Origins
The origins of the Duchy lie in the far older Kingdom of Burgundy. The kingdom evolved out of territories ruled by the Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe that arrived in Gaul in the 5th century; they lived in the area around Dijon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Mâcon, Autun, and Châtillon-sur-Seine, and their name was applied to the region. This first Kingdom of Burgundy would be annexed to the territories of the Merovingian Kings of the Franks in the era of Clovis and his sons (the late 5th and early 6th centuries); it would be recreated, however, on several occasions when it was necessary to divide the Frankish territories between the sons of a deceased Frankish King.
Although the Kingdom of Burgundy did not always exist as an independent entity during the Early Middle Ages, it continued a semi-autonomous existence as a part of the Kingdom of the Franks: the Burgundians maintained their own law code (the "Loi Gombette"), while the people developed the agricultural and viticultural wealth of the territory. But southern Burgundy was pillaged by the Saracen invasion of the 8th century, and when Charles Martel had driven the invaders out, he divided Burgundy into four commands: Arles-Burgundy, Vienne-Burgundy, Alamanic Burgundy, and Frankish Burgundy. He appointed his brother Childebrand as governor of the last of these. Under the Carolingians, Burgundian separatism lessened. Burgundy became a purely geographical term, applicable only to describe the territory governed by the counties replacing it.
Both the Duchy of Burgundy and the County of Burgundy emerged from these counties, aided by the collapse of Carolingian centralism and the division of the Frankish domains brought about by the Partition of Verdun in 843. In the midst of this confusion, Guerin of Provence attached himself to Charles the Bald, youngest son of King Louis the Pious of the Franks, and aided him in the Battle of Fontenay against Charles's eldest brother, the Emperor Lothar. When the Frankish kingdom in the west was divided along the boundary of the Saône and Meuse (neatly dividing geographical Burgundy in the process), Guerin was rewarded for his services by the king by being granted the administration of the Counties of Chalon and Nevers, in which he was by custom expected to appoint Viscounts to rule as his deputies. As a vital military defender of the West Frankish border, Guerin was sometimes known by the Latin term for "leader" - Dux, or Duke.
Read more about this topic: Duchy Of Burgundy
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)