General Notes

Subject: Re: The Merovingian are among us !!!From:  ic<exet0133@sable.ox.ac.uk>Date:  Mon, 9 Dec 1c 1996 18:36:16+0000On Thu, 28 Nov 1996, ic wrote:> > Yoshiko & Laurent OHIERwrote:> > > > >> *Si> >>
*Sigisbert VI "Prince Ursus" d.884 or885, Last Merovingian count of> >>Rhedae, m.Rotilde, dauu. ofCharles II of France. He tries to revolt against> >>Louis II ofFrance but Fails. He must esccape in
Brittany. Their son is:> >> > I do remember seeing an Ursus mentioned in one of thevolumeumes of the HL> covering this period. I cannot at themoment recall the details or their Now it comcomes to
me. AnUrsus _princeps_ is mentioned in the account of the Translationof the body of St.BBausilus of Nimes c.878 (HL III, 4-5).The abtof Sassi les Bois in Auxerrois asked Bernard of othiaa for
hishelp in obtaining relics of St.Bausilus. Bernard went with 2 ofthe monks to Narbonne andnd obtained the agreement of AbpSigehard, who sent his archdeacon Theodard with the monks, whileBBernard
appointed Ursus as his representative. But when theygot to Nimes, the townspeople rose agagainst them and tried toprevent them from digging up the body. Thebps of Uzes and Nimesintervenedd and the
body was found 14-4-878, andlater some weregiven to the monks of Saissi.The editors of tf the HL thinkUrsus may have been vct of Nimes, successorof Bertrand: this ispossible, but nowherre attested.
'Princeps' if translated in anon-prejorative way, can simply mean, 'an importantman':': theterm _principes_ was regularly used by ninth century chroniclersto indicate the leading menn or nobles: it
should notreally betranslated as 'prince' .However there is no evidence thatUrsussus ever led a revolt in Gothia, although there  wererevolts at this time by Bernard of Gothia in n Burgundy
878-80,and by Miro son of Bera in Gothia 877-8. If he was a follower ofBernard he may  have been involved in his revolt in Burgundy. Hemay be the same Ursus/Urso who appears as the sonn in law of
thelate Ct Theoderic in a charter for St.Benoit sur Loire (Fleury)dated April 885. InIn this Theoderic son of Ct Theoderic andUrsus restore lands which Ct T had sent them to seize 2 yyearsprevious.
Levillain in his 'Nibelungens historiques' (Annales duMidi, 1937-38) identified ththe late Ct theoderic of thischarter with Ct Theoderic chamberlain of Louis II 878, andtitular ctt of Autun 878-9,
who along with many other noblesdrove Bernard of Gothia out of Autun in 879. Pererhaps Ursusswitched sides at this point.Either way, Ursus was not a titleof some mythical ct of f Razes, buta proper
name. A number ofUrsus/Ursius/Urso 's appear in documentsof Septimania/Gothiaiain the 8-9th centuries.
DATE 28 AUG 1999