Seguin IISeguin is but one of several possible variations on this duke's name. Seguin (also Siguin or Sigwin) is a Gascon name. It is of Germanic origin (''sig-'', that is, "victory", cf.

modern German New High German (NHG; ) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic of the period is the developme ...

''sieg'', and ''-win'', that is, "friend", related to

modern English Modern English, sometimes called New English (NE) or present-day English (PDE) as opposed to Middle and Old English, is the form of the English language that has been spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England England is a Count ...

"win"). Semen is 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 ...

name. It is either the Basque version of the biblical name Simon or a native Basque name based on the word ''seme'' (meaning "son"). It is also spelled Semen, Semeno, Xemen, or Ximen and gave rise to the Castilian Ximeno and Jimeno. Both Semen and Seguin, unrelated names, are found in sources. (died 846), called Mostelanicus, was the Count of Bordeaux and Saintes from 840 and

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 ...

from 845. He was either the son or grandson of Seguin I, the duke appointed by

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 ...

. When

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 ...

subdued

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 ...

and took it from his rebellious grandson Pepin II in 839, he began partitioning it into counties for those loyal to him. Seguin was one of the new counts. It was probably the emperor's intention to install a duke with local connections to offset the power of

Sancho Sánchez Sancho Sánchez (Floruit, fl. 1075–1127) was an important magnate of the Kingdom of Aragon in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, during the reigns of Sancho Ramírez, Peter I of Aragon and Navarre, Peter I and Alfonso the Battler, Alfonso I ...

, the local factional leader who opposed both Pepin and then Louis. Seguin continued to support Louis until his death and then his successor in the west,

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 ...

, but his fidelity to the latter wavered and he went over to the side of Pepin. He was rewarded with the title of ''dux Wasconum''—Duke of Gascony—which probably referred to the

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 ...

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

against the Gascons of Sancho. In Autumn 845, Seguin marched on the

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

assaulting

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and Saintes but was captured and put to death.

Notes

Bibliography

Monlezun, Jean Justin. ''Histoire de la Gascogne''. 1846.
*Higounet, Charles. ''Bordeaux pendant le haut moyen age''. Bordeaux, 1963. 846 deaths Dukes of Gascony Year of birth unknown Date of death unknown {{France-noble-stub