Dagobert III (c.699–715) was

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 Gaul ...

king of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

(711–715). He was a son of

Childebert III Childebert III (or IV), called the Just (french: le Juste) (c.678/679 – 23 April 711), was the son of Theuderic III and Clotilda (or Doda) and sole king of the Franks (694–711). He was seemingly but a puppet of the mayor of the palace, Pe ...

. He succeeded his father as the head of the three Frankish kingdoms—

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 ...

and

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the ...

, unified since Pippin's victory at Tertry in 687, and the

Kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various states located in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The historical Burgundy correlates with the border area of France, Italy and Switzerland and includes the major modern cities of Geneva and ...

—in 711. Real power, however, still remained with the Mayor of the Palace,

Pippin of Herstal Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who de facto ruled Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the ...

, who died in 714. Pippin's death occasioned open conflict between his heirs and the Neustrian nobles who elected the mayors of the palace. As for Dagobert himself, the

Liber Historiae Francorum ''Liber Historiae Francorum'' ( en, link=no, "The Book of the History of the Franks") is a chronicle written anonymously during the 8th century. The first sections served as a secondary source for early Franks in the time of Marcomer, giving a ...

reports he died of illness, but otherwise says nothing about his character or actions. While attention was focused on combatting the

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

in the north, areas of southern Gaul began to secede during Dagobert's brief time: Savaric, the fighting

bishop of Auxerre The diocese of Auxerre ( la, dioecesis Antissiodorensis) is a former French Roman Catholic diocese. Its historical episcopal see was in the city of Auxerre in Burgundy (region), Burgundy, now part of eastern France. Currently the non-metropolitan ...

, in 714 and 715 subjugated

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

Avallon Avallon () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in central-eastern France. Name Avallon, Latin ''Aballō'', ablative ''Aballone'', is ultimately derived from Gaulish ''*Aballū'', oblique ''*Aballon-'' meaning "App ...

, and Tonnerre on his own account, and Eudo in Toulouse and

Antenor __NOTOC__ Antenor ( grc-gre, Ἀντήνωρ, ''Antḗnōr''; BC) was an Athenian sculptor. He is recorded as the creator of the joint statues of the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton funded by the Athenians on the expulsion of Hipp ...

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bo ...

were essentially independent magnates. The ''

Vita Dagoberti The ''Vita Dagoberti'' ('Life of Dagobert') published it under the title ''Vita Dagoberti tertii regis Francorum'' ('life of Dagobert III, king of the Franks'). is an anonymous Latin biography of Dagobert III, king of the Franks (711–716). It i ...

'' is a late and unreliable biography of Dagobert III that partially conflates him with Dagobert II.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dagobert 03 Frankish warriors Merovingian kings 699 births 715 deaths 8th-century Frankish kings