Avuko

**Avuko** (895/6 - 4 May 931) was the King of Great Frisia from 912 until his death. He's remembered for being one of the most famous warrior kings of his time, fighting and defeating both massive Vikings hosts as well as the Franks. His reign was instrumental in the rise of Great Frisia, and his nation's economy flourished under his rule.

## King of Frisia

### Issue

Edward IIYmmekine

Gerold

Eldesendis

## Biography

Avuko was born in late 895 or 896 and was raised in Osnabruk by his father, Folkward of Angria, who was ruling as duke in the name of his older brother, Radbod III, who was the previous King of Frisia. Avuko didn't expect to be King when he was younger, as his older brother, Ruantet, was seen as the natural heir to the throne, but for unknown reasons Ruantet was seen as unfit for the throne. Some historians guess that Ruantet and Radbod didn't have a good relationship, or Avuko was simply just more well liked than his older brother was. Either way, Avuko succeeded his uncle upon the latter's death in October of 912.

Avuko had possibly been ruling in Radbod's name in Bremen when he died, though this may be a different Avuko.

### Early Conflicts

Avuko had been betrothed from a young age to the ruler of Munster, a woman named Eldesendis, however her rule was disputed by Hildebold, the count of Marburg. This had been ignored by Radbod, but upon Avuko's coronation he immediately marched south to Munster to help his bride-to-be keep her throne. In early January of 913, the battle of Essen saw a loss for Avuko, as he had to flee back to Groningen after the encounter. However, the battle of Dortmund, in May, saw a crushing defeat for Hildebold's forces, and the siege of Munster was lifted. The war was won by the end of the summer of 915.

914 saw a viking invasion by Alfr, likely from Norway, however the Capetian King of Austrasia helped Avuko in fighting the invaders, with King Frobert of Germany later helping as well. Though Alfr had occupied a good portion of Frisia, the battle of Dokkum, on 30 September 915, saw a combined German, Austrasian, and Frisian mass defeat the much smaller Norwegian army, turning the tide of the war.

### War with Brabant

The ambitious Duke Guadulf of Brabant, seeing that Frisia was only beginning to recover from the prior wars, crossed the Rhine in the spring of 917 to take Groningen for himself. However, the battle of Ijssel on April 25 saw the entire Frisian force defeat the 3,000 Brabantine infantry that had crossed a couple months earlier. A part of the Frisian army, along with some mercenaries, both led by Avuko himself, crossed the Rhine themselves to pursue the fleeing Brabantine soldiers. A small force from Munster also was a part of this army. The fleeing Brabantines split into two masses, with one heading to Brussels and the larger one heading to Cologne, and Avuko chose to siege Brussels and pursue the smaller force, as he was advised that this force was the more organized one.

The siege of Brussels began on May 20, 917, and within a week the city was completely encircled. There were around 700 defenders, and supplies for Brabant were running low by July of that year. However, Brabant had reassembled their infantry and crossed the Rhine once again at the end of the month with around 2,000 men, and so Avuko sent his general, Menhard von Minden, to pursue this army north while Avuko continued the siege. However, Avuko recived reports in early August that the Brabrantine army was much larger than previously thought, so he himself and half of the sieging forces left to support Menhard. This proved to be instrumental in the success of the battle of Hertogenbosch, on August 19, and after winning Avuko and Menhard returned to Brussels to help continue the siege. A smaller Brabantine army had attacked the small sieging force left behind, but Avuko and Menhard were able to crush this army once they arrived at Brussels. The city fell on September 24, and by this time defeat was almost certain for Guadulf, who had fled south. A final battle at Hasselt on December 13 made this clear to the Duke, and he surrendered immediately after the battle. Von Minden, for his efforts, was given rule over East Frisia.

### Viking incursions

In March or April of 920, a host led by a Swedish warlord named Tolir landed near Arnhem. A typhus outbreak was happening across much of Frisia at the time, making things much harder for Avuko. Regardless, he managed to march an army south that was large enough to beat Tolir. This army numbered around 2,000, and another force from West Frisia of the same size marched towards Arnhem from the west. Tolir fled south, but wasn't fast enough, as the armies caught up to hiim at Rees and his forces were decisively defeated on June 20.

922 saw another attempted raid by Vikings, this time under a leader named Ulfr. However this force was much smaller than Tolir, and Ulfr was defeated quite quickly.

The Jarl of Skane, Sverker, landed in Bergh and sieged the town, but was beaten back by Frisian forces in early 930.

### War with France

Avuko wanted to take control of Zeeland, at the mouth of the Rhine, and so in late 925 he and 5,000 infantry marched south to capture the area. All of the county had been sieged by late 926, however Asturias, a Frankish ally, had sent an army with its King, Martin, leading a part of it. The battle of Brugge, on June 8, 927, saw Avuko fight the Asturian army of about 4600, and over half of the Asturian army was killed by the end of the day, with Martin captured. This immediately made Asturias back out of the war, and France, fighting against a multitude of rebellions near Paris, agreed to give Zeeland away for peace with Avuko.

A local Saxon revolt was defeated in the same year.

### Domestic rule

Avuko's rule saw two major epidemics in rapid succession, both starting in East Friesland. The first epidemic was a typhus outbreak starting around 919, and as it was just simmering out in 921 a second outbreak began, this time likely being measles. Avuko's older brother, Rauantet, the ruler of Angria, died of typhus in January of 921. This made things tumultuous in the young kingdom, as Rauantet was the expected heir of Avuko as well, with no other obvious heirs to the Frisian throne being old enough to rule. Eilbern, the only surviving son of Rauantet, inherited Angria, but the title was promptly taken away by Avuko supposedly because of his age. Eilbern's lands were mostly split between Boio, a nobleman who had been given Bremen, and Liudward, who was given most of the land previously owned by Rauantet. Liudward was also suspiciously had his daughter and heir betrothed to Eduard, the oldest son of Avuko. Avuko then named Eduard his heir, even though Eduard was only five years old at the time. This caused much outrage among the Frisian nobility, and this combined with the appointment of loyal priests to Avuko's high council instead of feudal rulers made Avuko controversial during his lifetime.

The economy prospered during Avuko's reign, likely much to the credit of his predecessor, Radbod, building many economically positive holdings around Frisia, and during Avuko's reign these new barons were still relatively faithful to the King.

### Death and Legacy

Avuko died on May 4, 931. His death was a complete mystery, with a legend beginning saying that death had defeated him in a game of chess, and so Avuko had to pay with his life. He was buried somewhere outside of Groningen and was succeeded by his 14-year-old son, Eduard.

Avuko was instrumental in Great Frisia reaching its peak of power in the mid-10th century under his son. He arguably was responsible for the duchies of Angria and Bremen, and in developing Groningen to the point to where it was a major European city, as important as Paris was at the same time. All future Frisian and Dutch rulers after him descend from him in some way.

## Family

Avuko had 4 known children with Eldesendis, the Duchess of Munster.

* Eduard
* Ymmekine
* Gerold
* Eldesendis of Frisia