Siege of Paris (885–886)

Coordinates: 48°51′14″N 2°20′49″E / 48.854°N 2.347°E / 48.854; 2.347
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For other sieges of Paris, see Siege of Paris (disambiguation).

Siege of Paris (885–886)
Part of the Viking expansion

Count Odo defends Paris against the Norsemen, romantic painting by Jean-Victor Schnetz (1837), Galerie des Batailles
Date25 November 885 – October 886
Location
Paris, on the Seine, West Francia
48°51′14″N 2°20′49″E / 48.854°N 2.347°E / 48.854; 2.347
Result

Frankish victory[1]

  • Paris successfully defended
  • Vikings granted passage of the Seine and 700 livres (pounds) of silver
  • Vikings raids continued into Burgundy
Belligerents
Vikings West Francia
Commanders and leaders
Sigfred
Sinric
Rollo
Henry of Saxony †
Charles the Fat
Strength
Initially 300–700 ships, 30,000–40,000 men (high-end, Abbo Cernuus); a majority sailed further upriver in February; Sigfred's contingent left in April[2] Initially 200 men-at-arms (Abbo Cernuus); gained reinforcements during the summer; Charles the Fat arrived with his army in October[2]

The siege of Paris of 885–886 was part of a

Latin poem Bella Parisiacae urbis of Abbo Cernuus
.

With hundreds of ships, and possibly tens of thousands of men, the Vikings arrived outside Paris in late November 885, demanding tribute. This was denied by Odo, Count of Paris, despite the fact he could assemble only several hundred soldiers to defend the city. The Vikings attacked with a variety of siege engines but failed to break through the city walls despite days of intense attacks. The siege was maintained for months but without any significant assaults after the initial attack. As the siege continued, most of the Vikings left Paris to pillage further upriver. The Vikings made a final unsuccessful attempt to take the city during the summer. In October, Charles the Fat arrived with his army.

To the frustration of the Parisians who had fought to defend the city, Charles stopped short of attacking the Viking invaders. Instead, he allowed them to sail farther up the Seine to raid Burgundy (which was in revolt) and promised a payment of 700 livres (257 kg) of silver. Odo, highly critical of this, attempted to defy Charles' promises. When Charles died in 888, Odo was elected the first non-Carolingian king of the Franks.

Background

Although the Vikings had attacked parts of

Edict of Pistres, bridges were ordered built across the Seine at Pîtres and in Paris, where two were built, one on each side of the Île de la Cité, which served admirably in the siege of 885. The chief ruler in the region around Paris (the Île-de-France) was the duke of Francia (also the Count of Paris), who controlled the lands between the Seine and Loire. Originally this was Robert the Strong, margrave of Neustria and missus dominicus for the Loire Valley. He began fortifying the capital and fought the Norsemen continuously until his death in battle against them at Brissarthe. His son Odo succeeded him, but royal power declined. Paris continued to be fortified due to local, rather than royal, initiative.[4]

West Francia suffered under a series of short-reigning kings after the death of

King of Germany and Italy, became king, raising hopes of reunification of Charlemagne's empire.[3] While it was thought that the Franks had gained an upper hand against the Vikings after the victory of Louis III at the Battle of Saucourt in 881, in 885, a year after the succession of Charles, the Vikings launched their largest attack on Paris.[5][3]

Siege

Vikings under Sigfred and Sinric

Gozlin, Bishop of Paris[5] (the first "fighting bishop" in medieval literature),[13] and had the aid of his brother, Robert, two counts and a marquis.[14]

The barques of the Vikings

The Vikings arrived in Paris on 24

siege engines.[19] In a renewed assault, they shot a thousand grenades [clarification needed] against the city, sent a ship for the bridge, and made a land attack with three groups. The forces surrounded the bridgehead tower, possibly mainly aiming to bring down the river obstacle. While they tried setting fire to the bridge, they also attacked the city itself with siege engines.[19]

Map of Paris in the 9th century (on Île de la Cité)

For two months the Vikings maintained the siege, making trenches and provisioning themselves off the land. In January 886 they tried to fill the river shallows with debris, plant matter, and the bodies of dead animals and dead prisoners to try to get around the tower. They continued this for two days. On the third day, they set three ships alight and guided them towards the wooden bridge. The burning ships sank before they could set the bridge on fire, but the wooden construction was nonetheless weakened.[17][18] On 6 February, rains caused the debris-filled river to overflow and the bridge supports to give way. The bridge gone, the northeast tower was now isolated with only twelve defenders inside. The Vikings asked the twelve to surrender, but they refused and were all subsequently killed.[17]

The Vikings left a force around Paris, but many ventured further to pillage

Henry, Count of Saxony, Charles' chief man in Germany, marched to Paris.[17] Weakened by marching during the winter, Henry's soldiers made only one abortive attack in February before retreating.[18] The besieged forces sallied forth to obtain supplies. The morale of the besiegers was low and Sigfred asked for sixty pounds of silver. He left the siege in April. Another Viking leader, Rollo, stayed behind with his men.[17] In May, disease began to spread in the Parisian ranks and Gozlin died. Odo then slipped through Viking-controlled territory to petition Charles for support; Charles consented. Odo fought his way back into Paris and Charles and Henry of Saxony marched northward.[17] According to Joshua J. Mark, "at some point in 886 CE, Odo returned with the armies of Charles the Fat. He fought his way through the Viking forces and into the city with his men; the Vikings in quick pursuit. Odo organized an immediate defence and the Danes were again driven back to their ships "[20] Henry died, however, after he fell into the Viking ditches, where he was captured and killed.[21]

That summer, the Vikings made a final attempt to take the city but were repulsed. The imperial army arrived in October and scattered the Vikings. Charles encircled Rollo and his army and set up a camp at

Burgundy, which was in revolt.[17] When the Vikings withdrew from France the next spring, he gave them 700 livres (pounds) of silver as promised,[22][23] amounting to approximately 257 kg.[24]

Aftermath

The Parisians and Odo refused to let the Vikings down the Seine and the invaders had to drag their boats overland to the

Robertians, descendants of Robert the Strong, held the crown and remained leading figures in West Francia. However, their rulership was highly fragmented as their authority was challenged by minor countships and castellanies. The princelings of West Francia elected Robert I's grandson, Hugh Capet, king in 987.[25]

The Viking invasion as well as further persistent raidings of the city destroyed much of the urban infrastructure on the

Left Bank, which eventually converted to agricultural use, while the Right Bank were mostly spared from pillaging, with subsequent development favoring the Right Bank.[25]

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-19-280134-0
    . Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b Davis (2001) pp. 53–55
  3. ^ a b c d e Davis (2001) p. 53
  4. ^ Hooper, Bennet (1996) p. 23
  5. ^ a b c Bradbury (1992) p. 43
  6. ^ Tucker (2009) p. 226
  7. ^ Kohn (2006) p. 588
  8. ^ Hodgkin (1959) p. 741
  9. ^ Brooks (2000) pp. 51–53
  10. ^ Previté-Orton (1955) p. 367
  11. ^ Norris (2007) p. 31
  12. ^ Brooks (2000) p. 51
  13. ^ Abbo, Dass (2007) p. 8
  14. ^ Davis (2001) pp. 53–54
  15. ^ Bradbury (2004) p. 133
  16. ^ Logan (1991) p. 130
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Davis (2001) p. 54
  18. ^ a b c d Logan (1991) p. 131
  19. ^ a b Bradbury (1992) p. 45
  20. ^ Joshua J. Mark. "Odo of West Francia". World History Encyclopedia.
  21. ^ Bradbury (1992) p. 46
  22. ^ a b Davis (2001) p. 55
  23. ^ Logan (1991) pp. 131–132
  24. ^ One "livre d'estelin" or "livre de Charlemagne", the standard used from c. 800 to c. 1350, is equivalent to 367.1 g (Zupko 1990, p. 346). Converted, 700 livre equals 257 kg (700 * .3671 = 256.97).
  25. ^
    ISBN 978-0-14-028292-4
    .

Further reading
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