Waifer of Aquitaine

Waiofar (also spelled Waifar, Waifer or Waiffre) was the last independent Duke of Aquitaine from 745 to 768. He peacefully succeeded his father, Hunald I, after the latter entered a monastery. He also inherited the conflict with Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, and his nominal suzerain.

The beginning of open conflict between Waiofar and Pepin can be dated to 753, when the duke of Aquitaine granted asylum to Pepin's brother Grifo after the latter was forced to flee Francia because of his failed attempt at usurping the Duchy of Bavaria from its rightful lord. Pepin's immediate reaction is not recorded, but Grifo was subsequently assassinated while preparing to leave Aquitaine for Rome.

Between 752 and 759, Pepin's forces besieged the city of Narbonne, the chief town of Septimania, which had been conquered by the Arabs. For reasons unknown, Waiofar attacked Pepin's forces, "as his father had attacked Charles Martel" in the words of the Annals of Aniane. Only the local sources, the Chronicle of Moissac and Annals of Aniane, record this attack. Although the Chronicle of Uzès records that the Rouergue was conquered by Pepin in 754, during the siege of Narbonne, it is more likely that its conquest was effected with the assistance of the local Visigoths only after the fall of Narbonne (a Gothic city prior to the Arab conquest).

The Annals of Aniane and Chronicle of Moissac indicate that the Frankish army under Pepin began the conquest of southern Aquitaine immediately after the fall of Narbonne in 759, and by 760 Toulouse, Rodez (capital of the Rouergue) and Albi had fallen into their hands.

In 760, Pepin denounced Waiofar's seizure of church lands and prepared to march against him. Ignoring the latter's request for peace, Pepin invaded Berry and the Auvergne and ravaged "a large part of Aquitaine" (maximam partem Aquitaniae). In 761, Waiofar responded by ordering Count Chunibert of Bourges and Count Blandinus of the Auvergne, his followers who controlled the northeastern borders of Aquitaine, to assemble their forces for an attack on Chalon-sur-Saône. This army probably consisted mostly of local levies, since no Gascon (Basque) presence is mentioned. The Gascons (or Basques, Latin Vascones), whose presence the continuator of the Chronicle of Fredegar is otherwise scrupulous to record, were recruited from Gascony and served a professional core of Waiofar's army. In the ensuing campaign, Burgundy was ravaged, but Pepin pushed the invaders back and took the fortresses of Bourbon, Chantelle and Clermont in the Auvergne, forcing Count Blandinus to surrender. The garrison at Bourbon is described by the continuator of Fredegar as the "men of Waiofar" (homines Waiofarii). At the end of this campaign, Pepin obtained permanent control of many fortresses in the Auvergne by treaty.

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