Adalhard (Seneschal)

Adalhard († after 865) was Seneschal of Emperor Ludwig the Pious and Empress Judith and at their side one of the most powerful men in the Frankish Empire during Ludwig's reign.

Life

Adalhard was an uncle of Irmentrud (825-869), the daughter of Count Odo von Orléans , who fell against Lothar I in 834 , married Charles the Bald on December 13, 842 and made the mother of his seven children. But it is unclear in what kind of relationship Adalhard is to Odo.

Adalhard was one of the three high-ranking ambassadors who were given extraordinary powers by Karl the Kahlen and Ludwig the German in 842 to their brother Lothar I to negotiate the partition of the Frankish empire and Lothar the third part of the empire determined by them to offer. The other two envoys were Count Konrad , brother of Empress Judith , and Count Cobbo the Elder . After the division of the empire, he became one of the most influential nobles in the Middle Kingdom.

When the brothers Udo (Count in Lahngau), Waldo (Abbot of Münsterschwarzach on the Upper Rhine and St. Maximin in Trier ) and Berengar (Count in Hesse) in connection with the disempowerment of their uncle, the powerful Margrave Ernst , operated by King Ludwig the German , Convicted of infidelity at the Reichstag in April 861 in Regensburg and lost their offices and fiefs, they first sought refuge with their relative ( propinquus ) Adalhard in the middle kingdom of Lothar II. When Ludwig the German and Lothar II soon reconciled, they fled with Adalhard to Karl the Bald, whose wife Irmentrud was a niece of Adalhard and possibly a sister of their father Gebhard . Karl made up for her losses, and Adalhard was entrusted with the upbringing of Karl's son Ludwig. He was also a lay abbot in several monasteries, including Saint-Martin de Tours and Echternach .

In 865, Adalhard fell out of favor with Charles the Bald, as he had not prevented the 20 day sacking of St. Denis during the defense of the Seine area against the Normans, which he led . Because of this alleged failure, Karl withdrew from him and the also accused Count Udo and Berengar all offices and dignities that he had previously given them. The engagement of Adalhard's daughter with Ludwig the Younger , the second son of Ludwig the German, was then dissolved again at his pressure.

children

He had at least three children with his wife, who is not known by name:

• Etienne
• A daughter of unknown name who was betrothed to Ludwig the Younger, son of Ludwig the German, in 865
• Adalhard II († 890), Count of Metz

Web links

• Entry in "Genealogy Middle Ages"

literature

• Jochen Böder: Officials and rulers under Ludwig the German (PDF; 1.8 MB) . 1999, pp. 36-39.
• Walther Kienast : The Franconian vassal from the house chicks to Ludwig the child and Karl the simple . Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 1990, p. 234 ( preview on Google Books ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Note on Adalhard, Count von Metz in the Medieval Lands project ( Memento of the original dated February 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .