Aldebert I (La Marche)

Aldebert I (also Adalbert ; † 997 before Gençay ) was a Count of La Marche from the House of Périgord since around 975 . He succeeded his father, Boson I the Old , in his possessions in the border landscape (French: la Marche ) of the Limousin to Berry around 974/975 and was the first of the family to bear the title of count ( comitis Marchiæ ).

Shortly after the death of their father, Aldebert and his older brother, Count Elias I of Périgord , were captured by Vice Count Guido I of Limoges , with whose clan theirs was enemies. While Elias was able to escape from dungeon in the same year, according to tradition, Aldebert had to endure a very long imprisonment. With the early death of his brother, he also became Count of Périgord. Presumably in 989 he made a peace with the vice-count by marrying his sister, it is possible that on this occasion he was also recognized as the count of the border region (French: comte de la Marche ). The peace made it possible on June 1, 989 to convene a council of the Aquitaine clergy in Charroux Abbey , whose patrons ( advocati ) are the sons of Bosos the old man. This council dealt for the first time with the introduction of the peace of God in the Aquitaine area in order to counteract the state of feudal anarchism . This peace council was convened a second time in Limoges in 994 .

Regardless of this, Aldebert and his younger brother Boson II then feuded Duke Wilhelm V of Aquitaine , who was actually their liege lord. Against him they allied themselves at the turn of the year 995/996 with the powerful Count Fulko III. Nerra of Anjou . Aldebert first attacked Gençay and destroyed it in order to move on to Poitiers , where he defeated an army of the duke that had opposed him on the way. He then joined forces with those of Anjou and together they conquered Tours in March 996 . This provoked a reaction from King Roberts II in the spring of 997 , who, in league with the Duke of Aquitaine and the Count of Blois, launched a counter-offensive and drove Fulko and Aldebert from Tours. On this occasion the king is said to have addressed a question to Aldebert about who would have made him count in the first place. Aldebert is said to have responded by asking who made Robert II king. An allusion to the lack of recognition of the young royal dynasty of the Capetians among the Aquitaine greats.

Aldebert and his brother continued the fight. He attacked the rebuilt Gençay again in the summer of 997, but was fatally wounded by an arrow. He was buried in the Abbey of Charroux .

He was married to a daughter of Vice Count Gerald von Limoges . With her he had a son, Bernard I , who, however, did not succeed him directly because of immaturity. Instead, Boson II took over the counties of La Marche and Périgord.

literature

• Georges Thomas: Les comtes de la Marche de la maison de Charroux , in: Mémoires de la Société des sciences naturelles et archéologiques de la Creuze 23 (1927), pp. 561-700
• Robert-Henri Bautier: Les origines du comté de la Marche , in: Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire offerts à M. Henri Hemmer par ses collègues et ses amis (1979), pp. 10-19
• Thomas Head: The Development of the Peace of God in Aquitaine (970-1005) , in: Speculum 74 (1999), pp. 663-666, 668, 677-678

Remarks

1. ↑ Ademar von Chabannes , Chronicon III §25, ed. by Jules Chavanon (1897), pp. 147-148
2. ↑ Aimon von Fleury , Miracula s. Benedicti III §7, ed. by Eugène de Certain (1858), pp. 147-148; Ademar von Chabannes, Chronicon III §34, ed. by Jules Chavanon (1897), p. 156
3. ↑ Ademar von Chabannes, Chronicon III §34, ed. by Jules Chavanon (1897), p. 156

predecessor	Office	successor
Boson I. the Old	Count of La Marche 974 / 975-997	Boson II.
Elias I.	Count of Périgord 975–997	Boson II.