Grifo

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Grifo , also Grippo (* probably 726; † 753 at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne ) was the son of Karl Martell and his second wife Swanahild . in 741, in Karl Martell's last will, Grifo was awarded part of the Frankish Empire . From that point on, he waged a lifelong struggle to get his inheritance. Grifo was portrayed as illegitimate by his half-brothers Pippin the Younger and Karlmann and denied his inheritance.

Sources and state of research

The two more detailed sources on Grifo are the so-called Einhardannalen and the Metz Annals . In the Reichsannalen and the Fredegar Chronicle there is no mention of Grifo's legacy. This is surprising, since Karl Martell's half-brother, Childebrand , was in charge of the Fredegarchronik and should actually have known his nephew. Although some sources build on each other, the representations only agree on their hostility to the touch. "These different representations are therefore not due to information gaps, but are deliberately designed that way."

The mention of Grifo's name in the letter from the mission archbishop Boniface , in which he requested support from the Thuringians , is also significant . Historians agree that the historical course of the uprisings was correctly reproduced, but none of the sources are neutral, so that a uniform interpretation of the relevant texts still does not seem to have been achieved and is still preoccupying historians today.

For a long time, historians judged Grifo negatively, according to the sources. Only since the well-known and still much-cited article by Mikoletzky have Grifo's inheritance rights and his actions been viewed in a more differentiated manner. But even in spite of the attempts to prove the validity of the will, more modern research discusses the question of legitimacy and the overall assessment of Grifo in two different ways.

Fight for inheritance

A first attempt at rebellion ended with him being held in custody in the monastery of Chèvremont . From there he managed to escape and he received support from Duke Odilo von Baiern .

When his half-brother Pippin exercised the caretaker's office on his own after Karlmann's resignation from 747 , Pippin released Grifo. Grifo fled to the Saxons via the Thuringian region in the north of Baiern and then returned to Baiern. Pippin succeeded in suppressing his rebellion, especially since Grifo lost his most important ally with the death of the Bavarian Duke Odilo in 748 and tried to raise himself to Duke of Bavaria. This attempt was quite promising, since Grifo descended from his mother Swanahild from the Bavarian dynasty of the Agilolfingers. Pippin gave Grifo counties in the middle of the empire and put Odilo's seven-year-old son Tassilo III. as a duke, but as a Frankish vassal . On the flight to Aistulf , King of the Lombards , Grifo was found near Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in 753 by Pippin's border count Theodewinus. Many noble Franks fell in the battle, as did Grifo and Theodewinus.

The Carolingian narrative sources (continuation of Fredegars) from the 8th century, which are primarily concerned with making the transition from Karl Martell to Karlmann and Pippin seem to be smooth, completely conceal Grifo's existence. An editorial stage of the Annales regni Francorum , apparently after the death of Charlemagne in the 9th century, provides some information on Grifo's person. Accordingly, Grifo seems to have emerged from a legitimate marriage and to have been given an inheritance from his father. His older half-brothers Karlmann and Pippin withheld this from him.

swell

  • Annales regni francorum . In: Friedrich Kurz (Ed.): Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separately in editi 6: Annales regni Francorum inde from a. 741 usque ad a. 829, qui dicuntur Annales Laurissenses maiores et Einhardi. Hanover 1895 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Matthias Becher: A veiled crisis. The succession of Karl Martell in 741 and the beginnings of Carolingian court history. In: Johannes Laudage (Ed.): Of facts and fictions - Medieval histories and their critical appraisal. Cologne u. a. 2003, pp. 95-133, here: p. 101
  2. ^ Joachim Jahn : Ducatus Baiuvariorum: The Bavarian Duchy of the Agilolfinger , p. 178ff. (= Monographs on the history of the Middle Ages). Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1991. ISBN 3-7772-9108-0 .
  3. ^ Joachim Jahn : Ducatus Baiuvariorum: The Bavarian Duchy of the Agilolfinger , p. 279f. (= Monographs on the history of the Middle Ages). Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1991. ISBN 3-7772-9108-0 .