The Vikings in the Rhinelands according to Latin Sources

The Vikings in the Rhinelands according to Latin Sources

The Vikings in the Rhinelands according to
Latin Sources
Sabine Walther (Bochum)
1. Sources
The Viking incursions along the Rhine are mainly recorded in the major
historical texts from the Carolingian period. Up to 829, the main source are
the Annales regni Francorum, ‘a piece of official historiography’1 the
authors of which may be looked for in the vicinity of the royal chapel.2 Their
continuation may be found in the so-called Annales Bertiniani (taking their
name from the oldest preserved manuscript, found in St-Bertin). From 840
onwards, the horizon of these annals is mainly limited to the western kingdom.3 The Annales Fuldenses, on the other hand, are a kind of royal East
Franconian annals, written for Louis the German.4 The history of the central
kingdom is covered by the Annales Xantenses, most probably written somewhere on the Lower Rhine, and continued by the so-called Annales
Vedastini.5 The Annales Xantenses take their name from the detailed account
of the destruction wrought on Xanten by the Vikings in 863 and continue up
to 873.6 The Annales Vedastini, written in the monastery of St-Vaast near
1
Wattenbach, Wilhelm / Levison, Wilhelm: Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im
Mittelalter. Vorzeit und Karolinger. II. Heft. Die Karolinger vom Anfang des 8.
Jahrhunderts bis zum Tode Karls des Großen, red. by Wilhelm Levison / Heinz
Löwe, Weimar: Böhlau 1953, 247.
2
s.v. Nonn, Ulrich: ‘Reichsannalen’, in Lexikon des Mittelalters 7, München:
LexMA Verlag 1995, 616-617.
3
Wattenbach, Wilhelm / Levison, Wilhelm: Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im
Mittelalter. Vorzeit und Karolinger. III. Heft. Die Karolinger vom Tode Karls des
Großen bis zum Vertrag von Verdun, red. by Heinz Löwe, Weimar. Böhlau 1957,
348-349; Prelog, Jan: ‘Annalen v. St-Bertin’, in Lexikon des Mittelalters 1, München
/ Zürich: Artemis Verlag 1980, 661.
4
For their complex history see: Wattenbach, Wilhelm / Levison, Wilhelm: Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter. Vorzeit und Karolinger. VI. Heft. Die
Karolinger vom Vertrag von Verdun bis zum Herrschaftsantritt der Herrscher aus
dem sächsischen Hause. Das ostfränkische Reich, red. by Heinz Löwe, Weimar:
Böhlau 1990, 671-687.
5
Nonn: ‘Reichsannalen’, 616-617.
6
Quellen zur karolingischen Reichsgeschichte. Teil 2. Jahrbücher von St. Bertin.
Jahrbücher von St. Vaast. Xantener Jahrbücher, ed. by Reinhold Rau, Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1961 (Freiherr vom Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe 6),
8-9. For the destruction of Xanten, see: Annales Xantenses, a. 864; for the dating, see
9.
165
Arras, continue the story for the period from 874 to 900.7 Some other annals,
often very brief, give little additional information.
The chronicle (Chronicon) by Regino of Prüm starts with the birth of
Jesus Christ and ends with 906, but only the years after 813 present the
author’s original work and are one of the most important sources for the 9th
century.8 We may add to these the Vita Karoli Magni by Einhard and two
Vitae of Louis the Pious, namely those by the so-called. Astronomus and by
Thegan.
These sources cover events from the viewpoint of the continental population suffering from Viking attacks and therefore tell us nothing about the
plans and motivations of the Vikings, and thus this paper also has to limit
itself to these historical descriptions, but takes the Rhinelands as the centre
of ist investigation. The political connections with Denmark – and their
possible relevance for the Viking incursions – will remain outside the scope
of this presentation, as the fights over the Danish throne, Denmark’s foreign
policies and the Carolingian reactions would warrant separate research. We
shall also exclude the complex history of the internal fights between the
Carolingians, especially after the death of Louis the Pious, even though these
fights undoubtedly incouraged Viking activity by weakening the empire’s
resistance.
Most of the sources quoted here exemplarically need little explanation,
especially as normally additional information for the Viking activity is
lacking. An appendix lists towns, monasteries and rivers affected by Viking
attacks with references to the relevant sources.
2. Attacks During the Merovingian Age
Occasional Scandinavian incursions seem to have occured as early as the 6th
century, well before Carolonigian times. Gregory of Tours reports Danes
under king Chlochilaich attacking Gallia:9
The next thing which happened was that the Danes sent a fleet under their King
Chlochilaich and invaded Gaul from the sea. They came ashore, laid waste one of
the regions ruled by Theuderic and captured some of the inhabitants. They loaded
their ships with what they had stolen and the men they had seized, and then they
set sail for home. Their king remained onshore, waiting until the boats had gained
7
Wattenbach, Wilhelm / Levison; Wilhelm: Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im
Mittelalter. Vorzeit und Karolinger. V. Heft. Die Karolinger vom Vertrag von
Verdun bis zum Herrschaftsantritt der Herrscher aus dem sächsischen Hause. Das
westfränkische Reich, red. by Heinz Löwe, Weimar: Böhlau 1973, 535-536.
8
Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon, vol. 8, ed. by Kurt Ruh,
Berlin / New York: de Gruyter 1992, s. v. Regino von Prüm, 1118-1122.
9
Gregor von Tours: Zehn Bücher Geschichten, vol. 1, ed. by Rudolf Buchner,
Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1959 (Freiherr vom SteinGedächtnisausgabe Bd. 2), 147.
166
the open sea, when he planned to go on board. When Theuderic heard that his
land had been invaded by foreigners, he sent his son Theudebert to those parts
with a powerful army and all the necessary equipment. The Danish king was
killed, the enemy fleet was beaten in a naval battle and all the booty was brought
back on shore once more.10
The same incident is described, if more briefly, by ‘Fredegar’11, but the
Liber Historiae Francorum provides more information on the exact locality:
on the Lower Rhine in the tribal area of the Chattuariens12 who settled
around Nijmegen. Even earlier, in 523 some Danes had apparently used a
river to sail upstream and attack the reign of Theuderich I., but were repelled
by his son Theudebert.13 This event is also mentioned in a couple of AngloSaxon sources, in Beowulf and in the Latin Liber monstrorum de diversis
generibus preserved in a 10th-century manuscript.14 The Danish king
Chlochilaichus is usually identified with Hygelac in Beowulf, but a problem
arises with the ethnic identification of the attackers who are called Danes by
all Franconian sources but ‘Geatas’ (Latin Getae) in the Anglo-Saxon texts.
Either they were Jutes from Danish Jutland or else ‘Goths’ from Swedish
Vestergötland. It seems somewhat more likely to identfy them with Jutes
10
Gregory of Tours: The History of the Franks, transl. by Lewis Thorpe, Harmondsworth: Penguin 1974, 163f.
11
Fredegarius scholasticus. Chroncon III, in Fredegarii et aliorum Chronica. Vitae
sanctorum, ed. by Bruno Krusch, Hannover 1888, reprint 1984 (MGH SS rer. Mer.
2), 30f.
12
Liber Historiae Francorum, Recensio A, in Quellen zur Geschichte des 7. und 8.
Jahrhunderts, ed. by Wolfram Herwig / Herbert Haupt, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 1982 (Freiherr vom Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe 4a), c. 19:
In illo tempore Dani cum rege suo nomine Chochilaico cum navale hoste per alto
mare Gallias appetent, Theuderico paygo Attoarios vel alios devastantes atque
captivantes, plenas naves de captivis alto mare intrantes, rex eorum ad litus maris
resedens. Quod cum Theuderico nuntiatum fuisset, Theudobertum, filium suum, cum
magno exercitu in illis partibus dirigens. Qui consequens eos, pugnavit cum eis
caede magna atque prostravit, regem eorum interficit, preda tullit et in terra sua
restituit.
13
Bleiber, Waltraud: Das Frankenreich der Merowinger. Wien / Köln / Graz: Böhlau
1988, 79-80; Haywood, John: Dark Age Naval Power. A re-assessment of Frankish
and Anglo Saxon seafaring activity. London / New York: Routledge 1991, 78-79.
Zum Ort des Einfalls vgl.: G. Storms: ‘The Significance of Hygelac’s Raid’, Nottingham Mediaeval Studies 14 (1970), 10-12. For the dating, see Bleiber: Das Frankenreich, 79: c. 515, Storms: ‘The Significance’, 9-10: c. 523, Haywood: Dark Age
Naval Power, 79: mid-520s.
14
Et sunt [monstra] mirae magnitudinis: ut rex Huiglaucus qui imperavit Getis et a
Francis occisus est. Quem equus a duodecimo anno portare non potuit. Cujus ossa in
Reni fluminis insula, ubi Oceanum prorumpit, reservata sunt et de longinquo
venientibus pro miraculo ostenduntur. Quoted from: Chambers, Raymond Wilson:
Beowulf. An Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories
of Offa and Finn. Cambridge: University Press 31959, 4.
167