Hugobert (also Chugoberctus or Hociobercthus) (died probably in 697) was a

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

and a

count of the palace Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

at the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

court during the reigns of

Theuderic III Theuderic III (or Theuderich, Theoderic, or Theodoric; french: Thierry) (c. 651–691) was the king of Neustria (including Burgundy) on two occasions (673 and 675–691) and king of Austrasia from 679 to his death in 691. Thus, he was the king of ...

and

Childebert III Childebert III (or IV), called the Just (french: le Juste) (c.678/679 – 23 April 711), was the son of Theuderic III and Clotilda (or Doda) and sole king of the Franks (694–711). He was seemingly but a puppet of the mayor of the palace, P ...

. He was a grandson of the ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

'' Theotar, and it is assumed, but not proven, that his father was

Chugus Chucus (sometimes anglicized "Hugh") was the mayor of the palace of Austrasia from 617 to 623. He was the predecessor to Pepin of Landen and successor of Warnachar. He is mentioned in the will of Saint Bertechramnus, written on 26 March 616, ...

, who in 617 became mayor of the palace of

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...

. The juxtaposition of names in the ''Vita Landiberto episcopi Traiectensis'' may imply a relationship between him and the family of Saint Lambert (see below). It has been disproven that he is one and the same with bishop

Hugobert Hugobert (also Chugoberctus or Hociobercthus) (died probably in 697) was a seneschal and a count of the palace at the Merovingian court during the reigns of Theuderic III and Childebert III. He was a grandson of the ''dux'' Theotar, and it is ass ...

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

, because his wife appears in the records of

Echternach Echternach ( lb, Iechternach or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in L ...

in the year 698 as a widow. He was married to

Irmina of Oeren Irmina of Oeren (also called Ermina and Hirmina; d. 720) was a saint, founder and abbess of a convent in Oeren (now Alveringem in West Belgium), and co-founder of a convent in Echternach (now eastern Luxembourg). Hagiographer Basil Watkins state ...

, who, shortly after his death, made possible the founding of the Abbey of Echternach. Irmina was sister to

Adela of Pfalzel Saint Adela (? - 735) and her sister Irmina of Oeren (? - c. 716) were possibly two princesses who may have been the daughters of Saint Dagobert II and his Anglo-Saxon wife, but this has largely been disproved. Some have also said Adela was the dau ...

, founder of the convent Pfalzel, who is frequently confused with her daughter of the same name. He last appears in a royal charter dated 14 March 697.

Marriage and Family

Hugobert and Irmina had several daughters, including: *

Plectrude Plectrude ( la, Plectrudis; german: Plektrud, Plechtrudis) (died 718) was the consort of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, from about 670. She was the daughter of Hugobert, seneschal of Clovis IV, and Irmina of O ...

, 691/717 witnessed, the first wife of

Pippin of Herstal Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who de facto ruled Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the Fr ...

and founder of the Abbey St. Maria im Kapitol in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

* Adela (655-732), abbess of Pfalzel, married to Eudes I, Duke of Aquitaine (questionable

Odo the Great Odo the Great (also called ''Eudes'' or ''Eudo'') (died 735–740), was the Duke of Aquitaine by 700. His territory included Vasconia in the south-west of Gaul and the Duchy of Aquitaine (at that point located north-east of the river Garonne), a r ...

and son of

Saint Oda Saint Oda of Scotland (c. 680 – c. 726) was a woman, supposedly of Scottish origin, who became a holy recluse in the Netherlands. Her feast day is 23 October. Life Oda was born blind and her father sent her on pilgrimage to Liège to visit ...

) *

Regintrud Regintrud, also known as Reginlind and Regentrud, (born 660–665,Note: the provided date of birth would be invalid if she is Dagobert I's daughter as he died 639 died 730–740) was probably the wife of Duke Theodbert of Bavaria or of his father Du ...

, whose second marriage after the death of her husband was to the duke

Theudebert of Bavaria Theodbert (also ''Theodebert'', ''Theudebert'', ''Theotpert'', and ''Theodo'') ( 685 – c. 719) was the duke of Bavaria in some capacity or other from 702 to his death. He was the eldest son of Duke Theodo of Bavaria and Folchaid. He was first ass ...

* Irmina (d. ca 704), married to Chariveus, brother of

Lambert, Count of Hesbaye Lambert II, (669742) was possibly a Count of Haspengau (Hesbaye), generally referred to without the number modifier. Settipani, Christian (1989). '' Les ancêtres de Charlemagne. Addenda.'' The identity of his father remains uncertain, but the prev ...

. Other children sometimes attributed by genealogists to Hugobert and Irmina include: * Chrodelinda, who was likely the daughter of Irmina and Chiriveus. She married Wido, Abbot of Saint Wandrile. Their son Warnhar was Count of Horbach and was the patriarch of the

Widonids The Widonids, also called Guidonids,; german: Guidonen or ; it, Guideschi or or Lambertiner, after their leading names, were an Italian family of Frankish origin prominent in the ninth century. They were descended from Guy of Nantes, whose orig ...

. *

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 ...

(b. c. 670, d. after 721), the founder of the

Prüm Abbey Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm, now in the diocese of Trier (Germany), founded by the Frankish widow Bertrada the elder and her son Charibert, Count of Laon, in 721. The first abbot was Angloardus. The Abbey ruled over a va ...

and mother of count

Caribert of Laon Charibert (also spelled ''Caribert'' and ''Heribert''), Count of Laon, was the maternal grandfather of Charlemagne. He was the father of Charles's mother, Bertrada of Laon. Only his mother, Bertrada of Prüm, is known from contemporary records ...

, who was father of

Bertrada of Laon Bertrada of Laon (born between 710 and 727 – 12 July 783), also known as Bertrada the Younger or Bertha Broadfoot (cf. Latin: ''Regina pede aucae'' i.e. the queen with the goose-foot), was a Frankish queen. She was the wife of Pepin the Short and ...

, who in turn was mother 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 ...

Relationships with Frankish Nobility

Hugobert has been speculated by genealogists to have been ancestor of a number of powerful families of the Frankish nobility, including the

Etichonids 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 (7th–10th centuries). The dynasty is named for Eticho (also known as Aldarich), who ru ...

Agilofing The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712. They ...

Carolingians 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 ...

and

Robertians The Robertians (sometimes called the Robertines in modern scholarship) are the proposed Frankish family which was ancestral to the Capetian dynasty, and thus to the royal families of France and of many other countries. The Capetians appear first i ...

Capetians The Capetian dynasty (; french: Capétiens), also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hugh Cape ...

, as well as the family 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.

. All of these connections are speculative in nature.

Sources

* Settipani, Christian (1990)
"Addenda aux "Ancêtres de Charlemagne", 1990" (PDF)
{{Authority control 7th-century births 690s deaths Mayors of the Palace