Neustria

Neustria (/ˈnuːstriə, ˈnjuː-/) or Neustrasia (meaning "new [western] land" in contrast to Austrasia) was the western part of the kingdom of the Franks that was created in 511 upon the division of the Merovingian kingdom of Clovis I to his four sons following his death.

Neustria was made up of the regions between Aquitaine and the English Channel, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities. It later referred to the region between the Seine and the Loire rivers known as the regnum Neustriae, a constituent subkingdom of the Carolingian Empire and then West Francia. The Carolingian kings also created a March of Neustria which was a frontier duchy against the Bretons and Vikings that lasted until the Capetian monarchy in the late 10th century, when the term was eclipsed as a European political or geographical term.

Neustria was also employed as a term for northwestern Italy during the period of Lombard domination. It was contrasted with the northeast, which was called Austrasia, the same term as given to eastern Francia.

Neustria (Lombard)

Neustria was, according to the early medieval geographical classification, the western portion of Langobardia Major, the north-central part of the Lombard Kingdom, extended from the Adda (river) to the Western Alps and opposed to Austria. The bipartition, emerged during the 7th century, was not only in territorial area, but also implies significant cultural and political differences.

Territory

The Neustria included the duchies of the north-western Lombard Kingdom, among them a prominent role was played by

History

The duchies of Neustria were long the most loyal to the Bavarian dynasty, accepting both the pro-Catholic inspiration and the consequent policy of appeasement of Italy, without further attempts to expand against the Byzantines and the pope. In the 8th century, however, the widespread conversion of the Lombards to Catholicism smoothed the opposition between Austria and Neustria, thanks to a revived expansion at the expense of the Byzantine Empire with the Catholic and Neustrian Liutprand (king from 712).

Neustria (ship)

Neustria was a passenger ship of the French Fabre Line. Built by Claparede and Compan, Rouen, France. She was 328 feet long and 40 feet wide. Neustria had a compound engine and single screw. The Neustria had one funnel, two masts, iron construction, and a straight stem. It carried 18 first class passengers and 1,100 in steerage. She was employed on the Marseille–New York route with a stop in Spain. In the Spanish–American War the Neustria was used by Spain to bring back Spanish troops from Cuba.

According to The Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation Website, the Neustria transported immigrants from Naples, Italy via Marseilles, France to Ellis Island from 1892–1908.

On October 27, 1908, she sailed from New York to Marseille and vanished without a trace. She was not carrying any passengers at the time, and lost her crew of 38 The wreck has never been found and her fate remains an unsolved mystery to this day.

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