Gotfrid (651-709)

Main

Gotfrid was born 651 in (Westphalia+ Germany) and died 709 (Westphalia+ Germany) of unspecified causes.

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

Gotfrid (also Gotefrid, modernized Gottfried; Latin: Gotfridus or Cotefredus; (c. 650–709) was the Duke of Alemannia in the late 7th century and until his death. He was of the house of the Agilolfing, which was the dominant ruling family in the Frankish Duchy of Bavaria.

In a document dated to the year 700 in Cannstatt, Gotfrid at the request of a priest named Magulfus donated the castle of Biberburg to the monastery of Saint Gall.

Gotfrid fought a war over his de facto independence with the mayor of the palace Pepin of Heristal. The war was unfinished when Gotfrid died in 709. His sons, Lantfrid and Theudebald, had the support of Pepin and succeeded him.

Belonged to the group of duces (on the right bank of the Rhine) who, on legitimistic grounds, refused to submit to the Carolingian housekeeper. Therefore, in view of the weak Merovingian kingdom, Gottfried apparently exercised a largely independent rule over the whole of Alamania, as evidenced, for example, by the dating after ducal years in a document by Gottfried for the church of St. Gallen; the exhibition site Cannstatt shows the area on the upper Neckar as the sphere of activity of the duchy. In the early 9th century, Gottfried , who belonged to the AGILOLFINGER family , was regarded as the great ancestor of Hildegard's wifeCHARLIE THE GREAT . Of Gottfried's sons, Lantfrid later followed in the Alemannic ducat, while Odilo apparentlycontinued the Agilolfingian line of the Dukes of Bavaria.

Issue

From his son Huoching (Huocin, Houchi, or Hug) (675-744) came the later stock of the Ahalolfings.
Daughter, Regarde married Hildeprand of Spoleto.
Lantfrid (-730), Duke of Alamannia
Theudebald (-745), Duke of Alamannia
Odilo (Bef 709-748), Duke of Bavaria
Liutfrid, youngest son.

Children

Offspring of Gotfrid and Unknown of Bavaria (655-?)
Name	Birth	Death	Joined with
Huoching (675-709)	675 Germany	709 Germany
Willichaire (677-?)
Landfrid (679-?)
Liutfrid (681-?)
Theodebald (684-?)
Odilon (687-?)
Imma (690-?)

Siblings

Research Notes

Parentage

No original source info about parents or house of the Agilolfing direct connections.

Controversy About His Wife

It has often been stated that Gotfrid married a daughter of Theodo of Bavaria, but there is no conclusive evidence to support this assertion. It is largely based on conjecture, due to the fact that his third son, Odilo, later ruled in Bavaria. Furthermore, Gotfried died several years before most of Theodo's children are believed to have been born. Even if he had been betrothed to Theodo's daughter, whose name is unknown, she would have been little more than a child and unable to consummate such a union before his death, let alone bear him multiple children.

One theory suggests that he had a Merovingian wife, based on the fact that several of his descendants bore Merovingian names, including the sons of his great-great-granddaughter Hildegard of the Vinzgau, wife of Charlemagne. The Agilolfings were, in fact, ruling Bavaria and Alemannia under the suzerainty of the Merovingian dynasty at this time, so such a union is not improbable. However, there is currently no further evidence to confirm this.

"There is no direct evidence regarding Gottfried's wife or wives." Stewart Baldwin summarizes the evidence as follows: "The suggestion that he [Gottfrid] was married to a daughter of duke Theodo (II not V) is based on a string of conjectures:

It has been conjectured that duke Odilo of Bavaria was a son of Gottfried. This conjecture has been accepted by many scholars, and I am inclined to regard it as probably true, but the evidence is not that strong.
Assuming that the first conjecture is correct, it has been conjectured on top of that that Odilo's mother was an Agilolfing, in order to explain his possession of the duchy of Bavaria and to explain the Agilolfing name that he gave to his son Thassilo.
Assuming that the second conjecture is correct, it has been conjectured on top of that that Gottfried's wife was a daughter of Theodo II, Agilolfing duke of Bavaria. Based on the same string of guesses, Settipani has conjectured that Gottfried's wife was a sister of Theodo rather than his daughter. Although both conjectures are based on very slender evidence, Settipani's version is chronologically more plausible.

To accept the above line [omitted here], you would have to accept all of the above string of conjectures, and accept in addition that Huoching and Odilo had the same mother, when we have no evidence whether or not Gottfried was married more than once."

References

Footnotes (including sources)

AMK152, Phlox, Bergsmit, Rtol, Thurstan, MainTour