Chapter 13: An Excerpt from Lords of Aquitaine: a history from 9th to 15th Century by Professor Benedict De Poitou-Hughes (Emeritus Professeur de Sorbonne)
1st Published 2005 (2nd Edition)
Bretagne! 919 to 929 AD
A Twin Track Policy Aim:
If anything can be said of the next decade of Duke Aldebert’s tenure as Duke it was that he single-mindedly pursued two aims: the acquisition of the remnants of the ancient Kingdom of Brittany almost from under the noses of his nearest rivals in Anjou and Normandy-not to mention the king himself; the other was to keep in his sovereign’s good graces-something he singularly achieved by a series of stunning diplomatic missions to repair and improve relations between some of the most powerful magnates in the realms and their king.
Historians have long debated why and how it was that Aldebert and his predecessors before were allowed to brazenly steal Brittany piece-by-piece, county by county. At the least should not have the Dukes of Normandy of Anjou (powerful magnates in their own right and both neighbouring Brittany to south and east) have objected or stood in his way? Or the king, Charles: a capricious and cruel man? But, in truth, this is too simplistic: we must recall that there was a compact between first Ramnulf and his liege, then Gauzbert and the same man-this continued into Charles’s reign and though there were tensions between the two the compact held. By the time of Aldebert’s accession we should also recall that he was the smoothest diplomat in the Royal Court, he was also very well liked by nearly all his rivals. On top of all of this he was rich and powerful-who, exactly, bar the king would stand in his way? It was a perfect cocktail of circumstances that guaranteed that the diplomat Duke would continue to his aim unopposed.
The Angouleme Conspiracy (922 AD)
The year 921 brought several key events: Aldebert appointed a new Chancellor and Steward for it seemed that the rigours of serving upon the demanding Duke’s Council did not necessarily agree with his advisors’ health. At the same time the rich county of Orléans was finally regained from the hapless German King Arnulf III who had only recently acceded to the throne of the East Franks after his father’s death through stress.
The Duke, meanwhile, was in Tours, presumably working his magic on Duchess Adelinde of Anjou given this was her ancient seat of power. Along with her husband, Boudewijn of Flanders these two powerful magnates could be a very worrisome thorn in the King’s side if the enmity they had displayed towards him had been allowed to continue unabated. But Aldebert was no mean Chancellor-he used all the considerable charm at his disposal first on Boudewijn and then once he had received assurances that this Flemish Lord now held his King
‘through the great love that I bear you Aldebert’ he had written in a letter sent to the Duke and his spouse Adelinde on one of the many occasions that West Francia’s own power couple were apart in order to separately rule their own demesnes.
Aldebert for all that he was known as a most demanding lord was also known as a kind man. There are no less than twelve epistles or letters that make reference to this part of his nature from various petty lords or bishops and burghers. Perhaps the most well known of these is that written by Mayor Arnoul of Royan to the great and the good of that town early in 921:
(Translated from Langue D’Oc) …And we can only hope and pray that our lord returns to us in a short while for how else describe the yearning in all of our hearts for that good and pious man, that man who esteems Christ and all his saints but yet who has the kindliest words for the lowest amongst us. Who tends us as a loving, kind father would care for their children-has not words of stricture or harshness but only those of purest concern and care for all.
The Duke was clearly well loved by all. So it is most strange that, in May 922 AD, his name became attached to one of the most sinister episodes of his rule-namely the assassination of Count Roubaud of Angoulême. What is known is that, at that time, the Count, younger brother of a boy murdered by order of Aldebert’s own father Ramnulf II, had broken pact with his Lord and openly declared himself to be the only true and sensible heir to the Duchies. Before long a majority of the Electors were backing him. Usually Aldebert’s
modus operandi would have been to discourage or indeed encourage the recalcitrant baron but whether he considered the blood feud between their families extant or whether he simply panicked we do now know that he was the guiding hand behind the Count’s poisoning at the hands of his own Spymaster, one Perinne Capet. How do we know? Many of the contemporary accounts cite Capet as the person behind the assassination and therefore the only man who could bring him to justice was the Duke. Did Aldebert order Capet clapped into irons and thrown into the darkest
oubliette? Far from it-the Spymaster was instead rewarded with money and land and presumably the thanks of a grateful Duke.
Don't mess with the De Poitous!
It was the one stain on an otherwise unblemished character whose goodly nature somehow rose above that of his peers and certainly his king at a time when cruelty, avariciousness and vice were the hallmarks of the nobility. It may even have been true that his fellow peers now treated him with no small measure of respect as well as love since he had shown that he could also match ruthlessness with kindness. There was also the matter of the spy in the castle grounds…
Well I can't ALWAYS be kind can I?
French Culture
Around this time French culture was rapidly beginning to dominate the lands of Poitiers and Aquitaine. The high-ranking nobility were adopting French, rather than Occitan mores. Dress was becoming more French and cuisine, certainly amongst the highborn was going the same way. The Langue d’Oc, once the common tongue of the peasantry and many of their masters was gradually dying out to be replaced by old French. This was certainly true in Poitiers, Saintonge and Lusignan. Undoubtedly the Duke might have wished that the same was true of Bretagne where the people there clung stubbornly to their ancient customs. The Duke was concerned enough about this that he despatched his Chaplain to Léon to reverse the tide of rampant nationalism in these parts. Also promised to all in the old Poitevin and Aquitainian counties were lands to be farmed and tilled-no matter the Bretons displaced.
A Procession of Popes
On 10th December 921 the venerable Holy Father, Pope John Paul died after a protracted period of illness-he was succeeded by Sixtus IV. This was, in itself, unremarkable but for the fact that over the course of the next nine years no fewer than three Popes were chosen and no fewer than three died…this meant that in the decade 920 to 930 there were four Popes in total. None were able to stamp their imprimatur on the papacy and therefore the Christian kingdoms they purported to guide. Such instability and what has been described as the
infirmitatem papa at a time when it was most needed emboldened catholic Christianity’s enemies and ensured that there was no concerted push back to Muslim and heathen gains in all parts of Christian Europe. This was particularly problematic for the realm of West Francia where its southern Duchy of Barcelona was concerned, comprising as it did one of the richest parts of Hispania and the Baleares. The repeated Jihads called against that territory were to have the gravest of implications for West Francia, its King and its most potent Lords.
Gains and Losses
In October 925 Aldebert finally declared war on King Berenger ‘the Usurper’ in support of his cousin Agathe’s claim as Countess of Vannes to the County of Domnonia, one of three remaining counties in the rump kingdom of Breizh. The Bretons must have rued the day that one of their ancestors, Duke Saloman, allied themselves with a Norse Chief and engineered the fall of Ramnulf’s grandfather at the Battle of Brissarthe almost sixty years previously. Since then three successive Dukes of Aquitaine had taken on the mantle of Brittany’s nemesis and Aldebert meant to finish the job.
As was his wont the Duke was nowhere near the press of battle, instead taking time to send strategic instructions to his generals and councillors on the conduct of the war. Indeed the campaign started badly when Aldebert’s ally, Countess Elsebed of Mortain, who had generously sent almost five hundred of her soldiers to assist, heard news with fury that these had been ambushed as they marched to join forces with the Aquitainians in Thouars. The battle took place in Roazhon and it was a rout as the Bretons outnumbered the Normans four to one.
If Aldebert was dismayed at this early setback it did not show-instead with a telling display of financial muscle he merely hired the services of the renowned Catalan Band whose nineteen hundred seasoned routiers joined forces with Count Otton’s army and marched north to join battle with the enemy in February 926.
The hapless Bretons were finally run to ground on the 18th March 926 and in as one sided an encounter as was likely witnessed in those times the over four thousand men of Aquitaine utterly shattered an enemy of less than half their numbers. Otton lost only one hundred and eighty five to the enemy’s well over a thousand. This was partly the superior numbers, partly the better tactics and armour that the Aquitainians possessed versus their more lightly armed adversary and partly the sheer ferocity of the Catalan Band who amassed the most casualties amongst their foe.
Let's be 'avin ya Bretons!
A rout!
Though it would take another year to flush all resistance from the chateaus and holdfasts dotted around the county this war was, to all intents and purposes finished that spring.
Thus it must have been with jaundiced eye indeed that at the same time he was receiving joyous news of the victories in Brittany, Aldebert received this letter that has been preserved in the Louvre in Paris that was sent to him by his Duchess:
My love
Encase your goodly heart in steel for I bring you grievous news from Bavaria. Our daughter, Constance, resides now with the angels-this sad world will never again pen her in. In the frosty mountains of Bavaria she was taken ill with the same dread disease that carried away Aléarde. It is said that her paramour, Prince Liutbert is beside himself with sorrow but I can imagine that it is nothing compared to that which you will feel, knowing you as I do and knowing also how much you did dote on our little girls.
Hie you back to us in Saintes my Duke where you can be wrapped up in the warm embrasure of family: your youngest daughter, Mélisande does pine for you and your little boy, Gauzbert who continues to thrive. Come ye back my lord so that I can love you again and in that warmth and affection we can forget the losses we have borne.
Always your wife
Imagina
My eldest daughter-gone :'-(
In April 927 Domnonia fell to the relentless Aquitainians and Agathe was pronounced Countess of Penthièvre and Vannes. At this time, though Aldebert was compelled to warn her against involving herself in factions against him, much like her father, he was still able to pronounce himself Duke of Bretagne in the same month, thus granting him
de jure rights over the two remaining Breton counties of Kernev and Roazhon. It was only a matter of time before they too fell under his dominion.
Very satisfied with that!
Now the fifty two year old Aldebert was a Duke thrice over-he was also the singular most powerful lord in the realm. Let all tremble…
Lord of Poitiers, Aquitaine AND Bretagne-bring it!
