page_title: Bordeaux
section_title: 5th century BC to 11th century AD
hierarchical_section_title: Bordeaux / History / 5th century BC to 11th century AD
caption_attribution_description: English: Merovingian_tremisses_minted_in_Bordeaux_by_the_Church_of_Saint_Etienne_late_6th_century.jpg
context_page_description: Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne in the Gironde department in Southwestern France.
  The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 257,804. Bordeaux is the centre of Bordeaux Métropole that has a population of 796,273, the 5th largest in France after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Lille with its immediate suburbs and closest satellite towns. The larger metropolitan area has a population of 1,232,550. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called "Bordelais" or "Bordelaises". The term "Bordelais" may also refer to the city and its surrounding region.
  Being France's most prominent wine region, with a €3.37 billion turnover in 2009, it is both the center of a major wine-growing and wine-producing region hosting the world's most renowned estates, and a prominent powerhouse exercising significant influence on the world's wine and spirits industry, although no wine production is conducted within the city limits. It is home to the world's main wine fair, Vinexpo, and the wine economy in the metro area takes in 14.5 billion euros each year.
context_section_description: Around 300 BC, the region was the settlement of a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, named the town Burdigala, probably of Aquitanian origin.
  In 107 BC, the Battle of Burdigala was fought by the Romans who were defending the Allobroges, a Gallic tribe allied to Rome, and the Tigurini led by Divico. The Romans were defeated and their commander, the consul Lucius Cassius Longinus, was killed in battle.
  The city came under Roman rule around 60 BC, and it became an important commercial centre for tin and lead. It continued to flourish, especially during the Severan dynasty (3rd century), and acquired the status of capital of Roman Aquitaine. During this period were built the amphitheatre and the monument Les Piliers de Tutelle.
  In 276, it was sacked by the Vandals. The Vandals attacked again in 409, followed by the Visigoths in 414, and the Franks in 498, and afterwards the city fell into a period of relative obscurity.
  In the late 6th century the city re-emerged as the seat of a county and an archdiocese within the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks, but royal Frankish power was never strong. The city started to play a regional role as a major urban center on the fringes of the newly founded Frankish Duchy of Vasconia. Around 585 Gallactorius was made count of Bordeaux and fought the Basques.
  In 732, the city was plundered by the troops of Abd er Rahman who stormed the fortifications and overwhelmed the Aquitanian garrison. Duke Eudes mustered a force to engage the Umayyads, eventually engaging them in the Battle of the River Garonne somewhere near the river Dordogne. The battle had a high death toll, and although Eudes was defeated he had enough troops to engage in the Battle of Poitiers and so retain his grip on Aquitaine.
  In 773, following his father Eudes's death, the Aquitanian duke Hunald led a rebellion to which Charles responded by launching an expedition that captured Bordeaux.  However, it was not retained for long, during the following year the Frankish commander clashed in battle with the Aquitanians but then left to take on hostile Burgundian authorities and magnates. In 745 Aquitaine faced another expedition where Charles's sons Pepin and Carloman challenged Hunald's power and defeated him. Hunald's son Waifer replaced him and confirmed Bordeaux as the capital city (along with Bourges in the north).
  During the last stage of the war against Aquitaine (760–768), it was one of Waifer's last important strongholds to fall to the troops of King Pepin the Short.  Charlemagne built the fortress of Fronsac (Frontiacus, Franciacus) near Bordeaux on a hill across the border with the Basques (Wascones), where Basque commanders came and pledged their loyalty (769).
  In 778, Seguin (or Sihimin) was appointed count of Bordeaux, probably undermining the power of the Duke Lupo, and possibly leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass[9]-. In 814, Seguin was made Duke of Vasconia, but was deposed in 816 for failing to suppress a Basque rebellion. Under the Carolingians, sometimes the Counts of Bordeaux held the title concomitantly with that of Duke of Vasconia. They were to keep the Basques in check and defend the mouth of the Garonne from the Vikings when they appeared in c. 844. In Autumn 845, the Vikings were raiding Bordeaux and Saintes, count Seguin II marched on them but was captured and executed.
  Although the port of Bordeaux was a buzzing trade center, the stability and success of the city was threatened by Viking and Norman incursions and political instability. The restoration of the Ramnulfid Dukes of Aquitaine under William IV and his successors (known as the House of Poitiers) brought continuity of government.
caption: Merovingian tremisses minted in Bordeaux by the Church of Saint-Étienne, late 6th century. British Museum.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-T10", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Paint Shop Pro Photo 12.00", "Image DateTime": "2009:10:31 17:38:02", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2276", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/15", "EXIF FNumber": "43/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:09:24 23:58:51", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:09:24 23:58:51", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "939/50", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "413", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "420", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}