Waroch was an early
BretonThe Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who settled the area from south western Great Britain in two waves from the 4th to 6th centuries. The traditional language of Brittany is Breton and is...
ruler of the Vannetais. Waroch gave his name to the traditional French province of
BroërecBroërec is a traditional French province in the south of Brittany. It derives its name from Waroch, a 6th century warlord who called the region Bro Waroch ....
(
Bro-Waroch, "Waroch's Country"). However, it is possible that there were several successive local leaders with this name.
In
578-Asia:* Kongo Gumi, the world's oldest continuously operating company , is founded in Osaka, Japan.-Deaths:* July 30—Jacob Baradaeus, bishop of Edessa* October 5—Justin II, Roman emperor* Northern Zhou Wu Di, Chinese ruler...
,
Chilperic IChilperic I was the king of Neustria from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of Clotaire I, sole king of the Franks, and Aregund....
sent an army to fight Waroch along the
VilaineThe Vilaine is a river in Brittany, in the west of France. The river's source is in the Mayenne département , and flows out in the Atlantic Ocean at Pénestin in the Morbihan département . It is 218 km long...
. The Frankish army consisted of units from the
PoitouPoitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....
,
TouraineThe Touraine is a former province of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Indre.-Geography:...
,
AnjouAnjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
,
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
, and
BayeuxBayeux is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in north-western France.Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, one of the oldest surviving complete tapestries in the world.-Administration:Bayeux is a sub-prefecture of Calvados...
. The
Baiocassenses (men from Bayeux) were
SaxonsThe Saxons were a confederation of Old Germanic tribes. Their modern-day descendants in Lower Saxony and Westphalia and other German states are considered ethnic Germans ; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch; those in north...
and they in particular were routed by the Bretons.
Waroch was an early
BretonThe Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who settled the area from south western Great Britain in two waves from the 4th to 6th centuries. The traditional language of Brittany is Breton and is...
ruler of the Vannetais. Waroch gave his name to the traditional French province of
BroërecBroërec is a traditional French province in the south of Brittany. It derives its name from Waroch, a 6th century warlord who called the region Bro Waroch ....
(
Bro-Waroch, "Waroch's Country"). However, it is possible that there were several successive local leaders with this name.
In
578-Asia:* Kongo Gumi, the world's oldest continuously operating company , is founded in Osaka, Japan.-Deaths:* July 30—Jacob Baradaeus, bishop of Edessa* October 5—Justin II, Roman emperor* Northern Zhou Wu Di, Chinese ruler...
,
Chilperic IChilperic I was the king of Neustria from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of Clotaire I, sole king of the Franks, and Aregund....
sent an army to fight Waroch along the
VilaineThe Vilaine is a river in Brittany, in the west of France. The river's source is in the Mayenne département , and flows out in the Atlantic Ocean at Pénestin in the Morbihan département . It is 218 km long...
. The Frankish army consisted of units from the
PoitouPoitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....
,
TouraineThe Touraine is a former province of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Indre.-Geography:...
,
AnjouAnjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
,
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
, and
BayeuxBayeux is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in north-western France.Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, one of the oldest surviving complete tapestries in the world.-Administration:Bayeux is a sub-prefecture of Calvados...
. The
Baiocassenses (men from Bayeux) were
SaxonsThe Saxons were a confederation of Old Germanic tribes. Their modern-day descendants in Lower Saxony and Westphalia and other German states are considered ethnic Germans ; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch; those in north...
and they in particular were routed by the Bretons. The armies fought for three days before Waroch submitted, did homage for Vannes, sent his son as a hostage, and agreed to pay an annual tribute. He subsequently broke his oath, but Chilperic's dominion over the Bretons was relatively secure, as evidence by
Venantius FortunatusSaint Venantius Fortunatus or Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus was a Latin poet and hymnodist, and a Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church.-Life:...
' celebration of it in a poem.
In
587For the processor, see NexGen Nx587.- Europe :* Sledda becomes king of Essex.* Guntram, king of Paris, adopts Childebert II.- Asia :* The Nan Liang Dynasty of Ancient China ends.* Emperor Sushun ascends to the throne of Ancient Japan....
,
GuntramSaint Guntram was the king of Burgundy from 561 to 592. He was a son of Chlothar I and Ingunda...
compelled obedience from Waroch. He forced the renewal of the oath of 578 in writing and demanded 1,000
solidi in compensation for raiding the
NantaisNantais is the adjectival form of Nantes, a city in the French département of Loire-Atlantique. It is found in culinary terms such as Beurre nantais, etc....
. In
588DLXXXVIII in Roman numerals- Byzantine Empire :* Guaram becomes prince of Iberia.- Europe :* Æthelric becomes first King of Northumbria, after the kingdom is formed from the union of the two small Anglian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira.- Asia :...
, the compensation was not yet paid, as Waroch promised it to both Guntram and Chlothar II, who probably had suzerainty over Vannes.
In
589- Europe :* October 17—The Adige River overflows its banks, flooding the church of St. Zeno and damaging the walls of Verona.* The plague hits Rome, and its victims included Pope Pelagius II.- Asia :...
or
590- Byzantine Empire :* Summer – Maurice agrees to Khosrau's entreaties, and agrees to restart the war with Persia.- Asia :* January 6—Hormizd IV deposed as Persian king.* February 15—Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia....
, Guntram sent an expedition against Waroch under Beppolem and Ebrachain, mutual enemies. Ebrachain was also enemy of Fredegunda, who sent the Saxons of Bayeux to aid Waroch. Beppolem fought alone for three days before dying, at which point Waroch tried to flee to the
Channel IslandsThe Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
, but Ebrachain destroyed his ships and forced him to accept a peace, the renewal of the oath, and the giving up of a nephew as a hostage. This was all to no effect. The Bretons maintained their independent-mindedness.
Sources
- Howorth, Henry H. "The Ethnology of Germany. Part 3: The Migration of the Saxons." The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 7. (1878), pp 293–320.
- Gregory of Tours
Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
. The History of the Franks, Volume II: Text. trans. O. M. Dalton. Clarendon Press: 1967.