Charte d'Alaon
Encyclopedia
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
(715
– 735
). The nineteenth-century French historian Joseph-François Rabanis proved it to be a hoax fabricated in the seventeenth century. His research thus rendered a good deal of "known" Gascon
and Navarre
se genealogy meaningless.
Among the many otherwise unattested claims of the Charte are the descent of the dukes of Aquitaine and Gascony from the Merovingian king Charibert II
. The younger sons, if there were younger sons, of Charibert are in fact unknown; as is the parentage of Odo the Great. Likewise, the parentage of Lupus II of Gascony is unknown and no relationship between him and the house of Odo or the Merovingians can be proven.
The Jiménez dynasty
that ruled Navarre from the tenth through thirteenth centuries was also purported to descend from one of the sons of Lupus. Though a relation between Lupus and Seguin I
can be posited reasonably, no relationship between either and the Basques of Spain can be shown. In fact, the Basque ethnicity of neither the Aquitainian or Gascon dukes can be demonstrated conclusively. In response to such Spanish genealogies, Higounet attacked them as "phantasmagorical." Historian Jules Villain even proposed a connection between the comital dynasties of Comminges and Foix
and Lupus II. His whole thesis, however, is incoherent. In the end analysis, neither the parents, wives, nor children of Lupus II are known. Though a few reasonable surmises can be made.
Duke of Aquitaine
The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....
(715
715
Year 715 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 715 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* September 26 – Battle of Compiègne:...
– 735
735
Year 735 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 735 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* A smallpox epidemic starts in Ancient Japan,...
). The nineteenth-century French historian Joseph-François Rabanis proved it to be a hoax fabricated in the seventeenth century. His research thus rendered a good deal of "known" Gascon
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...
and Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
se genealogy meaningless.
Among the many otherwise unattested claims of the Charte are the descent of the dukes of Aquitaine and Gascony from the Merovingian king Charibert II
Charibert II
Charibert II , a son of Clotaire II and his junior wife Sichilde, was briefly King of Aquitaine from 629 to his death, with his capital at Toulouse. We have no direct statement about when Charibert was born exact that he was "a few years younger" than his half-brother Dagobert...
. The younger sons, if there were younger sons, of Charibert are in fact unknown; as is the parentage of Odo the Great. Likewise, the parentage of Lupus II of Gascony is unknown and no relationship between him and the house of Odo or the Merovingians can be proven.
The Jiménez dynasty
Jiménez dynasty
The Jiménez or Ximenes were an Iberian ruling family from the 10th century to the 13th century. They were the first Europeanisers of Spain and brought her back within the wider European political scene while also giving her the political character and division that persisted until the end of the...
that ruled Navarre from the tenth through thirteenth centuries was also purported to descend from one of the sons of Lupus. Though a relation between Lupus and Seguin I
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...
can be posited reasonably, no relationship between either and the Basques of Spain can be shown. In fact, the Basque ethnicity of neither the Aquitainian or Gascon dukes can be demonstrated conclusively. In response to such Spanish genealogies, Higounet attacked them as "phantasmagorical." Historian Jules Villain even proposed a connection between the comital dynasties of Comminges and Foix
County of Foix
The County of Foix was an independent medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern département of Ariège ....
and Lupus II. His whole thesis, however, is incoherent. In the end analysis, neither the parents, wives, nor children of Lupus II are known. Though a few reasonable surmises can be made.
Sources
- Charte d'Alaon at Foixstory.
- Higounet, Charles. Bordeaux pendant le haut moyen age. Bordeaux, 1963.
- Collins, Roger. The Basques. Blackwell Publishing: London, 1990.
- Rabanis, Joseph-François. Les Merovingiens de Aquitanie, essay historique et critique de la Charte D'Alaon. Paris, 1856.
- Monlezun, Jean Justin. Histoire de la Gascogne. 1864. Relies on Charte.
- Villain, Jean. La France Moderne, dictionnaire généalogique, historique et biographique. 1908. Relies on Charte.
- Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Gascony. relies on Monlezun.