Audovera
| Audovera | |
|---|---|
Queens of Neustria | |
| Tenure | 561 - 567 |
| Born | c. 533 |
| Died | 580 Le Mans |
| Spouse | Chilperic I |
| Issue | Theudebert of Soissons Merovech Clovis Childesinda Basina |
Audovera (died 580) was the first wife or mistress of Chilperic I, king of Neustria.[1][2]
They had five children.
- Theudebert, killed in battle in 575 by Guntram Boso during the interminable conflict between Chilperic and his brothers.
- Merovech, married the widow Brunhilda, becoming his father's enemy. Killed by his servants on his own orders in 578.
- Clovis, assassinated by Fredegund in 580.[3]
- Childesinda, mentioned but once in the Liber Historiae Francorum as the infant whose botched baptism led to Audovera's dismissal. Committed to the same nunnery as her mother.
- Basina, nun, banished to a convent in 580.[4] She later led a revolt in the abbey of Poitiers in 589.[5][3]
Some time before 567, Audovera and Fredegund - then a servant of Audovera, but later to become another wife of Chilperic[6][7][4] - prepared for the baptism of Childesinda while Chilperic was away. Fredegund learnt that it was forbidden for a mother to receive her own child in her arms following a baptism, due to a canon law forbidding marriage between parents and godparents.[8] Fredegund arranged the events of the baptism such that Audovera unknowingly broke this taboo.[9][10] On Chilperic's return, Fredegund informed him of what Audovera had done. Chilperic committed Audovera to a convent in a rage. Fredegund later had her murdered in 580 to coincide with the assassination of Clovis and the exile of Basina.
References
- ISSN 0029-4586.
- ISSN 0143-0459.
- ^ ISSN 0963-9462.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-023419-5.
- ISBN 978-0-19-023419-5.
- ISBN 978-90-04-29466-0, retrieved 2024-01-31
- ISBN 978-1-5128-2133-8.
- ISBN 978-0-87413-632-6.
- ISBN 978-0-85115-723-8.
- .