Gérard I
Gérard IGérard appears for the first time on 11 February 747 ["... cum fidelibus nostris, id est ... Garehardo, ... Datum mense Februario die XI, anno V Childerici Regis." RHF 4: 714 (# 131); Depoin (1912), 87]. On 1 March 752 he appears in a charter of the king "Pippinus rex Francorum vir illuster. ... cum proceribus vel fidelibus nostris, id est ... Gerichardo, ..." MGH DD Pippin 3 (#1); Depoin (1912), 87]. He first appears as count of Paris on 8 July 753 ["Gairefredo [sic] Parisius comite ... Gairehardo comis Parisii" MGH DD Pippin 10 (#6)]. He appears as count on 30 October 759 ["Gerardus comes" MGH DD Pippin 17 (#12)], and witnessed a charter as count on 13 August 762 ["Signum Gerhardi comitis +" MGH DD Pippin 25 (#16)]. His last known appearance was on 28 July 775, when he was listed first among some vassals of Charlemagne ["... cum fidelibus nostris, id sunt Ghaerardo, ..." MGH DD KdG 147 (#102)].
Date of birth: Unknown.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Date of burial: 26 April, 776 or later.
Place of
burial:
Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
The burial of Gérard appears in
the oldest (pre-869) part of the obituary of
Saint-Germain-des-Prés ["vj kl. maii. Dep. ... Girardi
comitis." Longnon (1884), 45; Obit. Sens, 1.1: 259]
Father: Unknown.
Mother: Unknown.
Spouse: Rotrude.
Rotrude appears as the wife of Gérard in
the oldest part of the obituary of Saint-Germain-des-Près
["iij non. Dec. Dep. Hrottrudis, conjugis Gerehardi"
Longnon (1884), 52; Obit. Sens 1.1: 280].
Probable children:
Rothilde (Chrotildis),
d. 24 May.
Chrotildis appears as a daughter
of an unidentified Gérard in the obituary of
Saint-Germain-des-Prés ["VIIII kal. [Jun.] ...
Chrotildis, filia Gerehardi" Obit. Sens, 1.1: 262]. She
is identified as a daughter of this Gérard by Levillain and
Hlawitschka [Levillain (1941), 153 & n. 59; Hlawitshcka
(1968), 166, 168].
Étienne (Stephanus),
fl. 802-815, count of Paris.
This is based on a charter dated 811 from Notre-Dame de Paris
which is signed by a Leuthard, brother of count Etienne of Paris
["S. Stephani comitis et Amaltrudis, conjugis ejus,
necnon et comitissæ, qui hanc donationem scribere vel firmare
rogaverunt. S. Leutardi, germanum Stephani comitis."
Cart. Notre-Dame de Paris, 1: 291 (#3)]. The identification with
the Leuthard given next is probable, but not certain.
Leuthard, d.
after 811, count of Fézensac;
m. Grimhilde.
Leuthard, brother of Étienne, count of
Paris, father of Gérard II, count of Paris, and father also of a
Rotrute, was most probably a son (or less likely a grandson) of
Gérhard I and Rotrude.
Possible child or other close relative:
Bégon, bur.
28 October 816, count of Paris.
No direct evidence is available on the
parentage of Bégon. The main clues are the fact that he was
count of Paris and the fact that he named a son Leuthard. This
suggests that he was in the same family.
Ann. ord. S. Ben. = Jean Mabillon, ed., Annales ordinis S. Benedicti occidentalium monachorum patriarchæ.
Cart. Notre-Dame de Paris = Benjamin Guérard, Cartulaire de l'église Notre-Dame de Paris, 4 vols. (Paris, 1850).
Depoin (1912) = Joseph Depoin, "Les comtes de Paris sous la dynastie carolingienne", Mémoires de la société historique et archéologique de l'arrondissement de Pontoise et du Vexin 31 (1912): 83-117.
Hlawitschka (1968) = Eduard Hlawitschka, Lotharingen und das Reich an der Schwelle der deutschen Geschichte (Schriften der MGH 21, Stuttgart, 1968).
Levillain (1941) = Léon Levillain, "Les comtes de Paris a l'époque franque", Le Moyen Age 51 (1941): 137-205.
Levillain (1949) = Léon Levillain, "Girart, comte de Vienne. A propos d'un livre récent", Le Moyen Age 55 (1949): 225-245.
Longnon (1884) = Auguste Longnon, "Notice sur le plus ancien obituaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés", in Notices et Documents publiés pour la Société de l'Histoire de France à l'occasion du cinquantième anniversaire de sa fondation (Paris, 1884), 19-55.
MGH DD = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Diplomata series.
Obit. Sens = Obituaires de la Province de Sens (2 vols. in 3, Paris, 1902-6).
RHF = Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France.
Settipani (2004) = Christian Settipani, La Noblesse du Midi Carolingien (Prosopographia et Genealogica 5, 2004).
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 16 August 2012.