Mummolus

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Negotiation between Guntram and Childebert II, in the background the betrayal of Mummolus

Mummolus (actually Eunius ; also Mommolus, Mummulus ; † 585 ) was born under the name Eunius as the son of Peonius, comes (Count) of Autissiodorum ( Auxerre ). He was a Gallo-Roman Patricius and prefect who served the Frankish King Guntram I as a general.

Life

His career began with a fraud: his father Peonius sent him with gifts to King Guntram so that he would be confirmed in his office, but Mummolus used the gifts to use himself as a comes.

When King Chilperic I , Guntram's brother, attacked Tours and Poitiers in 562, Mummolus was already distinguished as a military leader.

After the patricius Amatus had fallen while defending Gaul against the Longobards , Guntram appointed Mummolus "patricius" in 571 and sent him out to drive out the again invading Longobards. At Mustiœ Calmes (Les Chamousses), near the city of Ebrodunum ( Embrun ), Mummolus was able to encircle and beat the Lombards in 572.

The Saxons and Lombards had moved to Italy together, but there were disputes between the two tribes and the Saxons decided to return to their old homeland. Near villa Stablo (the city of Estoublon or Establon), Mummolus succeeded in stopping the Saxon invasion: negotiations followed a bloody battle, with the result that the Saxons returned their booty, released the prisoners and were allowed to return to Italy unmolested.

In the next year (probably 573) two Saxon groups coming from Italy marched to Avignon via Nice and Embrun, respectively. There Mummolus prevented them from crossing the Rhone until they bought the crossing for gold. The Saxons moved on to Clermont, where they circulated large amounts of "counterfeit money" before returning to their old homeland.

A Longhobard invasion of Provence under the dukes Zaban of Pavia, Amo (probably Hammo) and Rodanus was able to repel Mummolus 575, lift the sieges of Gratianopolitanam urbem ( Grenoble ) and Valence and drive out the invaders.

During the Merovingian Fratricidal War , Chilperic I sent his son Clovis to attack Burgundy, the kingdom of Guntram, in 573, but Chilperic I was driven out of Tours by Mummolus and fled to Bordeaux. Then Mummolus conquered Poitiers for Sigibert I of Chilperich I, who was then allied with Guntram .

Mummolus attacked Desiderius, the general of Chilperic I in Lemovicinum ( Limoges ), who had invaded Burgundy in 576 and returned to Burgundy through the Auvergne.

For unknown reasons, Mummolus fled from Burgundy to Avignon in 581 when Childebert II ( Austrasia ) broke his alliance with Guntram ( Burgundy ) and allied himself with Chilperich I ( Neustria ). In Avignon he was besieged by Childebert's arbitrary dux (Duke) Gunthram Boso until Childebert found out about it and lifted the siege.

Mummolus joined the Gundowald uprising around 582 , who, as the alleged son of Chlothar I (511-561), asserted claims to power in Neustria and Burgundy. In 584 Desiderius (see above), who had secretly come to an understanding with Mummolus, also joined the revolt. In December 584 Gundowald was proclaimed king in the village of Brives-la-Gaillarde on the Corrèze (Briva-Currezia) in the Limousin. Guntram of Burgundy prepared an army and pushed the insurgents south. Gundowald's following began to crumble. In March 585, after Desiderius, Mummolus, whose wife and children had already been imprisoned, broke away in the besieged Comminges von Gundowald when King Guntram began negotiations with him and assured him his life. After consulting with the other nobles (Chariulf, Waddo and the Bishop of Gap Sagittarius ), Mummolus extradited Gundowald, but was executed by Guntram for his participation in the uprising despite all agreements. All the residents of Comminges were massacred and the place was completely burned down. Guntram plundered the treasures of Mummolus, leaving the widow only her parents' inheritance.

According to Gregory of Tours , Mummolus is said to have been accused of sorcery and tortured by Queen Fredegunde , who accused him of being responsible for the death of her son Theuderich. After all, he died as a result of the "trial".

See also

swell

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Historiae IV, 42
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g General German Biography
  3. ↑ a b c Origo Gentis Langobardorum III, 4-6
  4. ↑ Historiae IV, 44
  5. ↑ Historiae IV, 45
  6. ↑ Historiae V, 13
  7. ↑ Historiae VI, 26
  8. ↑ Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire , Vol. 3a, p. 285, see Chariulfus (2).
  9. ↑ a b Historiae VII, 38-39
  10. ↑ Historiae VI, 35
personal data
SURNAME Mummolus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mommolus; Mummulus; Eunius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Gallo-Roman Patricius, Praefect and General
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Auxerre
DATE OF DEATH 585