Engeldeo or Engildeo (''

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

'' 878–895) was the Margrave of Bavaria from 890 to 895. The first reference to Engeldeo dates to 3 December 878, when he was already a ''

comes ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...

'' (count), for on that date King Carloman granted land in the ''

pagus In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geogra ...

'' of "Tonageuue" in Engeldeo's county to a priest named Iob. In 889 King Arnulf granted land at "Phuncina" (from Latin ''Pons Aeni'', modern

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

) in the ''pagus'' of the

Nordgau The Nordgau (from the Germanic for "northern region") can refer to two distinct areas: * Nordgau (Alsace), the Alsatian Nordgau, the medieval County of Nordgau, the northern part of Alsace * Margraviate of the Nordgau, the Bavarian Nordgau in the a ...

in Engeldeo's county to a certain Gotahelm, Engeldeo's vassal. Under the year 895, the ''

Annales Fuldenses The ''Annales Fuldenses'' or ''Annals of Fulda'' are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious (died 840) to shortly after the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the ac ...

'' record that "Engildieo marchensis Baioariorum" (Engeldeo, margrave of the Bavarians) was deprived of his

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

s and removed from office, replaced by Luitpold. At the same time the annalist records that Hildegard, daughter of

Louis the Younger Louis the Younger (830/835 – 20 January 882), sometimes Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Hemma, Emma. He succeeded his father as the King of Saxony on 28 August 876 and his elder broth ...

, was accused of acting unfaithfully towards King Arnulf and deprived of her benefices (''publicis honoribus''). On 5 May that year Arnulf had had to intervene to return some land wrongfully taken from Megingoz, a vassal of Erkenbold,

Bishop of Eichstätt A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, by Engeldeo and Hildegard. That these latter two were acting in concert at the same time as they were both deprived of public office in Bavaria suggests that they were allies against the interests of the king. Perhaps they were kinsman, perhaps they were engaged in an affair. The king's action was justified by the "judgement of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

Bavarians Bavarians ( Bavarian: ''Boarn'', Standard German: ''Baiern'') are an ethnographic group of Germans of the Bavaria region, a state within Germany. The group's dialect or speech is known as the Bavarian language, native to Altbayern ("Old Bava ...

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, and

Alemans The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

References

*
The Annals of Fulda
'. (Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.)

Reuter, Timothy Timothy Alan Reuter (25 January 1947 – 14 October 2002), grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German-British historian who specialized in the study of medieval Germany, particularly the social, military and ecclesiastical i ...

(trans.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992. {{Dukes of Bavaria 9th-century dukes of Bavaria