Liutfrid, Duke of Alsace

Last updated

Liutfrid, Leodefred, Leudefred, or Leudefrid (died probably 742) was the Duke of Alsace, the third in a line of Etichonid dukes dating back to circa 670. [1] He succeeded his father Adalbert in 723.

In the 720s he made his younger brother Eberhard count of the Sundgau. He made his court at Strasbourg, where he patronised the monastery of Weissenburg in seven separate donations between 734 and his death. Liutfrid was on good terms with the bishop of Strasbourg, Heddo, a partisan of Charles Martel.

Liutfrid was probably a supporter of Martel in his wars with the Alemanni across the Rhine. He disappears from the records in 742, along with his son Hildfrid, and presumably they died fighting for the Carolingians, for their last charter is dated to the first year of the reign of Carloman, son of Charles Martel. [2] No duke was appointed to succeed the heirless Liutfrid. He had two wives, probably both Alsatian: Hiltrudis (Hiltrude[e]) and Theutila. [1]

Related Research Articles

Charles Martel Frankish military and political leader

Charles Martel was a Frankish statesman and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesman Pepin of Herstal and Pepin's mistress, a noblewoman named Alpaida. Charles, also known as “The Hammer”, successfully asserted his claims to power as successor to his father as the power behind the throne in Frankish politics. Continuing and building on his father's work, he restored centralized government in Francia and began the series of military campaigns that re-established the Franks as the undisputed masters of all Gaul. According to a near-contemporary source, the Liber Historiae Francorum, Charles was "a warrior who was uncommonly [...] effective in battle".

The 740s decade ran from January 1, 740, to December 31, 749.

742 Calendar year

Year 742 (DCCXLII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 742 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Carloman (mayor of the palace)

Carloman was the eldest son of Charles Martel, majordomo or mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, and his wife Chrotrud of Treves. On Charles's death (741), Carloman and his brother Pepin the Short succeeded to their father's legal positions, Carloman in Austrasia, and Pepin in Neustria. He was a member of the family later called the Carolingians and it can be argued that he was instrumental in consolidating their power at the expense of the ruling Merovingian kings of the Franks. He withdrew from public life in 747 to take up the monastic habit, "the first of a new type of saintly king," according to Norman Cantor, "more interested in religious devotion than royal power, who frequently appeared in the following three centuries and who was an indication of the growing impact of Christian piety on Germanic society".

Stefan Vladislav II King of Syrmia

Vladislav was the King of Syrmia from 1316 to 1325, and claimant to the Serbian Kingdom.

Hunald I

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 rule corresponds to 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.

Odo the Great, was the Duke of Aquitaine by 700. His territory included Vasconia in the south-west of Gaul and the Duchy of Aquitaine, a realm extending from the Loire to the Pyrenees, with the capital in Toulouse. He fought the Carolingian Franks and made alliances with the Moors to combat them. He retained this domain until 735. He is remembered for defeating the Umayyads in 721 in the Battle of Toulouse. He was the first to defeat them decisively in Western Europe. The feat earned him the epithet "The Great".

Drogo was a Frankish nobleman, the eldest son of Pippin of Heristal and Plectrudis. He was the duke of Champagne from the early 690s.

Hugh was the count of Tours and Sens during the reigns of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious, until his disgrace in February 828.

Hugh or Hugo was an illegitimate son of Lothair II, king of Lotharingia, by his concubine Waldrada. His father made him Duke of Alsace in 867.

Bernard Plantapilosa or Bernard II of Auvergne, or Plantevelue, son of Bernard of Septimania and Dhuoda, was the Count of Auvergne from 872 to his death. The Emperor Charles the Fat granted him the title of Margrave of Aquitaine in 885.

Gundoin was the first Duke of Alsace in the middle of the seventh century. He was a Frankish nobleman from the Meuse-Moselle basin. He was, according to the author of the Vita Sadalbergae, an "illustrious man, opulent in wealth and fame according to the highest secular dignity and skilled in courtly affairs."

The Duchy of Alsace was a large political subdivision of the Frankish Empire during the last century and a half of Merovingian rule. It corresponded to the territory of Alsace and was carved out of southern Austrasia in the last decade of the reign of Dagobert I, probably to stabilise the southern reaches of Austrasia against Alemannia and Burgundy. By the late Middle Ages, the region was considered part of Swabia.

Adalbert was the Duke of Alsace beginning after 683 and probably until his death. He was the second duke of the family of the Etichonids and the first to inherit the duchy from his father.

Theudebald or Theutbald was the Duke of Alamannia from 730 until his deposition. He was a son of Gotfrid and brother and co-ruler with Lantfrid from 709.

The Etichonids were an important noble family, probably of Frankish, Burgundian or Visigothic origin, who ruled the Duchy of Alsace in the Early Middle Ages. The dynasty is named for Eticho who ruled from 662 to 690.

Robert I, Rupert,, Count of Hesbaye and Duke of Neustria, son of Lambert. He was Count palatine under Childeric III.

Lambert II, was possibly a Count of Haspengau (Hesbaye). The identity of Lambert's father remains uncertain, but the prevailing theories identify him as either Robert II, Lord Chancellor of Francia, or a son of Robert's. An alternative theory would make him son of Warnius and Gunza, although this is not likely.

Sigramnus (Sigrand), was the Count of Hesbaye. Sigramnus became Count of Hesbaye by virtue of his marriage to the daughter of Lambert, Count of Hesbaye. The dates of his rule are unknown but are believed to be between that of Lambert’s son and grandson, and so it was perhaps an interim position until the latter became of age. The only knowledge available on Sigramnus is through his son, the Bishop of Metz, and grandson Ingerman of Hesbaye, father of Ermengard, wife of Louis the Pious. Sigramnus is known to have been an early supporter of Charles Martel, even before the Battle of Amblève.

Arnulf was the oldest son of Drogo, Duke of Champagne, and succeeded his father as duke in 707 or 708. His mother was Adaltrudis and his parents were married around 690. He was named after Bishop Arnulf of Metz, his great-great-grandfather. He is the first known Arnulf in his family, the Pippinids, after the bishop.

References

Sources