Lupus I (or Lupo I) was the

Duke of Gascony The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia ( eu, Baskoniako dukerria; oc, ducat de Gasconha; french: duché de Gascogne, duché de Vasconie) was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the ...

and part of

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janua ...

in the Merovingian kingdom during the 670s. He may have started a dynasty, since the next known duke of Gascony was Lupus II (fl. 769).Lewis, pp 400–401 and n127. Lupus was probably the successor of Felix, whose duchy seemed to encompass almost an identical territory to the kingdom of

Charibert II Charibert II (607/617–8 April 632), a son of Clotaire II and his junior wife Sichilde, was briefly King of Aquitaine from 629 to his death, with his capital at Toulouse. There are no direct statements about when Charibert was born exactly, ...

. Sometime after 658, Lupus rebelled against Felix and later succeeded him. According to the '' Miracles of Saint Martial'', the rebellion occurred during the mayorship of

Ebroin Ebroin (died 680 or 681) was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681. In a violent and despotic career, he strove to impose the aut ...

. In 673, Lupus held

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 Pari ...

and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture o ...

at which time he allied with

Flavius Paulus Paulus or Paul was a 7th-century Roman general in service of the Visigothic Kingdom. In 673, Paulus accompanied the Visigothic king Wamba (672–680) on a campaign against the Basques, but when news reached them of a revolt led by the count Hil ...

against Wamba, the king of the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

, and attacked

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attrac ...

. Julian of Toledo in his ''Story of Wamba'', calls Lupus a "prince" (''princeps''), a title suggestive of royal rank. Sometime between 673 and 675, Lupus convoked a church synod in Bordeaux. For this he was styled '' vir inluster'' and duke, which suggests that at that time he was still a faithful subject of King Childeric II.Higounet, p 20 and n43: ''viro inlustri Lupone duce''. In 675, however, he attempted to expand his Aquitanian dukedom by seizing

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated on the first western foothi ...

. He was assassinated in the process. According to the ''Miracles of Saint Martial'', he had tried to set himself up as king (''in sedem regam se adstare'').

Notes

References

Bibliography

;Primary * Julian of Toledo. ''Historia Wambæ regis''. MGH SS rer Merov V. *''Miracula Sancti Martialis Lemovicensis''. MGH SS XV. ;Secondary *Estornés Lasa, Bernardo
Auñamendi Encyclopedia: Ducado de Vasconia
*Lewis, Archibald R.
The Dukes in the Regnum Francorum, A.D. 550-751.
''Speculum'', Vol. 51, No. 3. (July 1976), pp. 381–410. *Higounet, Charles. ''Bordeaux pendant le haut moyen age''. Bordeaux, 1963. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lupus 01 Of Aquitaine 7th-century Frankish people 8th-century Frankish people Dukes of Aquitaine Dukes of Gascony