, at the Treaty of Mersen (870) the partitions were recast, to the detriment of Lotharingia. On December 12, 884, Charles the Fat reunited most of the Carolingian Empire, aside from Burgundy. In late 887, his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia revolted and assumed the title as King of the East Franks ('Germany'). Charles retired and soon died on January 13, 888. Odo, Count of Paris was chosen to rule in the west ('France'), and was crowned the next month. The Carolingians were 10 years later restored in France, and ruled until 987, when the last Frankish King, Louis V, died

Carolingian legacy

Although an historical accident, the unification of most of what is now western and central Europe under one chief ruler provided a fertile ground for the continuation of what is known as the Carolingian Renaissance. Despite the almost constant internecine warfare that the Carolingian Empire endured, the extension of Frankish rule and Roman Christianity over such a large area ensured a fundamental unity throughout the Empire. Each part of the Carolingian Empire developed differently; Frankish government and culture depended very much upon individual rulers and their aims. Those aims shifted as easily as the changing political alliances within the Frankish leading families. However, those families, the Carolingians included, all shared the same basic beliefs and ideas of government. These ideas and beliefs had their roots in a background that drew from both Roman and Germanic tradition, a tradition that began before the Carolingian ascent and continued to some extent even after the deaths of Louis the Pious and his sons.

Crusaders and other Western Europeans as "Franks"

Because the Frankish kingdom dominated Western Europe for centuries, terms derived from "Frank" were used by many in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and beyond as a synonym for Roman Christians (e.g., al-Faranj in Arabic, Feringhee or Feringhi in Hindustani, Falangji in Chinese, and Frangos in Greek). During the crusades, which were at first led mostly by nobles from northern France who claimed descent from Charlemagne, both Muslims and Christians used these terms as ethnonyms to describe the Crusaders. This usage is often followed by modern historians, who call Western Europeans in the eastern Mediterranean "Franks" regardless of their country of origin. Compare with Rhomaios, Rûmi ("Roman"), used for Orthodox Christians.

See also


- List of Frankish Kings
- Old Frankish language
- List of French monarchs
- List of German monarchs
- List of Holy Roman Emperors
- History of France
- History of Germany
- Holy Roman Empire

Further reading


- Geary, Patrick J. Before France and Germany: the Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 0195044584.
- Category:Ancient Germanic peoples Category:History of the Germanic peoples Category:Ancient Roman enemies and allies Category:Ethnic groups of Europe als:Franken (Volk) ja:フランク人

8th century

Events


- The Iberian peninsula is conquered by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost eight centuries of Muslim presence there.
- Sometime this century, Beowulf is probably composed.
- Borobodur, the famous Indonesian Buddhist structure, begins construction, probably as a non-Buddhist shrine.
- Buddhist Jataka stories are translated into Syriac and Arabic as Kalilag and Damnag.
- An account of Buddha's life is translated into Greek by Saint John of Damascus, and widely circulated to Christians as the story of Barlaam and Josaphat.
- The Nara period begins in Japan.
- The Moravian principality and Nitrian principality arise in central Europe (see Great Moravia)
- Many Volga Bulgarians convert to Islam.
- The very first Viking raid is carried out on the abbey of Lindisfarne in northern England in 793.
- Kanem-Bornu arises north of Lake Chad.

Significant persons


- Alcuin, English monk, scholar, and teacher
- Charlemagne, king of the Franks from 771 to 814
- Charles Martel
- The Venerable Bede, English scholar
- Pippin the Younger
- Harun al-Rashid, fifth Abbasid Caliph
- Li Po, Chinese poet
- Du Fu, Chinese poet

Inventions, discoveries, introductions


- heavy plow in use in the Rhine valley
- horsecollar in use in Northern Europe in 8th or 9th century - perhaps introduced from Asia
- papermaking introduced from China to Arabs
- beginning of the decline of the Classical Maya civilization
- ca. 770: iron horseshoes come into common use

Decades and years

Category:8th century 08th century ko:8세기 ja:8世紀 simple:8th century th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 8

10th century

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000.

Overview

Events

1000, India, during the 10th century.]]
- The beginning of the Medieval Warm Period
- Viking groups settle in northern France - Norse become Normans
- Foundation of Cluny, first federated monastic order
- Incursions of Magyar (Hungarian) cavalry throughout Western Europe (47 expeditions in Germany, Italy and France, 899 - 970)
- Mieszko I, first duke of Poland, baptised a Christian in 966
- Khazar kingdom is attacked and defeated by Kievan Rus (965)
- Collapse of the central lowland Maya civilization. End of Classic Maya period, begin Post-Classic Maya.
- Rise of the Toltecs in Mexico.
- Collapse of Great Moravia
- Buddhist temple construction commences at Pagan, Myanmar
- Laguna Copperplate Inscription, Kavi script, inscribed in Luzon, Philippines, dated Saka year 822 (AD 900).
- The medieval Croatian state becomes a unified kingdom under Tomislav
- Twentieth century Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus asserts that the orbits of all nine planets were within the same 90% arc of the solar system on 1 February, 949. The next time it is thought this will occur is on 6 May, 2492.
- Coastal cities on the Malay Peninsula are the seed for the first recorded Malay kingdoms.
- The Fatimid dynasty arises in eastern Algeria.
- Swedish influence extends to the Black Sea.
- The Christian Nubian kingdom reaches its peak of prosperity and military power. (Early history of Sudan)

Significant people


- Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, semi-legendaric Toltec ruler, (exact years of his life are unknown).
- Nicephorus II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 912 - 969, reigned 963 - 969).
- Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 912 - 973, reigned 936 - 973).
- King Edmund I of England (lived 921 - 946, reigned 939 - 946).
- John I Tzimisces, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (lived 925 - 976, reigned 969 - 976).
- Géza of Hungary, ruler of the Magyars (lived 940 - 997, reigned 970 - 997).
- Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 955 - 983, reigned 973 - 983).
- Theophanu, wife of Otto II, mother and Regent of Otto III, (lived 956 - 991, reigned 983-991).
- Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria (lived 958 - 1014, reigned 976 - 1014).
- Vladimir I, Prince of Kievan Rus (lived 958 - 1015).
- Basil II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, (lived 958 - 1025, reigned 976 - 1025).
- Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (lived 980 - 1002, reigned 983 - 1002).

Inventions, discoveries, introductions


- Hop (plant) first mentioned in connection with beer brewing

Decades and years

Category:10th century Category:Centuries ko:10세기 ja:10世紀 th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 10



Charles Martel

:See also: Charles Martel d'Anjou (1271-1295). Charles Martel (Charles "the Hammer", German: Karl Martell) (August 23, 686 – October 22 741) was born in Herstal, in what is now Wallonia, Belgium, the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle (635 or 640-December 16 714) and his concubine Alpaida or Chalpaida. Although he was Mayor of the Palace of the three kingdoms of the Franks, Martel is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as saving Europe from the Emirate of Cordoba's expansion beyond the Iberian Peninsula. Martel's Frankish army defeated an Arab army, which had crushed all resistance before it. The Cordoban Emirate had previously invaded Gaul and had been stopped in its northward sweep at the Battle of Toulouse (721). The hero of that less celebrated event had been duke Odo of Aquitaine, who was not the progenitor of a race of kings and patrons of chroniclers, however. In the interim, the arrival of a new emir to Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who brought with him a huge force of Arabs and Berber horsemen, triggered a far greater invasion. Odo, hero of Toulouse, was badly defeated in the Muslim invasion of 732 at the Battle of the River Garonne, where the western chroniclers stated, "God alone knows the number of the slain," and fled to Charles, seeking help. Thus, Odo faded into history, and Charles marched into it. :Main article Battle of Tours. Battle of Tours The Battle of Tours earned Charles the cognomen "Martel", for the merciless way he hammered his enemies. Many historians, including the great military historian Sir Edward Creasy, believe that had he failed at Tours, Islam would probably have overrun Gaul, and perhaps the remainder of Catholic Europe. Other reputable historians that echo Creasy's belief that this battle was central to the halt of Islamic expansion into Europe include William Watson, and Edward Gibbon believed the fate of Christianity hinged on this battle. The Battle of Tours probably took place somewhere between Tours and Poitiers. The Frankish army, under Charles Martel, consisted of veteran infantry, somewhere between 15,000 and 75,000 men. Responding to the Muslim invasion, the Franks had avoided the old Roman roads, hoping to take the invaders by surprise. From the Muslim accounts of the battle, the Muslims were indeed taken by surprise to find a large force opposing their expected sack of Tours, and they waited for six days, scouting the enemy. On the seventh day, the Muslim army, consisting of between 60,000-400,000 horsemen and led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, attacked. During the battle, the Franks defeated the Islamic army and the emir was killed. While Western accounts are sketchy, Arab accounts are fairly detailed that the Franks formed a large square and fought a brilliant defensive battle. Rahman had doubts before the battle that his men were ready for such a struggle, and should have had them abandon the loot which hindered them, but instead decided to trust his horsemen, who had never failed him. Indeed, it was thought impossible for infantry of that age to withstand armoured mounted warriors. Martel managed to inspire his men to stand firm against a force which must have seemed invincible to them, huge mailed horsemen, who in addition probably badly outnumbered the Franks. But Rahman's death led to bickering between the surviving generals, and the Arabs abandoned the battlefield the day after his death, leaving Martel a unique place in history as the savior of Europe, and the only man to ever manage such a victory between such disparate forces. Martel's Franks, virtually all infantry without armour, managed to withstand mailed horsemen, without the aid of bows or firearms, a feat of arms unheard of in medieval history. Although it took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of Septimania and across the Pyrenees, Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of French soil turned the tide of Islamic advances, and the unification of the Frankish kingdoms under Martel, his son Pippin the Younger, and his grandson Charlemagne prevented the Emirate of Cordoba from expanding over the Pyrenees. On Pippin the Middle's death in 714, the succession passed to an infant grandson, Theodoald. The faction of Austrasian nobles who supported Theodoald was led by his stepmother, Pippin's widow, Plectrude. Charles, who was already an adult, led a rival faction and prevailed in a series of battles against both invading Neustrian Franks and the forces of Plectrude. Between 718 and 723, Charles secured his power through a series of victories and by winning the loyalty of several important clerics, both bishops and abbots. This he accomplished in part by donating lands and money for the foundations of abbeys such as Echternach. In the subsequent decade, Charles led the Frankish army against the eastern duchies, Bavaria and Alemannia, and the southern duchies, Aquitaine and Provence (in Avignon, Nîmes, Montfrin (736). He dealt with the ongoing conflict with the Frisians and Saxons to his northeast with some success, but full conquest of the Saxons and their incorporation into the Frankish empire would wait for his grandson Charlemagne. But probably most importantly, instead of concentrating on conquest to his east, he prepared for the storm gathering in the west. Well aware of the danger posed by the Muslims after the Battle of Toulouse, in 721, he used the intervening years to consolidate his power, and gather and train a veteran army that would stand ready to defend Christianity itself at Tours. Gibbons called him "the paramount prince of his age." A strong argument can be made Gibbons was correct. Charles Martel married: #Chrotrud or Rotrude (690-724), with children: #
- Pippin the Younger #
- Carloman #
- Swanachild, with chid: #
- Grifo Charles Martel died on October 22 741 at Quierzy in what is today the Aisne département in the Picardy region of France. He was buried at Saint Denis Basilica in Paris. His territories were divided among his sons, Carloman, Pippin the Younger, and Grifo. Category:Frankish people Category:Matter of France Category:686 births Category:741 deaths

Moors

:For the terrain type, see: Heath (habitat). For the figure in heraldry, see Maure. For the archaic racial category see Moors (race). The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including the present day Spain and Portugal) and the Maghreb, whose culture is often called "Moorish".

Origins of the name

The name derives from the old tribe of the Mauri and their kingdom, Mauretania. It became a Roman province after its last king Bocchus II willed it to Caesar Augustus in 33 BC. Mauretania lay in present-day Morocco and Western Algeria, and must not be confused with the country of Mauritania, which lies more to the south. The name of Mauri was applied by the Romans to all North African natives who were still ruled by their own chiefs, until the 3rd century. The Islamic conquest of Iberia was undertaken by the Moors of the Umayyad caliphate in 711. The Arab Umayyad dynasty of Damascus was transplanted to Muslim Spain, and was responsible for the incorporation of much of the culture and architecture from the old Umayyad capital.

Moorish Empire

In AD 711, some Moors invaded Visigoth Christian Spain. Under their Berber leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, they landed at Gibraltar on April 30 and brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under Islamic Sharia rule in an eight-year campaign. They attempted to move northeast across the Pyrenees Mountains toward France, but were defeated by the Frankish Christian Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732. The Moors ruled in North Africa, Spain and Portugal (except for small areas in the northwest and largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees) for several decades. The Moorish state suffered civil conflict in the 750s. The country broke up into a number of mostly Islamic fiefdoms which were consolidated under the Caliphate of Cordoba. Christian states based in the north and west slowly extended their power over Spain. Galicia, León, Navarre, Aragon, Catalonia or Marca Hispanica, Portugal and Castile became Christian again in the next several centuries. In 1212 a coalition of Christian kings under the leadership of Alfonso VIII of Castile drove the Muslims from Central Spain. The Moorish Kingdom of Granada thrived for three more centuries. This kingdom is known in modern times for such architectural gems as the Alhambra. On January 2 1492, Boabdil, the leader of the last Muslim stronghold in Granada, surrendered to armies of a recently-united Christian Spain. The remaining Muslims were forced to leave Spain or convert to Christianity. These descendants of the Muslims were named moriscos. They were an important part of the peasantry in some territories, like Aragon, Valencia, and Andalusia, until their systematic expulsion in the years from 1609 to 1614. Henri Lapeyre has estimated that this affected 300,000 out of a total of 8 million inhabitants at the time. Most of the expelled moriscos went to Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, influencing cultural development there; others became corsairs; a significant number from Andalusia passed themselves off as Gypsies who were entering the country at that time. This mix of cultures gave birth to Flamenco music (Arabic: Fellah Mengu, peasant without land)[http://www.muslimheritage.com/features/default.cfm?ArticleID=404].

Present-day Moors

In modern usage, Moor or Moorish (Italian and Spanish: moro, French: maure, Portuguese: mouro) is used to designate people whose native tongue is the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic. These Moors lived mainly in all of north Africa but Kingdoms have reached as far as Asia and over to Western Sahara and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, from which the latter country derives its name. Ethnically, the Moors are divided into two main groups: The original African/Asiatic Moors and European Moors. European Moors (Arabic: البيضان, transliterated: al-bīḍānī) are nomads of Arabo-Berber origin with relatively fair skin colour. African Moors (Arabic: السودان) are descendents of kings, while White Moors were slaves who eventually converted under Moorish rule and who adopted the customs and language of their former masters. Moors, although comprised mostly of African/Asiatic cultures, do not identify themselves with other labeled black populations elsewhere. According to some reports slavery is still practiced in parts of Mauritania and elsewhere. Slavery being officially abolished today, most Moors live an independent life, although some remain underprivileged and repressed. In Europe, the descendants of the Moors can still be found in most parts of Spain (especially Andalucia, Murcia, and Valencia), Portugal (especially the Algarve),and Southern Italy, as well as in North America, South America, and Australia (descendants of people who emigrated from those countries)

See also


- Al-Andalus
- Caliph of Cordoba
- History of Spain
- Islamic architecture
- Mezquita – an ancient Moorish mosque in Córdoba in Spain.
- Moorish Spain
- Alhambra – an ancient palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of Granada, in southern Spain.
- Sahrawi

External Links


- [http://www.fonsvitae.com/MOORISH.HTML Fons Vitae books - Moorish Culture in Spain]
- [http://www.fonsvitae.com/CRESCENT.HTML Fons Vitae books - Spain Under the Crescent Moon] Category:History of the Maghreb Category:History of Morocco Category:Moorish Spain Category:History of Portugal Category:History of Spain

732

732 is also an area code in the state of New Jersey.

Events


- October 10 - Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.

Births


-

Deaths


- Kül Tigin, brother of Bilge Khan and co-administrator of the Gokturk empire (b. 685)
- Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, governor of Spain Category:732 als:732 ko:732년

Charlemagne

Charlemagne (ca. 742 or 747 – January 28, 814) (or Charles the Great, in German Karl der Große, in Norwegian Karl den store, in Dutch Karel de Grote, in Latin Carolus Magnus, giving rise to the adjective form "Carolingian"), was king of the Franks from 768 to 814, King of the Lombards since 774, and the renewer of the Western Empire. His dual role as Emperor—Imperator Augustus–and King of the Franks provides the historical link between the Imperial dignity and the Frankish kingdoms and later Germany. Today both France and Germany look to him as a founding figure of their respective countries.

Date of birth

Charlemagne's birthday was believed to be April 1, 742, however several factors led to reconsideration of this traditional date. First, the year 742 was calculated from his age given at death, rather than attested with primary sources. Second, 742 precedes the marriage of his parents (in 749), yet there is no indication that Charlemagne was born out of wedlock, and he inherited from his parents. Another date is given in the Annales Petarienses, April 1, 747. In that year, April 1 is Easter. The birth of an Emperor on Easter is a coincidence likely to provoke comment, but there is no such comment documented in 747, leading some to suspect the Easter birthday was a pious fiction concocted as a way of honoring the Emperor. Other commentators weighing the primary records have suggested that the birth was one year later, 748. So at present, it is impossible to be certain of the date of the birth of Charlemagne. The best guesses include April 1, 747, after April 15, 747, or April 1, 748.

Life

Charlemagne was the elder son of Pippin the Younger (714 – 24 September 771, reigned 751 – 768) and his wife Bertrada of Laon (720 – 12 July 783); he was the brother of the Lady Bertha, mother of Roland. On the death of Pippin, the kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and his brother Carloman. Charles took the outer parts of the kingdom, bordering on the sea, namely Neustria, Aquitania and the northern parts of Austrasia, while Carloman attained the inner parts, bordering on Italy. Carloman died on 5 December 771, leaving Charlemagne the leader of a reunified Frankish kingdom. Shortly after that, he marched against the Lombards in Italy. In 774 he deposed their king Desiderius and was himself crowned king of the Lombards, permanently unifying the kingdom of Italy to the Frankish crown. Charlemagne was engaged in almost constant battle throughout his reign, with his legendary sword Joyeuse in hand. After thirty years of war and eighteen battles -- the Saxon Wars -- he conquered Saxony, a goal that had been the unattainable dream of Augustus, and proceeded to convert the conquered to Catholic Christianity, using force where necessary. In 782, at Verden in Lower Saxony, he allegedly ordered the beheading of 4,500 Saxons in one day (the Bloody Trial of Verden) who had made the error of rebelling against Frankish rule and of being caught practicing paganism after they had agreed to be Christians. Modern research has cast doubt upon this allegation, as no archeological evidence of such a massacre has been found and the original source may have mistakenly written of "beheading" instead of "exiling". Charlemagne also contemplated the reconquest of Spain, but never fully succeeded in this goal. It was during one of his futile invasions of northern Spain that the leader of his afterguard, Count Roland, was killed, inspiring the subsequent creation of the Song of Roland. Song of Roland was threatened by invaders, the king rushed to Rome to provide assistance. Shown here, the pope asks Charlemagne for help at a meeting near Rome.]] In 797 (or 801?) the caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, presented Charlemagne with an Asian elephant named Abul-Abbas (See History of elephants in Europe.) and a mechanical clock. In 800, at Mass on Christmas day in Rome, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Imperator Romanorum (Emperor of the Romans). Though this, according to the sources, occurred against his intentions, Charles thus became the renewer of the Western Empire, which had expired in the 5th century. To avoid frictions with the Eastern Emperor, Charles later called himself not Imperator Romanorum (a title reserved for the Eastern Emperor), but rather as Imperator Romanum gubernans Imperium (Emperor ruling the Roman Empire). Pursuing his father's reforms, Charlemagne did away with the monetary system based on the gold sou. Both he and King Offa of Mercia took up the system set in place by Pippin. He set up a new standard, the livre (i.e. pound)— both monetary and unit of weight— which was worth 20 sous (like the solidus, and later the shilling) or 240 deniers (like the denarius, and eventually the penny). During this period, the livre and the sou were counting units, only the denier was a coin of the realm. Charlemagne applied the system to much of the European Continent, and Offa's standard was voluntarily adopted by much of England. England Charlemagne organized his empire into 350 counties, each led by an appointed count. Counts served as judges, administrators, and they enforced capitularies. To enforce loyalty, he set up the system of missi dominici, meaning 'Envoys of the Lord.' In this system, one representative of the church and one representative of the emperor would head to the different counties and every year report back to Charlemagne on their status. missi dominici When Charlemagne died in 814, he was buried in his own Cathedral at Aachen. He was succeeded by his only son to survive him, Louis the Pious, after whose reign the empire was divided between his three surviving sons according to Frankish tradition. These three kingdoms would be the foundations of later France and the Holy Roman Empire. After Charlemagne's death, continental coinage degraded and most of Europe resorted to using the continued high quality English coin until about 1100. It is difficult to understand Charlemagne's attitude toward his daughters. None of them contracted a sacramental marriage. This may have been an attempt to control the number of potential alliances. After his death the surviving daughters entered or were forced to enter monasteries. At least one of them, Bertha, had a recognized relationship, if not a marriage, with Angilbert, a member of Charlemagne's court circle. Charlemagne's mother tongue was the Old High German dialect called Frankish. He also spoke Latin and understood some Greek.

Cultural significance

Greek. A Romantic interpretation of his appearance from the 18th century ]] Charlemagne's reign is often referred to as the Carolingian Renaissance because of the flowering of scholarship, literature, art, and architecture. Most of the surviving works of classical Latin were copied and preserved by Carolingian scholars. The pan-European nature of Charlemagne's influence is indicated by the origins of many of the men who worked for him: Alcuin, an Anglo-Saxon; Theodulf, a Visigoth; Paul the Deacon, a Lombard; and Angilbert and Einhard, Franks. Charlemagne enjoyed an important afterlife in European culture. One of the great medieval literature cycles, the Charlemagne cycle or the Matter of France, centres around the deeds of Charlemagne's historical commander of the Breton border, Roland, and the paladins who served as a counterpart to the knights of the Round Table; their tales were first told in the chansons de geste. Charlemagne himself was accorded sainthood inside the Holy Roman Empire after the 12th century. His canonization by Antipope Paschal III was never recognized by the Holy See. He was a model knight as one of the Nine Worthies. It is frequently claimed by genealogists that all people with European ancestry alive today are probably descended from Charlemagne. However, only a small percentage can actually prove descent from him. Charlemagne's marriage and relationship politics and ethics did, however, result in a fairly large number of descendants, all of whom had far better life expectancies than is usually the case for children in that time period. They were married into houses of nobility and as a result of intermarriages many people of noble descent can indeed trace their ancestry back to Charlemagne. Charlemagne's genealogical tree was quite extensive, and can be traced almost completely up to modern times; among the well known direct descendants of Charlemagne are William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States, American actor Tyrone Power, the British actor Christopher Lee, and Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is without a doubt an ancestor of every royal family of Europe. Another interesting note about Charlemagne was that he took a serious effort in his and others' scholarship and had learned to read in his adulthood, although he never quite learned how to write. His handwriting was bad, from which grew the legend that he could not write. This was quite an achievement for kings at this time, of whom most were illiterate. He was an avid chess player and was known to challenge his soldiers to games before large battles. illiterate

Charlemagne's portraits

illiterate.]] The Roman tradition of realistic personal portraiture was in complete eclipse at the time of Charlemagne, where individual traits were submerged in iconic typecastings. Charlemagne, as an ideal ruler, ought to be portrayed in the corresponding fashion, any contemporary would have assumed. The images of enthroned Charlemagne, God's representative on Earth, bear more connections to the icons of Christ in Majesty than to modern (or Antique) conceptions of portraiture. Even the verbal portrait by Einhard suppresses details that would have been indecorous in this context. Charlemagne in later imagery (see Dürer portrait right) is often portrayed with flowing blond hair, due to a misunderstanding of Einhart's Vita caroli Magni (chapter 22) where Charlemagne in his age had canitie pulchra "beautiful white hair" which has been rendered as blond or fair in many translations. The Latin word for blond is "flavus", and "rutilo", meaning 'golden-red' or 'auburn', is the word Tacitus uses for the Germans' hair.

Family

Tacitus ]]

Marriages


- Himiltrude
- Ermengarda or Desiderata
- Hildegard of Savoy (married Abt 771) (758–783)
- Fastrada (married 784) (d. 794)
- Luitgard (married 794) (d. 800)
- Coo-Sheba (married 801) (d. 900)

Children

Sons:
- Pippin the Hunchback (d. 813)
- Charles, King of Neustria (d. 811)
- Pippin, King of Italy (ruled 781–810)
- Louis I The Pious, King of Aquitaine, Emperor (ruled 814–840)
- Lothar (d. 779 or 780) Daughters:
- Adelheid (b. 774)
- Rhotrud (775-810)
- Hildegarde (777-777)
- Bertha (779-823)
- Gisele (781-808)
- Aupais?

Further reading


- Alessandro Barbero: Charlemagne, father of a continent. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004 ISBN 0-520-23943-1

See also


- Franks (main history of Frankish kingdoms)
- List of Frankish Kings
- Carolingians
- Nine Worthies

External links


- A reconstructed [http://www.reportret.info/gallery/charlemagne1.html portrait of Charlemagne], based on historical sources, in a contemporary style.
- House of Pippin / Dynasty of Charlemagne: [http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Rulers/charlemagne.html Genealogy of Charlemagne]
- [http://www.badley.info/history/Charlamagne-I-the-Great-France.biog.html Charlemagne Chronology] Category:740s births Category:814 deaths Category:Frankish kings Category:Holy Roman emperors Category:Kings of Burgundy Category:Matter of France Category:Nine Worthies ko:카롤루스 대제 ja:カール大帝

Arnulf of Metz

Arnulf of Metz (August 13, 582 – August 16, 640) was a Frankish noble who had great influence in the Merovingian kingdoms as a bishop and was later canonized as a saint. He is also known by his anglicized name, Arnold. Arnulf gave distinguished service at the Austrasian court under Theudebert II (595-612). In 613, Arnulf and Pippin of Landen led the aristocratic opposition to Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia, a revolt that led to her downfall and the reunification of Frankish lands under Clotaire II. Though Arnulf wanted to retreat to the Vosges mountains as a hermit, he was persuaded to stay and became the bishop of Metz. From 623 (with Pippin of Landen, then the Mayor of the Palace), Arnulf was an adviser to Dagobert I. With his friend Romaric, he retired in 627 to implement his lifelong resolution to become a mountain hermit. Before he was consecrated, he had two sons by his wife Doda: Ansegisel and Chlodulf. Ansegisel married Pippin's daughter Begga, and their child was Pippin of Herstal ("Pippin the Middle"), one of Charlemagne's great-grandfathers. Chlodulf, like his father, became bishop of Metz. The existence of third son called Martin is considered dubious. Arnulf was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and is known as the patron saint of brewing. His feast day is either July 18 or August 16. In iconography, he is portrayed with a rake in his hand. He is often confused in legend with Arnold of Soissons, who is another patron saint of brewing.

Uncertain ancestry

While Arnulf is recognised as one of the earliest documented ancestors of Charlemagne and thereby most modern European royal families, Arnulf's own parentage is both uncertain and undocumented. Some have claimed that Arnulf's father was Arnoldus (c.535–600), and that his mother was Ada of Swabia. According to Frankish legends, Arnulf was the son of Bodigisel. Others have claimed that Arnulf's mother was Bertha, Princess of Paris (539-640). Still others hold that Arnulf descended from Mellobaude:
- Mellobaude (320-376)
- Richemir (350-384) married Ascyla (d.352)
- Theodemir Magnus (370-414) married Valentina Justina (d.414)
- Clovis the Ripuarian (398-448) married Ildegonde de Cologne (399-450)
- Childebert of Cologne (430-483) married Amalaberge (435-478)
- Siegbert the Lame (d.509)
- Cloderic of Cologne (477-509) married Parricide
- Munderic (500-532) married Arthenia (500)
- Bodegisel I married Palatina
- Bodegisel II (d.588) married Oda of Suevian
- Arnulf (582-641) married Dode (586-612) Arnulf of Metz Arnulf of Metz Arnulf of Metz

Metz

Metz is a city in the North-East of France, capital of the Lorraine région and of the département of Moselle (57). It is located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille. Although historically Nancy was the capital of the duchy of Lorraine and later the French province of Lorraine, it was Metz which was chosen as the capital of the newly created région of Lorraine in the middle of the 20th century.

History

In ancient times Metz, then known as Divodurum (the town at the holy mountain), was the capital of the Celtic Mediomatrici, and the name of this tribe, contracted into Mettis, formed the origin of the present name. At the beginning of the Common Era, the site was already occupied by the Romans. Metz became one of the principal towns of Gallia, more populated than Lutetia, rich for its wine exports and having one of the vastest amphitheatres of the country. As the junction of several military roads, and as a well-fortified town, it soon became of great importance. One of the last Roman strongholds to surrender to the Germanic tribes, it was captured by Attila in 451, and finally passed, about the end of the fifth century, through peaceful negotiations into the hands of the Franks. Though the first Christian churches were to be found outside the city, the existence in the fifth century of the oratory of St. Stephen within the city walls has been fully proved. In the beginning of the seventh century the oldest monastic establishments were those of St. Glossinde and St. Peter. Since King Sigibert I, Metz frequently was the residence of the Merovingian kings of Austrasia and especially the reign of Queen Brunhilda reflected great splendour on the town. The town preserved the good-will of the rulers, when the Carolingians acceeded to the Frankish throne, as it had long been a base of their family and one of their primal ancestors, Saint Arnulf of Metz, as well as his son Chlodulf, had been bishops of Metz. Charlemagne considered making Metz his chief residence before he finally decided in favour of Aachen. In the basicilica, Louis the Pious and his son Drogo were buried and Charles the Bald was crowned there. In 843 Metz became the capital of the Kingdom of Lotharingia, and several diets and councils were held there. Numerous Christian manuscripts, the product of the Metz schools of writing and painting, such as the famous "Trier Ada" manuscript and the Drogo Sacramentary for the personal use of a bishop of the royal house (Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris), are evidence of the active intellectual lives and sumptuous patronage of Carolingian Metz. After the death of king Lothar II the kingdom of Lotharingia, and with it Metz, was contested and changed back and forth between the Eastern and the Western Frankish kingdom until in 925 it finally became part of the East kingdom and subsequently the Holy Roman Empire. The increasing influence of the bishops in the city became greater when Adalbert I (928-62) obtained a share of the privileges of the counts; until the twelfth century, therefore, the history of the town is practically identical with that of the bishops (see [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10247a.htm]). In 1039 a splendid edifice was built to take the place of the old church of St. Stephen. In the twelfth century began the efforts of the burgesses to free themselves from the domination of the bishops. In 1180 the burgesses for the first time formed themselves into a close corporation, and in 1207 the Tredecem jurati were appointed as municipal representatives, but they were still nominated directly by the bishop, who had also a controlling influence in the selection of the presiding officer of the board of aldermen, which first appears in the eleventh century. The twenty-five representatives sent by the various parishes held an independent position; in judicial matters they helped the Tredecem jurati and formed the democratic element of the system of government. The other municipal authorities were chosen by the town aristocracy, the so-called Paraiges, i. e. the five associations whose members were selected from distinguished families to protect the interests of their relatives. The other body of burgesses, called a Commune, also appears as a Paraige from the year 1297; in the individual offices it was represented by double the number of members that each of the older five Paraiges had. Making common cause, the older family unions and the Commune found it advantageous to gradually increase the powers of the city as opposed to the bishops, and also to keep the control of the municipal government fully in their hands and out of that of the powerful growing guilds, so that until the sixteenth century Metz remained a purely aristocratic organization. In 1300 the Paraiges gained the right to fill the office of head-alderman, during the fourteenth century the right to elect the Tredecem jurati, and in 1383 the right of coining. The guilds, which during the fourteenth century had attained great independence, were completely suppressed (1383), and the last revolutionary attempt of the artisans to seize control of the city government (1405) was put down with much bloodshed. The city had often to fight for its freedom; from 1324-27 against the Dukes of Luxembourg and Lorraine, as well as against the Archbishop of Trier; in 1363 and 1365 against the band of English mercenaries under Arnold of Cervola, in the fifteenth century against France and the Dukes of Burgundy, who sought to annex Metz to their lands or at least wanted to exercise a protectorate. Nevertheless it maintained its independence, even though at great cost, and remained, outwardly at least, part of the German Empire, whose ruler, however, concerned himself very little with this important frontier stronghold. Charles IV in 1354 and 1356 held brilliant diets here, at the latter of which was promulgated the famous statute known as the "Golden Bull". The town therefore felt that it occupied an almost independent position between France and Germany, and wanted most of all to evade the obligation of imperial taxes and attendance at the diet. The estrangement between it and the German States daily became wider, and finally affairs came to such a pass that in the religious and political troubles of 1552 Metz found itself in the middle of the war between Charles V and the rebellious princes. By an agreement of the German princes, Moritz of Saxony, William of Hesse, John Albrecht of Mecklenburg, and George Frederick of Brandenburg, with Henry II of France, ratified by the French king at Chambord (15 January), Metz was formally transferred to France, the gates of the city were opened (10 April), and Henry took possession as vicarius sacri imperii et urbis protector (18 April). The Duke of Guise, commander of the garrison, restored the old fortifications and added new ones, and successfully resisted the attacks of the emperor from October to December, 1552; Metz remained French. The recognition by the empire of the surrender of Metz to France came at the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia. By the construction of the citadel (1555-62) the new government secured itself against the citizens, who were discontented with the turn of events. Important internal changes soon took place. In place of the Paraiges stood the authority of the French king, whose representative was the governor. The head-alderman, now appointed by the governor, was replaced (1640) by a Royalist Mayor. The aldermen were also appointed by the governor and henceforth drawn from the whole body of burgesses; in 1633 the judgeship passed to the Parliament. The powers of the Tredecem jurati were also restricted, in 1634 totally abolished, and replaced by the Bailliage royal. Among the cities of Lorraine, Metz held a prominent position during the French possession for two reasons: In the first place it became one of the most important fortresses through the work of Vauban (1674) and Cormontaigne (1730); secondly, it became the capital of the temporal province of the three bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which France had seized (1552) and, by the Peace of Westphalia, retained. In 1633 there was created for this "Province des trois évêchés" (also called "Généralité des trois évêchés" or "Intendance de Metz") a supreme court of justice and court of administration, the Metz Parliament. In 1681 the Chambre Royale, the notorious Assembly chamber, whose business it was to decide what fiefs belonged to the three bishoprics which Louis XIV claimed for France, was made a part of this Parliament, which lasted, after a temporary dissolution (1771-75), until the final settlement by the National Assembly in 1789, whereupon the division of the land into departments and districts followed. Metz became the capital of the Department of Moselle, created in 1790. The revolution brought great calamities upon the city. In the campaigns of 1814 and 1815 the allied armies twice besieged the city, but were unable to take it. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 Metz was the headquarters and rendezvous of the third French Army Corps under Bazaine. Through the operations of the German army, Bazaine, after the battles of Colombey, Mars-la-Tour, and Gravelotte (14-18 August) was besieged in Metz. The German army of investment was commanded by Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia; as the few sorties of the garrison were unable to break the German lines, Metz was forced to surrender (27 October), with the result that 6000 French officers and 170,000 men were taken prisoners. By the Treaty of Frankfurt of 1871, Metz became a German city, and was made a most important garrison and a strong fortress. Despite the departure of many inhabitants who fled to France to avoid living under German rule, Metz nonetheless expanded and transformed during the period of German rule. The fortifications on the south and east were levelled in 1898, securing space for growth and development. Some large neo-Romanesque buildings typical of the German empire appeared in the city. Following the armistice with Germany ending the First World War, the French army entered Metz in November 1918 to great cheering from the population, which had always remained attached to France, and the city was returned to France at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Metz was again annexed by Germany between 1940 and 1944 during the Second World War, and was liberated in November 1944 by the French and American armies. Nowadays, the military importance of Metz has decreased, and the city has diversified its economic base. Expansion has continued in the recent decades despite the economic crisis that besets the rest of Lorraine.

Sights

Second World War Second World War The city is famous for its yellow lime stone architecture: la Pierre de Jaumont and for its nickname "The Green City" (25m2 - 270sqft of park/garden/playground per inhabitant)
- the gothic cathedral St. Etienne (features stained glass windows designed by Marc Chagall)
- St-Pierre-aux-Nonnains - the oldest church in France, built between 380 and 395AD as a roman gymnasium, and 'recycled' as a christian church during the 7th century.
- Ste-Segolene church which dated back to 13th-14th century
- St-Martin church
- St-Vincente church
- St-Pierre-de-la-Citadelle
- St-Euchaire
- St-Maximin
- ruins of city walls
- City gates: Porte Serpenoise, Porte des Allemands
- [http://www.yarzheit.com/heavensregister/metz.htm Jewish Cemetery]

Miscellaneous

It is represented in the Ligue Nationale, the French premier football division, by F.C. Metz.

Births

Metz was the birthplace of:
- Rabbenu Gershom, rabbi
- Charles Ancillon, prominent Huguenot
- S. M. Stirling, science fiction, author
- Francois Barbé-Marbois, politian in the French Revolutionary government
- Paul Verlaine, poet
- Louis Le Prince, first man to shoot moving images
- Pilâtre de Rozier, first man to fly in a hot air balloon

Twin towns

Metz is twinned with:
- Trier, Germany, since 1957
- Yichang, China, since 1991
- Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, since 2001
- Kansas City, Missouri, United States, since 2003
- Saint-Denis, Réunion, France
- Gloucester, England

See also


- Fortifications of Metz

External links and reference


- [http://www.mairie-metz.fr Official Town Council website]
- [http://www.photos-de-villes.com/photo-metz-1.php Pictures of Metz]
-
- ja:メス

7th century

Overview

Events


- Islam starts in Arabia, the Qur'an is documented, and Syria, Iraq