BRUNHILDE

(ca. 545/50-613). A daughter of the Visigothic king Athanagild, Brunhilde became the wife of the Merovingian king Sigibert I of Metz. After her husband’s death in 575, she continued to play a leading role in Frankish royal affairs as the wife of Merovech, the son of Sigibert’s brother Chilperic I by his first wife, Audovera, and therefore her own nephew, and as regent for her son Childebert II of Austrasia (r. 575-95) and Burgundy (r. ca. 590-95), her grandsons Theudebert II of Austrasia (r. 596-612) and Theuderic II of Burgundy (r. 596-613), and her great-grandson Sigibert of Burgundy (r. 613). During her reign, she was in correspondence with Pope Gregory I and clashed with the Irish monk Columban, whom she banished from Burgundy in 612.

After repudiating Audovera, Chilperic I married Brunhilde’s sister Galswintha but then murdered her, perhaps at the instigation of a third consort, Fredegunde, which set off a feud matching Chilperic and Fredegunde on the one hand and Sigibert and Brunhilde on the other. This feud lasted for three generations and led to the assassinations of both Chilperic and Sigibert. Brunhilde’s domination of her grandson Theudebert II and her attempt to romanize the royal administration led the Austrasian aristocrats, especially Arnulf of Metz and Pepin I of Landen, to expel her. She moved to Burgundy, where she held a commanding position over Theuderic II. In 612, she temporarily reunified Burgundy and Austrasia, but again the Austrasians refused to accept her and called in Clotar II of Neustria, the son of Chilperic and Fredegunde, who took over Burgundy as well. Clotar had Brunhilde killed by being dragged to death by a wild horse to which she had been tied.

Steven Fanning

[See also: FREDEGUNDE; GREGORY OF TOURS; MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY]

Gregory of Tours. Liber historiae Francorum, trans. Bernard S. Bachrach. Lawrence: Coronado, 1973.

--. History ofthe Franks, trans. Lewis Thorpe. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.

James, Edward. The Franks. Oxford: Blackwell, 1988.

Nelson, Janet L. “Queens as Jezebels: The Careers of Brunhild and Balthild in Merovingian History.” In Medieval Women, ed. Derek Baker. Oxford: Blackwell, 1978, pp. 31-77.

Wood, Ian. The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-751. London: Longman, 1994.