Siege of Clermont (761)

Last updated
Siege of Clermont (761)
Date761
Location
Result Frankish victory
Belligerents
Francia Duchy of Aquitaine
Commanders and leaders
Pepin the Short Count Bladinus of Auvergne  (POW)
Casualties and losses
Light Gascon levies killed or captured
Civilian population burned alive

The Siege of Clermont was a Frankish siege of the Aquitanian fortress of Clermont in 761 during the Aquitanian War. The Frankish army under King Pepin the Short burned the fortress, with a large number of men, women and children dying in the flames. The Count of Auvergne, Bladinus, was taken prisoner and put in chains, while his Gascon levies were killed or captured by the Franks.

Contents

Prelude

After conquering Bourbon earlier in 761 and devastating Aquitaine, King Pepin the Short of Francia advanced with his entire army on Clermont in the region of Auvergne. [1] [2] The fort was defended by Count Bladinus of Auvergne with a levy of Gascon soldiers. [2] [3]

Siege

Pepin's army conquered the fortified town and set it on fire. [2] A large number of men, women and children were burned alive in the flames. [2] The massacre is mentioned by the continuator of the Chronicle of Fredegar but not by the Royal Frankish Annals. [2] The Gascon levies in the garrison were either killed or captured. [2] Count Bladinus was captured and brought in chains to Pepin. [2]

Aftermath

Pepin's army was "unscathed", according to the continuator of Fredegar. [2] That same year, Pepin also took the fort of Chantelle in battle. [2] The Frankish army penetrated as far as Limoges, burning and destroying as it went and then returned with home with much plunder. [2]

Citations

  1. Royal Frankish Annals 1970, pp. 43–44.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Petersen 2013, p. 729.
  3. Bachrach 1974, pp. 5–7.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

The 760s decade ran from January 1, 760, to December 31, 769.

760 Calendar year

Year 760 (DCCLX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 760 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.

Aquitaine Region of France

Aquitaine, archaic Guyenne or Guienne, is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is situated in the far southwest corner of Metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It is composed of the five departments of Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes and Gironde. In the Middle Ages, Aquitaine was a kingdom and a duchy, whose boundaries fluctuated considerably.

Duchy of Aquitaine Medieval duchy in southern France

The Duchy of Aquitaine was a historical fiefdom in western, central and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the Loire River, although its extent, as well as its name, fluctuated greatly over the centuries, at times comprising much of what is now southwestern France (Gascony) and central France.

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.

Pepin the Short King of the Franks

Pepin the Short, also called the Younger was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.

Waiofar, also spelled Waifar, Waifer or Waiffre, was the last independent Duke of Aquitaine from 745 to 768. He peacefully succeeded his father, Hunald I, after the latter entered a monastery. He also inherited the conflict with the rising Carolingian family and its leader, Pepin the Short, who was king of the Franks after 751 and thus Waiofar's nominal suzerain.

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.

Duchy of Gascony

The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was a duchy in present southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. 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.

Umayyad invasion of Gaul

The Umayyad invasion of Gaul occurred in two phases in 719 and 732. Although the Muslim Umayyads secured control of Septimania, their incursions beyond this into the Loire and Rhône valleys failed. By 759 they had lost Septimania to the Christian Franks, but would return in the 10th century to establish Fraxinet on the Mediterranean coast in France.

Siege of Narbonne (752–59)

The Siege of Narbonne took place between 752 and 759 led by Pepin the Short against the Umayyad stronghold defended by an Andalusian garrison and its Gothic and Gallo-Roman inhabitants. The siege remained as a key battlefield in the context of the Carolingian expedition south to Provence and Septimania starting in 752. The region was up to that point in the hands of Andalusian military commanders and the local nobility of Gothic and Gallo-Roman stock, who had concluded different military and political arrangements to oppose the expanding Frankish rule. Umayyad rule collapsed by 750, and Umayyad territories in Europe were ruled autonomously by Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri and his supporters.

The Battle of Toulouse in 844 was part of the campaign by Charles the Bald in Aquitaine to force the submission of Pepin II of Aquitaine, the rebellious son of Pepin, the half-brother of Charles. The historical context of this battle is the three-year Carolingian Civil War, culminating in the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye. Here Charles and Louis the German defeated their brother Lothair I, who retreated to the south with his army.

The Siege of Bourbon was a Frankish siege of the Aquitanian fortress of Bourbon in 761 during the Aquitanian War. The Frankish army under King Pepin the Short invested, stormed and burned the fortress, taking the garrison prisoner.

The Siege of Chantelle was a Frankish siege of the Aquitanian fortress of Chantelle in 761 during the Aquitanian War. The Frankish army under King Pepin the Short took the fortress in battle. Pepin's army went on to Limoges, laying waste to the province.

The Siege of Bourges was a Frankish siege of the Aquitanian fortress town of Bourges in 762 during the Aquitanian War. The Frankish army under King Pepin the Short invested the fort with lines of circumvallation, contravallation and siege engines. The walls were breached and the fort taken. Count Chunibert of Bourges swore his loyalty to Pepin along with his Gascon levies and their families. Pepin appointed several counts of his own to garrison the place and the Frankish army went on to besiege Thouars.

The Siege of Thouars was a Frankish siege of the Aquitanian stronghold of Thouars in 762 during the Aquitanian War. The Frankish army under King Pepin the Short besieged and captured the fort with great speed, burning the place to the ground, taking the count of Thouars captive and deporting him and Thouars' Gascon levies to Francia.

The Battle of Narbonne was a military engagement near Narbonne in 763 during the Aquitanian War. The forces of the Frankish counts Australdus and Galemanius defeated the Aquitanian forces of Count Mantio, killing Mantio and his retinue in the process and routing the Gascon levies in the Aquitanian service.

The Siege of Toulouse was a Frankish siege of the Aquitanian fortified town of Toulouse in the winter of 767 during the Aquitanian War. The Frankish army under King Pepin the Short conquered the town and accepted the surrender of nearby Albi and Gevaudan.

The Siege of Laon was a Frankish siege of the rebel Grifo's fortified city of Laon in 741. The Frankish army under the Mayors of the Palace, the brothers Carloman and Pepin the Short, besieged the fortress and took Grifo, the Mayors' half-brother, captive.

The Siege of Tortosa was a military campaign by King Louis the Pious of Aquitaine in 808–809. It was part of a decade of intense activity by Louis against the Umayyad Emirate in the region of the lower Ebro. The chronology of his campaigns, which must be worked out from both Latin and Arabic sources, is subject to different interpretations.