Childebert I

Statuette of Childebert from his abbey of St. Germain-des-Prés, 13th century (Louvre)

Childebert I (c.496 – 13 December 558) was the Frankish king of Paris, a Merovingian dynast, one of the four sons of Clovis I who shared the kingdom of the Franks upon their father's death in 511. He was one of the sons of Saint Clotilda, born at Reims.

In the partition of the realm, he received as his share the town of Paris, the country to the north as far as the river Somme, to the west as far as the English Channel, and the Armorican peninsula (modern Brittany). His brothers ruled in different lands: Theuderic I in Metz, Chlodomer in Orléans, and Clotaire I in Soissons.

In 523, Childebert participated with his brothers in a war against Godomar of Burgundy. Chlodomer died in the Battle of Vézeronce (524). In 524, after the murder of Chlodomer's children, Childebert annexed the cities of Chartres and Orléans.

He took part in later various expeditions against the kingdom of Burgundy. He besieged Autun in 532 and, in 534, received as his share of the spoils of that kingdom the towns of Mâcon, Geneva, and Lyons. When Witiges, the king of the Ostrogoths, ceded Provence to the Franks in 535, the possession of Arles and Marseilles was guaranteed to Childebert by his brothers. The annexation of that province was completed, with Clotaire's help, in the winter of 536–537.

In 531, he received pleas from his sister Chrotilda, wife of King Amalaric of the Visigoths. The Arian king of Hispania, Chrotilda claimed, was grossly mistreating her, a Catholic. Childebert went down with an army and defeated the Gothic king. Amalaric retreated to Barcelona, where he was assassinated. Chrotilda died on her return journey to Paris of unknown causes.

Childebert made other expeditions against the Visigoths. In 542, he took possession of Pamplona with the help of his brother Clotaire and besieged Zaragoza, but was forced to retreat. From this expedition he brought back to Paris a precious relic, the tunic of Saint Vincent, in honour of which he built at the gates of Paris the famous monastery of St Vincent, known later as St-Germain-des-Prés.

He died on 13 December 558, and was buried in the abbey he had founded, where his tomb has been discovered. He left no sons, only two daughters, Chrodoberge and Chrodesinde, by his wife Ultragotha. Childebert was an acquisitive monarch. He expanded his domains in more foreign wars than any of his brothers, fighting in Burgundy (more than once), Spain (more than once), Provence, and elsewhere in Gaul. Gregory of Tours, a contemporary, speaking as a Neustrian, puts these words into Childebert's mouth: Velim unquam Arvernam Lemanem quae tantae jocunditatis gratia refulgere dicitur, oculis cernere. Childbert was also one of the more religious of the sons of Clovis, cooperating with his brothers, rescuing his sister, and constructing the famous monastery of Saint Vincent to house his relics.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Childebert I

16. Clodio (hypothical)

8. Merovech (hypothical)

17. Basine, according to Portuguese Wikipedia

4. Childeric I

2. Clovis I

10. Basin, King of the Thuringii

5. Basina of Thuringia

11. Basina, a Saxon princess

1. Childebert I

24. Gundahar, King of the Burgundians

12. Gondioc, King of the Burgundians

6. Chilperic II, King of the Burgundians

26. Rechila, Suevic King of Galicia

13. The sister of Ricimer (hypothical)

3. Clotilde of the Burgundians

7. Unknown

Sources

• Gregory of Tours. The History of the Franks. 2 vol. trans. O. M. Dalton. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967.
• Geary, Patrick J. Before France and Germany. Oxford University Press: 1988.