- Waroch
Waroch was an early Breton ruler of the
Vannetais . Waroch gave his name to the traditional French province ofBroërec ("Bro-Waroch", "Waroch's Country"). However, it is possible that there were several successive local leaders with this name.In
578 ,Chilperic I sent an army to fight Waroch along theVilaine . The Frankish army consisted of units from thePoitou ,Touraine ,Anjou ,Maine , andBayeux . The "Baiocassenses" (men from Bayeux) wereSaxons and they in particular were routed by the Bretons. [Howorth, 309.] 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 byVenantius Fortunatus celebration of it in a poem.In
587 ,Guntram compelled obedience from Waroch. He forced the renewal of the oath of 578 in writing and demanded 1,000 "solidi " in compensation for raiding theNantais . In588 , the compensation was not yet paid, as Waroch promised it to both Guntram andChlothar II , who probably had suzerainty over Vannes.In
589 or590 , Guntram sent an expedition against Waroch underBeppolem andEbrachain , mutual enemies. Ebrachain was also enemy ofFredegunda , who sent the Saxons of Bayeux to aid Waroch. [Ibid, 310.] Beppolem fought alone for three days before dying, at which point Waroch tried to flee to theChannel Islands , but Ebrachain destroyed his ships and forced him to accept a peace, [Gregory, X, 9.] 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.References
ources
*Howorth, Henry H. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0959-5295%281878%297%3C293%3ATEOG3T%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I 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 . "The History of the Franks, Volume II: Text". trans. O. M. Dalton. Clarendon Press: 1967.Footnotes
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