Bernard Plantapilosa or Plantevelue, son of Bernard of Septimania and Dhuoda

Dhuoda

Dhuoda was the author of the Liber Manualis, a handbook written for her son. Her date of birth and death are unknown but it is circa 803-843.-Life:...

, was the Count of Auvergne (as Bernard II) from 872 to his death. The Emperor

Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...

 Charles the Fat

Charles the Fat

Charles the Fat was the King of Alemannia from 876, King of Italy from 879, western Emperor from 881, King of East Francia from 882, and King of West Francia from 884. In 887, he was deposed in East Francia, Lotharingia, and possibly Italy, where the records are not clear...

 granted him the title of Margrave of Aquitaine

Duke of Aquitaine

The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....

 in 885.

His mother's Liber Manualis mentions that he was born at Uzès

Uzès

Uzès is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.It lies about 25 km north-northeast of Nîmes.-History:Originally Ucetia, Uzès was a small Gallo-Roman oppidum, or administrative settlement. The town lies at the source of the Eure, from where a Roman aqueduct was built in the first...

 in the year following the death of Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...

. He was appointed Margrave of Septimania (or Gothia

Gothia

Gothia is a name given to various places where the Goths lived during their migrations:* Götaland, the traditional original homeland of the Goths.* Dacia was referred to as Gothia during the fourth century, when it was settled by Goths....

) before 868. He was the lay abbot

Lay abbot

Lay abbot is a name used to designate a layman on whom a king or someone in authority bestowed an abbey as a reward for services rendered; he had charge of the estate belonging to it, and was entitled to part of the income.This custom existed principally in the Frankish Empire from the eighth...

 of Brioude

Brioude

Brioude is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne region in south-central France. It lies on the banks of the River Allier, a tributary of the Loire.-History:...

 between 857 and 868 and Count of Autun and from 864 to 869. He was deposed before 876 and replaced by Bernard of Gothia in that year. He returned to favour under Charles the Fat. In the war against Boso of Provence

Boso of Provence

Boso was a Frankish nobleman from the Bosonid-family, who was related to the Carolingian dynasty, who rose to become King of Provence ....

, he obtained the county of Mâcon

Mâcon

Mâcon is a small city in central France. It is prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department, in the region of Bourgogne, and the capital of the Mâconnais district. Mâcon is home to over 35,000 residents, called Mâconnais.-Geography:...

.

He married Ermengard, daughter of Bernard I of Auvergne (or perhaps of Guerin I). Their son was William I of Aquitaine

William I of Aquitaine

William I , called the Pious, was the Count of Auvergne from 886 and Duke of Aquitaine from 893, succeeding the Poitevin ruler Ebalus Manser. He made numerous monastic foundations, most important among them the foundation of Cluny Abbey on 11 September 910.William was the son of Bernard II of...

.

Etymology

Plantapilosa is often claimed to mean "Hairyfeet" or "Hairypaws". This is based on the Latin meaning "sole of foot" of planta. However, in Basque, which is believed to be a dialect of Old Aquitanian, planta means "appearance" yielding the meaning "Hairy appearance". Also, planta has another Latin meaning, "shoot for propagation". This yields the meaning "Hairyshoot" which, since the broom shoot is hairy, can be compared with the "sprig of broom" symbolism of the subsequent, nearby Plantagenet name. In Old Aquitanian, gods' names were cognate with Basque words for animals and plants.

Sources

• MacLean, Simon. Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century: Charles the Fat and the end of the Carolingian Empire. Cambridge University Press: 2003.
• Hummer, Hans J. Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe: Alsace and the Frankish Realm 600 – 1000. Cambridge University Press: 2005.