Austrovald

Last updated

Austrovald, Astrobald, and Austrevald [1] (died 607) was the Duke of Aquitaine from 587.

Duke of Aquitaine Wikimedia list article

The Duke of Aquitaine was the ruler of the ancient region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English, and later French kings.

Austrovald was probably a count of Toulouse until that year, when he was appointed to succeed the dux Desiderius in Aquitaine, by King Guntram. [2]

Count of Toulouse Wikimedia list article

The Count of Toulouse was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surrounding county from the late 9th century until 1270. The counts and other family members were also at various times counts of Quercy, Rouergue, Albi, and Nîmes, and sometimes margraves of Septimania and Provence. Count Raymond IV founded the Crusader state of Tripoli, and his descendants were also counts there. They reached the zenith of their power during the 11th and 12th centuries, but after the Albigensian Crusade the county fell to the kingdom of France, nominally in 1229 and de facto in 1271.

Desiderius was a Gallo-Roman dux in the Kingdom of the Franks during the reigns of Chilperic I and Guntram. He served Chilperic as Duke of Aquitaine and was his greatest general.

Guntram king of Burgundy from 561 to 592

Saint Gontrand, also called Gontran, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the king of the Kingdom of Orleans from AD 561 to AD 592. He was the third eldest and second eldest surviving son of Chlothar I and Ingunda. On his father's death in 561, he became king of a fourth of the Kingdom of the Franks, and made his capital at Orléans. The name "Gontrand" denotes "war raven".

Under Chilperic I and then the usurper Gundoald, a dux named Bladast was acting as duke over the region of Aquitaine. The dux Austrovald was sent in 587 to pacify the Basques of Vasconia, a difficult enterprise in which he was none too successful, for he lost many men to captivity and the Basques are found as far as the Garonne by 602. [3] Bordeaux probably formed the chief fortified frontier city of Austrovald's watch.[ citation needed ] It is probable that the Basques were forced to pay tribute, but left under their own laws. [4] It is out of this that a separate Gascon duchy was created in 602, probably within Aquitaine.[ citation needed ]

Chilperic I

Chilperic I was the king of Neustria from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund.

Gundoald or Gundovald was a Merovingian usurper king in the area of southern Gaul in either 584 or 585. He claimed to be an illegitimate son of Clotaire I and, with the financial support of the Emperor Maurice, took some major cities in southern Gaul, such as Poitiers and Toulouse, which belonged to Guntram, king of Burgundy, a legitimate son of Clotaire. Guntram marched against him, calling him nothing more than a miller's son and named him 'Ballomer'. Gundowald fled to Comminges and Guntram's army set down to besiege the citadel. The siege was successful, Gundovald's support drained away quickly and he was handed over by the besieged to be executed.

Bladast or Bladastes was a Frankish dux during the reigns of Chilperic I and Chlothar II.

In 589, Austrovald held command of the forces of Périgueux, Agen, Saintes, and Bordeaux, when he invaded Septimania. [5] Twice he marched on Visigothic Carcassonne but failed to take it. [6]

Périgueux Prefecture and commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Périgueux is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.

Agen Prefecture and commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

The commune of Agen is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne 135 kilometres southeast of Bordeaux.

Saintes, Charente-Maritime Subprefecture and commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Saintes is a commune and historic town in southwestern France, in the Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Its inhabitants are called Saintaises and Saintais. Saintes is the second-largest city in Charente-Maritime, with 26,470 inhabitants in 2008. Its immediate surrounds form the second-most populous metropolitan area in the department, with 56,598 inhabitants, the majority of which is fertile, productive fields; a significant minority of the region remains forest, its natural state.

Austrovald was succeeded by Sereus after a short reign. [7]

Sereus, Serenus, or Severus was the Duke of Aquitaine briefly following the dukedom of Austrovald. Monlezun's reliance on the Charte d'Alaon makes it likely that this individual is spurious or misidentified.

Notes

  1. Astrovaldo in Castilian and Austrowalde in French.
  2. Collins, p 85. Gregory, IX.7.
  3. p 84. Higounet, p 18.
  4. Sedycias.
  5. Lewis, p 392n67. Gregory, IX.7.
  6. VIII.45 and IX.31. Collins, p 85.
  7. Monlezun, p 221.

Sources

Gregory of Tours Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours

Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florentius and later added the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather. He is the primary contemporary source for Merovingian history. His most notable work was his Decem Libri Historiarum, better known as the Historia Francorum, a title that later chroniclers gave to it, but he is also known for his accounts of the miracles of saints, especially four books of the miracles of Martin of Tours. St. Martin's tomb was a major pilgrimage destination in the 6th century, and St. Gregory's writings had the practical effect of promoting this highly organized devotion.

.

Related Research Articles

Hunald I Frankish duke

Hunald I, also spelled Hunold, Hunoald, Hunuald or Chunoald, was the Duke of Aquitaine from 735 until 745. Although nominally he was an officer of the Merovingian kings of Francia, in practice Aquitaine was completely autonomous when he inherited it. His dukeship corresponds with the lowest point of the Merovingian monarchy, when the kingdom was in fact ruled by the mayors of the palace. Hunald was forced at the outset of his reign to accept the authority of the mayor of the palace Charles Martel, but he tried three times to throw it off in open revolt. He was unsuccessful, although he did manage to retain Aquitaine undiminished. In 745, he retired to a monastery, giving power to his son Waiofar. He later went to Rome, where he died during an attack on the city.

Lupo II is the third-attested historical duke of Gascony, appearing in history for the first time in 769. His ancestry is subject to scholarly debate.

Felix was a patrician in the Frankish kingdom under the Merovingians. He had his seat at Toulouse. According to the tenth-century Miracula sancti Martialis lemovicensis, Felix was "a noble and renowned patrician from the town of Toulouse, who had obtained authority over all the cities up to the Pyrenees and over the iniquitous people of the Wascones," that is, the Gascons. Felix is probably the first ruler of the Duchy of Aquitaine that evolved from the old kingdom of Charibert II in the decades following his death (632) and Dagobert I's subjection of the Gascons. Despite the fact that he stands at the head of the list of semi-independent rulers of Aquitaine that extends through the Middle Ages, he is regarded as extremely "mysterious" and "obscure".

Seguin II, called Mostelanicus, was the Count of Bordeaux and Saintes from 840 and Duke of Gascony from 845. He was either the son or grandson of Seguin I, the duke appointed by Charlemagne.

Sancho II Sánchez or Sans II Sancion succeeded his brother Aznar Sánchez as count of Vasconia Citerior (Gascony) in 836, in spite of the objections of Pepin I, King of Aquitaine.

Sancho III, called Mitarra, Menditarra, was the Duke of Gascony in a very obscure period of its history between 864 and 893. He was probably duke from 872 to 887. He is shrouded in mystery and legend, but is regarded as a great fighter of the Reconquista elected to his post as Carolingian power waned by the native Gascons.

Sancho IV Garcés was the Duke of Gascony from 930 to his own death in 950 or 955. During his tenure, Gascony shrank considerably as his brothers inherited important regions and the de facto and perhaps de jure independent duchy slipped into historical near-oblivion.

William II Sánchez, Duke of Gascony from circa 961 at least until 996, was the younger illegitimate son of duke Sancho IV and successor, around 961, of his childless elder brother, Duke Sancho V. He united the County of Bordeaux with the Gascony. Documents of his reign state that his grandfather came from Iberia, lending credence to "phantasmagorical" genealogies placing the origins of García II Sánchez across the Pyrenees. He died in 996 or 997 and was succeeded by his son, Bernard William.

Sancho V Sánchez was briefly Duke of Gascony from the death of his father, Sancho IV, between 950 and 955 to his own death. He was an illegitimate son whose rule did not last long before he died heirless to be succeeded by his brother William Sancho.

Seguin I Lupo was Duke of Gascony from 812 until 816, when Louis the Pious deposed him "because of his boundless arrogance and wicked ways", according to the contemporary Frankish chroniclers. The "Basques across the Garonne and around the Pyrenees" rebelled against the removal of their duke, but the Frankish king received the submission of the rebels in Dax. The emperor crossed the Pyrenees and "settled matters" in Pamplona. This could imply that the Gascony of Seguin's day was trans-Pyrenean, i.e., comprised lands on both sides of the mountains.

Sancho I López or Lupus Sancho was a Duke of Gascony between the years 801 and 812.

Duchy of Gascony

The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was a duchy in present southwestern France and northeastern Spain, part corresponding to the modern region of Gascony after 824. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as Wasconia, was originally a Frankish march formed to hold sway over the Basques (Vascones). However, the Duchy went through different periods, from its early years with its distinctively Basque element to the merger in personal union with the Duchy of Aquitaine to the later period as a dependency of the Plantagenet kings of England.

Genial was the Duke of Gascony (Vasconia) in the early seventh century. He is attested in the Chronicle of Fredegar.

Aighyna, Aeghyna, Aegyna, Aigino, or Aichina, probably a Saxon, was the duke of Gascony (Vasconia) from 626 or 627 to his death in 638. He succeeded Genial. The chief source for his reign is Fredegar.

Lupus I was the Duke of Gascony and Aquitaine from about 670. His reign may have lasted a few years or longer. He is often considered the progenitor of the Gascon dynasty of Lupus II and the Aquitainian dynasty the Eudonians.

The Charte d'Alaon is a spurious and fraudulent charter purporting to provide a genealogy of the house of Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine. The 19th-century French historian Joseph-François Rabanis proved it to be a hoax fabricated in the 17th century. His research thus rendered a good deal of "known" Gascon and Navarrese genealogy meaningless.

Aznar Sánchez was the Duke of Gascony from 820. He was the supposed son of Sancho I of Gascony, though he has been identified with Aznar Galíndez I, Count of Aragon.

Hunald II, also spelled Hunold, Hunoald, Hunuald or Chunoald, was the Duke of Aquitaine from 768 until 769. He was probably the son of Duke Waiofar, who was assassinated on the orders of King Pippin the Short in 768. He laid claim to the duchy following Pippin's death later that year, but his revolt was crushed by Pippin's eldest son, Charlemagne. Hunald fled to the Duchy of Gascony, but he was handed over to Charlemagne and put into captivity. Nothing more is heard of him.