Frédégonde

Frédégonde Spanish: Da. Frédégonde (Fredegunda)
Also Known As:	"Frédégonde", "Fredegund", "Fredegunda", "Fredegundis"
Birthdate:	circa 543
Death:	circa December 08, 597 (45-62) Paris, Seine, Ile-de-France, France
Place of Burial:	St. Denis Basilica, Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Immediate Family:	Wife of Chilpéric I, King of the Franks at Soissons Mother of Rigundis; Prince Chlodébert of Neustria; Chlothar II the Young, King of the Franks; Prince Samson de Soissons, died young; Prince Dagobert of Neustria and 1 other
Occupation:	Queen consort, Queen consort of Chilperic I & Queen Regent of her son., Queen consort of Chilperic I, Dronning av Frankrike, Reine de Neustrie, [Cambrai], Queen, Evil Bitch, Queen Consort, Servant, concubine (serving-woman), then wife

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Immediate Family

Chilpéric I, King of the Franks...

husband
Rigundis

daughter
Prince Chlodébert of Neustria

son
Chlothar II the Young, King of t...

son
Prince Samson de Soissons, died ...

son
Prince Dagobert of Neustria

son
Prince Theuderic de Soissons, di...

son
Theudebert Mérovignien

stepson
Mérovech de Soissons

stepson
Clovis de Soissons

stepson
Basina de Soissons, Nun

stepdaughter
Childesinta de Soissons

stepdaughter

About Frédégonde

CHILPERICH, son of CLOTAIRE I [Chlothachar] King of the Franks

m firstly ([549]) AUDOVERE, daughter of --- (-murdered 580).
m secondly (564) GALSWINTHA of the Visigoths
m thirdly (568) FREDEGONDE, daughter of --- (-597, bur Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Prés). Gregory of Tours records that King Chilperich married Frédégonde before his marriage to Galswintha, specifying that a great quarrel ensued between the two of them[324]. It is assumed that this indicates that Frédégonde was the king's mistress before his second marriage. She plotted actively in favour of her sons at the expense of her husband's children by his first marriage. It is likely that she ordered the murder of her brother-in-law King Sigebert I. According to the 8th century source, Liber Historiae Francorum, she murdered her husband after he discovered that she was having an affair[325]. She was regent for her son King Clotaire II after his succession in 584. Fredegar records that Frédégonde died "in the second year of the reign of Theodebert"[326].

King Chilperich II & his third wife had six children:

6. RIGUNDIS ([569]-). Gregory of Tours names "Princess Rigunth" when recounting that she sympathised when Gregory was accused of treachery by her mother[342]. Gregory names Rigunth as daughter of King Chilperich when recording her betrothal to Recared, son of King Leuvigild, and her voyage to Spain with a large retinue[343]. On learning of the death of her father, she was abandoned before returning to her mother's palace where she led a life of debauchery[344]. Betrothed (early 584) to RECAREDO of the Visigoths, son of LEOVIGILDO King of the Visigoths & his first wife Theodosia --- (-Toledo mid-Jun or Dec 601). He was elected to succeed his father in 586 as RECAREDO King of the Visigoths.

7. CHLODEBERT (-Soissons St Médard 580, bur Soissons St Crispin and St Crispinian). Gregory of Tours names Chlodebert as the son of Chilperich & Frédégonde when recording his death in the church of St Médard, Soissons and his burial "in the church of the holy martyrs Crispin and Crispinian"[345], the context of the passage dating the event to 580.

8. SAMSON (573-late 577). Gregory of Tours names Samson as the younger son of Chilperich & Fredegund when recording his death after having a high temperature and diarrhoea "before completing his fifth year"[346], the context of the passage dating the event to late 577.

9. DAGOBERT ([579/80]-580, bur Saint-Denis). Gregory of Tours refers to (but does not name) a younger son of Chilperich & Fredegund when recording his hurried baptism while dying and his burial in Paris Saint-Denis[347], the context of the passage dating the event to 580. Fortunatus, dated to the late 6th century, wrote an epitaph to “Dagoberto…puerilis obis”, naming "Chlodovechi…proavi…Chilpericque patris, vel Fredegunde genus"[348].

10. THEODERICH ([582/83], chr Paris 18 Apr 583-early 584, bur Paris). Gregory of Tours records the birth of a son to King Chilperich and his baptism at Easter with the name Theoderich by Ragnemod Bishop of Paris[349], dated from the context to [582/83]. Gregory records his death from dysentery a year after his baptism and his burial in Paris[350].

11. CHLOTHACHAR [Clotaire] (Spring 584-[18] Oct 629, bur Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Prés). Gregory of Tours records the birth of a son to King Chilperich[351], dated to early 584 from the context, although in a later passage in which he names him Clotaire he records that he was four months old when his father died[352]. He succeeded his father in 584 as CLOTAIRE II King of the Franks, under the regency of his mother Queen Frédégonde.
https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/MEROVINGIANS.htm#ChilpericIdied584B

Fredegund or Fredegunda (also Latin Fredegundis or French Frédégonde; died 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.

Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic's mistress after he had murdered his wife and queen, Galswintha (c. 568). But Galswintha's sister, Brunhilda, in revenge against Chilperic, began a feud which lasted more than 40 years.

Fredegund is said to be responsible for the assassination of Sigebert I in 575 and made attempts on the lives of Guntram (her brother-in-law and the king of Burgundy), Childebert II (Sigebert's son), and Brunhilda.

After the mysterious assassination of Chilperic (584), Fredegund seized his riches and took refuge in the cathedral at Paris. Both she and her surviving son, Clothar II, were protected by Guntram until he died in 592.

Gregory of Tours depicts her as ruthlessly murderous and sadistically cruel; in his account, Fredegund perhaps has few rivals in monstrousness. Although she did not live to see it, her son's execution of Brunhilda bore the mark of Fredegund's hatred: Clothar II had the old queen, now in her sixties, stretched in agony upon the rack for three entire days, then watched her meet her death chained between four horses that were goaded to the four points of the compass, tearing her body asunder.

Fredegund died c. 8 December 597 in Paris, France. The tomb of Frédégonde (d. 597) is a mosaic figure of marble and copper, situated in Saint Denis Basilica, having come from St. Germain-des-Prés.

Fredegund has been proposed as one of many sources for the folk tale alternatively known as Cinderella, Aschenputtel, Cennerenolla or Cendrillion. In his book Cinderella: A Casebook folklorist Alan Dundes sites the following excerpt from History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours:

   She was jealous of her own daughter, Rigunth, who continually declared that she should be mistress (probably, as Dalton Says, because Fredegund began life as a palace maid, while she was of royal blood, being a king's daughter) in her place. Fredegund waited her opportunity and under the pretense of magnanimity took her to the treasure-room and showed her the King's jewels in a large chest. Feigning fatigue, she exclaimed "I am weary; put thou in thy hand, and take out what thou mayest find." The mother thereupon forced down the lid on her neck and would have killed her had not the servants finally rushed to her aid.

Profile picture: Chilperic I and Fredegund.

Fredegund or Fredegunda (Latin: Fredegundis; French: Frédégonde; died 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.

Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic's mistress after he had murdered his wife and queen, Galswintha (c. 568). But Galswintha's sister, Brunhilda, in revenge against Chilperic, began a feud which lasted more than 40 years.

Fredegund is said to be responsible for the assassination of Sigebert I in 575 and made attempts on the lives of Guntram (her brother-in-law and the king of Burgundy), Childebert II (Sigebert's son), and Brunhilda.

After the mysterious assassination of Chilperic (584), Fredegund seized his riches and took refuge in the cathedral at Paris. Both she and her surviving son, Clothar II, were protected by Guntram until he died in 592.

References

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fredegund

   * Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, Book IX. Ch. 34, Trans by O.M. Dalton, Vol. II. pp. 405-406

* Alan Dundes, Cinderella: A Casebook, Ch. 1 The Cat Cinderella by Giambattista Basile (University of Wisconsin Press, 1982)

Fredegund produced four more legitimate offspring:

* Samson, died young
* Rigunth, betrothed to Reccared but never married
* Theuderic, died young
* Clotaire, his successor in Neustria, later sole king of the Franks
Fredegund or Fredegunda (Latin: Fredegundis; French: Frédégonde; died 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.

Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic's mistress after he had murdered his wife and queen, Galswintha (c. 568). But Galswintha's sister, Brunhilda, in revenge against Chilperic, began a feud which lasted more than 40 years.

Fredegund is said to be responsible for the assassination of Sigebert I in 575 and made attempts on the lives of Guntram (her brother-in-law and the king of Burgundy), Childebert II (Sigebert's son), and Brunhilda.

After the mysterious assassination of Chilperic (584), Fredegund seized his riches and took refuge in the cathedral at Paris. Both she and her surviving son, Clothar II, were protected by Guntram until he died in 592.

References

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fredegund

   * Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, Book IX. Ch. 34, Trans by O.M. Dalton, Vol. II. pp. 405-406

* Alan Dundes, Cinderella: A Casebook, Ch. 1 The Cat Cinderella by Giambattista Basile (University of Wisconsin Press, 1982)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredegund

Fredegunde , c. 545–597, Frankish queen. The mistress of King Chilperic I of Neustria, she became his wife after inducing him to murder his wife Galswintha (567). Fredegunde and Brunhilda, Galswintha's sister and wife of King Sigebert I of Austrasia, were among the leading figures in the long war (561–613) between the Frankish kingdoms of Neustria and Austrasia. Fredegunde procured the deaths of Sigebert I and of her own stepchildren. After Chilperic's murder (584) she acted as regent for her son Clotaire II.

Fredegund

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fredegund or Fredegunda (also Latin Fredegundis or French Frédégonde; died 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.

Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic's mistress after he had murdered his wife and queen, Galswintha (c. 568). But Galswintha's sister, Brunhilda, in revenge against Chilperic, began a feud which lasted more than 40 years.

Fredegund is said to be responsible for the assassination of Sigebert I in 575 and made attempts on the lives of Guntram (her brother-in-law and the king of Burgundy), Childebert II (Sigebert's son), and Brunhilda.

After the mysterious assassination of Chilperic (584), Fredegund seized his riches and took refuge in the cathedral at Paris. Both she and her surviving son, Clothar II, were protected by Guntram until he died in 592.

Gregory of Tours depicts her as ruthlessly murderous and sadistically cruel; in his account, Fredegund perhaps has few rivals in monstrousness. And although she did not live to see it, her son's execution of Brunhilda bore the mark of Fredegund's hatred: Clothar II had the old queen, now in her sixties, stretched in agony upon the rack for three entire days, then watched her meet her death chained between four horses that were goaded to the four points of the compass, tearing her body asunder.

Fredegund in Folklore

Fredegund has been proposed as one of many sources for the folk tale alternatively known as Cinderella, Aschenputtel, Cennerenolla or Cendrillion. In his book Cinderella: A Casebook folklorist Alan Dundes sites the following excerpt from History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours:

She was jealous of her own daughter, Rigunth, who continually declared that she should be mistress (probably, as Dalton Says, because Fredegund began life as a palace maid, while she was of royal blood, being a king's daughter) in her place. Fredegund waited her opportunity and under the pretense of magnanimity took her to the treasure-room and showed her the King's jewels in a large chest. Feigning fatigue, she exclaimed "I am weary; put thou in thy hand, and take out what thou mayest find." The mother thereupon forced down the lid on her neck and would have killed her had not the servants finally rushed to her aid.

References

Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, Book IX. Ch. 34, Trans by O.M. Dalton, Vol. II. pp. 405-406

Alan Dundes, Cinderella: A Casebook, Ch. 1 The Cat Cinderella by Giambattista Basile (University of Wisconsin Press, 1982)

Fredegund or Fredegunda (also Latin Fredegundis or French Frédégonde; died 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.

Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic's mistress after he had murdered his wife and queen, Galswintha (c. 568). But Galswintha's sister, Brunhilda, in revenge against Chilperic, began a feud which lasted more than 40 years.

Fredegund is said to be responsible for the assassination of Sigebert I in 575 and made attempts on the lives of Guntram (her brother-in-law and the king of Burgundy), Childebert II (Sigebert's son), and Brunhilda.

After the mysterious assassination of Chilperic (584), Fredegund seized his riches and took refuge in the cathedral at Paris. Both she and her surviving son, Clothar II, were protected by Guntram until he died in 592.

Gregory of Tours depicts her as ruthlessly murderous and sadistically cruel; in his account, Fredegund perhaps has few rivals in monstrousness. Although she did not live to see it, her son's execution of Brunhilda bore the mark of Fredegund's hatred: Clothar II had the old queen, now in her sixties, stretched in agony upon the rack for three entire days, then watched her meet her death chained between four horses that were goaded to the four points of the compass, tearing her body asunder.

Fredegund died c. 8 December 597 in Paris, France. The tomb of Frédégonde (d. 597) is a mosaic figure of marble and copper, situated in Saint Denis Basilica, having come from St. Germain-des-Prés.

Fredegund in Folklore:

Fredegund has been proposed as one of many sources for the folk tale alternatively known as Cinderella, Aschenputtel, Cenerentola or Cendrillion. In his book Cinderella: A Casebook folklorist Alan Dundes cites the following excerpt from History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours:

   She was jealous of her own daughter, Rigunth, who continually declared that she should be mistress (probably, as Dalton Says, because Fredegund began life as a palace maid, while she was of royal blood, being a king's daughter) in her place. Fredegund waited her opportunity and under the pretense of magnanimity took her to the treasure-room and showed her the King's jewels in a large chest. Feigning fatigue, she exclaimed "I am weary; put thou in thy hand, and take out what thou mayest find." The mother thereupon forced down the lid on her neck and would have killed her had not the servants finally rushed to her aid.

Was a servant in Chilperic I of Neustria's household. He married her, then fired/divorced her, then married Galswintha. Galswintha was found strangled in bed. A few days later Chilperic remarried Fredegund.

En av de mest blodtörstiga kvinnor någonsin

Fredegund or Fredegunda (also Latin Fredegundis or French Frédégonde; died 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.

Fredegund has been depicted by Gregory of Tours as sadistically cruel and ruthlessly murderous. She was originally a servant who became concubine to King Chilperic I, who was at that time King only of Soissons. In 568 Fredegund arranged (with the full blessings of the King) for the strangulation murder of King Chilperic’s wife, Galswintha (with full support of the King), after which she became the Queen Consort, who had to deal with a raging civil war that would continue for 40 years (because Galswintha’s sister Brunhilde was the wife [and Queen Consort] to King Chilperic’s brother Sigebert.

Fredegund also arranged in 575 for the assassination of Sigebert, who had by that time almost conquered all of King Chilperic’s domain.

When her husband was murdered in 584, Fredegund seized the royal riches and took refuge in a Paris cathedral with her infant son who she declared was now King Clotaire II, and the war continued until after her death (when Clotaire II was finally triumphant in 613).

The story of Brunhilde and Fredegund could have supplied some of the source material for Richard Wagner’s Siegfried. The bloody civil war was certainly the justification the French (and the Norman nobles in England) used for the unfair “Salic Law” prohibition against women rulers, in effect in England until the accession of Queen Mary I in 1553.

Fredegund has been proposed as one of many sources for the folk tale alternatively known as Cinderella, Aschenputtel, Cenerentola or Cendrillion. In his book Cinderella: A Casebook folklorist Alan Dundes sites the following excerpt from History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours: "She was jealous of her own daughter, Rigunth, who continually declared that she should be mistress (probably, as Dalton Says, because Fredegund began life as a palace maid, while she was of royal blood, being a king's daughter) in her place. Fredegund waited her opportunity and under the pretense of magnanimity took her to the treasure-room and showed her the King's jewels in a large chest. Feigning fatigue, she exclaimed "I am weary; put thou in thy hand, and take out what thou mayest find." The mother thereupon forced down the lid on her neck and would have killed her had not the servants finally rushed to her aid."

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredegund for more information.

c.545–597, Frankish queen. The mistress of King Chilperic I of Neustria, she became his wife after inducing him to murder his wife Galswintha (567). Fredegunde and Brunhilda, Galswintha’s sister and wife of King Sigebert I of Austrasia, were

   among the leading figures in the long war (561–613) between the Frankish kingdoms of Neustria and Austrasia. Fredegunde procured the deaths of Sigebert I and of her own stepchildren. After Chilperic’s murder (584) she acted as regent for her

son Clotaire II.
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001

Birth543, Paris, France Death597, Paris, France Father Brunulf von Cambrai Mother Chrotechilde

[http://homepages.rpi.edu/~holmes/Hobbies/Genealogy2/ps04/ps04_449.htm]

Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic's mistress after he had murdered his wife and queen, Galswintha (c. 568). Galswintha, however, was also the sister of Brunhild, the wife of Chilperic's half-brother Sigebert I, king of the eastern kingdom of Austrasia. Galswintha's murder engendered a violent animosity between Fredegund and Brunhild and an irreconcilable feud of more than 40 years' duration between the respective families. Fredegund was certainly responsible for the assassination of Sigebert in 575 and made attempts on the lives of Guntram (her brother-in-law and the king of Burgundy), Childebert II (Sigebert's son), and Brunhild.

After the mysterious assassination of Chilperic (584), Fredegund seized his riches and took refuge in the cathedral at Paris. Both she and her surviving son, Chlotar II, were at first protected by Guntram, but, when he died in 592, Childebert II, who had taken over his throne, attacked Chlotar, albeit unsuccessfully. From Childebert's death (595) until her own, Fredegund intrigued on Chlotar's behalf against Brunhild, who sought to rule through Childebert's sons, Theodebert II of Austrasia and Theodoric II of Burgundy. Ruthlessly murderous and sadistically cruel, Fredegund can have few rivals in monstrousness.