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Radbod, King of the Frisians
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Radbod or Redbad (died 719) was the duke (or king) of Frisia from c. 680 until his death. He is often considered the last independent ruler of Frisia before Frankish domination.
e his father, king Aldegisel (or Eadgils, Aldgisl which can be translated as 'Old Whip'), had welcomed Christianity into his realm, Radbod attempted to extirpate the religion and free the Frisians from subjugation to the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks.
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Radbod or Redbad (died 719) was the duke (or king) of Frisia from c. 680 until his death. He is often considered the last independent ruler of Frisia before Frankish domination.
Reign
While his father, king Aldegisel (or Eadgils, Aldgisl which can be translated as 'Old Whip'), had welcomed Christianity into his realm, Radbod attempted to extirpate the religion and free the Frisians from subjugation to the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks. In 689, Radbod was, however, defeated by Pippin of Herstal in the battle of Dorestad and compelled to cede West Frisia (Frisia Citerior, meaning Nearer Frisia, from the Scheldt to the Vlie) to the Franks.
Between 690 and 692, Utrecht fell into the hands of Pippin of Herstal. This gave the Franks control of important trade routes on the Rhine to the North Sea. Some sources say that, following this defeat, Radbod retreated, in 697, to the island of Heligoland, others say he retreated to the part of the Netherlands that is still known as Friesland.
Around this time there was a Archbishopric or bishopric of the Frisians founded for Willibrord and a marriage was held between Grimoald the Younger the oldest son of Pepin, and Thiadsvind, the daughter of Redbad in 711.
On Pippin's death in 714, Radbod took the initiative again. He forced Saint Willibrord and his monks to flee and advanced as far as Cologne, where he defeated Charles Martel, Pippin's natural son, in 716. Eventually, however, Charles prevailed and compelled the Frisians to submit. Radbod died in 719, but for some years his successors struggled against the Frankish power.
An example of how powerful King Redbad still was at the end of his live was that the news that he was engaged in assembling an army was enough to fill France with fear and trembling.
Relation with the Church
During the second journey of Saint Boniface to Rome, Wulfram (or Vulfran), a monk and ex-archbishop of Sens tried to convert Radbod, but not succeeding he returned to Fontenelle. It is said that Radbod was nearly baptised, but refused when he was told that he would not be able to find any of his ancestors in Heaven after his death, since he preferred spending eternity in Hell with his pagan ancestors than in Heaven with his enemies, especially the Franks. This legend is also told with Wulfram being replaced with bishop Willibrord.
Willibrord tried this while on a Carolingian-sponsored mission into Frisia with the express purpose of trying to convert the pagan Frisians living there in the hope that, once they had converted to Christianity, the Franks could gain control of the important trade port Dorestad, which they had up to that point been unable to do.
In literature
In Harry Harrison's The Hammer and the Cross series of novels, Redbad becomes the founder of "the Way," an organized pagan cult organized to combat the efforts of Christian missionaries.
External links
See also
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