Victorius (dux)

Victorius
Count of Auvergne
Reign480-489
PredecessorTitle created
SuccessorApollinaris of Clermont
Died489

Victorius or Victor (died 489) was an arvernian aristocratic, Count of Auvergne and then dux of aquitania prima from 480 to 489 under the visigothic king Euric.[1][2]

Life

He was a personal friend of Sidonius Apollinaris, who would describe him as a pious and compassionate man.[3]

Victorius was under the service of he visigothic king Euric and in 480 was granted the title of Count of Auvergne and then dux of aquitania prima[1]. He held his court in the city of Clermont.[4] He is also mentioned as dux septem civitates.

When Sidonius was imprisoned in 475 after the visigothic capture of Auvergne, Victorius dealt on his behalf with Euric, managing to get his sentence softened.[1]

He arrested and executed the noble Eucharius probably for personal reasons.[1]

He had to flee his domain with Sodonius' son, Apollinaris of Clermont, after the populace revolt against him, probably due to his libertine love life. He took refuge in Rome, where he didn't change his ways, and was consequently lapidated in 489.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Gregory, of Tours. Historiae 2, 20.
  2. ^ The actual dates of his reign are contestable. The only primary source for his life is Gregory of Tours, who mentions that after his death, Euric reigned another 4 years, dying after 27 years on the throne. This is probably an error, since most other primary sources on Euric's life place the end of his reign roughly 10 years earlier. So the actual date of Victorius' death is unclear.
  3. ^ Sidonius Apollinaris. Epistulae, Liber 7, Chapter XVII.
  4. ^ Schmidt, Joël (2008). Le royaume wisigoth d'Occitanie. Paris: Perrin. pp. 166, 194. ISBN 978-2-262-02765-0.
French nobility
Preceded by
Title created
 Count of Auvergne
480-489 		Succeeded by