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Viking incursions into Gascony

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by DGG (talk | contribs) at 08:56, 2 August 2020 (Submitting (AFCH 0.9.1)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: This appears to be a personal argument for the Viking incursion, not a neutral encyclopedic review of historian's viewpoints. This all appears to be original research, which we don't allow on Wikipedia. This work might be better suited for a historical journal. Wikipedia only says what reliable secondary sources say. If such sources do not exist (i.e. it hasn't been studied), we can't say anything. If you would like to contest some point of what I've said, please leave a note on my talk page. CaptainEek Edits Ho Cap'n!⚓ 04:16, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Viking incursions into Gascon began with the invasion of the country in 840 and end in 982 with the battle of Taller.

Since 1911, French historians have considered that only the Vikings who distinguished themselves north of the Loire and founded Normandy are worthy of interest. In the wake of Lucien Musset, they have never studied the actions of the Vikings south of the Loire. Lucien Musset wrote as follows: "The Norwegian raids south of the English Channel, pure pirate ventures, left no lasting traces, on the Loire, the Garonne or the Bay of Biscay"..[1]. For their part, Aquitaine historians, following in the footsteps of Charles Higounet, consider the 9th and 10th centuries as "white pages" of history. "Between the catastrophe of the mid-9th century and the end of the 10th, the history of Bordeaux is almost a blank page, for lack of documents"[2]. In 2008, the historian Frédéric Boutoulle[3] concluded that the sources in Gascony did not allow us to form an idea and that salvation could only come from an archaeological discovery. However, sources do exist, some contemporary -Annales Bertiniani, Andreas of Bergamo- and others late. These sources clearly state that the Vikings were going to carry out operations south of the Loire that went far beyond simple attacks on defenseless monasteries. They describe massive attacks followed by installations and takeovers of the territory. In other words, these sources could describe an invasion. Moreover, in the 1990s, the Medievalist Renée Mussot Goulard described the Scandinavian presence in Gascony as "the longest known Scandinavian occupation in the kingdom"[4]. Today, a non-Historian author even evokes a Scandinavian principality.[5]

Annales Bertiniani mention more than simple raids in Aquitaine

Annales Bertiniani are the reference source for the period. They evoke large-scale attacks (844[6], 847[7], 857[8], 864[9]), installations (843[10], 845[11], an alliance with Pepin II of Aquitaine (857[12], 864[13]), but also the first ascent of a river by a Viking fleet (the Garonne in 844) and the first siege of a Frankish city in the West (Bordeaux in 847-848). In Aquitaine, the Vikings did much more than plunder monasteries. Their attacks had a political dimension.

The Conquest of Gascony in 840.

An invasion of Gascony is evoked by the Cartulaire de Lescar[14] "The cities which were destroyed are Dax, Lescar, Oloron, Tarbes, Auch, Eauze, Saint Lizier, Saint-Bertrand de Comminges, Lectoure, Sos, Bazas, Bayonne so that the Gascons remained in oblivion for a long time because no bishop was appointed there any more. ". The fall of the twelve cities of Gascony during the same offensive and the elimination of the bishops are revealing of a political ambition on the territory. Other sources evoke the devastation committed by the men of the North during this initial offensive. (Geste des Toulousains by Nicolas Bertrand (1515)[15], Cartulaire de Bigorre[16], Charte de Mont-de-Marsan, known as the Lobaner Charter[17]).

The Geste des Toulousains[18] states that this attack would have taken place in 840, the year before the first Viking attack on Rouen. This date seems to be confirmed by the Chronicle of Fontenelle, the Chronicle of Tours[19] and the Charter of Lobaner[20].

This attack was followed by a takeover of the territory. It affected not only Gascony on the left bank of the Garonne, but also Aquitaine on the right bank from 844 onwards. (Carte)

In 860, Andreas of Bergamo[21] wrote about the battle of Fontenoy-en-Puisaye which took place in 841: "A great massacre was made, especially among the nobles of Aquitaine [...]. To this day, the nobility of Aquitaine is so devastated that the Normans take over its lands and it has no strength to resist them". This taking of possession is also evoked by Guillaume de Jumièges[22]. "Having destroyed the bravest offspring of its soil, it (Aquitaine) was then left in prey to foreign races [...]. No country was able to preserve its freedom, and there was no castle, no village, no town that did not succumb to the blows of the Pagans following a massacre".

The occupation of Gascony by Vikings.

In 858, Annales Bertiniani evokes: "Bernon, duke of this portion of Normandy who lived on the Seine, comes to King Charles in the palace of Verberie, and, putting his hands in his own, swears loyalty to him". This submission is in fact a treaty. In six years, Björn has just rolled Western Francia. Ruined, at the head of a kingdom adrift, Charles the Bald necessarily granted land to his victor. However, the only lands that will no longer be referred to as part of the kingdom are Saintonge and Gascony. Adhémar de Chabanne tells us that in 868, Charles the Bald regained control of Aquitaine and appointed Vulgrin, already Count of Agen, as head of the counties of Périgueux and Angoulême[23]. Saintes and Bordeaux - a priori occupied by the Men of the North - were not affected by this takeover.

Charles Higounet saw it as the constitution of a military march to oppose the Pagans[24]. Their presence in the region is confirmed by the abandonment of its Bordeaux siege by Frothaire in 876: "One read the petition of Frothaire, bishop of Bordeaux, who could not remain in his city because of the infestation of the pagans, asked that he be allowed to live in the metropolis of the country of Bourges. The bishops unanimously rejected this petition». Information confirmed by the Letter of Pope John VIII of October 28, 876 defending Frothaire.[25]

The Scandinavian presence in the region at that time is confirmed by the Chronicle of Guîtres[26]. In 887, Frothaire still did not return to Bordeaux and Pope Stephen V complained about it in a letter addressed to the archbishops of Lyon and Rheims.[27] It is to correct Frothaire's failure that the pope asked Léon de Carentan, archbishop of Rouen, to come and evangelize Gascony where he was assassinated in 892 according to The Great Legend of Saint Léon[28].

"Gascony in the 880s was in full desolation. No traveller ventured to cross it, especially in its western part, which was more affected than the others". "The Martyrology of Usuard and Flodoard[29] tells us. This situation of abandonment is confirmed by another source: "The Archbishop of Auch, for his part, in 879 had only three suffragists installed in the eastern seats while the west was totally deprived of pastors". "Letters and decrees of Pope John VIII. [30]

The end of the Vikings in Gascony.

During this period, we find no trace of any monastery foundation, no tax levy, no donations, which seems to indicate a lack of Christian power in the region. It is known that in 976, the Count of Périgueux and Bordeaux lost his life fighting the Pagans. Without an heir, Bordeaux returned to the Count of Gascony. In the 980s, probably in 982, the troops of the Count of Gascony and his wife, Urraca, Queen of Pamplona, faced the men of the North in a bloody battle. The battle of Taller near Dax would have definitively rid Gascony of the Scandinavian threat. This battle is mentioned in the Charter of the foundation of the Abbey of Saint Sever[31] and in the History of the Abbey of Condom[32] This victory would have put an end to Scandinavian domination in Gascony and paved the way for the restoration of the Church of Gascony.

Controversy.

Several historians[33] contest this invasion followed by an occupation[34] and in particular the existence of a Viking principality in Gascony[35] However, since the history of Gascony is a "blank page for lack of sources", no historian is able to say which power, capable of repelling the men of the North, would have dominated the country. The hypothesis of a Scandinavian conquest remains valid. All the more so as the sources cast doubt on the idea that the men of the North behaved as vulgar plunderers of monasteries without ambition south of the Loire.

According to Joël Supéry[36], the Ragnar clan, originally from the Vestfold, initiated the invasions and invaded Gascony to get their hands on a trade route between Bayonne and Narbonne, a route that dispensed the clan from crossing the dangerous Strait of Gibraltar dominated by the Emir of Cordoba to access Mediterranean trade.

References

  1. ^ 1. Lucien Musset, Les Invasions ; le second assaut contre l’Europe chrétienne (viie – xie siècles), Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1965
  2. ^ Charles Higounet, Histoire de Bordeaux, Toulouse, Privat, 1980, p. 82.
  3. ^ Frédéric Boutoulle, « Par peur de Normands. Les Vikings à Bordeaux et la mémoire de leurs incursions. », Revue archéologique de Bordeaux,‎ 2008, tome ic (p.23 et s.)
  4. ^ Renée Mussot-Goulard, Histoire de la Gascogne, PUF, 1996
  5. ^ Joël Supéry, La Saga des Vikings, une autre histoire des invasions, Paris, Autrement, 2018
  6. ^ Annales Bertiniani, 844, The Normans, having advanced along the Garonne as far as Toulouse, plundered the country with impunity on all sides.
  7. ^ Annales Bertiniani, 847,The Danes threw themselves upon the coasts of Aquitaine and devastated them.
  8. ^ Annales Bertiniani, 857, Pepin, together with Danish pirates, devastated the city of Poitiers and several other places in Aquitaine.
  9. ^ Annales Bertiniani, 864, The Normans marched towards the city of Auvergne (Clermont) where, after having killed Etienne, son of Hugues, with a small number of his people, they returned to their ships with impunity.
  10. ^ Annales Bertiniani, 843, Pirates arrived ... went to devastate the lower parts of Aquitaine; at last they arrived on a certain island, having brought in land, they made houses for wintering, and settled there as in a perpetual abode.
  11. ^ Annales Bertiniani, 845, The Danes, who had devastated Aquitaine the previous year, returned to attack the people of Saintes and, having been fought by them, overcame them and settled quietly in that place.
  12. ^ Annales Bertiniani, 857, Pepin, together with Danish pirates, devastates the city of Poitiers
  13. ^ Annales Bertiniani, 864, Pepin, son of Pepin, who, as a monk, had become a layman and apostate, allied himself with the Normans and followed their religion... Pepin the apostate was removed, by the address of the Aquitans, from among the Normans...
  14. ^ Pierre de Marca, Histoire de Bearn, 1640, p. Livre I, Chap IX, note 8, p38.
  15. ^ Alexandre Du Mège, Histoire générale du Languedoc, 1830, Tome 2, Notes, p. 70.
  16. ^ Jean Justin Monlauzun, Histoire de la Gascogne, 1847, Not only did they exterminate men by sword and hunger, but they dismantled the towers and defensive walls, set the basilicas, oratories, and the humblest chapels ablaze, overthrew the altars, desecrated the tombs of the saints, and scattered their bones.” p., tome VI, p. 310.
  17. ^ Jean-Justin Monlezun, Histoire de la Gascogne, 1847, Tome 1, p.441.
  18. ^ Pierre de Marca, Livre I
  19. ^ Abbé E A Pigeon,, Histoire de la cathédrale de Coutances., Coutances, 1876.
  20. ^ Jean-Justin Monlezun, Histoire de la Gascogne, 1847, Tome 1, p.441.
  21. ^ Andrea presbyteri Bergomatis, Chronicon,, 860, p. 12.
  22. ^ Guizot, Histoire des ducs de Normandie, Caen, 1826, p. Livre I, Chapitre VIII, p.17.
  23. ^ Jules Chavanon, Adhemar de Chabanne, publié d’après les manuscrits, Paris, Picard, 1897, Et Carolus hoc audito, Vulgrimnum propinquum suum,… prefecit eum Engolisme et Petragorice, et Olibam. p., p. Liber Tertius, p. 137
  24. ^ Charles Higounet, Histoire de Bordeaux, Toulouse, Privat, 1980, p. 82.
  25. ^ Lettres et décrets du pape Jean VIII, ed. Migne, We have learned that almost the entire province belonging to the Metropolitan of Bordeaux was desolate because of the persecution of the pagans, so that our confrere could no longer give his subjects enough to live on and that there was no longer the slightest dwelling place for the faithful..., Patrologie Latine, t CXVI, c.841, lettre n° 232
  26. ^ Jules Depoin, « Chronique de Guîtres », Revue des études historiques,‎ 1912
  27. ^ Flodoard, Historia Remensis, Paris, ed.Lauer, 1907, The Bishops have not been renewed on their seats, some have left. In 876 the Archbishop of Bordeaux himself left his overly exposed metropolis, and in 887 the Pope complained that he had not yet returned. p., p. IV, 1.
  28. ^ Abbé Dubarrat,, le Missel de Bayonne en 1543, Grande Légende de Saint Léon
  29. ^ Martyrologe d’Usuard et Flodoard Subsidia Hagiographica,, Bruxelles, ed. Dom J. Dubois,, 1965, n°40, (année 880)
  30. ^ Lettres et décrets du pape Jean VIII, ed. Migne, We have learned that almost the entire province belonging to the Metropolitan of Bordeaux was desolate because of the persecution of the pagans, so that our confrere could no longer give his subjects enough to live on and that there was no longer the slightest dwelling place for the faithful..., Patrologie Latine, t CXVI, c.841, lettre n° 232
  31. ^ Chartes et documents hagiographiques de l’abbaye de Saint-Sever (Landes) (988-1359), Dax, éd. G. Pon et J. Cabanot, 2010, t. I, p 112-113.
  32. ^ d’Achery, Spicilegum, 1655, Tome XIII.
  33. ^ Paul-François Paoli, « Les tridents de la mer : Polémique entre Régis Boyer et Joël Supéry », La Figaro,‎ 27 juillet 2005
  34. ^ Frédéric Boutoulle, « Par peur de Normands. Les Vikings à Bordeaux et la mémoire de leurs incursions. », Revue archéologique de Bordeaux,‎ 2008, tome ic (p.23 et s.)
  35. ^ Alban Gautier, « Une principauté viking en Gascogne ? A propos d'une imposture... », Annales de Normandie,‎ janvier 2018, p. 173-185.
  36. ^ Joël Supéry, La Saga des Vikings, une autre histoire des invasions, Paris, Autrement, 2018

Viking incursions in Gascony (840-982)

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