Siege of Paris (885–886) in the context of Latin poem

⭐ Core Definition: Siege of Paris (885–886)

The siege of Paris of 885–886 was part of a Viking raid on the Seine, in the western part of the Frankish Empire. The siege was the most important event of the reign of Charles the Fat and a turning point in the fortunes of the Carolingian dynasty and the history of France. It also proved for the Franks the strategic importance of Paris at a time when it also was one of the largest cities in West Francia. The siege is the subject of an eyewitness account in the Latin poem Bella Parisiacae urbis of Abbo Cernuus.

With hundreds of ships, and possibly tens of thousands of men, the Vikings arrived outside Paris in late November 885, demanding tribute. This was denied by Odo, Count of Paris, despite the fact he could assemble only several hundred soldiers to defend the city. The Vikings attacked with a variety of siege engines but failed to break through the city walls despite days of intense attacks. The siege was maintained for months but without any significant assaults after the initial attack. As the siege continued, most of the Vikings left Paris to pillage further upriver. The Vikings made a final unsuccessful attempt to take the city during the summer. In October, Charles the Fat arrived with his army.

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⭐ Core Definition: Siege of Paris (885–886)
Siege of Paris (885–886) in the context of Rollo
Siege of Paris (885–886) in the context of Abbo Cernuus

Siege of Paris (885–886) in the context of Rollo

Rollo (Norman: Rou, Rolloun; Old Norse: Hrólfr; French: Rollon; c. 835/870 – 933), also known with his epithet, Rollo "the Walker", was a Viking who, as Count of Rouen, became the first ruler of Normandy, a region in today's northern France. He was prominent among the Vikings who besieged Paris in 885–886, and he emerged as a war leader among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine after the Siege of Chartres in 911. Charles the Simple, king of West Francia, agreed to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, which granted Rollo lands between the river Epte and the sea in exchange for Rollo agreeing to end his brigandage, swear allegiance to Charles, convert to Christianity, and pledge to defend the Seine estuary from other Viking raiders.

Rollo's life was recorded by Dudo of St. Quentin. Historians such as W. Vogel, Alexander Bugge, and Henri Prentout have debated whether Dudo's account is historically accurate, and Rollo's origin and life are heavily disputed.

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Siege of Paris (885–886) in the context of Abbo Cernuus

Abbo Cernuus ("the Crooked"), Abbo Parisiensis, or Abbo of Saint-Germain (c. 850 – c. 923) was a Neustrian Benedictine monk and poet of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris. He was born about the middle of the ninth century.

Abbo was present at the Siege of Paris by the Vikings in 885–886. He was the only eyewitness who wrote a description of it, in Latin verse, with an account of subsequent events to 896, the so-called De bellis Parisiacæ urbis or Bella Parisiacæ urbis ("Wars of the City of Paris"). Abbo also left some sermons for the instruction of clerics in Paris and Poitiers (Patrologia Latina, CXXXII).

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