1.
West Francia
–
West Francia extended further south than modern France, but it did not extend as far east. In Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the West Frankish king was barely felt, West Frankish kings were elected by the secular and ecclesiastic magnates, and for the half-century between 888 and 936 they chose alternatingly from the Carolingian and Robertian houses. By this time the power of king became weaker and more nominal, the Robertians, after becoming counts of Paris and dukes of France became kings themselves and established the Capetian dynasty. In August 843, after three years of war following the death of Louis the Pious on June 20,840. The youngest, Charles the Bald, received the western Francia, the contemporary West Frankish Annales Bertiniani describes Charles arriving at Verdun, where the distribution of portions took place. After describing the portions of his brothers, Lothair the Emperor and Louis the German, the Annales Fuldenses of East Francia describe Charles as holding the western part after the kingdom was divided in three. Charles the Bald was at war with Pippin II from the start of his reign in 840, accordingly, in June 845, after several military defeats, Charles signed the Treaty of Benoît-sur-Loire and recognised his nephews rule. This agreement lasted until March 25,848, when the Aquitainian barons recognised Charles as their king, thereafter Charless armies had the upper hand and by 849 had secured most of Aquitaine. In May, Charles had himself crowned King of the Franks, the coronation was officiated by Archbishop Wenilo of Sens, and included the first instance of royal unction in West Francia. The idea of anointing Charles may be owed to Archbishop Hincmar of Reims, by the time of the Synod of Quierzy, Hincmar was claiming that Charles was anointed to the entire West Frankish kingdom. With the Treaty of Mersen in 870 the western part of Lotharingia was added to West Francia, in 875 Charles the Bald was crowned Emperor of Rome. The last record in the Annales Bertiniani dates to 882, the next set of original annals from the West Frankish kingdom are those of Flodoard, who began his account with the year 919. After the death of Charless grandson, Carloman II, on December 12,884 and he was probably crowned King in Gaul on 20 May 885 at Grand. His reign was the time after the death of Louis the Pious that all of Francia would be re-united under one ruler. In his capacity as king of West Francia, he seems to have granted the title and perhaps regalia to the semi-independent ruler of Brittany. His handling of the Viking siege of Paris in 885–86 greatly reduced his prestige, in November 887 his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia revolted and assumed the title as King of the East Franks. Charles retired and soon died on January 13,888, in Aquitaine, Duke Ranulf II may have had himself recognised as king, but he only lived another two years. Although Aquitaine did not become a kingdom, it was largely outside the control of the West Frankish kings
2.
Ludwigslied
–
The poem is thoroughly Christian in ethos. It presents the Viking raids as a punishment from God, He caused the Northmen to come across the sea to remind the Frankish people of their sins, Louis praises God both before and after the battle. The poem is preserved in four pages in a single 9th-century manuscript formerly in the monastery of Saint-Amand, now in the Bibliothèque municipale. In the same manuscript, and written by the scribe, is the Old French Sequence of Saint Eulalia. The poem speaks of Louis in the present tense, it opens, I know he will reward him for it. Since Louis died in August the next year, the poem must have been written within a year of the battle. However, in the manuscript, the poem is headed by the Latin rubric Ritmus teutonicus de piae memoriae Hluduice rege, the dialect of the poem is generally regarded as Rhenish Franconian, though there are some peculiarities which have received a variety of explanations. It is assumed that the manuscript was written by a scribe in Saint-Amand. Some regard it as the sole example of the otherwise little known West Franconian dialect. Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, ed. W. Braune, K. Helm, E. A. Ebbinghaus, includes the standard edition of the text. A Handbook on Old High German Literature Second Edition, revised by K. C. King and D. R. McLintock. Limited preview at Google Books Fouracre, Paul, The Context of the Old High German Ludwigslied, Medium Aevum,44, pp. 87–103 Fought, the Medieval Sibilants of the Eulalia–Ludwigslied Manuscript and Their Development in Early Old French. The Ludwigslied and the Battle of Saucourt, in Judith Jesch, The Scandinavians from the Vendel period to the century, Boydell Press,2002. Limited preview at Google Books Harvey, Ruth, the Provenance of the Old High German Ludwigslied. The Carolingians and the Written Word, vernacular Authority in the Late Ninth Century, Bilingual Juxtaposition in MS150, Valenciennes. The Modern Language Review, Vol.42, No.4, Medieval Heroic Traditions and Their Transitions from Orality to Literacy. In Vox Intexta, Orality and Textuality in the Middle Ages, ed. A. N. Doane, madison, University of Wisconsin Press,1991
3.
Coronation of the French monarch
–
The accession of the King of France was legitimized by coronation ceremony performed with the Crown of Charlemagne at Notre-Dame de Reims. The most important part of the French coronation ceremony was not the coronation itself, the Carolingian king Pepin the Short was the first anointed monarch in Europe, which occurred in Soissons to legitimize the accession of the new dynasty. A second coronation of Pepin by Pope Stephen II took place at the Basilica of St Denis in 754, the first coronation performed by a Pope. Since this Roman glass vial containing the balm due to be mixed with chrism, was brought by the dove of the Holy Spirit. All succeeding Kings of France were anointed with this same oil—mixed with chrism prior to their coronation, French queens were crowned either together with their husband at Rheims or alone at Sainte-Chapelle or Abbey of St. Denis. The king is crowned by the Archbishop of Reims who is assisted by four bishops of his ecclesiastical province. The established order of six bishops is, The Archbishop of Reims anoints, the Bishop of Laon carries the holy ampulla. The Bishop of Langres carries the scepter, the Bishop of Beauvais carries and shows the coat of arms or royal mantle. The Bishop of Chalons carries the royal ring, the Bishop of Noyon carries the belt. To these are added the Abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Remi, guardian of the ampulla. Peers are cited for the first time in 1203 and 1226, however, their first recorded participation in the coronation is made on the occasion of the coronation of Philip V of France on 9 January 1317. These are the six aforementioned ecclesiastical peers and the six lay peers, in order of protocol, the six lay peers are, The Duke of Burgundy carries the royal crown, girds the kings sword, and gives him the order of chivalry. The Duke of Normandy carries the first square banner, the Duke of Aquitaine carries the second square banner. The Count of Toulouse carries the spurs, the Count of Flanders carries the royal sword. The Count of Champagne carries the banner of war, the spiritual peerages were perpetual, and were never extinguished during the existence of the Kingdom of France. But as early as 1204, the roster of the lay peerages had been incomplete, Normandy had been absorbed into the French crown, Toulouse in 1271, Champagne in 1284. Aquitaine was several times forfeited and restored, Burgundy became extinct in 1361 and again in 1477, hence, more often than not, princes of the royal blood and high-ranking members of the nobility acted as representatives of the ancient lay peerages. Spiritual peers were also represented if their see is vacant or they are unable to attend
4.
Louis the Stammerer
–
Louis the Stammerer was the King of Aquitaine and later the King of West Francia. He was the eldest son of emperor Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans, Louis the Stammerer was physically weak and outlived his father by only two years. He succeeded his younger brother Charles the Child as the ruler of Aquitaine in 866 and his father in West Francia in 877, in the French monarchial system, he is considered Louis II. The pope may have offered him the imperial crown. Louis had relatively little impact on politics and he was described a simple and sweet man, a lover of peace, justice, and religion. In 878, he gave the counties of Barcelona, Girona and his final act was to march against the invading Vikings, but he fell ill and died on 9 April or 10 April 879, not long after beginning this final campaign. On his death, his realms were divided between his two sons, Carloman II and Louis III of France, during the peace negotiations between his father and Erispoe, duke of Brittany, Louis was betrothed to an unnamed daughter of Erispoe in 856. It is not known if this was the daughter who later married Gurivant. The contract was broken in 857 after Erispoes murder and his first wife Ansgarde of Burgundy had two sons, Louis and Carloman, both of whom became kings of West Francia, and two daughters, Hildegarde and Gisela. His second wife Adelaide of Paris had one daughter, Ermentrude and a son, Charles the Simple. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
5.
Carloman II
–
Carloman II might refer to the second Carolingian of that name, otherwise known as Carloman I. Carloman II, King of West Francia, was the youngest son of King Louis the Stammerer and Ansgarde of Burgundy, initially some Frankish nobles advocated electing Louis III as the sole king, but eventually both brothers were elected kings. Meanwhile, the powerful Duke Boso of Provence had renounced his allegiance to both brothers and had been elected King of Provence, in the summer of 880 Carloman and Louis III marched against Boso, took Mâcon and the northern parts of his realm. Despite receiving help from their cousin Charles the Fat, who ruled East Francia, only in the summer of 882 Vienne was taken after being besieged by Richard, Count of Autun. After the accidental death of Louis III in August 882, Carloman II became the king of West Francia. The kingdom was in a condition partly owing to repeated incursions from the Viking raiders. Carloman II died while hunting on 12 December 884 and was succeeded in the throne by his cousin and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Carloman
6.
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.4 km from the centre of Paris, Saint-Denis is a subprefecture of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, being the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is home to the necropolis of the Basilica of Saint Denis and was also the location of the associated abbey. It is also home to Frances national football and rugby stadium, Saint-Denis is a formerly industrial suburb currently changing its economic base. Inhabitants of Saint-Denis are called Dionysiens, until the 3rd century, Saint-Denis was a small settlement called Catolacus or Catulliacum, probably meaning estate of Catullius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. About 250 AD, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis, was martyred on Montmartre hill, shortly after 250 his grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage centre, with the building of the Abbey of Saint Denis, and the settlement was renamed Saint-Denis. In 1793, during the French Revolution, Saint-Denis was renamed Franciade in a gesture of rejection of religion, in 1803, however, under the Consulate of Napoléon Bonaparte, the city reverted to its former name of Saint-Denis. During its history, Saint-Denis has been associated with the French royal house. Starting from Dagobert I, almost every French king was buried in the Basilica, however, Saint-Denis is older than that. In the 2nd century, there was a Gallo-Roman village named Catolacus on the location that Saint-Denis occupies today, Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, was martyred in about 250 and buried in the cemetery of Catolacus. Denis tomb quickly became a place of worship, around 475, Sainte Geneviève had a small chapel erected on Denis tomb, which by then had become a popular destination for pilgrims. It was this chapel that Dagobert I had rebuilt and turned into a royal monastery, during the Middle Ages, because of the privileges granted by Dagobert, Saint-Denis grew to become very important. Merchants from all over Europe came to visit its market, in 1140, Abbot Suger, counselor to the King, granted further privileges to the citizens of Saint-Denis. He also started the work of enlarging the Basilica of Saint Denis that still exists today, the new church was consecrated in 1144. Saint-Denis suffered heavily in the Hundred Years War, of its 10,000 citizens, during the French Wars of Religion, the Battle of Saint-Denis was fought between Catholics and Protestants on 10 November 1567. The Protestants were defeated, but the Catholic commander Anne de Montmorency was killed, in 1590, the city surrendered to Henry IV, who converted to Catholicism in 1593 in the abbey of Saint-Denis. King Louis XIV started several industries in Saint-Denis, weaving and spinning mills and dyehouses. His successor, Louis XV, whose daughter was a nun in the Carmelite convent, took a lively interest in the city, he added a chapel to the convent and also renovated the buildings of the royal abbey
7.
Neustria
–
Neustria or Neustrasia was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks that was created in 511 upon the division of the Merovingian kingdom of Clovis I to his four sons following his death. Neustria was made up of the regions between Aquitaine and the English Channel, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities. It later referred to the region between the Seine and the Loire rivers known as the regnum Neustriae, a constituent subkingdom of the Carolingian Empire, Neustria was also employed as a term for northwestern Italy during the period of Lombard domination. It was contrasted with the northeast, which was called Austrasia, for this meaning of the term, see Neustria. Despite the wars, Neustria and Austrasia re-united briefly on several occasions, the struggle for power continued with Queen Fredegund of Neustria unleashing a bitter war. Clotaire had Brunhilda put to the rack and stretched for three days, then chained between four horses and eventually ripped limb from limb, Clotaire now ruled a united realm, but only for a short time as he made his son Dagobert I king of Austrasia. Dagoberts accession in Neustria resulted in another temporary unification, when in Austrasia, the Arnulfing mayor Grimoald the Elder attempted a coup against his liege, Clovis II had him removed and again reunited the kingdom from Neustria, but again temporarily. During or soon after the reign of Cloviss son Chlothar III, in 678, Neustria, under Mayor Ebroin, subdued the Austrasians for the last time. In 687, Pippin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of the King of Austrasia, defeated the Neustrians at Tertry, the writers who lived in Austrasia proved more loyal to their mayor. Pippins descendants, the Carolingians, continued to rule the two realms as mayors, with Pope Stephen IIs blessing, after 751 the Carolingian Pippin the Short, formally deposed the Merovingians and took control of the empire, he and his descendants ruling as kings. Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy then became united under one authority, in 748, the brothers Pepin the Short and Carloman gave their younger brother Grifo twelve counties in Neustria centred on that of Le Mans. This polity was termed the ducatus Cenomannicus, or Duchy of Maine, the term Neustria took on the meaning of land between the Seine and Loire when it was given as a regnum by Charlemagne to his second son, Charles the Younger, in 790. At this time, the city of the kingdom appears to be Le Mans. Under the Carolingian dynasty, the duty of the Neustrian king was to defend the sovereignty of the Franks over the Bretons. Neustria, along with Aquitaine, formed the part of Charles West Frankish kingdom carved out of the Empire by the Treaty of Verdun. Charles continued the tradition of appointing an elder son to reign in Neustria with his own court at Le Mans when he made Louis the Stammerer king in 856. Louis married the daughter of the King of Brittany, Erispoe, Louis was the last Frankish monarch to be appointed to Neustria by his father and the practice of creating subkingdoms for sons waned among the later Carolings. In 861, the Carolingian king Charles the Bald created the Marches of Neustria that were ruled by officials appointed by the crown, known as wardens, prefects or margraves
8.
Basilica of St Denis
–
The Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, the site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral, the people buried there seem to have had a faith that was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs, around 475 St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, the relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819. Saint-Denis soon became the church of a growing monastic complex. In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the church using innovative structural. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building, the abbey church became a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy. Although known as the Basilica of St Denis, the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican, Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, became the first bishop of Paris. A martyrium was erected on the site of his grave, which became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, the king of the Franks, refounded the church as the Abbey of Saint Denis, Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saints remains, which was created by his chief councillor, Eligius, a goldsmith by training. He composed a crest and a magnificent frontal and surrounded the throne of the altar with golden axes in a circle and he placed golden apples there, round and jeweled. He made a pulpit and a gate of silver and a roof for the throne of the altar on silver axes and he made a covering in the place before the tomb and fabricated an outside altar at the feet of the holy martyr. So much industry did he lavish there, at the kings request, the Basilica of St Denis ranks as an architectural landmark—as the first major structure of which a substantial part was designed and built in the Gothic style. Both stylistically and structurally, it heralded the change from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture, before the term Gothic came into common use, it was known as the French Style. As it now stands, the church is a cruciform building of basilica form. It has an aisle on the northern side formed of a row of chapels. The west front has three portals, a window and one tower, on the southern side. The eastern end, which is built over a crypt, is apsidal, surrounded by an ambulatory, the basilica retains stained glass of many periods, including exceptional modern glass, and a set of twelve misericords
9.
Dynasty
–
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
