Humfrid was the

count of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Empúries Empúries ( ca, Empúries ) was an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain. Empúries is also known by its Spanish name, Ampurias ( es, Ampurias ). The city Ἐμπόριον ( el, Ἐμπόριον, Emporion, meaning "tradi ...

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...

, and

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 ...

from 858 to 864. He also bore the title

margrave of Gothia {{One source, date=December 2021 The title Prince of Gothia (''princeps Gothiæ'') or Prince of the Goths (''princeps Gothorum'') was a title of nobility, sometimes assumed by its holder as a sign of supremacy in the region of Septimania#Gothia_in_C ...

(''Gothiæ marchio''), as he held several frontier counties.The source for his famous title is the ''

Annales Bertiniani ''Annales Bertiniani'' (''Annals of Saint Bertin'') are late Carolingian, Frankish annals that were found in the Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer, France, after which they are named. Their account is taken to cover the period 830-82, thus contin ...

''. He was a

Hunfriding The Hunfridings or Burchardings (''Bouchardids'') were a family of probably Alemannic origin who rose to prominence in their homeland, eventually becoming the first ducal dynasty of Swabia. The first known member of the family was Hunfrid, Margrave ...

by birth, with no connection to Gothia. He was probably Hunfrid III, the second son of Hunfrid II, ''dux super Redicam'' (duke over Rhaetia). He rebelled against

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 ...

, the

king of East Francia This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from Treaty of Verdun, the division of the Francia, Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until German ...

, and was forced to flee to

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 ...

, the king of

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

, to whom he was one of the few to remain loyal during the vicissitudes of the 850s. He was appointed count and margrave of several counties in the ''

Marca Hispanica The Hispanic March or Spanish March ( es, Marca Hispánica, ca, Marca Hispànica, Aragonese and oc, Marca Hispanica, eu, Hispaniako Marka, french: Marche d'Espagne), was a military buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania, esta ...

'' by Charles, possibly as early as 854 and no later than 858. In 858, Humfrid negotiated a treaty of peace with Abd al-Rahman, the

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

governor of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, and marched into Gaul to the assistance of Charles. He arrived at

Beaune Beaune () is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and the center of Burgundy wine production and business. The annua ...

in February and he did homage to the king on 21 March. He then joined Charles in making war on the

Norsemen The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...

. Louis took this as an opportunity to invade the country and Humfrid assisted Charles in fending him off. In September, Humfrid regrouped with his forces at Beaune before joining in the defeat of Louis at Saint-Quentin on 15 January 859. During the campaigning of 858, Humfrid had been enfeoffed with the

County 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 Margraviate of Burgundy. In 856, the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

captured the castle of

Terrassa Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ' ...

near

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. In 861, they besieged Barcelona itself, but Humfrid bought them off and renewed the treaty with the consent of Charles. It was to last for three decades. In 862, Charles named his son

Charles the Child Charles the Child (Latin ''Karolus puer'', from the ''Annales Bertiniani''; 847/848, Frankfurt am Main – 29 September 866, Buzançais) was the King of Aquitaine from October 855 until his death in 866. He was the second son of Charles the Bald a ...

king of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine ( oc, Ducat d'Aquitània, ; french: Duché d'Aquitaine, ) was a historical fiefdom in western, central, and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the river Loire, although its extent, as well as its name, fluc ...

. This was opposed by the nobles, who, with the exception of Humfrid, did not support the young Charles in his subsequent rebellion. The elder Charles accused Humfrid of disloyalty. On 19 August, Humfrid was deposed. He was not to give up, though. He took

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 ...

and killed Count Raymond I in the fighting. Charles responded by confiscating Humfrid's Burgundian lands. Even the pretender

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 ...

led a band of Norsemen in an attack on Toulouse, but was repulsed. Humfrid then fled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and from there to

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

, where, in 872, he was a count in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. He was alive as late as 876.

Notes

Sources

*Lewis, Archibald R.
The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050
'. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965. *Calmette, J. "Onfroy, Marquis de Gothie." ''Etudes Médiévales''. *Chaume, M. "Onfroi, Marquis de Gothie, ses origines et ses attaches familiales." ''Annales du Midi'', LII (1940). {{end Alemannic rulers Alemannic warriors 9th-century births 9th-century deaths Counts of Barcelona Counts of Empúries Counts of Girona 9th-century people from the County of Barcelona 9th-century people from West Francia