What is "quentovic"

Quentovic was a Frankish emporium, in the Early Middle Ages, that was located on the European continent close to the English Channel. The town no longer exists, but up until recently it was thought to have been situated near the mouth of the Canche River, in what is today the French commune of Étaples. Archaeological discoveries, led by David Hill in the 1980s, found that the actual location of Quentovic was east of Étaples, in what is now the commune of La Calotterie. It was an important trading place for the Franks and its port linked the continent to England, specifically to the southeastern county of Kent. From what we know today, Quentovic was founded by a Neustrian king in the early 6th century. It was one of the two most prominent Frankish ports in the north (the other being Dorestad), until it was abandoned, probably in the 11th century. Merchants were drawn to this place because the number of trading posts at the time was limited. Quentovic was also the place where Anglo-Saxon monks would cross the English Channel on their pilgrimage to Rome. A lack of physical evidence, and the sudden disappearance of this emporium, make the town difficult to interpret. Some of the most important historical evidence on Quentovic comes from documents of taxation and especially through the town’s minting of coinage. Coins minted during both the Merovingian and the Carolingian dynasties have been found.