The Route of the Franks: The Journey of Archbishop Sigeric at the Twilight of the First Millennium AD

by Cristina Corsi

Overview

The Route of the Franks presents a scientific study of the journey that Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury undertook at the end of the first millennium from the British Isles to Rome, focussing on the segment included in the territory of modern France. It not only reconstructs the route that Sigeric followed here but also takes an archaeological snapshot of the urban and architectural developments in the centres crossed by this route at the twilight of the first millennium AD. Sigeric's journey, undertaken for reasons connected to his office, is framed within the historical context of the contemporary Anglo-Saxon world. The special relationship connecting Rome and Canterbury during the Early Middle Ages is also analysed and an archaeological overview of the archbishop's town is attempted. Sigeric's experience is framed in the historical context of medieval journeys from England to Rome and the Holy Land. Building upon the literature, culture and narratives of travel, the modalities and practicalities of this type of movement in the Middle Ages are reconstructed, reviewing the many other possible routes across France and the reasons which determined Sigeric's choice. This brings the author to a new conceptualisation of travel in the past and to study how it affected the identity of the traveller, how individuals and groups interacted in the peculiar framework of displacement, introducing sociological and anthropological perspectives. By applying theoretical frameworks developed in the fields of geography, social sciences, anthropology, environmental behavioural studies, phenomenology, spatial analysis, ICTs and cognitive studies, the book reveals how movement affects the perception of landscapes and how mobility patterns socio-cultural phenomena.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781803273662
Publisher:	Archaeopress Publishing
Publication date:	09/29/2022
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	8.03(w) x 11.42(h) x (d)

About the Author

Cristina Corsi is Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Cassino. She is Marie Curie fellow and associate member at the LA3M, Maison mediterraneenne des sciences de l'homme in Aix-en-Provence. Her main research interests are Mediterranean landscape archaeology and communication networks in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. She is internationally acknowledged as a specialist in archaeological diagnostics and has directed surveys and excavations in several parts of Italy and at the Roman towns of Mariana (Corsica) and Ammaia (Portugal). Her publications include two volumes on road networks and infrastructure in Roman Italy and Medieval Lazio, a book on the archaeological excavations at the Roman town of Ammaia, and (as co-editor) a book devoted to guidelines for good practice in archaeological diagnostics.

Table of Contents

List of Figures iii

Acknowledgments vi

Introduction vii

Clearing the ground. Archaeological research vs merchandising and branding vii

Note xi

Chapter 1 Conceptualising the Journey 1

Theoretical framework and methodological issues: Defining 'travelscapes' 1

Conceptualising the journey 5

Landscapes of movement 6

Phenomenology of travel: Landscapes of the mind 7

Landscape perception and space representation 9

Conceptual geography: A one-dimensionality of space? 10

Epistemology of space and time: the cultural perception of distance 11

On the way… of constructing an identity 13

Identity vs ethnicity 14

The feeling of alienation 14

Certifying identity 14

An insight into the confrontation of groups of different nature 14

Sociological aspects and cultural challenges 14

Social otherness and sameness 15

Impassable linguistic boundaries? 15

Hospitality and protection grants 16

Pilgrimage 16

On the edge of danger 17

Chapter 2 The Historical Framework 19

The geo-cultural definition 19

The Franks 19

The Carolingians 21

The Treaty of Verdun 22

The Vikings 24

After 887 24

The tenth century 25

Before and after the year 1000 27

The socio-political scenario 27

The Kingdom and the Duchy of Burgundy 28

The relationship between the royal houses and the Church 30

Economic and cultural matters 30

The communication network 31

Chapter 3 Sigeric and Canterbury 33

Archbishop Sigeric and his time: Eschatology for the end of a millennium and the Anglo-Saxon kingdom 33

Primary sources for Sigeric's life and historical context 36

The text: Its transmission and editions 36

The text: Its authorship and content 38

Paving the way: Sigeric's predecessors and epigones 39

Canterbury calls Rome: Building an identity 41

Canterbury in the Early and High Middle Ages 43

Chapter 4 Travel in Early Medieval Europe: Modalities, Practice, Exploration 54

Routes, roads and infrastructure 54

Travels from England to Rome 57

A range of possibilities: Routes and roads through medieval France 64

Orienteering and mapping 67

Itineraries and guides 79

Motivations for reporting 81

Scheduling, duration, distance, pauses, means of transport: The routine of travel 83

Hospitality and accommodation 87

Rome 90

Internal structure and composition of the parties 91

Chapter 5 In the Footsteps of Sigeric 92

On the (Roman) road. The itinerary across modern France 92

LVI Antifern 94

LVII Pontarlier (Punterlin) 94

LVIII Nods(Nos) 97

LIX Besancon (Bysiceon) 97

The road around Besancon-les Buis 97

The town 98

The suburbrurn 101

LX Cussey-sur-l'Ognon (Cuscei) 103

LXI Seveux-sur-Saone (Sefui) 103

LXIII Oisma 103

LXIV Blessonvilie (Blæcuile) 105

LXV Bar-sur-Aube (Bar) 105

LXVI Brienne-la-Vieille (Breone) 106

LXVII Donnement-sur-Meldançon (Domaniant) 107

LXIX Châlons-en-Champagne (Catheluns) 107

LXX Reims (Rems) 114

The city centre 118

The cathedral 119

The canons' cloister 122

The school 122

The suburbium 122

LXXI Corbény (Corbunei) 123

LXXII Laon (Mundlothuin) 123

LXXIII Martinwæb/Martinwaeth (Martini Vadum) = Seraucourt-le-Grand? 125

LXXIV Doingt-sur-la-Cologne (Duin) 125

LXXV Arras (Aberats/Atherats) 125

LXXVII Thérouanne 127

LXXVIII Guînes (Guisnes, Gisne) 129

LXXIX Sombre (Sumeran) 130

Chapter 6 A Cross-section of Continental Europe at the End of the First Millennium AD 131

Towns and centres 131

Episcopal complexes 131

Fortifications 132

Palaces 132

Suburbia 132

Trade and exchange 133

Churches, abbeys, sanctuaries and artistic trends 133

France 133

England 134

The cultural scenario 135

Around the year 1000. At the dawn of a new era? 135

Conclusion. Landscapes of movement at the twilight of the first millennium 136

The road network 136

Sigeric's choices 137

Journey as exploration 137

Landscape perception and medieval journey 139

Bibliography 141

Primary Sources Editions And Commentaries 156

Index of Geographical, Ethnic and Personal Names 158

Index of Ancient and Medieval Sources 170

Index of Manuscripts 171

List of Figures

Figure 0.1 Canterbury, Christ Church. The milestone indicating the start of the Via Francigena to Rome. Photo Author. ix

Figure 2.1 The Frankish expansion 356-795. After Hallam 1980: fig. 1.2 20

Figure 2.2 The empire of Charlemagne. Elaboration A. Panarello after Duby 1988: 194 22

Figure 2.3 Division of Charlemagne's kingdom after 843 (Treaty of Verdun). Elaboration A. Panarello after Duby 1987: 18 23

Figure 2.4 The rise of territorial principalities in the French Kingdom of the tenth century. Elaboration A. Panarello 26

Figure 2.5 The effective control of Hugh Capet over the Kingdom of France at the end of his reign (dotted) vs the areas of influence of the Counts of Blois and of Vermandois (grey). Elaboration A. Panarello after Duby 1987: 19, map 3 27

Figure 2.6 The political division of Europe around the year 1000. Elaboration A. Panarello after Duby 1987: 42 29

Figure 3.1 Sigeric's itinerary manuscript: British Library, Cotton MS Tiberius B.V, f.23v. © The British Library, https://bl.uk/co;lection-items/itinerary-of-archbishop-sigeric#. Public Domain 37

Figure 3.2 Canterbury. Schematic map of the town around the time of Sigeric's election. The Marlowe area is highlighted in grey. Elaboration Author after Brooks 2000: fig. 28 44

Figure 3.3 Canterbury, cathedral. Hypothetical reconstruction of the plan and section of the earlier Anglo-Saxon phase (2A). After Blockley 2000: fig. 16 45

Figure 3.4 Canterbury, cathedral. Phased plan of Anglo-Saxon remains (periods 2A-2C). After Blockley 2000: fig. 6 46

Figure 3.5 Canterbury, St Augustine's Abbey. General plan with location of the mound at the southeastern edge. After Jenkins 1991: 2, fig. 1 47

Figure 3.6 Canterbury, St Augustine's Abbey. Reconstruction of the churches of SS Peter and Paul and of St Mary. A: seventh century; B: beginning of the eleventh century. After Gem 1992: 60, 62, figs. 5-6 48

Figure 3.7 Canterbury, St Augustine's Abbey. Plan of the excavated structures attributable to the Anglo-Saxon period (seventh-eleventh centuries). After Gem 1992: 58, fig. 4 49

Figure 3.8 Canterbury. Comparative table with the plans of the churches of Christ Church (A), St Martin (B), SS Peter and Paul (C) and St Pancras (D). After Blockey 2000: fig. 14. Courtesy of Durham University e-theses service 50

Figure 4.1 Schematic map of the road network in north-western France and the river Seine basin during the Carolingian age, with indication of the main centres (dot: centre, vicus), religious settlements (cross: abbey, monastic borough), smaller monastic settlements (triangle) and route toponyms (square). Elaboration A. Panarello after Bruand 2002: 94, map 1 56

Figure 4.2 Schematic map of the river Seine basin during the Carolingian age, with indication of the main centres (dot: centre, vicus), religious settlements (cross: monastery, monastic borough), smaller monastic settlements (triangle) and route toponyms (square). Elaboration A. Panarello after Bruand 2002: 99, map 2 57