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
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
a saint in 1066 by
Pope Alexander II.
["William of Aquitaine, St."]
Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved on 2014-01-17.
In the tenth or eleventh century, a Latin hagiography, the ''Vita sancti Willelmi'', was composed. By the twelfth century, William's legend had grown. He is the hero of an entire cycle of ''
chansons de geste
The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...
'', the earliest of which is the ''
Chanson de Guillaume'' of about 1140. In the ''chansons'', he is nicknamed ''
Fièrebrace'' (fierce or strong arm) on account of his strength and the ''marquis au court nez'' (margrave with the short nose) on account of an injury suffered in battle with a giant.
William in history
William was born in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in the mid-8th century, to
Thierry IV
Thierry IV, or Theoderic IV ( 770–793Bouchard, ''Those of My Blood'', p. 184), was a Frankish noble and royal '' missus''.
Thierry's parentage is not directly attested. Speculation about how his grandson Bernard of Septimania came to be descri ...
, Count of
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 ...
, and his wife
Aldana. His son, and likely William himself, was a relative of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
. The relationship is speculated to have come through William's mother, perhaps a daughter of
Charles Martel
Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political 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 statesma ...
, or through Thierry, apparently a close kinsman of Charlemagne's maternal great-grandmother (
Bertrada of Prüm Bertrade or Bertrada may refer to:
* Bertrada of Prüm, Frankish princess, co-founder and benefactor of the Prüm Abbey
* Bertrada of Laon, queen of the Franks, wife of Pippin III, granddaughter of the above
* Bertrade de Montfort
Bertrade de Mon ...
), with the two relationships not mutually exclusive. As a kinsman and trusted ''comes'', he spent his youth in the court of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
. In 788,
Chorso
Torson (known variously as ''Tercin'', ''Torso'', ''Chorso'', and ''Chorson'') was the first count (or duke) of Toulouse (778 – 789 or 790).
He is called ''Chorso dux Tholosanus'' by the so-called "Astronomer" in his ''Vita Hludovici'' ("L ...
, Count of
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 ...
, was captured by the Basque
Adalric Adalric, Adalrich, Adelric, or Adelrich is a Germanic languages, Germanic given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Athalaric (516–534), King of the Ostrogoths
* Adalrich, Duke of Alsace (died after 683)
* Adalric of Gascony, late 8th c ...
, and made to swear an oath of allegiance to the Duke of Gascony, Lupus II. Upon his release
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
replaced him with his Frankish cousin William (790). William, in turn, successfully subdued the
Gascons
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 ...
.
In 793,
Hisham I
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, هشام بن عبد الملك, Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; 691 – 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743.
Early life
Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrat ...
, the successor of
Abd ar-Rahman I, proclaimed a
holy war
A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
against the
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
to the north. He amassed an army of 100,000 men, half of which attacked the
Kingdom of Asturias
The Kingdom of Asturias ( la, Asturum Regnum; ast, Reinu d'Asturies) was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded by the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius. It was the first Christian political entity established after the Umayyad conquest of V ...
while the other half invaded
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
, penetrating as far as
Narbonne
Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...
.
William met this force and defeated them. He met the Muslim forces again near the river
Orbieu
The Orbieu (; oc, Orbiu) is an long river in the Aude ''département'', in south central France. Its source is at Fourtou, in the Corbières Massif. It flows generally northeast. It is a right tributary of the Aude into which it flows between ...
at
Villedaigne
Villedaigne (; oc, Viladanha) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.
Population
Geography
The village lies on the left bank of the Orbieu
The Orbieu (; oc, Orbiu) is an long river in the Aude ''département'', in south ...
but was defeated, though his obstinate resistance exhausted the
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
forces so much that they retreated to
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...
. In 801, William commanded along with
Louis Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ( ...
, King of Aquitaine a large expedition of
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, ...
,
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 ...
,
Provençals,
Aquitanians, Gascons (
Basques
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...
) and
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
that
captured Barcelona from the
Ummayads.
In 804, he founded the
abbey in Gellone (now
Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert
Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert ( or ; oc, Sant Guilhèm dau Desèrt) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Situated where the Gellone river's narrow valley meets the steep-sided gorge of the river Hérau ...
) near
Lodève
Lodève (; oc, Lodeva ) is a commune in the département of Hérault, in the Occitanie region in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. The derivation of the city's name is from Gaulish ''Luteva'', composed of lut-, swamp, ...
in the
diocese of Maguelonne
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Montpellier (–Lodève–Béziers–Agde–Saint-Pons-de-Thomières) (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Montis Pessulani (–Lotevensis–Biterrensis–Agathensis–Sancti Pontii Thomeriarum)'' ...
. He granted property to Gellone and placed the monastery under the general control of
Benedict of Aniane
Benedict of Aniane ( la, Benedictus Anianensis; german: Benedikt von Aniane; 747 – 12 February 821 AD), born Witiza and called the Second Benedict, was a Benedictine monk and monastic reformer, who left a large imprint on the religious prac ...
, whose monastery was nearby.
Among his gifts to the abbey he founded was a piece of the
True Cross
The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...
, a present from his cousin Charlemagne. Charlemagne had received the relic from the
Patriarch of Jerusalem according to the ''Vita'' of William.
In 806, William retired to Gellone as a monk and eventually died there
[ on 28 May 812 (or 814). When he died, it was said the bells at Orange rang on their own accord.
William mentioned both his family and monastery in his will: his will of 28 January 804, names his wives Cunegonde and Witburgis, his deceased parents, Theodoric/Thierry and Aldana, two brothers, Theodino and Adalelmo, two sisters, Abbana and Bertana, four children, ]Barnard Barnard is a version of the surname Bernard, which is a French and West Germanic masculine given name and surname. The surname means as tough as a bear, Bar(Bear)+nard/hard(hardy/tough)
__NOTOC__
People
Some of the people bearing the surname Ba ...
, Witcher, Gotzelm and Helimburgis, and a nephew, Bertrano. In addition, he had a son Heribert, a daughter Gerberge, and perhaps a daughter Rotlinde.
Gellone remained under the control of the abbots of Aniane. It became a subject of contention, however, as the reputation of William grew. So many pilgrims were attracted to Gellone that his corpse was exhumed from the modest site in the narthex
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...
and given a more prominent place under the choir, to the intense dissatisfaction of the Abbey of Aniane. A number of forged documents and assertions were produced on each side that leave details of actual history doubtful. The abbey was a major stop for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...
. Its late-12th-century Romanesque cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
, systematically dismantled during the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, found its way to The Cloisters
The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art and architecture, with a fo ...
in New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. The ''Sacramentary of Gellone
Gellone Sacramentary is a late 8th century illuminated manuscript. It is now in the manuscripts department of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, shelfmarLatin 12048 It is recorded in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert Abbey at the start of the 9th centu ...
'', dating to the late 8th century, is a famous manuscript.
William in romance
William's faithful service to Charlemagne is portrayed as an example of feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
loyalty. William's career battling Saracens is sung in epic poems in the 12th- and 13th-century cycle called ''La Geste de Garin de Monglane'', some two dozen ''chansons de geste
The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...
'' that actually center around William, the great-grandson of the largely legendary Garin.
One section of the cycle, however, is devoted to the feats of his father, there named Aymeri de Narbonne, who has received Narbonne
Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...
as his seigniory after his return from Spain with Charlemagne. Details of the "Aymeri" of the poem are conflated with a later historic figure who was truly the viscount of Narbonne The viscount of Narbonne was the secular ruler of Narbonne in the Middle Ages. Narbonne had been the capital of the Visigoth province of Septimania, until the 8th century, after which it became the Carolingian Viscounty of Narbonne. Narbonne was n ...
from 1108 to 1134. In the ''chanson'' he is awarded Ermengart, daughter of Didier, and sister of Boniface, king of the Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...
. Among his seven sons and five daughters (one of whom marries Louis the Pious) is William.
The defeat of the Moors at Orange was given legendary treatment in the 12th-century epic ''La Prise d'Orange
''Prise d'Orange'' (literally "Taking of Orange"; also translated "The Capture of Orange" and "The Conquest of Orange") is a mid-12th century ''chanson de geste'' written in Old French. Its fictional story follows the hero Guillaume as he cap ...
''. There, he was made Count of Toulouse in the stead of the disgraced Chorso, then King of Aquitaine in 778. He is difficult to separate from the legends and poems that gave him feats of arms, lineage and titles: Guillaume Fièrebras, Guillaum au Court-Nez (broken in a battle with a giant), Guillaum de Narbonne and Guillaume d'Orange. These legends turn his wife into a converted Saracen, Orable, later christened Guibourc.
References
* Bouchard, Constance Brittain ''Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia'', University of Pennsylvania Press: 2001.
"L'Abbaye de Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert"
(in French)
Metropolitan Museum:The Saint-Guilhem Cloister
*
External links
"The saint who married a Muslim princess", ''Catholic Herald'', January 4, 2008
"Die altfranzösische Wilhelmsage und ihre beziehung zu Wilhelm dem Heiligen 1896"
{{DEFAULTSORT:William of Gellone
Saints from the Carolingian Empire
French Roman Catholic saints
Counts of Toulouse
750s births
810s deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
Characters in epic poems
Roman Catholic royal saints
8th-century Frankish people
9th-century French people
9th-century Christian saints
Medieval French saints