:''See
Gottfried
Gottfried is a masculine German given name.
It is derived from the Old High German name , recorded since the 7th century, and composed of the elements (conflated from the etyma for "God" and "good", and possibly further conflated with ) and ("pe ...
for the given name.''
Cotefredus (also ''Gotfrid'' or ''Gotefrid'', modernized ''Gottfried'') (c. 650–709) was the Duke of
Alamannia 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
The Duchy of Bavaria () was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarians, Bavarian tribes and ruled by List of rulers of Bavaria, dukes (''duces'') ...
.
In a document dated to the year 700 in
Cannstatt, Cotefredus at the request of a priest named Magulfus donated the castle of
Biberburg to the monastery of
Saint Gall.
Cotefredus fought a war over his ''de facto'' independence with the
mayor of the palace
Under the Merovingian dynasty, the mayor of the palace or majordomo,
( or ) was the manager of the household of the Frankish king. He was the head of the Merovingian administrative ladder and orchestrated the operation of the entire court. He ...
Pepin of Heristal. The war was unfinished when Cotefredus died in 709. His sons,
Lanfredus and
Theudebald
Theudebald (in modern English, ''Theobald''; in French, ''Thibaut'' or ''Théodebald''; in German, ''Theudowald'') (534 – 555), son of Theudebert I and Deuteria, was the king of Metz, Rheims, or Austrasia—as it is variously called ...
, had the support of Pepin and succeeded him.
It has often been stated that Cotefredus married a daughter of
Theodo of Bavaria, but there is no conclusive evidence to support this assertion. It is largely based on conjecture, because his third son,
Odilo, later ruled in Bavaria. Furthermore, Cotefredus 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, wife of
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 ...
. 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.
Issue
* From his son
Huoching (Huocin, Houchi, or Hug) (675-744) came the later stock of the
Ahalolfings.
*Daughter, Regarde married
Hildeprand of Spoleto.
* Lanfredus (-730), Duke of Alamannia
* Theudebald (-745), Duke of Alamannia
* Odilo (Bef 709-748), Duke of Bavaria
* Liutfrid, youngest son.
Sources
*Geuenich, Dieter. ''Geschichte der Alemannen''.
Kohlhammer Verlag: Stuttgart, 2004.
Gotfrid at Mittelalter-Geneaolgie
{{Authority control
Alemannic monarchs
Alemannic warriors
7th-century Frankish nobility
650s births
709 deaths
7th-century dukes in Europe
Ahalolfing dynasty