Frotharius

Who is Frotharius?

Frotharius, Frotar, or Frotaire was the Archbishop of Bordeaux and then of Bourges in the ninth century. In 870, Viking raids forced him to abandon Bordeaux.

Frotharius was related to the Counts of Toulouse and Rouergue. By maintaining control of the abbeys of Brioude and Beaulieu, he probably preserved his family's influence in southern Gaul during the ascendancy of Bernard Plantapilosa. Brioude had been under the protection of the Counts of Auvergne until 874, when Frotharius had it. Charles the Bald granted it permission to elect its own abbot and the monks chose Frotharius, who was abbot still in 893. After Frotharius' death, the abbey reverted to William I of Aquitaine.

Frotharius was active in preserving church lands, however. He returned lands his family stole from Beaulieu in the Limousin and forced them to observe a charter of 887 granting those lands back to Beaulieu. He also intervened with King Carloman in Provence to have land in Fréjus taken from Saint-Vincent de Marseille returned.