Seite „Zwentibold“. In: Wikipedia, Die freie Enzyklopädie. Bearbeitungsstand: 24. Juni 2016, 21:23 UTC. URL: (
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"Herzog Zwentibold (* 870/871; † 13. August 900), auch Zwentibald, aus dem Adelsgeschlecht der Karolinger war von Mai 895 bis 900 König von Lotharingien.
Seinen Namen erhielt er von seinem Taufpaten, dem mährischen Knjazen Svatopluk I. (Zwentibold ist die frankisierte Form von Svatopluk).
Zwentibold war der erstgeborene, jedoch illegitime Sohn des römisch-deutschen Kaisers Arnolf von Kärnten und zunächst als dessen Nachfolger vorgesehen. Nachdem Arnulf jedoch mit Ludwig dem Kind 893 ein legitimer Sohn geboren worden war, setzte Arnulf stattdessen gegen den Widerstand des dortigen Adels die Wahl Zwentibolds als König von Lotharingien durch. Zwentibold wurde vom Adel weiterhin abgelehnt. Nach Arnulfs Tod fielen die führenden Adligen Lotharingiens von Zwentibold ab, riefen seinen zu diesem Zeitpunkt erst siebenjährigen Halbbruder Ludwig, der am 4. Februar 900 in Forchheim zum König des Ostfrankenreichs erhoben worden war, ins Land und huldigten diesem, wodurch sich der Adel die Wahrung seiner eigenen Interessen erhoffte.
Zwischen dem 27. März und dem 13. Juni 897 heiratete er Oda (* 875/880; † 2. Juli nach 952), eine Tochter des Herzogs Ottos des Erlauchten aus dem Geschlecht der Liudolfinger.
In zeitgenössischen Quellen wird Zwentibold als unbegabt und hemmungslos geschildert, er förderte allerdings den Bau von Kirchen und Klöstern. Als zweiter und letzter König eines unabhängigen Lothringens wird er dort als lokaler Heiliger verehrt.
Sein Gedenktag ist der 13. August, der Tag, an dem er nahe Susteren im Gefecht gegen die Grafen Gerhard, Matfrid und Stephan aus dem Geschlecht der Matfriden umkam. Sein Grab befindet sich in der dortigen Abtei.
Nach Zwentibolds Tod ehelichte seine Frau Oda noch im gleichen Jahr Gerhard († 22. Juni 910), der ihren Mann besiegt hatte."
Zwentibold. (2017, April 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:47, April 26, 2017, from (
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"Zwentibold (Zventibold, Swentiboldo, Sventibaldo, Sanderbald; c.?870 – 13 August 900), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Arnulf. In 895, his father, then king of East Francia, granted him the Kingdom of Lotharingia, which he ruled until his death. After his death he was declared a saint and martyr by the Catholic Church.
Zwentibold was born during the long reign of his great-grandfather, King Louis the German in East Francia. He was the first-born, yet illegitimate son of Arnulf of Carinthia (d. 899) and his concubine Vinburga. Zwentibold's father himself was an illegitimate son of Carloman of Bavaria, the eldest son of King Louis. After the king's death in 876, Carloman ruled over the East Frankish territory of Bavaria and ceded the adjacent marches of Pannonia and Carinthia (former Carantania) to his son Arnulf. In 887 Arnulf succeeded the incapable King Charles the Fat as King of East Francia.
When Zwentibold came of age, he intervened in the scramble for the throne in West Francia (France) between Count Odo of Paris and Charles the Simple, but they began to cooperate against Zwentibold, when it became apparent that he intended to become king of West Francia himself. The eldest son of Arnulf was at first marked out for his succession in East Francia. According to the 870 Treaty of Meerssen and the 880 Treaty of Ribemont, the Lotharingian kingdom of former Middle Francia had fallen to the East Frankish realm. When in 893 King Arnulf's wife Ota gave birth to his legitimate son and successor Louis the Child, Zwentibold in compensation received the Lotharingian royal title, which last had been held by Lothair II.
In the summer of 893 Arnulf, received pleas of intervention against [emperor] Wido of Spoleto from pope Formosus and Berengar of Friuli, king of Italy. He sent Zwentibold down the Brenner Pass with an army who joined forces with Berengar in Verona. The two marched to Wido's capital, Pavia, and besieged it unsuccessfully, finally abandoning the siege. According to Liutprand of Cremona, Zwentibold accepted money from Wido in order to leave, although it is not clear if it was in the form of a personal bribe or a tribute to his father. Zwentibold's retreat was nonetheless seen as a failure, but after learning details of the campaign, Arnulf summoned a stronger army and personally led it to Italy and took Pavia a few months later.
As a part of the plans to integrate Lotharingia into the East Frankish realm, the rule of King Zwentibold was enforced by his father, supported by the archbishops Herman I of Cologne and Ratbod of Trier, against the resistance of the local nobility. As he helped the common population too much, he began to be hated in a few years. He was fighting unruly nobles when his father Arnulf died in 899 and the legitimate son Louis the Child at became king of East Francia at the age of six."
Informations from the official tourism website:
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"Der am Markt gelegene Brunnen wird von einer Statue des Lothringer Königs Zwentibold gekrönt, zu dessen Reich Münstereifel einmal gehörte. Die Statue wurde von Ludwig Heiermann aus Köln gestaltet.
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Translation EN:
"The fountain on the market is crowned by a statue of the Lorraine King Zwentibold, whose realm was Münstereifel. The statue was designed by Ludwig Heiermann of Cologne.
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