Quierzy

Quierzy (also known as Quierzy-sur-Oise, formerly: Cariciacum, Carisiacum, Charisagum, Karisiacum) is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France, straddling the Oise River between Noyon and Chauny.

History

Today's peaceful village was the site of a major villa or palatium in the Merovingian and Carolingian eras, and the site of assemblies of the Frankish nobles, of synods of bishops and abbots and other important events. Here Charles Martel died, 22 October 741.

The name of the place appears variously in documents: Cariciacum, Carisiacum, Charisagum, Karisiacum. Of the royal residence of the Merovingians and the house of Pepin, only traces of earthworks remain, in fields outside Quierzy, in the direction of Manicamp. The early medieval Château de Quierzy on the bank of the Oise, rebuilt in the fifteenth century as the fortress of the bishops of Noyon, survives as a single tower.

Quierzy was already a significant stronghold of Neustria recorded in events in the Chronicle of Fredegar at the opening of the seventh century, when Protadius, the mayor of the palace of Burgundy was the noble lover of Brunhilda, the grandmother of and regent for King Theuderic II. Brunhilda pressured her grandson to go to war against her other grandson, Theudebert II of Austrasia, but when Theuderic assembled the army at Quierzy in 606, the men did not want to fight their fellow Franks: Protadius was promptly killed by the warriors, who forced the king to sign a treaty.