Austregilde (548 580Bouyer, Christian; ''Dictionnaire des Reines de France''. Librairie Académique Perrin, 1992. p. 72. (ISBN 2-262-00789-6) (in French)), also called Austrechild, Austerchild, Austregildis, Bobilla, and Bobile, was a Frankish queen consort of the 6th century. She was not born into high social status, and was possibly a servant of Queen Marcatrude, the second wife of

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 ...

, King of Orléans, a servant of one of Guntram's courtiers, or even a slave in the household of Marcatrude's father. After Guntram's repudiation of his earlier queen in 565, she became his third wife. Objections to this marriage and to the

legitimacy Legitimacy, from the Latin ''legitimare'' meaning "to make lawful", may refer to: * Legitimacy (criminal law) * Legitimacy (family law) * Legitimacy (political) See also * Bastard (law of England and Wales) * Illegitimacy in fiction * Legit (d ...

of Austregilde's children led to the deaths of Marcatrude's brothers and the banishment to a monastery of the

Bishop of Gap The Diocese of Gap and Embrun (Latin: ''Dioecesis Vapincensis et Ebrodunensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Gap et d'Embrun'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of South ...

, both on the orders of Guntram. Austregilde and Guntram had two sons, Clotaire and Clodomir, and two daughters, Clodoberge and Clotilde. Austregilde outlived her sons, who died in 576 of illness. The fates of her daughters are unknown. She died in 580, possibly of smallpox. According to

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 Florent ...

, she angrily blamed her doctors Nicolas and Donat, claiming their medicines were responsible for her death. She asked Guntram to kill her doctors after her death, which he did. Gregory compares her actions to those of King Herod. Modern historians have suggested skepticism about Gregory's account of Austregilde's death. E. T. Dailey notes that it "is difficult to square this passage" with Gregory's "supposedly heroic" overall portrayal of Guntram and that "marriage to lowborn women was never likely to impress Gregory". Mark A. Handley contrasts Gregory's depiction of Austregilde with that of her "glowing"

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

, which describes her as "mother of kings, a surpassing royal wife, the light of her homeland, the world, and the court" and praises her charitable nature. Handley is critical of those that have "unnecessarily followed" Gregory's lead, saying that the "opportunity to compare and contrast... has been universally missed."

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{{s-end Merovingian dynasty Frankish queens consort 548 births 580 deaths 6th-century Frankish women 6th-century Frankish nobility