Adalric was probably a
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
lord in the late eighth century in
Gascony
Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...
. He has been called a possible
Duke of Gascony
The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as ''Wasconia'', was originally a Franki ...
by some scholars.
He was a possible son of
Lupo II of Gascony. After Lupo's death, Adalric controlled western Gascony including
Lower Navarre
Lower Navarre (; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; ; ) is a traditional region of the present-day French '' département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the northernmost ''region'' of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle A ...
,
Béarn
Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...
, and
Bigorre
Bigorre (; Gascon: ''Bigòrra'') is a region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of the larger region k ...
. His brother
Sancho controlled the east.
In 788, he captured
Chorso of Toulouse and made him swear a humiliating oath, either to himself or to Lupo II. Upon this Chorso was released, but
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
dismissed him from his post. This incident gives rise to the notion that Adalric was in fact an independent Basque duke in Gascony, though others interpret him as a rival
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...
count.
According to the spurious
Charte d'Alaon
The Charte d'Alaon is a spurious and fraudulent charter purporting to provide a genealogy of the house of Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine (715 – 735). The 19th-century French historian Joseph-François Rabanis proved it to be a hoax fabrica ...
, Adalric was captured by forces of Charlemagne and exiled to
Hispania
Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...
, later being killed in battle.
[Monlezun, 309.] This charter also makes him the father of
Seguin I of Bordeaux and Centule. His relationships are, in fact, unknown.
Notes
Sources
*Collins, Roger. ''The Basques''. Blackwell Publishing: London, 1990.
*"Astronomus",
Vita Hludovici imperatoris', ed. G. Pertz, ch. 2, in Mon. Gen. Hist. Scriptores, II, 608.
*Monlezun, Jean Justin
''Histoire de la Gascogne''.1864.
8th-century Frankish nobility
Dukes of Gascony
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