Bernhard (Italy)

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Bernhard (* probably 797; † April 17, 818 ) from the noble family of Carolingians was from 812 to 818 (sub) king in Italy and king of the Lombards ( Rex Langobardorum ).

Life

Bernhard was the son of Karlmann, who was King of Italy as Pippin († 810), and thus a grandson of Charlemagne († 814).

In 813 his grandfather made him the successor of his father, who died in 810, at the Reichstag in Aachen . In 817 he rose up against Karl's successor, his uncle Ludwig the Pious , when he tried, in deviation from the previously applicable law, to enforce his son Lothar I as the imperial successor, in contrast to which the other brothers - including Bernhard - should be regarded as "subordinate" kings .

Bernhard occupied the Alpine passes , but gave up without a fight in the same year and appeared in Chalon-sur-Saône before his uncle Ludwig , who had him captured. Bernhard was sentenced to death in the spring of 818, but the Kaiser converted the death penalty into blinding ; the judgment was carried out on April 15, 818.

Bernhard died two days later as a result of his injuries.

Marriage and offspring

Bernhard had been married about 815 with Cunegonde, which it long survived († after 15 June 835), and with whom he had a son, Pippin , (* probably 815 † after 850) was the self-Graf near Paris was and became the progenitor of the later important Counts of Vermandois .

Bernhard is often referred to as an “illegitimate” Carolingian, including Rudolf Schieffer (see below). If this is correct, then Bernhard was the only illegitimate member of the family who acquired the title of king - all others had to take on spiritual offices or were taken care of in the counts. On the other hand, his descendants were excluded from the line of succession, but the (unsuccessful) uprising of Bernhard and the death sentence against him gave sufficient cause, apart from the fact that his only son was far too young at his death to be positioned in a responsible position - as Pippin had then reached the appropriate age, the division of the empire among the sons of Ludwig had already progressed so far that consideration of the descendants of Bernhard was no longer deemed necessary.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ See Steffen Patzold : Between court rulings and political murder: The enigmatic death of King Bernhard of Italy in the year 818. In: Georg Schild, Anton Schindling (ed.): Political murders in history. From antiquity to the present. Paderborn et al. 2012, pp. 37–54.
predecessor Office successor
Charlemagne King of Italy / King of the Lombards
812–818 		Louis the Pious
personal data
SURNAME Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Italy
DATE OF BIRTH at 797
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 818