From Roman to Frankish Gaul: ‘Centenarii’ and ‘Centenae’ in the Administration of the Merovingian Kingdom
Merovingian and Carolingian sources refer to a subordinate official, called a centenarius, and his jurisdiction, called a centena. In the Carolingian period, the centenarius was selected by the count (comes) to exercise administrative, police, and judicial functions within the centena or hundred, a...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
1988
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| In: |
Traditio
Year: 1988, Volume: 44, Pages: 59-100 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Merovingian and Carolingian sources refer to a subordinate official, called a centenarius, and his jurisdiction, called a centena. In the Carolingian period, the centenarius was selected by the count (comes) to exercise administrative, police, and judicial functions within the centena or hundred, a subdivision of the county (pagus or comitatus). Other terms for the count's deputies and their jurisdictions are also attested; in the south vicarii administered districts called vicariae, and in the far west the subdivision of the county bore the name condita, a word probably of Celtic origin. For most of the kingdom, however, the principal officials of the count were called centenarii and their jurisdictions, centenae. In the Merovingian period also, the centenarius acted as a subordinate of the count, and like his Carolingian namesake exercised judicial and police duties; the term centena is attested in sixth-century Merovingian sources but probably acquired clear territorial significance only in the late Merovingian or early Carolingian periods. |
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| ISSN: | 2166-5508 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Traditio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0362152900007017 |