Kingdom of Aquitaine in the context of Counts and Dukes of Angoulême


Kingdom of Aquitaine in the context of Counts and Dukes of Angoulême

⭐ Core Definition: Kingdom of Aquitaine

The Duchy of Aquitaine (Occitan: Ducat d'Aquitània, IPA: [dyˈkad dakiˈtanjɔ]; French: Duché d'Aquitaine, IPA: [dyʃe dakitɛn]) was a historical fiefdom located in the western, central, and southern areas of present-day France, south of the river Loire. The full extent of the duchy, as well as its name, fluctuated greatly over the centuries and at times comprised much of what is now southwestern (including Gascony) and central France.

The territory originated in 507 as a constituent kingdom of Francia after the Salian Franks conquered Aquitaine following the Battle of Vouillé; its boundaries were ultimately a combination of the Roman provinces of Aquitania Prima and Secunda. As a duchy, it broke up after the conquest of the independent Aquitanian duchy of Waiofar, going on to become a sub-kingdom within the Carolingian Empire. It was then absorbed by West Francia after the partition of Verdun in 843 and soon reappeared as a duchy under West Francia. In 1153, an enlarged Aquitaine pledged loyalty to the Angevin kings of England. As a result, a rivalry emerged between the French monarchs and the Angevins over control of the latter's territorial possessions in France. By the mid-13th century, only an enlarged Guyenne and Gascony remained in Angevin hands. The Hundred Years' War finally saw the Kingdom of France gain full control over Aquitaine in the 1450s, with much of its territory directly incorporated into the French royal domain itself.

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Kingdom of Aquitaine in the context of Carolingian civil war

The Carolingian civil war was a violent crisis over the succession to the Carolingian Empire following the death of Emperor Louis the Pious in June 840 and lasting until the Treaty of Verdun in August 843. Louis's eldest son, the emperor Lothar I, laid claim to an undivided empire, while his younger brothers Louis the German and Charles the Bald sought large kingdoms of their own on the basis of previous divisions planned by the late emperor. Their nephew, Pippin II, laid claim to Aquitaine.

After Louis the Pious's death, Lothar moved immediately to disregard the division of the empire and secure for himself his father's imperial position. He reached out to Pippin in Aquitaine for support against Charles. Not content with Bavaria alone, Louis the German occupied the Rhineland laying claim to all of Germania. The first military move of the budding civil war was Lothar's campaign that forced Louis from the Rhineland in August. It increased Lothar's prestige in the east, but ended in an armistice. Lothar then marched to the Seine in September, laying claim to Neustria, before reaching a truce with Charles.

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Kingdom of Aquitaine in the context of Count of Angoulême

Angoulême (L'Angoumois) in western France was part of the Carolingian Kingdom of Aquitaine. Under Charlemagne's successors, the local count of Angoulême was independent and the county was not united with the French crown until 1308. By the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) the Angoumois, then ruled by the counts of Angoulême, was ceded to King Edward III of England. In 1371 it became a fief of Duke John of Berry and then passed to Duke Louis I of Orleans, both of whom were cadets of the French royal family. From then on it was held by cadets of the Valois House of Orleans, until Francis of Angoulême, became king of France in 1515. Angoumois was definitively incorporated into the French crown lands, as a duchy.

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Kingdom of Aquitaine in the context of Turpio

Turpio (or Turpion; died 4 October 863) was a Count of Angoulême in the Frankish empire. The sources are contradictory concerning the date of his appointment as count and his allegiance, but they agree that he died trying to fend off a raid by the Vikings.

In 838, when the Emperor Louis the Pious led an army into Aquitaine to put down the rebellion of his grandson Pepin, he replaced the counts who had rallied to Pepin—such as Turpio's brother Emeno, Count of Poitou—with appointees of his own. According to Adhemar of Chabannes, writing in the early 11th century, Turpio was appointed Count of Angoulême. However, Lupus of Ferrières, in a letter dated 840, addressed to either Abbot Marcward of Prüm (de) or perhaps Bishop Jonas of Orléans, makes a certain Rainald (Reinoldus), not Turpio, the new Count of Angoulême, and implies that Turpio was on the side of Pepin.

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Kingdom of Aquitaine in the context of 620s

The 620s decade ran from January 1, 620, to December 31, 629.

  • The town of Cholula is founded in central Mexico (later said to be the oldest continuously occupied town in all of North America).
  • The Chinese establish an imperial bureau for the manufacture of porcelain. Their technology will advance further under the Tang dynasty (approximate date).
  • September 9 or June 17 – The Islamic prophet Muhammad, after being commanded by God Almighty, secretly leaves his home in Mecca to make the Hijrah (emigrate) to Yathrib (later renamed by him Medina), along with his companion Abu Bakr. They take refuge in the Cave of Thawr south of Mecca for three days, departing on September 13 or June 21.
  • September 20 or June 28 – Muhammad does not enter Yathrib directly, but stops at its outlying environs of Quba. He establishes the Quba Mosque here, the first mosque of Islam. On July 2 (or September 24) he makes his first visit to Yathrib for Friday prayers.
  • October 4 or July 13 – After a fourteen days' stay in Quba, Muhammad finally moves from Quba to Yathrib, and is greeted cordially by its people. Here he drafts the Constitution of Medina, an agreement between the various Muslim, Jewish, Christian and pagan tribal communities in the city, forming the basis of a multi-religious Islamic state, and begins construction of the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi Mosque. Later during the caliphate of Umar in 638, the lunar year during which the emigration to Medina occurred (Friday 16 July 622 – 4 July 623) is designated "Year One" of the new Hijri era (Anno Hegirae – AH).
  • Xuanzang is fully ordained as a Buddhist monk at the age of 20.
  • Summer – King Khosrau II plans an all-out effort against Constantinople. He returns to Anatolia with two armies of unknown size, presumably more than 50,000 men each. One of these (possibly commanded by Khosrau himself) is to contain Heraclius in Pontus; another under Shahin Vahmanzadegan is defeated by Theodore.
  • Muhammad's letters to world leaders explain the principles of the new monotheistic Muslim faith, as they will be contained in his book, the Quran.
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