Hugues
HuguesIn 811, count Hugues of Tours was one of the legates sent to Constantinople by Charlemagne ["Hug comes Toronicus" ARF, s.a. 811 (p. 133)]. In 821, his daughter Ermengarde married the future emperor Lothair I [ARF, s.a. 821 (p. 156), see below]. The obituary of his wife Aba in the necrology of Monza calls Hugues dux of Locate ["O. Dna Aba coniux Dni Ugonis ducis de locate ..." Frisi, 3: 131] Thegan gives him the epithet "the Timid" ["Tunc veniens Hlutharius cecidit ad pedes patris, et post eum socer eius Hug timidus." Thegan, c. 54, MGH SS 2: 602] Longnon gives him the nickname "le Poltron" [Longnon (1878), 246].
Date of birth: Unknown.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Date of death: 18 September or 20 October 837.
Annales Bertiniani and Annales
Fuldenses record his death in the year 837 ["... et
Hugo, socer illius [Hlotharii], defunctus est." Ann.
Bertin., s.a. 837, 14; "Plures ex primoribus
Italiae defuncti sunt, inter quos pracipui fuerunt Lantbertus et
Hugus." Ann. Fuld., s.a. 837, 28]. The date 20
October is given by the necrology of Monza ["XIII. Kal.
Nouembr. O. Hugo Dux." Frisi, 3: 136]. A marginal
notice in the martyrology of Wandelbert of Prüm places his death
at 18 September ["Hugo comes rebus est exutus humanis."
MGH Poet. Lat. 2: 594 (line 576 n); Tellenbach (1957), 338
(829)].
Place of death: Unknown.
Father: Unknown.
Mother: Unknown.
See the Commentary section.
Ancestor: Adalric/Eticho (Chatalricus,
Caticus, Chadicho, Attico, Etih),
fl. 673-683, duke of Alsace, m. Berswinda.
Adalric (Chatalricus/Caticus)
appears in the life of St. Germanus as a duke in Alsace,
successor to duke Boniface ["Contigit autem ut moreretur
Gundoinus dux et Bonifacius dux, Chatalricus sive Caticus in loco
ejus succederet; ..." Vita S. Germani,
Trouillat (1854-67), 1: 53 (#29); Pfister (1890), 446]. He
appears with king Childeric II on 4 March 673 ["Childericus,
rex Franchorum, vir inluster, Chadicho duce, ... sub die quarto
quod fecit mensis Marcius, anno xiij regni nostri"
Pardessus, Diplomata, 2: 158 (#368)], and he was still living on
9 February 683, when he appears in a diploma with Theoderich III
["Theudericus Rex Francorum, vir inluster, Attico Duci
& Adelberto comite, ... Datum sub die nono mensis Februarii,
anno decimo regni nostri" Grandidier (1777-8), 1:
preuves, xl-xli (#23)]. It is generally agreed that he was the
duke Etih who is named by Thegan as an ancestor of count
Hugues ["Sequenti anno [821] habuit [Louis
I] placitum suum generale, et ibi Hlutharius, filius suus
primogenitus ex regina, suscepit in coniugium filiam Hugi
comitis, qui erat de stirpe cuiusdam ducis nomine Etih, qui erat
timidus super omnes homines." Thegan, Vita
Hludowici Imp., 28, MGH SS 2: 597]. The descendants of
Adalric are discussed further below.
Spouse: Ève (Ava, Aba), d. 4×5 September 839.
[Frisi, 2: 7 (#4); 3: 131]
Children:
Ermengarde,
d. 20 March 851;
m. Tours, October 821, Lothair I, d.
28×9 September 855, emperor.
["Medio mense Octobrio conventus
generalis apud Theodonis villam magna populi Francorum frequentia
celebratur, in quo domnus Hlotharius, primogenitus domni
imperatoris Hludowici, Irmingardam Hugonis comitis filiam solemni
more duxit uxorem." ARF, s.a. 821, 156; "Ludowicus
imperator dedit filio suo Lothario regi ad coniugium Ermingardam
filiam Hugonis comitis Turonicorum, ..." Ann. Xant.,
s.a. 821, 6; "... ibique domnus imperator primogenito
filio suo Hlothario Hirmengardam, filiam Hugonis comitis, uxorem
cum solempni iunxit apparatu." Astr., Vita
Hludowici Imp., c. 34, MGH SS 2: 626]
Liutfrid, d. 865×6, count, duke.
Liutfrid is twice called the avunculus
of Lothair II by Hincmar ["... faventibus sibi
Liutfrido, avunculo suo, ..." Ann. Bertin.,
s.a. 862, 60; "Hlotharius ... Liutfridum, avunculum suum"
Ann. Bertin., s.a. 865, 75]. He appears on 25 August 849
as illuster comes and lord of the abbey of
Moutiers-Grandval in a diploma of the emperor Lothair I ["...
quia Lutfridus, illuster comes, dominusque monasterii, cujus
vocabuum est Grandisvallis, quod est situm in ducatu Heliacensi,
..." Trouillat (1852-67), 1: 108 (#56); Mühlbacher
#1137 (#1103)]. The Annales Alamannici misplace his
death in 864 ["Ebarhart, Liutolf, Erchanker, Liutfrid,
Ruodolf regni principes obierunt." Annales
Alamannici (continuatio Sangallensis prima), s.a.
864, MGH SS 1: 50], but Liutfrid was still living in 865 [Ann.
Bertin., s.a. 865, 75, see above]. Liutfrid was deceased by
19 March 866, when Lothair II confirmed certain possessions of
the abbey of Moutiers-Grandval at the request of count Hugues,
son of his late avunculus Liutfrid ["... quia
Hugo comes, quondam illustris avunculi nostri Lutfridi filius,
..." Trouillat (1852-67), 1: 113 (#61); Mühlbacher
#1310 (#1275)]. See also the page of Eberhard of Friuli, who appears to have died in the same year. Liutfrid is
caaled dux by a poem of Sedulius Scottus ["Dux
Leodfride potens" Sedulius Scottus, Carmina
III, viii, MGH Poet. Lat. 3: 237].
Adélaïde, d. 18 August, prob. bef.
862,
m. Conrad/Konrad, count in Argengau, son of count Welf.
Conrad's wife was named Adélaïde ["Chuonradus,
princeps famosissimus, ... . Coniunx illi erat Adheleid nomine,
..." Heric, Mirac. S. Germani, MGH SS 13:
401]. The Annales Bertiniana, under the year 864,
confirm that she was a maternal aunt (matertera) of
Lothair I, therefore a sister of Ermengarde ["...
Hlothario ... consilio Hugoni, Chuonradi, Karoli regis avunculi,
et materterae suae filio, ..." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 864
(p. 71)]. Adélaïde almost certainly died before her husband,
probably in childbirth at the same time as an infant son named
Rudolf [Tellenbach (1957), 337-8 (828-9)].
Berthe,
m. Gérard II "de Roussillon", d.
878×9, count of Paris, count of Vienne.
The parentage of Berthe is based on the
foundation charter of Ponthières and Vézelay, which mentions
Gérard and his wife Berthe and their parents Leuthard and
Grimhilde, and Hugues and Bava, and two other relatives (exact
relationship not specified) Leutfrid and Adalard ["Ego
Gerardus divinæ pietatis munere apud gloriosam Regalem
mansuetudinem Comitis honore sublimatus, ex communi voto &
desiderio dilectissimæ Conjugis meæ atque amantissimæ Bertæ,
... Sed & dignam rependentes genitoribus atque parentibus
honorificentiam, id est, Leuthardi, & Grimildis, atque
gratissimorum Hugonis & Bavæ, ..." Historia
Vizeliacensis monasterii, Spicilegium, 2: 499].
Although they are not explicitly identified as such, it is
generally accepted that Berthe's parents Hugues and
"Bava" were the same individuals as count Hugues of
Tours and his wife Ève/Ava.
Hugues, d. bef. 24 January 835, bur.
St. Ambrosius, Milan.
On 24 January 835 and on 8 May 835, the
emperor Lothair I donated the courtyard or enclosure of Limonta
to the church of St. Ambrosius in Milan for the soul of of the
boy Hugues, brother of his wife Ermengarde, who had been buried
at St. Ambrosius [24 January: "... Denique dum dilecta
conjux nostra, Hinmingardis divinarum sollicita studiosissime
nostram sedulo monere procuraret clementiam ut locis Deo dicatis
nostra sublimaremus munificentia occasione accepta ex dilecitione
fratris sui puerili elegantia delati Ugonis nomine instantius hoc
suadere decertavit ut augmentum pietatis nostrae et emulumentum
mercedis in loco quo ipse corpore umatus extitit cimiterio
scilicet sanci Ambrosii ..." Fumagalli 179 (#42),
Böhmer (1833), 54 (#541); 8 May 835 "... quia dilecta
coniux nostra Hirmingardis nostram petiit pietatem ut pro
emolumento mercedis nostrae et remedium animae fratris sui
puerili aetate ab haec luce delatum Hugonis nomine ad concinnanda
luminaria in basilica beati confessoris Xpi Ambrosii ubi ipse
corpore humatus requiescit." Fumagalli 196 (#45);
Böhmer (1833), 54 (#546)].
The descendants of Adalric/Eticho
As noted above, Thegan states that count Hugues of Tours was a descendant of duke Etih, almost certainly to be identified with Adalric or Eticho (Hettich), duke of Alsace. Exactly how Hugues descended from Adalric is uncertain. Most detailed account of the descendants of Adalric are based on a notice that appears in the cartulary of Honau, which is short enough to give in full.
"Notitia eorum qui bonis suis dotaverunt Abbatiam Honaugiensem, quæ multum inservit ad allustrandam Genealogium filiorum Adalrici Ducis Alsatiæ.
Hæc est Genealogia filiorum Adalrici Ducis, vel alio nomine Hettichonis.
Hettich genuit quatuor filios, Adelbertum, Battichonem, Hugonem, Hetichonem, & Sanctam Otiliam.
Adelbertus genuit duos filios, Luitfridum & Ebrohardum, & tres filias, Sanctam Attalam, Eugeniam & Gerlindam. Et predicti construxerunt Monasterium, quod divitur Muorbach, & in multis locis dederunt terram suam ad Monasterium Scotorum Hohenaugia juxta flumen Rheni in honore Sancti Michaelis Archangeli. Filius Luitfridus Dux dedit de suo alodo in multis locis, sicut carte ejus testantur.
Batticho genuit Boronum; Boronus genuit duos filios, Adelbertum & Hugonem; Hugo autem genuit unicumfilium, nomine Adelbertum.
Hugo genuit duos filios, Bodolum & Bleonum. Bodol autem genuit duas filias Ruchuinam & Atalam. Bleon autem genuit unicum filium nomine Hug, qui dedit totum quod habuit in Marca Odradesheim.
Heticho genuit duos filios Hugonem & Albericum. Hug autem genuit unicum filium Haichonem. Albericus autem genuit quatuor filios, Hugbertum, Hebrohardum, Horbertum & Thetibaldum.
Hi omnes dederunt terras suas in variis locis ad ecclesiam Sancti Michaelis, quam construxit Sanctus Benedictus Episcopus & Adelbertus Dux in honorem Sancti Michaelis Archangeli & Sanctorum Petri & Pauli."
[Grandidier (1777), 1: preuves, lxxviii-lxxix (#45); for a transcription of a related text which gives slighly less information, see Pfister (1892), 59-60]
The following table shows the descendants of Adalric as given by this account.
The Notitia is from the Honau cartulary of the sixteenth century, and was probably compiled in the fifteenth century [Vollmer (1957), 152]. The information on the table was generally regarded as reliable until the late nineteenth century, when Christian Pfister pronounced it as a fabrication [Pfister (1892), 59ff.]. The reliability of the information was later reaffirmed by Vollmer [Vollmer (1957)]. Much of the information in the second and third generations is verified by six donations from the Honau cartulary [see Grandidier (1777), 1: preuves, liv-lv (#32), lv-lvi (#33), lix-lx (#35), lx-lxi (#36), lxxi-lxxii (#42), lxxvii-lxviii (#44)], and by the Fulda documents mentioned below under Haicho, but the only sources for the statements that Batticho, Hugo, and Heticho were sons of Adalric are the Notitia and closely related texts. Although suspicion is natural for such a genealogy involving early individuals appearing in such late documents, I incline toward Vollmer's view. The genealogy agrees extremely well with the charter information, some of which was located at places other than Honau where the genealogy was compiled. If the genealogy is a fabrication, it is more skillful than what would be expected of a fifteenth or sixteenth century forger with limited information.
Conjectured father (basis
weak): Haicho,
d. bef. 19 June 785, son of Hugues.
On 19 June 785, a certain Hugues (Huc, Huchus) gave
property in Alsace to Fulda in two charters for the soul of his
son Haicho ["ego Huc dono pro anima mea seu pro anima
filii mei Hahihconi ... XIII. kal. iulias anno XVII. regni domni
nostri Karoli regis" Codex Fuld. 50 (#82); "Huchus
... Hahichoni ..." ibid., 50 (#83); Trad. Fuld. 5 (c.
3, #3)]. Acknowledging that there is no secure solution to the
manner in which Hugues of Tours descends from Adalric, Vollmer
conjectures that Hugues was a son of Haicho [Vollmer (1957), 162,
165, 183]. Although it seems likely that the position of Hugues
of Tours in the above table is one or two generations beyond the
generation of this Haicho, trying to determine his exact place is
little more than guesswork. As the above table shows, there are
too many descendants of Adalric, and the name Hugues appears in
too many of the branches to even guess to which brach he might
belong.
Conjectured father: Liutfrid.
Conjectured
brother: Leuthard.
This is based on a false act of Lothair I
from 15 October 858, supposedly confirming the donation of a
count Leuthard and his brother Hugues to the church at Echery of
lands inherited from their father Liutfrid ["...
quicquid a Leutardo comite & Hugone fratre concessum est
ecclesiæ, quæ dicitur Belmont, ..., & quæ jure
hæreditario ad eos per obitum Liutfridi comitis eorum parentis
pervenisse dignoscuntur." Grandidier (1777-8), 2:
ccxlvii (#129), giving year as 859; RHF 8: 406]. Long accepted as
genuine, Christian Pfister proposed that the charter was
fabricated by the seventeenth century text-forger Jerome Vignier
for the purpose of creating a genealogical link [Pfister (1891),
393, n. 8; Pfister (1892), 85], and this was proven by a detailed
argument by Robert Parisot [Parisot (1898), 754-762: Appendice IV
- Le faux diplôme de Lothaire II pour Belmont (Échery) du 15
octobre 858]. Longnon identifies Leuthard with the Leuthard who
was father of Gérard de Roussillon [Longnon (1878), 246].
Bouquet, Pertz, Rioult de Neuville:
Falsely attributed
son:
Bérenger, d. 835, count of Toulouse,
before 819-835.
Bérenger was count of Toulouse by 819, when he
appears in conflict with Loup Centulle of Gascony ["Simili
modo et Lupus Centulli Wasco, qui cum Berengario Tolosae et
Warino Arverni comite eodem anno proelio conflixit, ..."
ARF, s.a. 819, 150]. He died in 835 ["Eodem anno ipso in
itiere obiit Berengarius, dux fidelis et sapiens, quem imperator
cum filiis suis luxit multo tempore. Iste est annus vicesimus
secundus regni domni Hludowici piissimi imperatoris, ..."
Thegan, Vita Hludowici imp., c. 58, MGH SS 2: 603].
Bérenger disputed the mark of Gothie with Bernard, son of
Guillaume de Gellone, but the premature death of Bérenger
settled that dispute in favor of Bernard ["... Sed et
causa Gothorum ibidem ventilata est, quorum alii partibus
Bernhardi favebant, alii autem favore ducebantur Beringarii, Huronici
quondam comitis filii. Sed Berengario inmatura morte praerepto,
apud Bernhardum potestas Septimaniae quam maxima remansit,
legatis illuc missis, qui ea quae indigebant correctione in
meliorem componerent statum." Vita Hludowici imp.,
c. 57, MGH SS 2: 642]. Pertz, editor of the edition of Vita
Hludowici just cited, following Bouquet, wrongly emended Huronici
to H. Turonici, and that explains why Bérenger is
incorrectly called a son of count Hugues of Tours in some older
secondary sources [e.g., Rioult de Neuville, 238-9; for more on
this error, see Merlet (1897), 15-6; Depoin (1899), 47].
Chaume:
Falsely attributed
sons:
Eberhard, fl. late 9th century, count
in Alsace;
m. Adallinde.
The life of St. Deicol mentions Eberhard as
a count in Alsace ["comes quidam bellipotens de Alsatiae
partibus nomine Heberardus" Vita S. Deicoli,
c. 12, MGH SS 15.2: 677]. The same source states that Eberhard
was a relative of Waldrada, second wife of Lothair II, and that
his wife's name was Adallinde [ibid., c. 13, p. 679]. Chaume
makes Eberhard a son of Hugues of Tours [Chaume (1925), 1: 224 n.
1]. However, even though there is good reason to believe that
Eberhard was a descendant of duke Adalric/Eticho, there is no
justification for making him a son of Hugues of Tours.
Hugues I, d. after 853, count of
Bourges.
Chaume states that Hugues of Bourges was
"suivant toute apparence" a son of Hugues of Tours
[Chaume (1925), 1: 235 n. 2; for Hugues of Bourges, see Chaume
(1925) 1: 222 n. 3]. However, there has already been identified
above a son of Hugues of Tours named Hugues, who was obviously
not the same as Hugues of Bourges.
Mabille:
Falsely attributed
son:
Robert, count, missus in
Tours, May 825.
Mabille conjectured that Robert
was a son of Hugues, count of Tours, and father of Robert le Fort
[Mabille (1871), liv-lv, who gives the date 822 for the
capitulary]. This improbable theory, which never found any major
support, is discussed on the page of Robert le Fort.
Ann. Bertin. = G. Waitz, ed., Annales Bertiniani (MGH SRG 6, Hannover, 1883).
Ann. Fuld. = Friedrich Kurze, ed., Annales Fuldenses (MGH SRG 7, Hannover, 1891).
Ann. Xant. = B. de Simson, ed., Annales Xantenses et Annales Vedastini (MGH SRG 12, 1909), 1-33.
ARF = Georg Pertz & Friedrich Kurze, Annales Regni Francorum (Annals of the kingdom of the Franks), MGH SRG 6 (Hannover, 1895).
Böhmer (1833) = Johann Friedrich Böhmer, Regesta chronologico-diplomatica Karolorum (Frankfurt am Main, 1833).
Chaume (1925) = Maurice Chaume, Les origines du duché de Bourgogne, 4 vols. (Dijon, 1925).
Codex Fuld. = Ernst Friedrich Johann Dronke, ed., Codex diplomaticus Fuldensis (Cassel, 1850).
Depoin (1899) = Joseph Depoin, "Le duc Ébrard de Frioul et les trois comtes Matfrid", Annales de la société archéologique de Bruxelles 13, 1 (1899): 5-20.
Frisi = Anton-Francesco Frisi, Memorie Storiche di Monza e sua corte, 3 vols.(Milan, 1794).
Fumagalli = Angelo Gumagalli, Codice Diplomatico Sant' Ambrosiano (Milan, 1805).
Grandidier (1777-8) = Philippe-André Grandidier, Histoire de l'église et des évêques-princes de Strasbourg, 2 vols. (Strasbourg, 1777-8).
Hlawitschka (1960) = Eduard Hlawitschka, Franken, Alemannen, Bayern und Burgunder in Oberitalien (774-962) (Freiburg, 1960).
Krüger (1890) = Emil Krüger, Der Ursprung des Hauses Lothringen-Habsburg (Vienna, 1890).
Longnon (1878) = Auguste Longnon, "Girard de Roussillon dans l'Histoire", Revue historique 8 (1878), 241-278.
Merlet (1897) = René Merlet, "Les comtes de Chartres de Châteaudun et de Blois aux IXe et Xe siècles", Mémoires de la Société Archéologique d'Eure-et-Loir 12 (1897), 1-84.
MGH Poet. Lat. = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Poetae latini aevi carolini.
MGH SRG = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum (separate editions).
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Pardessus, Diplomata = J. M. Pardessus, ed., Diplomata chartæ, epistolæ, leges aliaque instrumenta ad res Gallo-Francicas spectantia 2 vols. (Paris, 1843-9)
Parisot (1898) = Robert Parisot, Le Royaume de Lorraine sous les Carolingiens (1898, reprinted Geneva, 1975).
Pfister (1890-2) = Christian Pfister, "Le duché mérovingien d'Alsace et la légende de Sainte Odile", Annales de l'Est 4 (1890): 433-465; 5 (1891): 392-447; 6 (1892): 27-119.
Poupardin (1901) = René Poupardin, Le royaume de Provence sous les Carolingiens (Paris, 1901).
Rioult de Neuville (1872-3) = Louis Rioult de Neuville, "Robert le Fort. Sa famille et son origine", Mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Midi de la France 2 ser. 10 (1872-3): 217-248.
Trad. Fuld. = Ernst Friedrich Johann Dronke, ed., Traditiones et antiquitates Fuldenses (Fulda, 1844).
Spicilegium = Luc d'Achery, Spicilegium sive collectio veterum aliquot scriptorum qui in Galliæ bibliothecis delituerant, 3 vols. in folio (Paris, 1723).
Trouillat (1852-67) = J. Trouillat, Monuments de l'Histoire de l'ancien évêché de Bâle, 5 vols. (Porrentruy, 1852-67).
Vollmer (1957) = Franz Vollmer, "Die Etichonen", in G. Tellenbach, ed., Studien und Vorarbeiten zur Geschichte des großfränkischen und frühdeutschen Adels (Frieburg, 1957).
Wüstenfeld (1863) = Ch. Wüstenfeld, "Ueber die Herzoge von Spoleto aus dem Hause der Guidonen", Forschungen zur Deutschen Geschichte 3 (1863): 383-432.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 16 August 2012.
Minor change added 14 September 2012 (date of death).