King of the Franks from 715 to 721
Chilperic II
(c. 672 ? 13 February 721) was
king of the Franks
from 715 until his death.
He was a son of
Childeric II
and his half-cousin wife,
Bilichild
. As an infant, he was spirited to a monastery to protect his life from the internecine feuding of his family. There, he was raised as
Daniel
until the death of
Dagobert III
in 715, when he was taken from the monastery ? at the age of forty-three ? and raised on the shield of the Neustrian warriors as king.
First, it appears he was supposed to be but a tool in the hands of
Ragenfrid
, the
mayor of the palace
of
Neustria
, acclaimed in 714 in opposition to
Theudoald
,
Pepin of Heristal
's designated heir. Chilperic, however, was his own man: both a fighter and a leader, always at the forefront in battle at the head of his troops. In 716, he and Ragenfrid together led an army into
Austrasia
, then being warred over by
Plectrude
, on behalf of her grandson Theudoald, and
Charles Martel
, the son of Pepin of Heristal. The Neustrians allied with another invading force under
Radbod, King of the Frisians
and met Charles in battle near
Cologne
, then held by Plectrude. Chilperic was victorious and Charles fled to the mountains of the
Eifel
. The king and his mayor then turned to besiege their other rival in the city. Plectrude acknowledged Chilperic as king, gave over the Austrasian treasury, and abandoned her grandson's claim to the mayoralty.
At this juncture, events took a turn against Chilperic. As he and Ragenfrid were leading their triumphant soldiers back to Neustria, Charles fell on them near
Malmedy
and in the Battle of
Ambleve
, Charles routed them and they fled. Thereafter, Charles Martel remained virtually undefeated and Chilperic's strong will was subdued in a series of campaigns waged in Neustrian territory.
In 717, Charles returned to Neustria with an army and confirmed his supremacy with a victory at
Vincy
, near
Cambrai
. He chased the fleeing king and mayor to
Paris
before turning back to deal with Plectrude and Cologne. On succeeding there, Charles Martel immediately proclaimed
Chlothar IV
king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic. In 718, Chilperic, in response, allied with
Odo the Great
, the
duke of Aquitaine
who had made himself independent during the contests in 715, but he was again defeated by Charles, at
Soissons
in 718. King Chilperic II fled with his ducal ally Odo to the land south of the
Loire
and his mayor Ragenfrid fled to
Angers
. Soon Chlothar IV died in 718, which might be a suspicious death. Duke Odo then handed over Chilperic II to Charles Martel and, in exchange for Charles recognising Chilperic's kingship over all the Franks, the king surrendered his political power to Charles, whom he recognized as Mayor over all the kingdoms (718).
In 719, Chilperic II was officially raised on the shield as King of all the Franks, but he survived but a year and his successors were mere
rois faineants
. He died in
Attigny
and was buried in
Noyon
. Chilperic II may have been the father of
Childeric III
, but this remains uncertain.
References
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Oman, Charles
.
The Dark Ages, 476?918
. London: Rivingtons, 1914.
- Rosenwein, Barbara H. (2009).
A Short History of the Middle Ages
. University of Toronto.
External links
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edit
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