Boppard - Frankish settlement

In Boppard the early Christian Basilica provides evidence of a larger early- mediaeval settlement.
Though the location of the Frankish burial ground is known there is no knowledge about the settlement which existed at the same time – from the 7th to 8th century A.D.
The reason for this discrepancy is that the settlements once inhabited by those in the Frankish burial grounds were constructed of lightweight building materials which were, through the centuries, destroyed or rendered untraceable by overbuilding.
The Rhine Valley was densely populated in Roman times.  In the 4th and 5th century A.D. people grouped themselves around the main centres of Boppard, ancient Bodobrica, Oberwesel and Vosolvid.
In the 5th century the Germanic people, the Teutons forced the Romans to retreat from the Rhineland. The Franks took over the Roman towns as well as founding new settlements in the countryside, which arose in the main, away from the old Roman estates.
To archaeologists early medieval burial fields provide an abundant source of knowledge. In the 6th century the inhabitants of Boppard buried their dead to the south of the fort, along with theirclothing and private belongings, in graves both walled and enclosed by stone slabs.
The graves are so arranged that the deceased lie on an east – west axis, the head to the west, their imagined gaze facing east.
The names of the dead were inscribed on gravestones. One of the most important of these is that of Besontio and his niece Justiciola, which is found located in the western wall of the church of St. Severus. The inscription reads: In this place the blessed deacon Besontio and his niece, the blessed girl Justiciola rest in peace. The girl, Justiciola, died at the age of eight
and the deacon Besontio seven days before the month (or calendar) of April, thus around the 26th to 28th of March.
One grave contained the burial of a rich and socially elevated woman. The deceased was laid on a bed of box tree leaves, an indication of a Christian tradition, which, indeed, still exists to this day in the use of box tree twigs. Beside the silver jewellery of the deceased the most noteworthy find was a chain, which, tied at the hip, held keys fashioned from bronze.  In later centuries these kind of amulet keys were known within the Catholic Church as ‘St. Peter’s Keys’
From another grave which must also have  been very richly furnished, but which sadly, had already, in ancient times been plundered, a gold ring was rescued. The ring, engraved with a cross and another Christian symbol; a long-legged bird carrying a fish in its beak, provides more evidence of the existence here of an early Christian community.
Three of the altogether more than 40 excavated tomb cavities are preserved in their original condition in the Archaeological Park.

[Martin Thoma]