Grimoald the Elder
Grimoald the Elder (* around 615 or 616; † 656, 657 or 662 in Paris ) was a Franconian housekeeper from the Carolingian and Pippinids , son of Pippin the Elder .
Life
After a brief power struggle in 643, Grimoald took over the Austrasian caretaker's office from his 640 deceased father. After the death of Dagobert I in 638 or 639 Otto, the educator of Sigibert III. , inside. The death of the king and the immaturity of his successor also led to an uprising by Radulf , the Duke of Thuringia, who wanted to take the opportunity to shake off Frankish suzerainty. Grimoald accompanied Sigibert III. and his army 640 and 641 on the campaign against the Thuringians, which resulted in a total defeat of the royal troops. In the chaos of battle, Grimoald saved the young king's life and won his friendship. In 642 or 643 he had Otto, the caretaker, murdered by the Alemannic Duke Leuthar, and in 643 he finally became a caretaker himself. For the next few years, Grimoald managed the affairs of government for his king practically completely independently.
Sigibert III. led a childless marriage for many years, so that he finally gave up hope of having children of his own. Grimoald persuaded the king to adopt his own son as Childebertus adoptivus - that is, under a Merovingian name, his real name is unknown. In this way, the houseman hoped to overthrow the Merovingian dynasty in favor of his own family. However, the queen gave birth to her own healthy son, who was baptized Dagobert and his father proclaimed his successor, with Grimoald being responsible for his upbringing. According to the traditions of the Liber Historiae , after the death of his father in 656, the caretaker had Dagobert sheared and sent to Ireland as a monk. Grimoald had achieved his goal, and his own son became king of the Australian part.
This, who ruled as Childebert (III.) Adoptivus , seems to have been recognized at least in Austrasia for six years, up to his own death in 662. Grimoald, on the other hand, was captured from an ambush by Sigibert's brother Clovis II , who ruled in Neustria , because of these actions , brought to Paris and executed there in dungeon in 656 or 657.
With this and after Childebert's early death in 662, the dynasty of Pippin the Elder seemed to have already died out. However, from the connection of Grimoald's sister Begga with Ansegisel , son of Arnulf von Metz , Pippin the middle emerged, who finally regained power in the Franconian Empire for the family. Pippin the Middle is, however, assigned to the Arnulfingers according to his paternal origin .
Grimoald was a founder of the abbeys in Stablo and Malmedy .
literature
- Matthias Becher : The so-called coup d'état Grimoald. Attempt to re-evaluate . In: Jörg Jarnut et al. (Ed.): Karl Martell in his time . Sigmaringen 1994, pp. 119-147.
- Stefanie Hamann: On the chronology of the Grimoald coup . In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages 59 (2003), pp. 49–96. PDF
- Ingrid Heidrich : Grimoald. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , p. 93 ( digitized version ).
predecessor | Office | successor |
---|---|---|
Pippin von Landen |
Franconian Hausmeier 643–662 |
Pippin the Middle |
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Grimoald the Elder |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Franconian caretaker from the Carolingian family |
DATE OF BIRTH | at 615 |
DATE OF DEATH | at 662 |
Place of death | Paris |