Charibert II

Tremissis or Charibert II, minted at Banassac, bearing his effigy and name

The Frankish kingdoms, showing Charibert's kingdom in green.

Charibert II (607/617–8 April 632), a son of Clotaire II and his junior wife Sichilde, was briefly King of Aquitaine from 629 to his death, with his capital at Toulouse. There are no direct statements about when Charibert was born exactly, the only known fact being that he was "a few years younger" than his half-brother Dagobert. His father Clotaire evidently had a bigamous marriage (not then uncommon) and he was the offspring of the junior wife.

When his father, Clotaire II, King of the Franks, died in 629, Charibert made a bid for the kingdom of Neustria against his elder half-brother Dagobert I, who had already been king of Austrasia since 623. In the ensuing negotiations, Charibert, a minor, was represented by his uncle Brodulf, the brother of Queen Sichilde. Dagobert had Brodulf killed, but did not intercede when his half-brother took over the near-independent realm of Aquitaine. Apparently this caused no disagreement, as in 631 Charibert stood godfather to Dagobert's son Sigebert.

Charibert's realm included Toulouse, Cahors, Agen, Périgueux, and Saintes, to which he added his possessions in Gascony. Charibert was married to Gisela, the daughter of Amand, Ruler of the Gascons. His fighting force subdued the resistance of the Basques, until the whole Novempopulania (become Duchy of Vasconia) was under his control.

In 632, Charibert died at Blaye, Gironde—possibly assassinated on Dagobert's orders—and soon after that Charibert's infant son Chilperic was also killed. Aquitaine passed again to Dagobert. Both Charibert and his son are buried in the early Romanesque Basilica of Saint-Romain at Blaye.

Sources

Primary

• Fredegar. 1960. The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations. Translated by J. M. Wallace-Hadrill. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Secondary

• Geary, Patrick J. (1994). Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World. Oxford University Press.
• James, Edward (1988). The Franks. Basil Blackwell.
• Wood, Ian N. (1994). The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450–751. Longman.