Fraxinet

Fraxinetum or Fraxinet ( ar, فرخشنيط, translit=Farakhshanīt or , from Latin ''fraxinus'': " ash tree", ''fraxinetum'': "ash forest") was the site of a Muslim fortress in Provence between about 887 and 972. It is identified with modern La Garde-Freinet, near Saint-Tropez. From this base, the Muslims raided up the Rhône Valley and into Piedmont. For a time, they controlled the passes through the western Alps. They withstood several attempts to oust them, but were finally defeated by the combined forces of the Provençal and Piedmontese nobility.

Primary sources

Christian sources in Latin are more numerous than Muslim ones in Arabic for reconstructing the history of Fraxinetum. The most important contemporary narrative of the Muslims of Fraxinetum is the ''Antapodosis'' of Liudprand, bishop of Cremona (d. 972). The bishop also mentions Fraxinetum in his ''Liber de rebus gestis Ottonis'', an account of the reign of King Otto I of Germany. Other contemporary narrative sources in Latin are the ''Annales'' of Flodoard, which cover the years 919–966, and the ''Casus sancti Galli'' of Ekkehard (d. 973). Documentary sources are few, but the first cartulary of the Abbey of Saint-Victor at Marseille, covering the years 838–1000, contains some references in its charters to Fraxinetum.

Several biographies and saints' lives also contain information relative to Fraxinetum. The ''Vita Iohannis Gorziensis'', a biography of John of Gorze written around 960, contains an account of the diplomacy undertaken by Otto I in response to raids in his territory. The two ''Vitae sancti Maioli'', biographies of Maiolus of Cluny written by Odilo of Cluny and Syrus, are important sources for the capture of their subject, which event brought about the downfall of Fraxinetum. The anonymous '' Vita sancti Bobonis'', written in the first half of the eleventh century about a saint who died in 986, describes the downfall of Fraxinetum. Its account appears to be based on that of the destruction of a ''castrum Fraxenedellum'' in the ''Chronicon Novalicense''.

Among contemporary Muslim sources that mention Fraxinetum are the Arabic ''Ṣurāt al-Arḍ'' of Ibn Ḥawqal (977), which is a revised version of the geographical treatise ''Kitāb al-Masālik waʿl-mamālik'' by al-Iṣṭakhrī (951), and an anonymous Persian geography, '' Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam'' (late 10th century). The ''Muqtabis'' of Ibn Ḥayyān (d. 1076) also mentions Fraxinetum.

Location

The fort of Fraxinetum atop the hill Mont des Maures overlooking what is today the village of La Garde-Freinet had existed since the Roman era. Its name is derived from the Latin '' fraxinus'' (ash tree) and probably refers to the thick forest of ash that covers the hill. The Muslim geographers al-Iṣṭakhrī and Ibn Ḥawqal call Fraxinetum ''Jabal al-Qilāl'' ("mount of timber"). They describe the Muslim enclave as vast, covered with streams and fertile soil and taking two days to cross. Ibn Ḥawqal erroneously considered it an island at the mouth of the Rhône.

Identity

According to Ibn Ḥawqal, the settlement was dependent on the Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba. The Muslims of Fraxinetum are described by Liudprand as Saracens (''saraceni'') from Spain and by the ''Vita sancti Bobonis'' simply as Spaniards (''hispanicolae''). Other sources refer to them as ''fusci'' (blacks), ''pagani'' (heathen) or Hagarenes.

History

Background

In 838, the ''Annales Bertiniani'' record that Muslims raided Marseille, plundered its religious houses and took captive both men and women, clerical and lay, as slaves. In 842, the ''Annales'' report a raid in the vicinity of Arles. In 869, raiders returned to Arles and captured the archbishop, Roland. They accepted a ransom in return for the archbishop, but when they handed him over he was already dead. The construction of a castle in the Camargue following these raids up the Rhône may have induced raiders to try points further east, culminating in the establishment of a permanent base of operations at Fraxinetum.

Foundation and expansion

The Muslim occupation of Fraxinetum began around 887, according to Liudprand, when a small ship carrying about twenty Andalusī sailors landed near Saint-Tropez. The Andalusīs seized the settlement that had grown up at the foot of the hill and then took control of the fort itself. This was accessible only by a narrow path through the forest, according to both Liudprand and Ibn Ḥawqal.

According to Liudprand, the settlers sent messages back to Spain and the Balearics inviting reinforcements. About 100 warriors answered the call, motivated both by religious zeal and a desire for plunder. In the first two decades of their rule, the Muslims of Fraxinetum subdued all of Provence and began raiding across the Alps in Italy. Liudprand blamed their quick success on the divisions and squabbles of the Provençals following the collapses of Carolingian authority. By 906, they controlled the pass of Mont Cenis between Provence and Italy. In that year, they attacked or occupied Acqui, Oulx and Susa in Italy. According to the 11th-century ''Chronicon Novalicense'', they threatened the Abbey of Novalesa on this occasion. By 911, they were in control of all the western Alpine passes, from which they could collect tolls on traders and pilgrims. Between 915 and 918, they raided Embrun, Maurienne and Vienne

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