Liutperga
Duchess of Bavaria
Reignc. 770 - c. 788
Bornc. 750
Diedc. 794
SpouseTassilo III, Duke of Bavaria
Issue
  • Theodo
  • Cotani
  • Hrodrud
  • Theodebert
FatherDesiderius, King of the Lombards
MotherAnsa
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Liutperga (Liutpirc) (fl 750 - fl. 793) was a Duchess of Bavaria by marriage to Tassilo III, the last Agilolfing Duke of Bavaria. She was the daughter of Desiderius, King of the Lombards, and Ansa.

Duchess of Bavaria

She was married to Tassilo at some point prior to 770, possibly in 763, to confirm the traditional alliance between Lombardy and Bavaria. The couple had four sons: Theodo, Cotani, Hrodrud and Theodebert.[1][2]

Political agency

It has been argued that Liutperga resented the Frankish king Charlemagne.[1] This argument is based on both the supposed repudiation of his marriage to Liutperga's sister Desiderata and his subsequent destruction of the Kingdom of Lombardy and imprisonment of her parents.

Liutperga played an apparently major role in her husband's opposition to Charlemagne. Frankish annals references to Liutperga suggest this. The Annales Mettense Priores refer to her as Tassilo's "wicked wife" and the Revised Royal Frankish Annals refer to the Liutperga's "urging" of her husband to push the Avars into conflict with Charlemagne.[2]

Liutperga is also referenced in a Freising charter of 804. The charter notes that a 'Bishop Arbeo' had angered Tassilo and Liutperga because of his close relations with the Franks and they had therefore removed churches from his possession.[2]

Later life

When, in 788, her husband was deposed and tonsured along with her eldest son Theodo, Liutperga is unaccounted for. However, the Murbach annals state that Charlemagne sent his agents to Bavaria for the wife and children of Tassilo. It was in the 788 trial that the Royal Frankish Annals describe Liutperga’s role in inciting her husband to plot against the Frankish kingdom.[3] That same year, her brother, Adalgis, launched a failed attempt to reclaim the Lombard kingdom via southern Italy with Byzantine assistance and afterward was never mentioned again.[4]

In 794, when Tassilo was placed on trial before the Council of Frankfurt and his dynasty renounced, Liutperga is yet again not mentioned. It has been suggested this could be due to her death.[2]

While in 802-3, years after she was last mentioned, it appears Charlemagne still considered Liutperga’s influence a threat as she is included in his capitularies as one of very few women mentioned.[5]

Tassilo Chalice

Reproduction of the 'Tassilo Chalice', c.770x788

The Tassilo chalice, a creation of someone with experience in insular craftmanship, somewhen between 770-788, was most likely a gift to the Kremsmünster monastery from Liutperga and Tassilo.[6] The inscriptions at the bottom of the cup read '+ Tassilo Dux fortis + Liutpirc virga regalis'. 'virga regalis' translates to 'the royal rod/branch'.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Airlie, Stuart (2009). Narratives of Triumph and Rituals of Submission: Charlemagne's Mastering of Bavaria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 98.
  2. ^ a b c d e Nelson, Janet L. (Janet Laughland), 1942- (2007). Courts, elites, and gendered power in the early Middle Ages : Charlemagne and others. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate. ISBN 9780754659334. OCLC 77004241.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Hammer, Carl I. (2007). From ducatus to regnum : ruling Bavaria under the Merovingians and early Carolingians. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. pp. 192, 195. ISBN 978-2-503-52582-2. OCLC 181142213.
  4. ^ Bertolini, Ottorino (1960). "Adelchi, re dei Longobardi". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani.
  5. ^ Hammer, Carl I. (2007). From ducatus to regnum : ruling Bavaria under the Merovingians and early Carolingians. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. p. 192. ISBN 978-2-503-52582-2. OCLC 181142213.
  6. ^ Ryan, Michael (1990). "The Formal Relationships of Insular Early Medieval Eucharistic Chalices". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature. 90: 281–356. JSTOR 25516070.
Preceded byHiltrud Duchess of Bavaria 770–788 Succeeded byFastrada
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