Strasbourg Oath
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The Oaths of Strasbourg were a military pact made on 14 February 842 by
Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ...
and
Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...
against their older brother Lothair I, the designated heir of
Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
, the successor of
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
. One year later the
Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and ...
would be signed, with major consequences for Western Europe's geopolitical landscape. Louis the German swore his oath in
Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
so that the soldiers of Charles the Bald could understand him. Likewise, the latter recited his in Germanic so that Louis' soldiers would understand. The Romance section of the Oaths is of special importance to
historical linguistics Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include: # to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages # ...
, as it is the oldest extant document in France that was written deliberately and consistently in a form of Romance.


Context

Centuries after the
fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...
, Charlemagne, who had conquered much of its former territory, announced its restoration. Upon his death, he passed this realm to his son Louis the Pious, who would in turn pass it to his firstborn son Lothair I. However, the latter's brothers—Charles and Louis—refused to recognize him as their suzerain. When Lothair attempted to invade their lands, they allied against him and defeated him at the Battle of Fontenoy in June 841. Charles and Louis met in February 842 near modern Strasbourg to affirm their alliance by swearing a joint oath against Lothair.Claude Hagège, ''Le francais, histoire d'un combat'', Éditions Michel Hagège, 1996, p. 175 (), chapter 1 The following year the civil war would end with the Treaty of Verdun, in which the three claimants partitioned the Empire amongst themselves. The Oaths were not preserved in their original form; they were instead copied by the historian Nithard, another grandson of Charlemagne, in a work titled ''De Dissensionibus Filiorum Ludovici Pii'' "On the Quarrels of Louis the Pious' Sons". This was a firsthand account, as Nithard had campaigned alongside his cousin Charles the Bald. It was however biased, reflecting the perspective of the allies and casting Lothair as an aggressor and villain. Louis and Charles swore their oaths not as kings—a term which is never used—but rather as lords, with their respective entourages acting as witnesses. Ostensibly they were acceding to Lothair I's demands as his future 'subjects'. Although the Oaths are of little political importance, given that they were superseded by the more comprehensive Treaty of Verdun, they are of significant importance to the field of linguistics. As the scholar Philippe Walter wrote:


Manuscript

Nithard's text has been passed down to us via two manuscripts that are today kept at the
National Library of France National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
. The older manuscript was copied around the year 1000, probably for an abbey in Picardy (either that of Saint-Médard or Saint Riquier). In the fifteenth century it was in the possession of the Abbey of Saint Magloire in Paris. Around 1650 it was bought by the Swedish Queen Christina and transferred to Rome; after her death it was acquired by the
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...
. After
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's forces captured Rome, it was transferred back to Paris along with various other historical manuscripts. Napoleon would later return most of the others, but kept this one. It is currently found in the National Library of France under the
call number A library classification is a system of organization of knowledge by which library resources are arranged and ordered systematically. Library classifications are a notational system that represents the order of topics in the classification and al ...
Latin 9768. The Oaths are found on folio #13. The other manuscript, which is kept in the same library under the call number Latin 14663, is a copy of the former that was made in the fifteenth century.


Romance portion

Louis the German's oath is recorded as follows: The army of Charles the Bald swore that:


Germanic portion

The language reflects an early form of Ripuarian Frankish. Charles the Bald is recorded as saying:This is a close translation of Louis' oath, except that an equivalent to ''et in aiudha et in cadhuna cosa'' appears to be missing. The soldiers of Louis the German replied: This, in turn, was equivalent to the oath sworn by Charles' soldiers.


Linguistic features

Several scholars consider the Romance portion of the Oaths to have been translated from an unattested Latin original, while others maintain its originality. According to Hall, the text does not contain any particular features that would mark it as belonging to the future Oïl or Oc groups, with the possible exception of the form ''tanit'' 'keep' < *tɛ́ni̯at, which is characteristic of
Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
. Hall describes the language of the text as "nearly undifferentiated conservative Pre-French". The difficulty of discerning a particular dialect in the text may be due to a deliberate effort by the author to write in a sort of regional koiné. Cerquiglini further observes that "No Old French text, not even any of the oldest ones, shows dialectical features consistent with only one particular region." Nevertheless, various other scholars have suggested that the Oaths were written in an early form of Picard,
Lyonnais The Lyonnais () is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon. The geographical area known as the ''Lyonnais'' became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire. The disintegratio ...
,
Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
, or Poitevin.


Transcriptions

The following is a reconstructed pronunciation of Louis' oath and that of Charles' soldiers:Hall (1953), pp. 317-321 Here are the Romance sections of folio 13r along with digital facsimiles:


Partitions of Charlemagne's empire

File:Empire carolingien 768-811.jpg, Conquests during the reign of Charlemagne, 758–814. File:Traite de Verdun.svg, Partition of the Empire according to the Treaty of Verdun, 843. File:Empire carolingien 855-fr.svg, Treaty of Prüm, 855. File:Empire carolingien 870.svg, Treaty of Mersen, 870. File:Empire carolingien 880.png, Treaty of Ribemont, 880.


See also

* Kassel Glosses * Reichenau Glosses


References


Further reading

* * * * * * *


External links

* Photos of the manuscripts found at the
National Library of France National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
: *
Folio 12v
*
Folio 13r
*
Folio 13v
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strasbourg, Oaths Of 842 works 9th-century documents Diplomatics History of Europe History of the French language Medieval Germany Oaths West Germanic languages