Chilperic I King of FRANKS
Birth:
528
Soissons, Aisne, France
Death:
Oct 584
France
Marriage:
Abt 568
Father:
Notes:
CHILPERIC I [d. 584], was one of the sons of Clotaire I. On his father's death in 561, fearing that, as he was illegitimate, his brothers would deprive him of his share of the patrimony, he seized the royal treasury and entered Paris, prepared to bargain. The resulting division of the patrimony gave Chilperic the old Salian terrirories of the modern Picardy, Flanders and Hainault; this included Soissons. When Charibert died in 567, Chilperic's share of his property included lands and cities in the west and in Aquitaine. Distrust of his brothers, fear for his insecured eastern frontier and the perpetual need of land and treasure for his followers caused Chilperic to attack Sigebert's town of Reims. There followed a series of campaigns in which Reims and Soissons were the key points. Sigebert's marriage to the Visigothic princess Brunhilda (Brunechildis), daughter of King Athanagild, seemed to endanger Chilperic's possessions in Aquitaine; so Chilperic put away his wife and married Galswintha, Athanagild's elder daughter. This prudent step angered his followers, who hated the Arian Visigoths. Galswintha was shortly murdered, to be replaced by Chilperic's former mistress, Fredegond. This lady was Gregory of Tours's pet aversion, but Chilperic's subjects seemed to prefer her to her predecessor. The consequent vendetta with Sigebert and Brunhilda, in which Guntram of Burgundy acted occasionally as arbitrator, lasted, almost without pause, for 40 years and was castigated by Gregory of Tours as 'bella civilia,' After Sigebert's murder in 575, Chilperic became effectively master of the 'regnum Francorum.' The Visigothic king Leovigild sought the hand of his daughter Rigunthis for his heir Reccared. Chilperic was assassinated near Chelles in 584.
Chilperic was naturally ferocious and appeared to Gregory of Tours as the Nero and the Herod of his time. But he was the ablest and most interesting of the gransons of Clovis. As a bastard he had to fight for his existence; yet, a builder of circuses, he seems to have had ideas about a king's duties that were Roman or Byzantine rather than Germanic. His fiscal measures were vigorous and provoked the hatred of the church (which suffered from them). His court circle had something more than pretensions to culture; it appreciated poetry and even theological discussion. Chilperic held his own views on the doctrine of the Trinity and revised the Latin alphabet to suit his tastes. It is a pity that our sources allow us to get no nearer to the motives of his wild, unhappy career. [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1961 ed., Vol. 5, pg. 501, CHILPERIC I]
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Fredegonda
Birth:
543
Montdidier, France
Death:
597
Father:
Blocked
Mother:
Blocked
Notes:
BIOGRAPHY: Fredegonda was of common birth. She was the
serevant of Chilperic's first wife Audorese. She and Chilperic
locked Audorese in an dungeon, where she was murdered after
fifteen years solitary confinement. Chilperic then married
Galswitha. Fredegond had her strangled and replaced her on the
throne. Finally, Fredegonda had her husband assinated and
governed in the name of her son. She died quietly in her sleep
in 597.
Children
Marriage
Notes:
CLOTAIRE II (CHLOTHACHAR) (d. 629), was the son of Chilperic I. On the assassination of his father in 584 he was still in his cradle. He was, however, recognized as king thanks to the devotion of his mother Fredegond and the protection of his uncle Gontran, king of Burgundy.
It was not until after the death of his cousin Childebert II in 595 that Clotaire took any active part in affairs. He then endeavoured to enlarge his estates at the expense of Childebert's sons, Theodebert, king of Austrasia, and Theuderich II, king of Burgundy; but after gaining a victory at Laffaux (597), he was defeated at Dormelles (600) and lost part of his kingdom. After the war between Theodebert and Theuderich and their death, the nobles of Austrasia and Burgundy appealed to Clotaire who, after putting Brunhilda to death, became master of the whole of the Frankish kingdom (613). He was obliged, however, to make great concessions to the aristocracy to whom he owed his victory. By the constitution of Oct. 18, 614, he gave legal force to canons which had been voted some days previously by a council convened at Paris, but not without attempting to modify them by numerous restrictions. He extended the competence of the ecclesiastical tribunals, suppressed unjust taxes and undertook to select the counts from the districts they had to administer. Clotaire did not unify the administration, however; he maintained separate mayors of the palace for the three districts over which he ruled. In 623 he made his son Dagobert king of the Austrasians, and gradually subdued all the provinces that had formerly belonged to Childebert II. He also guaranteed a certain measure of independence to the nobles of Burgundy, giving them the option of having a special mayor of the palace or of dispensing with that officer. These concessions procured him a reign of comparative tranquility.
He died on Oct. 18, 629, and was buried at Paris in the church of St. Vincent, afterward known as St. Germain des Prés. [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1961 ed., Vol. 5, p. 844, CLOTAIRE II]
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Chilperic I King of Franks - Fredegonda
Chilperic I King of Franks
was born at Soissons, Aisne, France 528.
His parents were Clotaire I King of Franks and Ingonde (Ingonthe) Queen of the Franks.
He married Fredegonda Abt 568 . Fredegonda was born at Montdidier, France 543 .
They were the parents of 1
child:
Clothaire II King of Franks
born May 584.
Chilperic I King of Franks died Oct 584 at France .
Fredegonda died 597 .