Odilo by his Agilolfing descent was an
Alemannic nobleman, a son of Duke
Gotfrid (d. 709) whom he succeeded in
Thurgau until 737, when with the death of
Hugbert of Bavaria the older line of the dynasty became extinct and he inherited the rulership of the
Duchy of Bavaria. Odilo presided over the establishment of bishoprics in Bavaria in 739, when the four dioceses of
Regensburg,
Freising,
Passau, and
Salzburg were established by St.
Boniface, who in 741 also founded the
Diocese of Würzburg in adjacent
Franconia. His measures sparked a revolt by Bavarian nobles and the duke temporarily had to seek refuge at the court of the
Frankish Mayor of the Palace
Charles Martel. In 741, Odilo married Charles Martel's daughter
Hiltrud, but upon the death of her father found himself at war with her brothers
Carloman and
Pepin the Short. He rebelled to support the
Alamans with the support of
Hunald I of Aquitaine in 742/43 against Frankish rule after persuading him to attack
Neustria to burn down
Chartres. He was finally defeated in 743 after a battle at the
river Lech, and had to accept Frankish overlordship over Bavaria, but remained duke. Odilo is accepted as the founder of the abbeys of
Benediktbeuern (in 739),
Niederaltaich (741), and
Mondsee (748), as well as a number of others. He was buried at
Gengenbach Abbey in
Alamannia. == References ==