Theudebert II.

Theudebert II (* 585 ; † after May 612 ) was King of the Franks and ruler of the Franks in Austrasia with residence in Metz . He was the eldest son of King Childebert II and followed him after his death in 596.

Life

His father sent him to Metz as regent in 589 , while his younger brother Theuderich II was deployed in Chalon-sur-Saône , setting the course for a later division of the territory in Austrasia and Burgundy .

After Childebert's death, both brothers were probably only under the reign of their grandmother Brunichilde , whose power crumbled when she could only buy the defense of the Avars , who had invaded Thuringia , with money. The planned partition of the country was carried out, but the urgently needed solidarity of the two Austrasian brothers was retained for the time being. In the year 600 the brothers achieved a decisive victory over their uncle Chlothar II in Neustria at the Battle of Dormelles , who limited his territory to the land around Rouen , Beauvais and Amiens . The following campaign to the south against the Basques , which had invaded the country, ended in 602 with the establishment of the border duchy between the Pyrenees and Garonne , later Gascony .

As a result, however, the brothers got into an argument about the division of their father's property. The first step was that Theudebert did not participate in the new conflict with Chlothar in 604. In the following year a war between the brothers could just be avoided, in the following years the older ally tried to win, which the younger one - with the support of his grandmother - probably succeeded better because Theudebert had to deal with another attack by the Avars in 611 . The year before, an attempt to reconcile the border disputes in Selz in Alsace only brought a result because Theudebert had come with an army and was able to squeeze what he wanted from his brother.

After the (presumed) incitement of the Avars, Theuderich was able to assure himself of the neutrality of Chlothar and finally, in 612, he went offensive. Theudebert was defeated by his brother at Toul and Zülpich , he and his sons were captured and killed.

family

Theudebert II was married twice. He concluded his first marriage in 600 with Bilichildis , whom he personally murdered in 610, his second marriage in the year of the murder with Teudechilde. He had four children with his two wives:

• a daughter with Bilichildis, mentioned in 604 when she was betrothed to Adaloald
• a daughter with Bilichildis, mentioned in 612
• Chlothar, probably also a child of Bilichildi,
• Merowech, a son of Teudechilde, who was born in 612 and was crushed on a rock by his father's enemies as a baby.

See also

• Merovingian fratricidal war

literature

• Eugen Ewig : The naming of the oldest Franconian kings and the Merovingian royal family , in: Francia 18/1 (1991) pp. 21–69, here: 63 (compilation of sources; family table p. 53)
• Eugen Ewig: The Merovingians and the Franconian Empire . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-17-017044-9 , p. 50f.

Web links

• Illustration by Francesco Terzio from 1569: Theodobertus I, Rex Austrasia ( digital copy )

predecessor	Office	successor
Childebert II.	King of the Franks / Partial Kingdom of Austrasia 596–612	Theuderic II.