Silva Carbonaria, the "charcoal forest", was the dense

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

and

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

that formed a natural boundary during the

Late Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progr ...

through

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

into the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

across what is now western

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

. The Silva Carbonaria was a vast forest that stretched from the rivers

Zenne The ( French, ) or ( Dutch, ) is a small river that flows through Brussels, Belgium. Its source is in the village of Naast near the municipality of Soignies. It is an indirect tributary of the Scheldt, through the Dyle and the Rupel. It jo ...

and the

Dijle The Dyle (; ) is a river in central Belgium, left tributary of the Rupel. It is long. It flows through the Belgian provinces of Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Its source is in Houtain-le-Val, near Nivelles in Walloon Brabant. Th ...

in the north to the

Sambre The Sambre () is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne department. ...

in the south. Its northern outliers reached the then marshy site of modern

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Further to the southeast, the higher elevation and deep river valleys were covered by the even less penetrable ancient ''Arduenna Silva'', the deeply folded

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

, which are still partly forested to this day. To the east, the forested zone was possibly considered to extend to the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. It was there in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

in 388 CE that the ''magistri militum praesentalis''

Nannienus Nannienus (also Nannenus, or Naniemus, Nanninus), ( 350 AD), was a late Roman military commander in the Western Roman Empire. In 370, as ''Comes rei militaris'' under the Emperor Valentinian I he fought the Saxons. In 378, under the Emperor ...

and Quintinus began a counter-attack against a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

incursion from across the Rhine, which was fought in the Silva Carbonaria.

Roman road

A great

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

forming a "strategic axis" linked the Rhine crossing at

with

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

, where it crossed the Maas at the head of navigation. Skirting the northern edges of the Silva Carbonaria, it passed through

Tongeren Tongeren (; ; ; ) is a city and former municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the only Roman administrative capital wit ...

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

and

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

to reach the sea at

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. The highway was the main east–west route in a landscape where the river valleys, tributaries of the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

and the

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

, tended southwest to northeast. It remained viable through the

as the ''chaussée Brunehaut'', the "Road of Brunehaut". As a public work its scale had become unimaginable in the Middle Ages: the chronicler Jean d'Outremeuse solemnly related in 1398 that

Brunehaut Brunehaut (; ; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bléharies (town centre), Guignies, Hollain, Howardries, Jollain-Merlin, Laplaigne, Lesda ...

, wife of

Sigebert I Sigebert I ( 535 – 575) was a Frankish king of Austrasia from the death of his father in 561 to his own death. He was the third surviving son out of four of Clotaire I and Ingund. His reign found him mostly occupied with a successful civil ...

, had built this wide paved road in 526, and that it was completed in a single night with the devil's aid.

Use as a border

There are signs that the ''Silva Carbonaria'' represented the boundary between the Roman provinces of

Gallia Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and German ...

and

Germania Inferior ''Germania Inferior'' ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed ''Germania Secunda'' in the 4th century AD, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Cl ...

. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, these provinces were still represented by the church dioceses of

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

and

. On a smaller level, the forest served as a boundary between the Roman ''

civitates In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on the ...

'' of the

Tungri The Tungri (or Tongri, or Tungrians) were a tribe, or group of tribes, who lived in the Belgic part of Gaul, during the times of the Roman Empire. Within the Roman Empire, their territory was called the '' Civitas Tungrorum''. They were described ...

to the east and the

Nervii The Nervii or Nervians were one of the most powerful Belgae, Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards to C ...

to the west. This boundary continued to be used into the Middle ages as the boundary between the bishoprics of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

and

.Ulrich Nonn, ''Pagus und Comitatus'', pp.226-234 and map. With the collapse of central Roman administration in the fourth century, Germanic

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

living along the Rhine border established kingdoms within the empire, and settled in less populated areas. The

Salian Franks The Salian Franks, or Salians, sometimes referred to using the Latin word or , were a Frankish people who lived in what was is now the Netherlands in the fourth century. They are only mentioned under this name in historical records relating to ...

expanded their settlements from a starting point near

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

until they pressed into the more populated and Romanized areas in the Silva Carbonaria and near the Maas. The Romanized population came to be known as '' *walhōz'' or "strangers" to the Germanic Franks—continued speaking a

Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in ...

, whose name survives in '' Walloon''. In the past the Romance-Germanic linguistic division that marks Belgium to this day has been perhaps too facilely linked to these geographic parameters. For a time in the sixth century, the Silva Carbonaria formed a barrier between the West Frankish kingdom of

Clovis Clovis may refer to: People * Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis ** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler ** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...

and the East Frankish kingdom of Sigebert the Lame, centred on Cologne, until he was assassinated in the forest of Buchaw by his son some time after 507, and Clovis joined the two kingdoms. The '' Liber Historiae Francorum'' mentions that the Neustrian army invaded

Austrasia Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...

in the succession battle of

Pepin of Herstal Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Franks, Frankish statesman and military leader who was the de facto ruler of Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke ...

and the war started when

Ragenfrid Ragenfrid (also Ragenfred, Raganfrid, or Ragamfred) (died 731) was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy from 715, when he filled the vacuum in Neustria caused by the death of Pepin of Heristal, until 718, when Charles Martel finally ...

and his army traversed the Silva Carbonaria. The ''

Annales Mettenses Priores The ''Annals of Metz'' () are a set of Latin Carolingian annals covering the period of Frankish history from the victory of Pepin II in the Battle of Tertry (687) to the time of writing (c. 806). Sections covering events after 806 are not origin ...

'' note that the wealth of Pepin of Herstal's family was their vast territories between the Silva Carbonaria and the river Meuse. Throughout the rule of the

Merovingian dynasty The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

, founded by Clovis, the ''Silva Carbonaria'' thus became the boundary between their two kingdoms of

and

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages, in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, Austrasia. It initially included land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, in the north of present-day ...

. The Silva Carbonaria is mentioned in the

Salic Law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...

of the Franks, where it marked "the boundary of the territories occupied by the Frankish people". The ''Liber Historiae Francorum'' mentions that the war of succession after the death of Pepin of Herstal started when the Neustrian army, under the command of Ragenfrid (mayor of the palace), traversed the Silva Carbonaria

Medieval monasteries

Extensive tracts of the untamed woodlands belonged to monasteries. The Benedictine

Abbey of Lobbes Lobbes Abbey () was a Benedictine monastery in the municipality of Lobbes, Hainaut, Belgium. The abbey played an important role in the religious, political and religious life of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, especially around the year 1000. The ...

lay in the Silva Carbonaria and that of Saint Foillan, in the present-day

Sonian Forest The Sonian Forest or Sonian Wood (, ; , ) is a forest at the south-eastern edge of Brussels, Belgium. It is connected to the Bois de la Cambre, Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos, an urban public park which enters the city up to from the Pentag ...

(Forêt de Soignes/Zoniënwoud) not far from

Nivelles Nivelles (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstreux. The Nivelles arrondissement ...

. From the 8th century onwards, parts of the Silva Carbonaria were cleared for agriculture, eventually subdividing it in several smaller isolated forests like the Sonian forest today.

Economic importance

The

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

—which gave the forest its name and into which the once seeming inexhaustible woods were slowly converted—was required to fuel the scattered smelting furnaces that forged the plentiful iron found in outcroppings laid bare by riverside erosion. Even before the Romans arrived, iron weapons forged in the Silva Carbonaria were traded by the

Belgae The Belgae ( , ) were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth b ...

to their cousins in the southeast of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. In the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

further woodlands were cleared. Today the most significant remnant of the Silva Carbonaria is the

,De Vries 2003:13; Hofmann, in the late seventeenth century, noted this remnant in writings of Gotefridus Wendelinus and also remarked on remnants in the ''Forêt de Mormaux'' or ''Mormal'', the ''Bois de Cirau'', and the woodland called ''Die Leu'' that stretched from

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

to the gates of

Diest Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around ...

, the forest-covered ''

Hageland The Hageland is a landscape in the Flemish Region of Belgium, situated in the eastern part of the Province of Flemish Brabant. It is mainly comprised between the cities of Aarschot, Leuven, Tienen and Diest, and probably coincides to some extent ...

'' or ''Hagelanden''. preserved because it had been set aside as a noble hunt. At the start of the nineteenth century the area of this remnant of the

primeval forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

still covered about 100 square kilometres, but due to timber cutting its area has diminished to its current protected area of 44.21 km².

Notes

References

*Hofmann, Johann Jacob. ''Lexicon Universale, Historiam Sacram Et Profanam Omnis aevi...'' (Leiden) 1698
on-line facsimile text
*Duvivier, Charles, "La forêt charbonnière: Silva Carbonaria", in ''Revue d'histoire et d'archéologie'' 3 (1862:1-26). * (includes list of early references to the Silva Carbonaria) * * *Van Durme (2010
Genesis and Evolution of the Romance-Germanic Language Border in Europe
h1>

Primary sources

*Mentioned as a boundary in the ''Lex Salica''. Various versions can be compare

and ttp://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/context/bsb00000856_meta:titlePage.html?sort=score&order=desc&divisionTitle_str=&hl=false&fulltext=carbonaria&sortIndex=020:020:0004:010:02:00&context=carbonaria hereon the dMGH.de (

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The (Latin for "Historical Monuments of Germany"), frequently abbreviated MGH, is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of parts of Northwestern, Central and Souther ...

) collection. *The Liber Historiae Francorum repeats the story found in Gregory of Chlodio going through the forest to take Tournai. Latin i
here
on the dMGH.de collection. {{coord missing, Belgium Forests of Belgium Geography of Belgium

Silva Carbonaria Silva Carbonaria, the "charcoal forest", was the dense old-growth forest of beech and oak that formed a natural boundary during the Late Iron Age through Roman times into the Early Middle Ages across what is now western Wallonia. The Silva Carbo ...

Former forests