Aregund, Aregunda, Arnegund, Aregonda, or Arnegonda (c. 515/520–580) was a Frankish queen, the wife of

Clotaire I Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" ( French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. Chlothar's father, Clovis I, divided the kingd ...

king of the Franks The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who ...

, and the mother of

Chilperic I Chilperic I (c. 539 – September 584) was the king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund. Life Immediately after the death of his father in 561, he en ...

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...

. She is one of the rare historical figures whose tomb has been identified and studied, which explains its importance. She is the oldest known queen of Francia.

Marriage

Aregund was the sister of

Ingund Ingonde, Ingund, Ingunda, or (in Latin) Ingundis (born c. 499, Thuringia d. 546) was a queen of the Franks by marriage to Clotaire I, son of Clovis. She was the daughter of King Baderic of Thuringia (c. 480 - c. 529). She became concubine to C ...

, one of Clotaire's other wives. Ingund and Aregund were the daughters of

Baderic Baderic, Baderich, Balderich or Boderic (ca. 480 – 529), son of Bisinus and Menia, was a co-king of the Thuringii. He and his brothers Hermanfrid and Berthar succeeded their father Bisinus. After Hermanfrid defeated Berthar in battle, he ...

, King of Thuringia. It is said that Ingund was quite alarmed at her sister staying single and asked her husband Clotaire to find Aregund a husband. After meeting his sister-in-law, Clotaire is rumored to have announced to his wife that he had found her a suitable husband: himself. While Ingund bore 5 sons and one daughter, Aregund bore one son. The study of a skeleton long identified as Aregund, suggests she had a child when she was aged about 18. In Frankish society at the time, girls often married around the age of 15. The same person (whose identification has been disputed) likely had a limp as osteoarchaeology has shown that she suffered from poliomyelitis at a young age. If one accepts the original identification, Clotaire may have married his sister-in-law out of pity, as she was not deemed marriageable due to her lameness. Alternatively, as the death rate from childbirth was high, Aregund may have succeeded her sister to foster her orphaned nephews and nieces. Ingund died between 538 and 546 AD. In 538, Clotaire married

Radegund Radegund ( la, Radegundis; also spelled ''Rhadegund, Radegonde, or Radigund''; 520 – 13 August 587) was a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the patron saint of several churche ...

of Thuringia, who was a 1st cousin of Aregund and Ingund.

Widowhood

Aregund and Radegund both survived their husband Clotaire. Aregund was the great-grandmother of the last of the Merovingian kings to wield power, Dagobert I.

Archeology

What was believed to be Aregund's sarcophagus was discovered, among dozens of others, in 1959 in the

Saint Denis Basilica The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Michel Fleury Michel Fleury (17 November 1923 in Paris – 18 January 2002 in Paris) was a French historian, archivist and archaeologist, specialising in the history and archaeology of Paris. He is buried in the cemetery of the church of Saint-Germain de Loi ...

. It contained remarkably well-preserved clothing items and jewelry. However, subsequent research throws doubt on the identification.Noble, Thomas F. X. From Roman Provinces to Medieval Kingdoms. Routledge, 2006. p. 159

Research

In an episode of the television series, ''

Digging for the Truth ''Digging for the Truth'' is a History Channel television series that ran from 2005 to 2007. The first three seasons of the show focused on host Josh Bernstein, who journeyed on various explorations of historical icons and mysteries. Bernstein is ...

'', which aired in May 2006, host

Josh Bernstein Josh Bernstein (born February 24, 1971) is an American explorer, author, executive producer, survival expert, anthropologist, and TV host best known as the host of '' Digging for the Truth''. He later appeared for one season as the host of the D ...

arranged a

DNA test Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

of a sample of her remains to see if it showed any Middle Eastern characteristics. It did not. This was meant to disprove the notion put forward by the Da Vinci Code that the Merovingians were descended from Jesus, though Aregund was merely married into the dynasty, not a blood descendant, so the results of this test are entirely irrelevant.

References

Erlande-Brandenburg, Alain Alain Erlande-Brandenburg (2 August 1937 in Luxeuil (Haute-Saône) – 6 June 2020, Paris) was a French art historian and honorary general curator for heritage, a specialist on Gothic and Romanesque art. Early life Erlande-Brandenburg was son ...

, "Saint-Denis Cathedral", Editions Quest-France, Rennes, n.d. * Gregory of Tours, ''History of the Franks'' http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.asp * Wemple, Suzanne Fonay, ''Women in Frankish Society: Marriage and the Cloister, 500 to 900'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Aregund 515 births 573 deaths Merovingian dynasty Frankish queens consort Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis 6th-century Frankish women 6th-century Frankish nobility Queen mothers