Berengar (Hessengau)

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Berengar (* around 836 ; † after 879 ) was count in Hesse around 860 and then from 876 to 879 Gaugraf in the Saxon Hessengau . He was the youngest of four sons of Count Gebhard im Lahngau and thus a member of the Konradin family . His mother was a sister of the powerful Margrave Ernst († 865) in the Bavarian Nordgau and the Bohemian Mark, unknown by name . His brothers were Udo (Count in Lahngau ), Waldo (Abbot of Schwarzach on the Upper Rhine and of St. Maximin in Trier ) and Berthold (869-883 Archbishop of Trier ).

Life

Berengar is first documented when he signed the peace treaty between Ludwig the German , Lothar II and Karl the Kahlen as a witness on June 7, 860 in the St. Kastor Abbey in Koblenz . At this point in time he already held count rights in Hesse; however, it is not known where these were.

As early as 861 he, together with his brothers Udo and Waldo and their uncle Ernst, suffered the displeasure of Ludwig the German. The reason for this is not clear. While some historians are of the opinion that the four were involved in Karlmann's intrigues against his father Ludwig (probably because they were related by marriage to another daughter of Ernst's due to Karlmann's marriage), others consider this to be unlikely because Karlmann's rebellion is only announced in the following year. It can therefore be assumed that the break between Ernst and his nephews with King Ludwig was due to Ludwig's aggressive policy towards the West, which triggered serious conflicts of loyalty among almost all of the Franconian noble families of the time.

In any case, this led to a summons for infidelity to the Reichstag in April 861 in Regensburg . There the accused were sentenced and lost all their offices and fiefdoms. Berengar and his brothers first sought refuge with their relative, Count Adalhard , Senschall in the middle kingdom of Lothar II. When Ludwig and Lothar II became reconciled shortly afterwards, they fled with Adalhard to Karl the Bald (whose wife Irmentrud was a niece of Adalhard and possibly one Sister of Berengar's father Gebhard was). Karl made up for her losses, and Adalhard was entrusted with the upbringing of Karl's son Ludwig . In 865, Berengar and his brother Udo took part in the defense of the Seine area against the Normans , led by Adalhard , without being able to prevent the 20 days of sacking of St. Denis . Because of this alleged failure, Karl withdrew from them all the offices and dignities he had previously entrusted them.

Ludwig III, "the younger" , sought the support of the brothers against his father Ludwig the Germans during his uprising in 866, and also in 871 and 873, and promised to give them back their old positions. After the death of Ludwig the German in 876, when his son took control of large areas of Eastern Franconia, it came to that. Berengar is proclaimed count in the Saxon Hessengau from 876. A document from Ludwig III., The first reliable testimony to a Hessian Gaugrafen, states that Berengar's area of ​​office extended to Welda south of Warburg that year . H. up to the lower diemel .

progeny

It is not certain, but widely assumed, that Oda , the wife of the East Frankish king and Roman-German emperor Arnulf of Carinthia , was a daughter of Berengar.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Berengar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count in Hessen and Gaugraf in the Saxon Hessengau
DATE OF BIRTH around 836
DATE OF DEATH after 879