Fulcrad

Who is Fulcrad?

Fulcrad or Folcrat was the Duke of Provence, succeeding Guerin in 845 AD. He was granted the title of Dux or Duke in 843 after the treaty of Verdun due to Lothair’s mistrust and previous conflict with Fulcrad’s predecessor Guerin of Provence. In 845, he revolted against the Emperor Lothair I from his base of Marseille, thus destabilizing the entire region. The emperor came down and forced Fulcrad to surrender, but the two were reconciled by the next year. During his tenure, Marseille came under attack from Greek and Saracen pirates. Previous to the Treaty of Vardun, Pepin II of Aquitaine, nephew to Lothair I, had entreated the Vikings for help in the fight against his Uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald. Though after the Battle of Fontenay and the two brothers’ sealing their alliance with the Oath of Strasbourg, Lothair abandoned this course. This did not stop the expansion of Viking raids into the Provence region, which besides a slight tapering during the expeditions of Hastein and Bjorn 859 and 862 continued to lay waste to the Coast of Arles, especially an incidence documented of Fulcrad’s stand amongst the Rhone valley.