Austrovald, Astrobald, and Austrevald (died 607) was the Duke of Aquitaine

Duke of Aquitaine

The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....

 from 587.

Austrovald was probably a count of Toulouse until that year, when he was appointed to succeeded the dux Desiderius

Desiderius of Aquitaine

Desiderius was a Gallo-Roman dux in the Kingdom of the Franks during the reigns of Chilperic I and Guntram. He served Chilperic as Duke of Aquitaine and was his greatest general....

 in Aquitaine, by King Guntram

Guntram

Saint Guntram was the king of Burgundy from 561 to 592. He was a son of Chlothar I and Ingunda...

.

Under Chilperic I

Chilperic I

Chilperic I was the king of Neustria from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund....

 and then the usurper Gundoald, a dux named Bladast

Bladast

Bladast or Bladastes was a Frankish dux during the reigns of Chilperic I and Chlothar II.In 583 or 581, Chilperic I gave the province of Aquitaine to Bladast and Desiderius and sent them into Vasconia with the Aquitainian army. They were defeated....

 was acting as duke over the region of Aquitaine. The dux Austrovald was sent in 587 to pacify the Basques of Vasconia

Vasconia

Vasconia is an historical name derived from the ancient tribe of the Vascones and used in different times, specially in the Middle Ages, to refer to the Basque territories...

, a difficult enterprise in which he was none too successful, for he lost many men to captivity and the Basques are found as far as the Garonne

Garonne

The Garonne is a river in southwest France and northern Spain, with a length of .-Source:The Garonne's headwaters are to be found in the Aran Valley in the Pyrenees, though three different locations have been proposed as the true source: the Uelh deth Garona at Plan de Beret , the Ratera-Saboredo...

 by 602. Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 probably formed the chief fortified frontier city of Austrovald's watch. It is probable that the Basques were forced to pay tribute, but left under their own laws. It is out of this that a separate Gascon duchy was created in 602, probably within Aquitaine.

In 589, Austrovald held command of the forces of Périgueux

Périgueux

Périgueux is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.Périgueux is the prefecture of the department and the capital of the region...

, Agen

Agen

Agen is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. It is the capital of the department.-Economy:The town has a higher level of unemployment than the national average...

, Saintes

Saintes

Saintes is a French commune located in Poitou-Charentes, in the southwestern Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture. Its inhabitants are called Saintaises and Saintais....

, and Bordeaux, when he invaded Septimania

Septimania

Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...

. Twice he marched on Visigothic Carcassonne

Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths in the fifth century,...

 but failed to take it.

Austrovald was succeeded by Sereus

Sereus

Sereus, Serenus, or Severus was the Duke of Aquitaine briefly following the dukedom of Austrovald. Monlezun's reliance on the Charte d'Alaon makes it likely that this individual is spurious or mis-identified.-Sources:*Monlezun, Jean Justin. 1864....

 after a short reign.

Sources

• Higounet, Charles. Bordeaux pendant le haut moyen age. Bordeaux, 1963.
• Gregory of Tours
  Gregory of Tours
  Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
  
  . Historia Francorum. translated Earnest Brehaut, 1916.
• Wallace-Hadrill, J. M.
  John Michael Wallace-Hadrill
  John Michael Wallace-Hadrill CBE was Professor of Mediaeval History at the University of Manchester , a Senior Research Fellow of Merton College in the University of Oxford , Chichele Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford and a Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford...
  
  , translator. The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations. Greenwood Press: Connecticut, 1960.
• Collins, Roger. The Basques. Blackwell Publishing: London, 1990.
• Sedycias, João. História da Língua Espanhola.
• Lewis, Archibald R. "The Dukes in the Regnum Francorum, A.D. 550-751." Speculum, Vol. 51, No 3 (July 1976), pp 381–410
• Monlezun, Jean Justin. Histoire de la Gascogne. 1864.

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