Stegeman, Hans

English

In de 6e en 7e eeuw was het koninkrijk der Franken opgedeeld in drie deelrijken die werden geregeerd door de Merovingische dynastie: Neustrië in het westen, Bourgondië in het zuidoosten en Austrasië in het noordoosten (Het zuiden van Francia was tussen deze drie koninkrijken verdeeld). Deze studie behandelt ontwikkelingen in en kenmerken van Austrasië en concludeert dat zich tussen 600 en 800 een specifieke Austrasische identiteit ontwikkelde die vervolgens de Karolingische periode sterk beïnvloedde.De kenmerken van Austrasië worden via drie benaderingen geanalyseerd: koningschap, de Austrasische omgang met het sacrale en de relatie tussen aristocraten en koningen. De analyse steunt vooral op narratieve bronnen, waar onder de Kroniek van Fredegarius (c. 660), de Annales Mettenses Priores (c. 805) en diverse heiligenlevens (Vitae Amandi I en II, Vita Arnulfi e.a.).Inzake koningschap volgt de studie de ontwikkeling van het concept van koningschap als een “ambt”, welke wordt geïllustreerd door Fredegarius’ waardering voor een degelijk Austrasisch koningschap, gedragen door aristocratische raadgevers. De Austrasische omgang met het sacrale – die bijdroeg aan een koningschap gericht op orthodoxie en correctheid – wordt gekenmerkt bij de constructie van een missionaire ideologie die een belangrijk element werd van de zelfperceptie van de Austrasiërs. Analyse van de relatie tussen Austrasische aristocraten en hun koningen toont de groeiende invloed van aristocraten op Austrasische koningen, die in de tijd waarin de macht overging van de Merovingers op de Karolingers het Frankisch koningschap hielp vormen.Deze ontwikkelingen betreffende koningschap, het sacrale en de positie van de aristocratie tonen hoe Austrasische koningen en hun aristocratische raadgevers, evenals Austrasische heiligen en kloosters bijdroegen aan de formatie van een Austrasische “Kulturraum”.In the 6th and 7th centuries the kingdom of the Franks was divided in three sub-kingdoms, ruled by the Merovingian dynasty: Neustria (West), Burgundy (Southeast) and Austrasia (Northeast). This study addresses developments in and characteristics of Austrasia, concluding that a specific Austrasian identity developed between 600 and 800, which later deeply influenced the Carolingian period.The characteristics of Austrasia are analyzed through three approaches: kingship, the way Austrasians dealt with the sacred, and the relationship between aristocrats and kings. The analysis uses mainly narrative sources, among which are the Chronicle of Fredegar (c. 660), the Annales Mettenses Priores (c. 805) and several saints’ Lives (Vitae Amandi I and II, Vita Arnulfi, others).Concerning kingship, the study traces the development of the concept of kingship as an “office”, which is illustrated by Fredegar’s approval of a decent Austrasian kingship, carried by aristocratic counselors. The Austrasian way of dealing with the sacred – while contributing to a kingship concerned with orthodoxy and correctness – is characterized by the construction of a missionary ideology which became an important element of the Austrasians’ self-perception. Analysis of the relationship between Austrasian aristocrats and their kings shows the growing influence of aristocrats on Austrasian kings, which at the time when power was passing from the Merovingians to the Carolingians helped form Frankish kingship.These developments regarding kingship, the sacred and the position of the aristocracy show how Austrasian kings and their aristocratic counselors, as well as Austrasian saints and monasteries, contributed to the formation of an Austrasian "Kulturraum”

Dissertations of the University of Groningen

   University of GroningenThe growth of an Austrasian identityStegeman, HansIMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite fromit. Please check the document version below.Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordPublication date:2014Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research databaseCitation for published version (APA):Stegeman, H. (2014). The growth of an Austrasian identity: Processes of identification and legendconstruction in the Northeast of the Regnum Francorum, 600-800.CopyrightOther than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of theauthor(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).The publication may also be distributed here under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license.More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverne-amendment.Take-down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediatelyand investigate your claim.Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons thenumber of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.Download date: 05-06-2022Propositions with the thesis “The growth of an Austrasian identity. Processes of identification and legend construction in the Northeast of the Regnum Francorum, 600-800” by Johan Lammert Stegeman    I. Ewig’s supposition that the various Frankish kingdoms – specifically Neustria and Austrasia – shared “profound roots with common concepts of justice” is at variance with the fact that at two key moments in the VIIth century disparities between the kingdoms were explicitly recognized in royal edicts: in 614 by Chlothar II and in 673 by Childeric II, in both cases in a context involving the aristocratic leaders from both Neustria and Austrasia. Contra: Ewig, ‘Die fränkischen Teilreiche im 7. Jahrhundert (613-714)’. Reprinted in: H. Atsma ed., Spätantikes und fränkisches Gallien. Gesammelte Schriften (1952-1973) I. Beihefte der Francia 3 (Munich 1976), 173.  II. Regarding the baptism of Sigebert III (c. 630), there are good grounds to credit the account of Fredegar rather than the very different report given in the various Vitae Amandi, the discrepancy between the two versions providing a valuable indication of the growing significance of legend construction in the period between c. 650 and c. 750.  III. Collins’ notion that the Historia vel Gesta Francorum provide a mainly West-Burgundian or Aquitanian perspective, though plausible in itself, should be reassessed in view of the work’s Austrasia-related content and contextual information.  Contra: Collins, Die Fredegar-Chroniken (Hanover 2007), 89-91  IV. Assuming that the growth, between 600 and 800, of an Austrasian identity (Austrasianness) represents a case of regio-genesis rather than of ethnogenesis, nevertheless applying Wenskus’ paradigm of ethnogenesis to this process – viz. identifying the role of “Traditionskerne” as well as a “primordial event” and a “change of religion” – provides clarifying insights into it. Compare: Wenskus, Stammesbildung un Verfassung. Das Werden der frühmittelalterlichen Gentes (Vienna 1961).  V. The desire of the Austrasians to have a king of their own, easily accessible and open to their advice, lost much of its urgency when, following the war with Samo and the subsequent revolt of Radulf (630-639), the authority of Austrasian kingship evaporated in large parts of Germany. This diminished authority brought with it a decline of royal resources, which nudged Austrasian leaders toward a gradual reorientation on the Neustrian court and led ultimately to the battle of Tertry (687).  VI. Applying the methodology as developed within the framework of “Texts and Identities”  to identify links between conceptions on kingship in Austrasia on the one hand and forms of devotion and the role of the aristocracy on the other, allows us to envisage a specific Austrasian “grammar of kingship”, analogous to the “grammar of identity” developed by Pohl. Compare: Corradini, Texts and identities in the Early Middle Ages, Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 12(Vienna 2004), as well as the Wittgenstein Project 2005-2010: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/gema/Wittgenstein/home.html   VII. The fact that the perceived gap between citizens and politicians became a topic for discussion during a period when the latter increasingly strove to accommodate the vox populi fosters the conjecture that detached authority ultimately inspires more trust than skittish pliability.  

The growth of an Austrasian identity:Processes of identification and legend construction in the Northeast of the Regnum Francorum, 600-800

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The growth of an Austrasian identity:Processes of identification and legend construction in the Northeast of the Regnum Francorum, 600-800

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