Godefried, Duke of Alamannia

[Adrienne Boaz]

Dear Medieval Genealogists,

I am trying to determine if the Godfrid written of on page 262 of The Dark Ages: 476-918, by Charles Oman, is the same Godefried who was perhaps the father of Huoching. This is what Mr. Oman wrote:
"Another series of campaigns were directed against the Suabians. Pippin followed them into the depths of their forests, and compelled their duke Godfrid to acknowledge himself, as his fathers had done, the vassal of the Franks."

This is the information I have written thus far about Godefried (but I removed the superscript codes which cite my sources, in case they don't come out nicely as superscript when you read this e-mail):
"Godefried,
Duke of Alamanniawas the duke from the years 687 until his
death in 709. His name has also been spelled “Gotefridus”
and “Godafred”, and he was an ancestor of Hildegarde, a wife of Charlemagne and the father of Huoching, as well as Lantfrid I and
Theudebald."

Do you suppose they may be the same individual? Thank you for your time.
 - Adrienne Boaz

[Stewart Baldwin]

They are the same man. There are a number of slightly differing forms of the name of Gottfried (to give the modern German form of his name), including the ones you list above. Of the six early sets of annals to give his date of death, four give 709 and two give 708, so I would be inclined to say that he died either in 708 or 709.

As for 687 as the year in which he became duke, that seems very uncertain to me. So far as I can tell, it comes from a late statement that there existed a[n apparently lost] charter in the name of duke Gottefridus of Alemannia written in the 20th year of his "ducatus", more or less 13 years before the abbacy of Othmar ["Exstant Chartæ nomino Gottefridi Alamanniæ Ducis anno Ducatus eius XX. scriptæ, annis plus minus XIII ante Abbatem Othmarem." Goldast, Alamannicarum rerum scriptores aliquot vetusti (Frankfurt, 1606), 1: 176]. Thus, someone has apparently obtained the year 687 by subtracting 33 (20+13) from 720, the year often given for the beginning of the abbacy of Othmar, but itself subject to some uncertainty. Observe that the notice mentioning the charter is obviously not contemporary, and that the 13 year span is qualified as only approximate.

Stewart Baldwin

[Adrienne Boaz]

Thank you, Mr. Baldwin! That information about the year in which he attained the duchy is very helpful, as well.
 - Adrienne Boaz

________________________________
From: Stewart Baldwin <sba...@mindspring.com>
To: Adrienne Boaz <adrien...@yahoo.com>; Gen <GEN-ME...@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 5, 2012 4:00 PM
Subject: Re: Godefried, Duke of Alamannia