William of Septimania

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Wilhelm von Septimanien (born November 29, 826 ; † 850 ) was Count of Barcelona and Empúries from 848 to 850. He occupied the counties of his father Bernhard of Septimanien in Septimanien and Gothien as a usurper from 848 until his death in 850.

Origin and descendants

Wilhelm was the eldest son of Bernhard von Septimanien from the noble family of Wilhelmids . His mother was Dhuoda , a Frankish noblewoman.

He was the godchild of his uncle Theodoricus III. , Count von Autun , who entrusted the child to the care of Emperor Ludwig the Pious before his death around 827 . After the Battle of Fontenoy , Wilhelm was sent by his father to the victorious Charles the Bald to swear allegiance to him if he were to return Bernhard's former lands in Burgundy. In the following years Wilhelm lived as a hostage at the court of Karl, who intended to control Bernhard with it.

Dhuoda wrote the liber manualis , a handbook for the son who was separated from her at an early age, to encourage him to lead a Christian life.

Wilhelm had a brother, Bernard Plantevelue († 885/886), Count of Autun , Rodez and Auvergne , and a sister named Regelinda.

There are no known descendants of Wilhelm.

Life

Rebellion against Charles the Bald

On June 25, 841, the day of the Battle of Fontenoy , William claimed in the name of his father from Charles the Bald his appointment to the Burgundian property of his godfather, and the county of Autun was promised to him. The promise was not kept and the county went to Count Warin of Burgundy Provence, a rival of his father Bernhard. The loss of his Burgundian possessions and the deposition of his father as Count of Toulouse in July 842 led to a break with Charles. After his father's execution in May 844, he turned to the rebellious Pepin II of Aquitaine and together, just a month later, on June 14, 844, they inflicted a severe defeat on Charles the Bald in Angoumois .

Pippin granted William the county of Toulouse to make up for the loss of his father, but Count Fredelo disputed this. Pippin may have given him the county of Bordeaux and the Duchy of Gascony in 845 because of this .

That year the Normans appeared before Bordeaux and killed the defending Duke Séguin . Wilhelm now took his place. The Normans devastated Aquitaine and advanced to Limoges . In 847 they again besieged Bordeaux and succeeded in conquering the city before the relief army of Charles the Bald could reach them. Wilhelm was taken prisoner.

The inaction of Pepin II. Had the consequence that many nobles turned away from him and so was Charles the Bald on June 6, 848 in Orléans for king of France crowned. Pippin possibly managed to reach an agreement with the Normans to release Wilhelm so that he could rise up against Karl in Gothien .

Take power in Barcelona and Empúries

In 848 William seized the counties of Barcelona and Empúries , "more by cunning than by force," as the chronicles note. This suggests the idea that Sunifred I. had died of natural causes and that he, after Charles the Bald Aleran the Count of Barcelona , Empúries and Roussillon wanted to appoint, could make his own claims.

But the coincidence of the disappearance of Sunyer I of Empúries and Berà II of Conflent and Rasès nourishes the suspicion that the seizure of power was based on the betrayal of Wilhelm well-disposed nobles, possibly a simultaneous coup in Barcelona and Empúries. Finally, the nomination of Alaran by Karl took place contrary to the custom of transferring these offices to a nobleman of Gothic origin.

In 849, Charles the Bald appointed Aleran Count of Barcelona and Empúries-Rosselló and Margrave of Septimania. Since this should also keep Wilhelm in check, he placed a co-count with Isembart , a son of Wilhelm's adversary Warin von Burgund, at his side . The later Wilfried I of Girona received the counties Girona and Besalú from Karl , and Salomon the counties Cerdanya , Urgell and Conflent.

While Aleran, Wilfried and Salomon had little difficulty in taking up their positions in the counties, Wilhelm called the Emir of Cordoba , Abd ar-Rahman II, to help.

When Karl was bound by an uprising under the Basque Count Sancho in the western Pyrenees, Wilhelm took the opportunity, conquered Barcelona and Empúries with the help of Moorish troops, captured Aleran and Isembard and besieged Girona - albeit unsuccessfully. Large stretches of land were devastated.

Karl sent 850 reinforcements and so Wilhelm had to retreat to Barcelona after a lost battle. There he was captured and executed by nobles loyal to the king.

predecessor	Office	successor
Sunifred I.	Count of Barcelona 848–850	Alaran with Isembart