Winiges (or Winichis) (contemporary la, Winigisus, it, Guinigi(sio)) (died 822) was the

Duke of Spoleto The Duke of Spoleto was the ruler of Spoleto and most of central Italy outside the Papal States during the Early and High Middle Ages (c. 500 – 1300). The first dukes were appointed by the Lombard king, but they were independent in practice. Th ...

(''dux Spolitanus'') from 789 to his death. He was probably a Lombard in the entourage 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 ...

when he was sent in 788 to lead

Hildeprand of Spoleto Hildeprand was the Duke of Spoleto from 774 to 789. When Theodicius of Spoleto died fighting at the Siege of Pavia (773–74), Siege of Pavia in 774, the Lombards of the Duchy of Spoleto elected Hildeprand their duke and quickly submitted to the Fr ...

and

Grimoald III of Benevento Grimoald III ( – 806) was the Lombard Prince of Benevento from 788 until his own death. He was the second son of Arechis II and Adelperga. In 787, he and his elder brother Romoald were sent as hostages to Charlemagne who had descended the Ita ...

in cooperation with Frankish troops against a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

invasion. In this, his first recorded action, he was successful, defeating the Greeks led by

Theodoros Theodoros or Theodorus ( el, Θεόδωρος) is a masculine given name, from which Theodore is derived. The feminine version is Theodora. It may refer to: Ancient world :''Ordered chronologically'' * Theodorus of Samos, 6th-century BC Greek s ...

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

. Hildeprand, however, died on the campaign and Charlemagne appointed Winiges to succeed him in the

Duchy of Spoleto The Duchy of Spoleto (, ) was a Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard ''dux'' Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto. Lombards The Lombards had invaded Italy in 568 AD and conquered much of it, establishing ...

. Winiges was appointed by Charlemagne to act as his ''

missus dominicus A ''missus dominicus'' (plural ''missi dominici''), Latin for "envoy of the lord uler or ''palace inspector'', also known in Dutch as Zendgraaf (German: ''Sendgraf''), meaning "sent Graf", was an official commissioned by the Frankish king or Hol ...

'' in the Ducatus Romae and he was at

Saint Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

when

Pope Leo III Pope Leo III (died 12 June 816) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 26 December 795 to his death. Protected by Charlemagne from the supporters of his predecessor, Adrian I, Leo subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position b ...

was assaulted on 25 April 799. It was then he who brought him to shelter in

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

until he could safely return to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Winiges got involved in a war with Grimoald of Benevento, however, and was captured while being besieged at

Lucera Lucera ( Lucerino: ) is an Italian city of 34,243 inhabitants in the province of Foggia in the region of Apulia, and the seat of the Diocese of Lucera-Troia. Located upon a flat knoll in the Tavoliere Plains, near the foot of Daunian Mountain ...

in 802. He was held captive for a year before being released in 803. While Leo III was nearing death in 815, the Roman citizens revolted, but King Bernard sent Winiges to Rome to quell the unrest. In 822, Winiges abdicated his worldly office and retired to a monastery, where he died not too long after (probably that same year). His successor was

Suppo I Suppo I (or Suppone) (died 5 March 824) was a Frankish nobleman who held lands in the Regnum Italicum in the early ninth century. In 817, he was made Count of Brescia, Parma, Piacenza, Modena, and Bergamo. He was also made a ''missus dominicus'', ...

, ''Brixiæ civitatis comes'' ("Count of the city of

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

").

Royal Frankish Annals The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in the Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state ...

and Einhard.

References

Sources

* Hodgkin, Thomas. ''Italy and her Invaders''. Clarendon Press: 1895.
Medieval Lands Project: Northern Italy — Spoleto.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winiges of Spoleto 8th-century dukes of Spoleto 9th-century dukes of Spoleto 9th-century Lombard people Frankish warriors Lombard warriors 8th-century Frankish nobility 8th-century births 822 deaths Year of birth unknown