Gaul

General History

The last seven hundred years have seen Gaul invaded by roving barbarians time and time again. The two greatest upheavals occurring during the Migration Period: The Barbarian Invasions and the Viking Age. During the barbarian invasions, Germanic tribes swarmed across the Roman borders into Gaul; however due to the focus on the western half of the empire, the Romans were not so easily defeated. Instead the barbarians slowly began to pile up against the Roman frontier leading to far slower defeat of the Romans in the region and an increase in infighting between the tribes.

Migration Era

Over 300 years the Romans slowly lost most of Northern and Central Gaul to the barbarians and native Celtic/Gallic uprisings. Rome retreated to the Mediterranean coast, using the Alps and Massif mountains as a massive natural barrier between them and the newly arrived peoples. The Rhone river valley became a refuge for locals who wished to remain in the Roman sphere of influence and protect and had no love for the new arrivals. The native Celts and Gauls were slowly pushed into the depths of the Massif and Vosges Mountains where the new arrivals were able to largely forget about them.
The centuries leading up to the Viking age saw endless conflict sweep the Gallic countryside as the new peoples slowly developed into dozens of small kingdoms, each squabbling over the Roman cities and ruins left behind in an attempt to gain some modicum of technology, leverage, or claim to being related to the Romans. Eventually, the most powerful of the peoples (the Franks, Burgundians, Alemannians, and the Saxons) rose to the top with the other peoples being pushed into small pockets around the region. While these four peoples did rise to the top they were by no means externally united or even internally united. There was no Frankia, or Burgundy, or Saxony; there were numerous smaller states that fought amongst each other. And while they would certainly prefer kingdoms of their own culture over those of another, they were fiercely independent and refused to unify.
At the same time, tens of Roman cities that had not been abandoned during the Great Retreat, clanged to life in the turmoil of the region, pitting the different tribes off one another in order to avoid conquest. Slowly but surely these cities took on a life of their own; while still claiming Roman heritage and to be an extension of the empire, the had long since moved on, developing slowly into what are now called the Gallo-Romano City States (the Vulgar Cities by the Romans). While their numbers have dwindled over the last centuries as many have been absorbed into the various kingdoms many still retain their independence and proudly cling to their Roman heritage.

Frankish Empire Era

Between the ‘end’ of the Migration Period and the ‘start’ of the Viking Age there were a handful of major, almost world shattering events that had the opportunity to reshape the entire region. The most well known and most widely spoken of, was the Scourging of Charles Martel as the Romans and most non-Frankish call; the Frankish call it the Conquest of Martel. Little attention was paid to the young Frankish petty king from Liege who over the course of a decade slowly carved out a sizable kingdom for himself stretching from Antwerp in the north to Metz in the south, east from the Rheine all the way west to the borders of the city state of Parisiorum (Paris). Many leagues above any potential rival kingdom Charles had probably the first real opportunity to carve an empire of Gaul that resembles what we know of as France. From IY 726-734 Martel lead a whirlwind campaign across northern Gaul uniting the various Frankish tribes and kingdoms under his rule, his only real opposition at this point being the various Gallo-Romano Cities in his path, the Burgundians, and Swabians as he had signed a pact with the Saxons to avoid conflict with them. The tipping point in the region however was the conquest of Parisiorum. The Romans still held a vested interest in the city since it was a major trade hub for them and no one had successfully conquered it before then. It was at this point the Roman Empire moved extra legions into the Rhone region in preparation for Martel’s inevitable attack. Martel eventually invaded the Rhone Valley with the intent to expel the Romans once and for all from the region. This plan backfired however, as Martel was dealt a series of staggering defeats and forced to retreat. From late 740 until the summer of 741 the Romans pursued Martel back to Parisiorum where Martel was slain. Over the next fifty years Martel’s brief empire slowly fragmented back apart.

by Indiana University

The second major event occurred at the turn of the ninth century, with the ascension of Martel’s grandson, Charles, to the throne of his crumbling empire. Better known as Charlemagne (Charles the Great) Charles attempted to do what his father and grandfather could not; create a lasting Frankish Empire. During the first fifteen years of his reign the young Charles re-expanded the kingdom reclaiming most of the original empire’s lost territory in northern Gaul, Beligica, and Germania. His success lead many of the Frankish kingdoms that had split or been spat out from the empire during the previous century to declare fealty and return into the imperial fold. Charles got a boon to his conquests when he defeated a Roman legion that had been sent to defend Parisiorum. With that victory Charles secured all of northern and eastern Gaul, and wisely did not attack the Romans and instead turned his attention towards Germania where he campaigned for ten years and established a large Frankish-Germanic kingdom between the Rhine, Elbe, and Danube (most of we consider West Germany). However central, eastern, and southern Gaul remained fiercely independent and forced Martel in long wars for little gain. At his death Charles had an empire larger than his grandfather with numerous client kingdoms, subjugated city states, and countless vassal states. The Empire was turned into a dual administration for his two sons who ruled well together for only seven years. The elder son, Carlomanos died unexpectedly, and the younger son Pepin was made sole emperor. Pepin, was not much of a conqueror and actually lost some Imperial land in Germania and southern Gaul but was an excellent domestic leader and spurred a brief golden age from the Frankish Empire. He died in a war against the Burgundians.
The third and final major event was the massive implosion of the Frankish Empire shortly after Pepin III’s death. Pepin’s heir, Desiderius, was nowhere near as charismatic as his father, nor as good of an administrator, or hardly competent in military matters. His ineffectual leadership led to the loss of the Empire’s entire German holdings within years as mass revolt in Aquitania, combined with the arrival and invasion of the Danes, Norge, and Swedes along the northern coast the Empire quickly led to its collapse and was reduced to a small kingdom ruled out of Aachen.

Viking Age

Francia received the worst of the early Viking age; early efforts in Britannia were repelled and the internal turmoil in the Frankish Empire and other kingdoms made the region ripe for raiding. Efforts by the Franks and the Frankish-Germanic Kingdoms to forcefully convert Germanic lands to the Cult of Pepin as well as the wars waged in Saxony and Demark by Charlemagne and his kin to the south are believed to have led to the heavy focus on Gaul, while others speculate were motivated by overpopulation, trade inequities, and the lack of viable farmland in their homeland and the supposed easy pickings in a turmoil region that drove them to Gaul. Whatever the reason by the mid ninth century raids on the Frankish coast were a constant threat and in IY 855 the largest raid the Franks had yet seen laid siege to Parisiorum. The Franks made a valiant effort to lift the siege in what became known as the War of Parisiorum. While the Franks were successful after recruiting Frisians and Swabians to their efforts, the war was exceptionally bloody for the Gallic side leaving the military able population of northern Gaul severely depleted. This depletion in turn lead to success for future Viking raids as well as local conquests. By IY 887 the first Viking Petty Kingdom in Gaul had been established at Caen near the city state of Augustodurum. While efforts were made by the Franks, and later the Swabians, to remove the Norse Kingdom of Caen they were largely unsuccessful.

Maps

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  Gaul IY 740

  Gaul at the Height of the Martel Frankish Empire with all major vassals shown.

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