Sources

Chapters of decrees

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While written laws like the lex salica governed everyday life, the Carolingians also issued decrees from time to time, called capitularies. Capitularies are legal documents, so named because they are divided into chapters or articles called ‘capitula.’ Capitularies were issued by the king, and describe and explain legal obligations of the king’s subjects. It is through capitularies that the flavor of royal rule can be known. “While the decisive influence of Charlemagne on the institutions of the Frankish monarchy is well known, what is more obscure… is the manner in which Charlemagne wielded this influence. This was done chiefly through the capitularies… by which the Carolingian monarchs issued legislative and administrative provisions.”1.Ganshof, Carolingians, “The impact of Charlemagne on the institutions of the Frankish realm,” p.143.

There are about 100 capitularies that have come down to modern times. Of these, maybe twenty-five have been translated into English, primarily by King and Loyn & Percival. I find Loyn & Percival’s translations a little clearer to read, although King provides more background on each capitulary.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Ganshof, Carolingians, “The impact of Charlemagne on the institutions of the Frankish realm,” p.143.

Was Aeneas Charlemagne’s ancestor?

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“Let us set out the beginnings of the kings of the Franks and their origin and also the origins of the people and its deeds.”1.Liber Historiae Francorum, ch. 1.

Thus opens the Liber Historiae Francorum, one of the early medieval sources that relate an origin tale about how the people to be recounted came to their place in the world, and who their original ancestors were. I have found a half-dozen sources from the early medieval era that describe such origin stories. These stories come in two flavors: the first is a straight forward telling that usually starts with some sort of biblical, old testament epitome, continues with the Roman Empire, and then fits in the particular tribe or people.

This first model includes Gregory of Tours, who wrote in the sixth century. The first book of his History of the Franks is all distant history, beginning with the creation of the world. He paraphrases much of the genealogy of the Old Testament, then moves smoothly to the Roman emperors.2.Gregory of Tours, bk. 1. Gregory is usually a “just the facts” kind of writer; he doesn’t even include that fascinating story that Merovech, first king of the Merovingians, was fathered by a sea monster! So disappointing. Although he does include some other juicy tidbits.

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Footnotes

Early medieval primary source types

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If you want to learn about any historical period you have to dig into the primary sources. It can be daunting at first, but getting a handle of what you’re dealing with helps. To start with, I count ten about different kinds of primary sources for the early middle ages:

Annals are the most straightforward source available. A strict chronological list, with a bare bones outline of
the major events of the year. I have noted some exceptions to that. The Royal Frankish Annals and its revisions are the best known example, but there are others. Many of them are simply excerpts and summaries of the RFA, but they do offer local tidbits.

Chronicles are also a chronological record, but they tend to meander a little more, and retrospectively cover stories in whole. Some years may not get mentioned at all, and often the stories don’t mention on what date an event occurs. Examples include the Chronicles of Fredegar, the Chronicle of 754, and the Liber Historiae Francorum.

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God wants us to kill Saxons

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The hand of God appears with remarkable frequency in the Royal Frankish Annals. In battle after battle the annalist notes that a battle was won “by the hand of God,” or “by God’s help.” (Oddly, these invocations don’t begin until Charlemagne assumes the throne. Didn’t God smile upon his father Pepin?). But the Saxon wars seem to have inspired God with particularly manifest miracles of aid.

The streams had all dried up during the hot summer in 772, when Charlemagne destroyed the Irminsul. But the job of destruction was not yet completed. What to do?

And there was a great drought, so that no water was to be had in the above-said place where the Irminsul stood. And while the aforesaid glorious king wanted to stay there for two or three days in order to destroy the sanctuary completely, but his men had no water, suddenly, by the bounty of divine grace, there poured forth along a particular watercourse – this was at midday, while the whole army was resting; no one knew what was happening – such an abundance of water that the whole army had sufficient.1.RFA, 772.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 RFA, 772.

Arab Spain, the view from inside

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Sometime in the second quarter of the 8th century an anonymous (to us, of course, not to himself) churchman in Spain began compiling a chronicle of the last hundred-plus years of his era. He began his chronicle in the year 611 and ended in 754, and hence the text is called The Chronicle of 754. It has also been known as The Mozarabic Chronicle, Chronicle of Isidore of Beja, or The Anonymous Rhyming Chronicle of Cordoba.1.Collins, Arab Conquest, p26. He doesn’t mention if, untranslated, it actually rhymes or not. He covers the secular and ecclesiastical affairs, primarily of Spain, but also the lands between Spain and Constantinople, and beyond.

Like all chronicles the author describes events thematically, such as the reign of an emperor or a series of conquests, that could cover several years, and presents the topics in a more or less chronological order. This does result in some bouncing around, as it becomes necessary to go back to an earlier time once a topic is complete. Rather than simply identify the year, he identifies the era (of the Roman empire), the emperor’s name (the emperor in Constantinople, capital of the eastern Roman empire), and how many years he had been ruling. If he is reporting a new emperor he also includes the age of the world. Thus, “In the era 758, Leo became the seventy-seventh to be crowned emperor of the Romans. He ruled for twenty-four years, 5,944 years having elapsed since the beginning of the world.” (Chapter 71) If the year to be reported is under a current emperor he includes how many years since the beginning of the Muslim (Arab) conquest, and how many years the Muslim ruler had been in power. Thus, “In Leo’s time, in the era 766, in his tenth year as emperor, the one hundred eleventh of the Arabs, and sixth of Hishem…” (Chapter 77) In Wolf’s translation, the only one in English, he also includes the actual year in parentheses.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Collins, Arab Conquest, p26. He doesn’t mention if, untranslated, it actually rhymes or not.