Battle of Strasbourg (506)

Battle of Strasbourg Schlacht von Straßburg
Date A.D. 506 Location near Strasbourg (Alsace)
Belligerents
Franks	Alamanni
Commanders and leaders
Clovis I	unknown
Strength
unknown	unknown

The Battle of Strasbourg (German language: Schlacht bei Straßburg) in A.D. 506 is a battle that several researchers have postulated was the third battle presumed to have taken place between the Alamanni and the Franks and which resulted in the defeat and incorporation of the northern Alamanni into the Frankish Empire, whilst the southern Alamanni placed themselves under the protection of the Ostrogothic king, Theodoric the Great.

Historical sources

The historical sources only make indirect references to a possible third battle between the Alamanni and the Franks. A letter by Theodoric the Great dating to 506/7 to the Merovingian king, Clovis I, speaks of battles in which Clovis had engaged the Alamanni. In this letter, Theodoric calls upon his brother-in-law to moderate his anger against the Alamanni, to punish only those who were disloyal and to cease from fighting the rest of the Alamanni. Theodoric placed the latter under his personal protection. A panegyric by Ennodius about Theodoric the Great speaks exaggeratedly of a victory by Theodoric over the Alamanni.

Historical background

At the Battle of Tolbiac in A.D. 496 the Alamanni suffered a severe defeat at the hands of Clovis. As a consequence, some of the Alamanni appear to have come under the protection of the Merovingians. From Theodoric's letter it may be assumed that these Alamanni subsequently broke their treaty with Clovis and for that reason they were persecuted and there were further battles between Clovis and the Alamanni. Several researchers believe that in A.D. 506 a third battle took place between the Alamanni and the Franks. What is certain is that between 496 and 506 there were further clashes. The location of the battle is not mentioned anywhere; that it was explicitly near Strasbourg, remains a theory held by a number of scholars. As a result of Clovis' victory, the northern half of the Alammanian lands went to the Franks while the southern half sought protection under Theoderic.

Outcome

Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths

Loss of territory

A consequence of losing the conflict between 496 and 506 against the Franks was that the territory that had been settled by the northern Alamanni, probably up to the present dialect boundary between the Alemannic and South Franconian dialects, finally came under Frankish rule.

Escape to Theoderic

Some of the Alamanni apparently fled southwards to Rhaetia and placed themselves under the protection of the King of the Ostrogoths, Theoderic. He went to his brother-in-law, Clovis I and interceded for the Alamanni, but acknowledged the anger of Clovis as justified. He therefore asked for the leaders to be punished but recommended clemency in sentencing. Theoderic promised that he would see to it that the Alamanni, who were in Rhaetia, also remained peaceful. Between the lines, Theoderic made it clear that he would thereby lay claim to the disputed area of Rhaetia and would use the Alamanni as a means of exerting pressure against Clovis if he did not recognize his supremacy there.

Bibliography

• Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus, Senator, Variae epistolae (537), Theoderic's state papers. Editio princeps by M. Accurius (1533). English translations by Thomas Hodgkin The Letters of Cassiodorus (1886); S.J.B. Barnish Cassiodorus: Variae (Liverpool: University Press, 1992) ISBN 0-85323-436-1
• Julius Cramer, Die Geschichte der Alamannen als Gaugeschichte, Breslau: M&H Marcus, 1899.
• Eugen Ewig. Die Merowinger und das Frankenreich, 5th updated edition, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2006.
• Michael Fertig, Ennodius und seine Zeit, 1855-1860.
• Geuenich, Dieter. "Chlodwigs Alemannenschlacht(en) und Taufe", pp. 423–37. In D. Geuenich, ed., Die Franken und die Alemannen bis zur "Schlacht bei Zülpich" (496/497). Berlin: de Gruyter, 1998. ISBN 3-11-015826-4.
• Hoops, Johannes. Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Vol. 9, Berlin: de Gruyter, 1995. ISBN 3-11-014642-8.
• Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, Volumes 44-45, State of Hesse: 1994.
• Karl J. Trübner, Grundriss der germanischen Philologie, Volume 3, Part 4, Hermann Paul: 1900.
• Ian Wood (ed.), Franks and Alamanni in the Merovingian Period: An Ethnographic Perspective, Woodbridge: Boydell, 1988.
• André van de Vyver, "La victoire contre les Alamans et la conversion de Clovis", Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, Vol. 15, No. 3 (1936), pp. 859–914.
• André van de Vyver, "La victoire contre les Alamans et la conversion de CIovis (suite)", Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1937), pp. 35–94.
• André van de Vyver, "L'unique victoire contre les Alamans et la conversion de Clovis en 506", Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, Vol. 17, No. 3 (1938), pp. 793–813.