Hnabi

Who is Hnabi?

Hnabi or Nebi was an Alemannic duke in the eighth century. He was a son of Huoching and perhaps a grandson of the duke Gotfrid, which would make him a scion of the Agilolfing dynasty of Bavaria. He was the founder of the "old" line of the Ahalolfings. Around 724 he was one of the joint founders of the monastery of Reichenau.

By his wife Hereswind Hnabi left at least two children, Ruadbert, who was count in the Hegau, and Imma or Emma, who married Gerold of Vintzgau and was the mother of Eric of Friuli and Hildegard, wife of Charlemagne. Rodbert son of Hnabi is mentioned in a St. Gall document dated 770. Imma is mentioned in documents of Lorsch, Fulda and St. Gall between 779 and 804.

The genealogy of Hildegard is recorded in the ninth-century Vita Hiudowici by Thegan of Trier: "the duke Gotfrid begat Huoching, Huoching begat Hnabi, Hnabi begat Emma, Emma herself the most blessed queen Hildegard". Scholars have cast doubt on Huoching being the son of Gotfrid, comparing the father-and-son pair of Huoching and Hnabi to that of Hoc and Hnaef in Anglo-Saxon tradition.