Bernard II (died February 844) was the

count of Poitou Among the people who have borne the title of Count of Poitiers (or ''Poitou'', in what is now France but in the Middle Ages became part of Aquitaine) are: *Bodilon * Warinus (638–677), son of Bodilon * Hatton (735-778) Carolingian Counts ...

from 840 until his death. His ancestry is uncertain. He was most likely the son of , on the basis of onomastics. He was probably a member of the Guilhemid family. His brothers were Turpio (died 863) and

Emenon Emenon (or Emeno) was the Count of Poitou (828–839), Périgord (863–866), and Angoulême (863–866). It is unknown who nominated him count of Poitou, but it was probably Pepin I of Aquitaine, at whose side he had fought against the emperor L ...

(died 866), counts of Angoulême and Périgord, respectively. According to

Ademar of Chabannes Ademar is a masculine Germanic name, ultimately derived from ''Audamar'', as is the German form Otmar. It was in use in medieval France, Latinized as ''Adamarus'', and in modern times has been popular in French, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking cou ...

, writing 150 years after the events, Emenon was count of Poitou in 838, when King Pippin I of Aquitaine died. He supported the succession of Pippin's son,

Pippin II Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who de facto ruled Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the F ...

, but the Emperor

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

instead bestowed the kingdom of Aquitaine on his own youngest son, Charles. Bernard was resident in Poitiers in 839, when the emperor led an army against it, forcing Emenon to flee to their brother Turpio at Angoulême and Bernard to flee to

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

, count of Herbauges. Ademar of Chabannes refers to Bernard as a "Poitevin count", ''comes pictavinus'', but it is not clear if he means to imply that Bernard was count of Poitou at this time or just that he held the rank of count and was from the Poitou. Louis named Ranulf I as count of Poitou in Emenon's place. Although Bernard fled to Renaud of Herbauges, this does not indicate that Bernard was in revolt, since Renaud was a loyal supporter of Emperor Louis and King Charles. In 840, Emenon submitted to the emperor and it is possible that Bernard did the same. Louis died on 20 June 840, and during the ensuing civil war between his sons, Pippin II seized control of Aquitaine. He besieged Poitiers, which resisted under its bishop, Ebroin, until he was forced to retreat by Charles's army. It is not clear if Bernard was appointed count by Pippin II in opposition to Ranulf, or if he was appointed by Charles to oppose Pippin. In any case, there is no evidence that during this time the city of Poitiers was administered by anyone other than the bishop, who was present on the scene, unlike Bernard or Ranulf. During the civil war, Bernard joined Renaud of Herbauges in putting down the rebellion of Lambert, son of Count

Lambert I of Nantes Lambert I (died 836) was the Count of Nantes and Prefect of the Breton March between 818 and 831 and Duke of Spoleto between 834 and 836. Lambert succeeded his father Guy. Lambert participated in an expedition undertaken by Louis the Pious in 81 ...

. Renaud died in 843 and his son Hervé continued the fight against Lambert. Bernard was killed in combat in February 844. Bernard's wife was Belihildis, known only from a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

Pope John VIII Pope John VIII ( la, Ioannes VIII; died 16 December 882) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 14 December 872 to his death. He is often considered one of the ablest popes of the 9th century. John devoted much of his papacy ...

excommunicating her son, Marquis

Bernard of Gothia Bernard II (in Catalan, ''Bernat de Gothia'') was the count of Barcelona, Girona and margrave of Gothia and Septimania from 865 to 878. Origins Bernard was the son of Count Bernard I of Poitiers (814-844) and Bilichilde, daughter of Count Rorgon ...

. The ''Historia inventionis et translationis reliquiarium Sancti Baudelli martyris'' records that her son had an uncle named Gauzlin who was an abbot before he was a bishop. This most likely refers to Gauzlin, abbot of Saint-Denis and then bishop of Paris. He was a son of Count Rorgon I of Maine and Bilichildis (a variant of Belihildis), who were thus most likely the parents of Bernard's wife as well. Besides Bernard of Gothia, Bernard and Belihildis had another son named Emenon.

Notes

Sources

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External links

Bernard, count of Poitou, at the Fondation for Medieval Genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard Of Poitiers 844 deaths Counts of Poitiers Military personnel killed in action Year of birth unknown