Adalric of Gascony
Encyclopedia
Adalric was probably a Basque
count in the late eighth century in Gascony
. He has been called a possible Duke of Gascony
by some scholars.
He was a possible son of Lupo II of Gascony. After Lupo's death, Adalric controlled western Gascony including Lower Navarre
, Béarn
, and Bigorre
. His brother Sancho
controlled the east.
In 788, he captured Chorso of Toulouse and made him swear a humiliating oath, either to himself or to Lupo II. Upon this Chorso was released, but Charlemagne
dismissed him from his post. This incident gives rise to the notion that Adalric was in fact an independent Basque duke in Gascony, though others interpret him as a rival Carolingian
count.
According to the spurious Charte d'Alaon
, Adalric was captured by forces of Charlemagne and exiled to Spain, later being killed in battle. This charter also makes him the father of Seguin I of Bordeaux
and Centule. His relationships are, in fact, unknown.
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
count in the late eighth century in Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
. He has been called a possible Duke of Gascony
Duke of Gascony
The Duchy of Vasconia , later known as Gascony, was a Merovingian creation: a frontier duchy on the Garonne, in the border with the rebel Basque tribes...
by some scholars.
He was a possible son of Lupo II of Gascony. After Lupo's death, Adalric controlled western Gascony including Lower Navarre
Lower Navarre
Lower Navarre is a part of the present day Pyrénées Atlantiques département of France. Along with Navarre of Spain, it was once ruled by the Kings of Navarre. Lower Navarre was historically one of the kingdoms of Navarre. Its capital were Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Saint-Palais...
, Béarn
Béarn
Béarn is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Basque provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the...
, and Bigorre
Bigorre
Bigorre is region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of the larger region known as Gascony...
. His brother Sancho
Sancho I of Gascony
Sancho I López or Lupus Sancho was a Duke of Gascony between the years 801 and 812....
controlled the east.
In 788, he captured Chorso of Toulouse and made him swear a humiliating oath, either to himself or to Lupo II. Upon this Chorso was released, but Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
dismissed him from his post. This incident gives rise to the notion that Adalric was in fact an independent Basque duke in Gascony, though others interpret him as a rival Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
count.
According to the spurious Charte d'Alaon
Charte d'Alaon
The Charte d'Alaon is a spurious and fraudulent charter purporting to provide a genealogy of the house of Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine . The nineteenth-century French historian Joseph-François Rabanis proved it to be a hoax fabricated in the seventeenth century...
, Adalric was captured by forces of Charlemagne and exiled to Spain, later being killed in battle. This charter also makes him the father of Seguin I of Bordeaux
Seguin I of Gascony
Seguin I Lupo was Duke of Gascony from 812 until 816, when Louis the Pious deposed him "because of his boundless arrogance and wicked ways", according to the contemporary Frankish chroniclers. The "Basques across the Garonne and around the Pyrenees" rebelled against the removal of their duke, but...
and Centule. His relationships are, in fact, unknown.
Sources
- Collins, Roger. The Basques. Blackwell Publishing: London, 1990.
- "Astronomus", Vita Hludovici imperatoris, ed. G. Pertz, ch. 2, in Mon. Gen. Hist. Scriptores, II, 608.
- Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Gascony.
- Monlezun, Jean Justin. Histoire de la Gascogne. 1864.