Sigibert of Cologne

Statue of Sigibert von Ripuarien at the Cologne town hall tower

Sigibert of Cologne , the Lame , was a Frankish petty king who ruled over Cologne and probably parts of the Rhineland ( Rhine Franconia ) around 500 . It is unclear whether it comes from the Merovingian family - but it is more often denied than advocated in research.

Sigibert was wounded in the knee in the Battle of Zülpich , which the Franks probably fought against the Alamanni in 496 or 497 . Because of this injury, he was nicknamed "the lame". According to the historical work Decem libri historiarum by Gregory of Tours , Clovis I instigated Sigibert's son Chloderich to murder his father (Greg. Tur. II. 40). He then actually had his father killed and was his successor for a short time. A little later, Clovis accused him of being a murderer and had him killed, although Chloderich had previously played him in a battle against the Visigothshad supported. Thereupon Clovis was also raised to the rank of King of the Rhine Franks. Sigibert died before 511, the year Clovis died. The exact chronology of the events is unclear, however; Sigibert was probably only murdered after 508.

literature

See also the references in the Merovingian article .

• Ian N. Wood : The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-751 . Longman, London / New York 1994, ISBN 0582493722 .

Web links

Commons : Sigibert von Köln  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Unknown	King of the Rhine Franks until around 509	Chloderich