Editing Neustria

{{Short description|Western part of the kingdom of the Franks}}
{{Other uses|Neustria (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2008}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = Neustria, Neustrasia 
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Neustria
| common_name            = Neustria
| era                    = [[Early Middle Ages]]
| status                 = Part of [[Francia|Kingdom of the Franks]]
| government_type        = [[Feudalism|Feudal]] [[hereditary monarchy]]
| event_start            = [[Battle of Soissons (486)|Battle of Soissons]]
| year_start             = 486
| event_end              = [[Capetian dynasty]] established
| date_end               = 1 June 
| year_end               = 987
| p1                     = Kingdom of Soissons
| image_p1               = 
| s1                     = Kingdom of France
| image_s1               = 
| image_map              = Francia 714.png
| alt_map                = Location of Neustria
| image_map_caption      = Neustria (northwest) in [[714]], surrounded by [[Austrasia]], [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitaine]] and [[Burgundy]]
| capital                = [[Soissons]]
| official_languages     = [[Latin]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Chapter 18: The Franks |pages=4 |url=https://www.cdschools.org/cms/lib04/PA09000075/Centricity/Domain/232/chap18.pdf |access-date=February 14, 2024}}</ref>
| common_languages       = {{plainlist|
* [[Vulgar Latin]] (until the late 8th century)
* [[Old Gallo-Romance]] (from the late 8th to late 10th centuries)
* [[Gaulish]] (until the 6th century)
}}
| languages_type         = Minority languages
| languages              = [[Frankish language|Frankish]] (until the 8th century)
| religion               = [[Germanic Christianity|Christianity]]
| demonym                = Neustrian
| currency               = [[French denier|Denier]]
| title_leader           = [[List of Frankish kings#Kings of the Neustrian Franks|King]]
| leader1                = [[Clovis I]] {{small|(first)}}
| year_leader1           = 486{{ndash}}{{circa}}509
| leader2                = [[Louis V of France]] {{small|(last)}}
| year_leader2           = 986{{ndash}}987
| title_deputy           = [[Mayor of the Palace]]
| deputy1                = [[Aega (mayor of the palace)|Aega]] {{small|(first)}}
| year_deputy1           = 639{{ndash}}641
| deputy2                = [[Pepin the Short|Pepin III]] {{small|(last)}}
| year_deputy2           = 741{{ndash}}751
| today                  = [[France]]
}}
'''Neustria''' was the western part of the [[Francia|Kingdom of the Franks]] during the [[Early Middle Ages]], in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, [[Austrasia]].<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Neustria |volume=19 |page=441 |first=Christian |last=Pfister}}</ref> It initially included land between the [[Loire]] and the [[Silva Carbonaria]], in the north of present-day [[France]], with [[Paris]], [[Orléans]], [[Tours]], [[Soissons]] as its main cities. 

The same term later referred to a smaller region between the [[Seine]] and the [[Loire]] rivers known as the ''regnum Neustriae'', a constituent subkingdom of the [[Carolingian Empire]] and then [[West Francia]]. The Carolingian kings also created a [[March of Neustria]] which was a frontier duchy against the [[Bretons]] and [[Vikings]] that lasted until the [[House of Capet|Capetian]] monarchy in the late 10th century, when the term was eclipsed as a European political or geographical term.

==Name==
The name ''Neustria'' is mostly explained as "new western land",<ref>y J. B. Benkard, ''Historical Sketch of the German Emperors and Kings'' (1855), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6jAlIo5c44C&pg=PP18 p.2 ];
e.g. <!--it seems to be the most widely adopted interpretation in recent publications - doesn't mean it is correct, these are just authors that copy the meaning unthinkingly, without awareness that other suggestions exist. Still looking for a philological reference that contains an actual argument for either possibility-->
Will Slatyer, ''Ebbs and Flows of Ancient Imperial Power, 3000 BC - 900 AD'' (2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ns4IInA8x9IC&pg=PA323  p. 323];
{{cite book |first=Edward |last=James |author-link=Edward James (historian) |title=The Franks |series=The Peoples of Europe |location=Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Basil Blackwell |year=1988 |isbn=0-631-17936-4 |page=232}}</ref>
although Taylor (1848) suggested the interpretation of "northeastern land".<ref>'"Ni-oster-rike" [That is, Northeastern kingdom.]'<!--completely flawed both phonologically and semantically [to the northeast of *what*?], but not for us to criticise, find a philological reference -->
{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=William Cooke |title=A Manual of Ancient and Modern History |date=1848 |publisher=D. Appleton |location=[[New York Public Library]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/manualofancientm00tayluoft/page/342 342] |url=https://archive.org/details/manualofancientm00tayluoft|quote=Oster-rike. }}</ref>
''[[Nordisk familjebok]]'' (1913) even suggested "not the eastern land" (''icke östland'').<ref>Meijer et al. (eds.), ''Nordisk familjebok'', Ny, rev. och rikt illustrerad upplaga (1913), p. 841.</ref> [[Augustin Thierry]] (1825) assumed ''Neustria'' is simply a corruption of ''Westria'', from ''West-rike'' "western realm".<ref>Augustin Thierry, ''History of the Conquest of England by the Normans'' (1825), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xSGP319ZyHQC&pg=PA55  p. 55].</ref> In any case, ''Neustria'' contrasts with the name ''[[Austrasia]]'' "eastern realm".
The analogy to ''Austrasia'' is even more explicit in the variant ''Neustrasia''.<ref>''Neustrasia'' appears to be preferred by some authors writing in [[Neo-Latin]], e.g. by [[Caesar Baronius]] (d. 1607);  [[Augustin Theiner]] (ed.) ''Caesaris S.R.E. Card. Baronii'' t. 11,  (1867), [https://books.google.com/books?id=MhpJAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA583  p. 583].</ref>

''[[Neustria (Italy)|Neustria]]'' was also employed as a term for northwestern Italy during the period of [[Lombards|Lombard]] domination. It was contrasted with the northeast, which was called Austrasia, the same term as given to [[Austrasia|eastern Francia]].

==Merovingian kingdom==
The predecessor to Neustria was a Roman rump state, the [[Kingdom of Soissons]].{{cn|date=December 2024}} In 486 its ruler, [[Syagrius]], lost the [[Battle of Soissons (486)|Battle of Soissons]] to the [[Franks|Frankish]] king [[Clovis I]] and the domain was thereafter under the control of the Franks. Constant re-divisions of territories by Clovis's descendants resulted in many rivalries that, for more than two hundred years, kept Neustria in almost constant warfare with Austrasia, the eastern portion of the Frankish [[Monarchy|Kingdom]].

Despite the wars, Neustria and Austrasia re-united briefly on several occasions. The first was under [[Clotaire I]] during his reign from 558 to 562. The struggle for power continued with Queen [[Fredegund]] of Neustria, the widow of King [[Chilperic I]] (reigned 566–584) and the mother of the new king [[Clotaire II]] (reigned 584–628), unleashing a bitter war.

After his mother's death and burial in [[Saint Denis Basilica]] near Paris in 597, [[Clotaire II]] continued the struggle against [[Brunhilda of Austrasia|Queen Brunhilda]], and finally triumphed in 613 when Brunhilda's followers betrayed the old queen into his hands. Clotaire had Brunhilda put to the [[rack (torture)|rack]] and stretched for three days, then chained between four horses and eventually ripped limb from limb. Clotaire now ruled a united realm, but only for a short time as he made his son [[Dagobert I]] king of Austrasia. Dagobert's accession in Neustria resulted in another temporary unification.

In Austrasia the [[Pippinid]] [[Mayor of the Palace|mayor]] [[Grimoald the Elder]] attempted a [[coup]] by forcing the Austrasian king Siegebert III to adopt his son Childebert who succeeded as "Childebert the Adopted". Grimoald and his son Childebert were arrested by Neustrian forces and executed in Paris. [[Clovis II]], after this execution, again reunited the Austrasian kingdom with Neustria, although temporarily. During or soon after the reign of Clovis's son [[Chlothar III]], the dynasty of Neustria, like that of Austrasia before it, ceded authority to its own mayor of the palace.

In 678, Neustria, under Mayor [[Ebroin]], subdued the Austrasians for the last time. Ebroin was murdered in 680. In 687, [[Pippin of Herstal]], mayor of the palace of the King of Austrasia, defeated the Neustrians at [[Tertry, Somme|Tertry]]. Neustria's mayor [[Berchar]] was assassinated shortly afterwards and following a marriage alliance ({{circa | 690}}) between Pippin's son [[Drogo of Champagne|Drogo]] and Berchar's widow [[Anstrud of Champagne]], Pippin secured his position as mayor of the Neustrian palace.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Carolingian world|last= Costambeys |first= Marios|date= 2011|publisher= Cambridge University Press|others= Innes, Matthew; MacLean, Simon |isbn= 9780521564946|location=Cambridge|pages=38–39|oclc=617425106}}</ref>

Pippin's descendants, the [[Carolingian]]s, continued to rule the two realms as mayors. With [[Pope Stephen II]]'s blessing, after 751 the Carolingian [[Pippin III| Pippin the Short]] formally deposed the Merovingians and took control of the empire, he and his descendants ruling as kings.

Neustria, Austrasia, and [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]] then became united under one authority and, although it would split once again into various eastern and western divisions, the names "Neustria" and "Austrasia" gradually fell out of use.

==Carolingian subkingdom==
In 748, the brothers [[Pepin the Short]] and [[Carloman, son of Charles Martel|Carloman]] gave their younger brother [[Grifo (noble)|Grifo]] twelve counties in Neustria centred on that of [[Le Mans]]. This [[polity]] was termed the ''ducatus Cenomannicus'', or Duchy of Maine, and this was an alternative name for the ''regnum'' of Neustria well into the 9th century.

The term "Neustria" took on the meaning of "land between the [[Seine]] and [[Loire]]" when it was given as a ''regnum'' ([[Monarchy|kingdom]]) by [[Charlemagne]] to his second son, [[Charles the Younger, son of Charlemagne|Charles the Younger]], in 790. At this time, the chief city of the [[Monarchy|kingdom]] appears to be Le Mans, where the royal court of Charles was established. Under the [[Carolingian dynasty]], the chief duty of the Neustrian king was to defend the sovereignty of the [[Frankish Empire|Franks]] over the Bretons.

In 817, [[Louis the Pious]] granted Neustria to his eldest son [[Lothair I]], but following his rebellion in 831, he gave it to [[Pepin I of Aquitaine]], and following the latter's death in 838, to [[Charles the Bald]]. Neustria, along with [[Aquitaine]], formed the major part of Charles [[West Francia|West Frankish]] kingdom carved out of the Empire by the [[Treaty of Verdun]] (843). Charles continued the tradition of appointing an elder son to reign in Neustria with his own court at Le Mans when he made [[Louis the Stammerer]] king in 856. Louis married the daughter of the [[King of Brittany]], [[Erispoe]], and received the ''regnum'' from the Breton monarch with the consent of the Frankish magnates. This unique relationship for Neustria stressed how it had shrunk in size to definitely exclude the [[Île de France]] and Paris by this time, as it was distanced from the central authority of Charles the Bald and closer to that of Erispoe. Louis was the last Frankish monarch to be appointed to Neustria by his father and the practice of creating subkingdoms for sons waned among the later Carolingians.

==Carolingian march==
{{main|Marches of Neustria}}
In 861, the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]] king [[Charles the Bald]] created the [[Marches of Neustria]] that were ruled by officials appointed by the crown, known as [[wiktionary:Warden|warden]]s, [[prefect]]s or [[margrave]]s. Originally, there were two marches, one against the [[Bretons]] and one against the [[Norsemen]], often called the Breton March and Norman March respectively.

In 911, [[Robert I of France]] became [[margrave]] of both Marches and took the title ''demarchus''. His family, the later [[House of Capet|Capetians]], ruled the whole of Neustria until 987, when [[Hugh Capet]] was elected to the kingship. The subsidiary counts of Neustria had exceeded the [[margrave]] in power by that time and the peak of Viking and Breton raiding had passed. After the [[Capetian Miracle]], no further margraves were appointed and "Neustria" was eclipsed as a European political term (present, however, in some Anglo-Norman chronicles and revived as synonymous with English possession of Normandy under Henry V by the St. Albans chronicler Thomas Walsingham in his Ypodigma Neustriae).

==Rulers==<!-- This section is linked from [[List_of_Frankish_kings]] 
 -->

===Merovingian kings===
{{Further information|List of Frankish kings}}
*[[Childeric I]] 458–481
*[[Clovis I]] 481–511
*[[Chlodomer]] 511–524
*[[Childebert I]] 511–558
*[[Chlothar I|Chlothar]] I 558–561
*[[Charibert I]] 561–567
*[[Chilperic I]] 567–584
*[[Guntram|Gontran]] 561–592
*[[Chlothar II]], 584–629
*[[Dagobert I]], 629–639
*[[Clovis II]], 639–657
*[[Chlothar III]], 657–673
*[[Theuderic III]], 673
*[[Childeric II]], 673–675
*[[Theuderic III]], 675–691
*[[Clovis IV]], 691–695
*[[Childebert III]], 695–711
*[[Dagobert III]], 711–715
*[[Chilperic II]], 715–721
*[[Theuderic IV]], 721–737
*[[Childeric III]], 743–751

===Mayors of the palace===
{{Further|Mayor of the Palace}}
*[[Landric]], until 613
*[[Gundoland]], 613–639
*[[Aega (Mayor of the Palace)|Aega]], 639–641
*[[Erchinoald]], 641–658
*[[Ebroin]], 658–673
*[[Wulfoald]], 673–675
*[[Leudesius]], 675
*[[Ebroin]], 675–680 (again)
*[[Waratton]], 680–682
*[[Gistemar]], 682
*[[Waratton]], 682–686 (again)
*[[Berchar]], 686–688
*[[Pippin of Herstal|Pepin of Heristal]], 688–695
*[[Grimoald II]], 695–714
*[[Theudoald]], 714–715
*[[Ragenfrid]], 715–718
*[[Charles Martel]], 718–741
*[[Pepin the Short]], 741–751

===Carolingian sub-kings===
{{Further|Carolingian dynasty}}
*[[Charles the Younger, son of Charlemagne|Charles the Younger]], 790–811
*[[Lothair I]], 817–831
*[[Pepin I of Aquitaine|Pepin]], 831–838
*[[Charles the Bald]], 838–856 
*[[Louis the Stammerer]], 856–879
Louis was chased from [[Le Mans]] in 858 following the assassination of Erispoe in November 857.

===Robertians===
{{Further|Robertians}}
*'''[[Robert the Strong]]'''  853–866
*[[Odo of France|Eudes of France]] 888–898
*[[Robert I of France|Robert of France]], 911–922
*[[Hugh the Great]], 922–956
*[[Hugh Capet]], 956–987

==Historiography==
The chief contemporary chronicles written from a Neustrian perspective are the ''History of the Franks'' by [[Gregory of Tours]], the ''[[Liber Historiae Francorum|Book of the History of the Franks]]'', the ''[[Annales Bertiniani|Annals of St-Bertin]]'', the ''[[Annales Vedastini|Annals of St-Vaast]]'', the ''Annals'' by [[Flodoard of Reims]], and the ''History of the conflicts of the Gauls'' by [[Richer of Reims]].<ref>Hodgkin, vol. vii, p 25.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[[Charles Oman|Oman, Charles]]. ''The Dark Ages 476–918''. Rivingtons: London, 1914.
*[[Thomas Hodgkin (historian)|Hodgkin, Thomas]]. ''Italy and her Invaders''. Clarendon Press: 1895.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Merovingian period]]
[[Category:Former countries in Europe]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 510s]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 8th century]]
[[Category:751 disestablishments]]
[[Category:8th-century disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:6th-century establishments in Europe]]