Brunhilda of Austrasia

Brunhilda (in German) or Brunehaut (in French) (534-613) was a Frankish queen who ruled the East Frankish kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy in the names of her sons and grandsons.{{Inote|Encyclopedia Britannica (2004)|EB2004}} Initially known as a liberal ruler of great political acumen she became notorious for her cruelty and avarice. In some histories she is known as Brunhilde, or Brunechildis.

Reigns

Brunehaut's sister Galswintha married Sigebert's brother Chilperic I of the West Frankish kingdom of Neustria and Soissons in 567. He is thought to have proposed because he envied the attention garnered to his brother by the marriage to Brunehaut and he had Galswintha murdered within the year at the behest of his mistress Fredegund, whom he then married. Brunehaut so detested Fredegund for the death of her sister and this hatred was so fiercely reciprocated that the two queens persuaded their husbands to wage war. Germanus, Bishop of Paris, negotiated a brief peace between them until Chilperic invaded the Sigebert's dominions. Sigebert defeated Chilperic, who fled to Tournai, and the people of Paris hailed him as a conqueror when he went there with Brunehaut and their children. Germanus wrote to Brunehaut, asking her to persuade her husband to restore the peace of France and to spare his brother. Chroniclers of Germanus' life say that she ignored this; certainly Sigebert set out to besiege Tournai. Fredegund responded to this threat to her husband by hiring two assassins, who killed Sigebert at Vitry with poisoned daggers. Brunehaut was captured and imprisoned at Rouen. She escaped "after a series of extraordinary adventures"{{Inote|Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)|EB1911}} by marrying Chilperic's son, Merovech.

Related Topics:
Galswintha - Chilperic I - Neustria - Soissons - Fredegund - Germanus - Bishop of Paris - Tournai - Vitry - Rouen - Merovech

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Brunehaut now tried to seize the regency of Austrasia in the name of her son Childebert II, but she was resisted fiercely by her nobles and had to retire briefly to Burgundy before obtaining her goal. She ruled Austrasia until Childebert came of age in the early 580s. Upon his death in September or October 595 she attempted to govern Austrasia and Burgundy in the name of her grandsons Théodebert II and Theodoric II, respectively. When this failed and she was exiled from Austrasia, she persuaded Theodoric to attack his brother, whom he defeated at Toul and Tolbiac. Upon victory, Theodoric had Théodebert and his family killed shortly before his own death.

Related Topics:
Childebert II - 595 - Théodebert II - Theodoric II - Toul - Tolbiac

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It was during these later regencies that Desiderius, Bishop of Vienne (later Saint Didier) publicly accused her of incest and cruelty. Desiderius finally enraged her with a pointed sermon on chastity preached in 612 before her and Theodoric, with whom she hired three assassins to murder him at the village now called Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne.

Related Topics:
Desiderius - Bishop of Vienne - 612 - Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne

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