Genial (Latin ''Genialis'' or ''Genealis'') was the

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 ...

(''

Vasconia 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 Frankis ...

'') in the early seventh century. He is mentioned in the ''

Chronicle of Fredegar The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century. The chronicle begi ...

''. Genial was probably a Frank or a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

when

Theuderic II Theuderic II (also spelled Theuderich, Theoderic or Theodoric; in French, ''Thierry'') ( 587–613), king of Burgundy (595–613) and Austrasia (612–613), was the second son of Childebert II. At his father's death in 595, he received Guntram's ...

and

Theudebert II Theudebert II () (c.585–612), King of Austrasia (595–612 AD), was the son and heir of Childebert II. He received the kingdom of Austrasia plus the cities (''civitates'') of Poitiers, Tours, Le Puy-en-Velay, Bordeaux, and Châteaudun, as ...

appointed him ''

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

'' over the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

(''Vascones'') of southwestern

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

Theudebert and Theuderic sent an army against the Wascones and with God's help defeated them, subjected them to their overlordship, and made them pay tribute. They appointed a duke named Genialis, who ruled them well.

Some scholars believe Genial was more of a tribal leader over whom the Frankish sovereigns exercised a vague suzerainty than a Frankish court official sent to the outskirts of the realm to lord it over a subject people. Sometime around 612,

Sisebut Sisebut (; ; also ''Sisebuth'', ''Sisebur'', ''Sisebod'' or ''Sigebut''; 565 – February 621) was Visigothic Kingdom, King of the Visigoths and ruler of Hispania, Gallaecia, and Septimania from 612 until his death in 621. His rule was marked ...

, king of the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

, reconquered the trans-Pyrenean portion of his realm, diminishing Frankish suzerainty in

.Collins, p 91. This included

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

and

Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantique ...

. Genial was succeeded by Aeghyna.

Notes

{{reflist

Sources

Collins, Roger Roger J. H. Collins (born 2 September 1949) is an England, English medievalist, currently an honorary fellow in history at the University of Edinburgh. Collins studied at the University of Oxford (The Queen's College, Oxford, Queen's and Saint ...

. ''The Basques''. Blackwell Publishing: London, 1990. * Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., translator.
The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations
'. Greenwood Press: Connecticut, 1960. *Lewis, Archibald R.
The Dukes in the Regnum Francorum, A.D. 550-751.
''Speculum'', Vol. 51, No. 3. (Jul., 1976), pp. 381–410.
Auñamendi Encyclopedia: Ducado de Vasconia

Monlezun, Jean Justin. ''Histoire de la Gascogne''. 1846.
* Higounet, Charles. ''Bordeaux pendant le haut moyen age''. Bordeaux, 1963. 627 deaths Dukes of Gascony 7th-century Frankish nobility Year of birth unknown 7th-century Gallo-Roman people