Gerold, Prefect of Bavaria

Gerold (died 799) was an Alamannian nobleman who served the Frankish King, Charlemagne, as Margrave of the Avarian March and Prefect of Bavaria in what is now South-Eastern Germany. Gerold played a significant role in the integration of Bavaria into the Frankish Kingdom during Carolingian expansion in the late 8th, and early 9th centuries. Gerold both aided the continuity of Agilofing rule of Bavaria, as well as took steps to integrate Bavarians into the wider scope of the Frankish Kingdom. Gerold was related both to the Agilofing family, the ruling class of Bavaria, as well as the Carolingian family. The Agilofings had ruled Bavaria since Duke Garibald I in 548. Gerold was born into the Agilofings, and his sister Hildegard was married to Charlemagne in 771.From these familial connections, he was appointed Prefect of Bavaria following the deposition of Duke Tassilo III in 788. Gerold was heralded as a superb military commander, giving rise to his promotion to Prefect as a defender of the eastern border of the Frankish Kingdom. In 799, Gerold is said to have fallen in battle against the Avars, shortly after the same Avars killed his ally, Erich, Duke of Friuli, through treachery.

The Agilofing family had dominated the position of Duke of Bavaria from 548 until 788, when Duke Tassilo II was deposed in the wake of his surrender of the Duchy of Bavaria. In 787, following the conquests of both Lombardy and Saxony by the Franks, the Frankish King, Charlemagne, invaded Bavaria from Pannonia, determined to seize it as a buffer state against the Avars, much like he had done in Friuli. In October of 787, having been unable to mount a suitable defense against the Franks, Tassilo III was forced to capitulate, surrendering to Charlemagne both himself and his Duchy, in the hope of continued rule as a vassal to the Frankish King. No such good will was to be found. In 788, following a brief continued rule by Tassio, Charlemagne had him retroactively accused and denounced as an oath-breaker, as he had betrayed the Franks, and namely Charlemagne's father Pippin, years earlier. Tassilo III was sentenced to death. This sentence was commuted, and Tassilo III was sentenced to monastic exile. Tassilo would eventually be called out of exile to surrender all claim to his Ducal title.

Charlemagne appointed Gerold as Prefect of Bavaria in 788, after Tassilo III was exiled. Gerold was an ideal candidate as he was Charlemagne's brother-in-law; his sister Hildegard had married Charlemagne in 771, as it was common for Carolingian kings to take their wives from the aristocracy of neighboring states. Gerold was also part of the Agilofing family, the traditional rulers of the region. This would aid Bavaria, and particularly the Bavarian aristocracy, in making a smooth transition from Duchy to Frankish Prefecture. Bavaria had long seen itself an independent state, yet throughout the reign of the Merovingian as well as the Carolingian Frankish dynasties, they saw it as a far-flung, unruly, yet still Frankish duchy. With Gerold in power, with ties to both the Agilofing Bavarian aristocracy, as well as the Carolingians through Charlemagne, Bavaria would be brought more into the fold of the Frankish Kingdom. Gerold made his seat of power at Lorch. From here he was granted considerable power in comparison with other counts throughout the Frankish Kingdom, making final rulings on matters such as church inheritances, as well as being in charge of the Bavarian army in times of war. Gerold would go on to battle the Avars to the south-west, as Charlemagne appointed Gerold to prefect of Bavaria well aware of his military prowess, with his main focus during his rule as prefect to be that of a military commander rather than a civil administrator.

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