Theudebert II () (c.585-612), King of
Austrasia (595–612
AD), was the son and heir of
Childebert II
Childebert II (c.570–596) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia (which included Provence at the time) from 575 until his death in March 596, as the only son of Sigebert I and Brunhilda of Austrasia; and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his ...
. He received the kingdom of Austrasia plus the cities (''civitates'') of
Poitiers,
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
,
Le Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay (, literally ''Le Puy in Velay''; oc, Lo Puèi de Velai ) is the prefecture of the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France.
Located near the river Loire, the city is famous for its c ...
,
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
, and
Châteaudun, as well as the
Champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...
, the
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...
, and
Transjurane Alemannia.
During his early years, his grandmother
Brunhilda Brunhilda may refer to:
* Brunhild, a figure in Germanic heroic legend
* Brunhilda of Austrasia (c. 543–613), Frankish queen
* ''Brunhilda'' (bird), a genus of birds
See also
*
*
* Broom-Hilda, an American newspaper comic strip
* Broomhild ...
ruled for Theudebert and his brother
Theuderic II
Theuderic II (also spelled Theuderich, Theoderic or Theodoric; in French, ''Thierry'') (587–613), king of Burgundy (595–613) and Austrasia (612–613), was the second son of Childebert II. At his father's death in 595, he received Guntram's ki ...
, who had received the realm of Burgundy. After the two brothers reached adulthood, they were often at war, with Brunhilda siding with Theuderic. In 599, Theuderic defeated Theudebert at
Sens, but then the two brothers allied against their cousin
Chlothar II
Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (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 ...
and defeated him at
Dormelles
Dormelles () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.
History
Dormelles was the site of a battle circa 599 between rival Merovingian kings. Chlothar II, ruler of Neustria, faced his cou ...
(near
Montereau), thereby laying their hands on a great portion of
Neustria
Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks.
Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...
(600–604). At this point, however, the two brothers took up arms against each other; Theuderic defeated Theudebert at
Étampes
Étampes () is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department.
Étampes, together with the neighboring ...
. In 605, Theudebert refused to aid his brother whose kingdom was invaded by Clothar II. In 610, Theudebert extorted
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
from his brother and Theuderic took up arms against him, yet again.
Theudebert was defeated decisively by Theuderic at
Toul
Toul () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.
It is a sub-prefecture of the department.
Geography
Toul is between Commercy and Nancy, and the river Moselle and Canal de la Marne au Rhin.
Climate
Toul ...
and at
Zülpich
Zülpich ( ksh, Zöllech) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen.
History
The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for the ...
in 612. Theudebert was locked up in a monastery at the order of his grandmother, and killed with his son Merovech.
Oman, Charles. ''The Dark Ages, 476-918'', Rivingtons, 1908, p. 173
/ref>
He was married to Bilichildis
Bilichilde (d. 610), was a queen of Austrasia by marriage to Theudebert II.
She was a serf bought from the slave market by Brunhilda of Austrasia. In 1979, Alfred Friese hypothesised that she was related to Duke Gisulf I of Friuli, whose two dau ...
. His daughter Emma is sometimes thought to have married Eadbald of Kent
Eadbald ( ang, Eadbald) was King of Kent from 616 until his death in 640. He was the son of King Æthelberht and his wife Bertha, a daughter of the Merovingian king Charibert. Æthelberht made Kent the dominant force in England during his reign ...
.
Sources
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theudebert Ii
Merovingian kings
Frankish warriors
586 births
612 deaths
Medieval child rulers
6th-century Frankish kings
Murdered royalty
7th-century Frankish kings