Today's peaceful village was the site of a major
villa or
palatium in the
Merovingian and
Carolingian eras, and the site of assemblies of the
Frankish nobles, of
synods of bishops and abbots and other important events. Here
Charles Martel died, 22 October 741. The name of the place appears variously in documents:
Cariciacum, Carisiacum, Charisagum, Karisiacum. Of the royal residence of the Merovingians and the house of Pepin, only traces of earthworks remain, in fields outside Quierzy, in the direction of Manicamp. The early medieval Château de Quierzy on the bank of the Oise, rebuilt in the fifteenth century as the fortress of the bishops of Noyon, survives as a single tower. Quierzy was already a significant stronghold of
Neustria recorded in events in the
Chronicle of Fredegar at the opening of the seventh century, when
Protadius, the mayor of the palace of Burgundy was the noble lover of Brunhilda, the grandmother of and regent for King
Theuderic II. Brunhilda pressured her grandson to go to war against her other grandson,
Theudebert II of Austrasia, but when Theuderic assembled the army at Quierzy in 606, the men did not want to fight their fellow
Franks: Protadius was promptly killed by the warriors, who forced the king to sign a treaty. In January 754
Pepin the Short received
Pope Stephen II at Quierzy, and his decision was taken to adopt the Roman liturgy and Gregorian chant in his domains. The
Donation of Pippin is alleged to have been made at Quierzy to
Pope Stephen II, granting him the
Exarchate of Ravenna. For his part the pope legitimized the Carolingians. Charlemagne confirmed this donation in 774, in
Rome. Pepin spent the winter of 762 at Quierzy. Charlemagne convoked an assembly of the nobles here in January 775, in preparation of his invasion of Saxony. In 804
Pope Leo III met Charlemagne at Quierzy before proceeding to
Aachen. In December 842
Charles the Bald married Ermentrude d'Orléans at Quierzy. In the ninth century several
councils of Quierzy debated contentious issues. At the synod of 853, the famous four decrees or chapters (
capitula) drawn up by
Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, on the questions of
predestination were published, and
Gottschalk condemned. The
Capitulary of Quierzy was promulgated in June 877 by the emperor
Charles the Bald, comprising a series of measures for safeguarding the administration of his realm during his second Italian expedition, as well as directions for his son
Louis the Stammerer, who was entrusted with the government during his father's absence. A great concourse of lords was assembled to hear it read. In this document Charles took elaborate precautions against
Louis the German, whom he had every reason to distrust. He forbids him to sojourn in certain palaces and in certain forests, and compels him to swear not to despoil his stepmother Richilde of her allodial lands and benefices. At the same time Charles refuses to allow Louis to nominate his candidates to the countships left vacant in the emperor's absence. The capitulary thus served as a guarantee to the
aristocracy that the general usage would be followed in the existing circumstances, and also as a means of reassuring the counts who had accompanied the emperor into Italy as to the fate of their benefices. In the following century, however,
Viking raids destroyed the
palatium, and
Hugh Capet gave his lands at Quierzy to the
bishop of Noyon, who built a fortress to serve in confrontations with the powerful lords of
Coucy. In ensuing centuries, the lands of Quierzy passed successively to the Chérisy, the Montmorency, the Roye, the Halluin, the Brûlart and Bussy-Rabutin families, until the
French Revolution. ==Geography==