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Hunald I
Hunald I, also spelled Hunold, Hunoald, Hunuald or Chunoald (died 756), was the Duke of Aquitaine from 735 until 745. Although nominally he was an officer of the Merovingian kings of Francia, in practice Aquitaine was completely autonomous when he inherited it. His rule corresponds to the lowest point of the Merovingian monarchy, when the kingdom was in fact ruled by the mayors of the palace. Hunald was forced at the outset of his reign to accept the authority of the mayor of the palace Charles Martel, but he tried three times to throw it off in open revolt (736, 742 and 745). He was unsuccessful, although he did manage to retain Aquitaine undiminished. In 745, he retired to a monastery, giving power to his son Waiofar. He later went to Rome, where he died during an attack on the city.
In spite of the opinion of certain historians that Hunald left his monastery to lead Aquitaine again in 768, Hunald I seems to have been a different person from the Hunald II, probably his grandson, who led the revolt that followed the death of Waiofar.
Hunald succeeded his father, Duke Odo the Great, after the latter's death in 735. His brother Hatto seems to initially have acted alongside him. Hunald, like his father, brother and son, possessed a name of Germanic origin. The Aquitanian province that he inherited had been enlarged by his father (and possibly earlier ancestors also) to include territory along the Loire that had once been Neustrian and the Auvergne region that had been Austrasian.
In 735, Charles Martel led an expedition into Aquitaine. He marched the breadth of the country and occupied the well-fortified city of Bordeaux. He is not recorded as having met any resistance. The purpose of this expedition seems to have been to take advantage of the death of Odo to alter the constitutional status of Aquitaine in the Frankish kingdom by forcing Hunald to recognise his lordship and to remit taxes (munera) to the royal government. The show of force worked. The Annales Mettenses priores record that Charles gave the duchy (ducatus) of Aquitaine to Hunald and made him and his brother Hatto give a "promise of faith" (promissio fidei) to him and his sons, Carloman I and Pippin III, and promise to remit taxes. Following this success, Charles did not retain Bordeaux or any other part of Aquitaine, including those that had been added to it by Odo.
The Vita Pardulfi, the late 8th-century life of Pardulf (died 737), records that Hunald succeeded his father as princeps, a term with royal connotations, and later served Charles as legatus. Despite their promise of faith, Hunald and Hatto rebelled against Charles in 736. After considerable fighting, Hatto was captured by Charles's forces and handed over to Ainmar, bishop of Auxerre. Hatto subsequently escaped from prison, and Charles deposed Ainmar and had him imprisoned. He was later killed attempting to escape from prison. Hatto was betrayed by his own brother. Hunald invited him to a meeting at Poitiers, where he blinded him and imprisoned him in a monastery. The betrayal of Hatto was probably the price exacted by Charles in exchange for allowing Hunald to keep his duchy.
The peace between Hunald and Charles seems to have persisted until Charles's death in 741, although there is some evidence of low-level conflict. In 736–39, Charles Martel and his brother, Childebrand I, led several expeditions against the Umayyad forces occupying parts of Septimania and Provence. The Annals of Aniane, writing about a later date, record that Hunald's son Waiofar harassed the forces of Charles's son Pippin the Short during the latter's siege of Narbonne in 752–59 "as his father had done Charles Martel", implying that Hunald had harassed Charles's forces during the southern campaigns of 736–39. Despite achieving a crushing victory over the Umayyads at the battle of the River Berre in 737, Charles never besieged Narbonne, possibly because Hunald was threatening his lines of communication.
The most serious of Hunald's revolts was that of 742. This was undertaken in alliance with the dukes of Bavaria and Alemannia. All three dukes sought to regain their old autonomy following the death of Charles Martel. This also coincided with an interregnum, since no king had been appointed to succeed Theuderic IV after his death in 737.
Having raised an army, the brothers crossed the Loire at Orléans and proceeded to sack the city of Bourges and the fortress of Loches. In the words of the Chronicle of Fredegar:
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Hunald I
Hunald I, also spelled Hunold, Hunoald, Hunuald or Chunoald (died 756), was the Duke of Aquitaine from 735 until 745. Although nominally he was an officer of the Merovingian kings of Francia, in practice Aquitaine was completely autonomous when he inherited it. His rule corresponds to the lowest point of the Merovingian monarchy, when the kingdom was in fact ruled by the mayors of the palace. Hunald was forced at the outset of his reign to accept the authority of the mayor of the palace Charles Martel, but he tried three times to throw it off in open revolt (736, 742 and 745). He was unsuccessful, although he did manage to retain Aquitaine undiminished. In 745, he retired to a monastery, giving power to his son Waiofar. He later went to Rome, where he died during an attack on the city.
In spite of the opinion of certain historians that Hunald left his monastery to lead Aquitaine again in 768, Hunald I seems to have been a different person from the Hunald II, probably his grandson, who led the revolt that followed the death of Waiofar.
Hunald succeeded his father, Duke Odo the Great, after the latter's death in 735. His brother Hatto seems to initially have acted alongside him. Hunald, like his father, brother and son, possessed a name of Germanic origin. The Aquitanian province that he inherited had been enlarged by his father (and possibly earlier ancestors also) to include territory along the Loire that had once been Neustrian and the Auvergne region that had been Austrasian.
In 735, Charles Martel led an expedition into Aquitaine. He marched the breadth of the country and occupied the well-fortified city of Bordeaux. He is not recorded as having met any resistance. The purpose of this expedition seems to have been to take advantage of the death of Odo to alter the constitutional status of Aquitaine in the Frankish kingdom by forcing Hunald to recognise his lordship and to remit taxes (munera) to the royal government. The show of force worked. The Annales Mettenses priores record that Charles gave the duchy (ducatus) of Aquitaine to Hunald and made him and his brother Hatto give a "promise of faith" (promissio fidei) to him and his sons, Carloman I and Pippin III, and promise to remit taxes. Following this success, Charles did not retain Bordeaux or any other part of Aquitaine, including those that had been added to it by Odo.
The Vita Pardulfi, the late 8th-century life of Pardulf (died 737), records that Hunald succeeded his father as princeps, a term with royal connotations, and later served Charles as legatus. Despite their promise of faith, Hunald and Hatto rebelled against Charles in 736. After considerable fighting, Hatto was captured by Charles's forces and handed over to Ainmar, bishop of Auxerre. Hatto subsequently escaped from prison, and Charles deposed Ainmar and had him imprisoned. He was later killed attempting to escape from prison. Hatto was betrayed by his own brother. Hunald invited him to a meeting at Poitiers, where he blinded him and imprisoned him in a monastery. The betrayal of Hatto was probably the price exacted by Charles in exchange for allowing Hunald to keep his duchy.
The peace between Hunald and Charles seems to have persisted until Charles's death in 741, although there is some evidence of low-level conflict. In 736–39, Charles Martel and his brother, Childebrand I, led several expeditions against the Umayyad forces occupying parts of Septimania and Provence. The Annals of Aniane, writing about a later date, record that Hunald's son Waiofar harassed the forces of Charles's son Pippin the Short during the latter's siege of Narbonne in 752–59 "as his father had done Charles Martel", implying that Hunald had harassed Charles's forces during the southern campaigns of 736–39. Despite achieving a crushing victory over the Umayyads at the battle of the River Berre in 737, Charles never besieged Narbonne, possibly because Hunald was threatening his lines of communication.
The most serious of Hunald's revolts was that of 742. This was undertaken in alliance with the dukes of Bavaria and Alemannia. All three dukes sought to regain their old autonomy following the death of Charles Martel. This also coincided with an interregnum, since no king had been appointed to succeed Theuderic IV after his death in 737.
Having raised an army, the brothers crossed the Loire at Orléans and proceeded to sack the city of Bourges and the fortress of Loches. In the words of the Chronicle of Fredegar: