The Battle of Fraxinet or Fraxinetum was fought around 20 May 942, between a Hungarian raiding army and the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

frontier state of

Fraxinet Fraxinetum or Fraxinet ( ar, فرخشنيط, translit=Farakhshanīt or , from Latin ''fraxinus'': " ash tree", ''fraxinetum'': "ash forest") was the site of a Muslim fortress in Provence between about 887 and 972. It is identified with moder ...

, and ended with a Hungarian victory.

Background

Ibn Ḥayyān Abū Marwān Ḥayyān ibn Khalaf ibn Ḥusayn ibn Ḥayyān al-Qurṭubī () (987–1075), usually known as Ibn Hayyan, was a Muslim historian from Al-Andalus. Born at Córdoba, his father was an important official at the court of the Andalusi ...

preserved in his work ''Kitāb al-Muqtabis fī tarīkh al-Andalus'', the Hungarians (or Magyars), in 942, passed through the

Kingdom of the Lombards The Kingdom of the Lombards ( la, Regnum Langobardorum; it, Regno dei Longobardi; lmo, Regn di Lombard) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy ( la, Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established ...

(northern Italy) and then through southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, skirmishing along the way. They then invaded ''Thaghr al-Aqṣā'' ("Furthest March"), the northwestern frontier province of the

Caliphate of Córdoba The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خلافة قرطبة; transliterated ''Khilāfat Qurṭuba''), also known as the Cordoban Caliphate was an Islamic state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 929 to 1031. Its territory comprised Iberia and parts o ...

. Through the land of

Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...

, the Hungarians with

Kabar The Kabars ( el, Κάβαροι), also known as Qavars (Qabars) or Khavars were Khazar rebels who joined the Magyar confederation possibly in the 9th century as well as the Rus' Khaganate. Sources The Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII is the ...

auxiliary troops arrived to Italy by the spring of 942. There

Hugh of Italy Hugh (c. 880–947), known as Hugh of Arles or Hugh of Provence, was the king of Italy from 926 until his death. He belonged to the Bosonid family. During his reign, he empowered his relatives at the expense of the aristocracy and tried to estab ...

paid the previously agreed annual amount of tax (ten bushels of gold) then sent them to

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...

, according to the account of

Liutprand of Cremona Liutprand, also Liudprand, Liuprand, Lioutio, Liucius, Liuzo, and Lioutsios (c. 920 – 972),"LIUTPRAND OF CREMONA" in ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford, 1991, p. 12 ...

. As historian Ferenc Makk claims Hugh hired the Hungarians to a west oriented military campaign because of the Muslims of Fraxinet's continuous raids against his kingdom, including

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. In addition, Hugh summoned a fleet from the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

in order to destroy the coastal forts in Fraxinet.

The battle

In early May 942, the Hungarian forces left

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

for southern France. Just before 20 May, they arrived at Fraxinet, where the battle took place against the Muslims. As friar

Ekkehard Ekkehard (and Eckardt, Eckard, Eckart, Eckhardt, Ekkehart) is a German given name. It is composed of the elements ''ekke'' "edge, blade; sword" and ''hart'' "brave; hardy". Variant forms include Eckard, Eckhard, Eckhart, Eckart. The Anglo-Saxon for ...

wrote in his chronicle '' Casus Sancti Galli'' (first half of 11th century) among the events from 926 to 937, the skirmish ended when

Conrad I of Burgundy Conrad I, called the Peaceful (french: Conrad le Pacifique; german: Konrad der Friedfertige; – 19 October 993), a member of the Elder House of Welf, was King of Burgundy from 937 until his death. Life He was the son of King Rudolph II, the fir ...

(r. 937–993) sent envoys to both armies warning them of the other. The envoys offered Burgundian aid to each invader against the other and then informed them of the other's whereabouts. When the Magyars and Saracens met, the Burgundians held back and only attacked when the opposing forces were spent. In this way, both invading armies were destroyed and the captives sold into slavery in

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

. Italian historian Gina Fasoli considered that Ekkehard mistakenly confused Hugh with Conrad. Other scholars dated the event to 924, 926, 937, 943, 951 or 954. Makk argues the battle bound to happen during the rule of Conrad, excluding the years 924 and 926. He adds, the minor Conrad resided in the court of Otto I of Germany until early 943, which excludes his role in 937 or 942. The Hungarians led a campaign against the Byzantines in 943, omitting the western military raids. Makk also emphasizes, Conrad did not participate in any major struggles against the Muslims of Fraxinet, including the decisive

Battle of Tourtour The Battle of Tourtour of 973 was a significant victory for the Christian forces of William I of Provence over the Andalusi settlers based at Fraxinetum. Background For several decades, the Saracens had been making inroads into Provence, building ...

in 973. However Hugh's victorious naval campaign of 942 against the "Saracens" is well known in historiography, and during that time, he was in a political-military alliance with the Magyars. In Hungarian history, this was the first documented skirmish against a Muslim enemy. The Magyars defeated the "Saracens" and they continued on their way to Hispania. Their victory laid the foundation of a successful Italian–Byzantine campaign against the Muslims in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Fraxinet

942 Fraxinet, Battle Fraxinet, Battle Fraxinet, Battle