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1 - INTRODUCTION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Matthew Innes
Affiliation:
Birkbeck College, University of London
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Summary

REGION, SOURCES AND SCOPE

On the morning of 18 January 838 an earthquake hit the middle Rhine valley. One local observer recorded this prodigy for posterity in his account of his time. Disruption occurred ‘at St Nazarius and in the regions of Worms, Speyer and Ladenburg’. The geographical focus of this study coincides neatly with the epicentre of the 838 earthquake, and, just as tremors must have been felt well beyond this immediate area in 838, so on occasion in what follows we will also move beyond the Rhine valley. Our observer, probably writing at Mainz, identified the region in terms of four important centres. Worms and Speyer were both seats of bishops, under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of nearby Mainz: all three bishoprics stood on the site of Roman cities on the Rhine's west bank; Mainz and Worms were vibrant urban centres already in the ninth century, although Speyer remained a backwater until royal patronage in the eleventh century effected a transformation. East of the river, Ladenburg likewise stood on a Roman fortified site, but lacked a bishop. It was, nonetheless, an important local centre which was described by some Carolingian observers as a city: hence in the description of the 838 earthquake it was acknowledged as a central place which supplied an identifying label for its rural hinterland.

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State and Society in the Early Middle Ages
The Middle Rhine Valley, 400–1000
, pp. 1 - 12
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

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  • INTRODUCTION
  • Matthew Innes, Birkbeck College, University of London
  • Book: State and Society in the Early Middle Ages
  • Online publication: 10 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496349.004
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  • INTRODUCTION
  • Matthew Innes, Birkbeck College, University of London
  • Book: State and Society in the Early Middle Ages
  • Online publication: 10 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496349.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • INTRODUCTION
  • Matthew Innes, Birkbeck College, University of London
  • Book: State and Society in the Early Middle Ages
  • Online publication: 10 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496349.004
Available formats
×