Sources and Contents
A chief source for the meeting is Nithard's De dissensionibus filiorum Ludovici pii (On the Dissensions of the Sons of Louis the Pious), which is preserved in a single manuscript from the 10th or 11th century (Cod. Lat. 9768 in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris). The text of the oaths is on folios 12b2-13b1.
According to Nithard's version, both kings first made the same preamble speech, which was a detailed complaint against Lothair. Each king then swore his individual oath in front of their assembled armies, not in Latin nor in his own language, but in the vernacular of the other's kingdom. Finally, the armies swore separate pledges in their respective languages.
One version of the pledges was written in the Rhenish Franconian dialect of Old High German. The second version is in a form of Proto-French. The preamble was also written in Latin, as were sections to report the ceremonies.
Read more about this topic: Oaths Of Strasbourg
Famous quotes containing the words sources and/or contents:
“The sources of poetry are in the spirit seeking completeness.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“The permanence of all books is fixed by no effort friendly or hostile, but by their own specific gravity, or the intrinsic importance of their contents to the constant mind of man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)