Blessed Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria

Tassilo III (c. 741 – c. 796) was the duke of Bavaria from 748 to 788, the last of the house of the Agilolfings. He was the son of Duke Odilo of Bavaria and Hitrud, daughter of Charles Martel. Tassilo's reign ended when he was deposed by Charlemagne in 788. Tassilo, then still a child, began his rule as a Frankish ward under the tutelage of his uncle, the Carolingian Mayor of the Palace Pepin the Short (later king) after Tassilo's father, Duke Odilo of Bavaria, had died in 748 and Pepin's half-brother Grifo had tried to seize the duchy for himself. Pepin removed Grifo and installed the young Tassilo as duke, but under Frankish overlordship in 749. In 757, according to the Royal Frankish Annals, Tassilo became Pepin's vassal and the lord for his lands at an assembly held at Compiegne. There, he is reported to have sworn numerous oaths to Pepin and, according to reports that may have been written much later, promised fealty to him and his sons, Charles and Carloman. However, the highly legalistic account is quite out of character for the period. K. L. Roper Pearson has suggested that it probably represents a reworking of the original document by the annalist to emphasise Charlemagne's overlordship over Tassilo during the period of hostilities between the two rulers. Around 760, Tassilo married Liutperga, daughter of the Lombard king, Desiderius, continuing a tradition of Lombardo-Bavarian connections. He made several journeys to Italy to visit his father-in-law and to establish political relations with the pope. It is reported that Tassilo had gained such a reputation that he was regarded as a kingly ruler when his cousins Charles and Carloman assumed power in the Frankish realm in 768. That year, he founded Gars Abbey on the Inn River, in southern Bavaria. In the following year, 769, Tassilo issued in Bolzano the foundation charter of the Innichen Abbey.