Guerin, Garin, Warin, or Werner ( la, Werinus or ''Guarnarius''; died 845 or 856) was the
Count of Auvergne
This is a list of the various rulers of Auvergne.
History
In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine. The ...
,
Chalon Chalon may refer to:
Culture
* Chalon people, a Native American tribe of California
* Chalon language, an Ohlone language spoken by the Chalon people
Places
* Chalon, Isère, formerly Châlons, in France's Isère ''département''
* Le Chalon, in ...
,
Mâcon
Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as M ...
,
Autun
Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give a Ro ...
,
Arles
Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...
and
Duke of Provence,
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
, and
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
. Guerin established the region against the
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
from a base of
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
and fortified
Chalon-sur-Saône
Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; h ...
(834). He took part in many campaigns during the civil wars that marked the reign of
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
(814–840) and after his death until the
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Francia, Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three ...
(843). The primary sources for his life are charters and chronicles like the ''
Vita Hludovici
''Vita Hludovici'' or ''Vita Hludovici Imperatoris'' (The Life of Louis or the Life of the Emperor Louis) is an anonymous biography of Louis the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Franks from AD 814 to 840.
Author
The work was written ...
''.
There is a good deal of confusion amongst authors over the exact identity of this person. He has been allocated as a son of
William of Gellone
William of Gellone ( 755 – 28 May 812 or 814), the medieval William of Orange, was the second Duke of Toulouse from 790 until 811. In 804, he founded the abbey of Gellone. He was canonized a saint in 1066 by Pope Alexander II. and his second wife Guitbergis (or Vuithbergis) on the basis of the ''
Liber Manualis'' of
Dhuoda
Dhuoda (''fl.'' AD 824–844) was a Frankish writer, as well as Duchess consort of Septimania and Countess consort of Barcelona. She was the author of the ''Liber Manualis'', a handbook written for her son.Cherewatuk, Karen. "''Speculum Matris'': ...
, wife of
Bernard of Septimania
Bernard (or Bernat) of Septimania (795–844), son of William of Gellone, was the Frankish Duke of Septimania and Count of Barcelona from 826 to 832 and again from 835 to his execution. He was also count of Carcassonne from 837. He was appointed t ...
, one of William's sons by his first wife. Otherwise, he has been recently hypothesised as the son or grandson of
Adalard, Count of Chalon, who defended that site against
Waifer of Aquitaine Waiofar, also spelled Waifar, Waifer or Waiffre (died 2 June 768), 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 th ...
. Warin was thus Count of Chalon by heredity or by grateful gift of the king on account of his father's service. This latter theory hinges on the assumption that there were two Guerins who have been subsequently confused: Guerin I and his son Guerin II. Neither descent from William of Gellone nor the two persons hypothesis are universally accepted. His proximity, in extant documents of the time, to Bernard of Septimania has been used as evidence for a relationship to that family, as has the existence of a related "Count Guerin" in later charters of the 850s and 860s. Guerin has been suggested as a brother of
Bernard I of Auvergne, whose relationships are unknown.
In 818,
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
granted him the Auvergne, probably because of a connection of his wife's, for she was possibly the daughter of the previous count
Ithier. In 825, he received the town of
Cluny
Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 9 ...
from
Hildebald, Bishop of Mâcon, in an exchange.
In 819, he and
Berengar of Toulouse
Berengar, called the Wise ( ca, Berenguer el Savi, la, Berengarius Sapiens), was the duke or count of Toulouse (814–835) and duke (or margrave) of Septimania (832–835). He held the County of Barcelona concomitantly with Septimania.
Beren ...
invaded
Gascony
Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...
to put down a rebellion of
Lupus III Centule, as recorded by both the ''
Annales regni Francorum
The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in the Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state ...
'' and the ''
Vita Hludowici
''Vita Hludovici'' or ''Vita Hludovici Imperatoris'' (The Life of Louis or the Life of the Emperor Louis) is an anonymous biography of Louis the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Franks from AD 814 to 840.
Author
The work was written ...
''.
By 820, Gascony was pacified and
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
authority restored, but not across the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
in
Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
.
On 24 July 840 in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
, Lothair precipitated a new civil war by declaring his ''imperium'' over all the lands of the empire and, joining with his nephew
Pepin II of Aquitaine
Pepin II, called the Younger (823 – after 864 in Senlis), was King of Aquitaine from 838 as the successor upon the death of his father, Pepin I. Pepin II was eldest son of Pepin I and Ingeltrude, daughter of Theodobert, count of Madrie. He ...
, attacked the
Loire Valley. While
Ermenaud III of Auxerre,
Arnulf of Sens,
Audri of Autun
Audri Mukhopadhyay (born 1974) is a Canadian diplomat and economist. He was the Consul General of Canada in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, serving as head of mission at the Consulate General of Canada in Ho Chi Minh City. He has been featured ...
, and
Gerard II of Paris pledged themselves for Lothair, Guerin and
Adalbert of Avallon remained with
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...
. In March 841, the
Burgundians
The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...
faithful to Charles accompanied Guerin to Aquitaine, from which they expelled Lothair and Pepin. In May, Guerin, as ''dux cum Tolosanis et Provincianis'', joined Charles and the
king of Bavaria
King of Bavaria was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished. It was the second time Bavaria was a kingdom, almost a thousand ...
,
Louis the German
Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...
, at
Châlons-sur-Marne. In June, Pepin finally joined with Lothair in
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
. On 25 June 841, Lothair and Pepin initiated the ensuing
Battle of Fontenay and had the upper hand until the arrival of Guerin and his army of Provençals turned the tide in favour of Charles.
Charles sent Guerin to expel Bernard of Septimania from
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
in 842 and then against
Gothia in 843. After the Treaty of Verdun in August that year, he was the ''dux'' and ''marchio'' in Provence ''under'' Lothair.
He may have inherited that office from
Leibulf around 829. In 844, he received Autun, which had been stripped from Bernard's heir
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
. The French historian
Pierre Andoque asserts that Bernard was captured in 843 by Guerin in
Uzès
Uzès (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. In 2017, it had a population of 8,454. Uzès lies about north-northeast of Nîmes, west of Avignon and south-east of Alès.
History
Originally ''Uc ...
and brought before Charles to be executed in 844. He was succeeded in 845 by
Fulcrad Fulcrad was the count of Arles in the middle of the ninth century, who was given military command over the other counts of the Provençal country and took the title of duke (Latin ''dux''). His recorded activity took place after the treaty of Verdu ...
as duke, with Marseille going to a count Adalbert.
Guerin married Albane (or Ava) and was the father of
Isembard, Count of Autun Isembard (also spelled Isembart or Isembert) was a Burgundian nobleman and count of Autun. According to the ''Annales Fontanellenses'', his father was Warin of Provence.Janet L. Nelson, ''Charles the Bald'' (London: Longman, 1992), 161 n. 4.
In 8 ...
, and perhaps of Ermengarde mother of William I, Duke of Aquitania.
[Guinard's thesis neglects Isembard, but gives Guerin I two sons: Guerin II and Theodoric of Vergy. He also credits him as the father of Ermengard, wife of ]Bernard Plantapilosa Bernard Plantapilosa or Bernard II of Auvergne (22 March 841-886), or Plantevelue, son of Bernard of Septimania and Dhuoda, was the Count of Auvergne (as Bernard II) from 872 to his death. The Emperor Charles the Fat granted him the title of Margra ...
.
Notes
Sources
*
*Guinard, P. ''Recherches sur les origines des seigneurs de Semur-en-Brionnais''. Semur-en-Brionnais, 1996.
Medieval Lands Project: Nobility of Aquitaine — Comtes d'Auvergne 819–940.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerin of Provence
Counts of Auvergne
Counts of Chalon
Counts of Mâcon
Counts of Autun
Counts of Arles
Dukes of Provence
Dukes of Burgundy
Counts of Toulouse
9th-century rulers in Europe
9th-century deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of death uncertain
Nobility of the Carolingian Empire