Sources & Suggestions for Further Research
Barrie Brill
Further Research
The sources for this period are rather sketchy and few in number. The Liber Historiae Francorum wass written by an unknown author who was close to the center of power in Neustria. The Continuations of the Chronicle of Fredegar consist of three parts: the first ten chapters are based on the Liber Historiae Francorum while the second part (chapters 11-33) covers the period until 751 was written for Count Childebrand, the brother of Charles Martel and then the next twenty chapters covering events down to 768 were written by Count Nibelung, the son of Childebrand. Arguments concerning the authorship of Fredegar Chronicle are numerous to the point of becoming a “cottage industry”. These sources are available in English translations as follows:
Bachrach, Bernard, S., trans., Liber Historiae Francorum. Lawrence, KS: Coronado Press, 1973.
Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., ed. And trans, The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar: with its Continuations. London: Nelson, 1960.
The lives of the pontiffs for this period are found in: Davis, Raymond, The Lives of the Eighth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis). Liverpool University Press, 1992.
The Letters of Saint Boniface are also found in English translation in: Emerton, Ephraim, The Letters of Saint Boniface. New York: Columbia University of Records of Civilization, 1976; his Vita can be found in: Talbot, C. H., ed. The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1954; along with those of Willibrord, Strum etc. His letters were extremely critical of conditions in the Frankish Church that he wanted to reform. Boniface probably darkened the picture in order to support his demands for reform.
Secondary Works:
The New Cambridge Medieval History, vol. II, c. 700-c. 900, ed. Rosamond McKitterick [Cambridge University Press, 1991]. See especially,Chapter 3, “Frankish Gaul to 814”, by Paul Fouracre.
Bachrach, Bernard, Merovingian Military Organization. St. Cloud, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1972.
Fouracre, Paul, The Age of Charles Martel. New York: Pearson, 2000.
Gerberding, Richard, The Rise of the Carolingians and the Liber Historiae Francorum. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987.
Wallace-Hadrill, John M, The Long-haired Kings. London: Methuen, 1962.
Wood, Ian, The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-471. London: Longman, 1994.
Sources
“Hincmar of Reims against Charles Martel” Letter from the Synod of Quierzy to Louis the German (858), MGH, Capitularia regnum Francorum, vol. II, ed. A. Boretius & V. Krause. Hanover, 1887.
“Extract from the History of the Bishops of Auxerre” Gesta pontificum Autissiodorensium, chapter XXVI. Ed. L.-M.-Duru in Bibliothèque historique de l’Yonne. Volume I. Auxerre, 1850.
“Echo of the Battle of Toulouse, 721” Liber Pontificalis, vol. I, edited by L. Duchesne. Paris: 1955.
“Council of Estinnes, 743” MGH, Concilia Aevi Karolini, Concilium Liftinense vol. I, Part I. Ed. A. Werminghoff. Hanover, 1906.
“The Battle of Poitiers as viewed by an anonymous Christian Mozarabic chronicler living in Cordoba” Chronique Mozârabe, dite de l’Anonyme de Cordoue, trans. By Ch.-M. de la Roncière, P. Contamine, R. Delort & M. Rouche, L’Europe au Moyen Age, vol. I. Paris: Armand Colin, 1970.
“Battle of Poitiers as viewed by the First Continuator of the Chronicle of Fredegar“ Fredegarii et aliorum chronica, ed. B. Krusch, MGH, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum. Hanover, 1888.