Domain of Soissons
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In the Late Antique period, two states in the area of modern-day northwest France were termed the Domain of Soissons. This area is often incorrectly called the Kingdom of Soissons or the Kingdom of Syagrius. In reality however it was neither ruled by a king (although Syagrius was sometimes called Rex Romanorum (Latin: King of the Romans), nor was it considered by its citizens as anything other than a separated province of the Western Roman Empire. The term "domain" is instead used by scholars.
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[edit] Roman Soissons (c.457–486)
Its origins were in the reign of the Western Emperor Majorian (457–461). During that time, Majorian appointed Aegidius to be magister militum of the Gallic provinces. The only remaining Roman territory in Gaul was in the northwest, with a small strip connecting it to Italy. During Majorian's reign, that corridor was annexed by the Germanic tribes now occupying Gaul, thus effectively cutting off Aegidius and his citizens from the Empire.
Aegidius was allied to Childeric I, King of the Salian Franks, and helped him defeat the Visigoths at Orleans in 463. The Romano-British, after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, may have requested military assistance from Aegidius (see Groans of the Britons). At any rate, the Romano-British settlements in Armorica bordered Soissons to the west, and there was certainly trade between them, especially as they were the last outposts of Roman civilization in that part of the world.
Aegidius continued to govern until his death in 464, which may have been murder at the hands of an agent of one of Childeric's enemies. At that point his son, Syagrius, took his place. Syagrius governed using the title of dux (a provincial military commander), but the neighboring Germanic tribes referred to him as "King of the Romans;" hence, the name of his enclave. Even after the fall of the Western Empire in 476, Syagrius continued to maintain the pretense that he was merely governing a Roman province.
Childeric had since died, and his son Clovis I was now the Frankish king. Clovis made continual war against Syagrius, and in 486, had conquered the last of the Roman territory Syagrius had governed. Syagrius sought refuge with the Visigothic king Alaric II, but was betrayed, captured, and sent to Clovis, who executed him in 487.
[edit] Frankish Soissons (511-613)
Clovis I ruled the Franks until his death in 511. When he died, the Frankish realm was divided into four kingdoms, one for each of his sons. Clotaire I received the area formerly ruled by Syagrius (Clotaire himself had been born in Soissons a decade after Syagrius' death). Due to a combination of skillful diplomacy, warmongering, and murder of his relatives, Clotaire became the king of all Gaul by 555.
When Clotaire died in 561, the Frankish realm was divided into three kingdoms, one for each son. The western kingdom of Neustria continued to be governed from Soissons until all Franks were once more unified under the Neustrian king Clotaire II in 613. Except for the period of 639-673, when a division between Neustria and Austrasia occurred, the Franks remained unified until the Treaty of Verdun in 843.
[edit] List of Lords of Soissons
- 457-464 Aegidius
- 464-486 Syagrius
- 486-511 Clovis I (in personal Union)
- 511-561 Clotaire I
- 561-584 Chilperic I
[edit] References
- Domain of Soissons
