#chilperic

The Death of Galswintha

Brunhild’s elder sister, Galswintha, arrived in Frankish lands as Chilperic I of Neustria’s betrothed in July of 568, trailed by even more treasure and finery than her sister had been. At Rouen, Chilperic tripped over himself to provide an even more spectacular reception than his brother had given Brunhild. He marched his army more than one hundred miles west, so they might meet his new bride ‘near the curved bed’ of the river Seine as she disembarked from her ship. Rather than being greeted by a palace hall full of nobles, Galswintha was welcomed by Chilperic’s entire army on bended knee, swearing an oath of allegiance to their new queen. Chilperic never did anything in half measure. And Galswintha was married not in the great hall of a converted basilica, but in the cathedral at Rouen.

Less than six months later, though, a third wedding would take place. No cathedral this time, just a handful of nobles quickly assembled in the great room of a royal villa. A week before this third wedding, King Chilperic and Queen Galswintha had been fighting. As she stormed and raged, messengers were seen riding out from the palace at all hours, delivering missives and pleas to her sister and her mother. Galswintha had caught Chilperic in bed, again, with the slave girl Fredegund. The queen was furious that ‘he showed no respect to her at all’; she was distraught over ‘the insults which she had to endure’. She wanted to return home. Was it truly so unendurable? Yes, to be made a fool of like that. And Chilperic had such a temper! She would return home, even if it meant leaving her enormous dowry behind. One morning, soon thereafter, the palace woke to a horrible scene. Galswintha had been found dead in her bed, strangled in her sleep.

Chilperic did not once address his subjects on the matter of Galswintha’s untimely demise. There were no searches for her assailants or rewards offered for their capture. No one was ever questioned or punished, not even the guards who had been posted at the door of the royal bedchamber that night. It was Fortunatus’s friend Gregory who stated plainly what the whole of France was thinking: ‘Chilperic ordered Galswintha to be strangled… and found her dead on the bed.’

Just months after Galswintha’s wedding, Brunhild had received word that her father had dropped dead, presumably of a heart attack. When the next message arrived, this one from Galswintha’s terrified nursemaid, it was reported that Brunhild went into shock. In less than eighteen months, Brunhild had lost her homeland, her father and now her only sibling. At the news of Galswintha’s death, Spain falls into even greater lamentations, and her grieving mother ‘collapses in distress, her knees giving way’ and faints. The enraged mother of the murdered princess was still a major player in international politics; after the death of King Athanagild, she had married his successor.

The few tears Chilperic reportedly shed shortly after Galswintha’s murder may have even been genuine: he was sad that things had come to this. It was nothing personal; Galswintha was simply no longer useful to him. But Fredegund was. Chilperic was obviously incredibly attracted to her. And his attraction also solved several problems. A low-born woman came without the complications of a powerful family; she would be happy with whatever meagre morgengabe he gave her. Three days later, arrayed in the brightly dyed linens and jewels of her predecessor, Fredegund stood at the altar, smiling up at Chilperic.

Galswintha’s murder has been portrayed in art numerous times throughout the centuries since, and the blame always rests on Chilperic, so much so that illuminated manuscripts and paintings portray the king of Neustria himself, wearing his crown and grinning rakishly, wrapping a cloth around the neck of his sleeping wife. In some versions, Fredegund looks on. Whether Fredegund really urged him on or not, she knew people would always assume that she had, cleverly disposing of yet another rival for the king’s affections.

Source:

Fredegund and Chilperic. By Auguste Couder.

Galswintha (540–568) was a queen consort of Neustria. She was the daughter of Athanagild, Visigothic king of Hispania, and Goiswintha. 

Warned of Chilperic’s playboy reputation, Athanagild had not immediately accepted Chilperic’s offer of marriage. Brunhild had converted from Arianism to Catholicism for Sigibert. Galswintha would also convert to her new husband’s preferred religion, but only on the condition that Chilperic be her faithful Christian husband. The Visigoths were much more prudish in this respect; their code prohibited the keeping of concubines and mistresses. And so Athanagild demanded Chilperic swear a solemn oath, a sacramentum, to repudiate all other women. Everyone would have understood who, exactly, Athanagild was referring to. This was the precondition to the marriage that Chilperic so eagerly sought: a king must swear to stay away from a slave. The fact that Chilperic was forced to make this particular promise hints that Fredegund’s hold over the king had already raised some eyebrows. There seems to have been no concern that his exiled first wife might return from her cloister – even though her three legitimate sons were being groomed to be warriors in their father’s armies – nor that any other of Chilperic’s former mistresses would dare disrespect this new powerful queen. But Fredegund, specifically, was perceived to be a potential problem. Chilperic agreed to this demand. He wanted this illustrious alliance more than he wanted any slave girl. He readily agreed that Fredegund would be sent away. But she would not be cast aside so easily. She kept her own counsel – and made her own plans.

Shelley Puhak, The Dark Queens: A gripping tale of power, ambition and murderous rivalry in early medieval

21 Works, October 9th. is Évariste Vital Luminais’ day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #221

Evariste Vital LuminaisMermaidOil on canvas11 3/8 x 21 ¼ in. (29 x 54 cm.)Private collection A mermaid is a marine creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. The first stories appeared in ancient Assyria. Mermaids can be benevolent or beneficent. Évariste Vital Luminais (13 October 1821–10 or 15 May…

Fredegund, French Frédégonde, (died 596 or 597, Paris), queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic’s mistress; she encouraged him to set aside his first wife, Audovera, and to murder his second wife, Galswintha (c. 568). Galswintha, however, was also the sister of Brunhild, the wife of Chilperic’s half brother Sigebert I, king of the eastern kingdom of Austrasia. Galswintha’s murder engendered a violent animosity between Fredegund and Brunhild and an irreconcilable feud of more than 40 years’ duration between the respective families. Fredegund was certainly responsible for the assassination of Sigebert in 575 and made attempts on the lives of Guntram (her brother-in-law and the king of Burgundy), Childebert II (Sigebert’s son), and Brunhild.

[Chronique - Coleen Hill] Mon avis sur "Par deux fois tu mourras - Les Francs royaumes" d'Eric Foussier ‏chez @LattesLeMasque ‏‏: Plongez dans l'époque Mérovingienne où des femmes se battent pour exercer leur influence et exister !

[box type=”info” align=”” class=”” width=””]

Nombre de pages : 400 pages Editeur : JC Lattès Collection : Romans historiques Date de sortie : 27 février 2019  Langue : Français ISBN-10 : 2709663902 ISBN-13 : 978-2709663908 Prix éditeur : 20,50 € Disponible sur liseuse : Oui à 14,99€

De quoi ça parle ?

Palais de Rouen, 569. Galswinthe, la jeune épouse de Chilpéric, l’un des trois petits-fils de Clovis,…

a Circus, Part #2 (Fragment #010)

A howitzer!

It had begun with a conversation about the howitzer barrel aimed at the banquet!

Hmm… Maybe I should say ‘it began with our conversation about a circus’, to be more precise.

I can’t say that I’m very snarky, but I really don’t like circus art. I see many societal blemishes in it. A circus is an ugly show in my opinion! Nasty clowns with inflatable hammers, who bash each other and the…