Sigibert I.

Sigibert I (also Sigebert and Siegbert ; * around 535; † November / December 575 in Vitry-en-Artois ) was a Frankish king from the house of the Merovingians . He ruled from 561 to 575 in Austrasia .

Life

Sigibert was the fifth and youngest son from the first marriage of King Chlothar I with Queen Ingund (e). He also had a half-brother, Chilperich I , from the later marriage of Chlothar to Ingund's sister Arnegunde . Chilperich was a little older than Sigibert, since Chlothar did not give up his previous connection with Sigibert's mother Ingund after his marriage to Chilperich's mother Arnegunde. When Chlothar died in 561, the two eldest sons from his marriage to Ingund had already died; In addition to Chilperich, there were three sons of Ingund alive: Charibert I. , Guntram I. (Gunthchramn) and Sigibert. Immediately after Chlothar's funeral, Chilperich seized the city of Paris and the throne in order to take advantage of his half-brothers. However, Ingund's three sons drove him out of Paris and forced a “legitimate” division of the empire into four parts according to Merovingian custom, with Chilperic receiving the smallest part. Sigibert got the north-eastern part of the empire with the royal seat of Reims ; apart from Champagne (including Laon ), this included all Franconian areas east of the Rhine and south of the Danube. The term Austrasia was used for this part of the empire in the second half of the 6th century. Furthermore, Sigibert's share in the south included the Auvergne and part of Provence with Marseille .

Chilperich, who had been preferred by Chlothar I as his favorite son, was not satisfied with this division, which was unfavorable for him. When Sigibert was busy with a campaign against the Avars in the east, Chilperic attacked Austrasia, devastated the country and took some cities. However, after defeating the Avars, Sigibert was not only able to recapture his territories in a counterattack, but also to take Chilperich's capital Soissons and keep it permanently in his possession. A few years later - probably 566 - the Avars attacked again. This time Sigibert suffered a severe defeat and was threatened with imprisonment; however, he succeeded in buying “gifts” for free travel and a permanent peace agreement with the Avars.

When Charibert I, who had received Paris as the eldest of the brothers , died in 567 without male descendants, the three surviving brothers divided up his part of the empire among each other, each receiving parts of territory in the north and south. Sigibert's new acquisitions included the cities of Meaux , Avranches , Châteaudun , Vendôme and Tours in the north ( Francia ) , and Poitiers , Albi , Aire , Couserans and Bayonne in the south . A joint administration was agreed for Paris and the surrounding area.

Sigibert's wedding with Brunichild

Again, Chilperich was not satisfied with his share. The ongoing tension and rivalry between him and Sigibert has now been drastically exacerbated by developments in marriage policy. Sigibert pursued a pro-Goth policy and in 566 married Brunichild , a daughter of the Visigoth king Athanagild . Chilperic then wanted to marry a king's daughter and asked Athanagild for the hand of Brunichild's older sister Gailswintha . In 567 the marriage between Chilperich and Gailswintha was concluded, but Chilperich did not separate from his concubine Fredegunde . Around 570 he had Gailswintha murdered and married Fredegunde. This resulted in a permanent hostility between Chilperich and Brunichild, which was added to the political opposition between Chilperich and Sigibert because of the division of territory.

Chilperic began the war against Sigibert with the occupation of Tours and Poitiers; he wanted to create a connection between his northern core areas and his property in the south. Sigibert asked Guntram for help, whereupon an army of Guntram under the capable general Mummolus Chilperich forced the troops to retreat. But when there was a break between Sigibert and Guntram in 573, Chilperich used this opportunity to make new attacks on Sigibert's territory; his army wreaked havoc in the regions of Tours, Poitiers, Limoges and Cahors . Chilperich allied himself with Guntram, who shrank back from the fight against the superior army of Sigibert and left his ally in the lurch, whereupon Chilperich had to ask for peace. In the following year (575) Sigibert began an offensive with superior forces; In addition to the Franks, Saxons, Swabians, Thuringians and members of other tribes living east of the Rhine formed a significant part of his army. He occupied Paris and large parts of Chilperich's empire, advancing as far as Rouen . Many greats from Chilperich's empire changed front. Chilperich holed up in Tournai and found himself in a hopeless situation. Sigibert sent a part of the army to besiege him there.

Sigibert I's tomb at Soissons after a woodcut by Gubitz , printed in a book by the Germanist Zeune about the Nibelungenlied

When Sigibert was raised to their king in Vitry-en-Artois in November or December 575 by the previous fighters of Chilperich who had gathered there, which, according to Franconian custom, was associated with an elevation of a sign , he was killed by two murderers on behalf of Fredegunde with poisoned knives or daggers ( Skramasax ) stabbed. Since his son and successor Childebert II was still a minor, his death led to a turning point in the course of the war. Chilperich was saved by Fredegunde's intervention; he was able to recapture the lost territories and, in addition, to take possession of the entire part of the former Charibert empire, which had fallen to Sigibert in 567. Sigibert was initially buried in the village of Lambres on the instructions of Chilperich ; later he was buried - probably at the instigation of his son Childebert - in the church of Saint-Médard in Soissons , where his father was also buried.

Under Sigibert, Metz gained importance as an additional royal seat next to Reims. His achievements included pacifying the eastern border after the fighting against the Avars.

Sigibert had three children with Brunichild, the heir to the throne Childebert and two daughters, Ingund and Chlodoswinth. Ingund was married to Hermenegild , the older of the two sons of the Visigoth king Leovigild .

reception

Up into the 20th century, Sigibert I was speculatively considered as a model for Siegfried the dragon slayer in the Nibelungenlied . Today, however, this attempt at interpretation is no longer represented in research.

literature

Dahn, Felix: Sigibert I. in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 34 (1892), pp. 242–244
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 . 4th supplemented edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 2001, ISBN 3-17-017044-9 ( Kohlhammer-Urban-Taschenbücher 392).
Heike Grahn-Hoek : The Franconian upper class in the 6th century. Studies on their legal and political position. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1976, ISBN 3-7995-6681-3 ( Lectures and Research Special Volume 21), (At the same time: Marburg, Univ., Diss., 1975).
Matthias Springer : Sigibert I. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 28, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018207-6 , pp. 386-391.

Web links

Illustration by Francesco Terzio from 1569: Sigibertus I, Metensis Rex ( digital copy )

Remarks

↑ The date of birth results from the fact that he was 575 (approximately) forty years old at his death; Gregory of Tours , Historiae 4.51.
↑ Eugen Ewig: The naming of the oldest Franconian kings and the Merovingian royal family , in: Francia 18/1 (1991) p. 55.
↑ Ewig (1953) pp. 676-679; Ewig (2001) p. 41f.
↑ Springer p. 387.
↑ On this Avar war, see Arnulf Kollautz and Hisayuki Miyakawa: History and culture of a nomad people who migrated from the ages , 1st part, Klagenfurt 1970, p. 166f .; Walter Pohl: Die Awaren , Munich 1988, p. 46f.
↑ Ewig (1953) pp. 679f .; Ewig (2001) p. 43.
↑ See Grahn-Hoek pp. 199–201.
↑ Details in Grahn-Hoek pp. 195–198; see. Konrad Bund: overthrow and deposition of rulers in the early Middle Ages , Bonn 1979, pp. 261–264.
^ Johann August Zeune : Das Nibelungenlied. The original revised according to the best readings, and provided with an introductory text and a dictionary for use in schools . With a woodcut by Gubitz. Maurer, Berlin 1815 ( e-copy ).
↑ For the dating see Margarete Weidemann: Zur Chronologie der Merowinger im 6. Jahrhundert , in: Francia 10 (1982) pp. 483–485.

predecessor	Office	successor
Chlothar I.	King of Austrasia 561-575	Childebert II.

personal data
SURNAME	Sigibert I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sigebert I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Frankish king from the house of the Merovingians
DATE OF BIRTH	at 535
DATE OF DEATH	575
Place of death	Vitry-en-Artois

[1] The date of birth results from the fact that he was 575 (approximately) forty years old at his death; Gregory of Tours , Historiae 4.51.

[2] Eugen Ewig: The naming of the oldest Franconian kings and the Merovingian royal family , in: Francia 18/1 (1991) p. 55.

[3] Ewig (1953) pp. 676-679; Ewig (2001) p. 41f.

[4] Springer p. 387.

[5] On this Avar war, see Arnulf Kollautz and Hisayuki Miyakawa: History and culture of a nomad people who migrated from the ages , 1st part, Klagenfurt 1970, p. 166f .; Walter Pohl: Die Awaren , Munich 1988, p. 46f.

[6] Ewig (1953) pp. 679f .; Ewig (2001) p. 43.

[7] See Grahn-Hoek pp. 199–201.

[8] Details in Grahn-Hoek pp. 195–198; see. Konrad Bund: overthrow and deposition of rulers in the early Middle Ages , Bonn 1979, pp. 261–264.

[9] Johann August Zeune : Das Nibelungenlied. The original revised according to the best readings, and provided with an introductory text and a dictionary for use in schools . With a woodcut by Gubitz. Maurer, Berlin 1815 ( e-copy ).

[10] For the dating see Margarete Weidemann: Zur Chronologie der Merowinger im 6. Jahrhundert , in: Francia 10 (1982) pp. 483–485.