church we have no trace, nor were any tombs of the royal family positively identified
among the many investigated during the destruction of Sainte-Geneviève in the 19th
century.
The situation is similar for the other Merovingian structures known either from texts
or from archaeological evidence. The Musée Carnavalet survey lists some thirty-five to
thirty-eight Merovingian religious sites identified within the limits of the modern city of
Paris; yet because of later rebuilding, not one has been fully recovered in plan. We know,
however, that Saint-Étienne was a five-aisled building some 118 feet wide with a
probable length of 165–200 feet extending under the nave of the present cathedral of
Notre-Dame. Saint-Étienne was largely rebuilt in the 6th century, reusing marble capitals
and columns possibly from an earlier structure on the site.
A similar situation exists for the abbey of Saint-Vincent/ Sainte-Croix, now Saint-
Germain-des-Prés. Founded by Childebert after his 542 campaign in Spain, the church
was dedicated December 23, 558, the day the king died. St. Germain, bishop of Paris,
was buried there in 576. Excavations in the 19th century recovered Merovingian
sarcophagi on the site, marble capital and column fragments, and the foundations of
apsidal chapels in the end walls of the transept arms. Excavations in the 1960s
demonstrated that the present nave, aisles, and transept were built directly on the 6th-
century foundations. Of the original chevet plan, we have no trace. Most of the other
Merovingian churches are known only from documents or from archaeological finds,
usually sarcophagi and burial goods, occasionally architectural fragments.
The 6th century saw the establishment of most of the important Parisian abbeys, which
included, in addition to Holy Apostles/Sainte-Geneviève and Saint-Vincent/Saint-
Germain-des-Prés, Saint-Marcel, Saint-Martin (later Saint-Martin-des-Champs), and the
church of Saint-Denis, now Saint-Pierre de Montmartre. In addition, the oldest parishes
were all established in the course of the 6th, 7th, and early 8th centuries, as were a
number of churches beyond the walls. The importance of the city as a trade center is
marked by the establishment of the Lendit fair under Dagobert I (d. 638). It is estimated
that the population of Paris was 20,000–30,000 by the 8th century. In the later 8th
century, the rise of the Carolingians marked a shift in the center of power. The future of
Neustria and of the Paris region lay with the Robertian family of counts, who became the
principal representatives of public authority under the 9th-century Carolingians.
Settlements on major waterways were particularly vulnerable to Viking attacks in the
9th century, and Paris was victimized more than once. Eudes, the Robertian count of
Paris, won great prestige for his vigorous defense in 885–86, when the Vikings failed to
take Paris despite a long siege. Soon thereafter, Eudes won elevation to the kingship, and
his family remained thereafter the principal rival of the Carolingians in the West Frankish
kingdom, gaining the throne permanently with the accession of Hugh Capet in 987.
The rise of the new Capetian monarchy, while it returned the political center of gravity
to Neustria, did not immediately bring renewed importance to Paris. The ruling family
had several centers of power in the Île-de-France, and Robert II (d. 1031), who was
preoccupied with the conquest of Burgundy, made Orléans his principal base. Even
within Paris, the Capetians had rivals. Only in the last years of the reign of Henry I (d.
1060) does the charter evidence suggest that Paris was becoming the center of the royal
estates and religious foundations. Yet Henry and his son Philip I had their authority
further circumscribed by the rise of powerful castellans who held important strongholds
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