Aymar or Adémar (died 2 April, 926) was

Count of Poitiers 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 *Saint Warinus, Warinus (638–677), son of Bodilon *Hatton (735-778) Car ...

from 890 to 902 and

Count of Angoulême Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

from 916 to 926.

Biography

He was the son of

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 ...

, Count of Poitiers, and a

Robertian The Robertians (sometimes called the Robertines in modern scholarship) are a proposed Frankish noble family and royal dynasty, whose members were ancestors of the Capetian dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of France and several other countries ...

mother, probably the daughter of Count

Odo I of Troyes Odo (or Eudes) I (died 10 August 871) was the Count of Troyes from 852 to 859 and Count of Châteaudun through 871. His ancestry is not known for certain. Onomastics would place him in the extended family of Odo I, Count of Orléans. The most rec ...

. His father was killed in 866 during a fight against his relative Landri, Count of Saintes, and his two sons Aymar and Adalelm were too young to ensure the defense and management of

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

and

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of ...

, which were the strongholds of Emenon. King

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

then entrusted the counties and guardianship of the two children to Count Wulgrin in 869. The cousin of King Odo, Aymar appeared at court in 889 at the head of a detachment to join the King's host and fight a new Viking incursion. In 890, Ramnulf II,

Duke of Aquitaine The duke of Aquitaine (, , ) was the ruler of the medieval region of Aquitaine (not to be confused with modern-day Aquitaine) under the supremacy of Frankish, English, and later French kings. As successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom ( ...

and Count of Poitiers, died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, leaving his county to his son

Ebles Manzer Ebalus, or Ebles Manzer, or Manser ( 870 – 935), was Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine on two occasions: from 890 to 892; and then from 902 until his death in 935 (Poitou) and from 928 until 932 (Aquitaine). Early life Ebles was an illegit ...

, still a child, under the care of Géraud d'Aurillac. Ramnulf had been one of the Aquitainian lords not to recognize the election of Odo as King and only accepted it a year later; thus Odo sought to take advantage of the death of Ramnulf to install his brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

, Margrave of Neustria, there. Not wanting to intervene directly, he encouraged his relative Aymar to attack Géraud and Ebles whilst entrusting him with the royal army. At the head of this army, Aymar took

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

in September 892 and forced Géraud and Ebles to take refuge in

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

. Ebles' two uncles, Gauzbert, Count of Saintonge, and Ebles, Abbot of Saint-Denis and of the abbey of Saint-Hilaire de Poitiers, were killed in the ensuing fighting.Édouard de Saint-Phalle, ''Comtes de Troyes et de Poitiers au ixe siècle: histoire d’un double échec'' in ''Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident médiéval'', Oxford, Linacre College, Unit for Prosopographical Research, coll. "Prosopographica et Genealogica / 3", 2000, 310 p., p. 154–170 Once Aymar controlled the county of Poitiers, Odo took away the county and gave it to Robert. Taking advantage of Robert's absence, Aymar surprised the garrison left by Robert and retook the city and county. The Robertians could not fight him, however, because they had learned of the coronation of the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

Prince

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 ...

as sole king.Christian Settipani, ''La Noblesse du Midi Carolingien'', Oxford, Linacre College, Unit for Prosopographical Research, coll. "Occasional Publications / 5", 2004, 388 p. Odo died in 898 and Aymar was one of the first lords to recognize Charles the Simple as king. The latter recognized Aymar as Count of Poitiers and made him Count of Limousin and yet was a childhood friend of Ebles Manzer. With the support of Duke William I of Aquitaine and the neutrality of the king, and taking advantage of Aymar's absence, Ebles seized Poitiers in 902 and became its Count with Aymar fleeing to Count William I of Perigord, his brother-in-law. In 916, Alduin, Count of Angoulême, the brother of William I of Perigord, died, and the guardianship of his son

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

was entrusted to Aymar, who thus became Count of Angoulême. He died ten years later in 926.

Family

He married Sancia, sister of William I of Perigord. No known children were born from this marriage. Sancia was the victim of an assassination attempt in 918 by the Viscount of Marcillac Lambert, and his brother Arnaud, for which they were executed.

References

{{Reflist 926 deaths Counts of Poitiers Counts of Angoulême