Leuthard
LeuthardLeuthard is mentioned with his wife Grimhilde in the foundation charter of Ponthières and Vézelay, founded by their son Gérard "de Roussillon", at which time they were probably both deceased [see below under Gérard]. He has generally been identified with the Leuthard who succeeded Aubry "the Burgundian" as count of Fézensac in about 801 ["Burgundione namque mortuo, comitatus eius Fedentiacus Liutardo est attributus." Vita Hludowici imp., c. 13, MGH SS 2: 612]. An alternative identification, much less likely, would make him the same as count Leuthard of Paris, son of count Bego and his Carolingian wife Alpaïs (see the Commentary section for further details).
Date of birth: Unknown.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Date of burial: After 811, 23 February.
["vij kl. mar. Dep.
Leutardi sacerdotis, Grimildis Deo sacratæ." Longnon
(1884), 43; Obit. Sens, 1, pt. 1: 252] The assignment of 23
February is based on the assumption that the simultaneous
appearance of the two names Leuthard and Grimhilde is more than a
coincidence, and that it indicates that Leuthard and Grimhilde
both retired to the religious life [Levillain (1941), 193-4].
Since they were buried on the same day of the year, it is likely
that they died within a few days of each other. The date of 811
is based on the reasonable assumption that the Leuthard who was a
brother of count Etienne of Paris (see below) was the same man as
Grimhilde's husband.
Place of death: Unknown.
Father: Unknown.
Mother: Unknown.
Spouse: Grimhilde.
Grimhilde is mentioned as the mother of
Gérard in the foundation charter of Ponthières and
Vézelay (see below).
Children:
Gérard II "de Roussillon",
d. 878×9, count of Paris, count of Vienne;
m. Berthe, daughter of Hugues,
count of Tours.
The parentage of Gérard 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, amabilibusque filiis &
filiabus ipsorum, sive qui jam dormierunt in Domino, sive qui
adhuc vivant, consanguinitate, affinitate & propiquitate
etiam nobis junctis, id est, Leufredi & Adalardi Comitum
præclarissimorum, ut pro eis intercessio & assidua
deprecatio fieret, & peccatorum eorum acquireretur
propitiato, & in loco ipso, quem juvante Christo fundaremus,
succeedentibusque temporibus esset eorum permanens recordatio."
Historia Vizeliacensis monasterii, Spicilegium,
2: 499].
Probable children:
Adalard (Alard), fl. 831-877,
seneschal, count of the palace; lay-abbot of Saint-Martin de
Tours and Marmoutier, 834-843; lay-abbot of Echternach, 849-856;
lay-abbot of Saint-Symphorien, 866.
Adalard is mentioned in the
foundation charter of Ponthières and Vézelay (see above), and was clearly a relative of either Gérard or
Berthe. According to Werner and Hlawitschka, his membership in
the family of the counts of Paris and of Bego, restorer of the
abbey of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, is secured by an act of Charles
the Bald of 2 August 853, in which Adalard, although at that time
in the service of Lothair I, appears as intervener and grantor
for a donation to Fossés from royal estate which had come to
him, with the donation being expressly ordered for the benefit of
Adalard's salvation [Werner (1967), 431, n. 8; Hlawitschka
(1968), 167, n. 67; both cite Rec. actes Charles le Chauve, 1:
415ff. (#157) (the latter not seen by me)]. Since Leutfrid, the
other relative mentioned in the foundation charter of
Ponthières and Vézelay, is known to have been a brother of
Berthe, it is probable that Adalard was a brother of Gérard
[Depoin (1912), 108-9; Chaume (1925), 543 (table 8); Levillain
(1949), 235; Hlawitschka (1968), 167-8, 171 (with a
"dotted" line); Settipani (2004), 193,
n. 1].
Engeltrude,
m. Eudes, d. 834, count of Orléans.
There is no known evidence which ties
Engeltrude directly to the family of Leuthard. The connection
comes from Engeltrude's probable sibling relationship to Adalard,
as discussed on the page of Engeltrude.
Rotrude, d. 10 December, year unknown.
Rotrude is mentioned in the necrology of
Saint-Germain-des-Prés ["IIII id. [Dec.] ... Chrotrude
filie Leutharii" Obit. Sens 1: 280]. Membership in the
present family is the most likely possibility, although it is
difficult to rule out the possibility that she was the daughter
of another Leuthar[d].
Probable brother: Etienne (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 present Leuthard is probable, but not certain.
Conjectured father (likely): Gérard I, fl
747-775, count of Paris.
Conjectured mother (likely): Rotrude.
This very reasonable conjecture is based on the possession of the
countship of Paris along with the obvious onomastic
considerations [Levillain (1949), 235; Hlawitschka (1968), 168;
Settipani (2004), 193, n. 1 (given as one possibility)]. Those
who conjecture that Leuthard was a son of Bego would make Bego a
son of Gérard and Rotrude. Also for onomastic reasons, Rotrude
has been conjectured to be a descendant of Charles Martel, who
had a wife named Rotrude.
Conjectured father (doubtful): Bego, d. 816, count of Paris.
Conjectured mother (doubtful): Alpaïde, filia imperatoris,
d. after 29 May 852, daughter of Charlemagne (or of Louis
the Pious).
[Depoin (1912), 90, 105-7; Chaume (1925), 543 (table 8);
Settipani (2004), 193, n. 1 (given as another possibility)] This
conjecture is based on the supposed identification of Leuthard,
husband of Grimhilde, with Leuthard, son of Bego and Alpaïde,
who is known from Flodoard ["... Ludowicus
imperator Alpheidi, filiae suae, uxori Begonis comitis, ...
ipsius Alpheidis vel filiorum eius Letardi et Ebrardi ..."
Flodoard, Historia Remensis ecclesiae, iv, 46, MGH SS
13: 595]. However, this scenario leads to serious chronological
objections. It cannot be right unless Flodoard (writing a century
later) was wrong about making Alpaïde a daughter of Louis, and
she was a daughter of Charlemagne instead (contemporary records
make her the daughter of an unnamed emperor - see the pages of Charlemagne and Louis
the Pious). Although it seems clear that the present
Leuthard and Bego were closely related, the most probable
chronology would place them in the same generation.
Cart. Notre-Dame de Paris = Benjamin Guérard, Cartulaire de l'église Notre-Dame de Paris, 4 vols. (Paris, 1850).
Chaume (1925) = Maurice Chaume, Les origines du duché de Bourgogne, 4 vols. (Dijon, 1925).
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.
Obit. Sens = Obituaires de la Province de Sens (2 vols. in 3, Paris, 1902-6).
Rec. actes Charles le Chauve = G. Tessier, ed. Recueil des actes de Charles II le Chauve, 3 vols. (Paris, 1943-55). [I do not have easy access to this source.]
Settipani (2004) = Christian Settipani, La Noblesse du Midi Carolingien (Prosopographia et Genealogica 5, 2004).
Spicilegium = Luc d'Achery, Spicilegium sive collectio veterum aliquot scriptorum qui in Galliæ bibliothecis delituerant, 3 vols. in folio (Paris, 1723).
Werner (1967) = Karl Ferdinand Werner, "Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen bis um das Jahr 1000 (1.-8. Generation)", Karl der Große 4 (1967): 403-483.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 26 July 2008.