Chrodbert (also known as Chrodbert II or Robert II to distinguish him from his grandfather known sometimes as Chrodbert I) (died after 678) was a nobleman from Neustria. He was grandson to Chrodbert I, referendary to Clovis II through Chrodbert's son

Lambert of Hesbaye {{For, his possible grandson, Lambert, Count of Hesbaye Lambert Ι (died after 650), was a Neustrian nobleman who was son of Robert I, Bishop of Tours. Lambert is identified as a ''noblilis'' in Neustria, son of Chrodbert I and father of Chrodbert ...

(died after 650). Chrodbert was

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

during the reign of

Chlothar III Chlothar III (or ''Chlotar'', ''Clothar'', ''Clotaire'', ''Chlotochar'', or ''Hlothar'', giving rise to the name Lothair; 652–673) was the eldest son of Clovis II, king of Neustria and Burgundy, and his queen Balthild. When Clovis died in 657, ...

, King of the Franks in Neustria, as well as

referendary Referendary is the English form of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organizations in Europe. Pre-modern history The office of ' (plural: ', from the Latin ', "I inform") existed at the Byzan ...

. He was a contemporary of Ansbert of Rouen, who was also a

to Clotaire III. Chrodbert was mentioned as

Count palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

(''comes palatinus)'' on 2 October 678. He was at the court of

Clovis II Clovis II (633 – 657) was King of Neustria and Burgundy, having succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her ...

in 654 and opposed

Erchinoald Erchinoald (also ''Erkinoald'' and, in French, ''Erchenout'') succeeded Aega as the mayor of the palace of Neustria in 641 and succeeded Flaochad in Burgundy in 642 and remained such until his death in 658. Family According to Fredegar, he was a ...

, Mayor of the Palace, to little avail. He supported Ebroin against

Leodegar Leodegar of Poitiers ( la, Leodegarius; french: Léger; 615 – October 2, 679 AD) was a martyred Burgundian Bishop of Autun. He was the son of Saint Sigrada and the brother of Saint Warinus. Leodegar was an opponent of Ebroin, the Frankish M ...

, who had the latter’s eyes put out. He became

and then chancellor to Clothar III. Chrodbert married Théodrade (Théoda) and they had many children, some of which are likely their grandchildren * Chariivius (Hervé), Nobleman of Hesbaye (some say Count of Laon) * Lambert II, Count of Hesbaye *

Rupert of Salzburg Rupert of Salzburg (german: Ruprecht, la, Robertus, Rupertus; 660 – 710 AD) was Bishop of Worms as well as the first Bishop of Salzburg and abbot of St. Peter's in Salzburg. He was a contemporary of the Frankish king Childebert III. Rupe ...

, Bishop of Worms * Chrotgar, Duke of Le Mans, whose son

Charivius {{no footnotes, date=August 2022 Charivius (French ''Hervé'') was the Frankish Duke of Maine (''dux Cenomannicus'') in the early eighth century. His father was Chrotgar, Duke of Maine, son or grandson of Chrodbert, count Palatine of Chlothar III, ...

has been speculated to have been an ancestor of the

Rorgonids The Rorgonids were a powerful Frankish family dating from the eighth century. They are sometimes referred to as the first Mayennaise dynasty, referring to the city of Mayenne, and are the original counts of Maine. The Rorgonids were named after R ...

* Ragobert (d. 678) * Folchaid, married

Theodo of Bavaria Theodo (about 625 – 11 December c. 716), also known as Theodo V and Theodo II, was the Duke of Bavaria from 670 or, more probably, 680 to his death. It is with Theodo that the well-sourced history of Bavaria begins. He strengthened his duchy ...

. Settipani identifies the first four of these children as the sons of an unnamed son of Chrodbert. However, given the status of these individuals, it seems unlikely that their father would have remained unknown. Grimbert, Count palatine, is credited as being a son of Chrodbert although there is little evidence to support that. Some histories show Lambert, Count of Hesbaye, as son of Chrodbert, others as the son of Hervé. Chrodbert is typically viewed in scholarly reconstructions to have been a direct ancestor of the

Robertians The Robertians (sometimes called the Robertines in modern scholarship) are the proposed Frankish family which was ancestral to the Capetian dynasty, and thus to the royal families of France and of many other countries. The Capetians appear first ...

who ruled France from the ninth century.

References

Bibliography

* Settipani, Christian, ''Les Ancêtres de Charlemagne'', Paris, 1989 *Settipani, Christian
"Addendum to the Ancestors of Charlemagne"
*Gerberding, Richard A., ''The Rise of the Carolingians and the Liber Historiae Francorum'', Oxford University Press, 1987 *Claussen, M. A., ''The Reform of the Frankish Church: Chrodegang of Metz and the Regula Canonicorum in the Eighth Century'', Cambridge University Press, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chrodbert French nobility 7th-century deaths