The Battle of Saucourt (881): A Carolingian…

Al-Muwaffaq lays siege to al-Mukhtarah in the spring of 881 from a special city built on the other side of the Tigris River.

Pope John, in gratitude to Charles, crowns him Emperor on February 12881.

Charles’s rise to power is accompanied by hopes of a general revival in western Europe, but he proves unequal to the task, doing little to help against Guy.

Papal letters as late as November are still petitioning Charles for action.

The imperial position in southern Italy is strengthened with the help of the Lombard duchy of Benevento, and the campaigns of General Nikephoros Phokas the Elder do much to consolidate this.

The forces dispatched by Basil capture Saracen-held Taranto in 881.

Charles the Fat’s Palace at Sélestat: A New Carolingian Imperial Residence

As Emperor of the Carolingian Empire, Charles the Fat begins the construction of a new palace at Sélestat in Alsace, inspired by Charlemagne’s grand imperial palace at Aachen. This decision reflects Charles’ ambition to emulate Charlemagne, as described in Notker Balbulus’ (Gesta Karoli Magni), while also addressing the political realities of his reign.

Why Build a Palace at Sélestat?

1. A Necessary Alternative to Aachen

   • The palace of Aachen, built by Charlemagne, had served as the imperial seat of the Carolingians.
   • However, Aachen lay within the kingdom of Charles’ brother, Louis the Younger (King of East Francia), making it politically impractical for Charles to establish his court there.
   • A new palace would provide Charles with his own imperial residence, reinforcing his authority.

2. Strategic Location in Western Alemannia

   • Sélestat, located in Alsace, lies within Charles’ core territory in western Alemannia, ensuring that it remains under his direct control.
   • The location is more central to the empire than Aachen, allowing for easier administration of Lotharingia, Burgundy, and East Francia.

3. Symbolic Continuation of Carolingian Imperial Tradition

   • By modeling Sélestat after Aachen, Charles strengthens his claim as the rightful heir of Charlemagne’s legacy.
   • This reflects his desire to reunite the fractured Carolingian Empire, much like Charlemagne had unified Western Europe.

Palatial Features: Inspired by Aachen

• While details of the palace’s construction are scarce, it likely followed the Aachen model, incorporating:
  • A grand aula regia (royal hall) for imperial audiences.
  • A palatine chapel, mirroring Charlemagne’s famous octagonal church at Aachen.
  • Fortifications and administrative buildings to serve as the empire’s political and ceremonial center.

Legacy and Historical Context

• Charles’ reign is plagued by Viking invasions, noble revolts, and internal fragmentation, and his imperial ambitions ultimately fail to restore the unity of the Carolingian Empire.
• The palace at Sélestat does not achieve the historical prominence of Aachen, reflecting the declining power of the late Carolingian rulers.
• Nonetheless, its construction symbolizes the continuing influence of Charlemagne’s vision, even as the Carolingian world disintegrates into feudal principalities.

Conclusion

Charles the Fat’s construction of the Sélestat palace represents both a strategic necessity and an ideological statement, reinforcing his imperial authority while acknowledging Charlemagne’s enduring legacy. However, his inability to effectively govern his vast realm prevents Sélestat from becoming the true imperial capital of a restored Carolingian Empire.

Guthrum had been neutralized as a threat with the signing of the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, an event most commonly held to have taken place around 880 when Guthrum's people began settling East Anglia.

In conjunction with this agreement, an army of Danish had left the island and sailed to Ghent.

Alfred however is still forced to contend with a number of Danish threats: he fights a small sea battle a year later in 881 against four Danish ships "on the high seas".

Two of the ships are destroyed and the others surrenders to Alfred's forces.

Similar small skirmishes with independent Viking raiders would have occurred for much of the period as they have for decades.

The Rus of Novgorod seize Kiev in 882, uniting the northern and southern Rus'.

According to the Primary Chronicle, Oleg, who was a relative (likely brother-in-law) of the first ruler, Rurik, and was entrusted by Rurik to take care of both his kingdom and his young son Ingvar, or Igor, gradually took control of the Dnieper cities, captured Kiev (previously held by the Varangian warlords, Askold and Dir) and finally moved his capital from Novgorod there.

The new capital would be a convenient place to launch a raid against Tsargrad (Constantinople) in 911.

According to the chronicle, the imperial Greeks attempted to poison Oleg, but the Rus' leader demonstrated his oracular powers by refusing to drink the cup of poisoned wine.

Having fixed his shield to the gate of the imperial capital, Oleg won a favorable trade treaty, which eventually was of great benefit to both nations.

Although Byzantine sources did not record these hostilities, the text of the treaty survives in the Primary Chronicle.

The Primary Chronicle's brief account of Oleg's life contrasts with other early sources, specifically the Novgorod First Chronicle, which states that Oleg was not related to Rurik, and was rather a Scandinavian client-prince who served as Igor's army commander.

The Novgorod First Chronicle does not give the date of the commencement of Oleg's reign, but dates his death to 922 rather than 912.

Scholars have contrasted this dating scheme with the "epic" reigns of roughly thirty-three years for both Oleg and Igor in the Primary Chronicle.

The Primary Chronicle and other Kievan sources place Oleg's grave in Kiev, while Novgorodian sources identify a funerary barrow in Ladoga as Oleg's final resting place.

In the Primary Chronicle, Oleg is known as the Prophet, an epithet alluding to the sacred meaning of his Norse name ("priest"), but also ironically referring to the circumstances of his death.

According to this legend, romanticized by Alexander Pushkin in his celebrated ballad "The Song of the Wise Oleg," it was prophesied by the pagan priests that Oleg would take death from his stallion.

Proud of his own foretelling abilities, he sent the horse away.

Many years later he asked where his horse was, and was told it had died.

He asked to see the remains and was taken to the place where the bones lay.

When he touched the horse's skull with his boot a snake slithered from the skull and bit him.

Oleg died, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

In Scandinavian traditions, this legend lived on in the saga of Orvar-Odd.

According to the Primary Chronicle, Oleg died in 912 and his successor, Igor of Kiev, ruled from then until his assassination in 945.

The Schechter Letter, a document written by a Jewish Khazar, a contemporary of Romanus I Lecapenus, describes the activities of a Rus' warlord named HLGW (Hebrew: הלגו), usually transcribed as "Helgu".

For years, many scholars disregarded or discounted the Schechter Letter account, which referred to Helgu (often interpreted as Oleg) as late as the 940s.

Recently, however, scholars such as David Christian and Constantine Zuckerman have suggested that the Schechter Letter's account is corroborated by various other Russian chronicles, and suggests a struggle within the early Rus' polity between factions loyal to Oleg and to the Rurikid Igor, a struggle that Oleg ultimately lost.

Zuckerman posited that the early chronology of the Rus' had to be re-determined in light of these sources.

Among Zuckerman's beliefs and those of others who have analyzed these sources are that the Khazars did not lose Kiev until the early tenth century (rather than 882, the traditional date, that Igor was not Rurik's son but rather a more distant descendant, and that Oleg did not immediately follow Rurik, but rather that there is a lost generation between the legendary Varangian lord and his documented successors.

Repeated attempts by the popes to bring the Bulgarian ruler back into the Roman church by pleas and promises of concessions continue until 882, but produce no results.

Ibn Tulun annexes Syria in 882, using the pretext of a holy war against the Empire.

Following his return from Syria, ibn Tulun adds his own name to coins issued by the dynasty, along with those of the Caliph and heir apparent.

He invites the nearly powerless Caliph al-Mu'tamid to Egypt to offer him protection against his brother, al-Muwaffaq, who is trying to remain in power as regent.

Al-Muta'mid is intercepted en route to Egypt, and ibn Tulun and al-Muwaffaq begin an endless campaign against each other.

Ibn Ṭūlūn is able to have a group of prominent jurists declare al-Muwaffaq a usurper, and both leaders have the other cursed during Friday prayers.

Military skirmishes follow.

Richard, called the Justiciar, is a Bosonid, the son of Bivin of Gorze and Richildis.

His elder brother is Boso of Provence and his younger sister is Richildis, second wife of Charles the Bald.

After the death of the Emperor Louis II in 875, Richard and Boso had accompanied Charles to Italy for his imperial coronation.

In Pavia, while preparing for his return journey in February 876, Charles had nominated Boso "Duke and Viceroy of Italy and Duke of Provence."

On Charles' death in 877, Boso had returned to France and confided the realm of Italy and the duchy of Provence to Richard and Hugh the Abbot as missi dominici.

When Boso declared himself "King of Provence" in 879 following the death of Louis the Stammerer, Richard had defected from Boso and taken Boso's county of Autun, which Carloman II had confirmed to him in 880.

The two had joined battle on the Saône and Richard had captured Mâcon and garrisoned it in the name of Carloman and Louis III under the command of Bernard Plantapilosa, a relative of the hereditary Counts of Mâcon.

After taking Lyon, he had besieged his brother's capital of Vienne, where he had been joined by Louis, Carloman, and the emperor Charles the Fat.

Richard eventually drives Boso out in September 882 and captures his wife Ermengard and children Engelberga and Louis, sending them as prisoners to Autun.

Boso goes into hiding in Provence.

Charles convokes a diet in Ravenna in February 882.

The duke, emperor, and pope make peace and Guy and his uncle, Guy of Camerino, vow to restore stolen papal lands.

Pope John VIII claims in a March letter to Charles that the vows had gone unfulfilled.