Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Duke of Elsass
• FSID: GWHC-QY1
• Birth: 675, Germany
• Death: 722, Germany

Family/Spouse: von Pfalzel, Gerlind. Gerlind (daughter of von Pfalzel, Odo and von Pfalzel, Adele) was born in 679 in Aquitaine, France; died in 715 in Alsace, Lorraine, France; was buried in 715 in Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. von Elsass, Luitfrid I was born in 700 in Koenigshoffen, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France; died in 745 in Alsace, Lorraine, France.
2. von Elsass, Saint Odilia was born in 686 in Altdorf, Landshut, Bayern, Germany; died in UNKNOWN in Altdorf, Landshut, Bayern, Germany.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Duke of Elsass
• FSID: 9HD7-DGZ

Adalrich married of the Franks, Berswind. Berswind (daughter of of the Franks, King Sigibert III and of Burgundy, Chimnechild) was born in 648 in Kingdom of Austrasia; died in DECEASED. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: GWHC-8YW

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Duke of Elsass
• FSID: 9HD7-DPJ

Other Events and Attributes:

• House: Merovingian
• FSID: GWHC-ZRL
• Appointments / Titles: Between 633 and 656, Kingdom of Austrasia; King of Austrasia

Notes:

Sigebert III

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sigebert III
King of Austrasia
Reign 633–656
Predecessor Dagobert I
Successor Childebert the Adopted
Mayor of the Palace Grimoald the Elder
Born 630
Died c. 656 (aged 25–26)
Burial Nancy Cathedral
Spouse Chimnechild
Issue Dagobert II
Bilichild
Dynasty Merovingian
Father Dagobert I
Mother Ragnétrude
Religion Chalcedonian Christianity
(Sanctified)

Sigebert III (c. 630–656) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 633 to his death around 656. He was described as the first Merovingian roi fainéant —do-nothing king—, in effect the mayor of the palace ruling the kingdom throughout his reign. However he lived a pious Christian life and was later sanctified, being remembered as Saint Sigebert of Austrasia in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church.

Contents
1 Life
2 Marriage and succession
3 Sources
4 References
Life

Baptism of Sigebert. His mother is near him.
Sigebert was born in 630 as the eldest son of Dagobert I, King of the Franks, and his concubine Ragnetrude.[1] The king recalled and made peace with Saint Amand, who was previously banished for criticizing the king's vices, and asked him to baptize his new-born son. The ceremony was performed at Orléans and Charibert II, Dagobert's half-brother who was King of Aquitaine at the time, was the god-father. Dagobert assigned the education of Sigebert to Pepin of Landen, who was the mayor of the palace in Austrasia under his father Chlotar II, until 629. Pepin took the young Sigebert and moved with him to his domains in Aquitane, where they stayed the next three years.[2]

In 633, a revolt of the nobles forced Dagobert to make the three-year old Sigebert king of Austrasia, similar to how his father Chlotar II had made him king of Austrasia in 623. However, he refused to give the power to Pepin of Landen by making him mayor of the palace for the child-king. Instead he had put Sigebert under the tutelage of Adalgisel as mayor of the palace and the Bishop of Cologne Saint Cunibert as regent, while keeping Pepin in Neustria as hostage. In 634 Dagobert's second son, Clovis II, was born, and the king forced the nobles to accept him as the next king of Neustria and Burgundy, setting up a new division of the empire.[3]

On the death of Dagobert in 639, the two Frankish kingdoms became independent once again under Sigebert III and Clovis II. Both kingdoms were under child-kings – Sigebert was around eleven years old and Clovis was five – and were ruled by the respective regents. It was under Seigbert's reign that the mayor of the palace began to play the most important role in the political life of Austrasia, and he has been described as the first roi fainéant—do-nothing king—of the Merovingian dynasty.[4] Pepin replaced Adalgisel as mayor of the palace of Austrasia in 639 but died the following year, in 640, and was replaced by his son Grimoald.

In 640 the Duchy of Thuringia rebelled against Austrasia in the only war of Sigebert's reign. Grimoald allowed the young king to stand at the head of the army trying to quell the rebellion, but was defeated by Duke Radulph. The Chronicle of Fredegar records that the rout left Sigebert weeping in his saddle.

Though ineffective as a king, Sigebert had become a pious adult under the tutelage of Pepin and later Saint Cunibert and lived a life of Christian virtue. He used his wealth to establish numerous monasteries, hospitals, and churches, including the monastery of Stavelot-Malmedy.[2]

Sigebert III died of natural causes on 1 February 656 at age 25. He was buried in the Abbey of Saint Martin near Metz which he had founded. In 1063 his body, found incorrupt, was taken out of the tomb and moved to the side of the altar. The abbey was demolished in 1552 and the relics were moved to the Nancy Cathedral. Sigebert III is revered as a saint by the Catholic Church with his feast day on 1 February. He is the patron saint of Nancy.[2]

Marriage and succession
The Mayor of the Palace Grimoald managed to convince the young Sigebert, who was childless at the time, to adopt as his heir Grimoald's son Childebert the Adopted. However, the king married Chimnechild of Burgundy and had a son of his own, the future king Dagobert II. He also had a daughter, Bilichild, the future Queen of Neustria and Burgundy.[5]

In 656, after the death of Sigebert, Grimoald attempted to usurp the throne of Austrasia and had the young Dagobert (who was seven years old at the time) tonsured and sent to a monastery in Ireland. Grimoald's son Childebert was proclaimed King of Austrasia in 656, but the reign was short-lived as he was deposed after seven months in 657 and both he and his father were killed in a revolt.[6]

Austrasia next passed under the rule of the children of Sigebert's brother Clovis II for a period. Chlothar III, the elder son of Clovis II, became the king of Austrasia in 657. The next year, in 658, he also became King of Neustria and Burgundy upon the death of his father, thus temporarily reuniting the Frankish kingdoms under one rule. A few years later however, the Austrasian nobility again pressed successfully for the kingdoms to be separated. As a result, Childeric II, the younger brother of Chlotar III, became king of Austrasia from 662 to his death in 675. The nobles had put on the throne Clovis III, about whom not much is known, but his reign was short. One year later, in 676, Dagobert II, Siegbert's son, was recalled from Ireland and took his father's throne after approximately 20 years in exile.

Sigibert married of Burgundy, Chimnechild. Chimnechild (daughter of of Austrasia, Count Alberic and of Tréves, Adele) was born in 633 in Bourgogne, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died in 654. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: GWHC-CC9

Other Events and Attributes:

• House: Merovingian
• FSID: 93XX-5LJ
• Appointments / Titles: 622, Paris, Île-de-France, France; King of Austrasia
• Appointments / Titles: 629, Kingdom of Austrasia; King of Neustria and Burgundy

Notes:

Dagobert I
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dagobert I
Trémissis de Dagobert Ier.jpg
Contemporary effigy of Dagobert from a gold triens
King of Neustria and Burgundy
Reign 18 October 629 – 19 January 639
Successor Clovis II
King of the Franks
Reign 18 October 629[citation needed] – 634
Predecessor Vacant (last held by Chlothar II)
Successor Vacant (next held by Theuderic III)
King of Austrasia
Reign 623–634
Predecessor Chlothar II
Successor Sigebert III
Born c. 603[1]
Died 19 January 639 (aged 35-36)
Épinay-sur-Seine
Burial Saint Denis Basilica, Paris
Spouse
Gormatrude
Nanthild
Wulfegundis
Berchildis
Ragnetrude (concubine)
Issue
Sigebert III
Clovis II
Dynasty Merovingian
Father Chlothar II
Mother Haldetrude
Signature Dagobert I's signature
Dagobert I (Latin: Dagobertus; c. 603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He was the last king of the Merovingian dynasty to wield any real royal power.[2] Dagobert was the first of the Frankish kings to be buried in the royal tombs at Saint Denis Basilica.[3]

Contents
1 Rule in Austrasia
2 United rule
3 Rule in Neustria, from Paris
4 Marriage and children
5 Coinage and treasures under Dagobert
5.1 Treasure of Dagobert
5.2 Coinage
6 References
6.1 Notes
6.2 Citations
7 Bibliography
8 External links
Rule in Austrasia
Dagobert was the eldest son of Chlothar II and Haldetrude (575–604) and the grandson of Fredegund.[4] Chlothar had reigned alone over all the Franks since 613. In 622, Chlothar made Dagobert king of Austrasia,[5] almost certainly to bind the Austrasian nobility to the ruling Franks.[4] As a child, Dagobert lived under the care of the Carolingian dynasty forebears and Austrasian magnates, Arnulf of Metz and Pepin of Landen.[6]

Chlothar attempted to manage the unstable alliances he had with other noble families throughout much of Dagobert's reign.[7] When Chlothar granted Austrasia to Dagobert, he initially excluded Alsace, the Vosges, and the Ardennes, but shortly thereafter the Austrasian nobility forced him to concede these regions to Dagobert. The rule of a Frank from the Austrasian heartland tied Alsace more closely to the Austrasian court. Dagobert created a new duchy (the later Duchy of Alsace) in southwest Austrasia to guard the region from Burgundian or Alemannic encroachments and ambitions. The duchy comprised the Vosges, the Burgundian Gate, and the Transjura. Dagobert made his courtier Gundoin—who incidentally established monasteries in Alsace and Burgundy[8]—the first duke of this new polity that was to last until the end of the Merovingian dynasty. While Austrasian rulers such as Chlothar and Dagobert controlled these regions through part of the seventh-century, they eventually became autonomous kingdoms as powerful aristocratic families sought separate paths across their respective realms.[9]

United rule

"Throne of Dagobert", bronze. The base, formed by a curule chair, is traditionally attributed to Dagobert, while the arms and the back of the chair were added under Charles the Bald. This throne was last used by Napoleon I in 1804 when he created the Légion d'Honneur. Cabinet des Medailles.
Upon the death of his father in 629, Dagobert inherited the Neustrian and Burgundian kingdoms. His half-brother Charibert, son of Sichilde, claimed Neustria but Dagobert opposed him. Brodulf, brother of Sichilde, petitioned Dagobert on behalf of his young nephew, but Dagobert assassinated him and became sole king of the Franks. He later gave the Aquitaine to Charibert as a "consolation prize."[10] In 629, Dagobert concluded a treaty with the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, which entailed enforcing the compulsory baptism of Jews throughout his kingdom.[11] Besides signing this treaty, Dagobert also took steps to secure trade across his empire by protecting important markets along the mouth of the Rhine at Duurstede and Utrecht, which in part explains his later determination to defend the Austrasian Franks from the Avar menace.[12]

Under the rule of Dagobert's father and like-minded Merovingians, Frankish society during the seventh-century experienced greater integration—the Catholic faith became predominant for instance—and a generally improved economic situation, but there was no initial impetus for the political unification of Gaul. Clothar II did not seek to force his Neustrian neighbors into submission, choosing instead a policy of cooperation.[13] This did not prohibit plunder-raids to replenish the dynastic coffers, which Dagobert undertook in Spain for example—one raid there earned him 200,000 gold solidi.[14] Historian Ian Wood claims that Dagobert "was probably richer than most Merovingian monarchs" and cites for example his assistance to the Visigoth Sisenand—whom he aided in his rise to the Visigothic throne in Spain—and for which, Sisenand awarded Dagobert a golden dish weighing some five-hundred pounds.[15]

When Charibert and his son Chilperic were assassinated in 632, Dagobert had Burgundy and Aquitaine firmly under his rule, becoming the most powerful Merovingian king in many years and the most respected ruler in the West. In 631, Dagobert led a large army against Samo, the ruler of the Slavic Wends, partly at the request of the Germanic peoples living in the eastern territories and also due to Dagobert's quarrel with him about the Wends having robbed and killed a number of Frankish merchants.[16] While Dagobert's Austrasian forces were defeated at the Wogastisburg,[17] his Alemmanic and Lombard allies were successful in repelling the Wends.[18] Taking advantage of the situation at the time, the Saxons offered to help Dagobert if he agreed to rescind the 500 cow yearly tribute to the Austrasians. Despite accepting this agreement, Fredegar reports that it was to little avail since the Wends attacked again the following year.[18]

Rule in Neustria, from Paris
Also in 632, the nobles of Austrasia revolted under the mayor of the palace, Pepin of Landen. In 634, Dagobert appeased the rebellious nobles by putting his three-year-old son, Sigebert III, on the throne, thereby ceding royal power in the easternmost of his realms, just as his father had done for him eleven years earlier. In historian Ian Wood's view, Dagobert's creation of a sub-kingdom for his son Sigibert had "important long-term implications for the general structure of Merovingian Francia."[19]

Detail of Dagobert's tomb, thirteenth century
As king, Dagobert made Paris his capital. During his reign, he built the Altes Schloss in Meersburg (in modern Germany), which today is the oldest inhabited castle in that country. Devoutly religious, Dagobert was also responsible for the construction of the Saint Denis Basilica at the site of a Benedictine monastery in Paris. He also appointed St. Arbogast bishop of Strasbourg.[20] Dagobert was beloved in many ways according to Fredegar, who wrote that "He rendered justice to rich and poor alike," adding that, "he took little sleep or food, and cared only so to act that all men should leave his presence full of joy and admiration."[21] Such images do not fully convey the power and domination wielded by Frankish kings like Dagobert, who along with his father Chlothar, reigned to such a degree that historian Patrick Geary described the period of their combined rule as the "apogee of Merovingian royal power."[22]

Dagobert went down in history as one of the greatest Frankish kings, having held his lands against the eastern hordes and with noblemen as far away as Bavaria, who sought his overlordship.[23] Only thirty-six when he died, Dagobert constituted the last of the great Merovingian kings, who, according to J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, "had the ruthless energy of a Clovis and the cunning of a Charlemagne."[23] Despite having more or less united the Frankish realms, he likely was not expecting unitary rule to continue given the diverging interests of the Austrasian and Neustrian Franks, atop those of the Aquitanians and Burgundians.[23] Upon his death, he was buried in the abbey of Saint-Denis and was the first Frankish king to be buried in the Saint Denis Basilica, Paris.[24] The interment of Dagobert at Saint-Denis established a precedent for the future burial of French rulers there.[25]

Marriage and children
The author of the Chronicle of Fredegar criticises the king for his loose morals in having "three queens almost simultaneously, as well as several concubines".[a][26] When rex Brittanorum Judicael came to Clichy to visit with Dagobert, he opted not to dine with him due to his misgivings with Dagobert's moral choices, instead dining with the king's referendary, St. Audoen.[27] Fredegar's chronicle names the three queens, Nanthild and the otherwise obscure Wulfegundis and Berchildis, but none of the concubines, stating that a full list of concubines would be too long. In 625/6 Dagobert married Gormatrude, a sister of his father's wife Sichilde; but the marriage was childless. After divorcing Gormatrude in 629/30 he made Nanthild, a Saxon servant (puella) from his personal entourage, his new queen.[b] She gave birth to Clovis II (b. 634/5) later king of Neustria and Burgundy. Shortly after his marriage to Nanthild, he took a girl called Ragnetrude to his bed, who gave birth to his youngest son, Sigebert III (b. 630/1) later king of Austrasia.[c]

Dagobert married de Bourgogne, Ragnetrude in 630. Ragnetrude (daughter of d'Ardennes, Count Brunulphe II and d'Ardennes, Countess Clotilde) was born in 598 in Metz, Moselle, Lorraine, France; died on 19 Jan 683 in Kingdom of Neustria (Historical); was buried after 19 Jan 683 in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Princess of Austrasia
• FSID: LDSS-9ZF

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Kingdom of Austrasia; Mayor of the Palace
• FSID: LLC7-CZF

Notes:

Buried:
Monastery

Alberic married of Tréves, Adele in 639 in Bayern, Germany. Adele (daughter of de Poitiers, Bodilon and de Soisson, Saint Sigrada) was born in 625 in Poitiers, Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, France; died in 689 in Bayern, Germany; was buried in 698 in Orp-le-Grand Monastery, Orp-Jauche, Arrondissement de Nivelles, Wlloon Brabant, Belgium. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LLC7-CC5