In
medieval Europe
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
land, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between
realm
A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire.
Etym ...
s or a neutral
buffer zone
A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them.
Common types of buffer zones are demil ...
under joint control of two states in which different laws might apply. In both of these senses, marches served a political purpose, such as providing warning of
military incursions or regulating cross-border trade.
Marches gave rise to titles such as
marquess
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
(masculine) or marchioness (feminine) in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, ''marqués'' (masculine) and ''marquesa'' (feminine) in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
-speaker countries, as well as in the
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
and
Galician regions, ''marquês'' (masculine) and ''marquesa'' (feminine) in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
-speaker countries, ''markesa'' (both masculine and feminine) in
Euskadi
The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...
, ''marquis'' (masculine) or ''marquise'' (feminine) in
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 ...
and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...
(german: Markgraf, lit=march count; masculine) or margravine (, feminine) in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and corresponding titles in other European states.
Etymology
The word "march" derives ultimately from a
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
root *''mereg-'', meaning "edge, boundary". The root *''mereg-'' produced
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''margo'' ("margin"),
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
''mruig'' ("borderland"),
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
''bro'' ("region, border, valley") and
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
''
marz'' ("borderland"). The
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...
''*marko'' gave rise to the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
word ''mearc'' and
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
''marka'', as well as
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''mörk'' meaning "borderland, forest",
and
derived
Derive may refer to:
* Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments
* ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism
*Dérive, a psychogeographical concept
See also
*
*Derivation (disambiguatio ...
from ''merki'' "boundary, sign",
[ denoting a borderland between two centres of power.
It seems that in Old English "mark" meant "boundary" or "sign of a boundary", and the meaning only later evolved to encompass "sign" in general, "impression" and "trace".
The ]Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
kingdom of Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ye ...
took its name from West Saxon ''mearc'' "marches", which in this instance referred explicitly to the territory's position on the Anglo-Saxon frontier
A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...
with the Romano-British
The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a ...
to the west.
During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
, usage of the word spread throughout Europe.
The name Denmark preserves the Old Norse cognates ''merki'' ("boundary") ''mörk'' ("wood", "forest") up to the present. Following the Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
, the Nazi German government revived the old name 'Ostmark' for Austria.
Historical examples of marches and marks
Frankish Empire and successor states
Marca Hispanica
After some early setbacks, Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
's son Louis Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ( ...
ventured beyond the province of Septimania
Septimania (french: Septimanie ; oc, Septimània ) is a historical region in modern-day Southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septima ...
and eventually took Barcelona from the Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or se ...
emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
in 801. Thus he established a foothold in the borderland between the Franks and the Moors. The Carolingian "Hispanic Marches" (''Marca Hispánica
The Hispanic March or Spanish March ( es, Marca Hispánica, ca, Marca Hispànica, Aragonese and oc, Marca Hispanica, eu, Hispaniako Marka, french: Marche d'Espagne), was a military buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania, est ...
'') became a buffer zone ruled by a number of feudal lords, among them the Count of Barcelona
The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...
. It had its own outlying territories, each ruled by a lesser ''miles'' with armed retainers, who theoretically owed allegiance through a Count to the Emperor or, with less fealty
An oath of fealty, from the Latin ''fidelitas'' (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another.
Definition
In medieval Europe, the swearing of fealty took the form of an oath made by a vassal, or subordinate, to his lord. "Fea ...
, to his Carolingian and Ottonian successors. Such territory had a ''catlá'' ("castellan" or lord of the castle) in an area largely defined by a day's ride, and the region became known, like Castile at a later date, as "Catalunya". Counties in the Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
that appeared in the 9th century, in addition to the County of Barcelona
The County of Barcelona ( la, Comitatus Barcinonensis, ca, Comtat de Barcelona) was originally a frontier region under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona became progressively independent, heredi ...
, included Cerdanya
Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counties ...
, Girona
Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...
and Urgell
Modern-day Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Higher Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Catalonia, Spain, forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Ur ...
.
In the early ninth century, Charlemagne issued his new kind of land grant, the ''aprisio
Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...
'', which redisposed land belonging to the Imperial ''fisc
Under the Merovingians and Carolingians, the fisc (from Latin ''fiscus,'' whence we derive "fiscal") applied to the royal demesne which paid taxes, entirely in kind, from which the royal household was meant to be supported, though it rarely was. ...
'' in deserted areas, and included special rights and immunities that resulted in a range of independence of action. Historians interpret the ''aprisio'' both as the basis of feudalism
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
and in economic and military terms as a mechanism to entice settlers to a depopulated border region. Such self-sufficient landholders would aid the counts in providing armed men in defense of the Frankish frontier
A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...
. ''Aprisio'' grants (the first ones were in Septimania
Septimania (french: Septimanie ; oc, Septimània ) is a historical region in modern-day Southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septima ...
) emanated directly from the Carolingian king, and they reinforced central loyalties, to counterbalance the local power exercised by powerful marcher counts.
But communications were arduous, and the power centre was far away. Primitive feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
entities developed, self-sufficient and agrarian, each ruled by a small hereditary military elite. The sequence in Catalonia exhibits a pattern that emerges similarly in marches everywhere. The Count is appointed by the king (from 802), the appointment settles on the heirs of a strong count (Sunifred) and the appointment becomes a formality, until the position is declared hereditary (897) and then the County declares itself independent (by Borrell II in 985). At each stage the ''de facto'' situation precedes the ''de jure'' assertion, which merely regularizes an existing fact of life. This is feudalism
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
in the larger landscape.
Certain of the Counts aspired to the characteristically Frankish (Germanic) title "Margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...
of the Hispanic March", a "margrave" being a ''graf'' ("count") of the march.
The early History of Andorra
Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( ca, Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra ( ca, Principat de les Valls d'Andorra, links=no), is a sovereign landlocked microstate in Southwestern Europe, ...
provides a fairly typical career of another such buffer state, the only modern survivor in the Pyrenees of the Hispanic Marches.
Marches set up by Charlemagne
* The Danish March (sometimes regarded as just a series of forts rather than a march) between the Eider
Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilt ...
and Schlei
The Schlei (; da, Slien, also ''Slesvig Fjord''e.g. in: Adolph Frederik Bergsøe: ''Den danske stats statistik'', Kjøbenhavn 1844, p. 156) (more often referred to in English as the Sly Firth) is a narrow inlet of the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-H ...
rivers, against the Danes
Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
Danes generally regard t ...
;
* the Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
or Nordalbingen march between the Eider
Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilt ...
and Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
rivers in modern Holstein
Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
, against the Obotrites
The Obotrites ( la, Obotriti, Abodritorum, Abodritos…) or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (german: Abodriten), were a confederation of medieval West Slavs, West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in norther ...
;
* the Thuringian
Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon spo ...
or Sorbian march
The Sorbian March ( la, limes Sorabicus, german: Sorbenmark) was a frontier district on the eastern border of East Francia in the 9th through 11th centuries. It was composed of several counties bordering the Sorbs. The Sorbian March seems to hav ...
on the Saale
The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...
river, against the Sorbs
Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenbu ...
dwelling behind the ''limes
Limes may refer to:
* the plural form of lime (disambiguation)
* the Latin word for ''limit'' which refers to:
** Limes (Roman Empire)
(Latin, singular; plural: ) is a modern term used primarily for the Germanic border defence or delimiting ...
sorabicus'';
* the March of Lusatia
The March or Margraviate of Lusatia (german: Mark(grafschaft) Lausitz) was as an eastern border march of the Holy Roman Empire in the lands settled by Polabian Slavs. It arose in 965 in the course of the partition of the vast ''Marca Geronis''. R ...
, March of Meissen
The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' (Saxon ...
, March of Merseburg {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
The March of Merseburg (german: Mark Merseburg) was a short-lived march of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the lands of the Polabian Slavs beyond the margravial residence at Merseburg on t ...
and March of Zeitz
The March of Zeitz (german: Mark Zeitz) was a march of the Holy Roman Empire. It was created by Emperor Otto I in the division of the ''marca Geronis'' in 965, following the death of Gero the Great. Its capital was Zeitz. Its first and only margra ...
;
* the Franconian march
Franconian may refer to:
*anything related to Franconia (German ''Franken''), a historic region in Germany, now part of Bavaria, Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg
*East Franconian German, a dialect spoken in Franconia
*Franconian languages
*Franconi ...
in modern Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...
, against the Czechs
The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, c ...
;
* the Avar march between Enns river and Wienerwald (the later Eastern March that became the Margraviate of Austria);
* the Pannonian march east of Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
(divided into ''Upper'' and ''Lower'');
* the Carantanian march;
* Steiermark (Styria), established under Charlemagne from a part of Carantania
Carantania, also known as Carentania ( sl, Karantanija, german: Karantanien, in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern ...
(Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
), erected as a border territory against the Avars and Slavs;
* the March of Friuli
The March of Friuli was a Carolingian frontier march, established in 776 as the continuation of the Lombard Duchy of Friuli, established against the Slavs and Avars. It was ceded to the Duchy of Bavaria as the March of Verona in 952. Its territ ...
;
* the Marca Hispanica
The Hispanic March or Spanish March ( es, Marca Hispánica, ca, Marca Hispànica, Aragonese and oc, Marca Hispanica, eu, Hispaniako Marka, french: Marche d'Espagne), was a military buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania, esta ...
against the Muslims of Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...
(Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
)
France
The province of France
The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into departments (''départements'') and districts in late 1789. The provinces continued to exist administratively until 2 ...
called Marche
Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...
( oc, la Marcha), sometimes ''Marche Limousine'', was originally a small border district between the Duchy of Aquitaine and the domains of the Frankish kings in central France, partly of Limousin
Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
and partly of Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
.
Its area was increased during the 13th century and remained the same until the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. Marche was bounded on the north by Berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
, on the east by Bourbonnais
Bourbonnais () was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''département'' of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.
History
The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais ...
and Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
; on the south by Limousin itself and on the west by Poitou. It embraced the greater part of the modern ''département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...
'' of Creuse
Creuse (; oc, Cruesa or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the eas ...
, a considerable part of the northern Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne (; oc, Nauta Vinhana, ; English: Upper Vienne) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve departments that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitai ...
, and a fragment of Indre
Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...
, up to Saint-Benoît-du-Sault. Its area was about its capital was Charroux Charroux may refer to:
Places
* Charroux, Allier, commune in the department of Allier, France
* Charroux, Vienne, commune in the department of Vienne, France
* Charroux Abbey, in Charroux, Vienne, France
People with the surname
*Gaby Charroux (bo ...
and later Guéret
Guéret (; Occitan: ''Garait'') is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France.
Geography
Guéret is a light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland and so ...
, and among its other principal towns were Dorat, Bellac and Confolens
Confolens ( ; oc, Cofolents, ) is a commune in southwestern France. It is one of the two sub-prefectures of the Charente department. Confolens is the administrative center of a largely rural district, which has seen the development of tourism ...
.
Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century when William III, duke of Aquitaine
William III (913 – 3 April 963), called Towhead (french: Tête d'étoupe, la, Caput Stupe) from the colour of his hair, was the "Count of the Duchy of Aquitaine" from 959 and Duke of Aquitaine from 962 to his death. He was also the Count o ...
, gave it to one of his vassals named Boso, who took the title of count. In the 12th century it passed to the family of Lusignan, sometimes also Counts of Angoulême, until the death of the childless Count Hugh in 1303, when it was seized by King Philip IV of France, Philip IV. In 1316 it was made an appanage for his youngest son the Prince, afterwards King Charles IV of France, Charles IV and a few years later (1327) it passed into the hands of the family of Bourbon.
The family of Armagnac (party), Armagnac held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons, and in 1527 it was seized by King Francis I of France, Francis I and became part of the domains of the French crown. It was divided into Haute-Marche (i.e. "Upper Marche") and Basse-Marche (i.e. "Lower Marche"), the estates of the former being in existence until the 17th century. From 1470 until the Revolution the province was under the jurisdiction of the ''parlement'' of Paris.
Several communes of France are named similarly:
* Marches, Drôme in the Drôme ''département''
* La Marche, Nièvre, La Marche in the Nièvre ''département''
Germany and Austria
The Germanic tribes that Romans called Marcomanni, who battled the Romans in the 1st and 2nd centuries, were simply the "men of the borderlands".
Marches were territorial organisations created as borderlands in the Carolingian Empire and had a long career as purely conventional designations under the Holy Roman Empire. In modern German, "Mark" denotes a piece of land that historically was a borderland, as in the following names:
Later medieval marches
*Northern March, Nordmark, the "Northern March", the Ottonian empire's territorial organisation on the conquered areas of the Wends. In 1134, in the wake of a German crusade against the Wends, the German magnate Albert the Bear was granted the Northern March by the Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Emperor Lothar II, Holy Roman Emperor, Lothar II.
* the March of the Billungs on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast, stretching approximately from Stettin (Szczecin) to Schleswig;
* Marca Geronis (''march of Gero''), a precursor of the Saxon Eastern March, later divided into smaller marches (the Northern March, which later was reestablished as Margraviate of Brandenburg; the Lusatian March and the Margraviate of Meissen, Meißen March in modern Saxony, Free state of Saxony; the March of Zeitz
The March of Zeitz (german: Mark Zeitz) was a march of the Holy Roman Empire. It was created by Emperor Otto I in the division of the ''marca Geronis'' in 965, following the death of Gero the Great. Its capital was Zeitz. Its first and only margra ...
; the Merseburg March; the Milceni, Milzener March around Bautzen);
* March of Austria (''marcha Orientalis'', the "Eastern March" or "Bavarian Eastern March" (german: Ostmark) in modern lower Austria);
* the Carantania, Carantania march or March of Styria (Steiermark);
* the Drau March (Maribor, Marburg and Pettau);
* the Mark an der Sann, Sann March (Celje, Cilli);
* the Krain or March of Carniola, also Windic march and White Carniola (''White March''), in modern Slovenia.
* three marches were created in the Low Countries: Margraviate of Antwerp, Antwerp, Valenciennes, Ename.
Other
*The Margraviate of Brandenburg, its ruler designated (margrave, literally "march-count"). It was further divided into regions also designated "Mark":
**Altmark ("Old March"), the western region of the former margraviate, between Hamburg and Magdeburg.
**Mittelmark ("Central March"), the area surrounding Berlin. Today, this region makes up for the bulk of the German States of Germany, federal state of Brandenburg, and thus in modern usage is referred to as Mark Brandenburg.
**Neumark (region), Neumark ("New March") since the 1250s was Brandenburg's eastern extremity between Pomerania and Greater Poland. Since 1945, the area is a part of Poland.
**Uckermark, the Brandenburg–Pomeranian borderland. The name is still in use for the region as well as for a Uckermark (district), Brandenburgian district.
*Mark (county), Mark, a medieval territory that is recalled in the Märkischer Kreis district (formed in 1975) of today's North Rhine-Westphalia. The northern portion (north of the Lippe River) is still called Hohe Mark ("Higher Mark"). The former "Lower Mark" (between Ruhr and Lippe rivers) is the present Ruhr area and is no longer called "Mark". The title, in the form "Count of the Mark", survived the territory as a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Carl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
*Saxon Eastern March, Ostmark ("Eastern March") is a modern rendition of the term ''marchia orientalis'' used in Carolingian documents referring to the area of Lower Austria that was later a ''markgraftum'' (Margrave, margraviate or "county of the mark"). ''Ostmark'' has been variously used to denote Austria, the Saxon Eastern March, or, as '' Ostmarkenverein'', the territories Prussia gained in the partitions of Poland.
Habsburg Empire
![Militargrenze, Wojwodowena und Banat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Militargrenze%2C_Wojwodowena_und_Banat.jpg)
Italy
From the Carolingian period onwards the name ''marca'' begins to appear in Italy, first the Marca Fermana for the mountainous part of Picenum, the Marca Camerinese for the district farther north, including a part of Umbria, and the Marca Anconitana for the former Pentapolis (Ancona). In 1080, the ''marca Anconitana'' was given in investiture to Robert Guiscard by Pope Gregory VII, to whom the Matilda of Tuscany, Countess Matilda ceded the marches of Camerino and Fermo.
In 1105, the Emperor Henry IV invested Werner II of Spoleto, Werner with the whole territory of the three marches, under the name of the March of Ancona. It was afterwards once more recovered by the Church and governed by papal legates as part of the Papal States. The Marche became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. After Italian unification in the 1860s, Austria-Hungary still controlled territory Italian nationalists Italian irredentism, still claimed as part of Italy. One of these territories was Austrian Littoral, which Italian nationalists began to call the Julian March because of its positioning and as an act of defiance against the hated Austro-Hungarian empire.
''Marche'' were repeated on a miniature level, fringing many of the small territorial states of pre-Risorgimento Italy with a ring of smaller dependencies on their borders, which represent territorial ''marche'' on a small scale. A map of the Duchy of Mantua in 1702 (Braudel 1984, fig 26) reveals the independent, though socially and economically dependent arc of small territories from the principality of Castiglione in the northwest across the south to the duchy of Mirandola southeast of Mantua: the lords of Bozzolo, Bozolo, Sabbioneta, Sabioneta, Dosolo, Guastalla, the count of Novellara, Novellare.
Hungary
In medieval Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary the system of ''gyepű'' and ''gyepűelve'', effective until the mid-13th century, can be considered as marches even though in its organisation it shows major differences from Western European feudal marches. For one thing, the ''gyepű'' was not controlled by a Marquess.
The ''Gyepű'' was a strip of land that was specially fortified or made impassable, while ''gyepűelve'' was the mostly uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land beyond it. The ''gyepűelve'' is much more comparable to modern buffer zone
A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them.
Common types of buffer zones are demil ...
s than traditional European marches.
Portions of the ''gyepű'' were usually guarded by tribes who had joined the Hungarian nation and were granted special rights for their services at the borders, such as the Székelys, Pechenegs and Cumans. A ban on settlement north of Niš by the Byzantine Empire in the twelfth century helped to establish uninhabited marchland between the empire's territory and Hungary.
The Hungarian ''gyepű'' originates from the Turkish language, Turkish ''yapi'' meaning ''palisade''. During the 17th and 18th centuries these borderlands were called Markland in the area of Transylvania that bordered with the Kingdom of Hungary and was controlled by a Count or Countess.
Iberia
In addition to the Carolingian ''Marca Hispanica'', Iberia was home to several marches set up by the native states. The future kingdoms of Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal and Kingdom of Castile, Castile were founded as marcher counties intended to protect the Kingdom of León from the Caliphate of Córdoba, Cordoban Emirate, to the south and east respectively.
Likewise, Córdoba set up its own marches as a buffer to the Christian states to the north. The Upper March (''al-Tagr al-A'la''), centered on Zaragoza, faced the eastern ''Marca Hispanica'' and the western Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
, and included the Distant or Farthest March (''al-Tagr al-Aqsa''). The Central March, Middle March (''al-Tagr al-Awsat''), centred on Toledo, Spain, Toledo and later Medinaceli, faced the western Pyrenees and Asturias. The Lower March (''al-Tagr al-Adna''), centred on Mérida, Spain, Mérida and later Badajoz, facing León and Portugal. These too would give rise to Kingdoms, the Taifas of Taifa of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Taifa of Toledo, Toledo, and Taifa of Badajoz, Badajoz.
Scandinavia
Denmark means "the march of the Danish people, Danes".
In Norse, "mark" meant "borderlands" and "forest"; in present-day Norwegian and Swedish it has acquired the meaning "ground", while in Danish it has come to mean "field" or "grassland".
Markland was the Old Norse language, Norse name of an area in North America discovered by Norwegian Vikings.
The forests surrounding Norwegian cities are called "Marka, Oslo, Marka" – the marches. For example, the forests surrounding Oslo are called Nordmarka, Østmarka and Vestmarka – i.e. the northern, eastern and western marches.
In Norway, note also:
* the Norwegian county Finnmark, "the borderlands (or, the forests) of the Sami people, Sami" (known to the Norsemen, Norse as ''Finns'')
* Hedmark ("the borderlands of heath (habitat), heath")
* Telemark ("the borderlands of the Þela tribe").
In Finland:
* Noormarkku (Swedish: Norrmark), a former municipality of Finland
* Pomarkku (Swedish: Påmark), a municipality of Finland
* Söörmarkku (Swedish: Södermark), a village in Noormarkku, Finland
* Markku, an island in the archipelago of Finland.
In Värmland in Sweden, Nordmark Hundred was the frontier area near the border to Norway. Almost all of it is now a part of Årjäng Municipality. In the Middle Ages the area was called ''Nordmarkerna'' and was a part of Dalsland and not of Värmland.
British Isles
The name of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the midlands of England was Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ye ...
. The name "Mercia" comes from the Old English for "boundary folk", and the traditional interpretation was that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the Welsh people, Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders, although P. Hunter Blair has argued an alternative interpretation that they emerged along the frontier between the Kingdom of Northumbria and the inhabitants of the River Trent valley.
Latinizing the Anglo-Saxon term ''mearc'', the border areas between England and Wales were collectively known as the Welsh Marches (''marchia Wallia''), while the native Welsh lands to the west were considered Wales Proper (''pura Wallia''). The Normans, Norman lords in the Welsh Marches were to become the new Marcher Lords.
The title ''Earl of March'' is at least two distinct Feudalism, feudal titles: one in the northern marches, as an alternative title for the Earl of Dunbar (c. 1290 in the Peerage of Scotland); and one, that was held by the family of Mortimer (1328 in the Peerage of England), in the west Welsh Marches.
The Scottish Marches is a term for the border regions on both sides of the border between England and Scotland. From the Norman conquest of England until the reign of King James VI of Scotland, who also became King James I of England, border clashes were common and the monarchs of both countries relied on Marcher Lords to defend the frontier areas known as the Marches. They were hand-picked for their suitability for the challenges the responsibilities presented.
Patrick Dunbar, 8th Earl of Dunbar, a descendant of the Earls of Northumbria was recognized in the end of the 13th century to use the name March as his earldom in Scotland, otherwise known as Dunbar, Lothian, and Northumbrian border.
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Regent of England together with Isabella of France during the minority of her son, Edward III of England, Edward III, was a usurper who had deposed, and allegedly arranged the murder of, King Edward II. He was created an earl in September 1328 at the height of his ''de facto'' rule. His wife was Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville, whose mother, Jeanne of Lusignan was one of the heiresses of the French Count of La Marche, Counts of La Marche and Count of Angouleme, Angouleme.
His family, Mortimer Lords of Wigmore Castle, Wigmore, had been border lords and leaders of defenders of Welsh marches for centuries. He selected ''March'' as the name of his earldom for several reasons: Welsh marches referred to several counties, whereby the title signified superiority compared to usual single county-based earldoms. Mercia was an ancient kingdom. His wife's ancestors had been Counts of La Marche and Angouleme in France.
In Ireland, a hybrid system of marches existed which was condemned as barbaric at the time. The Irish marches constituted the territory between English and Irish-dominated lands, which appeared as soon as the English did and were called by King John to be fortified. By the 14th century, they had become defined as the land between The Pale and the rest of Ireland. Local Anglo-Irish and Gaelic chieftains who acted as powerful spokespeople were recognised by the Crown and given a degree of independence. Uniquely, the keepers of the marches were given the power to terminate indictments. In later years, wardens of the Irish marches took Irish tenants.
Titles
Marquis, marchese and margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...
(''Markgraf'') all had their origins in feudal lords who held trusted positions in the borderlands. The English title was a foreign importation from France, tested out tentatively in 1385 by Richard II of England, Richard II, but not naturalized until the mid-15th century, and now more often spelled "marquess".
Related concepts
Abbasid Caliphate
Armenia
The specific subdivisions of Armenia are each called ''Marz (country subdivision), marz, մարզ'' (pl. "marzer, մարզեր"), a loanword from Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
.
The Balkans
See Krajina and Military Frontier.
Byzantine Empire
China
The Chinese concept of March is called ''Fan'' (藩), referring to feudatory domains and petty kingdoms on the borderlands of the empire.
In their initial development during the Eastern Zhou, later Zhou dynasty, the commandery (China), commanderies (''jùn'', 郡) functioned as marches, ranking below the duke (China), dukes' and wang (Chinese title), kings' Chinese feudalism, original fiefs and below the more secure and populous county (China), counties (''xiàn''). As the commanderies formed the front lines between the Warring States, major states, however, their military strength and strategic importance were typically much greater than the counties'. Over time, however, the commanderies were history of the administrative divisions of China, eventually developed into regular provinces and then discontinued entirely during the Tang dynasty reforms.
Japan
The European concept of ''marches'' applies just as well to the fief of Matsumae clan on the southern tip of Hokkaidō which was at Japan's northern border with the Ainu people of Hokkaidō, known as Ezo at the time. In 1590, this land was granted to the Kakizaki clan, who took the name Matsumae from then on. The Lords of Matsumae, as they are sometimes called, were exempt from owing rice to the ''shōgun'' in tribute, and from the ''sankin-kōtai'' system established by Tokugawa Ieyasu, under which most lords (''daimyōs'') had to spend half the year at court (in the capital of Edo).
By guarding the border, rather than conquering or colonizing Ezo, the Matsumae, in essence, made the majority of the island an Ainu reservation. This also meant that Ezo, and the Kurile Islands beyond, were left essentially open to Russian colonization. However, the Russians never did colonize Ezo, and the marches were officially eliminated during the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, when the Ainu came under Japanese control, and Ezo was renamed Hokkaidō, and annexed to Japan.
Persia (Sassanid Empire)
Roman Empire
Ukraine
''Ukraine'', from the Moscow-centric Russian viewpoint,
functioned as a "borderland" or "march" and gained its current name of Ukraine, name, which is derived from a Slavic term of the same meaning (see above for similar in Slovenia, etc.), ultimately from this function. This, though, was merely a continuation of a semi-formal arrangement with the Poles, before escalating feuds, political infighting in Poland, and religious differences (mainly Eastern Orthodox vs. Roman Catholic) saw a loose coalition of Ukrainian lords and independent landowners collectively known as the Cossacks shift to ally with the Russian Empire.
The Cossacks became a significant part of Russian military history in their role as military border/buffer-troops in the Wild Fields of Ukraine. The Tatar slave raids in East Slavic lands brought considerable devastation and depopulation to this area prior to the rise of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. As settlement advanced and the borders moved, the Tsars transferred or formed Cossack units to perform similar functions on other borderlands/marches further south and east in (for example) the Kuban and in Siberia, forming (for example) the Black Sea Cossack Host, the Kuban Cossacks, Kuban Cossack Host and the Amur Cossacks, Amur Cossack Host.
See also
* American Frontier
* Buffer state
* List of marches
* Marz (territorial entity)
* No man's land
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
Attribution:
* Endnote:
**A. Thomas, ''Les États provinciaux de la France centrale'' (1879).
{{DEFAULTSORT:March (Territory)
Marquisates,
Defunct types of subdivision in the United Kingdom
Marches (country subdivision),
Borders
Geopolitics