Childebert I.

Childebert's statue, Louvre , Paris , approx. 1239–1244

Childebert I coin

Childebert I (* around 497 ; † December 23, 558 ) was the fourth eldest son of the Merovingian Frankish king Clovis I , the third from his marriage to Chrodechild . When the empire was divided in 511, he received the partial empire with the royal seat of Paris and ruled until his death.

In addition to his older half-brother Theuderich I , Childebert had three brothers, the oldest of whom, Ingomer, died as a child. The other two were Chlodomer and Chlothar I. After the death of their father Clovis in 511, Theuderich, Chlodomer, Childebert and Chlothar divided the empire among themselves. Childebert got the coastal area between Somme and Loire ( Brittany , Normandy and Brie ) with Paris as his residence and a western piece of Aquitaine .

After the death of Chlodomer, who died in 524 on a campaign against the Burgundians , Childebert and Chlothar, Chlodomer's three minor sons entitled to inherit, decided to move their nephews out of the way in order to appropriate the inheritance. At Childebert's instigation, Chlothar killed the two older children himself. Now Childebert was able to expand his empire to include part of Chlodomer's legacy.

Childebert's attempt to wrest the Auvergne from his half-brother Theuderich I failed. He later adopted Theudebert I , Theuderich's only son, and thus determined him as his successor, but Theudebert died in 547/548. After the final subjugation of Burgundy, together with his brothers, he expanded his empire to include parts of Burgundy and Provence . Several times he waged wars against the Visigoths under Amalrich and finally defeated them in 531 at Narbonne .

Childebert married Ultrogotho in 512 at the earliest, a woman of presumably Gothic descent. With her he had two daughters, Chrodoswinth and Chrodoberga, but no son. Since he was thus without an heir, after his death in 558 his kingdom fell to his brother Chlothar I.

Childebert I was the first Merovingian to be buried in the Paris Abbey of St. Vincent , later St. Germain-des-Prés , where the family burial site was later located. His wife and two daughters were last attested in 567, after which their trace is lost. Ultrogotho († after 567) was also buried in St. Vincent.

literature

• Eugen Ewig : The Franconian divisions and partial realms. (511-613). Steiner, Wiesbaden 1953 ( Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz - Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class 1952, 9, ISSN  0002-2977 ).
• Eugen Ewig: The Merovingians and the Franconian Empire. 5th updated edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-17-019473-9 ( Kohlhammer-Urban-Taschenbücher 392).
• Erich Zöllner : History of the Franks up to the middle of the sixth century . Revised on the basis of the work of Ludwig Schmidt with the assistance of Joachim Werner . Beck, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-406-02211-1 .

Web links

Commons : Childebert I  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Illustration by Francesco Terzio from 1569: Childebertus I. Rex Austriae ( digitized version )

predecessor	Office	successor
Clovis I.	King of the Franks / Part of Paris 511–558	Chlothar I.