Eric of Friuli

Eric (also Heirichus or Ehericus; died 799) was the Duke of Friuli (dux Foroiulensis) from 789 to his death. He was the eldest son of Gerold of Vinzgouw and by the marriage of his sister Hildegard the brother-in-law of Charlemagne.

An elegy composed by Paulinus II, Patriarch of Aquileia on the occasion of the death of his friend Eric, reveals that Eric had been born at "urbs dives Argentea", a Latin name of Frankish Strasbourg. The elegy and another work of Paulinus called the Liber Exhortationis, a work which draws from the Bible and certain Fathers of the Church to offer instruction on how to live a morally upright Christian life while carrying out secular duties, indicates that Eric was a pious Catholic. Eric was appointed to the Carolingian Duchy of Friuli in 789, about two years after the death of the previous duke, Marcarius.

Eric governed the Duchy of Friuli from Cividale, the former Lombard capital and also residence of the Patriarch of Aquileia. Much of Eric's tenure as duke of Friuli was occupied by the task of subduing the nearby Avars. In this he was accompanied by Pepin of Italy and his own father, the margrave of Avaria. In 791, he and Pepin marched a Lombard army into the Drava valley and ravaged Pannonia, while Charlemagne marched along the Danube into Avar territory. Charlemagne left the campaigning to deal with a Saxon revolt in 792, while Pepin and Eric continued to assault the Avars' ring-shaped strongholds. The great Ring of the Avars, their capital fortress, was taken twice, and the booty was sent to Charlemagne in Aachen and redistributed to all his followers and even to foreign rulers, including King Offa of Mercia.

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