Our navigation bar is loading . . .

 


 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.  




 

JCSM's Top 1000 Christian Sites - Free Traffic Sharing Service!


Do you need volunteer, community service, work, military or court hours?

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Return to the JCSM Study Center!

Encyclopedia Britannica



FREDEGOND (Fredigundis) (d. 597)

This article appears in Volume V11, Page 44 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: FRA-GAE
FREDEGOND (Fredigundis) (d. 597) , Frankish queen. Origin-ally a serving-woman, she inspired the Frankish king, Chilperic I., with a violent passion. At her instigation he repudiated his first wife Audovera, and strangled his second, Galswintha, Queen Brunhilda's
sister
 . A few days after this murder Chilperic married
Fredegond
  (567). This woman exercised a most pernicious influence over him. She forced him into war against Austrasia, in the course of which she procured the assassination of the victorious king Sigebert (5'75); she carried on a
malignant
  struggle against Chilperic's sons by his first wife, Theodebert, Merwich and Clovis, who all died tragic deaths; and she per-
FREDERICIA
sistently endeavoured to secure the throne for her own children. Her first son Thierry, however, to whom
Bishop
  Ragnemod of Paris stood godfather, died soon after
birth
 , and
Fredegond
  tortured a number of women whom she accused of having bewitched the child. Her second son also died in infancy. Finally, she gave
birth
  to a child who afterwards became king as Clotaire II. Shortly after the birth of this third son, Chilperic himself perished in mysterious circumstances (584). Fredegond has been accused of complicity in his murder, but with little show of probability, since in her husband she lost her principal supporter.
Henceforth Fredegond did all in her power to gain the kingdom for her child. Taking
refuge
  at the church of Notre Dame at Paris, she appealed to King Guntram of
Burgundy
 , who took Clotaire under his
protection
  and defended him against his other nephew, Childebert II., king of Austrasia. From that time until her death Fredegond governed the western kingdom. She endeavoured to prevent the alliance between King Guntram and Childebert, which was cemented by the pact of Andelot; and made several attempts to assassinate Childebert by sending against him hired bravoes armed with poisoned scramasaxes (heavy single-edged knives). After the death of Childebert in 595 she resolved to augment the kingdom of
Neustria
  at the expense of Austrasia, and to this end seized some cities near Paris and defeated Theodebert at the battle of Laffaux, near Soissons. Her
triumph
 , however, was short-lived, as she died quietly in her bed in 597 soon after her victory.
See V. N. Augustin Thierry, Recits des temps merovingiens (Brussels, 184o); Ulysse Chevalier, Bio-bibliographie (2nd ed.), s.v. " Fredegonde." (C. PF.)


End of Article: FREDEGOND (Fredigundis) (d. 597)


If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/FRA_GAE/FREDEGOND_Fredigundis_d_597_.html">
FREDEGOND (Fredigundis) (d. 597)
</a>


(Previous)
FRAYSSINOUS, DENIS ANTOINE LUC, COMTE AE (1765-...
(Next)
FREDERIC, HAROLD (1856-1898)



 
 


JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA  92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-2012.
 

 

Sponsored Advertisements

Online First Aid and CPR Certification  .  DHA Solutions  .  PB Happy Hour Specials  .  Improvising Made Easy For Guitar and Bass  .  The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained  .  Home Equity Loans  .  First Aid and CPR Online  .  San Diego Music Lessons  .  10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings  .  Blow Up Your Site (For Free!)  .  San Diego DUI Lawyers  .  Jason Gastrich  .  Jordan Faith Gastrich  .  Divorce Secrets Revealed  .  Post Your Ad Link Free  .  San Diego Soccer Training  .  JCSM  .  Download Sermons  .  Custom Religious Banners, Build A Sign  .  Christian Singles Dating  .  Christian T-Shirts  .  Healing Christian Prayer  .  Bumper Authority  .  Personalized Blogs and Email  .  San Diego Haircuts  .  The Do the Math Diet  .  Stop Twitter Spam  .  Christian Conservative Work at Home Network  .  The Website of the Lord