Childebert I
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (July 2012) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Childebert I | |
---|---|
King of Paris | |
Reign | 511–558 |
Predecessor | Clovis I |
Successor | Chlothar I |
King of Orléans | |
Reign | 524–558 |
Predecessor | Chlodomer |
Successor | Chlothar I |
Born | c. 496 Reims |
Died | 13 December 558 (aged 61–62) |
Spouse | Ultragotha |
Issue | Chrodoberge Chrodesinde |
Dynasty | Merovingian |
Father | Clovis I |
Mother | Clotilde |
Religion | Chalcedonian Christianity |
Childebert I (c. 496 – 13 December 558) was a
Biography
In the partition of the realm, Childebert received as his share the town of Paris, the country to the north as far as the river Somme, to the west as far as the English Channel, and the Armorican peninsula (modern Brittany).[1] His brothers ruled in different lands: Theuderic I in Metz, Chlodomer in Orléans, and Chlothar I in Soissons.
In 523, Childebert participated with his brothers in a war against
He took part in later various expeditions against the kingdom of
In 531, he received pleas from his sister
Childebert made other expeditions against the Visigoths. In 542, he took possession of Pamplona with the help of his brother Clotaire and besieged Zaragoza, but was forced to retreat. From this expedition he brought back to Paris a precious relic, the tunic of Saint Vincent, in honour of which he built at the gates of Paris the famous monastery of Sainte-Croix-et-Saint-Vincent, known later as St-Germain-des-Prés.[1]
He died on 13 December 558, and was buried in the abbey he had founded, where his tomb has been discovered.[3] St-Germain-des-Prés became the royal necropolis for the Neustrian kings until 675.[4] He left two daughters, Chrodoberge and Chrodesinde, by his wife Ultragotha. Childebert was an acquisitive monarch. He expanded his domains in more foreign wars than any of his brothers, fighting in Burgundy (more than once), Spain (more than once), Provence and elsewhere in Gaul. Gregory of Tours, a contemporary Neustrian, cites Childebert as saying: "Velim unquam Arvernam Lemanem quae tantae jocunditatis gratia refulgere dicitur, oculis cernere" ("Would that I could set eyes on the Auvergne Limagne, which is spoken of so highly"). Childbert was also one of the more religious of the sons of Clovis, cooperating with his brothers, rescuing his sister, and constructing the famous monastery of Saint Vincent to house his relics.
Notes
- ^ a b c Pfister 1911.
- ^ Grégoire de Tours, Histoire, livre III, 18."online at Fordham University".
- ^ See "Nouveaux documents sur le tombeau de Childebert a Saint-Germain-des-Prés" in the Bulletin de la Société des Antiquaires, 1887.
- ^ Patrick Périn, in Médiévales, 31, 1996, pp. 29–36
Sources
- public domain: Pfister, Christian (1911). "Childebert". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 137. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- O. M. Dalton. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967.
- Geary, Patrick J. Before France and Germany. Oxford University Press: 1988.