Theuderic II.

Theuderic II ( lat . Theudericus ) (* 587 ; † 613 in Metz ) was King of the Franks with residence in Chalon-sur-Saône , in Burgundy . He was the second son of King Childebert II and followed him after his death in 596.

His father sent him to Chalon as regent as early as 589, while his older brother Theudebert II was installed in Metz , paving the way for a later division of the territory in Austrasia and Burgundy.

After Childebert's death, both brothers were probably 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 necessary 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 a dispute over 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, but the younger - probably with the support of his grandmother - succeeded better, since 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 thus 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 took the offensive. Theudebert was defeated by his brother at Toul and Zülpich , Theuderich triumphed in Cologne . Theudebert and his sons were captured and killed.

Chlothar now demanded the reward for his neutrality, but was rejected by Theuderich, who was at the height of his power. The surprise was all the greater when he died a little later in his new residence city of Metz at the age of 25.

Theuderich had four children whose mother is unknown:

• Sigibert II , * 602
• Childebert, * 603
• Corbus, * 604
• Merowech, b. 607

Brunichilde quickly raised her great-grandson Sigibert II to the throne, but soon found herself confronted by aristocratic opposition in her own environment, which she was no longer able to cope with. She was arrested and handed over to Chlothar, who had her and two of her great-grandchildren killed in 613 - the youngest, Merowech, was spared as Chlothar's godchild, the second, Childebert, managed to escape; there are no more messages from either.

See also

• Merovingian fratricidal war

literature

• Martina Hartmann : The Merovingians (= Beck'sche series. 2746 CH Beck knowledge ). C. H Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63307-2 , pp. 37-41.

predecessor	Office	successor
Childebert II.	King of the Franks / Part of Burgundy 596–613	Sigibert II.