Chlothar II.

Coin of Chlothar II.

Chlothar II in negotiations with the Lombards .

Chlothar II. (* 584 ; † between October 18, 629 and April 8, 630), called the boy , from the Merovingian family, was King of the Franks from 584 to 629.

Life

Chlothar was a few months old when his father Chilperich I was murdered in 584. His mother, Queen Fredegunde , administered the kingdom until her death in 597. His uncle Guntram I , king of the Burgundian part, placed Fredegunde and Chlothar under his protection until his death in 592. He came to the throne at the age of 13.

Chlothar triumphed in 613 over Brunichild (Brunhilde), the regent of Burgundy , and had her executed. This made Chlothar II the first king over the entire Franconian Empire since the death of his grandfather. However, in the year 614 he had to make important concessions in the Edictum Chlotharii to the Frankish nobility, who had contributed decisively to his victory over Brunhilde . With that he laid the foundation for the later rise of the Hausmeier , especially the Carolingian .

In Burgundy, the situation remained tense after the death of Brunichild, who tried to create an independent part of the kingdom again. Godinus , the son of the Burgundian housewife Warnachar , married his widow in 626 and became his successor, albeit without Chlothar's consent. Chlothar then lured Godinus to Neustria and had him killed. The office of the Burgundian housekeeper remained vacant until 642.

Overall, Chlothar's reign was a time of peace for the Franconian Empire, at least that's what the Fredegar Chronicle reports . He moved his residence from Rouen to Paris and restored the old borders of the sub-kingdoms. Together with the reign of his son, this period is considered to be the final high point of the Merovingian kingdom.

In 623, Chlothar handed over the Kingdom of Austrasia, as a sub-kingdom at the request of the Austrasian nobility, to his son Dagobert I. Chlothar died in the winter of 629/630 and was buried in Paris in the Church of St. Vincent .

Marriages and offspring

Chlothar married three times:

1. around 599 Heldetrud (Haldetrud), † before 613, buried St. Ouen in Rouen
2. Bertetrud , † 618, buried in St. Vincent in Paris
3. Sigihild , 625/626 attested, † September 28, 629, buried in St. Vincent in Paris

From his first marriage he had three children:

• Merowech , 604 attests
• Son , † after 613
• Dagobert I. (* 603; † 639)

From his second marriage he had another son, Charibert II. It is also believed that Aemma , the wife of King Eadbald of Kent , was a daughter of his.

See also

• Merovingian fratricidal war

literature

• Hans Hubert Anton :  Chlothar II. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 4, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1981, ISBN 3-11-006513-4 , pp. 486-488.
• Peter Classen :  Chlothar II. (Chlothachar, Lothar). In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 209 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Chlothar II.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Chilperich I. , Neustria (584) Theudebert II. , Austrasia (612) Sigibert II. , Burgundy (613)	King of the Franks 584–629	Charibert II. , Part of Aquitaine (626) Dagobert I (629–639)