Wihomarc or Wiomarc'h (; died 825) was a

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

chieftain "who seemed to have greater authority than the other Breton leaders" and who revolted against Frankish overlordship in 822 and held on to his power until his death. His rebellion may have been incited by the creation of a Frankish county in Poutrocoet sometime between 818 and 820. His was the first rebellion in Brittany since

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 ...

pacified the region after the failed rebellion and death of

Morman Morman (also spelled Morvan, Morwan, or Moruuan) (died 818) was a Bretons, Breton chieftain who was declared king (''rex'') after the death of the Bretons' Franks, Frankish overlord Charlemagne in 814. He is the first person known by name to be de ...

in 818. In the fall of 822,

Lambert I of Nantes Lambert I (died 836) was the Count of Nantes and Prefect of the Breton March between 818 and 831 and Duke of Spoleto between 834 and 836. Lambert succeeded his father Guy. Lambert participated in an expedition undertaken by Louis the Pious in ...

led the other counts of the

Breton march The Marches of Neustria (; ; Norman: ''Maurches de Neûtrie'') were two marches created in 861 by the Carolingian king of West Francia Charles the Bald. They were ruled by officials appointed by the Monarchy of France (or the Crown), known as w ...

against Wihomarc, but the resistance put up prevented him from being captured or killed. When the insurrection flared up again in 824, Louis himself led the armies of the Franks, which had assembled at

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

in September. This suggests that the locus of Wihomarc's power was in the north of Brittany (west of

Domnonée Domnonée is the modern French form of Domnonia or Dumnonia (Latin for "Devon"; ), a historic kingdom in northern Armorica ( Brittany) founded by British immigrants from Dumnonia ( Sub-Roman Devon) fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britain in t ...

) and not in the south and west like Morman's.Smith, 66. The imperial army divided into three

battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

, one led by Louis and two under the command of his sons Pepin and

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

. For six weeks the Franks ravaged Brittany, but again Wihomarc did not give up and the army returned to

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

in November. According to

Regino of Prüm Regino of Prüm or of Prum (, ; died 915 AD) was a Benedictine Order, Benedictine monk, who served as abbot of Prüm Abbey, Prüm (892–99) and later of St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier, Saint Martin's at Trier, and chronicler, whose ''Chronicon'' is ...

, whose chronology is horribly inaccurate, Louis was defeated by the Bretons in 836, but it is the campaign of 824 which he probably has in mind.Smith, 66 and n29. Both the '' Vita Hludowici'' and the ''

Royal Frankish Annals The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state of ...

'' mention the breadth and depth of the devastation of the imperial army, but ignore the ultimate success or lack thereof of the campaign; this probably indicates it was a setback. In May 825, Wihomarc led the other Breton leaders to

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 ...

to make peace with Louis, who pardoned them, granted them gifts, and made other concessions to them on the receiving of vows of loyalty. On his return, he was killed in his home by Lambert of Nantes for making peace with 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� ...

. As the subsequent viscounts of Léon used the name Wihomarc (Guiomar) in their family, it has been hypothesised that they descended from him.

Sources

*Smith, Julia M. H. ''Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians''. Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Notes

{{Breton monarchs 825 deaths 9th-century monarchs of Brittany Year of birth unknown