The Oaths of Strasbourg – What’s in a language?

Stephen M. Lewis

February 2014

http://thewildpeak.wordpress.com/
Almost fainting with terror she glanced back, as she was carried away, at the shore left
behind. As she gripped one horn in her right hand while clutching the back of the beast with
the other.

The ‘ape of Europa i O id s Metamorphoses.

Like the English, the French have only the haziest conception of their own history, even the
history of their own language. After learning a few myths about Louis the Fourteenth and
Napoleon, French schoolchildren might, if they are lucky, hear something of Charlemagne.
He ll ost likel e prese ted as a earl Fre h a ho as the first ki g to rule o er
much of Western Europe. Even the European Union likes to join in with such myth-making
fro ti e to ti e, alli g hi the father of Europe or so e su h tosh. This makes about as
much sense as believing Europe sprang from the loins of a Phœ i ia girl who was abducted
a d raped a ull. Charle ag e, let s all hi Karl for that as his a e, as a out as
much a Frenchman as I am. Karl was a German, or, if you want to be more precise,
Germanic. His court was in Aachen.

The Franks, both Salian and Ripuarian, who gave their name to France were a group of
Germanic tribes who first came into Gaul (modern France) in the early fifth century. The
Frankish kings spoke a form of Old Germanic and continued to do so for centuries to come.
Charle ag e, ho e ight do etter to all his Ger a a e Karl der Grosse the
Great , li ed i the se o d half of the eighth e tur a d i to the i th e tur , a d thus
almost four hundred years after the Franks arrived in Gaul, never had more than a superficial
grasp of Latin, nor any real understanding of the developing Romance language of his
Fre h su je ts. He re ai ed a Ger a , speaki g o e aria t of Old High Ger a u til his
death in 814. But tell that to a French history teacher at your peril!

After E peror Karl s death his e pire started to fall apart as his hildre a d gra d hildre
fought each other. In 842, only twenty-eight ears after Charle ag e s death, three of his
grandsons were still fighting each other. After many complicated plots and switching of
sides, t o of the , Lud ig the Ger a a d Karl the Bald de ided to o i e to defeat
their brother Lothar. In February 842 Karl and Ludwig (or Charles and Louis if you prefer)
each came with his own army to the German (now French) town of Strasbourg. And here
they agreed to swear allegiance to each other and to support each other against their
brother Lothar.

It was a stage-managed affair. We are lucky to still have an early record of the meeting and
the oaths sworn, written by the conte porar Fra kish historia Nithard, hi self a other
of Charle ag e s gra d hildre , a d i luded i his De dissensionibus filiorum Ludovici
pii ( On the Dissensions of the Sons of Louis the Pious ). Nithard first gives a little background
in Latin:

So, Ludwig and Karl met on the 16th day before the calends of March (i.e. 14
February) in the town that used to be called Argentaria but which is now
commonly known as Strasbourg, and they swore the oaths given below, Ludwig
in Romance and Karl in German. But before swearing the oaths, they made
speeches in German and Romance.

Noti e that the Ger a Lud ig as to ake his spee hes a d oaths i ‘o a e, i.e. i
Proto-Fre h, hilst the Fre h a Karl as to do so i Ger a . U fortu atel e do t
have these speeches as they were spoken, but Nithard gives them in Latin.

Lud ig, ei g the elder, ega as follo s :

Let it be known how many times Lothar has — since our father died —
attempted to destroy me and this brother of mine, committing massacres in his
pursuit of us. But since neither brotherhood nor Christianity nor any natural
inclination, save justice, has been able to bring peace between us, we have been
forced to take the matter to the judgement of almighty God, so that we may
accept whatever His will is.

The result was, as you all know, that by the Grace of God we came out as victors,
and that he, defeated, went back to his people where he was stronger. But then,
motivated by brotherly love and compassion for Christendom, we decided not to
pursue and destroy them; instead, until now, we have asked him at least to
submit to justice as in the past.

But he, despite this, not content with God's judgement, does not cease to come
after me and this brother of mine with his armies. Moreover, he is devastating
our people by burning, pillaging and murdering. That is why we now, driven by
necessity, are having this meeting, and, since we believe that you doubt our firm
faith and brotherhood, we shall swear this oath between us before all of you.

This act is not in bad faith, but simply so that, if God gives us peace thanks to
your help, we may be certain that a common benefit will come of it. Should I —
God forbid — break the oath which I am about to swear to my brother, I release
 you from my sovereignty over you and from the oath that you have all sworn to
me.

Nithard added that o e Karl had fi ished off the spee h ith the sa e ords i ‘o a e,
Lud ig, si e he as the elder, the s ore allegia e first .

Maintaining the elaborate stage- a age e t of speaki g i ea h other s la guage, Lud ig

the German then took his oath in Romance. Luckily his Romance words were recorded by
Nithard. This oath is ge erall a epted to e the earliest ritte e a ple of Old Fre h .
Indeed it is also the earliest written example of any post-Roman Romance language.

Pro Deo amur et pro christian poblo et nostro commun saluament, d'ist di in
auant, in quant Deus sauir et podir me dunat, si saluarai eo cist meon fradre
Karlo, et in adiudha et in cadhuna cosa si cum om per dreit son fradra saluar dist,
in o quid il mi altresi fazet. Et ab Ludher nul plaid nunquam prindrai qui meon uol
cist meon fradre Karle in damno sit.

I will give a translation in a minute. But notice two things. First, even in Romance we find the
German name Karl. Second, even though one can, with a bit of close reading, see the first
signs of the nascent French language here (for example sauir = savoir), it still seems more
ulgar or ulgate Lati tha a thing else, at least to me.

The Fre h ki g Karl/Charles the Bald the gi es the sa e oath i Ger a , a tuall i
Rhenish Franconian, a form of Old High German.

I godes i a i d i thes hristiā es fol hes i d u sēr ēdhero gehalt issī, fo

thesemo dage fra ordes, sō fra sō ir got ge iz i i di ahd furgi it, sō
haldih thesa ī a ruodher, sōso a it rehtu sī a ruodher s al, i thiu
thaz er ig sō sa a duo, i di it Ludhere i ohhei iu thi g e gega go, the
ī a illo i o e s adhe erdhē .

Now even though this might be difficult for a present-day German to understand, with a bit
of effort they could. Indeed even an English speaker could get a fair amount if he/she looked
at it hard enough. I commend you to try it, both before and after looking at the following
E glish ersio of these Oaths of Stras ourg :

For the love of God and for Christendom and our common salvation, from this
day onwards, as God will give me the wisdom and power, I shall protect this
brother of mine Karl (or Ludwig), with aid or anything else, as one ought to
protect one's brother, so that he may do the same for me, and I shall never
knowingly make any covenant with Lothar that would harm this brother of mine
Karl (or Ludwig).
After Lud ig a d Karl had ade their oaths i the other s la guage, it as the tur of their
ar ies to u le a fe ords. Of ourse it ould t e e pe ted that these si ple arriors
would use another language; that would be like asking French soldiers today to take an oath
in German! So the armies made a short oath in their own languages. First Romance:

Si Lodhuuigs sagrament quæ son fradre Karlo iurat, conseruat, et Carlus meos
sendra, de suo part, non lostanit, si io returnar non l'int pois, ne io, ne neuls cui
eo returnar int pois, in nulla aiudha contra Lodhuuuig nun li iu er.

Then the Germans:

O a Karl the eid, the er sī e o ruodher Ludhu īge gesuor, geleistit, i di

Ludhu īg ī hērro the er i o gesuor forbrihchit, ob ih inan es irwenden ne
mag: noh ih noh thero nohhein, then ih es irwenden mag, widhar Karlo imo ce
follusti ne wirdhit.

In English :

If Ludwig (Karl) keeps the oath that he has sworn to his brother Karl (Ludwig),
and Karl (Ludwig), my lord, on the other hand breaks it, and if I cannot dissuade
him from it — neither I nor anyone that I can dissuade from it — then I shall not
help him in any way against Ludwig (Karl).

The te t fi ishes ith the i for atio that, ith this o pleted, Lud ig left for
Worms along the Rhine via Speyer; and Karl, along the Vosges ia Wisse ourg .

Fro a li guisti poi t of ie the Oaths of Stras ourg is a re arka le do u e t. As I ha e

said, it is the first example of early French as well as the first written text in any Romance
language, although it is not by any means anywhere near the first text in the various forms
of Old Germanic (including Old English).

What s i a la guage?