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Fredegund
Fredegund or Fredegunda (Latin: ''Fredegundis''; French: ''Frédégonde''; died 8 December 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons. Fredegund served as regent during the minority of her son Chlothar II from 584 until 597. Fredegund has traditionally been given a very bad reputation, foremost by the accounts of Gregory of Tours, who depicts her as ruthlessly murderous and sadistically cruel, and she is known for the many cruel stories about her, particularly for her long feud with queen Brunhilda of Austrasia, Fredegund's sister-in-law. Queen Fredegund was born into a low-ranking family but gained power through her association with King Chilperic. Originally a servant of Chilperic's first wife Audovera, Fredegund won Chilperic's affection and persuaded him to put Audovera in a convent and divorce her. Chilperic put Fredegund aside and married Galswintha, the daughter of Visigothic King Athanagild, after his half-brother and riva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chlothar II
Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French language, French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the regency of his mother, who was in an uneasy alliance with Chlothar's uncle King Guntram of Burgundy, who died in 592. Chlothar took power upon the death of his mother in 597; though rich, Neustria was one of the smallest portions of Francia. He continued his mother's feud with Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia, Brunhilda with equal viciousness and bloodshed, finally achieving her execution in an especially brutal manner in 613, after winning the battle that enabled Chlothar to unite Francia under his rule. Like his father, he built up his territories by seizing lands after the deaths of other kings. His reign was long by contemporary standards, but saw the continuing erosion of royal power to the French nobility and the church ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brunhilda Of Austrasia
Brunhilda (c. 543–613) was queen consort of Austrasia, part of Francia, by marriage to the Merovingian king Sigebert I of Austrasia, and regent for her son, grandson and great-grandson. In her long and complicated career she ruled the eastern Frankish kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy for three periods as regent for her son Childebert II from 575 until 583; her grandsons Theudebert II and Theuderic II from 595 until 599; and her great-grandson Sigebert II in 613. The period was marked by tension between the royal house and the powerful nobles vying for power. Brunhilda was apparently an efficient ruler, but this and her forceful personality brought her into conflict with her nobles, the church and the other Merovingians. Her bitter feud with Fredegund, mistress of Chilperic I of Neustria, who murdered Brunhilda's sister, Queen Galswintha (c. 568) in order to replace her as queen, lasted until Fredegund's death in 597. Fredegund had Brunhilda's husband murdered and Brunhilda im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chilperic I
Chilperic I (c. 539 – September 584) was the king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund. Life Immediately after the death of his father in 561, he endeavoured to take possession of the whole kingdom, seized the treasure amassed in the royal town of Berny and entered Paris. His brothers, however, compelled him to divide the kingdom with them, and Soissons, together with Amiens, Arras, Cambrai, Thérouanne, Tournai, and Boulogne fell to Chilperic's share. His eldest brother Charibert received Paris, the second eldest brother Guntram received Burgundy with its capital at Orléans, and Sigebert received Austrasia. On the death of Charibert in 567, Chilperic's estates were augmented when the brothers divided Charibert's kingdom among themselves and agreed to share Paris. Not long after his accession, however, he was at war with Sigebert, with whom he would long remain in a state of— ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chilperic I
Chilperic I (c. 539 – September 584) was the king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund. Life Immediately after the death of his father in 561, he endeavoured to take possession of the whole kingdom, seized the treasure amassed in the royal town of Berny and entered Paris. His brothers, however, compelled him to divide the kingdom with them, and Soissons, together with Amiens, Arras, Cambrai, Thérouanne, Tournai, and Boulogne fell to Chilperic's share. His eldest brother Charibert received Paris, the second eldest brother Guntram received Burgundy with its capital at Orléans, and Sigebert received Austrasia. On the death of Charibert in 567, Chilperic's estates were augmented when the brothers divided Charibert's kingdom among themselves and agreed to share Paris. Not long after his accession, however, he was at war with Sigebert, with whom he would long remain in a state of— ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florentius and later added the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather. He is the primary contemporary source for Merovingian history. His most notable work was his ''Decem Libri Historiarum'' (''Ten Books of Histories''), better known as the ''Historia Francorum'' (''History of the Franks''), a title that later chroniclers gave to it. He is also known for his accounts of the miracles of saints, especially four books of the miracles of Martin of Tours. St. Martin's tomb was a major pilgrimage destination in the 6th century, and St. Gregory's writings had the practical effect of promoting highly organized devotion. Biography Gregory was born in Clermont, in the Auvergne region of central Gaul. He was born into the upper stratum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audovera
Audovera (d. 580) was the first wife or mistress of Chilperic I, king of Neustria. They had five children. * Theudebert, killed in battle in 575 by Guntram Boso during the interminable conflict between Chilperic and his brothers. *Merovech, married the widow Brunhilda, becoming his father's enemy. Killed by his servants on his own orders in 578. * Clovis, assassinated by Fredegund Fredegund or Fredegunda (Latin: ''Fredegundis''; French: ''Frédégonde''; died 8 December 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons. Fredegund served as regent during the minority of her son Chlot ... in 580. * Childesinda, mentioned but once in the ''Liber Historiae Francorum'' as the infant whose botched baptism led to Audovera's dismissal. Committed to the same nunnery as her mother. * Basina, nun, banished to a convent in 580. She later led a revolt in the abbey of Poitiers in 589. Some time before 567, Audovera and Fredegund prepared for the ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galswintha
Galswintha (540–568) was a queen consort of Neustria. She was the daughter of Athanagild, Visigothic king of Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal), and Goiswintha. Galswintha was the sister of Brunhilda, Queen of Austrasia; and the wife of Chilperic I, the Merovingian king of Neustria. Galswintha was likely murdered at the urging of Chilperic's former concubine Fredegund (and then later wife), instigating a 40-year civil war within the Merovingian kingdom. History Merovingian king, Chilperic I (561–584), ruled over Neustria, which despite being less extensive in total land as that presided over by his brother King Sigebert, was wealthier since the cities of Paris, Tours, and Rouen all fell under its purview. Chilperic sought Galswintha's hand in marriage after his brother, King Sigebert, had married the noblewoman, Brunhilda (Galswintha's sister), a union that violated the Merovingian tradition of seeking the hand of a lowborn woman instead. Gal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigunth
Rigunth (c. 569 C.E – after 589 C.E), also known as Rigundis, was a Frankish princess, daughter of the Merovingian King Chilperic I and Fredegund. Biography Rigunth was the eldest child and only recorded daughter of Chilperic and Fredegund. About 583, she was betrothed to Recared, eldest son of Leovigild, King of the Visigoths. In September 584 she was sent to Spain in a convoy with a large treasure as dowry. During the journey King Chilperic died and the soldiers escorting the princess took everything they could steal and fled. At Toulouse, Duke Didier seized what was left. The princess was returned to her mother in 585. She took refuge with her mother and led a life viewed as debauched. She often quarreled with her mother who failed in an attempt to kill her in 589.Grégoire de Tours, ''Histoire des Francs'', livre IX, 34. Her date of death is unknown. Further reading * Eugen Ewig: ''Die Merowinger und das Frankenreich''. 4. Auflage, Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Guntram
Saint Gontrand (c. 532 in Soissons – 28 March 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône), also called Gontran, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the king of the Kingdom of Orléans from AD 561 to AD 592. He was the third eldest and second eldest surviving son of Chlothar I and Ingunda. On his father's death in 561, he became king of a fourth of the Kingdom of the Franks, and made his capital at Orléans. The name "Gontrand" denotes " War Raven". Personal life King Gontrand had something of that fraternal love which his brothers lacked; the preeminent chronicler of the period, St. Gregory of Tours, often called him "good king Gontrand", as noted in the quotation below from the former's ''Decem Libri Historiarum'', in which St. Gregory discussed the fate of Gontrand's three marriages: The good king Gontrand first took a concubine Veneranda, a slave belonging to one of his people, by whom he had a son Gundobad. Later he married Marcatrude, daughter of Magnar, and sen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigebert I
Sigebert I (c. 535 – c. 575) was a Frankish king of Austrasia from the death of his father in 561 to his own death. He was the third surviving son out of four of Clotaire I and Ingund. His reign found him mostly occupied with a successful civil war against his half-brother, Chilperic. When Clotaire I died in 561, his kingdom was divided, in accordance with Frankish custom, among his four sons: Sigebert became king of the northeastern portion, known as Austrasia, with its capital at Rheims, to which he added further territory on the death of his brother, Charibert I, in 567 or 568; Charibert himself had received the kingdom centred on Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...; Guntram received the Kingdom of Burgundy with its capital at Orléans; and the younge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guntram
Saint Gontrand (c. 532 in Soissons – 28 March 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône), also called Gontran, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the king of the Kingdom of Orléans from AD 561 to AD 592. He was the third eldest and second eldest surviving son of Chlothar I and Ingunda. On his father's death in 561, he became king of a fourth of the Kingdom of the Franks, and made his capital at Orléans. The name "Gontrand" denotes " War Raven". Personal life King Gontrand had something of that fraternal love which his brothers lacked; the preeminent chronicler of the period, St. Gregory of Tours, often called him "good king Gontrand", as noted in the quotation below from the former's ''Decem Libri Historiarum'', in which St. Gregory discussed the fate of Gontrand's three marriages: The good king Gontrand first took a concubine Veneranda, a slave belonging to one of his people, by whom he had a son Gundobad. Later he married Marcatrude, daughter of Magnar, and sent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaulish Romans under their rule. They conquered most of Gaul, defeating the Visigoths (507) and the Burgundians (534), and also extended their rule into Raetia (537). In Germania, the Alemanni, Bavarii and Saxons accepted their lordship. The Merovingian realm was the largest and most powerful of the states of western Europe following the breaking up of the empire of Theodoric the Great. The dynastic name, medieval Latin or ("sons of Merovech"), derives from an unattested Frankish form, akin to the attested Old English , with the final -''ing'' being a typical Germanic patronymic suffix. The name derives from King Merovech, whom many legends surround. Unlike the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies, the Merovingians never claimed descent from a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
