Wihomarc or Wiomarc'h (french: Guyomard; died 825) was a Breton chieftain "who seemed to have greater authority than the other Breton leaders" and who revolted against Frankish overlordship in 822 and held on to his power until his death. His rebellion may have been incited by the creation of a Frankish county in Poutrocoet sometime between 818 and 820. His was the first rebellion in Brittany since

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 ...

pacified the region after the failed rebellion and death of Morman in 818. In the fall of 822,

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 ...

led the other counts of the

Breton march The Marches of Neustria (french: Marches de Neustrie; br, Marz Neustria; Norman: ''Maurches de Neûtrie'') were two marches created in 861 by the Carolingian king of West Francia Charles the Bald. They were ruled by officials appointed by the Mo ...

against Wihomarc, but the resistance put up prevented him from being captured or killed. When the insurrection flared up again in 824, Louis himself led the armies of the Franks, which had assembled at Rennes in September. This suggests that the locus of Wihomarc's power was in the north of Brittany (west of

Domnonée Domnonée is the modern French form of Domnonia or Dumnonia (Latin for "Devon"; br, Domnonea), a historic kingdom in northern Armorica (Brittany) founded by British immigrants from Dumnonia (Sub-Roman Devon) fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britai ...

) and not in the south and west like Morman's.Smith, 66. The imperial army divided into three

battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, one led by Louis and two under the command of his sons Pepin and

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

. For six weeks the Franks ravaged Brittany, but again Wihomarc did not give up and the army returned to Rouen in November. According to

Regino of Prüm Regino of Prüm or of Prum ( la, Regino Prumiensis, german: Regino von Prüm; died 915 AD) was a Benedictine monk, who served as abbot of Prüm (892–99) and later of Saint Martin's at Trier, and chronicler, whose ''Chronicon'' is an important so ...

, whose chronology is horribly inaccurate, Louis was defeated by the Bretons in 836, but it is the campaign of 824 which he probably has in mind.Smith, 66 and n29. Both the ''

Vita Hludowici ''Vita Hludovici'' or ''Vita Hludovici Imperatoris'' (The Life of Louis or the Life of the Emperor Louis) is an anonymous biography of Louis the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Franks from AD 814 to 840. Author The work was written ...

'' and the ''

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 ...

'' mention the breadth and depth of the devastation of the imperial army, but ignore the ultimate success or lack thereof of the campaign; this probably indicates it was a setback. In May 825, Wihomarc led the other Breton leaders to Aachen to make peace with Louis, who pardoned them, granted them gifts, and made other concessions to them on the receiving of vows of loyalty. On his return, he was killed in his home by Lambert of Nantes for making peace with the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

. As the subsequent

viscounts of Léon A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

used the name Wihomarc (Guiomar) in their family, it has been hypothesised that they descended from him.

Sources

*Smith, Julia M. H. ''Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians''. Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Notes

{{Breton monarchs 825 deaths 9th-century rulers of Brittany Year of birth unknown