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| Siege of Reims | |
|---|---|
| Conflict | Siege of Reims |
| Partof | Frankish Civil Wars |
| Date | 716 |
| Place | Reims |
| Result | Charles Martel victory, consolidation of power in Neustria and Austrasia |
| Combatant1 | Neustria Burgundians supporters |
| Combatant2 | Austrasia supporters of Charles Martel |
| Commander1 | Ragenfrid; Chilperic II (king) supporters; Rothilde? |
| Commander2 | Charles Martel; Plectrude? |
| Strength1 | uncertain |
| Strength2 | uncertain |
| Casualties1 | unknown |
| Casualties2 | unknown |
Siege of Reims The Siege of Reims (716) was a decisive episode in the post-Pippinid succession struggles between rival factions of Neustria and Austrasia. The contest pitted the Neustrian mayor Ragenfrid and royal claimant Chilperic II against Austrasian loyalists aligned with Charles Martel, producing a siege that shaped the balance of power among the Merovingian polity, local episcopal authorities such as the bishop of Reims, and regional nobility.
By 716 the death of Pippin of Herstal in 714 had triggered open conflict among Pippinid heirs, Neustrian magnates, and Austrasian partisans. The contest involved figures like Grimoald, Theudoald, Plectrude, and Ragenfrid, with rival claimants including Chilperic II and transient royal figures from the Merovingian dynasty. Strategic urban centers such as Reims, Soissons, Cambrai, and Laon became focal points for control of communication routes linking Neustria, Austrasia, Burgundy, and the Rhine frontier. Ecclesiastical power in Reims Cathedral and the authority of the archbishopric of Reims also influenced alliances between secular magnates and clerical elites like the local bishop.
The besieging force comprised Neustrian loyalists under Ragenfrid aligned with the Neustrian king Chilperic II and backed by regional nobles from Neustria and parts of Burgundy. Opposing them were Austrasian contingents loyal to Charles Martel and residual supporters of the Pippinid household, including interests tied to Plectrude and factions from Cenomanian territories. Religious figures such as the bishop of Reims and influential abbots played diplomatic and logistical roles. Other notable actors in the period—Theudoald, Grimoald—affected command alignments though not always present at the siege itself.
Ragenfrid’s advance on Reims followed an earlier Neustrian push that seized royal authority across Soissons and neighboring towns. Contemporary annalistic sources record that Reims endured encirclement, cutting its lines to Laon and riverine supply via the Marne. The siege unfolded amid skirmishes with Austrasian relief columns led by Charles Martel and partisan raids by noble bands from Ardennes and Champagne. Urban defenders relied on the city’s walls and ecclesiastical precincts while negotiating with clerical authorities and attempting sorties against besiegers camped outside the city gates. The encirclement ended when Charles’s forces secured victories at linked engagements in the region, compelling Neustrian commanders to withdraw and leaving Reims under Austrasian influence.
Combatants used a mixture of siegecraft contemporary to early 8th-century Frankish warfare: investment of walls, blocking of gates, night sorties, entrenchments, shields and calvary skirmishes, and control of fords and bridges on the Marne and nearby waterways. Reims possessed Roman-era walls and medieval refurbishments centered on the episcopal enclosure and Reims Cathedral precincts, providing defensible stone ramparts, towers, and gatehouses. Besiegers under Ragenfrid employed circumvallation tactics, siege ramps and constructed field fortifications to prevent relief; defenders leveraged ecclesiastical precincts, stored provisions, and signals to summon allies from Laon and Metz. Armament typical of the period—spears, swords, mail shirts, and early stirrups—featured alongside mounted shock troops and foot levies drawn from Austrasian comital retinues.
Civilians in Reims faced requisitioning, food shortages, and displacement as camp followers and soldiery encamped around the city. The episcopal community and monastic houses experienced looting risks, protection duties, and mediation between combatants. Specific casualty figures are not preserved in surviving annals, but chronicled accounts imply significant hardship among urban artisans, merchants, and peasants supplying sieges, with damage to mercantile infrastructure along the Marne and to ecclesiastical properties in the suburbia. The siege intensified tensions between local magnates, cathedral clergy, and the populace over obligations, billeting, and restitution following the conflict.
The lifting of the siege and subsequent Austrasian successes consolidated Charles Martel’s position, enabling him to neutralize Neustrian rivals and to lay groundwork for later Carolingian dominance culminating in the reigns of Pepin the Short and Charlemagne. Reims’s episcopate regained influence as a political mediator in royal legitimization rituals and continued to serve as a religious center for coronations and synods. The campaign exemplified shifting loyalties across Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy and presaged the military reforms and patronage networks that underpinned Carolingian hegemony. The siege also affected pilgrimage routes to Reims sanctuaries and altered landholdings among comital families, reshaping regional power structures in the early medieval Frankish realms.
Category:Battles involving the Franks Category:8th century in Francia