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 the rising
Carolingian family and its leader,
Pepin the Short
the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.
The younger was the son of ...
, who was king of the
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, ...
after 751 and thus Waiofar's nominal
suzerain
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...
.
War with Pepin
752–60
The beginning of open conflict between Waiofar and Pepin can be dated to 753, when the duke of Aquitaine granted asylum to Pepin's brother
Grifo after the latter was forced to flee Francia because of his failed attempt at usurping the
Duchy of Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria (German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under Fr ...
from its rightful lord. Pepin's immediate reaction is not recorded, but Grifo was subsequently assassinated while preparing to leave Aquitaine for Rome.
In 751, according to the ''
Chronicle of Moissac
The ''Chronicle of Moissac'' (also known as ''Chronicon Moissiacense'') is an anonymous compilation that was discovered in the abbey of Moissac, but is now thought to have been compiled in the Catalan monastery of Ripoll in the end of the tenth c ...
'', Waiofar sacked the city of
Narbonne (''Narbonam depraedat''), the centre of
Islamic rule north of the Pyrenees, having been
conquered by the Arabs in 720. The following year several other formerly
Visigothic
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 ...
cities north of the Pyrenees, under a certain Count
Ansemund Ansemund was the Gothic count of Nîmes, ruling from 752 until his death in 754.
In 752, the Gothic counts of Nîmes, Melguelh, Agde, and Béziers refused allegiance to the Cordoban emir and declared their loyalty to the Frankish Kingdom. Ansemund ...
, went over to the Franks. Between 752 and 759, Pepin's forces
besieged Narbonne. For reasons unknown, Waiofar attacked Pepin's forces while they were camped by the city, "as his father had attacked
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 ...
" in the words of the ''
Annals of Aniane
The ''Chronicle of Aniane'' (or ''Annals of Aniane'') is an anonymous Latin history covering the rise of the Carolingian family from 670 to 840. It was composed by a monk of the Abbey of Aniane.
The ''Chronicle of Aniane'' is closely related to t ...
''. Only the local sources, the ''Chronicle of Moissac'' and ''Annals of Aniane'', record this attack. Although the ''
Chronicle of Uzès
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
'' records that the
Rouergue
Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan ...
was conquered by Pepin in 754, during the siege of Narbonne, it is more likely that its conquest was effected with the assistance of the local
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 ...
only after the fall of Narbonne (a Gothic city prior to the Arab conquest).
The ''Annals of Aniane'' and ''Chronicle of Moissac'' indicate that the Frankish army under Pepin began the conquest of southern Aquitaine immediately after the fall of Narbonne in 759, and by 760
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 ...
,
Rodez
Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...
(capital of the Rouergue) and
Albi
Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig ...
had fallen into their hands.
760–63
In 760, Pepin denounced Waiofar's seizure of church lands and prepared to march against him. Ignoring the latter's request for peace, Pepin invaded
Berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
and the
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
and ravaged "a large part of Aquitaine" (''maximam partem Aquitaniae''). In 761, Waiofar responded by ordering Count Chunibert of Bourges and Count Blandinus of the Auvergne, his followers who controlled the northeastern borders of Aquitaine, to assemble their forces for an attack on
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 ...
. This army probably consisted mostly of local levies, since no
Gascon (Basque) presence is mentioned. The Gascons (or
Basques, Latin ''
Vascones
The Vascones were a pre-Roman tribe who, on the arrival of the Romans in the 1st century, inhabited a territory that spanned between the upper course of the Ebro river and the southern basin of the western Pyrenees, a region that coincides wi ...
''), whose presence the continuator of the ''
Chronicle of Fredegar'' is otherwise scrupulous to record, were recruited from
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 ...
and served a professional core of Waiofar's army. In the ensuing campaign,
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 ...
was ravaged, but Pepin pushed the invaders back and took the fortresses of
Bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
,
Chantelle and
Clermont in the Auvergne, forcing Count Blandinus to surrender. The garrison at Bourbon is described by the continuator of Fredegar as the "men of Waiofar" (''homines Waiofarii''). At the end of this campaign, Pepin obtained permanent control of many fortresses in the Auvergne by treaty.
In 762, Pepin invaded Berry and
Poitou. He
captured Bourges, forcing the surrender of Count Chunibert, after a lengthy siege in which breastworks were erected around the city and ramparts constructed for putting siege weapons up to the walls.
Thouars fell the same year, and the
count of Poitiers made submission to Pepin. The ''
Annales Laurissenses maiores'' record that many Gascons in the following of the counts of Bourges and Poitiers were captured and brought back to
Neustria.
In 762, Waiofar's cousin Count Mantio, with a Gascon levy, lay an ambush for a Carolingian force, either as it was entering or leaving Narbonne. His men dismounted and lay in wait, but in
the subsequent battle they were routed. Mantio and his retinue were all killed and the Gascons fled on foot, with the Carolingians taking their horses as booty.
763–66
In 763, Waiofar offered to submit to Pepin if he would receive Bourges and other Aquitainian cities in exchange for "whatever tribute and gifts (''tributa uel munera'') Frankish kings had been accustomed to receive from the province of Aquitaine". Nothing came of it. In 763, Pepin raided deep into Aquitaine as far as the
Limousin and
Quercy. In 764, Pepin held a Mayfeld, the Frankish annual assembly, in the city of
Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany, a city
**Worms (electoral district)
*Worms, Nebraska, U.S.
*Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy
Arts and entertainme ...
. Waiofar and Duke
Tassilo III of Bavaria
Tassilo III ( 741 – c. 796) was the duke of Bavaria from 748 to 788, the last of the house of the Agilolfings. The Son of Duke Odilo of Bavaria and Hitrud, the Daughter of Charles Martell.
Tassilo, then still a child, began his rule as a Frankis ...
attended.
According to the continuator of Fredegar, Waiofar opposed Pepin "with a great army and many ''Vascones''
asconsfrom across the
Garonne
The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna
or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – a ...
, who in antiquity were called ''Vaceti''
asques Asques is the name of the following communes in France:
* Asques, Gironde, in the Gironde department
* Asques, Tarn-et-Garonne, in the Tarn-et-Garonne department
See also
* Asque
{{Geodis ...
in 765. The "great army" and the "large levy" of Gascons may be distinct forces brought together for this campaign. In 764, Count Chilping of the Auvergne led such a dual force of local levies complemented by some Gascon soldiers taken from the garrison of Clermont.
Between 763 and 766, Waiofar withdrew his garrisons from the cities (''civitates'') of
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
,
Limoges
Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...
,
Saintes,
Périgueux
Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a communes of France, commune in the Dordogne departments of France, department, in the administrative regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.
Périgueux i ...
and
Angoulême
Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...
. Most of these fortifications were restored after the cities were occupied by Pepin's forces.
Archibald Lewis believes it was Pepin who destroyed the walls after he had conquered the cities if he judged he could not hold them. His interpretation is contradicted by
Bernard Bachrach
Bernard Stanley Bachrach (born 1939) is an American historian. He taught history at the University of Minnesota from 1967 until his retirement in 2020. He specializes in the Early Middle Ages, mainly on the topics of medieval warfare, medieval J ...
, who believes it was Waiofar who, before abandoning his cities, destroyed their defences and walls to prevent Pepin from using them against him.
[The continuator of Fredegar: ''Videns praedictus Waiofarius princeps Aquitanicum quod castro Claremonte rex bellando ceperat et Bitoricas caput Aquitaniae munitissimam urbem cum machinis capuisset, et inpetum eius ferre non potuisset, omnes civitates quas in Aquitania provintia dictioni sue erant, id est Pectavia, Lemovicas, Sanctonis, Petrecors, Equolisma vel reliquis quam plures civitates et castella, omnes muros eorum in terra prostravit'' ("The aforementioned Waiofar, the Aquitainian prince—seeing that the castle of Clermont was taken by the warring king, and that Bourges, the head of Aquitaine, a most well fortified city, had been captured with iegemachines, and that he could not bear ]he king's
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
attack—laid to the ground all the walls of all the cities that belonged to him in the province of Aquitaine, that is, Poitiers, Limoges, Saintes, Périgueux, Angoulême and many other cities and castles.")
This final phase of the war was fought with increasing brutality, and the chroniclers record that Pepin burnt ''
villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
s'', despoiled vineyards and depopulated monasteries. During this period (763–66) the fortress of Berry was held by a Frankish garrison.
Loss of power and death
By 766 most of Waiofar's followers had abandoned him, but the war over Aquitaine did not end even with his death, shortly before Pepin's own, in 768. The final active phase of the war between the two (766–67) was fought mainly in the
Périgord, the
Angoumois
Angoumois (), historically the County of Angoulême, was a county and province of France, originally inferior to the parent duchy of Aquitaine, similar to the Périgord to its east but lower and generally less forested, equally with occasional vin ...
and the
Bordelais, all regions closer to Gascony, which if not ruled directly by Waiofar was either under his control or allied to him. The chroniclers record how Pepin destroyed fortresses and cities, ''castella'' and ''civitates'', and so devastated the countryside that "there was no settler to work the land" (''nullus colonus terram ad laborandam''). Around this time, Pepin defeated the Gascons in pitched battle.
In 768, the erstwhile count of Bourges, Blandinus, submitted to Pepin. Most of Waiofar's family was captured and executed in the forest of Périgord. Waiofar himself was assassinated by his own men, allegedly at Pepin's instigation, on 2 June. A kinsman, perhaps his son,
Hunald II Hunald II, also spelled Hunold, Hunoald, Hunuald or Chunoald (French: ''Hunaud''), was the Duke of Aquitaine from 768 until 769. He was probably the son of Duke Waiofar, who was assassinated on the orders of King Pippin the Short in 768. He laid cla ...
, succeeded to his claims on Aquitaine and continued to fight against Pepin's successor,
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
.
Rule in Aquitaine
There is one charter issued by Waiofar preserved in the
cartulary
A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...
of the basilica of Saint-Julien at
Brioude. Styling himself and his predecessor, Hunald, "princes" (''principes''), Waiofar granted a
''villa'' to one Gedeon as a ''
precarium
The precarium (plural precaria)—or precaria (plural precariae) in the feminine form—is a form of land tenure in which a petitioner (grantee) receives a property for a specific amount of time without any change of ownership. The precarium is t ...
'' for life in exchange for another ''villa'' and two pounds of silver. The charter was drawn up around 756–57 ("in the month of September in the 12th year of lord Waifarius, prince") in the
Limagne
The Limagne () is large plain in the Auvergne region of France in the valley of the Allier river, on the edge of the Massif Central. It lies entirely within the ''département'' of Puy-de-Dôme. The term is sometimes used to include this, and t ...
("''in pago limanico''"). Waiofar may have been copying the policy of his rival Pepin from 743 to 44, when the latter ordered his followers who had received church lands to return them to the church, make a payment (''cens'') and receive them back as ''precaria verbo regis'' ("by the king's word") from the church. By creating ''precaria'', Waiofar could raise men and troops to defend Aquitaine from the impending war with Pepin. The continuator of Fredegar records how Waiofar confiscated church lands and distributed them to his followers.
According to
Adhemar of Chabannes Adhemar is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Adhemar of Salerno (died 861), prince
* Adhemar of Capua (died after 1000), prince
* Adhémar de Chabannes (988-1034), French monk and historian
* Adhema ...
, writing 250 years later, Pepin granted two ''villas'' to the canons of the
abbey of Saint-Martial
The Abbey of Saint Martial (french: Abbaye Saint-Martial, Limoges; Limousin: ''Abadiá de Sent Marçau de Limòtges'') was a monastery in Limoges, France, founded in 848 and dissolved in 1791.
The buildings were razed at the beginning of the 19th ...
and the
cathedral of Saint-Étienne at Limoges during his wars with Waiofar.
Although much is known of Waiofar's wars with Pepin the Short, little is known of his administration of Aquitaine. He did use counts (Latin ''comites'', singular ''comes'') to govern major cities (''civitates'', sing. ''civitas'') in the Frankish manner. At least Bourges, Poitiers and the Auvergne had Aquitainian counts. In the case of Thouars, which was merely a castle (''castra''), a count was appointed to command the garrison (''custodes'').
Archibald Lewis suggests that the abundance of Gascon (Basque) troops among Waiofar's forces stems from an unrecorded alliance with Duke
Lupus II of Gascony Lupo II (died 778) is the third-attested historical duke of Gascony (''dux Vasconum'' or ''princeps''), appearing in history for the first time in 769. His ancestry is subject to scholarly debate.
In 769, a final rising of the Aquitanians against C ...
; in the same way he suggests Pepin formed an alliance with the Goths of Septimania after his conquest of Narbonne.
Waiofar's uncle Remistanius, although he was not in the service of the duke, was wealthy enough to form an army to besiege several Carolingian garrisons. In 765, Pepin bribed Remistanius with gold, silver, cloth, horses and arms to come over to his side. He appointed him to govern eastern half of the region of Bourges up to the river
Cher
Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...
and granted him control of the citadel in the city itself. At the time, Chunibert, who had served as count of Bourges under Waiofar until he lost the city to Pepin in 762, was again serving as count, this time to Pepin.
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
* Originally published in ''Studia Historica'', VI (Salamanca, 1988).
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
{{end
768 deaths
Dukes of Aquitaine
Year of birth unknown