The City of Angers: From Juliomagus to Andegavis
A few miles above the confluence of the Loire and Mayenne, a lofty mass of black slate rock furnished a natural fortress commanding the valleys of central, northern, and southern…
The Treaty of Verdun and the Division of the Karolingian Realms
City and county gained new significance through the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which divided the Karolingian realms among Louis the Gentle’s three sons.…
Aquitania and Britanny: Threats to West-Frankland
The territory actually subject to Charles the Bald fell far short of the treaty’s limits. Aquitania, stretching from the southern Loire to the Pyrenees and Mediterranean, remained…
The Northmen’s Strategy and the Strategic Importance of Anjou
The Northmen’s work in West-Frankland was both unifying and divisive, producing a new national life through the need to organize defense.…
Lambert’s Treason and the First Northmen Attack on Nantes
In the early days of Charles the Bald’s reign, Lambert, a Breton-born count of the Angevin march, demanded from the king the neighboring and recently vacated county of Nantes.…
Renewed Raids and Charles the Bald’s Concessions to Britanny
Nearly ten years passed before the Northmen struck central Gaul again, turning next to the Seine valley and Paris in 845, and raiding Aquitania until they conquered Bordeaux in 84…
Robert the Brave and the Defense of the Angevin March
In the breathing-space that followed, Charles received a personal visit from Æthelwulf proposing a mutual alliance against the Northmen, a scheme shattered by a political revoluti…
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