The Etichonids were an important noble family, probably of Frankish, Burgundian or

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

origin, who ruled the

Duchy of Alsace The Duchy of Alsace ( la, Ducatus Alsacensi, ''Ducatum Elisatium''; german: Herzogtum Elsaß) was a large political subdivision of the Frankish Empire during the last century and a half of Merovingian rule. It corresponded to the territory of Als ...

in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

(7th–10th centuries). The dynasty is named for Eticho (also known as Aldarich), who ruled from 662 to 690. The earliest accounts record the family's beginnings in the '' pagus Attoariensis'' around

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

in northern Burgundy. In the mid-7th century a duke of the region named

Amalgar Amalgar, also ''Amalgarius'' (born around 590; died 643), was a Burgundian duke from the area around Dijon. He was also the proprietor of multiple monasteries, and was a progenitor of the Etichonid clan, from which the Habsburgs originate. Life ...

and his wife Aquilina are noticed as major founders and patrons of monasteries. King Dagobert I and his father made donations to them to recover their loyalty and compensate them for the losses that they had sustained as supporters of Queen Brunhild and her grandson,

Sigebert II :''See Sigeberht II of Essex for the Saxon ruler by that name.'' Sigebert II (601–613) or Sigisbert II, was the illegitimate son of Theuderic II, from whom he inherited the kingdoms of Burgundy and Austrasia in 613. However, he fell under the i ...

. Amalgar and his wife founded a convent at Brégille and an abbey at

Bèze Bèze () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geog ...

, installing a son and daughter in the abbacies. They were succeeded by their third child, Adalrich,He is referred to as Liutheric, a mayor of the palace, in the ''Life of Odilia''. who was the father of Adalrich, Duke of Alsace. This second Adalrich was the first to secure the ducal title. His name, Eticho, a variation of Adalrich, is used by modern scholars as the name of the family. Under the Etichonids, Alsace was generally divided into a northern and a southern county, Nordgau and Sundgau. These counties, as well as the monasteries of the duchy, were brought under tighter control of the dukes with the rise of the Etichonids. There exists scholarly debate concerning whether or not the Etichonids were in conflict or alliance with the Carolingians, but it is possible that they were both: opponents of the extension of

Charles Martel Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesm ...

's authority in the 720s when he first made war on Alemannia, but allies when the Alemanni, under Duke Theudebald invaded Alsace (which had a large Alemannic element in its population) in the early 740s. The last Etichonid duke, Liutfrid, may have died fighting Theudebald on behalf of Pepin the Short. Among the descendants of the Etichonids, in the female line were Hugh of Tours and his family, including his daughter Ermengard, who was wife to Lothair I and thus mother to three Carolingian kings. In the 10th century the Etichonids remained powerful in Alsace as counts, but their power was circumscribed significantly by the Ottonians and by the 11th century, Pope Leo IX seemed unaware that his ancestors, the lords (or counts) of Dabo and

Eguisheim Eguisheim (; german: Egisheim; Alsatian: ''Egsa'') is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It lies in the historical region of Alsace (german: Elsass). The village lies on the edge of the Ballons des Vo ...

for the previous half century were in fact the direct descendants of the last Etichonids. Many notable European families trace their lineage to the Etichonids, including the Habsburgs.

Etichonid dukes and counts in Alsace

(Note: Here the numbering of the counts is the same for all states, as all were titled Counts of Alsace, despite of the different parts of land and its particular numbering of the rulers.)

Sources

*Hummer, Hans J. ''Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe: Alsace and the Frankish Realm 600–1000''. Cambridge University Press: 2005. See mainly pp 46–55.

References

{{Authority control Alsatian nobility