Gaucelm (died 834) was a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

count and leading magnate in Gothia during the reign of

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

. He was initially the

Count of Roussillon This is a list of the counts of Roussillon (, , ) who ruled over the eponymous County of Roussillon. Carolingian counts These counts were nominated by the Carolingian kings of France, of whom they were vassals. * Gaucelm (812–832) Hereafter ...

from about 800, but he received

Empúries Empúries ( ) was an ancient Greek city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain. The city Ἐμπόριον (, Emporion, meaning "trading place", ''cf.'' emporion) was founded in 575 BC by Greeks from Phocaea. After the invasion o ...

in 817 and was thenceforward the chief representative of imperial authority in that region. He was the son of

William of Gellone William of Gellone ( 755 – 28 May 812 or 814), the medieval William of Orange, was the second Duke of Toulouse from 790 until 811. In 804, he founded the abbey of Gellone. He was canonized a saint in 1066 by Pope Alexander II.

and his first wife, Gunegunde (Cunegonde), a Frankish lady. It was from his father, sometime after 790, that he received the county of Roussillon to govern within his father's vast holdings in

Septimania Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

, centered on

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. At that time, Roussillon included

Vallespir Vallespir (; ) is a historical Catalan comarca in Northern Catalonia, part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. Geography The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders the comarques of Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà ...

. Gaucelm, thoroughly Frankish, supported ongoing war with the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

and was supported by his brother, Bernard of Septimania. Bera, the Visigothic Count of Razès and Conflent since 790, and Count of Barcelona since 801, supported the local Goth population who desired peace with the Moors to their south. In January 820, at an assembly in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, Sanila, Gaucelm's Gothic lieutenant, probably on orders from Gaucelm, accused Bera of infidelity and perfidy. Bera was deposed, but Gaucelm did not receive his ''honores'' as he had wanted. However, he did later obtain two of them (Barcelona and

Besalú Besalú () is a town in the ''comarca'' of Garrotxa, in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The town's importance was greater in the early Middle Ages, as capital of the county of Besalú, whose territory was roughly the same size as the current ''comarc ...

) for his brother Bernard (February 826). The third,

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, went either to Bernard or Gaucelm himself, but which is unclear. After taking part in the defeat of the son of Bera,

Guillemundus Guillemundus (also ''Guillemó'') (died 827) was count of Razès and Conflent, in what is now southern France. He was the son of Bera, Count of Barcelona. He received these counties from delegation of his father in 812. Guillemundus retained th ...

, and his lieutenant,

Aisso Ayxun or Aissó was a nobleman who led a revolt in Barcelona, Ausona, and Girona in 826 to 827. His identity is uncertain. Aissó is thought to have been either a Visigoth, Goth and former lieutenant of the deposed Count Berà, or an Arab (Ayxun i ...

, in Barcelona and Girona (to 827), he received the counties of

Razès Razès (; ; ) is a historical area in southwestern France, in today's Aude ''département''. Several communes of the ''département'' include ''Razès'' in their name: * Bellegarde-du-Razès * Belvèze-du-Razès Belvèze-du-Razès (; ) is ...

and

Conflent Conflent (; ) is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent. The capital of this ''pays'' is Prades (), and it bor ...

(both previously ruled by Guillemundus). While Bernard was absent from Septimania (April to April, 829 – 830), Gaucelm also ruled his ''honores'':

Uzès Uzès (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Uzès lies about north-northeast of Nîmes, west of Avignon, and southeast of Alès. History Originally ''Ucetia'' or ''Eutica'' in Latin, Uzès wa ...

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

, Melguelh,

Agde Agde (; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Hérault. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi. It is situated on an ancient basalt volcano, hence the name "Black Pearl of the Mediterranée". Location Agde is locate ...

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

, Besalú, and Barcelona. In Autumn 831,

Pepin I of Aquitaine Pepin I or Pepin I of Aquitaine (French: ''Pépin''; 797 – 13 December 838) was King of Aquitaine and Duke of Maine. Pepin was the second son of Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye. When his father assigned t ...

revolted against his father, Emperor Louis the Pious. Bernard and Gaucelm supported Pepin. Subsequently invading royal forces quickly occupied Bernard's lands. In another assembly at Aachen in February 832, the whole region was assigned to

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

, while Gaucelm and Bernard were deposed later that same year. Gaucelm tried to resist and held out in Ampurias. Finally, in 833, after mediation with Ansegisus, Abbot of Fontanelle, he resigned and retired with Sanila to some familial properties in

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

. Gaucelm and Sanila were killed in the battle of

Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectu ...

the next year, while fighting for Louis the Pious against his son Lothair.

Sources

*Lewis, Archibald R.
The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050
'. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965. , - , - {{end 834 deaths Nobility of the Carolingian Empire Counts of Roussillon Counts of Empúries 8th-century births 9th-century counts in Europe