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Strateburgo
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The Huns destroyed everything in 451. Satisfied, they continued on their way. The Alamanni as the new rulers were somewhat brutal and not very cultivated. However, in their dislike of the city, they were advantageous to the development of the region. Like most Germans, they drank a liquid composed of barley or wheat which would become similar to wine as it was matured. In short, the city of Argentorate did not interest them very much. Moreover, they would be destroyed in Tolbiac by the Franks. In 496 A.D. Strasbourg was incorporated into the Franks' kingdom. It was under the combined influence of the Alamanni and the Franks that the city was slowly restored. Initially, the name would be changed progressively from Argentoratum to Strateburgo, to Stratisburgo and then to Stradeburg. The meaning of the name had changed from "the fortified town on the road" to "the city of roads".
Contrary to the pagan Alamanni, the Franks were conscious of their Christian fiber. Under the urging of two remarkable bishops, Saint Arbogast and Saint Florent, Strateburgo became a dynamic diocesean seat. An initial cathedral was erected in the actual place of the current cathedral and a basilica was built. The question as to whether the city would follow and become an important capital was posed. There was not much belief that the city could get beyond its defensive calling as strategic and military stronghold; this fact which had been constated as early as the Romans and continues to hold true through modern times. As for their residences, the Franks preferred to live in their palace at Koenigshoffen or in the countryside at Kircheim-Marlenheim.
Under the Merovingians, Strasbourg did not constitute much more than the average small town consisting of tribes of farmers and fishermen. Even with the creation of a Duchy around 640 A.D., Strasbourg was still far from being a capital. With the accession of the Carolingiens in 751, a new dynamism became apparent. The Church contributed powerfully to the material and intellectual expansion of the city. A certain prosperity was established in the city which was hardly troubled by the fraternal war of the Charlemagne's grandsons.
The 14th of February 842 A.D., Louis and Charles united in Strasbourg against their brother, Lothaire and took the historic "Oath of Strasbourg" by using the common languages of their people. The soldiers of Louis took their oath in Tudesque, a predecessor to the German language, and Charles' soldiers in Roman, old French. These oaths would constitute the most ancient written monuments to both the French and German languages.
After this important historical episode, the city's significance as a political, economical and linguistic crossroads would be established. Strasbourg became part of the Lotharingia which extended from the North Sea to the Adriatic. Through the Treaty of Meersen in 870, Strasbourg would also be attached to Louis' kingdom, the oriental France or Germania. Turned upside down by the Hungarians in 913 A.D., it was reconstructed by the Saxon dynasty of the Ottoniens, principally by Otton the First, who was crowned emperor the second of February in 962 A.D.
This coronation consecrated the union between the throne and the alter, an alliance whose efficacity would be revealed over the next three centuries. The city also benefitted from the following dynamic factors: the quality of the ruling bishops, the efficacity of the episcopal administration and the introduction of a wealthy working middle class which was eager to demonstate its influence. The city spread out further and further as its population grew rapidly. The enclosures were pushed back and the fortifications were augmented. As circulation towards the south grew more important (the Saint Gothard passage was opened in 1239), the city found itself at the center of very busy crossroads whose circulation north-south and east-west was intense. In the 13th century the city's economic situation grew considerably, partly due to the development of canal transport on the Rhine.
The Strasbourgeois of the 13th century constituted the beginning of a long religious effervescence which would culminate in the Reformation of the 16th century, baptised the "Golden Century". The thirst for spirituality took hold of every level of the population, from the city parishes to the religious movements that were considered heretical at the time. Particularly, these orders included the Fransiscans and Dominicans. They were able to constitute a regular clergy of a high spiritual and intellectual quality which brought respect and consideration. The Dominicans erected first a church and then a convent in the center of the city. Both were finished in 1260. Meister Eckhart would teach his mystical theology (which was already strongly Evangelica) here.
The religious strongly dominated the intellectual activity. Schools were only mediocre: Latin was rudimentary and the focus of education was on the reproduction of manuscripts. The evolutionary religious orders of the Fransiscans and the Dominicans were responsable for breaking the iron collar and unleashing creative literature, philosophy, theology and a real consideration for the common language. Strasbourg's creativity was condensed, but distinguished by Gottfried of Strasbourg. His work entitled "Tristan und Isolde" is a poem of 2000 verses which is unique but unachieved Although Gottfried of Strasbourg is the author of one of the masterpieces of German literature from the Middle Ages, he was inspired by the narrative of Thomas of Brittany, an anglo-normand poet who wrote in French. This is a prime example of how the Strasbourgeois could already switch between languages.
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