Radulf was the

Duke of Thuringia Thuringia is a historical and political region of Central Germany. Kings of Thuringia *500?–507 Bisinus *507–529 Baderich *507–525 Berthachar *507–532 Herminafried :''Conquered by the Franks.'' Frankish dukes of Th ...

(''dux Thoringiae'') from 632 or 633 (certainly before 634) until his death after 642.

Biography

According to the

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begi ...

, he was a son of one Chamar, a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

aristocrat, and rose to power under the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

king

Dagobert I Dagobert I (; 603/605 – 19 January 639) was King of the Franks. He ruled Austrasia (623–634) and Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dynasty to wield real royal power, after which the ...

, who appointed him as ''

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

'' in the former

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

n kingdom which

Francia The Kingdom of the Franks (), also known as the Frankish Kingdom, or just Francia, was the largest History of the Roman Empire, post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks, Frankish Merovingian dynasty, Merovingi ...

had conquered in 531.J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, p. 64 His installation was meant to protect the eastern border of the Frankish realm against the threatening

Wends Wends is a historical name for Slavs who inhabited present-day northeast Germany. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people, tribes or groups depending on where and when it was used. In the modern day, communities identifying ...

under

Samo Samo (–) was the founder and sole ruler of the first recorded political union of Slavs, Slavic tribes, known as Samo's Empire ("realm", "kingdom", or "tribal union"), ruling from 623 until his death in 658. According to Fredegarius, the only ...

, who had defeated the king at the 631

Battle of Wogastisburg According to the contemporary ''Chronicle of Fredegar'', the Battle of Wogastisburg (also called the siege of Wogastisburg) took place between Slavs (''Sclav, cognomento Winidi'') under King Samo and Franks under King Dagobert I in 631 or 632. Th ...

and formed an alliance with

Dervan Dervan is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dervan (duke) (), Sorbian medieval ruler * Billy Dervan (1884–1944), New Zealand rugby league player * Mick Dervan (1898–1981), Irish hurler * Peter Dervan (born 1945), American ch ...

, prince of the Sorbian tribes settling in the adjacent region east of the

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...

river. Radulf fought successfully against the Slavs, but subsequently refused the incorporation of the secured territories into the

Austrasia Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...

n kingdom. To retain his independence he allied with Fara, a descendant of the powerful Agilolfing dynasty in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

who ruled over large estates along the

Main Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name *Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...

river, as well as forming treaties of alliance with the Wends, still under Samo.J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, p. 74 About 641 King

Sigebert III Sigebert III ( 630–656) was the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian king of Austrasia from 633 to his death around 656. He was described as the first Merovingian ''roi fainéant'', or "do-nothing king", with the mayor of the palace in fact ruling ...

of Austrasia with his

Mayors of the Palace Under the Merovingian dynasty, the mayor of the palace or majordomo, ( or ) was the manager of the household of the Frankish king. He was the head of the Merovingian administrative ladder and orchestrated the operation of the entire court. He ...

Adalgisel Adalgisel or Adalgis (''Adalgyselus ducis'' in contemporary Latin) was a Frankish duke and the mayor of the palace of Austrasia. He assumed that office in December 633 or January 634 at the same time that Sigebert III assumed the kingship. Along w ...

and

Grimoald the Elder Grimoald I (616–657), called the Elder (in French, ''Grimaud l'Ainé''), was the mayor of the palace of Austrasia from 643 to his death. He was the son of Pepin of Landen and Itta. Biography With the death of Pepin in 640, Grimoald became th ...

, marched against the insurgents and at first easily routed Fara's troops, while the Agilolfing himself was killed in battle. Reaching Thuringia however, Duke Radulf, entrenched in his fortress at the

Unstrut The Unstrut ( or ) is a river in Germany and a left tributary of the Saale. The Unstrut originates in northern Thuringia near Dingelstädt (west of Kefferhausen in the Eichsfeld area) and its catchment area is the whole of the Thuringian Ba ...

river, was not overcome, partially because he had gained the support of significant numbers of the king's forces. J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, p. 73 In 642, he rebelled against Sigebert and defeated his army, taking the title of ''rex'' or king of Thuringia.Reuter, 55. His success is usually considered an indicator of the ''

roi fainéant ''Roi fainéant'' ( "do-nothing king", "lazy king") is a French term primarily used to refer to the later kings of the Merovingian dynasty after they seemed to have lost their initial powers of dominion. It is usually applied to those Frankish rul ...

'' phenomenon and of undoing of the Merovingians' accomplishments. His sons, Theotbald and Heden I, succeeded him.

Sources

* *

Reuter, Timothy Timothy Alan Reuter (25 January 1947 – 14 October 2002), grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German-British historian who specialized in the study of medieval Germany, particularly the social, military and ecclesiastical ...

. ''Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056''. New York: Longman, 1991.

Notes

{{Authority control 7th-century Frankish nobility 7th-century dukes in Europe Merovingian dynasty Place of birth unknown Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Kings of the Thuringians