Annales Mettenses
Annales Mettenses posteriores
Annales Mettenses priores
Annales Francorum Mettenses
Unknown
Gisela, Abbess of Chelles, Unknown
687 to 830
Chronicle
History of the Carolingian family from Pippin of Herstal (687) until Louis the Pious (830)
Composition[edit]
The Annales Mettenses priores composition has been a subject of debate, with the prevailing belief supporting Rosamond McKitterick's assertion, building on Janet Nelson's earlier arguments,[8] that the annals were created either under the jurisdiction of Gisela, Abbess of Chelles and sister of Charlemagne at Chelles Abbey in 806, or a similar monastic institute at St. Denis in Paris.[1] The monastic argument is based upon evidence from within the annals that mentions land possessions based around St. Denis and the burial of Queen Betrada at St. Denis in 783, however similar evidence such as the mentioning of Chelles twice also exists.[2] The most convincing evidence is rooted in the fact that the source maintains a strong, pro-Carolingian royal focus, making any involvement and 'direction', as worded by Jennifer R. Davis has suggested, of Gisela, a former member of the royal family and contemporary relation to royalty, a logical conclusion.[2][9]
However, Paul J. Fouracre and Robert A, Gerberding contest Gisela's influence, or any female direction within the Chelles nunnery, in the composition, and so consider it more likely that the author belonged to the monastery at Metz.[4] They argue that the author 'would have been a misogynistic one' from the way she describes Plectrude, Pepin II's wife who opposed Charles Martel, condemning her of 'a womanly plan' that featured 'feminine cunning more cruelly than was necessary'.[4]
Historiography[edit]
The Annales Mettenses priores has been used in medieval historiography as evidence of Carolingian rewriting of Merovingian history, as well as in the exploration of the mythology which Carolingian historians attempted to create to justify their legitimacy to rule. Historians Roger Collins and Rosamond McKitterick have both made particular note of the efforts shown in the Annales in attempting to show legitimacy by tracing noble ancestry through the Pippinids,[10][7] and a prime example of this noted by Paul Fouracre is the legendary story of Pepin of Herstal and his conflict with Gundoin at the beginning of the Annales.[3] This story is found in no other written source, and it is often cited from the Annales purely due to its unique nature.
This incident is the earliest that the Annales records; it depicts the murder of Gundoin by Pepin probably in the 670s. Gundoin supposedly murdered Pepin's father Ansegisel and then Pepin, when he was of age, tracked down and killed Gundoin, and seized power in Austrasia.[3] – according to the Annales, which is also the earliest source for the Merovingian "decline" narrative, and it offers a basis upon which the Carolingian's eventual ascendance to the throne is legitimate.[3] Upon thus rightly conquering Gundoin, Pepin is then primed to act, as the king Theuderic III, according to the Annales, had become oppressive and unjust, forcing Pepin to invade and defeat him in the great Battle of Tertry in 687.[3] Thereafter, we are told, Pepin held the reins of the kingdom even though he oversaw the succession of Theuderic's sons. As Fouracre argues, this source demonstrates how Carolingian historians, and potentially writings that had connections to the royal courts, were actively attempting to embellish history and Carolingian lineage to further establish their claim.[3]