monasteries. After the division of the lands of Clotar I among his sons in 561, the region
that was soon to be called Austrasia was allotted to Sigibert I, who eventually made Metz
his residence. Thereafter, strong feelings of autonomy usually meant that Austrasia had
its own king residing at Metz, with a palace and royal administration under a mayor of
the palace. The bishop and mayor of the palace represented the powerful Austrasian
aristocracy, and the Arnulfing-Pippinid family dominated both offices.
Bishop Arnulf and the mayor of the palace Pepin I were leaders of the opposition to
Sigebert’s wife, Brunhilde; Pepin’s son Grimoald, mayor of the palace at Metz (d. 656),
attempted to place his own son on the Austrasian throne. Pepin II conquered Neustria in
687 and began the family’s domination of the entire Frankish kingdom. The Pippinids
were aided by their control of the bishopric of Metz, not only with Arnulf (d. 626) but
with Chlodulf in the mid-7th century, Chrodegang (d. 766), Angilramn (d. 791), and
Drogo (d. 855), and also by the support of allied aristocratic families in the Meuse-
Moselle region between Metz and Verdun.
The Carolingians stressed their ties to Metz by promoting the cult of their ancestor,
Bishop Arnulf. Charle-magne had his wife, Hildegard, and several of their children who
died in infancy buried in the abbey of Saint-Arnoult (Arnulf), which was also the final
resting place for Louis I the Pious. When Charlemagne’s kingdom was divided by the
Treaty of Verdun (843), Metz was made capital of Lotharingia. In the 12th century, Metz
declared its independence from the dukes of Lorraine and set itself up as a city-state ruled
by a chief magistrate chosen from among the wealthy patrician families.
The cathedral of Saint-Étienne in Metz is 13th-century, the result of reconstruction in
Gothic style that united two earlier churches. The two flanking towers, one of which
serves as the town’s belfry, were begun at this time but not completed until the 15th
century. The height of the nave (138 feet) is striking, second only to that of Beauvais. It is
lit by a remarkable ensemble of stained-glass windows, installed from the 13th century to
the 20th. The large 14th-century rose on the west façade is the work of Hermann of
Münster.
Other medieval churches include Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains, reputedly the oldest
surviving church in France, having been founded in the 7th century as a Benedictine
abbey church; Saint-Maximin (late 12th c.); the octagonal church of the Templars (early
13th c.); Saint-Martin (13th-15th c.); and Saint-Eucaire, with its handsome 12th-century
bell tower and 13th-century façade.
Steven Fanning
The Encyclopedia 1163