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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 endeavoured to take possession of the whole kingdom, seized the treasure amassed in the royal town of Berny and entered
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
. His brothers, however, compelled him to divide the kingdom with them, and Soissons, together with
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Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...
,
Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the ...
, Thérouanne, Tournai, and
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
fell to Chilperic's share. His eldest brother
Charibert Charibert is a Frankish given name meaning "glorious warrior". The name Berthar contains the same two elements in reversed order.Laury Sarti, ''Perceiving War and the Military in Early Christian Gaul (ca. 400–700 A.D.)'' (Brill, 2013), p. 260. It ...
received
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, the second eldest brother Guntram received Burgundy with its capital at
Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and
Sigebert received Austrasia. On the death of Charibert in 567, Chilperic's estates were augmented when the brothers divided Charibert's kingdom among themselves and agreed to share Paris. Not long after his accession, however, he was at war with Sigebert, with whom he would long remain in a state of—at the very least—antipathy. Sigebert defeated him and marched to Soissons, where he defeated and imprisoned Chilperic's eldest son,
Theudebert Theudebert (also Theodobert, Theudibert, Theodebert, Theodbert, Dietbert, Tibert, etc.E. W. Förstemann, ''Altdeutsches Namenbuch'', 18561168f./ref>) is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theo-'' "people" and ''bert'' "brig ...
. The war flared in 567, at the death of Charibert. Chilperic immediately invaded Sigebert's new lands, but Sigebert defeated him. Chilperic later allied with Guntram against Sigebert (573), but Guntram changed sides and Chilperic again lost the war. When Sigebert married Brunhilda, daughter of the
Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
sovereign in
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( Athanagild), Chilperic also wished to make a brilliant marriage. He had already repudiated his first wife,
Audovera Audovera (d. 580) was the first wife or mistress of Chilperic I, king of Neustria. They had five children. *Theudebert, killed in battle in 575 by Guntram Boso during the interminable conflict between Chilperic and his brothers. *Merovech, marrie ...
, and had taken as his concubine a serving-woman called Fredegund. He accordingly dismissed Fredegund, and married Brunhilda's sister,
Galswintha Galswintha (540–568) was a queen consort of Neustria. She was the daughter of Athanagild, Visigothic king of Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal), and Goiswintha. Galswintha was the sister of Brunhilda, Quee ...
. But he soon tired of his new partner, and one morning Galswintha was found strangled in her bed. A few days afterwards Chilperic married Fredegund. This murder was the cause of more long and bloody wars, interspersed with truces, between Chilperic and Sigebert. In 575, Sigebert was assassinated by Fredegund at the very moment when he had Chilperic at his mercy. Chilperic then made war with the protector of Sigebert's wife and son, Guntram. Chilperic retrieved his position, took from Austrasia
Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
and
Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglome ...
and some places in Aquitaine, and fostered discord in the kingdom of the east during the minority of Childebert II. In 578, Chilperic sent an army to fight the Breton ruler
Waroch II Waroch ( br, Gwereg) was an early Breton ruler of the Vannetais ('). Waroch, or his grandfather Waroch I, gave his name to the traditional Breton province of Bro-Waroch ("land of Waroch"). However, it is possible that there were several succes ...
of the
Bro-Wened Gwened, Bro-Gwened (Standard br, Bro-Wened) or Vannetais (french: Pays Vannetais) is a historic realm and county of Brittany in France. It is considered part of Lower Brittany."AM""Gwened (Vannes/Vannetais)" in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical E ...
along the Vilaine. The Frankish army consisted of units from the Poitou, Touraine,
Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duke ...
,
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
, and Bayeux. The ''Baiocassenses'' (men from Bayeux) were
Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
and they in particular were routed by the Bretons. The armies fought for three days before Waroch submitted, did homage for
Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who live ...
, sent his son as a hostage, and agreed to pay an annual tribute. He subsequently broke his oath but Chilperic's dominion over the Bretons was relatively secure, as evidenced by Venantius Fortunatus's celebration of it in a poem. Most of what is known of Chilperic comes from ''The History of the Franks'' by Gregory of Tours. Gregory detested Chilperic, calling him "the
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
and Herod of his time" (VI.46): he had provoked Gregory's wrath by wresting Tours from Austrasia, seizing ecclesiastical property, and appointing as bishops counts of the palace who were not clerics. Gregory also objected to Chilperic's attempts to teach a new doctrine of the
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
, although some scholars dispute the extent to which Gregory disliked Chilperic. Chilperic's reign in Neustria saw the introduction of the Byzantine punishment of eye-gouging. Yet, he was also a man of culture: he was a musician of some talent, and he wrote verse (modelled on that of Sedulius); he attempted to reform the Frankish alphabet; and he worked to reduce the worst effects of Salic law upon women. In September 584, while returning from a hunting expedition at his royal
villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became ...
of Chelles, Chilperic was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant.Oman, Charles. ''The Dark Ages, 476-918'', Rivingtons, 1908, p. 169
/ref> He was buried in the Saint Vincent Basilica of Paris, later incorporated in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés.


Family

Chilperic I's first marriage was to
Audovera Audovera (d. 580) was the first wife or mistress of Chilperic I, king of Neustria. They had five children. *Theudebert, killed in battle in 575 by Guntram Boso during the interminable conflict between Chilperic and his brothers. *Merovech, marrie ...
. They had five children: *
Theudebert Theudebert (also Theodobert, Theudibert, Theodebert, Theodbert, Dietbert, Tibert, etc.E. W. Förstemann, ''Altdeutsches Namenbuch'', 18561168f./ref>) is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theo-'' "people" and ''bert'' "brig ...
(killed at battle 573). *Merovech (killed by a servant at his request in 577), married the widow Brunhilda (his aunt by marriage) and became his father's enemy *Clovis (assassinated by Fredegund in 580). * Basina (d. aft. 590), nun, led a revolt in the abbey of Poitiers *Childesinda (died young from dysentery) His short second marriage to
Galswintha Galswintha (540–568) was a queen consort of Neustria. She was the daughter of Athanagild, Visigothic king of Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal), and Goiswintha. Galswintha was the sister of Brunhilda, Quee ...
produced no children. His concubinage and subsequent marriage to Fredegund in about 568 produced six more legitimate offspring: * Rigunth (c. 569 – after 589), betrothed to Reccared but never married. *Chlodebert (c. 570/72 – 580), died young. *Samson (c. 573 – late 577), died young. *Dagobert (c. 579/80 – 580), died young. *Theuderic (c. 582 – 584), died young. * Chlothar II (before September 584 – 18 October 629), Chilperic's successor in Neustria, later sole king of the Franks.


Etymology

Chilperic's name in Frankish meant "powerful supporter", akin to German ''hilfreich'' "auxiliary" (cf. German ''Hilfe'' "help, aid" and ''reich'' "rich, orig. powerful")


Cultural references

An operetta on the subject, '' Chilpéric'', was created by
Hervé Hervé is a French masculine given name of Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinization was '' Charivius''. Anglici ...
, first performed in 1864.


References


Sources

*Sérésia, ''L'Eglise el l'Etat sous les rois francs au VI siècle'' (
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
, 1888). * Dahmus, Joseph Henry. ''Seven Medieval Queens''. 1972. *Halsall, Guy. "Nero and Herod? The death of Chilperic and Gregory of Tours’ writing of history," in ''The World of Gregory of Tours'', ed. Kathleen Mitchell and Ian Wood (Leiden: Brill, 2002). *


External links


History of the Franks: Books I-X
At Medieval Sourcebook. {{Authority control Merovingian kings Frankish warriors 539 births 584 deaths 6th-century murdered monarchs Burials at Saint-Germain-des-Prés (abbey) 6th-century Frankish kings 6th-century Frankish writers 6th-century poets Deaths by blade weapons