Medieval duchy in southern France
The
Duchy of Aquitaine
(
Occitan
:
Ducat d'Aquitania
,
IPA:
[dy?kad
daki?ta??]
;
French
:
Duche d'Aquitaine
,
IPA:
[dy?e
dakit?n]
) was a historical
fiefdom
in western, central, and southern areas of present-day
France
to the south of the river
Loire
, although its extent, as well as its name, fluctuated greatly over the centuries, at times comprising much of what is now southwestern France (
Gascony
) and central France.
The territory originated in the 7th century as a duchy of
Francia
, ultimately a recreation of the Roman provinces of
Aquitania Prima and Secunda
. As a duchy, it broke up after the conquest of the independent Aquitanian duchy of
Waiofar
, going on to become a sub-kingdom within the
Carolingian Empire
. It was then absorbed by
West Francia
after the
partition of Verdun
in 843 and soon reappeared as a duchy under it. In 1153, an enlarged Aquitaine pledged loyalty to the
Angevin kings of England
. As a result, a
rivalry
emerged between the
French monarchs
and the Angevins over control of the latter's territorial possessions in France. By the mid-13th century, only
Gascony
remained in Angevin hands. The
Hundred Years' War
finally saw the
kingdom of France
gain full control over Aquitaine in the 1450s, with much of its territory directly incorporated into the
French royal domain
itself.
History
[
edit
]
Early history
[
edit
]
Gallia Aquitania
fell under
Visigothic
rule in the 5th century. It was conquered by the
Franks
under
Clovis I
in 507, as a result of the
Battle of Vouille
. During the 6th and early 7th century, it was under direct rule of Frankish kings, divided between the realms of
Childebert II
and
Guntram
in the
Treaty of Andelot
of 587. Under
Chlothar II
, Aquitaine was again an integral part of Francia, but after Chlothar's death in 629, his heir
Dagobert I
granted a subkingdom in southern Aquitaine to his younger brother
Charibert II
. This subkingdom, consisting of Gascony and the southern fringe of Aquitaine proper, is conventionally known as "Aquitaine" and forms the historical basis for the later duchy.
Charibert campaigned successfully against the
Basques
, but after his death in 632, they revolted again, in 635 subdued by an army sent by Dagobert (who was at the same time forced to deal with a rebellion in Brittany).
The duchy of Aquitaine as a quasi-independent realm within the Frankish empire established itself during the second half of the 7th century, certainly by 700 under
Odo the Great
. The first duke is on record under the name of Felix, and as having ruled from about 660. As his successor, Lupus held loose ties with the Frankish kings, ruling autonomously (
princeps
).
[1]
Odo succeeded Lupus in 700 and signed a peace treaty with
Charles Martel
. He inflicted on the
Moors
a crushing defeat at the
Battle of Toulouse
in 721.
However, Charles Martel coveted the southern realm, crossed the Loire in 731 and looted much of Aquitaine. Odo engaged the Franks in battle, but lost and came out weakened. Soon after this battle, in 732, the Moors raided Vasconia and Aquitaine as far north as
Poitiers
and defeated Odo twice near
Bordeaux
. Odo saw no option but to invoke the aid of Charles Martel and pledge allegiance to the Frankish prince.
Odo was succeeded by his son Hunald, who reverted to former independence, so defying the Frankish
Mayor of the Palace
Charles Martel's authority. In 735 and 736 Martel attacked Hunald and his allies, the counts of key Aquitanian towns such as
Bourges
and
Limoges
. Eventually Hunald retired to a monastery, leaving both the kingdom and the continuing conflict to Waifer, or Guaifer. Following the full occupation of
Septimania
in 759, Pepin turned now his attention to Aquitaine, initiating a cyclical military campaign that lasted for eight years, i.e. the War of Aquitaine. Waifer strenuously carried on an unequal struggle with the Carolingian Franks, but his assassination in 768 marked the demise of Aquitaine's relative independence. During these years Aquitaine underwent intensive destruction of urban, economic, military and intellectual centres. Pepin's forces destroyed up to 36 monasteries.
[2]
As a successor state to the Roman province of Gallia Aquitania and the
Visigothic Kingdom
(418?721),
Aquitania
(Aquitaine) and
Languedoc
(
Toulouse
) inherited the Visigothic Law and
Roman Law
which had combined to allow women more rights than their contemporaries in other parts of Europe. Particularly with the
Liber Judiciorum
, which was codified in 642 and 643 and expanded in the Code of Recceswinth in 653, women could inherit land and title and manage it independently from their husbands or male relations, dispose of their property in legal wills if they had no heirs, and women could represent themselves and bear witness in court by age 14 and arrange for their own marriages by age 20.
[3]
As a consequence, male-preference
primogeniture
was the practiced succession law for the nobility.
Carolingian kingdom of Aquitaine
[
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]
The autonomous and troublesome duchy of Aquitaine was conquered by the
Franks
in 769, after a series of revolts against their suzerainty. In order to avoid a new demonstration of Aquitain particularism,
Charlemagne
decided to organize the land within his kingdom.
After the Carolingian conquest, the duchy ceased to exist as such, whose powers were taken over by the counts (dukes) of Toulouse, main seat of the Carolingian government in the Midi, represented by Chorso and, after being deposed, by Charlemagne's trustee William (of Gellone), a close relative of his. In 781, he made his third son
Louis
, then three years of age, king of Aquitaine. The
Carolingian
Kingdom of Aquitaine subordinated to the Carolingian king or (later) emperor based in
Francia
(Austrasia, Neustria). It included not only Aquitaine proper, but also
Gothia
,
Vasconia
(Gascony) and the Carolingian possessions in
Spain
as well. In 806, Charlemagne planned to divide his empire between his sons. Louis received
Provence
and
Burgundy
as additions to his kingdom.
When Louis succeeded Charlemagne as emperor in 814, he granted Aquitaine to his son
Pepin I
, after whose death in 838 the nobility of Aquitaine chose his son
Pepin II of Aquitaine
(d. 865) as their king. The emperor Louis I, however, opposed this arrangement and gave the kingdom to his youngest son Charles, afterwards the emperor
Charles the Bald
. Confusion and conflict resulted, eventually falling in favor of Charles; although from 845 to 852 Pepin II was in possession of the kingdom, at Eastertide 848 in
Limoges
, the magnates and prelates of Aquitaine formally elected Charles as their king. Later, at
Orleans
, he was anointed and crowned by
Wenilo, archbishop of Sens
.
[4]
In 852, Pepin II was imprisoned by Charles the Bald, who soon afterwards pronounced his own son Charles as the ruler of Aquitaine. On the death of the younger Charles in 866, his brother
Louis the Stammerer
succeeded to the kingdom, and when, in 877, Louis became king of the Franks, Aquitaine was fully absorbed into the Frankish crown.
By a treaty made in 845 between Charles the Bald and Pepin II, the kingdom had been diminished by the loss of Poitou, Saintonge and Angoumois in the northwest of the region, which had been given to Rainulf I, count of Poitiers. The title of Duke of Aquitaine, already revived, was now borne by Rainulf, although it was also claimed by the counts of Toulouse. The new duchy of Aquitaine, including the three districts already mentioned, remained in the hands of Ramulf's successors, despite disagreement with their Frankish overlords, until 893 when Count Rainulf II was poisoned by order of King Charles III, or
Charles the Simple
. Charles then bestowed the duchy upon
William the Pious
, count of Auvergne, the founder of the
abbey of Cluny
, who was succeeded in 918 by his nephew,
Count William II
, who died in 926.
A succession of dukes followed, one of whom, William IV, fought against
Hugh Capet
, king of France, and another of whom,
William V
, called the Great, was able to strengthen and extend his authority considerably, although he yielded the proffered
Lombard crown
rather than fight
Conrad II
for it. William's duchy almost reached the limits of the old Roman
Gallia Aquitania
but did not stretch south of the Garonne, a district which was in the possession of the Gascons. William died in 1030. Odo or Eudes (d. 1039) joined Gascony to Aquitaine.
Angevin Empire
[
edit
]
The
Ramnulfids
had become the dominant power in southwestern France by the end of the 11th century. By marriage rather than conquest, their possessions passed into the "
Angevin Empire
" under the
English crown
by 1153.
William IX, Duke of Aquitaine
(d. 1127), who succeeded to the dukedom in 1087, gained fame as a crusader and a troubadour. His granddaughter,
Eleanor of Aquitaine
, succeeded to the duchy at the age of 15 as the eldest daughter and heir of
William X
(d. 1137), as his son did not live past childhood. She married
Louis
, heir to the French throne, three months after her father's death due to the quick thinking of Louis's father,
Louis VI of France
, who did not want to leave a territory such as Aquitaine governed by a child of fifteen. When Louis VI died, and Eleanor's new husband became King Louis VII, the Duchy of Aquitaine officially came under the rule of the French Crown, and for fifteen years, Louis VII had territory that rivaled that of the English crown and the Counts of Toulouse. The marriage was later annulled on the grounds of consanguinity by a bishop on 21 March 1152, and she kept her lands and title as Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. On 18 May 1152, she married
Henry, Duke of Normandy
, the son of
Empress Matilda
, daughter of
Henry I of England
, and a claimant to the English throne. When he defeated his mother's cousin,
King Stephen
, in 1153 and became King of England as Henry II, Aquitaine merged with the English crown.
[5]
Having suppressed a revolt in his new possession, Henry gave it to his son
Richard
. When Richard died in 1199, it reverted to Eleanor, and on her death in 1204, it was inherited by her son
John
and absorbed into the English crown permanently. The duchy henceforward followed the fortunes of the other English possessions in France, such as
Normandy
and
Anjou
, ultimately leading to the
Hundred Years' War
between England and France.
Aquitaine as it came to the English kings stretched from the Loire to the Pyrenees, but its range was limited to the southeast by the extensive lands of the counts of Toulouse. The name Guienne, a corruption of Aquitaine, seems to have come into use about the 10th century, and the subsequent history of Aquitaine is merged in that of
Gascony
and
Guienne
.
Hundred Years' War
[
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]
In 1337, King
Philip VI of France
reclaimed the fief of Aquitaine (essentially corresponding to Gascony) from Eleanor's descendant,
Edward III of England
. Edward in turn claimed the entire Kingdom of France as the only grandson of King
Philip IV of France
. This triggered the
Hundred Years' War
, in which both the
Plantagenets
and the
House of Valois
claimed supremacy over Aquitaine. In 1360, both sides signed the
Treaty of Bretigny
, in which Edward renounced his claim to the French crown but remained sovereign Lord of Aquitaine (rather than merely duke). However, when the treaty was broken in 1369, both these English claims and the war resumed. In 1362, Edward III, as Lord of Aquitaine, made his eldest son
Edward the Black Prince
, Prince of Aquitaine. In 1390, King
Richard II
, son of Edward the Black Prince, appointed his uncle
John of Gaunt
as Duke of Aquitaine. That title passed on to John's descendants although they belonged to the crown because John of Gaunt's son,
Henry IV
, managed to successfully usurp the crown from Richard II, therefore 'inheriting' the title Lord of Aquitaine from his father, which was passed down to his descendants as they became Kings. His son,
Henry V of England
, ruled over Aquitaine as King of England and Lord of Aquitaine from 1413 to 1422. He invaded France and emerged victorious at the siege of Harfleur and the
Battle of Agincourt
in 1415. He succeeded in obtaining the French crown for his family by the
Treaty of Troyes
in 1420. Henry V died in 1422, and his son
Henry VI
inherited the French throne at the age of less than a year; his reign saw the gradual loss of English control of France.
The
Valois
kings of France, claiming supremacy over Aquitaine, granted the title of duke to their heirs, the
Dauphins
, during 1345 and 1415:
John II
(1345?50),
Charles VII
(1392??1401), and
Louis
(1401?1415). French victory was complete with the
Battle of Castillon
of 1453. England and France nominally remained at war for another 20 years, but England was in no position to continue its campaign, due to its escalating
internal conflicts
. The Hundred Years' War was formally concluded with the
Treaty of Picquigny
of 1475. With the end of the Hundred Years' War, Aquitaine returned under direct rule of the king of France and remained in the possession of the king. Only occasionally was the title of "duke of Aquitaine" granted to another member of the dynasty, and then as a purely nominal distinction.
Geography and subdivisions
[
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]
Over the course of its existence, the duchy incorporated the
Duchy of Gascony
and, until 1271, the
County of Toulouse
, which now falls in the
region
of
Occitanie
. Most of the rest of the post-1271 duchy now forms the region of
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
, though parts fall into the three neighbouring regions of
Pays de la Loire
,
Centre-Val de Loire
and
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
.
The county of Aquitaine as it stood in the High Middle Ages, then, was bordering the
Pyrenees
to the south (
Navarre
,
Aragon
and
Barcelona
, formerly the
Marcha Hispanica
) and the
county of Toulouse
and the
kingdom of Burgundy
(
Arelat
to the east. To the north, it bordered on
Bretagne
,
Anjou
,
Blois
and
Bourbonnais
, all of which had passed to the
kingdom of France
by the 13th century.
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Lewis, pp 400?401 and n127.
- ^
Rouche, Michel (1979).
L'Aquitaine, des Wisigoths aux Arabes, 418-781 : naissance d'une region
. Paris: Editions de l'Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, Editions Touzot. p. 312.
ISBN
2-7132-0685-5
.
OCLC
7007853
.
- ^
Wemple, Suzanne Fonay;
Women in the Fifth to the Tenth Century
. In: Klapisch-Zuber, Christine;
A History of Women: Book II. Silences of the Middle Ages
, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England. 1992, 2000 (5th printing). Chapter 6, p 74.
- ^
Against this background of conflicted loyalties must be seen the career of Wenilo.
- ^
Jones, Dan
(2012).
The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England
. Penguin Random House.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Aquitaine
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 252?253.
Bibliography
[
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]