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Theodo of Bavaria

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Baptism of Duke Theodo by Bishop Rupert of Salzburg,St Peter's Abbey, Salzburg

Theodo(about 625 – 11 December c. 716), also known asTheodo VandTheodo II,was theDuke of Bavariafrom 670 or, more probably, 680 to his death. It is with Theodo that the well-sourcedhistory of Bavariabegins. He strengthened his duchy internally and externally and, according to the medieval chroniclerArbeo of Freising,he was a prince of great power whose fame extended beyond his borders.

Life[edit]

Theodo's descendance has not been conclusively established. A member of theAgilolfing dynasty,his father possibly was Duke Theodo IV of Bavaria (d. 680) and his mother was probably Fara of Bavaria (b. 600), daughter of one of the Kings of the Lombards and by her mother a granddaughter ofGisulf I of Friuli(b. 577).

Theodo established his capital atRatisbona(modernRegensburg). He married Folchaid, of the Frankish (possiblyRobertianas the daughter ofRobert II) aristocracy inAustrasia,to build diplomatic ties there. He intervened inLombardaffairs by harbouring the refugeesAnsprandandLiutprand,whom he assisted militarily on his return to claim theIron Crown.Liutprand later married his daughter Guntrude.[1]Theodo also defended his duchy ably from theAvars(with some failure in the east).

Theodo is the patron to the four great missionaries of Bavaria:Saint Rupert,[2]Saint Erhard,Saint Emmeram,[3]and probablySaint Corbinian.He was the first to draw up plans for the Bavarian church, aiming both at a deeper cultivation of the countryside as well as greater independence from theFrankish Kingdomby a closer association with the Pope.[4]In 716, he was the first Bavarian duke to travel toRome,where he conferred withPope Gregory II.[5]The diocesan seats were placed in the few urban centres, which served as the Duke's seats: Regensburg, Salzburg, Freising and Passau.[4]

Two of his children are involved with the death ofSaint Emmeram.Theodo's daughter Uta had become pregnant by her lover. Fearing her father's wrath, she confided to Emmeram and the saint promised to bear the blame, as he was about to travel to Rome. Soon after his departure, Uta's predicament became known and in keeping with the agreement she named Emmeram as the father. Her brotherLantpertwent after Emmeram and greeted him as "bishop and brother-in-law," i.e.,episcope et gener noster!Then he had Emmeram cut and torn into pieces. Theodo had the remains of the saint moved to Regensburg.[6]Nothing more is known of Lantpert and Uta.

Marriage and issue[edit]

According to theRenaissancehistoriansLadislaus Sunthaym(c.1440–1512/13) andJohannes Aventinus(1477–1534), Theodo marriedRegintrud,possibly a daughter of KingDagobert IofAustrasia.However, theVerbrüderungsbuchcodex ofSt Peter's Abbey, Salzburgonly mentions one Folchaid, probably a daughter of theRobertiancount Theutacar inWormsgau.They had the following children:

From another wife named Gleisnot of Friuli:

Theodo was eventually succeeded by his four other sons, between whom he divided his duchy sometime before 715.[7]As early as 702, his eldest son Theodbert had been reigning from Salzburg and from 711 or 712 was the co-ruler of his father. It is impossible to see if this division was territorial (as with theMerovingians) or purely a co-regency (as with the laterprinces of Benevento and Capua). If so, Theodbert's capital was probably Salzburg and theVita Corbinianiinforms that Grimoald had his seat in Freising. References to Theobald and theThuringiiimplies perhaps a capital at Regensburg and this leaves Tassilo at Passau. All of this is educated conjecture.

Ordinals[edit]

Some historians have distinguished between a DukeTheodo I,ruling around 680, and a DukeTheodo II,reigning in the early eighth century. Theodo I is associated with events involving Saint Emmeram, Uta and Lantpert, while Theodo II is associated with Saints Corbinian and Rupert, the ecclesiastical organisation and the division of the Duchy. However, no contemporary source indicates a distinction between different Dukes of that name.

To complicate matters even further, Bavarian tradition has referred to Theodo I and Theodo II asTheodo IVandTheodo Vrespectively to differentiate them from legendary Agilolfing ancestors Theodo I to III, all who would have reigned before 550.

References[edit]

  1. ^Collins, Roger.Charlemagne,Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998, p. 79ISBN9781349269242
  2. ^Michałowski, Roman.The Gniezno Summit: The Religious Premises of the Founding of the Archbishopric of Gniezno,Brill, 2016, p. 50ISBN9789004317512
  3. ^Kyle, Joseph D. "The Monastery Library at St. Emmeram (Regensburg)."The Journal of Library History(1974–1987),vol. 15, no. 1, University of Texas Press, 1980, pp. 1–21]
  4. ^abCollins 1998, p.80
  5. ^McKitterick, Rosamond.History and Memory in the Carolingian World,Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 175ISBN9780521534369
  6. ^Geary, Patrick J.,Phantoms of Remembrance: Memory and Oblivion at the End of the First Millennium,Princeton University Press, 2021, p. 41ISBN9781400843541
  7. ^Hodgkin, Thomas.Italy and Her Invaders: Frankish invasions, 744-774,Clarendon Press, 1899, p. 71

Sources[edit]

Preceded by
(3 generations before)
Garibald II
 Duke of Bavaria
680–716 		Succeeded by
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