Before They Were Vikings: Scandinavia and the Franks up to the death of Louis the Pious By Daniel Melleno A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Geoffrey Koziol, Chair Professor Maureen Miller Professor Maura Nolan Spring 2014 Copyright © 2014 Daniel Melleno All rights reserved Abstract Before They Were Vikings: Scandinavia and the Franks up to the death of Louis the Pious by Daniel Melleno Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor Geoffrey Koziol, Chair Using textual and archaeological evidence to examine patterns of interaction and relationship between Francia and Scandinavia from 700-840 this dissertation demonstrates that the Viking attacks of the ninth century were not a sudden rupture of relations between Scandinavia and the wider world, nor a demonstration of unbridled violence. Rather, the attacks were part of an ongoing narrative of commerce, diplomacy, and strife between the Frankish Empire and its northern neighbors which began long before the Viking Age. Coin finds and excavations, accounts of merchants bearing luxury goods between trade sites, and stories of Frankish slaves taken from their homes connect Francia and Scandinavia across the North Sea. Chapter One of this dissertation focuses on these long lasting commercial links. At the heart of this trade lay Frisia, home of the emporium of Dorestad. Dorestad’s location as the cross roads between the North Sea and the heart of the Frankish Empire allowed Frankish, Frisian, and Scandinavian merchants to carry goods back and forth across the North Sea while at the same time facilitating the movement of ideas and cultural exchange. Annalists gathered information from these merchants, kings used them for diplomatic communication, and missionaries traveled with them. The steady growth of economic activity facilitated contact and communication between Franks and Scandinavians of all stations over several centuries. Chapter Two describes the political, diplomatic and military relationship between Scandinavia and Frankia until the death of Charlemagne in 814. It examines the first Frankish contacts with the North, the growing influence and impact that this contact had on Scandinavia and the North Sea area, and the ways in which these two peoples forged new diplomatic and political relationships. By the end of Charlemagne’s life, the Danes had moved from a shadowy people on the margins of Frankish consciousness to key 1 players in the works of Frankish historians and poets. Both Frankish sources and archaeological evidence from Scandinavia demonstrate that Danish leaders, in large part due to increased contact with their powerful southern neighbors, became intent not only on wielding wider power in Scandinavia but on challenging Carolingian supremacy over the North Sea area at large. Beginning with the death of Charlemagne, Chapter Three examines the heightened intensity of relations between Francia and Scandinavia until the death of Louis the Pious in 840. In an effort to cement Frankish hegemony over northern Europe Louis attempted to bring Scandinavia firmly under Frankish control through diplomacy and missionary work. These efforts created new opportunities for interaction and engagement as Franks, Danes, and Swedes travelled back and forth across the North Sea. Though Louis’ work failed to last beyond his death, the raids and later interactions between Franks and Scandinavians were directly shaped by the policies of Louis and Charlemagne. When we look at the networks of trade forming across the North Sea in the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, and at the growth of political and social meetings on the borders of Frisia, Saxony, and the Jutland Peninsula, we come away with a narrative of communication and contact that is far more vibrant and complex than our primary sources reveal at first glance. The relationship between Scandinavia and Francia during this time actively informs the conflict that follows. During the raids and strife of the ninth century, the conquering Franks became victims; in their quest for the wealth and power of their southern neighbors, the disparate and diverse Scandinavian tribes became, for lack of a better word, Vikings. 2 In loving memory of my parents, Frank Alexander Melleno and Charlotte Mina Melleno and to my wife, Kathleen Seiter Melleno, without whose steadfast love and critical eye, none of this would have been possible. i Contents Acknowledgments page iii Abbreviations iv Introduction v 1. Commercial Connections – Frisians, Franks and Northmen 1 2. The Regnum Francorum and the Gens Danorum - Political 25 Engagement up to the Death of Charlemagne 3. The Reign of Louis the Pious - New Contacts and New Dangers 53 Concluding Remarks 83 Bibliography 85 ii Acknowledgments This dissertation, the process of four long years of research and writing, could not have been accomplished without the aid and assistance of a great number of people. First and foremost is my wife Kathleen Seiter Melleno, who has been ever ready to read, edit, and aid in the on-going process of writing. More than that, she looked after not just my intellectual well being but my physical and mental health as well. I could not ask for a better partner. Geoffrey Koziol, my dissertation chair and advisor, helped hone my ideas and craft my writing. He challenged me and kept me on my toes. I will never forget the lessons I learned while under his tutelage. Maureen Miller and Maura Nolan, my dissertation committee members, have provided insight, guidance, and assistance since my first semester at UC Berkeley. Mabel Lee, the Graduate Advisor, has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty in her efforts to shepherd me throughout my years at UC Berkeley. The number of times I dropped by her office in confusion and left comforted and confident are innumerable. As a fellow graduate student and colleague, Jesse Torgerson provided an ideal sounding- board and helped me to frame my overall narrative, not least of all with the well-timed point that, at its heart, this project is about “relationships.” Jennifer Nelson, the head librarian at the Robbins Manuscript Collection, provided me not just with employment but with encouragement and enthusiastic interest throughout my time as a library clerk. Moreover, she tolerated (beyond all reasonable limits) stacks of books and piles of papers at the desk she graciously allowed me to co-opt throughout this long process. Finally, my friends and family, near and far, gave me all of the love and encouragement a person could ever desire. Far too many to name, they are nevertheless always in my thoughts. iii Abbreviations: ASB: Annals of Saint-Bertin (Annales Bertiniani) AF: Annals of Fulda AMP: Annales Mettenses priores AX: Annals of Xanten (Annales Xantenses) CCCM: Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis CM: Chronicon Moissiacense Fred: Fredegarii Chronicorum Liber Quartus Fred-con: Fredegarii Chronicorum Liber Quartus – Continuationibus PL: Patrologia Latina RFA: Royal Frankish Annals (Annales Regni Francorum) RFA-Rev: Royal Frankish Annals – Revisions (Annales qui dicuntur Einhardi) MGH: Monumenta Germaniae Historica AA Auctores Antiquissimi Capit. Capitularia regum Francorum Conc. Concillia aevi Karolini DD Kar Die Urkunden der Karolinger I: Die Urkunden Pippins, Karlmanns und Karls des Großen / MGH Diplomata Karolinorum I Ep. Epistolae (in Quarto) Form. Formulae Merowingici et Karolini aevi Poetae Poetae Latini Aevi Carolini SS Scriptores (in Folio) SRG Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi SRG NS Scriptores rerum Germanicarum, Nova series SRM Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum iv Introduction Between Louis the Pious’ death in 840 and the founding of Normandy in 911 Frankish historical annals contain no fewer than 130 individual accounts of Scandinavian raids. In sources such as The Annals of Saint-Bertin, Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés’ poem Bella parisiacae urbis, and Regino of Prüm’s Chronicle, Frankish authors report attacks on trading ports, monasteries, and towns. A common vocabulary of violence emerges from these sources: Scandinavians – called Northmen (Nordmanni) or pagans (pagani) – devastate (vastare), pillage (praedare), and burn (incendere).1 Even before the second half of the ninth century, when raiding became endemic and whole armies of Northmen roamed throughout Francia, signs of the coming hostilities can be observed. In 793 the monastery of St. Cuthbert on the island of Lindisfarne was sacked. Multiple letters on the subject by the Carolingian court intellectual Alcuin have cemented this first recorded moment of violence firmly in the minds of medievalists. Six years later a passing reference, once again in a letter by Alcuin, mentions the actions of pagan marauders in Aquitaine, the first sight of Scandinavian activity on the Continent.2 Over the next several decades, scattered mentions of pirates striking in the British Isles and along the coasts of Francia appear in the Frankish sources. With the 834 sacking of northern Europe’s most important trade port, Dorestad, the raids of the Northmen suddenly come to the forefront. As the Annales Xantenses put it, “The pagan Northmen hurled themselves upon Dorestad and ravaged it with savage cruelty ... and from then on the misfortunes of men increased day by day.”3 Given the weight of this narrative in the Frankish sources, we should not be surprised that when historians speak of interactions between Francia and Scandinavia it is this period of raids and conflict that receives the lion’s share of their attention. Those who specialize in the history and archaeology of Scandinavia have gone so far as to label this period (generally dated from the raid of 793 until the 1060s) the “Viking Age,” explicitly linking these centuries to the raiding and aggressive expansion that the word “Viking” carries with it. Yet the violence that is so often the central focus in medieval depictions of meetings between Frank and Northman was only one part of a much larger array of interaction and engagement between Scandinavia and the Continent.