Wilhelm II (Aquitaine)

Wilhelm II of Aquitaine , called the Younger ( French : Guillaume II le Jeune ; † December 12, 926 ) was a Count of Auvergne and Duke of Aquitaine from the Bellonids family from 918 until his death . He was the eldest son of Count Acfred I of Carcassonne and Adelinde.

Wilhelm assumed the inheritance of his maternal uncle, Duke William I the Pious of Aquitaine , while the paternal inheritance of the counties of Carcassonne and Razès went to his cousin Bencion .

Life

Wilhelm the Younger is mentioned for the first time on September 11, 910 as a witness in the founding document of the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny . Like his uncle, he was also a partisan of King Charles the Simple , by whom he was also recognized in 919 as the "Duke of the Aquitaine". But he was also in opposition to the Robertinians around the Margrave Robert and Duke Rudolf of Burgundy .

After Rudolf had usurped the royal throne in 923, he allied himself with Count Raimund Pons of Toulouse against Wilhelm. In 924 the king invaded Aquitaine and Wilhelm was only able to hold his own against him with great difficulty. But after the Hungarians invaded the West Franconian Empire , an understanding was reached in which Wilhelm recognized the king, for which he was given the berry in return . The " Gothic Mark " ( Septimania ) was lost to the rival Raimundiner , as was the Lyonnais to Hugo von Arles and the Mâconnais to Hugo the Black .

Wilhelm II of Aquitaine was the first West Franconian / French prince to claim the previously exclusively royal right to strike coins, even before the dukes of Francia from the Robertin family .

Since Wilhelm left no children, his brother Acfred followed him .

literature

• Nouvelle biography Générale . Paris, 1859.

predecessor	Office	successor
Wilhelm I the Pious	Count of Auvergne 918-926	Acfred
Wilhelm I the Pious	Duke of Aquitaine 918–926	Acfred