…Murom, along the left bank of Oka…
862 CE
…Murom, along the left bank of Oka River, about three hundred kilometers east of Moscow; it is the easternmost settlement of the Eastern Slavs in the land of Finno-Ugric people called muroma.
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The dispossessed Rorik of Dorestad may be identical with the semilegendary Rurik, leader of a group of fellow Rus', or Varangian (Swedish Viking) adventurers from Scandinavia, who between 860 and 862 takes control of Novgorod, either by raids or in answer to invitations by the Slavic populace.
He establishes a trading center near Lake Ladoga (Oneya).
Even though some historians emphasize folklore roots for the Rurik legend and consequently dismiss Rurik as a legendary figure, there is a controversy about his ethnic origins in Eastern Europe.
According to the Primary Chronicle, the earliest East Slavic chronicle, Rurik was one of the Rus', a Varangian tribe likened by the chronicler to Danes, Swedes, English and Gotlanders.
In the twentieth century, archaeologists partly corroborated the chronicle's version of events.
It was discovered that the settlement of Ladoga, whose foundation has been ascribed to Rurik, was actually established in the mid-ninth century.
Earthenware, household utensils, and types of buildings from the period of Rurik's foundation correspond to patterns then prevalent in Jutland.
According to the Primary Chronicle for the years 859-862, the Varangians were first expelled, then invited to rule the warring Slavic and Finnic tribes of Novgorod: The four tribes who had been forced to pay tribute to the Varangians—Chuds (proto-Estonians), Merians (proto-Volga Finns), Krivichs, and other Slavs—drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them further tribute, and set out to govern themselves.
But there was no law among them, and tribe rose against tribe.
Discord thus ensued among them, and they began to war one against the other.
They said to themselves, "Let us seek a prince who may rule over us, and judge us according to custom.
Thus they went overseas to the Varangians, to the Rus.
These particular Varangians were known as Rus, just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, for they were thus named.
The Chuds, the Slavs, the Krivichs, and the Veps then said to the Rus, "Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it.
Come reign as princes, rule over us".
Three brothers, with their kinfolk, were selected.
They brought with them all the Rus and migrated.
Smolensk, situated on the upper reaches of the Dnepr River near the present border between Russia and Belarus, is first mentioned by Russian historical chronicles in 862, as is …
Prince Rostislav of Moravia, who had succeeded Mojmír in 846, has consolidated the country and defended it successfully.
His relations with the East Frankish empire (since 843 under Louis the German) are determined by political considerations and by the advance of Christianity into the Slavic areas.
The bishoprics of Regensburg, Passau, and Salzburg compete in trying to convert the central European Slavs but achieved only limited success.
The archbishop of Salzburg had consecrated a church at Nitra about 828, and in 845 Regensburg had baptized fourteen chieftains from Bohemia.
Mojmír's Moravia apparently had had more frequent contacts with Passau than with Salzburg. (Archaeological discoveries in the twentieth century indicated that missionaries made noticeable progress before 860; stone churches were built as places of Christian worship at Mikulcice and elsewhere.)
As Moravian expansion is opposed by both the Frankish Kingdom and Bulgaria, Rostislav seeks an alliance with Constantinople.
Dissatisfied with the Latin-speaking Frankish clergy, who are spreading the influence of Eastern Francia, he asks Emperor Michael for Slavic-speaking preachers.
Al-Muntasir's reign lasts less than half a year; it ends with his death of unknown causes in 862.
He is the first 'Abbasid whose tomb is known; it is made by his mother, an enslaved Greek woman.
Earlier caliphs had desired the location of their tombs to be kept secret for fear of desecration.
Carloman of Bavaria revolts against his father Louis the German, king of East Francia, and tries to extend the territory under his control, but is defeated in 862.
The birth date of Carloman, whose mother is Emma, daughter of the count Welf, is unknown, but was probably around 830.
His naming can be connected to his father's push to rule Alemannia around the time of his father's assembly of Worms in 829.
The first Carolingian dynast named Carloman had ruled Alemannia in 741–48, and subjugated it to the Franks.
Carloman had been old enough to participate in the civil war of 840–43, waged between his father and his uncles, Lothair and Charles the Bald.
His first record public appearance is as the leader of an army of reinforcements from Bavaria and Alemannia which he brought to his father at Worms in 842.
He subsequently led them in battle alongside his father and uncle (Charles the Bald) against his other uncle (Lothair).
It was the beginning of a warlike career.
Notker of Saint Gall, who bewailed the decline of the dynasty a generation later, called Carloman bellicosissimus (literally "most warlike").
Carloman had been present at his father's council in Regensburg, where the Slavic commander (dux) Pribina had been rewarded for his service in defending the Bavarian frontier in October 848.
In the charter confirming the grant, Carloman had signed his name first among the secular magnates (after the ecclesiastics).
Carloman had had a liaison with Liutswind, daughter of the Bavarian count Ratolt and sister-in-law of Count Sigihard of the Kraichgau.
This was Carloman's first politically independent action, and it confirms his close connection to Bavaria.
Liutswind had borne him a son, Arnulf, around 850.
This name was chosen because it was distinctly dynastic (the founder of the Carolingian family was Bishop Arnulf of Metz), yet had never been used by a reigning king and was thus appropriate for an illegitimate eldest son.
The choice of the name is the surest evidence that Liutswind and Carloman were not legally married.
Louis had first associated Carloman with his rule by appointing him prefect to the march of Pannonia, the Bavarian borderland fronting Great Moravia and Pannonian Croatia, in 856.
He did not give Carloman the traditional prefect's seat at Tulln in Pannonia.
Instead, according to the Annales Fuldenses (863), he was given the title "prefect of the Carantanians" (praelatus Carantanis) and posted further south, in a more peripheral region, perhaps in a design to keep him from trying to seize power from his father.
Carloman and his younger brother Louis have been occasional witnesses to their father's charters since 857.
Arnulf and his cousin, Hugh, Louis's illegitimate son, were both in Koblenz around 860 at the court of their grandfather, who was probably overseeing their military education and also holding them to ensure the good behavior of their fathers.
The Balearic Islands, now nominally both Eastern Roman and Umayyad and de facto independent, occupy a strategic and profitable gray area between the competing religions and kingdoms of the western Mediterranean.
The prosperous islands are thoroughly sacked by the Swedish Viking King Björn Ironside and his brother Hastein during their Mediterranean raid of 859-862.
Björn Ironside and his brother Hastein, powerful Viking chieftains and naval commanders, have conducted many (mostly successful) raids in France in a continuation of the tradition initiated by their (possibly adoptive) father Ragnar Lodbrok.
In 860, Björn had led a large Viking raid into the Mediterranean.
After raiding down the Spanish coast and fighting their way through Gibraltar, Björn and Hastein pillage the south of France, where his fleet over-winters, before landing in Italy, where they capture the coastal city of Pisa.
They proceed inland to the town of Luna, which they believe to be Rome, but Björn finds himself unable to breach the town walls.
To gain entry, he sends messengers to the bishop to say that he had died, had a deathbed conversion, and wished to be buried on consecrated ground within their church.
He is brought into the chapel with a small honor guard, then amazes the dismayed Italian clerics by leaping from his coffin and hacking his way to the town gates, which he promptly opens, letting his army in.
Flush with this victory and others around the Mediterranean (including in Sicily and North Africa), …
…Björn returns to the Straits of Gibraltar only to find the Saracen navy waiting.
In the desperate battle that follows, Björn loses forty ships, largely to Greek fire launched from Saracen catapults.
The remainder of his fleet manages to return to Scandinavia, however, where he will live out his life as a rich man.
Judith of West Francia's Scandalous Elopement and the Rise of Baldwin of Flanders (862–863)
By January 862, Judith of West Francia, daughter of Charles the Bald, now twice-widowed at the age of nineteen, elopes with Baldwin, son of Inghelram (Audacer), a forester of unknown noble status. This dramatic royal defiance leads to a political crisis, eventually shaping the foundation of the County of Flanders.
Judith’s Marriage and Elopement
- Judith had previously been married to two Kings of Wessex—Æthelwulf (856–858) and his son Æthelbald (858–860)—but after Æthelbald’s death, she returned to West Francia.
- Instead of entering another political marriage, she secretly marries Baldwin at the monastery of Senlis before eloping with him, an act that outrages her father, Charles the Bald.
Charles’ Response: Excommunication and Disgrace
- Furious at this socially unacceptable match, Charles excommunicates Baldwin, effectively declaring him an outlaw.
- The couple goes into hiding until October 862, when they seek protection from Judith’s uncle, Lothair II of Lotharingia.
- Still facing opposition, they flee to Rome, appealing directly to Pope Nicholas I to legitimize their union.
Papal Intervention and Charles’ Reluctant Acceptance
- Pope Nicholas I, rather than siding with Charles, grants Judith and Baldwin his protection, recognizing their marriage.
- With no alternative but to accept the Pope’s ruling, Charles the Bald relents, and the couple is officially married at Auxerre.
- To ensure that Baldwin has a suitable noble rank, Charles elevates him to Count of Ghent, giving him status and land to match his royal bride.
The Birth of the County of Flanders
- Soon after, Baldwin is granted the March of Flanders, a frontier region crucial to Frankish defense against Viking incursions.
- Baldwin’s successful rule lays the foundation for the County of Flanders, which will become one of the most powerful medieval principalities in the Low Countries.
- This marks the beginning of the House of Flanders, a dynasty that will play a key role in medieval European politics for centuries.
Legacy of Judith’s Defiance
- Political Impact → Judith’s elopement and marriage reshape the noble hierarchy of West Francia, integrating Baldwin’s line into royal blood.
- Dynastic Consequences → The Counts of Flanders trace their legitimacy back to this union, which sets Flanders on a path to political and economic power.
- Judith’s Influence → Unlike most medieval princesses, Judith chooses her own husband, asserting an unusual degree of independence for a Carolingian noblewoman.
Judith’s scandalous marriage, while initially a source of disgrace, ultimately results in one of the most enduring noble houses in medieval Europe, securing Baldwin’s dynastic legacy and ensuring that Flanders will be a key political player for centuries.
The 863 Synod of Metz and the Papal Intervention in Lothair II’s Divorce Crisis
By 863, the ongoing marital conflict of Lothair II, King of Lotharingia, reaches a critical point when a Frankish synod at Metz formally confirms his divorce from Teutberga, his lawful wife, in favor of his mistress, Waldrada. However, the decision is swiftly overturned by Pope Nicholas I, escalating the conflict between the Carolingian monarchy and the Papacy.
The Synod of Metz (863) and Lothair’s Attempt to Secure His Divorce
- The Frankish clergy, under pressure from Lothair II, officially ratifies his divorce from Teutberga, legitimizing his relationship with Waldrada.
- Lothair seeks this recognition to secure an heir, as Waldrada has already borne him children.
- However, Teutberga refuses to accept the ruling, fleeing to the court of Charles the Bald, her powerful Carolingian relative.
Pope Nicholas I Intervenes: The Divorce is Annulled
- Pope Nicholas I, already wary of Lothair’s attempts to manipulate Church law, voids the decision of the Synod of Metz, declaring it invalid.
- He demands that Teutberga be reinstated as Lothair’s rightful wife, rejecting Lothair’s claim that his marriage was invalid.
Political and Ecclesiastical Consequences
- Lothair’s authority is weakened, as his attempt to use the Frankish bishops to legitimize his divorce is blocked by the Papacy.
- Charles the Bald gains political leverage, as Teutberga’s presence at his court reinforces his position as a defender of Church authority.
- The Pope asserts his dominance over secular rulers, setting a precedent for papal influence in royal marriages and European dynastic politics.
Aftermath and Continuing Struggles
- Despite the Pope’s ruling, Lothair continues to resist, leading to further tensions between Lotharingia and the Papacy.
- This conflict foreshadows the growing role of the Church in political disputes, reinforcing the idea that monarchs cannot unilaterally dictate marital and dynastic policies.
The Synod of Metz (863) and Pope Nicholas I’s intervention mark a turning point in medieval European history, highlighting the growing power of the Papacy over royal affairs, a dynamic that will continue to shape the political landscape of Christendom for centuries.