#also ive had samson on repeat

[thym3y]

samson - regina spektor

[queenfredegund]

The Quest for Fredegund [2]

Second part of our quest, now we will tackle the most important part, Fredegund’s assumed dirty business. I say “assumed”, because as always, historians and writers enjoy mixing historical facts (not so much in reality) and made-up tales. Let’s take a look on it based on the sources...

Was she really a murderous and vicious woman?

Hell no! But yes, she had her personal ennemies and was part of some dramatic events. According to scholars and bad writers, she was responsible for the deaths of:

Galswintha, second chief wife of Chilperich († 568).

Sigebert I, half-brother of Chilperich and his political rival († 575).

Merovech, son of Audovera († 576).

Chlodovech, son of Audovera († 580).

Audovera, first chief wife of Chilperich († 580).

Chilperich I, rex and her husband († 584).

Bishop Praetextatus, bishop of Rotomagus/Rouen († 586).

Some people also add to that list the rape of Basina II, daughter of Audovera (in 580) and the execution of Leudastes († 583). Now, let’s talk about her life with timeline and facts:

567: So in 567/568, Chilperich dismissed all of his women and got engaged to Galswintha, sister of Brunhilde and daughter of Athanagild

She was a wisigothic princess, and so a great match for Chilperich who really doted on her by giving her as morgengabe (i.e. gift given by the husband to his newlywed wife the morning after their wedding night) the rents of 5 cities:  Burdegala/Bordeaux, Lemovecas/Limoges, Cadurcum/Cahors, Benarno/Lescar and Begorra/Cieutat.

Back to that time, it was juged heavily rich for a morgengabe, making her probably the most richest woman on her own in the Gauls. But things did not apparently worked between Chilperich and his new chief wife and she called for a divorce after just one year of marriage (DLH, IV, 28). Accepting to let her go with her possessions would be a huge disaster for Chilperich, as she could have deprived him of a large part of his regnum. So he was... pretty screwed.

Some times later, Galswintha was found dead in her bed. She was burried with lavish ceremonies and deeply mourned by Chilperich, but it was naturally believed that he had a hand in her death, as she died shortly after the death of her own father, meaning she did not have anyone to claim for her back in Hispania (and she did not have a brother).

And Fredegund in all of this? Well, because Chilperich made her his new chief wife quite immediatly after Galswintha’s death, the Liber Historiae Francorum (which is, I repeat it, a very late source full of errors), accused her of being the mastermind of the assassination, and sometimes the killer herself. So did she killed Galswintha for real? Humm... I don’t know, did Anne Boleyn strangled Katherine of Aragon with her bare hands? I guess not...

568-575: Time of the faida and contestation of Galswintha’s inheritance

Very little is known about Fredegund during that decade. After the death of Galswintha, diplomatic problems grew between Chilperich and his half-brother Sigebert I, husband of Brunehilde. As Galswintha’s younger sister, Brunehilde was indeed her heiress (remain that Galswintha died childless) and should have taken possession of the cities that Chilperich had given to her as morgengabe. But like I said earlier, this would have constituted a large part of territory and, most of all, a large amount of money. The following years were so a time during which the two brothers tried to made a compromise of this juridic matter, but failed at it.

As far as we know, it is possibly during that period that Fredegund gave birth to her eldest children, meaning:

Chlodobert: his birth is unsure, but I personally think that if Fredegund had become the new chief wife after Galswintha’s death, it could be because she gave birth to her first son at that time. It could also possibly be what Gregorius means when he said that Galswintha felt offended by Fredegund’s presence (you know, a heavily pregnant concubine... when you struggles to have a child of your own...).

Rigund: her only daughter. Like Chlodobert, her date of birth is unsure, but as she plays a role in a further event, she need to be at least of 10 or 12 years old at that moment, so she may have been born before 570, perhaps even before her mother’s elevation as chief wife.

575: The besiege of Turnaco/Tournai and its consequences

In 575, Chilperich and his other brother Guntchramn, attacked Sigebert together (DLH, IV, 50). But Sigebert won the first battles, even defeating through two of his generals Chilperich’s eldest son, Theodebert, son of Audovera, who was killed. Following his defeat, Chilperich took refuge in the city of Turnaco/Tournai with Fredegund and his other children.

A victorious Sigebert was at that moment rushing with his own wife and children (2 daughters and a young son named Childebert) towards his brother in Turnaco/Tournai, when he was suddenly killed by two men with daggers (DLH, IV, 51). In his chronicle, Gregorius of Tours strongly implied that Fredegund had subordoned the two assassins, without any proof of it. But also according to Gregorius (DLH, V, 22), Fredegund gave birth to an other child during the besiege, a son who was named Samson.

Personally, it seems to me very strange to think that a heavily pregnant, then in labor, woman can be occupied building a conspiration against the political rival of her husband, but eh...

Following the death of Sigebert and the execution of several of his high-ranking officials and friends, Brunehilde was taken prisoner with her daughters, but eventually managed to get away her son Childebert, who was then elevated a rex in Austrasia by the rest of his father’s allies under the name of Childebert II.

575-580: The fates of Merovech and Chlodovech, sons of Audovera

Circa 575 or sometimes after, Merovech, second son of Chilperich, began to rise at court and even started a conspiration with his mother Audovera and his godfather Praetextatus, bishop of Rotomagus/Rouen. I need to mention that it was in this city, and perhaps under the care of Praetextatus that Brunehilde was taken prisoner, while her two young daughters had been moved to Meldicus/Meaux. As he was passing by the city, Merovech took Brunehilde as his own wife with the complicity of Bishop Praetextatus, perhaps in order to secure himself as a future rex (DLH, V, 2).

Chilperich got furious when he learned about it, even stripping Bishop Praetextatus of his rank and sending him in exile in the actual islands of Jersey. Merovech was taken prisoner after a short time while Brunehilde was sent back to her son (with her daughters), and tonsured as a monk, meaning he was deprived of his rank and pretentions as the son of the rex.

But as his hair grew back, Merovech managed to escape and entered in rebellion against his father. But betrayed by some of his allies, he eventually took his own life or ask his friend to killed him in 576, apparently fearing the humiliation he would face if his father capture him again (DLH, V, 18).

Regarding Chlodovech, his young brother, the story is different and somehow more shady. Through that period, perhaps between 577 and 579, Fredegund gave birth to a third son, named Dagobert, meaning that she was the mother of 3 sons and 1 daughter, although her sons were still underage compared to Audovera’s sons. Unfortunately, she also had to face the death of all of them:

In 577, Samson died, from dysentery (DLH, V, 22), before reaching his first lustrus, so before he reached his first period of five years. According to Gregorius, Fredegund was also affected by dysentery and barely recovered.

In 580, Dagobert and Chlodobert died in a very short time (DLH, V, 34) during the Plague of the Gauls, who also affected Chilperich, but he survived. Dagobert was the first one getting sick after his father, and then passed the disease to his older brother. According to Gregorius, fearing the loss of her sons, Fredegund convinced Chilperich of destroying tax-demands in attempt to make amend for her sins (i.e. the fact she lived in luxury). After Dagobert’s death, she also managed to take her dying Chlodobert to Saint Martin’s grave, hoping for a miracle, but he died nevertheless (x).

According to Gregorius, Chlodobert’s death deeply moved the population who showed great sympathy towards the royal couple:

He died in the middle of the night, worn to a shadow and hardly drawing breath. They buried him in the church of the holy martyrs Crispin and Crispinian. The whole populace bewailed his death: they walked behind his funeral cortège, the men weeping and the women wearing widows’ weeds as if they were escorting their own husbands to the grave. (DLH, V, 34)

So in 580, Fredegund had lost her 3 sons, leaving her exposed as the chief wife, while Audovera still had a son, Chlodovech, who reach adulthood by that time. While Chilperich and Fredegund were still in mourning, Chlodovech managed to take more and more importance to the court, claiming that he was now the sole successor of his father, until the moment when someone (Gregorius did not name that person) came to Fredegund and accused Chlodovech of having cast spells on her sons, resulting in their deaths.

Apparently believing in these slanders, Fredegund managed to obtain from Chilperich that she could interrogated him on that matter, and then putting him in prison, where he ultimately died, perhaps by suicide like his brother, but it is possible to envisage that Fredegund may have killed him, in order to avenge her own children (DLH, V, 39).

According to Gregorius, there is also a strange story about Audovera and her daughter Basina, mother and sister of Chlodovech. I said “strange” because it is a matter of translation. The original latin text says:

Mater autem eius crudele morte negata; soror ipsius in monasterio delusa a pueris reginae transmittitur, in quo nunc, veste mutata, consistit; opesque eorum omnes reginae dilatae sunt.

To me, the word “negata” means that she denied it, and she denied what, well, the cruel death of her son. But some translators used a different copy of the text where it says “necata” instead, meaning that she was killed. 

Same goes for the fate of Basina: you can read that she was “delusa” which means that she was deceived by. In french, “deceive” is translated as “tromper”, and a synonymous would be “abuser de” (for example, you have that term in the expression “abuser de la naïveté de...” which can be translated in english as “taking advantage of”). So from “abuser”, to “abuse” in english to “raped”...

580-584: Last years as Chilperich’s chief wife

From 580 to 584, Fredegund was so a threathened chief wife, whithout any son left able to strengthened her position. Her only child alive was her daughter, Rigund, who had just reach the marriable age, but as she had lost all her brothers, Chilperich seemed wanting to wait before getting her engaged. I have not really speak about the bigger picture and the diplomatic relations of the time but it was also a turning point in the politics of the Gauls.

From 580 to 582, Childebert II, son of Brunehilde, became the sole and unique apparent heir of the three kingdoms of the Gauls as his two living uncles, Guntchramn and Chilperich, had lost all their sons. In order to prepare a smooth succession, and after the death of his regent and protector, Gogo (leaving Brunehilde as unique regent), embassies were made between Chilperich and his nephew. And in 582, legats from Hispania came to ask for the hand of Rigund, but Chilperich again dropped the idea, even trying to propose to ambassadors his other daughter, Basina II, daughter of Audovera, but it was rejected by both parts.

However, even during her period as a sonless chief wife, Fredegund remained the most important woman in the court and exercised a strong queenship. One of the best example is the way she acted during the matter of Leudastes, a rogue high-official of the regnum. I will not speak about Leudastes’ whole life, it would be too long, but I would just say that in 583 he was considered as both outlawed and excommunicated and was actually on the run when he tried to beg Chilperich for forgiveness (he was convinced of robbing houses and assaulting women). But Chilperich responded that he would not forgive him, as Fredegund hated Leudastes for his cruel behavior, so if he wanted a royal pardon, he would beg Fredegund instead (DLH, VI, 32). But as she still held a grudge towards him, she finally put him to death.

The indecision over Rigund’s marriage continued the whole year 583 as Fredegund gave birth to an other son, named Theodorich, who died during the year, cancelling the engagement between Chilperich and Toledo (DLH, VI, 34). Gregorius said the sorrow of Fredegund was so hard that she needed to burn all her infant’s possessions (DLH, VI, 35).

The Queen now collected together anything that had belonged to her dead son and burned it, all his clothes, some of them silk and others of fur, and all his other possessions, whatever she could find. It is said that all this filled four carts. Any object in gold or silver was melted down in a furnace, so that nothing whatsoever remained intact to remind her of how she had mourned for her boy.

584-586: Battle over the regency

The year 584 is a major turning-point for Fredegund. First of all, she gave birth to her last child, a son again, who remained nameless in a first time. In the same time, Chilperich finally agreed on marrying his daughter Rigund to Reccared, heir of Toledo. After a lavish ceremony (DLH, VI, 45), the young girl started her trip to Hispania, deeply doted by her parents, especially her mother who brought her a splendid dowry.

Then he handed her over to the Visigothic envoys, providing her with a tremendous dowry. Her. mother added a vast weight of gold and silver, and many fine clothes. When he saw this, King Chilperic thought that he had nothing left at all. Queen Fredegund realized that he was upset. She turned to the Franks and said: ‘Do not imagine, men, that any of this comes from the treasures amassed by your earlier kings. Everything you see belongs to me. Your most illustrious King has been very generous to me, and I have put aside quite a bit from my own resources, from the manors granted to me, and from revenues and taxes. You, too, have often given me gifts. From such sources come all the treasures which you see in front of you. None of it has been taken from the public treasury.’

But quite after Rigund’s departure from the court, Chilperich was assassinated by an unknown man, leaving Fredegund as a widow and the queen mother of an infant boy of barely 4 months. Now she will have to battle for two things:

Her son’s position as the new rex of Neustria.

Her daughter’s safety, as Rigund was taken as an hostage in Tolosa/Toulouse by Dux Desiderius after the new of her father’s death, and threaten to be taken in marriage by force by the pretender Gundovald.

Fortunately for her, she had strong supporters:

First of them was Bishop Ragnemod of Parisius (he was the godfather of Theodorich, her fourth son) who welcomed her right after Chilperich’s death and secured her in his basilica with the royal treasury (DLH, VII, 4).

The second one was named Cuppa, a Comes Stabuli (officer in charge of the horses and the transport of the court), who pledged honor to her immediately and managed to reach Tolosa/Toulouse for getting Rigund back and safe (DLH, VII, 39).

The third one was Ansoaldus, an aristocratic man and most important follower of Chilperich, who visited several cities for taking oaths of loyalty in the name of Fredegund's infant son and officied on her behalf as ambassador (DLH, VII, 7).

She also managed to obtain the protection of her brother-in-law, Guntchramn, now the sole adult man of the whole Merovingian royal family. And as he was claiming having doubt over the true parentage of her son, Fredegund summoned an assembly of 3 bishops and 300 nobiles who all attested of her honorability and officially named the baby Chlothacar, like his grandfather (DLH, VIII, 9).

Perhaps because he felt treathened by Fredegund’s queenship and agency as queen mother, Guntchramn chose to break her power and forced her to retire into the villa Rotoialum. He also called back from his exile Bishop Praetextatus (see upper, he was the godfather of Merovech), and reappointed him over Rotomagus/Rouen (DLH, VII, 16), which means that he became Fredegund’s guard on Guntchramn’s behalf.

Also perhaps around this time, hostility between Guntchramn and Ansoaldus (Fredegund’s must trustful ally) increased to the point that Ansoaldus, no longer trusting the rex, left his court and joined back Fredegund to secure her. Together they managed to find a way for her to break Guntchramn’s influence.

586-597: Regency of Chlothacar II

We reach the last but not the least interesting part of Fredegund’s life, her regency for her son Chlothacar. In 586, Bishop Praetextatus was stabbed to death in his basilica and, on his deathbed, strongly accused Fredegund of having plotted against him (DLH, VIII, 31). As the assassination took place following her relegation in a sort of exile and the growing influence of Guntchramn in the regnum, it seems pretty conceivable that she had to get rid of the bishop first, in order to counter her brother-in-law in a second time.

The next years would be less difficult for her as her authority will not be challenged anymore by Guntchramn. As a regent, she managed to secure the interest of her son and pursued diplomatic relations with Guntchramn despite their mutual hostility and several reported assassinations attempts. She was also known for her diplomatic relations with Brittany and Hispania, although this was perceived as treason for Guntchramn who was deeply hostile to both of these countries.

So, if we got back to our list of all the people she was accused of having killed, we have:

Galswintha, second chief wife of Chilperich († 568).

She did not have killed her, and if she did so, it is really strange that Gregorius, who was a strong opponent to Fredegund never implied that she was the mastermind behind the curtains.

Sigebert I, half-brother of Chilperich and his political rival († 575).

Again, it’s debatable, but yes, Gregorius said that the killers have been sent by Fredegund. Truth is... she was just giving birth at that exact same time, so I guess she was a bit... busy?

Merovech, son of Audovera († 576).

Merovech probably killed himself to avoid a shameful treatment following his rebellion and conspiration against his own father.

Chlodovech, son of Audovera († 580).

She perhaps did killed Chlodovech after having judged him and sentenced him for conspiring against his father. She also thought strongly that he was plotting against her and having killed her sons. Not an excuse, but I think this is a different way to see it that just the traditional “he is the son of my rival, I want him DEEEAAAAD!!”

Audovera, first chief wife of Chilperich († 580).

Point is that I actually doubt that Audovera died following her son, text is unclear in my opinion. If really Audovera died in 580, I guess that it looks like more like a consequence of Chlodovech’s judgment, not a special revenge through the years. Same goes for Basina’s rape, I kinda think that it just adds salt on stories for some historians, but is kinda irrelevant for the rest of the story.

Leudastes, rogue official of the regnum († 583).

She did killed Leudastes by sentencing him to death after he tried to ask for Chilperich’s forgiveness. What I really like in this case, it’s that Leudastes’ death is not a revengefull death by Fredegund, but actually a proof of her queenship as Chilperich “gave” Leudastes to Fredegund, for her to having him judged. And knowing that he had to beg pardon to a woman for assaulting other women (DLH, VI, 32) is even better! 

Chilperich I, rex and her husband († 584).

Do I really need to explain why I think that an apparently socially isolated woman with an infant son of barely 4 months may have not a hand in the death of her husband, protector and trustfull ally since many years?

Bishop Praetextatus, bishop of Rotomagus/Rouen († 586).

As for Chlodovech, I believe that she may have command the death of Praetextatus, she had too much to gain with his death that I really doubt she did not have an hand on it.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

Hello and Merry Christmas! I’ve already fulfilled all of my familial obligations for the day, so I’m going to spend the rest of my time relaxing, reading, and watching some stuff (probably going to introduce Damian to “Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather,” so that should be fun.

Anyway, welcome back to my weekly post where I talk about what we’ve done, watched, read, and anything else I want to mention from the past week. One of the important events from the past week is that we went to our local animal shelter to participate in their “Foster for the Holidays” program. We went in to bring home a single dog for the holidays but apparently the only dog our dog would tolerate happened to be one-half of a bonded pair of sisters, so then we met the other dog and that went okay too…so we brought home two extra dogs for a week of naps and cuddles on the couch and walks. All three dogs got delicious gristle covered bones for Christmas, and it has been an interesting experience. I’ll just give you a couple of the many many photos I’ve taken of our foster dogs over the past five days. They’ll be going back to the shelter either tomorrow or Friday, but we can say that we would definitely consider fostering again. I’m sure our dog is ready to be the only one vying for attention again, though.

The other important event from the past week is that on Dec 22nd, Damian and I celebrated our two year engagement anniversary, so we did almost a repeat of our engagement day by going to the Columbus Zoo for Wildlights. It was a nice day.

First up, let’s talk watches. Obviously we are all caught up on “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ and are waiting for the first season finale, which is coming on Friday. We also decided to do a Star Wars marathon before going to see Episode IX, so we have watched “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” “Star Wars: Rogue One,” “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,” “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” “Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi,” “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens,” “Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi,” and “Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.”

I also decided to try and watch some of Season 4 of “The Magicians,” because that recently dropped on Netflix. It’s the only season I don’t own on DVD, but it is a show I really enjoy. And I think today we’ll be starting to watch Season 1 of “The Witcher,” so we’re both really looking forward to that.

Next, hey, it’s time to talk about everything that I’ve read in the last week. I started this particular week off by reading Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins: Series 2, Issue #4 by Matthew Mercer, Jody Houser, Olivia Samson, Msassyk, and Ariana Maher, and then my watch of “The Magicians” made me pick up the book The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

Then I decided to create a last minute readathon, which I call the Jolabokaflod Readathon. Out of respect for the holiday tradition of Jolabokaflod, this took place on the evening of Christmas Eve, and I decided to make it a 12 hour readathon, so from 6pm until 6am. Sadly I ended up falling asleep a little after 2am, but I did still manage to read 4 books, so I’m pretty happy with that. I will do some more planning and announcing and such for next year, but I think I’m going to keep up with #JolabokaflodReadathon, because it was a fun way to spend the night before Christmas: books and chocolate.

Anyway, during the readathon I read Forbidden Scrollery Volume 1 by Zun and Moe Harukawa, Strange Planet by Nathan W Pyle, We Met in December by Rosie Curtis, and Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw.

As for my current reads, I am in the middle of reading Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger, and the final book I picked up for my readathon Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. They are both super interesting reads so far, so I plan to do more reading over the next several days and finish them plus other books.

Speaking of other books, what I’m planning to read after this includes Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao, The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco, The Toll by Neal Shusterman, and Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron. If I get a couple more good reading days in, I have no doubt that I’ll be able to finish most of my December TBR in time, which is awesome because I had a huge stack of books and many of them were thick books.

Anyway, I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas. That is all from me for today, but I will be back soon with more bookish content.

Weekly Wrap-Up (44) Hey all, Dani here. Hello and Merry Christmas! I've already fulfilled all of my familial obligations for the day, so I'm going to spend the rest of my time relaxing, reading, and watching some stuff (probably going to introduce Damian to "Terry Pratchett's Hogfather," so that should be fun.