{{about, the historical Frankish dynasty sometimes called the Nibelungs, an explanation of the term Nibelung in Germanic heroic legend, Nibelung
The Nibelungids were a
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
noble family descended from Childebrand, the younger full brother of
Charles Martel
Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesm ...
.
They formed a cadet branch, alongside the Carolingians, of the
Arnulfing
The Pippinids and the Arnulfings were two Frankish aristocratic families from Austrasia during the Merovingian period. They dominated the office of mayor of the palace after 687 and eventually supplanted the Merovingians as kings in 751, foundin ...
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Pippinid
The Pippinids and the Arnulfings were two Frankish aristocratic families from Austrasia during the Merovingian period. They dominated the office of mayor of the palace after 687 and eventually supplanted the Merovingians as kings in 751, foundin ...
house. The dynasty got its name from Childebrand's heir, Nibelung I (''"The Historian"'').
Childebrand's immediate descendants held the County of the Vexin in the 9th century. The relationships between the various Childebrands and Nibelungs of the period are rarely attested in primary sources, leaving it to genealogists, prosopographers, and onomasticists to piece together possible lines of descent. It has been suggested that they were related to the family of
William of Gellone
William of Gellone ( 755 – 28 May 812 or 814), the medieval William of Orange, was the second Duke of Toulouse from 790 until 811. In 804, he founded the abbey of Gellone. He was canonized a saint in 1066 by Pope Alexander II.
and to the Counts of Autun, from which may have descended Ringard, the wife of
Pepin II of Aquitaine
Pepin II, called the Younger (823 – after 864 in Senlis), was King of Aquitaine from 838 as the successor upon the death of his father, Pepin I. Pepin II was eldest son of Pepin I and Ingeltrude, daughter of Theodobert, count of Madrie. ...
.
The early Nibelungids were patrons of the continuation of the ''
Chronicle of Fredegar
The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century.
The chronicle begin ...
'', which is indicated in the Austrasian and Arnulfing emphasis in the continuation, as distinct from the Burgundian outlook of the original chronicle.