Tassilo I (560–610) was King of Bavaria from 591 to his death. According to Paul the Deacon

Paul the Deacon

Paul the Deacon , also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, , was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.-Life:...

, he was appointed as Bavarian rex by Childebert II

Childebert II

.Childebert II was the Merovingian king of Austrasia, which included Provence at the time, from 575 until his death in 595, the eldest and succeeding son of Sigebert I, and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his death, as the adopted and succeeding son of his uncle Guntram.-Childhood:When his father...

, Frankish king of Austrasia

Austrasia

Austrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...

, in 591, ending the war with the Franks. The war began during the reign of Tassilo's predecessor, Garibald I

Garibald I of Bavaria

Garibald I was Duke of Bavaria from 555 until 591. He stands at the head of the Agilolfings and the Bavarian Dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards....

, when Garibald concluded a marriage alliance with the Lombards

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

. We do not know whether Garibald died or was deposed. Nor do we know Tassilo's exact relationship to Garibald, though we can assume Tassilo was a close relation if not his son. The fact that Childebert named Tassilo king shows Frankish control over the Bavarian state.

Paul the Deacon also tells us that Tassilo soon moved into the lands of the Slavs (probably the recently conquered eastern Tyrol

East Tyrol

East Tyrol, or East Tirol , is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, sharing no border with the main North Tyrol part of the state. It corresponds with the administrative district of Lienz....

 and Carinthia

Karantania

Carantania, also known as Carentania was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia....

), and returned victorious with much plunder. This victory proved to be short-lived as Paul tells us of 2,000 Bavarians, who were slain to a man in 595 when invading the lands of the Slavs to help the Kakan (chief of the Avars

Eurasian Avars

The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...

).

Tassilo died in 610 and was succeeded by his son Garibald II

Garibald II of Bavaria

Garibald II was Duke of Bavaria from 610 until his death. He was the son of Tassilo I.He married Geila, daughter of Gisulf II of Friuli and Romilda....

.

Sources

• Störmer, Wilhelm. "Die Baiuwaren: Von der Völkerwanderung bis Tassilo III." pp 64 – 66, Verlag C. H. Beck, 2002, ISBN 3-406-47981-2.
• Paul the Deacon
  Paul the Deacon
  Paul the Deacon , also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, , was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.-Life:...
  
  , History of the Lombards: Book 4, Chapter VII