Battle of Autun (640s)
The Battle of Autun was a pitched battle in 642 or 643,
Rising tensions
Shortly before her death, the queen regent
In May 642 or 643, Flaochad convoked a placitum at Chalon, intending to seek a judgement against Willebad.[6] When the latter arrived with his retinue, he realized the danger he was in and refused to enter the palace.[3][6] Flaochad attempted to have Willebad killed, but his plan was foiled and he marched out to fight. Flaochad's brother, Amalbert, intervened successfully to prevent bloodshed.[4] Willebad, however, took the mayor's brother hostage to cover his retreat from Chalon.[6]
Royal intervention and the battle at Autun
After the failed placitum, Flaochad went to Paris to ask the child-king Clovis II to intervene in person.[6] The king summoned Willebad to appear before him in Autun.[3] In September, Clovis and Flaochad, accompanied by a large group of Neustrians, arrived in Autun. Suspecting he would have to fight, Willebad collected a large army from his followers, both ecclesiastical and lay, before marching on Autun.[6] According to Fredegar, "he assembled a large force from the limits of his patriciate, as well as all the bishops, nobles and warriors whom he could collect".[7] The former may have been a part of the standing army that traditionally served under the Burgundian patrician, a general levy of whatever lands constituted the patriciate or the same scara that had served under Willebad against the Basques in 635.[6][8] Willebad, however, refused to enter Autun, even at the king's urging.[3][4]
Flaochad and his allies—the dukes Amalgar, Chramnelen and Wandelbert—with their followings marched out of Autun to meet Willebad in battle. The Neustrians under their mayor,
Capture of Chalon and death of Flaochad
The day after his victory, Flaochad entered Chalon-sur-Saône. The next day the "city burnt to the ground by some mischance of which I am ignorant", according to Fredegar.[12] It may be that Chalon was the seat of Willebad's power and its occupation and (perhaps intentional) destruction were meant symbolically to cement Flaochad's victory.[8]
According to the Life of Eligius, Flaochad fell ill seven days after the battle and soon died a miserable death, as the saint had predicted.[3] Fredegar records that he died of a fever eleven days after the battle.[4] It goes on to say that many saw in this divine judgement, "since time and again Flaochad and Willebad had sworn mutual friendship in places holy to the saints and in addition had both greedily oppressed and robbed people."[12] A hoard of coins found near Buis in the 19th century has often been linked to the Battle of Autun, specifically to the plundering and the consequent scattering of treasure. The hoard contained mainly Burgundian issues.[13]
The conflict that led to the battle has often been seen in ethnic terms, since Fredegar describes Flaochad as a Frank and Willebad as a Burgundian. It has also been seen as result of political mistakes at the top: the appointment of a mayor against the wishes of the Burgundians and the appointment of a Neustrian who was regarded as an outsider.[14] Political change seems to have followed the battle. No further mayors of Burgundy seem to have been appointed and the patriciate too seems to have been suppressed.[8]
Notes
- ^ Bachrach 1972, p. 94, and Fox 2015a, p. 1, give the year as 643; but Martindale 1992, p. 810 and Collins 2007, p. 10, give 642; while Grierson & Blackburn 2007, p. 126, give 641. France 2017, p. 84, hedges with 641/642. Wallace-Hadrill 1960 places "the story of Flaochad and Willebad" in 642 on p. xxiii of the introduction, but Flaochad's appointment as mayor by Nantechildis took place in "the fourth year of King Clovis" (given as 643 in the margin on p. 75) and her death took place in 641/642 according to a footnote on p. 76.
- ^ Fouracre 1986, p. 27 n. 15, calls it a "lengthy feud ... which ended in a pitched battle", while Wallace-Hadrill 1959, pp. 481–482, also describes it as a feud, but calls it "a skirmish that has something of the flavour of a duel".
- ^ a b c d e f Fox 2015a, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b c d e f Wallace-Hadrill 1959, pp. 481–482.
- ^ Reimitz 2015, p. 186.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bachrach 1972, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Wallace-Hadrill 1960, p. 77.
- ^ a b c d Fox 2015b, pp. 279–280.
- ^ Martindale 1992, p. 810.
- ^ a b France 2017, p. 84.
- ^ Wallace-Hadrill 1960, p. 78.
- ^ a b Wallace-Hadrill 1960, p. 79.
- ^ Grierson & Blackburn 2007, p. 126.
- ^ Reimitz 2015, pp. 187–188.
Bibliography
- Bachrach, Bernard S.(1972). Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751. University of Minnesota Press.
- Collins, Roger (2007). Die Fredegar-Chroniken. Hahnsche Buchhandlung.
- Fouracre, Paul (1986). "'Placita' and the settlement of disputes in later Merovingian Francia". In Wendy Davies; Paul Fouracre (eds.). The Settlement of Disputes in Early Medieval Europe. pp. 23–43.
- Fox, Yaniv (2015a). "Image of Kings Past: The Gibichung Legacy in Post-Conquest Burgundy". Francia. 42: 1–26.
- Fox, Yaniv (2015b). "New Honores for a Region Transformed: The Patriciate in Post-Roman Gaul". Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire. 93 (2): 249–286. .
- France, John (2017). "The Military History of the Carolingian Period". In Kelly DeVries (ed.). Warfare in the Dark Ages. Routledge. pp. 321–339. Originally published in Revue belge d'histoire militaire 26 (1985): 81–99.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - Grierson, Philip; Blackburn, Mark (2007). Medieval European Coinage. Vol. 1: The Early Middle Ages (5th–10th Centuries). Cambridge University Press.
- ISBN 0-521-20160-8.
- Reimitz, Helmut (2015). History, Frankish Identity and the Framing of Western Ethnicity, 550–850. Cambridge University Press.
- .
- Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., ed. (1960). The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations. Thomas Nelson and Sons.
- Wood, Ian N. (1994). The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450–751. Longman.