Winiges (contemporary Latin Winigisus) (died 822) was the Duke of Spoleto (dux Spolitanus) from 789 to his death. He was probably a Frank

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 in the entourage of Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 when he was sent in 788 to lead Hildeprand of Spoleto

Hildeprand of Spoleto

Hildeprand was the Duke of Spoleto from 774 to 789.When Theodicius of Spoleto died fighting at the Siege of Pavia in 774, the Lombards of the Duchy of Spoleto elected Hildeprand their duke and quickly submitted to the Franks. Hildeprand fled to Rome before the Frankish host and did homage to Pope...

 and Grimoald III of Benevento

Grimoald III of Benevento

Grimoald III was the Lombard Prince of Benevento from 788 until his own death. He was the second son of Arechis II and Adelperga. In 787, he and his elder brother Romoald were sent as hostages to Charlemagne who had descended the Italian peninsula as far as Salerno to receive the submission of...

 in cooperation with Frankish troops against a Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 invasion.

In this, his first recorded action, he was successful, defeating the Greeks led by Theodoros in Apulia

Apulia

Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

. Hildeprand, however, died on the campaign and Charlemagne appointed Winiges to succeed him in the Duchy of Spoleto

Duchy of Spoleto

The independent Duchy of Spoleto was a Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard dux Faroald.- Lombards :The Lombards, a Germanic people, had invaded Italy in 568 and conquered much of it, establishing a Kingdom divided between several dukes dependent on the King, who had...

.

Winiges was appointed by Charlemagne to act as his missus dominicus

Missus dominicus

A missus dominicus , Latin for "envoy[s] of the lord [ruler]", also known in Dutch as Zendgraaf , meaning "sent Graf", was an official commissioned by the Frankish king or Holy Roman Emperor to supervise the administration, mainly of justice, in parts of his dominions too far for frequent personal...

in the Ducatus Romae and he was at Saint Peter's Basilica when Pope Leo III

Pope Leo III

Pope Saint Leo III was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor....

 was assaulted on 25 April 799. It was then he who brought him to shelter in Spoleto

Spoleto

Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...

 until he could safely return to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

Winiges got involved in a war with Grimoald of Benevento, however, and was captured while being besieged at Lucera

Lucera

Lucera is a town and comune in the Province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southern Italy.-Ancient era and early Middle Ages :Lucera is an ancient city founded in Daunia, the centre of Dauni territory . Archeological excavations show the presence of a bronze age village inside the city boundaries...

 in 802. He was held captive for a year before being released in 803.

While Leo III was nearing death in 815, the Roman citizens revolted, but King Bernard

Bernard of Italy

Bernard was the King of the Lombards from 810 to 818. He plotted against his uncle, Emperor Louis the Pious, when the latter's Ordinatio Imperii made Bernard a vassal of his cousin Lothair...

 sent Winiges to Rome to quell the unrest.

In 822, Winiges abdicated his worldy office and retired to a monastery, where he died not too long after (probably that same year). His successor was Suppo I

Suppo I

Suppo I was a Frankish nobleman who held lands in the Regnum Italicum in the early ninth century.In 817, he was made Count of Brescia, Parma, Piacenza, Modena, and Bergamo. He was also made a missus dominicus, along with the Brescian bishop Ratald, for Italy...

, Brixiæ civitatis comes ("Count of the city of Brescia

Brescia

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

").

Footnotes