Chapter XXII: Appendix: D

THE WORDS "CASTRUM" AND "CASTELLUM"

If we take the chroniclers of the reign of Charlemagne and his successors in the 9th century, we find the word _castrum_ constantly used for places such as Avignon, Dijon, Macon, Rheims, Chalons, Cologne, Andernach, Bonn, Coblenz, etc., all of which are known to have been Roman _castra_, when there can be no doubt that the _city_ is meant. Take, for instance, the _Annales Mettenses_ (Pertz, i., 326), 737: Karl Martel hears that the Saracens have taken "castrum munitissimum Avinionem" (Avignon); he marches against them, and "_predictam urbem_ obsidione circumdat." But these cities are not only called _castra_, they are also called _castella_. Thus the chronicle ascribed to Hincmar calls Macon both _castrum_ and _castellum_ in the same breath. (_Migne_, 125, 1298.) The fortifications built by Charlemagne against the Saxons are called _castra_, _castella_, and _civitates_. (_Chron. Moissiacense_, Pertz, i., 308. _Ann. Einhardi_, ibid., 196, 204.) The camps of the Northmen, which as we have seen, were of great size, are also called not only _castra_, but _civitates_, _castella_, _munitiones_, _oppida_. (_Annales Fuldenses_, Pertz, i., 397.) The camp built by Charles the Bald at Pistes in 868 is called a _castellum_, though it was evidently an enclosure of great size, as he measured out quarters in it for his nobles, and formed an elaborate scheme for its maintenance. (Hincmar, _Migne_, 125, 1242, 1244.) Coming to the 10th century, the following passage from Flodoard will show the vagueness of the words in common use for fortifications: "Heribertus Ansellum Bosonis subditum, qui prædictum custodiebat _castrum_ (Vitry), cum ipso _castello_ recipit, et Codiacum S. Remigii _municipium_ illi cum alia terra concedit. Nec longum, Bosonis fideles _oppidanorum_ proditione Victoriacum (Vitry) recipiunt, et Mosonum fraude pervadunt. At Heribertus, a quibusdam Mosomensibus evocatus, supervenit insperatus, et entrans _oppidum_, porta latenter a _civibus_ aperta, milites Bosonis, qui ad custodiam loci residebant, ibidem omnes capit." (_Migne_, 135, 297.) Here it is clear that _castrum_, _castellum_, _municipium_, and _oppidum_ all mean the same thing, and the one word _civibus_ betrays that it is a _city_ which is meant. Undoubtedly the chronicler thinks it elegant to change his words as often as he can. _Munitio_ is another word frequently used; in classical Latin it means a bulwark, a wall or bank; in the chroniclers of the 10th century it is used indifferently for a town or castle, though certain passages, such as "subversis multarum munitionibus urbium" (Flodoard, i., vi.), show that the right sense is not far from the mind of the writer. The numerous passages in which we are told of monasteries being enclosed with walls and converted into _castella_, show that the _enclosure_ is the chief idea which the chroniclers associate with this word. The citations made above are not exceptional, but typical, and could be paralleled by countless others.

Since the above was written, I have read Keutgen's _Untersuchungen über den Ursprung der Deutschen Stadtverfassung_. He remarks that the Latin words for a town (in the 10th and 11th century writers) are _urbs_, _castellum_, _civitas_, sometimes _arx_; for a village, _villa_, _oppidum_, _vicus_. This absolutely agrees with what I have observed in these writers, except that I have certainly found _oppidum_ used for a town, as in the passage from Flodoard cited above.

APPENDIX E

THE BURGHAL HIDAGE

The _Burghal Hidage_ has been printed by Birch, _Cartularium_, iii., 671. The manuscript is very corrupt, and several of the places cannot be identified. Those which can be identified are: Hastings, Lewes, Burpham (near Arundel), Chichester, Porchester, Southampton, Winchester, Wilton, Tisbury, Shaftesbury, Twineham, Wareham, Bridport, Exeter, Halwell, Lidford, Pilton, Barnstaple, Watchet, Axbridge, Lyng (near Athelney), Langport, Bath, Malmesbury, Cricklade, Oxford, Wallingford, Buckingham, Eashing (near Guildford), and Southwark. The list thus seems to give an outline of Alfred's kingdom as it was at his death, or at the beginning of the reign of his son. Dr Liebermann refers it to the latter date. (_Leges Anglorum_, 9.)