FREDEGOND (Fredigundis) (d. 597)

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

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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

SISTER

. A few days after this murder Chilperic married

Fredegond

FREDEGOND (Fredigundis) (d. 597)

(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

MALIGNANT (Lat. malignus, evil-disposed, from maligenus)

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

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

, and

Fredegond

FREDEGOND (Fredigundis) (d. 597)

tortured a number of women whom she accused of having bewitched the child. Her second son also died in infancy. Finally, she gave

birth

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

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

REFUGE

at the church of Notre Dame at Paris, she appealed to King Guntram of

Burgundy

BURGUNDY

, who took Clotaire under his

protection

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

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

TRIUMPH (triumphus)

, 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.)

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