The Edict of Pîtres (

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

: ) was a

capitulary A capitulary (medieval Latin ) was a series of legislative or Public administration, administrative acts emanating from the Franks, Frankish court of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, especially that of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Em ...

promulgated at Pîtres on 25 June 864. It is often cited by historians as an example of successful government action on the part of

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

, king of

West Francia In medieval historiography, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the year 843, from the Treaty of Verdun, to 987, the beginning of the Capet ...

. At the time

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

more than annually ravaged not only the Frankish coastlands but, with the aid of Europe's numerous navigable rivers, much of the interior also. A king was most valued who could defeat them in the field and prevent their attacks in the future. The purpose and primary effect of the Edict was long thought to be the protection of the cities and countryside from

Viking raids The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

. Charles created a large force of

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

upon which he could call as needed. He ordered all men who had horses or could afford horses to serve in the army as cavalrymen. This was one of the beginnings of the French

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of ...

so famous for the next seven centuries. The intention of Charles was to have a mobile force with which to descend upon the raiders before they could up and leave with their booty. Charles the Bald denier struck Reims

To prevent the Vikings from even attaining a great booty, Charles also declared that fortified bridges should be built at all towns on rivers. This was to prevent the dreaded

longship Longships, a type of specialised Viking ship, Scandinavian warships, have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by th ...

s from sailing into the interior. Simon Coupland believes that only two bridges, at

Pont-de-l'Arche Pont-de-l'Arche () is a commune in France, commune of the Eure ''département in France, département'' in France. Notable monuments include the parish church of Church of Notre-Dame-des-Arts, Notre-Dame-des-Arts, which was built in the late Flam ...

(near Pîtres) on the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

and at Les Ponts-de-Cé on the

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

, were ever fortified, though a few others that had fallen into disrepair were rebuilt "in times of crisis in order to increase troop mobility". Charles also prohibited all trade in weapons with the Vikings, in order to prevent them from establishing bases in Gaul. The penalty for selling horses to the Vikings was death. Since the prohibition on the sale of horses was new, it is probable that mounted Viking raids were on the rise. Aside from its auspicious military reforms, the Edict had political and economic consequences. King

Pepin II of Aquitaine Pepin II, called the Younger (823 – after 864 in Senlis, Oise, Senlis), was King of Aquitaine from 838 as the successor upon the death of his father, Pepin I of Aquitaine, Pepin I. Pepin II was eldest son of Pepin I and Ingeltrude, daughter ...

, against whom Charles had been fighting for decades, had been captured in 864 and was formally deposed at Pîtres. Economically, besides the prohibitions on commerce with the enemy, Charles tightened his control of the

mints A mint or breath mint is a food item often consumed as an after-meal refreshment or before business and social engagements to improve breath odor. Mints are commonly believed to soothe the stomach, given their association with natural byproducts ...

and regulated the punishment for

counterfeiting A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

. Prior to this edict at least nine places in France had the right of minting but these were reduced to three.

Surviving manuscripts

There are twelve surviving manuscripts of the Edict across various collections: three in the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

, three in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

, two in the

Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research libra ...

, and one in each of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, the

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts and ...

Yale University Library The Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Originating in 1701 with the gift of several dozen books to a new “Collegiate School," the library's collection now contains approximately 14.9 m ...

, the Stiftsbibliothek, and the Biblioteca Vallicelliana in Rome.MacLean, 41

Editions and translations

*Edition: "Edictum Pistense 864." A. Boretius and V. Krause, edd. '' MGH'', Capitularia regum Francorum, 2. Hannover: 1897. *Translation: *Translation: Coupland, Simon
Edict of Pîtres

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Coupland, Simon. "The Fortified Bridges of Charles the Bald." ''

Journal of Medieval History The ''Journal of Medieval History'' is a major international academic journal devoted to all aspects of the history of Europe in the Middle Ages. Each issue contains 4 or 5 original articles on European history, including the British Isles, North ...

'', 17(1991):1, 1–12. *Gillmor, Carroll. "War on the Rivers: Viking Numbers and Mobility on the Seine and Loire, 841–886." ''Viator'', 19(1988), 79–109. *{{Cite journal , last=MacLean , first=Simon , date=2020 , title=The Edict of Pîtres, Carolingian defence against the Vikings, and the origins of the medieval castle , url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S008044012000002X/type/journal_article , journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , language=en , volume=30 , pages=29–54 , doi=10.1017/S008044012000002X , issn=0080-4401, hdl=10023/20962 , hdl-access=free , url-access=subscription * Munro, Dana Carleton
''The Middle Ages, 395–1272''.
New York: The Century Company, 1921. * Oman, Charles. ''The Dark Ages, 476–918''. London: Rivingtons, 1914.

External links

* http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/864charlesbald-pistes.asp * http://www.mgh.de/dmgh/resolving/MGH_Capit._2_S._310 864 9th century in West Francia Law of France Viking Age in France Pistres 9th century in law