Bubo, Duke of the Frisians

Who was Bubo, Duke of the Frisians?

Bubo, also spelled Bobbo, Poppo or Popo, was the pagan duke of the Frisians in the early eighth century. He is the first ruler whose name is known after Radbod. He did not recognised Frankish supremacy, and his territory probably only encompassed the north of Radbod's Frisia. He was defeated by the forces of Charles Martel, the duke of the Franks, in the so-called Battle of the Boorne.

There was a rebellion in the region of Westergo in 733, which Charles put down. The inhabitants gave hostages, converted to Christianity and recognised Frankish overlordship, but after Charles left they were punished by their fellow Frisians. The next year, the Frisians rebelled again, this time under Bubo's leadership. Charles gatherd a large fleet and army and prepared a naval invasion. Initial landings on Westergo and Ostergo encountered no resistance and apparently no punitive measures, since Charles's aim was to bring Bubo to heel. The Frankish chroniclers, such as the Continuations of Fredegar, Vita Willibroridi of Alcuin and the Annales Mettenses priores, depict Bubo as rebel and the Frankish invasion as a just war. Charles and Bubo's armies met on the banks of the river Boorne, perhaps at Oldeboorne, one of the Frisians' chief commercial centers at the time. The Franks appear to have coveted the trade that passed through there and through Domburg, as well as Dorestad, which they already possessed. The Franks constructed a fortified encampment once on shore and the Frisian army was defeated, and Bubo killed in combat.