View source for Zwentibold

{{Short description|King of Lotharingia from 895 to 900}}
{{other people|Zwentibold|Svatopluk (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name           =Zwentibold
|title          =
|image          =Zwentibold-king.png
|caption        =Zwentibold ''dux Lotharingiae'', from the ''Chronicon Universale'', a 12th-century manuscript by [[Ekkehard of Aura]]
|succession     =[[List of rulers of Lorraine|King of Lotharingia]]
|reign          =895–900
|coronation     =
|predecessor    =[[Arnulf of Carinthia]]
|successor      =[[Louis the Child]]
|spouse         =Oda (daughter of Duke [[Otto I, Duke of Saxony|Otto I of Saxony]])
|issue          =
|full name      =
|house          =[[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]]
|house-type     =Dynasty
|father         =[[Arnulf of Carinthia]]
|mother         =Vinburga
|birth_date     ={{circa|870}}
|birth_place    =
|death_date     =13 August 900
|death_place    =
|place of burial=[[Susteren Abbey]]
}}
'''Zwentibold''' (''Zventibold'', ''Zwentibald'', ''Swentiboldo'', ''Sventibaldo'', ''Sanderbald''; {{circa|870}} – 13 August 900), a member of the [[Carolingian dynasty]], was the [[illegitimate]] son of [[Emperor Arnulf]].{{sfn|Collins|1999|p=360}} In 895, his father granted him the Kingdom of [[Lotharingia]], which he ruled until his death.{{sfn|Collins|1999|p=360}}

== Life ==
=== Early life ===
Zwentibold was born during the long reign of his great-grandfather, King [[Louis the German]] in [[East Francia]]. He was the first-born, yet illegitimate, son of [[Arnulf of Carinthia]] and his concubine Vinburga. Zwentibold's father was an illegitimate son of [[Carloman of Bavaria]], the eldest son of [[Louis the German]].  Zwentibold was named after his godfather [[Svatopluk I of Moravia|Svatopluk]], ruler of [[Great Moravia]] (Zwentibold being a Frankish transcription of Svatopluk).  After Louis' death in 876, Carloman ruled over the East Frankish territory of [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]] and ceded the adjacent [[march (territory)|marches]] of [[March of Pannonia|Pannonia]] and [[March of Carinthia|Carinthia]] (former [[Carantania]]) to his son Arnulf. In 887 Arnulf succeeded the incapable King [[Charles the Fat]] as king of East Francia.

When Zwentibold came of age, he intervened in the scramble for the throne in [[West Francia]] between Count [[Odo of France|Odo of Paris]] and [[Charles the Simple]], but they began to cooperate against Zwentibold, when it became apparent that he intended to become king of West Francia. The eldest son of Arnulf was at first marked out for his succession in East Francia. According to the 870 [[Treaty of Meerssen]] and the 880 [[Treaty of Ribemont]], the Lotharingian kingdom of former [[Middle Francia]] had fallen to the East Frankish realm. When in 893 King Arnulf's wife [[Ota (wife of Arnulf of Carinthia)|Ota]] gave birth to his legitimate son and successor [[Louis the Child]], Zwentibold in compensation received the Lotharingian royal title, which last had been held by [[Lothair II]].

=== King of Lotharingia ===
[[File:Zwentiboldbrunnen muenstereifel.jpg|thumb|Zwentibold fountain in [[Bad Münstereifel|Münstereifel]]]]
In the summer of 893 Arnulf received pleas of intervention against [[Guy IV of Spoleto|Wido of Spoleto]] from [[Pope Formosus]] and [[Berengar I of Italy|Berengar of Friuli]], king of Italy. Arnulf sent Zwentibold down the [[Brenner Pass]] with an army who joined forces with Berengar in [[Verona]].  The two marched to Wido's capital, [[Pavia]], and besieged it unsuccessfully, finally abandoning the siege. According to [[Liutprand of Cremona]], Zwentibold accepted money from Wido in order to leave, although it is not clear if it was in the form of a personal bribe or a tribute to his father. Zwentibold's retreat was nonetheless seen as a failure, but after learning details of the campaign, Arnulf summoned a stronger army and personally led it to Italy and took Pavia a few months later.

As a part of the plans to integrate [[Lotharingia]] into the [[East Francia|East Frankish]] realm, the rule of King Zwentibold was enforced by his father, supported by the archbishops [[Herman I (archbishop of Cologne)|Herman I of Cologne]] and [[Ratbod (archbishop of Trier)|Ratbod of Trier]], against the resistance of the local nobility. As he helped the common population too much, he began to be hated in a few years.{{Cn|date=January 2024}}  He was fighting unruly nobles when his father Arnulf died in 899 and the legitimate son Louis the Child became king of East Francia at the age of six.{{sfn|Collins|1999|p=360}}

=== Death and legacy ===
Zwentibold attempted to take advantage of the succession of his minor half-brother to establish complete independence for his Lotharingian kingdom. However, after he had lost his father's backing, the entire nobility supported Louis and asked him to intervene.  In 900, Count [[Reginar Longneck|Reginar I of Hainault]] and Odoacer rose against Zwentibold and slew him in battle that year, on the river [[Meuse]], near present-day [[Susteren]].<ref name="AMOAL">{{Cite book| title=A Manual of Alsace-Lorraine| volume=2 | page=162| location=London| publisher= Naval Intelligence Division|date=1919}}</ref>  His remains are buried at [[Susteren Abbey]].

After Zwentibold's death, King [[Louis the Child]] ruled over Lotharingia.  However, under his reign the East Frankish realm disintegrated and from 903 Zwentibold's kingdom was administered by the [[Lahngau]] Count [[Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine|Gebhard]], a scion of the [[Conradines|Conradine]] dynasty, who received the title of [[Duchy of Lorraine|Duke of Lorraine]].

==Family==
In 897, he married [[Oda of Saxony|Oda]], a daughter of Duke [[Otto I, Duke of Saxony|Otto I of Saxony]].{{sfn|Greer|2021|p=xiv}} He had three daughters, who are mentioned in the ''[[Gesta episcoporum Leodensium]]'':
* Benedetta (born c. 898), abbey of [[Susteren]]
* Cecilia (born c. 899), abbey of Susteren
* Relenda (born c. 900)

They also had one son, named Otto de Lorraine. He died in 949.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book |last=Bauer |first=Thomas |chapter=Zwentibold (870–900), König von Lotharingien: Ein merkwürdiger Heiliger |title=Porträt einer europäischen Kernregion: Der Rhein-Mass-Raum in historischen Lebensbildern |editor1-first=Franz |editor1-last=Irsigler |editor2-first=Gisela |editor2-last=Minn |year=2005 |location=Trier |publisher=Kliomedia |pages=16–38 |isbn=3-89890-087-8 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Collins |first=Roger |year=1999 |title=Early Medieval Europe 300–1000 |edition=2nd |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan }}
*{{cite book |title=Commemorating Power in Early Medieval Saxony: Writing and Rewriting the Past at Gandersheim and Quedlinburg |first=Sarah |last=Greer |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-19-885013-7 }} xiv
* [[Annales Fuldenses]], sive Annales regni Francorum orientalis, 10th century.
* [[Liutprand of Cremona]], Antapodosis, 10th century

== External links ==
* {{Germania Sacra|118637525}}
* [http://opac.regesta-imperii.de/lang_de/suche.php?tags=118637525 Literature on Zwentibold] in the OPAC of the Regesta Imperii
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{{s-hou|[[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]]||{{circa|870}}|13 August|900}}
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|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Arnulf of Carinthia|Arnulf]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Lotharingia]]|years=895–900}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Louis the Child]] (King)<br>[[Gebhard of Lorraine|Gebhard]]<br>(as Duke of Lorraine)}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Arnulf of Carinthia|Arnulf]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Markgraf]] of [[Carinthia]]|years=888–900}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Louis the Child]]}}
{{end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwentibold}}
[[Category:870s births]]
[[Category:900 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Frankish warriors]]
[[Category:Kings of Lotharingia]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic royal saints]]
[[Category:Sons of emperors]]
[[Category:9th-century Lotharingian people]]
[[Category:Monarchs of the Carolingian Empire]]
[[Category:Frankish kings]]