Chram

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Schematic section of the Chrams family tree

Chram , also Chramn or Chramne , French Corbeau (Frankish for raven ) was the son of Chlothar I and the Chunsine . He was born between 520 and 540 and was sub-king of Aquitaine from 555 to 560 . Chram was executed in December 560.

Dominion

The province of Gallia Aquitania in the Roman Empire: largely identical to the area of ​​the 6th century .

After King Clovis' death in 511, his four sons divided Aquitaine among themselves. Clotaire possessed by 524 over a significantly larger share of Aquitaine than his older brother Childebert: After the death of their common brother Chlodomer married Clotaire to secure his succession of part of the Kingdom of Orléans Chlodomers widow Guntheuca and murdered their two eldest sons, while the youngest in the clergy entered . Thus Chlothar was able to claim a large part of the dominion for himself. Theudebert I was able to appropriate several towns from Childebert I in 535 .

When the king of Metz , Theudebald , died in 555 , there was a conflict between Clovis' two sons, Childebert and Chlothar, who were still alive, about the succession. Chlothar not only inherited its core kingdom, but also a large number of different cities in Aquitaine. In this new situation Chram was installed as sub-king of Aquitaine.

Family and life

Chram was probably the eldest son of Chlothar I, King of Soissons, of the Merovingian family . He had a wife and several daughters, who, however, are not named in the records of the bishop and historiographer Gregory of Tours . According to one thesis, the hostilities of Chrams against his father and his half-brothers are due to his ancestry: He was the only son of his mother Chunsina and therefore developed an aversion or competition against his stepmothers and their descendants.

After Theudebald's death in 555, Chram was sent by his father Clothar I to Clermont , where at that time a dispute between Cautinus and the priest Cato over the succession as bishop of Auvergne was carried out. With the support of Cato and his followers, Chram saw the opportunity to profile himself as a ruler and to build a following in the event of the death of his father. This was not insignificant for the chance of a possible succession to the throne . Cato probably hoped again that Chram would preserve the diocese of Auvergne after Chlothar's death.

Chram is said to have been politically and diplomatically not exactly considerate: he intimidated Bishop Cautinus so much that he even broke off his annual pilgrimage from Clermont to Brioude for fear of being persecuted by Chram's men. He also deposed the local Count Firminus as local Comes to replace him with his henchman Salustius. In contrast to Theudebald, who pursued a policy of reconciliation between the Gallo-Romans and Franks in Aquitaine, Chram pursued a policy of confrontation and replaced many counts of the old senatorial upper class with young, up-and-coming Franks.

After that, Chram settled in Poitiers and allied himself with his uncle Childebert against his own father. This resulted in a conflict between father and son that lasted from 556-560. The background was the dispute over the succession of Theudebald : Chlothar was initially able to conquer Theudebald's hereditary territory, but his troops were then tied up by the uprising of the Thuringians and Saxons. This gave Childebert the opportunity to ally with Chlothar's son Chram, who at that time was sub-king of Aquitaine. As a result of this alliance Chram was fought unsuccessfully by his half-brothers Charibert I. (561-567) and Guntram I. (561-592). Chram only capitulated after Childebert's death in 558, when Chlothar was now able to assert himself in Childebert's previous territory. Chram then fled to Konomor , the Duke of the Bretons. In the ensuing battle near Vannes , Clothar prevailed and Chram's alliance was decisively defeated.

Chram and his family were captured and ritually executed after the defeat in 560.

reception

Chram with Gregory of Tours

The parts of Gregory's ten history books relevant to Chrams biography ( Decem libri historiarum ) were written between 573 and 575. The work can, however, be enjoyed with thorough source criticism, as it was written with a “salvation-historical intention”. The story is presented in Gregory's notes as a divine world order: permeated by miracles, divine punishments and rewards, as well as many contrasts of good and bad. The occasionally used title History of the Franks ( Historia Francorum ) also exacerbates possible misinterpretations as a 'classic' historical work.

Greogor describes how Chram and his family were executed: They were captured, handcuffed and then burned in a hut on the orders of Chlothar. Chram is said to have been strangled with a cloth beforehand.

Even if many of the depictions in Gregor's works may appear cruel and exaggeratedly detailed, there are also many humorous passages, punchlines and drama. Chram is never in a good light because, according to Gregor, he neither respected the daughters of respected families nor the church asylum .

Artistic reception

The Death of Chram by Évariste-Vital Luminais , Museum of Fine Arts in Brest .

The French painter Évariste Vital Luminais mainly dealt with subjects of late antique and early medieval France. One of his works, The Death of Chram , depicts the execution of Chram and his family.

Web links

Commons : Chram  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Condominium of the Frankish kings Sub-King of Aquitaine
555-560 		Chlothar I.

Sources and literature

swell

  • Gregory of Tours, Historiae IV (main source, but not without problems).

literature

  • Konrad Bund : overthrow of the throne and deposition of the ruler in the early Middle Ages (= Bonn historical research, vol. 44) . Röhrscheid, Bonn 1979, ISBN 3792804174 .
  • Bruno Dumézil : La pure Brunehaut . Paris, Editions Fayard 2008, p. 9.
  • Heike Grahn-Hoek : The Franconian upper class in the 6th century: Studies on their legal and political position (= Constance working group for medieval history / lectures and research / special volume) . Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Sigmaringen 1976, ISBN 3799566813 .
  • Martina Hartmann: The Merovingian (= Beck'sche series. C.-H.-Beck-Wissen 2746). Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63307-2 .
  • Jean Charles L. Simonde de Sismondi, Histoire de la chute de l'Empire romain et du déclin de la civilization, de l'an 250 à l'an 1000 , Paris: Treuttel et Würtz, 1835.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ on the biographical data compare Bruno Dumézil : La rein Brunehaut , p. 9, Jean Charles L. Simonde de Sismondi, Histoire de la chute de l'Empire romain et du déclin de la civilization, de l'an 250 à l'an 1000 , p. 195, and Frédéric Armand : Chilpéric Ier, le roi assassiné deux fois , p. 35.
  2. ↑ Eugen Ewig : The Merovingians and the Franconian Empire , p. 35.
  3. ^ Ian N. Wood : The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-751 , p. 92.
  4. ↑ Ibid., P. 59.
  5. ^ Gregory of Tours , Historiae IV, 11 and 15.
  6. ^ Ian N. Wood: The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-751 , pp. 82f.
  7. ↑ Cf. Gregor von Tours, Historiae IV, 13; Ian N. Wood : The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-751 , pp. 82f.
  8. ^ Ian N. Wood: The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-751 , p. 59.
  9. ↑ Martina Hartmann : Departure into the Middle Ages: The time of the Merovingians , p. 52.
  10. ^ Ulrich Knefelkamp : Worldview and Reality. Introduction to Medieval Historiography, pp. 62–72.
  11. ↑ Konrad Bund : Fall to the throne and deposition of rulers in the early Middle Ages , p. 256.
  12. ↑ Martina Hartmann: Departure into the Middle Ages. The time of the Merovingians , p. 17.
  13. ↑ Ibid., P. 52.
personal data
SURNAME Chram
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chramn; Chramne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Merovingian sub-king
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century
DATE OF DEATH December 560