| Chilperic I | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Chilperic I from a 16th-century medal | |
| King of Neustria | |
| Reign | 561–584 |
| Predecessor | Chlothar I |
| Successor | Chlothar II |
| Born | c. 539 |
| Died | September 584 (aged 44–45) Chelles |
| Spouse | Audovera Galswintha Fredegund |
| Issue more... | Theudebert Basina Rigunth Chlothar II |
| Dynasty | Merovingian |
| Father | Chlothar I |
| Mother | Aregund |
Chilperic I (c. 539 – September 584) was the king ofNeustria (orSoissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of theFrankish kingClotaire I and QueenAregund.
Immediately after the death of his father in 561, he endeavoured to take possession of the whole kingdom, seized the treasure amassed in the royal town ofBerny and enteredParis. His brothers, however, compelled him to divide the kingdom with them, and Soissons, together withAmiens,Arras,Cambrai,Thérouanne,Tournai andBoulogne fell to Chilperic's share.[1] His eldest brotherCharibert receivedParis, the second-eldest brotherGuntram receivedBurgundy with its capital atOrléans, andSigebert receivedAustrasia. On the death of Charibert in 567, Chilperic's estates were augmented when the brothers divided Charibert's kingdom among themselves and agreed to share Paris and the territory around it.
Not long after his accession, however, he was at war with Sigebert, with whom he would long remain in a state of—at the very least—antipathy. This started when Sigebert marched against theAvars and defeated them possibly in Thuringia and possibly pushed them out of theElbe. Chilperic, seeing that his brother was far from his lands, attackedReims and took it. Soon Sigebert returned however and took Reims and marched to Soissons, where he defeated, seized the city, and imprisoned Chilperic's eldest son,Theudebert. The war flared in 567, at the death of Charibert. Chilperic immediately invaded Sigebert's new lands, but Sigebert defeated him. Chilperic later allied with Guntram against Sigebert (573), but Guntram changed sides due to fear of a large army Sigebert gathered past theRhine and he crossed through Burgundy to bypass Chilperic's strong defenses. Chilperic again lost the war.
When Sigebert marriedBrunhilda, daughter of theVisigothic sovereign inSpain (Athanagild), Chilperic also wished to make a brilliant marriage. He had already repudiated his first wife,Audovera, and had taken as his concubine a serving-woman calledFredegund. He accordingly dismissed Fredegund, and married Brunhilda's sister,Galswintha. But he soon tired of his new partner, and one morning Galswintha was found strangled in her bed. A few days afterwards Chilperic married Fredegund.[1]
This murder was the cause of more long and bloody wars, interspersed with truces, between Chilperic and Sigebert, usually ending in a status quo in Tours and Poitiers. In early December 575, Sigebert was struck down by two assassins working for Fredegund, who were clerks who promised that their parents would be very wealthy, as she knew this move was very risky. At the very moment when he had Chilperic at his mercy, as he was besieged in Tournai and Rouen and Thibert, a son of Chilperic was killed near Paris while Sigebert illegally entered and seized the city. Chilperic then made war with the protector of Sigebert's wife and son, Guntram. Chilperic got the loyalty from the nobles who've sided with Sigebert, took from AustrasiaTours andPoitiers and some places inAquitaine like Saintes and the territory in Auvergene which a large battle was done against Mummol, who was serving under Guntram.,[2] and fostered discord in the kingdom of the east during the minority ofChildebert II.[1]
In 578, Chilperic sent an army to fight theBreton rulerWaroch II of theBro-Wened along theVilaine. The Frankish army consisted of units from thePoitou,Touraine,Anjou,Maine andBayeux. TheBaiocassenses (men from Bayeux) wereSaxons and they in particular were routed by the Bretons.[3] The armies fought for three days before Waroch submitted, did homage forVannes, sent his son as a hostage, and agreed to pay an annual tribute. He subsequently broke his oath but Chilperic's dominion over the Bretons was relatively secure, as evidenced byVenantius Fortunatus's celebration of it in a poem.
Most of what is known of Chilperic comes fromThe History of the Franks byGregory of Tours. Gregory detested Chilperic, calling him "theNero andHerod of his time" (VI.46): he had provoked Gregory's wrath by wresting Tours from Austrasia, seizing ecclesiastical property, and appointing as bishops counts of the palace who were not clerics. Gregory also objected to Chilperic's attempts to teach a new doctrine of theTrinity,[4] although some scholars dispute the extent to which Gregory disliked Chilperic.[5]
According to Gregory of Tours, Chilperic also engaged inforced conversion of Jews.[6]
Chilperic's reign in Neustria saw the introduction of the Byzantine punishment of eye-gouging. Yet, he was also a man of culture: he was a musician of some talent, and he wrote verse (modelled on that ofSedulius); he attempted to reform the Frankish alphabet; and he worked to reduce the worst effects ofSalic law upon women.
In September 584, while returning from a hunting expedition at his royalvilla ofChelles, Chilperic was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant.[1][7] He was buried in the Saint Vincent Basilica of Paris, later incorporated in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Chilperic I's first marriage was toAudovera. They had five children:
His short second marriage toGalswintha produced no children.
His concubinage and subsequent marriage toFredegund in about 568 produced six more legitimate offspring:
Chilperic's name in Frankish meant "powerful supporter", akin to Germanhilfreich "auxiliary" (cf. GermanHilfe "help, aid" andreich "rich, orig. powerful")
An operetta on the subject,Chilpéric, was created byHervé, first performed in 1864.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Pfister, Christian (1911). "Chilperic". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 163.
Chilperic I Born: 539 Died: 584 | ||
| Preceded by | King of Soissons (Neustria) 561–584 | Succeeded by |
Merovingian dynasty (400–751 AD) | |||
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