Fraxinet
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Fraxinet or Fraxinetum (Arabic: Farakhshanit or Farachsa) was the site of a tenth-century fortress established by Saracen pirates at modern La Garde-Freinet, near Saint-Tropez, in Provence. The modern Massif des Maures ("plateau of Moors") takes its name from the Saracens of Fraxinet.
In about 889 a ship carrying twenty Berber adventurers from Al-Andalus anchored in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez in Provence.
From this base, Muslims raided the surrounding area, reaching as far as Piedmont in Northern Italy and effectively controlling the Alpine passes between France and Italy. An outpost was probably established on the St Bernard Pass road near the modern Saint-Maurice or Agaunum, in southwest Switzerland (not to be confused with Sankt Moritz, Graubünden).
In 956, John of Gorze was sent as ambassador for Emperor Otto II to the Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III of Córdoba for two years. The purpose of this mission was to stop the attacks made from Fraxinetum.
The Saracens were defeated at the Battle of Tourtour by William I of Provence. They were expelled from Fraxinetum in 975 by an alliance of Rotbold II of Provence and Arduin Glaber.
[edit] References
- "Note sur le Fraxinet des Maures", Annales du Sud-Est varois, tome XV, 1990, pp. 19-23.
- Mohammed Arkoun, «Histoire de l'Islam et des musulmans en France du Moyen-Age à nos jours», Albin Michel, 2006
- Philippe Sénac, «Islam et chrétiens du Midi (XIIe-XIVe siècle)», Les Cahiers de Fanjeaux, n° 18, Toulouse : Privat, 1983, 435 p.
