Oaths of Strasbourg

The Oaths of Strasbourg (French Les Serments de Strasbourg ) on 14 February 842 are a remarkable bilingual document in Old High German and Old French or according to the findings of modern linguistics in a Romance language ( Langues d' oïl ) and a West Germanic, Frankish dialect, in which dispute is the extent to which there is a continuity to the modern national languages ​​. The oaths are passed down as quotations in a Latin chronicle, in turn, is in a transcript from the 10th century, which nationale de France ( BnF ) in Paris is situated in the Bibliothèque. The Old French version is considered the first surviving document in that language at all. When writing captured oaths they have character certificate and are considered the oldest vernacular traditional certificate that attests a linguistic separation between the East and the West Frankish kingdom.

Prehistory

In the 4th century, the decline of the Roman Empire gave the Germanic tribe of the Alemanni the opportunity to expand westward across the Rhine into Alsace later, being the resident, Latin ( more precisely: Gallo-Roman ) Germanized speaking population linguistically and culturally. A century later came the Franks to the west before and conquered large areas of northern Gaul, but they only partially Germanized. A Germanic- Romance language border was formed then along the main ridge of the Vosges and in a northwesterly direction through the current Lorraine, Luxembourg, Belgium and northern France through; a line that is essentially still valid today.

After the death of Emperor Louis the Pious, 840 ( son of Charlemagne ) quarreled with his sons and heirs of Lothar, Charles the Bald and Louis the German for supremacy in the Empire, as well as to the demarcation and consolidation of their territories. Since Lothar had inherited as an elder of the middle part of the empire, including imperial title and the supremacy claimed, his brothers or half-brothers Charles, the heir to the western parts of the empire, and Louis, the heir to the eastern parts, against him and defeated him allies in the battle of Fontenoy (841).

Content

In the little later stored Strasbourg Oaths the alliance between Charles and Louis, and their mutual subordinates or vassals against Lothar is reaffirmed. It is an agreement between four parties.

Here Ludwig swore in the language of the sub-leaders Charles, so Old French, while Karl Old High German (more precisely, in the Rhine Franconian dialect) spoke so understood him Louis people. Then the sub-leaders swore each as a group, and they were sworn in their own language. There are various ideas regarding the "original version" of the oaths, that is, whether it was written in two languages, Latin, Old French, Old High German or a priori.

The reason for the use of the vernacular languages ​​was obvious that the sub- leader Charlemagne and Louis understood little or no Latin, and that they ( unlike their clearly bilingual Kings) did not dominate the other popular language in particular. The reason for the tradition of the oaths as quotations in the original was no doubt that when an oath the exact wording is important.

The oath reads:

Louis the German: Pro Deo amur et pro christian poblo et nostro commun salva ment, d is di en avant, in quant Deus Savir et podir me Dunat, si eo cist meon salvarai fradre Karlo et in et adiudha in cadhuna cosa, si cum om by dreit son fradra salvar dist, in o quid il mi altresi fazet, et from Ludher nul plaid numquam prindrai qui meon vol cist meon fradre Karle in damno sit.

Charles the Bald: In godes minna ind in thes christanes folches ind our bedhero gehaltnissi fon thesemo other hand frammordes so fram so I got geuuizci Indian mahd furgibit so haldih Thesan Minan bruodher soso you with rehtu sinan bruodher scal in Thiu thaz he mig so sama duo indi with ludheren in nohheiniu thing ne gegango the Minan uillon imo ce scadhen uuerdhen.

In today's French, the text would read something like this:

Pour l' amour de Dieu et pour le salut commun du peuple chrétien et le Nôtre, à partir de ce jour, pour autant que Dieu m'en donne le savoir et le pouvoir, depending mon frère soutiendrai Charles, ici présent de mon aide matérielle et en toute chose, comme on doit justement soutenir son frère, à condition qu'il m'en summarize autant et je ne prendrai arrangement avec aucun Lothaire qui, à mon Escient, soit au detriment de mon frère Charles.

A Latin " transfer " shows the differences from the Old French on:

Pro Dei amore et per Christianized populi et nostro communi salute, de isto the donat in futurum in quantum mihi Deus scire et posse, sic adiuvebo isti fratri Karolo meo et in omni causa in adiutorio et sicut homo by directum ( = ius ) esse debet adiutor fratri suo, si ille mihi alternum facit, et cum Ludher Lorem placationem pre ( he) Ndam quae meo meo voluntate fratri Karolo in damno sit.

Translation:

For the love of God and the Christian people and all of our salvation, from this day on, as far as giving me God knowledge and ability, I will my brother Karl assist, both in the assistance as well as in any other matter, as one his brother stand by is, that he do so to me as well, and I will never come to an agreement with Lothar, which my brother Charles to the damage was willfully.

Oaths of vassalage:

Old French: Si Lodhuvigs sagrament que son fradre Karlo jurat conservat, et Karlus meos sendra de suo part non lostanit, si jo returnar non l' int pois, ne jo ne NEULS cui eo returnar int pois, in nulla aiudha contra Lodhuuvig now li iv he.

Old High German: Oba karl then eid then he sinemo bruodher ludhuuuige gesuor geleistit Indian ludhuuuig min herro then he imo gesuor forbrihchit whether ih inan it may iruuenden ne ih noh noh Thero nohhein then ih like iruuenden it uuidhar Karle imo ce ne follusti uuirdhit.

Translation:

If Ludwig / Charles the oath he swears his brother Karl / Ludwig, maintain and Karl / Ludwig, sir, in turn interrupts him, and if I can not stop him, then shall neither I nor anyone that I can dissuade me participate in an aid against Louis / Charles.

Tradition

The Chronicle, in the Oaths of Strasbourg have been handed down, is the Latin written work Historiarum Libri IV of Nithard, which depicts the events after the death of Louis the Pious (840 ) on behalf of Charles the Bald. The Libri are merely a copy from the 10th/11th. Receive century. An estimated errors in the German version of the oath can be seen that the copyist did not understand this, so it was only Romansh. This means that the traditional text is not from the year 842 and the Oaths of Strasbourg are only very limited for historical linguistics to the Early Middle Ages recyclable.