mayor of the palace
Under the Merovingian dynasty, the mayor of the palace or majordomo,
( or ) was the manager of the household of the Frankish king. He was the head of the Merovingian administrative ladder and orchestrated the operation of the entire court. He ...
of
Burgundy
Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
from 639 to 642. He was appointed by
Nanthild
Nanthild ( 610 – 642), also known as ''Nantéchilde'', ''Nanthechilde'', ''Nanthildis'', ''Nanthilde'', or ''Nantechildis'', was a Frankish queen consort and regent, the third of many consorts of Dagobert I, king of the Franks (629–639). She w ...
, the
queen mother
A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...
, who gave him her niece, Ragnobert, in marriage. She called together the chief magnates and bishops of the kingdom at
Orléans
Orléans (,"Orleans" (US) and patrician Willibad had a long-running feud with Flaochad when the latter was appointed mayor. Flaochad immediately set out to destroy Willibad. At a court at
Chalon
Chalon may refer to:
Culture
*Chalon people, a Native American tribe of California
*Chalon language, an Ohlone language spoken by the Chalon people
Places
*Chalon, Isère, formerly Châlons, in France's Isère ''département''
*Le Chalon, in th ...
, Flaochad tried to assassinate him, but, failing, instead left his palace to challenge him to a duel, which Flaochad's brother Amalbert prevented from happening.
Finally Flaochad convinced
Clovis II
Clovis II (633 – 657) was King of the Franks in Neustria and Burgundy, having succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanth ...
to hold a court near
Autun
Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...
and summon Willibad. The two Burgundian magnates met in a pitched battle and Willibad was killed. Flaochad only survived him eleven days, dying of a fever. According to
Fredegar
The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Franks, Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century.
The chronic ...
, who seems to have been personally interested in this event, the last which he recorded, both were the victims of divine judgement, for they had sworn friendship in holy places and had subsequently despoiled land to enrich themselves and made war on each other.Wallace-Hadrill, 93.
Flaochad is the last mayor in Burgundy independent of
Neustria
Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages, in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, Austrasia. It initially included land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, in the north of present-day ...
. Upon his death,
Erchinoald
Erchinoald (also ''Erkinoald'' and, in French, ''Erchenout'') succeeded Aega as the mayor of the palace of Neustria in 641 and succeeded Flaochad in Burgundy in 642 and remained such until his death in 658.
Family
According to Fredegar, he was ...