Clotaire II
Clotaire II (
584-
629), called
the Great (
le Grand) or
the Young (
le Jeune), King of
Neustria, and from
613-
629 King of all the
Franks, was not yet born when his father, King
Chilperic I died in 584. His mother, Queen
Fredegonde, was regent until her death in
597, at which time the thirteen year old Clotaire II began to rule for himself. As King, he continued his mother's feud with Queen
Brunhilda of
Austrasia with equal viciousness and bloodshed.
|
A treaty of King Clotaire II and the Lombards. |
In
599, he made war with his cousins,
Theuderic II of
Burgundy and
Theudebert II of Austrasia, who defeated him at
Dormelles (near
Montereau). At this point, however, the two brothers took up arms against each other. In
605, he invaded Theuderic's kingdom, but did not subdue it. He remained often at war with Theuderic and the latter died in
Metz in late
613 while preparing a campaign against him. At that time,
Warnachar,
mayor of the palace of Austrasia, and
Rado, mayor of the palace of Burgundy, abandoned the cause of Brunhilda and her great-grandson,
Sigebert II, and the entire realm was delivered into Clotaire's hands. Brunhilda and Sigebert met Clotaire's army on the
Aisne, but the Patrician Aletheus, Duke Rocco, and Duke Sigvald deserted the host and the grand old woman and her king had to flee. As far as the
Orbe they got, but Clotaire's minions caught up with them by the lake
Neuchâtel. Both of them and Sigebert's younger brother Corbo were executed by Clotaire's orders.
In that year, Clotaire II became the first king of all the
Franks since his grandfather
Clotaire I died in
561 by ordering the murder of the infant
Sigebert II (son of Theuderic), whom the aging Brunhilda had attempted to set on the thrones of Austrasia and
Burgundy, causing a rebellion among the nobility. This led to the delivery of Brunhilda into Clotaire's hands, his thirst for vengeance leading to his formidable old aunt enduring the agony of the
rack for three whole days, before suffering a horrific death, chained between four horses that were goaded in separate directions, eventually tearing her apart.
In
615, Clotaire II promulgated the
Edict of Paris, a sort of Frankish
Magna Carta that reserved many rights to the Frankish nobles while it
excluded Jews from all civil employment for the Crown. The ban effectively placed all literacy in the
Merovingian monarchy squarely under ecclesiastical control and also greatly pleased the nobles, from whose ranks the bishops were ordinarily exclusively drawn. Clotaire was induced by Warnachar and Rado to make the mayoralty of the palace a lifetime appointment at
Bonneuil-sur-Marne, near
Paris, in
617. By these actions, Clotaire lost his own legislative abilities and the great number of laws enacted in his reign are probably the result of the nobles' petitions, which the king had no authority not to heed.
In
623, he gave the kingdom of
Austrasia to his young son
Dagobert I. This was a political move as repayment for the support of Bishop
Arnulf of Metz and
Pepin I, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, the two leading Austrasian nobles, who were effectively granted semi-autonomy.
Clotaire II died in 629 after 45 years on the throne, longer than any other Merovingian dynast. He left the crown greatly reduced in power and prepared the way for the rise of the mayors and the
rois fainéants.
*
Franks (main history of Frankish kingdoms)
*
List of Frankish Kings *
Merovingians
