have originated in the 11th century, possibly even immediately after Louis III’s victory
over the Vikings at Saucourt-en-Vimeu (August 3, 881). The poem itself must have been
composed between 1140 and 1150, probably in the region southwest of Paris.
Hans-Erich Keller
[See also: PHILIPPE MOUSKÉS]
Bayot, Alphonse, ed. Gormant et Isembart: fragment de chanson de geste du XIIe siècle. 3rd ed.
Paris: Champion, 1931.
Lonigan, Paul R. The “Gormont et Isembart”: Problems and Interpretation of an Old French Epic.
Ann Arbor: UMI, 1976.
Nichols, Stephen G., Jr. “Style and Structure in Gormont et Isembart” Romania 84 (1963):500–35.
Pauphilet, Albert. “Sur la chanson d’Isembart.” Romania 50 (1924):169–94.
Vries, Jan de. “La chanson de Gormont et Isembart” Romania 80 (1959):34–62.
GOTHIA
. The region called Gothia was one of the major divisions of Carolingian and post-
Carolingian Gaul, com-prising the coastal region along the Mediterranean from the
Rhône to the Pyrénées. It was identical with the earlier Septimania and with the county of
Toulouse formed the future Languedoc. The region preserved a strong sense of its Roman
and Visigothic past after its annexation by Pepin the Short in the 750s, and it came to be
referred to as Gothia as well as Septimania. Its nobles were conscious of being a distinct
people, Goths, within the Frankish kingdom, and Visigothic law was observed there for
centuries after its incorporation by the Carolingians, under whose rule it was usually a
separate administrative unit, as a county, duchy, or march.
In the early Carolingian period, Gothia was frequently linked with the march of
Toulouse or the Spanish March, but in the mid-9th century it emerged as a separate
march. However, in 924 it was annexed by Raymond III, count of Toulouse, and it
remained among the holdings of his successors, who carried the title marquis of Gothia.
The population and culture of Gothia soon blended with those of the other Toulousan
territories, and by the end of the 11th century Languedoc had emerged.
Steven Fanning
[See also: LANGUEDOC; SEPTIMANIA]
Dhondt, Jan. Études sur la naissance des principautés territoriales en France (IXe-Xe siècles).
Bruges: De Tempel, 1948.
Kienast, Walther. Studien über die französische Volksstämme des Frühmittelalters. Stuttgart:
Hiersemann, 1968, pp. 74–88.
Lewis, Archibald. The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050. Austin:
University of Texas Press, 1965.
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