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Guntram
Saint Gontrand ( 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 "Cultural depictions of ravens, 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, dau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chlothar II
Chlothar II, sometimes called "the Young" ( French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629) was king of the Franks, ruling Neustria (584–629), Burgundy (613–629) and Austrasia (613–623). 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, his realm was one of the smallest portions of Francia. He continued his mother's feud with Queen Brunhilda with equal viciousness and bloodshed, finally achieving her execution by dismemberment 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 ag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Austregilde
Austregilde (548 – 580Bouyer, Christian; ''Dictionnaire des Reines de France''. Librairie Académique Perrin, 1992. p. 72. (in French)), also called Austerchild, Austregildis, Bobilla, Bobile, and Austrechild in most contemporary works and scholarship, was a Frankish queen consort of the Burgundy region in the 6th century. As a woman of the Merovingian elite, Austregilde held a fairly large amount of power, yet this power was limited by Salic law and societal values. As a result, Austregilde and other women needed to exercise their power indirectly through others or through intrigue tactics to become active political players. Understanding Austregilde, the power of elite women and the nature of Merovingian rule requires an analysis of the limited sources available from the contemporary period, like that of the Histories of Gregory of Tours, as well as an understanding of the context surrounding Merovingian rule. Life In 565, after the King of Orléans Guntram’s repudiati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Childebert II
Childebert II ( – 596) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia (which included Provence at the time) from 575 until his death in March 596, and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his death, as the adopted son of his uncle Guntram. Childhood Born c. 570, Childebert was the son of Sigebert I and Brunhilda of Austrasia. When his father was assassinated in 575 by two slaves of Queen-consort Fredegund of Soissons, Childebert was taken from Paris by Gundobald (according to one story, after being lowered from a window in a bag by his mother), one of his faithful lords, to Metz (the Austrasian capital), where he was recognized as sovereign. He was then only five years old, and during his long minority the power was disputed between his mother Brunhilda and the nobles, with Brunhilda being dominant until Childebert came of age in 585. Chilperic I, king at Paris, and the Burgundian king Guntram sought an alliance with Childebert, who was adopted by both in turn. Because Guntr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chlothar I
Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" (French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire from the original French version, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. With his eldest brother Theuderic I, Theuderic (c. 485 – 533/34) being the son of Clovis I and his first wife, Chlothar followed his two elder brothers Chlodomer (495–524) and Childebert I (496–558) as third surviving son of Clovis I and his second wife Queen Clotilde, lastly followed by their sister Clotilde (died 531), Clotilde (500–531). The name 'Chlothar' means "glory". In 511, Clothar I and his three brothers Theuderic, Chlodomer and Childebert inherited their shares of their father's kingdom. Chlothar spent most of his life in a campaign to expand his territories at the expense of his relatives and neighbouring realms in all directions. His brothers avoided outright war by cooperating with Chlothar's attacks on neighbouring lands in conc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Gregory Of Tours
Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encompassing Gaul's historic region. Gregory's most notable work is the ('Ten Books of Histories'), also known as the ('History of the Franks'). is considered a primary source for the study of Merovingian history and chronicles the accounts of the Franks during the period. Gregory is also known for documenting accounts of religious figures, notably that of Martin of Tours. Biography Gregory was born in Clermont, in the Auvergne region of central Gaul. He was born into the upper stratum of Gallo-Roman society as the son of Florentius, Senator of Clermont, by his wife Armentaria II, niece of Bishop Nicetius of Lyon and granddaughter of both Florentinus, Senator of Geneva, and Saint Gregory of Langres. Relatives of Gregory held the Bishopr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Kingdom Of The Franks
The Kingdom of the Franks (), also known as the Frankish Kingdom, or just Francia, was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties during the Early Middle Ages. Francia was among the last surviving Germanic kingdoms from the Migration Period era. Originally, the core Frankish territories inside the former Western Roman Empire were located close to the Rhine and Meuse rivers in the north, but Frankish chiefs such as Chlodio would eventually expand their influence within Roman territory as far as the Somme river in the 5th century. Childeric I, a Salian Frankish king, was one of several military leaders commanding Roman forces of various ethnic affiliations in the northern part of what is now France. His son, Clovis I, succeeded in unifying most of Gaul under his rule in the 6th century by notably conquering Soissons in 486 and Aquitaine in 507 following the collapse of the Western Roman Empir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Mummolus
Mummolus (also spelled Mommolus or Mummulus), was a Gallo-Roman patrician and prefect who served Guntram, King of Burgundy, as a general in the 6th century. He was born Eunius to Peonius, Count of Auxerre. Peonius sent his son to Guntram with gifts in order to guarantee his reappointment as count, but Mummolus used his gifts for his own request for the comital office, which he received. Mummolus attained prominence in Gaul during the first Lombard invasion. The patrician Amatus died in battle against them and was replaced in that office by Mummolus. It was in the wars with the Lombards that Mummolus proved himself a uniquely capable strategist. The Lombards were then in the midst of an interregnum known as the Rule of the Dukes and three of their dukes — Zaban of Pavia, Amo, and Rodanus — invaded Provence and were expelled by Mummolus and chased even into Italy. His first victory was a tactical one at Embrun. This was followed up by a defeat of some Saxon raide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Charibert I
Charibert I (; ; 517 – December 567) was the Merovingian King of Paris, the second-eldest son of Chlothar I and his first wife Ingund. His elder brother Gunthar died sometime before their father's death. He shared in the partition of the Frankish kingdom that followed his father's death in 561, receiving the old kingdom of Childebert I, with its capital at Paris. Personal life Charibert married Ingoberga and they had five children: * Blithide of Cologne (538–603), possibly married to Ansbertus, Gallo-Roman senator * Charibert of Hesbaye (d. 636) * Clithorice (541–569) * Bertha, who married Æthelberht of Kent * Chlothar (542) Charibert's daughter Bertha married Æthelberht, the pagan King of Kent. She took Bishop Liudhard with her as her private confessor. Her influence in the Kentish court was instrumental in the success of St. Augustine of Canterbury's mission in 597, effecting the conversion to Christianity of the first Anglo-Saxon ruler. Military campaigns a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chilperic I
Chilperic I ( 539 – September 584) was the king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Franks, 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-Rivière, Berny and entered Paris. His brothers, however, compelled him to divide the kingdom with them, and Soissons, together with Amiens, Arras, France, Arras, Cambrai, Thérouanne, Tournai and Boulogne-sur-Mer, Boulogne fell to Chilperic's share. His eldest brother Charibert I, Charibert received Paris, the second-eldest brother Guntram received Burgundians, Burgundy with its capital at Orléans, and Sigebert I, 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 and the territory around it. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
King Of Orléans
The Franks, Germanic peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dux, dukes and monarch, reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Franks, Salian Merovingian dynasty, Merovingians, who conquered most of Roman Gaul, as well as the Gaulish territory of the Visigothic Kingdom, following the Battle of Vouillé in 507 AD. The sons of Clovis I, the first King of the Franks, conquered the Kingdom of the Burgundians, Burgundian and the Alamannia, Alamanni Kingdoms. They acquired Provence, and went on to make the peoples of the Bavarii and Thuringii their clients. The Merovingians were later replaced by the new Carolingian dynasty in the 8th century. By the late 10th century, the Carolingians themselves had been replaced throughout much of their realm by other dynasties. A timeline of Frankish rulers has been difficult to trace since the realm, according to old Germanic practice, was frequently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Desiderius Of Aquitaine
Desiderius (died 587) was a Gallo-Roman ''dux'' in the Kingdom of the Franks during the reigns of Chilperic I and Guntram. He served Chilperic as Duke of Aquitaine and was his greatest general. When Sigebert I of Austrasia died in 575, Chilperic sent Desiderius to invade his kingdom, but Guntram of Burgundy sent the patrician Mummolus against him and Desiderius was defeated and forced to retreat, leaving Austrasia to Sigebert's son Childebert II. The following year, with the armies of Bladast and Berulf, surrounded the territory of Bourges. They subsequently devastated the Touraine, as recorded by the then bishop of Tours, Gregory, the historian. In 583, Chilperic gave the province of Aquitaine to him and Bladast and sent them into Vasconia with a large army. They were defeated and most of the army destroyed. When Chilperic died (584), Desiderius went to Toulouse to secure the treasure imparted to Chilperic's daughter Riguntha, betrothed to Reccared, son of Leovigild, King of S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
