From Roman to Frankish Gaul: ‘Centenarii’ and ‘Centenae’ in the Administration of the Merovingian Kingdom

Abstract

Merovingian and Carolingian sources refer to a subordinate official, called acentenarius, and his jurisdiction, called acentena.In the Carolingian period, thecentenariuswas selected by the count (comes) to exercise administrative, police, and judicial functions within thecentenaor hundred, a subdivision of the county (pagusorcomitatus). Other terms for the count's deputies and their jurisdictions are also attested; in the southvicariiadministered districts calledvicariae, and in the far west the subdivision of the county bore the namecondita, a word probably of Celtic origin. For most of the kingdom, however, the principal officials of the count were calledcentenariiand their jurisdictions,centenae.In the Merovingian period also, thecentenariusacted as a subordinate of the count, and like his Carolingian namesake exercised judicial and police duties; the termcentenais attested in sixth-century Merovingian sources but probably acquired clear territorial significance only in the late Merovingian or early Carolingian periods.