Editing Oaths of Strasbourg (section)

== Context ==
Centuries after the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], Charlemagne, who had conquered much of its former territory, announced its [[Renovatio imperii Romanorum|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 (841)|Battle of Fontenoy]] in June [[841]]. Charles and Louis met in February 842 near modern [[Strasbourg]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Plan d'occupation des sols, page 5|url=http://pos.strasbourg.fr/images/pdf-rapport/08_Meinau%20Plaine%20des%20Bouchers.pdf|access-date=2020-09-19|archive-date=2014-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202101304/http://pos.strasbourg.fr/images/pdf-rapport/08_Meinau%20Plaine%20des%20Bouchers.pdf|url-status=dead}}.</ref> to affirm their alliance by swearing a joint oath against Lothair.<ref name=":03">Claude Hagège, ''Le francais, histoire d'un combat'', Éditions Michel Hagège, 1996, p<abbr>. 175</abbr> <small>({{ISBN|2-9508498-5-7}})</small>, chapter 1</ref> 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's 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'.<ref>Geneviève Bührer-Thierry et Charles Mériaux, ''La France avant la France'', Gallimard, 3 September 2019, 770 <abbr>p.</abbr><small>({{ISBN|978-2-07-279888-7}})</small>, <abbr>p.</abbr> 372</ref>

Although the Oaths are of little political importance, given that they were superseded by the more comprehensive Treaty of Verdun, they are of significant importance to the field of linguistics.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:

{{Blockquote|"This is the oldest extant French text. It is political in nature, not literary, and is important in that it marks the written debut of the 'vulgar' tongue."<ref>Philippe Walter, Naissances de la littérature française, p. 12, éd. Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 1998.</ref>
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