Childeric II.

Childerich II. (* Around 655; † autumn 675 ) was a Merovingian Frankish king from 662 to 675 in Austrasia , between 673 and 675 of the entire empire.

Life

Childerich was the younger son of the Frankish king Clovis II and Balthild . Between October 18 and December 9, 662, he married Bilichild , daughter of King Sigibert III. who was his half-cousin. The marriage resulted in the two sons Dagobert and Chilperich II.

After the death of the Pippinid Childebertus adoptivus in 662, Childeric II was raised to king in the east of the Merovingian Empire ( Austrasia ); however, he was under the tutelage of his aunt and later mother-in-law Chimnechild, the widow of Sigibert III. as well as the housekeeper Wulfoald . The change took place peacefully, the greats of the empire probably welcomed the end of the intermezzo of the Pippinids. The actions, gifts and dispositions that followed were clearly directed against the Pippinids and Arnulfinger . When his brother Chlothar III. 673 died, Childerich was defeated by the neustrian opposition against his other brother Theuderich III, who was proclaimed by the caretaker Ebroin . called to Neustria. Childerich prevailed, Ebroin and Theuderich were banished to the monastery and the empire was once again ruled for a short time by a Merovingian.

But shortly afterwards, in autumn 675, Childerich fell victim to a murder plot together with his pregnant wife and son Dagobert. The reason for this was disputes between the Neustrian and Austrasian parties at the royal court. Childerich's second son, Chilperich , who was about five at the time , was banished to the monastery. There he lived as "Brother Daniel" until 715, only to be put on the Merovingian throne by opponents of the Arnulfingers .

Like his wife, Childerich was buried in St. Germain-des-Prés in Paris .

literature

• Eugen Ewig : The Merovingians and the Franconian Empire (= Kohlhammer-Urban pocket books. Vol. 392). 4th supplemented edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 2001, ISBN 3-17-017044-9
• Pierre Riché : The Carolingians. One family makes Europe. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-423-04559-0 .
• Rudolf Schieffer : The Karolinger (= Kohlhammer Urban pocket books. Vol. 441). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 1992, ISBN 3-17-010759-3 .
• Reinhard Schneider : Election and elevation of the king in the early Middle Ages. Investigations into the succession of the Lombards and Merovingians (= monographs on the history of the Middle Ages. Vol. 3). Hirsemann, Stuttgart 1972, ISBN 3-7772-7203-5 (also: Berlin, Free University, habilitation paper, 1970/71).
• 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 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Childebertus adoptivus , Austrasia 662 Theuderich III. , Neustria and Burgundy 673	King of the Franks 662–675	Clovis of Austrasia Theuderic III. , Neustria and Burgundy