Zwentibold (''Zventibold'', ''Zwentibald'', ''Swentiboldo'', ''Sventibaldo'', ''Sanderbald''; – 13 August 900), a member of the

Carolingian dynasty 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 ...

, was the

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

son of

Emperor Arnulf Arnulf of Carinthia ( 850 – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894 and the disputed emperor from F ...

.Collins 1999, p. 360 In 895, his father granted him the Kingdom of

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

, which he ruled until his death.

Life

Early life

Zwentibold was born during the long reign of his great-grandfather, King

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 ...

East Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...

. He was the first-born, yet illegitimate, son of Arnulf of Carinthia and his concubine Vinburga. Zwentibold's father was an illegitimate son of

Carloman of Bavaria Carloman (german: Karlmann, la, Karlomannus; c. 830 – 22 March 880) was a Frankish king of the Carolingian dynasty. He was the eldest son of Louis the German, king of East Francia, and Hemma, daughter of a Bavarian count. His father appointed ...

, the eldest son of

. After Louis' death in 876, Carloman ruled over the East Frankish territory of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and ceded the adjacent

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

and

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

(former Carantania) to his son Arnulf. In 887 Arnulf succeeded the incapable King

Charles the Fat Charles III (839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandso ...

as king of East Francia. Zwentibold was named after his godfather Svatopluk, ruler of

Great Moravia Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavs, Wes ...

(Zwentibold being a Frankish transcription of Svatopluk). When Zwentibold came of age, he intervened in the scramble for the throne in

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 ...

between Count Odo of Paris and

Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a memb ...

, but they began to cooperate against Zwentibold, when it became apparent that he intended to become king of West Francia. The eldest son of Arnulf was at first marked out for his succession in East Francia. According to the 870

Treaty of Meerssen The Treaty of Mersen or Meerssen, concluded on 8 August 870, was a treaty to partition the realm of Lothair II, known as Lotharingia, by his uncles Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the two surviving sons of ...

and the 880

Treaty of Ribemont , Participants = Louis the Younger, Louis III of France, Carloman II , Location = Ribemont , Date = 880 , Result = All of Lotharingia given to East Francia The Treaty of Ribemont in 880 was the last treaty on th ...

, the Lotharingian kingdom of former

Middle Francia Middle Francia ( la, Francia media) was a short-lived Frankish kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun after an intermittent civil war between the grandsons of Charlemagne resulted in division of the united empire. Middle Franc ...

had fallen to the East Frankish realm. When in 893 King Arnulf's wife Ota gave birth to his legitimate son and successor

Louis the Child Louis the Child (893 – 20/24 September 911), sometimes called Louis III or Louis IV, was the king of East Francia from 899 until his death and was also recognized as king of Lotharingia after 900. He was the last East Frankish ruler of the Car ...

, Zwentibold in compensation received the Lotharingian royal title, which last had been held by Lothair II.

King of Lotharingia

In the summer of 893 Arnulf received pleas of intervention against Wido of Spoleto from

Pope Formosus Pope Formosus (896) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the ...

and

Berengar of Friuli Berengar I ( la, Berengarius, Perngarius; it, Berengario; – 7 April 924) was the king of Italy from 887. He was Holy Roman Emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Fri ...

, king of Italy. Arnulf sent Zwentibold down the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...

with an army who joined forces with Berengar in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

. The two marched to Wido's capital,

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, and besieged it unsuccessfully, finally abandoning the siege. According to

Liutprand of Cremona Liutprand, also Liudprand, Liuprand, Lioutio, Liucius, Liuzo, and Lioutsios (c. 920 – 972),"LIUTPRAND OF CREMONA" in '' The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford, 1991, p. 1241. was a historian, diplomat, ...

, Zwentibold accepted money from Wido in order to leave, although it is not clear if it was in the form of a personal bribe or a tribute to his father. Zwentibold's retreat was nonetheless seen as a failure, but after learning details of the campaign, Arnulf summoned a stronger army and personally led it to Italy and took Pavia a few months later. As a part of the plans to integrate

into the

East Frankish East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...

realm, the rule of King Zwentibold was enforced by his father, supported by the archbishops Herman I of Cologne and

Ratbod of Trier Radbod (or Ratbod) (died 915) was the Archbishop of Trier from 883 until his death. Under the last Carolingians he obtained a great deal of benefits and converted the archdiocese of Trier into one of the most powerful institutions in Germany. In ...

, against the resistance of the local nobility. As he helped the common population too much, he began to be hated in a few years. He was fighting unruly nobles when his father Arnulf died in 899 and the legitimate son Louis the Child became king of East Francia at the age of six.

Death and legacy

Zwentibold attempted to take advantage of the succession of his minor half-brother to establish complete independence for his Lotharingian kingdom. However, after he had lost his father's backing, the entire nobility supported Louis and asked him to intervene. In 900, Count Reginar I of Hainault rose against Zwentibold and slew him near present-day

Susteren Susteren (; li, Zöstere ) is a city in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Echt-Susteren, about 7 km northwest of Sittard. It was a separate municipality until 2003, when it was merged with Echt. Susteren r ...

. His remains are buried at Susteren Abbey. After Zwentibold's death, King Louis the Child also ruled over Lotharingia. However, under his reign the East Frankish realm disintegrated and from 903 Zwentibold's kingdom was administered by the

Lahngau The Lahngau was a medieval territory comprising the middle and lower Lahn River valley in the current German states of Hesse and (partially) Rhineland-Palatinate. The traditional names of the Gau are ''Loganahe Pagus'' or ''Pagus Logenensis''. The ...

Count Gebhard, a scion of the Conradine dynasty, who received the title of a

Duke of Lorraine The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...

. In 897, he married Oda, a daughter of Duke

Otto I of Saxony Otto ( – 30 November 912), called the Illustrious (german: Otto der Erlauchte) by later authors, a member of the Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Saxony from 880 to his death. Family Otto was a younger son of the Saxon count Liudolf (d. 866), t ...

. He had three daughters, who are mentioned in the '' Gesta episcoporum Leodensium'': * Benedetta (born c. 898), abbey of

* Cecilia (born c. 899), abbey of Susteren * Relenda (born c. 900)

Notes

References

* * Collins, Roger (1999). ''Early Medieval Europe 300–1000'', 2nd edition.

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...

Annales Fuldenses The ''Annales Fuldenses'' or ''Annals of Fulda'' are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious (died 840) to shortly after the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the a ...

, sive Annales regni Francorum orientalis, 10th century. *

, Antapodosis, 10th century

External links

*
Literature on Zwentibold
in the OPAC of the Regesta Imperii , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zwentibold 870s births 900 deaths Year of birth uncertain Frankish warriors Kings of Lotharingia 9th-century Frankish monarchs Roman Catholic royal saints Sons of emperors 9th-century Lotharingian people