Brunichild

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fantasy representation of the execution of Brunichild, copper engraving by Paul Girardet based on a model by Félix Philippoteaux (19th century)

Brunichild (or Brunehilde ; * around 545/550; † 613 ) was a Frankish queen of Visigoth origin. In 566 she became the wife of the Merovingian Sigibert I , to whom she gave birth to the son Childebert II and two daughters. Because of the murder of her sister Gailswintha by Sigibert's half-brother Chilperich I , she harbored a lasting hostility towards him and his lover Fredegunde . After the death of her first husband in 575, she married a son of Chilperich, Merowech, in a short-lived marriage . Widowed for the second time, she played an important role in Austrasia from 577 and advocated a strong kingship. Temporarily disempowered by hostile aristocrats, she took custody of Childebert again after Chilperich's murder (584). In 587 she and her son concluded an important alliance with the Burgundian King Guntram I through the Treaty of Andelot . After Guntram's and Childebert's deaths in 592 and 596, respectively, Brunichild became regent in Austrasia and Burgundy for her grandsons Theudebert II and Theuderich II , but then had to retreat to Burgundy and lost her influence in Austrasia around 602. In Burgundy she gained great power and took vigorous action against reluctant nobles. Her grandchildren had fallen apart, with Theuderich finally gaining the upper hand in the following fratricidal war in 612, but died the following year. When Brunichild had her underage great-grandson Sigibert II proclaimed king and took over the reign for him, the rebellious Austrasian Great Fredegundes son Chlothar II called for help, who after the dissolution of the Burgundian army sent against him became master of the entire Merovingian Empire and Brunichild cruelly executed.

Life

Origin and first marriage with Sigibert I.

Brunichild was the younger daughter of two daughters of the Visigoth king Athanagild and the Queen Goswintha (Goiswintha). She grew up at the court of Toledo and was brought up in the Arian faith .

In 566 the Merovingian Sigibert I , a son of Chlothar I and king of the Frankish Eastern Empire ( Austrasia ), wooed Brunichild's hand through an embassy sent to Toledo. Her father Athanagild agreed and sent his daughter with rich gifts to her bridegroom. Sigibert's Majordomus Gogo escorted Brunichild to Reims , where the wedding took place. Sigibert also invited the nobles of his kingdom to this festive event, presumably to get their consent to marry the Visigoth princess, whose physical and mental virtues Venantius Fortunatus , Bishop of Poitiers , praised in a poem. As a result, Brunichild converted to the Catholic faith of the Franks, which the clergy welcomed. Gregory of Tours , one of the main sources on Brunichild's history, states that Sigibert had carefully chosen a king's daughter in order to enter into a befitting marriage, unlike his brothers. Brunichild bore her husband a son, Childebert II , and two daughters, Ingund and Chlodoswinth.

Chilperich I , King of Neustria , soon followed the example of his half-brother Sigibert, who was at odds with him, and married Brunichild's older sister Gailswintha . However, he did not part with his lover Fredegunde , and Gailswintha threatened to leave the unfaithful king. At Fredegunde's instigation, Chilperich had Gailswintha murdered by a servant around 570. Chilperich now definitely bonded with Fredegunde and married her. This resulted in a lifelong personal enmity between the queens Brunichild and Fredegunde, which exacerbated the conflict between their husbands Sigibert and Chilperich because of inheritance disputes in the divisions of 561 and 567.

In the civil war that soon broke out, there were varied battles. In 575, after another attack by Chilperich, Sigibert began a successful counter-offensive and captured Paris ; Chilperich had to hide in Tournai . Sigibert was to be proclaimed King of Neustria in place of his enemy half-brother in Vitry-en-Artois , but two murderers hired by Fredegunde killed him at the end of 575. Now Chilperich won back the territories that his half-brother had taken from him, captured Brunichild in Paris and owned it took her royal treasure and sent her into exile in Rouen . He had her daughters held in Meaux . Duke Gundowald saved Brunichild's little son Childebert and raised him to the rank of Austrasian king.

Second marriage to Merowech

When Merowech , the second son of Chilperich and his first wife Audovera , who had become estranged from his father, came to Rouen in 576 - with the approval of Bishop Praetextatus of Rouen - he took the widowed step-aunt Brunichild as his wife. When Chilperich found out about it, he hurried to Rouen. The couple who fled to St. Martin's Church only left after Chilperich's promise not to separate the bride and groom. Contrary to his insurance, Chilperich had his son imprisoned in Soissons . When he was about to be ordained a cleric, Merowech managed to escape, but Brunichild may not have been able or willing to provide him with Austrasian help. When he was imminent capture, Merowech 577 was stabbed by a confidante. Brunichild was able to flee to Metz to the court of her son Childebert.

Influential position in Austrasia; Conflicts with opposition nobles and Chilperich

After Sigibert I's death, the Austrasian nobility in particular was able to increase their power over the royal dynasty. Brunichild, whose political activity is gradually becoming more evident in the early medieval sources after her return to Austrasia, fought against oppositional nobles for the rights of royalty. Their young son Childebert was adopted by his uncle, the Burgundian King Guntram I , in 577 and made the heir of his kingdom. The affairs of state for Childebert were initially directed primarily by Majordomus Gogo and Duke Lupus of Champagne , a confidante of Brunichilde. How strong the influence of the queen widow herself was is uncertain.

Brunichild married their daughter Ingund in 579 to Hermenegild , the older son of the Visigoth king Leovigild . In 581 a noble group hostile to Brunichild came to power; at its head was Bishop Egidius of Reims . She advocated an anti-Guntram alliance with Chilperich. Duke Lupus was ousted; and Brunichild could not prevent the looting of his property. So she probably had little political influence at the time. In a joint attack on Guntram agreed between the Regency Council around Bishop Egidius and Chilperich in 583, there was a rebellion against the Austrasian government, so that Chilperich, now left alone, had to stop the attack on Guntram. As a result, the advocates of an alliance between Australia and Chilperic lost influence.

In September or October 584 Chilperich fell victim to an assassination attempt. The perpetrators of the attack are unknown. According to Fredegar , Brunichild is said to have been the instigator of this attack; however, his attitude towards the queen widow is extremely negative. In any case, their position of power improved significantly through Chilperich's death. In 585 she took over the custody of her son Childebert again, broke the engagement between Childebert and Theudelinde , a daughter of the Bavarian Duke Garibald I , carried out by Gogo's successor, the hostess Waldelenus , who was opposed to her , and instead arranged a marriage for him with Faileuba, one of them Woman of unknown origin. Childebert had already been declared of age in the same year. Brunichild's relationship with her daughter-in-law remained very good.

In the meantime Brunichild's son-in-law Hermenegild, who had revolted against his father, had been murdered in 584 and his wife Ingund, abducted by the Byzantines, died in 585 en route in North Africa. Ingund had given birth to a son, Athanagild, and Brunichild asked in four letters he had received to Byzantine empresses for her grandson's permission to return to France.

Relations with Guntram of Burgundy; Treaty of Andelot

After the birth of two sons of Childebert, Theudebert II and Theuderich II , opposition greats, who were a thorn in the side of Brunichild's increasing influence on their son, started a conspiracy against the life of the king in 587. At the head of the conspirators were Duke Rauching as well as Ursio and Bertefred. After Childebert's murder, they intended to lead the regency for his underage sons. The plot failed, however. Soon afterwards, Brunichild, Childebert and Guntram concluded the Treaty of Andelot in November 587, with the involvement of many nobles and the clergy , which regulated relations between the Merovingian kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy and brought peace for some time. Childebert and Guntram made each other's heirs in the event that either of them died without leaving any sons. Guntram also took on a protective role for Brunichild, whose right to atonement for her murdered sister Gailswintha was recognized in the contract. It should no longer be possible for the greats of the empire to take over the guardianship of Childebert's sons. In the treaty, Brunichild and Guntram stood up against the claims of the aristocracy for a strong kingship, but had many nobles and bishops involved in the meeting in Andelot, since the treaty could not be implemented without their majority approval.

According to Gregory of Tours, there was a renewed conspiracy of leading Austrians in 589, who disapproved of Brunichild's position of power. This plot also failed.

Guntram died on March 28, 592, whereupon Childebert became the new king in Burgundy under the Treaty of Andelot and united it with Austrasia. From this point on, the sparse and often distorted information provided by the fourth book in Fredegar's chronicle became the main source of Brunichild's life due to the breaking off of the records of Gregory of Tours. Over the next two decades, this very clearly stamped her personality and her political influence. However, the power of the nobility, who were able to enforce several successful measures against them, also increased during this period. In Neustria, Fredegunde, who acted as regent for her underage son Chlothar II , also asserted herself against Childebert's attacks.

Regency in Austrasia and Burgundy

When Childebert died in March 596 at the age of 26, Brunichild took over the reign of her underage grandson Theudebert II, who received Austrasia with the residence of Metz , and Theuderich II, to whom the part of Burgundy with the capital Chalon was assigned. According to the Liber Historiae Francorum (column 37), another important source for the history of the Merovingian Franconian Empire in the 7th century, Brunichild incited her grandson Theuderich against his brother Theudebert because the latter was not the son of Childebert's wife Faileuba.

After Childebert's death, Fredegunde and her 13-year-old son Chlothar II had occupied Paris and other cities north of the Loire and defeated an army sent against them in the name of Brunichild's grandchildren. Fredegunde died shortly afterwards in 597.

As can be seen in particular from letters from Pope Gregory the Great , Brunichild, as regent for her two grandchildren, exercised significant influence in Austrasia and Burgundy. In a letter addressed to the two underage kings, around July 596, he expressly asked Brunichild for protection and support from Bishop Augustine of Canterbury for his mission in England. In a letter written in 599, the Pope noted that Brunichild was in the position of secular kingship, that is to say, as regent, in Gregory's opinion, she actually had, and not just nominally, great powers of power. Another letter from Gregor from 599 shows that the holding of an imperial synod was evidently linked to Brunichild's consent.

However, it is difficult to make a differentiated assessment of Brunichilde's reign, since the primary sources reporting on this are unilaterally colored in a negative way. While Gregory of Tours characterized it rather positively, the biography of Bishop Desiderius of Vienne, written by the Visigoth king Sisebut soon after 613 , shows a very negative tendency. According to this, Brunichild hated the prelate because of his piety until he was stoned to death in 603 after being deposed twice. Jonas von Bobbio adopted this image hostile to Brunichild in his Vita of Abbot Columban , and his portrayal of the queen widow was included in Fredegar's assessment of Brunichild. Therefore caution should be exercised when evaluating the primary sources.

Expulsion to Burgundy; Role in the conflict between Theudebert II and Theuderich II.

In 599, as Fredegar claims, Brunichild was driven out of Austrasia by her noble enemies and, led by a peasant, fled to Theuderic II in Burgundy. However, several historians doubt this information, since Brunichild was able to exert influence in Austrasia until 602 and the relationships between her grandchildren were still intact during this period. So Theudebert and Theuderich won together at Dormelles in 600 decisive over Chlothar II, who then had to accept a considerable loss of territory.

In Burgundy, Brunichild gained a great position of power and fought for strong monarchical power. In the conflict with the Frankish nobility, which she also tried to push back in Burgundy, she relied on the broad Romanesque senatorial class there. On their orders, patricius Aegyla is said to have been killed in order to be able to transfer his property to the state treasury. She also had Bishop Desiderius von Vienne deposed at a synod in Châlons-sur-Marne in 602 and soon afterwards had him stoned because he had been a hindrance to her exercise of power, and she had spun an intrigue against the caretaker Bertoald , because she made his office her favorite, the novel Protadius , wanted to transfer.

From 602 Brunichild lost her influence in Austrasia and with it her position as regent there. The relationship between her grandchildren has deteriorated since then. The sources blame Brunichild for this; she had incited Theuderich against Theudebert. It is more likely, however, that the brothers were already quarreling over possession of the Saintois , Alsace and Thurgau . In any case, a war would almost have broken out between them in 605 if the army had not stood up. Theuderich's followers asked him to seek a peaceful compromise with his brother, and when Protadius, who had meanwhile succeeded Bertoald as caretaker, continued to insist on a martial solution, he atone for this with his life.

Theuderich now entered into friendly relations with Chlothar II and in 607 campaigned for the hand of Ermenberga , a daughter of the Visigoth king Witterich, through an embassy . Ermenberga then traveled to Theuderich, who soon dismissed her, breaking an oath. Brunichild is said to have induced her grandson to take this step. Jonas von Bobbio argues that Brunichild was concerned that her dignity at court would be diminished by the presence of a legitimate queen after the concubines that Theuderich had previously had were driven out. However, Brunichild had evidently promoted the marriage of her grandson to the Visigoths herself , since her confidante Bishop Arigius of Lyon headed the delegation that Ermenberga picked up from her father. Jonas also accuses Brunichild of promoting Theuderich's relations with concubines. Contrary to Brunichild's wish, Abbot Columban did not want to bless the offspring born from these relationships with Theuderich, because, as he put it, these children had emerged from the brothel . Because of Columban's refusal, Brunichild had the saint deported.

In 612 there was a final battle between the two grandsons of Brunichild. Theuderich beat his brother Theudebert first at Toul , then at Zülpich . Theudebert was imprisoned and soon killed. Shortly afterwards, Theuderich wanted to start a war with Chlothar II, but previously died in 613 at the age of only 25 in Metz an der Ruhr . According to the unreliable story of the Liber Historiae Francorum , however, he was poisoned by Brunichild because he intended to marry his niece.

death

Now Brunichild, who was then in Metz, had her great-grandson Sigibert II , Theuderich's eldest son, who was around 11 years old, raised to the rank of king to the exclusion of his brothers and tried to rule in his name. Influential Austrasian nobles, led by Pippin the Elder and Arnulf von Metz , the progenitors of the Carolingians , rebelled and called on Chlothar II to attack Austrasia.

Chlothar thereupon opened the war and responded to an admonition by Brunichild to repent that he had received in Andernach , saying that he would only submit to an arbitration award made by selected Franks in this conflict. Brunichild sent Sigibert II with the Burgundian house man Warnachar and other aristocrats to Thuringia , where they were supposed to recruit new forces. According to Fredegar, who alone reported on these events, Warnachar was inclined to Chlothar, which is why Brunichild ordered his killing. The caretaker had warned in good time thereupon thwarted the planned troop drafting and convinced the Burgundian nobility and clergy to destroy Brunichild and Theuderich's sons. If the allegedly planned assassination attempt on Warnachar is also questionable as a motive for his resistance against Brunichild, then Fredegar should be believed that many Burgundian greats vehemently rejected Brunichild's rule. So she hadn't understood how to win over these influential personalities.

Brunichild and Sigibert II succeeded in gathering an army against Chlothar; however, it dissolved when it encountered the opposing troops at Châlons-sur-Marne. Brunichild fled, but was seized by the treasurer Herpo in Orbe and handed over to the victor in Rionne. In this way, Chlothar was able to reunite the Franconian Empire under his rule without a fight. He had Sigibert and his brother Corbus killed. He also made Brunichild responsible for all armed conflicts between the Merovingians over the past 38 years in order to legitimize his actions against them. On his orders, Brunichild was tortured for three days; then she had to show herself to the army on a camel. Finally, Chlothar had her hair, one foot and one arm tied to the tail of a wild horse, whereupon she was dragged to death and torn to pieces as it galloped. The old queen widow died in this cruel way in 613 and was buried by her followers in the Mary's crypt of the Martinsky Monastery of Autun , as they wished . She not only founded this monastery but also other places of worship in Autun and appears in the letters of Pope Gregory the Great as an important patroness of the Gallic Church.

The downfall of Brunichild, with which their clan was definitely eliminated, was a victory of the Frankish nobility over the idea of ​​centralism and a powerful kingship. The fierce opposition that Brunichild's appearance aroused in wide circles is reflected in the sometimes very negative and distorted representation of her role in the sources.

Again and again, Brunichild is speculatively considered as a model for Brünhild in the Nibelungenlied . Her name lives on in France in the name of streets, castles, towers, etc.

See also

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ A b Gregory of Tours , Ten Books Stories 4, 27.
  2. ↑ Sebastian Scholz : The Merovingians , Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-17-022507-7 , p. 124.
  3. ↑ Martina Hartmann : The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-17-018473-2 , p. 74.
  4. ^ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 4, 28; Martina Hartmann: The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 74 f .; Sebastian Scholz: The Merovingians , p. 124 f.
  5. ^ A b Hans Hubert Anton:  Brunichilde. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 3, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1978, ISBN 3-11-006512-6 , p. 588.
  6. ↑ Sebastian Scholz: The Merovingians , pp. 129–132.
  7. ^ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 4, 51.
  8. ^ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 5, 1.
  9. ↑ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 5, 2; 5, 14; 5, 18; Sebastian Scholz: The Merovingians , p. 134 f.
  10. ↑ Sebastian Scholz: The Merovingians , p. 136.
  11. ↑ Martina Hartmann, The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , pp. 21 and 76.
  12. ↑ According to Sebastian Scholz ( The Merovingians , p. 136 f.), This change in power occurred while Gogo was still alive, according to Martina Hartmann ( The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 76) only after his death.
  13. ^ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 6, 4 and 9, 14.
  14. ↑ Sebastian Scholz, The Merovingians , p. 137.
  15. ^ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 6, 31.
  16. ↑ Fredegar, Chronicle 3:33; on this Sebastian Scholz, Die Merowinger , p. 138 f.
  17. ↑ a b Martina Hartmann, The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 76.
  18. ^ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 9, 9 and 9, 12.
  19. ^ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 9, 20; on this Sebastian Scholz, Die Merowinger , p. 145 f.
  20. ^ Gregory of Tours, Ten Books, Stories 9, 38.
  21. ↑ a b c Hans Hubert Anton:  Brunichilde. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 3, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1978, ISBN 3-11-006512-6 , p. 589.
  22. ↑ Fredegar, Chronicle 4, 16.
  23. ↑ Martina Hartmann, The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 77.
  24. ↑ Fredegar, Chronicle 4, 17.
  25. ↑ Sebastian Scholz, The Merovingians , p. 171 f.
  26. ↑ Sebastian Scholz, The Merovingians , p. 172 f.
  27. ↑ Fredegar, Chronik 4, 19, on this Sebastian Scholz, Die Merowinger , p. 173.
  28. ↑ Fredegar, Chronicle 4, 20.
  29. ^ Fredegar, Chronicle 4:21; 4, 24; 4, 26; Sisebut, Vita Desiderii c. 16.
  30. ↑ Fredegar, Chronicle 4:27; Liber Historiae Francorum 38.
  31. ↑ Sebastian Scholz, The Merovingians , p. 175.
  32. ↑ Fredegar, Chronicle 4, 27.
  33. ↑ Jonas von Bobbio, Vita Columbani 1, 18; see. also Fredegar, Chronicle 4, 29 f.
  34. ^ Jonas von Bobbio, Vita Columbani 1, 19.
  35. ↑ Fredegar, Chronicle 4:38; among others
  36. ↑ Sebastian Scholz, The Merovingians , p. 177.
  37. ↑ Liber Historiae Francorum 39; on this Martina Hartmann, The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 79, note 445.
  38. ↑ Fredegar, Chronik 4, 38 ff .; Jonas von Bobbio, Vita Columbani 1, 29.
  39. ↑ Fredegar, Chronik 4, 40 f .; on this Sebastian Scholz, Die Merowinger , p. 178 f.
  40. ↑ Fredegar, Chronicle 4, 41 f.
  41. ^ Fredegar, Chronicle 4:42; Liber Historiae Francorum 40; Sisebut, Vita Desiderii c. 21; Jonas von Bobbio, Vita Columbani 1, 29.
  42. ↑ Martina Hartmann, The Queen in the Early Middle Ages , p. 79.
personal data
SURNAME Brunichild
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brunhilde; Brunechild; Brunichilde
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Merovingian Queen of Franks
DATE OF BIRTH around 550
DATE OF DEATH 613