Wala (c. 755 – 31 August 836) was a son of Bernard, son of Charles Martel, and one of the principal advisers of his cousin Charlemagne, of Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious, and of Louis's son Lothair I. He succeeded his brother Adalard as abbot of Corbie and its new daughter foundation, Corvey, in 826 or 827. His feast day is 31 August
Originally a count (comes) attached to the palace under Charlemagne (811), Wala was forced to enter the monastery of Corbie in 814 as part of a purging of palace rivals and hangers-on by Louis the Pious.[1] In 816 he and Adalard were given the responsibility of organising the government of the convent of Herford, recently passed into Louis's hands at the Council of Aachen.[2] In the 820s Wala became a strong opponent of royal/imperial control of church benefices.[3] He was back at court in 822 as a concillor (councillor). According to Paschasius Radbertus, Wala alleged on one occasion that the "army of clerics" (i.e. chaplains) resident at the Palace of Aachen (and perhaps itinerant with the emperor) served only for personal gain and did not form a legitimate ecclesiastical institution.[4] In 831 Wala left Corbie; in 834 he was abbot of Bobbio.[5]