Time often tends to obscure historical figures, reducing them to little more than names and dates, and preventing us from seeing the true nature of their character. They end up being either entirely irrelevant in the popular imagination, or end up so mythologized that scarcely a trace of the original human is left, as a deified or villainized simulacrum of later people’s biases and personal judgements replaces the man or woman who once was. To an extent that is unavoidable, but sometimes it is possible to see the real person behind the history, and every once in a while, you get lucky and get the two for one special. Such is the case with two medieval queens, Fredegund and Brunhilde. 

The lives of Fredegund and Brunhilde were defined primarily by a mutual hatred for each other. For many years these two queens of the kingdom of the Franks feuded, and their political schemes, assassinations, and various disputes would be enough to fill a book (which they did) or to make an HBO miniseries (which they should). Their story is not only interesting for the drama, however. It also gives modern students of history insight into the nature of queenship during the Early Middle Ages, and shows us that, despite living in a deeply patriarchal society, women could, and often did, still attempt to act for themselves and could be the makers of their own destiny.

After the death of King Chlothar I of the Franks (511-561), his 4 sons, Charibert, Guntram, Sigibert and Chilperic divided rule over his kingdom among themselves, as had become the custom. Inevitably, this led to conflict. Charibert, the eldest son, was a lecherous individual, and had many wives and concubines, which led to him being criticized and even excommunicated by leading bishops in the Frankish church. Seeking to improve his image relative to his brothers, Sigibert chose to arrange a marriage to a royal bride, and to remain monogamous as a sign of his piety. For his bride he chose Brunhilde, the daughter of king Athanagild of the Visigoths. Well educated and intelligent, she was a good choice of bride, and put to shame the lowborn concubines of Sigibert’s brothers. Not wanting to be outdone, Chilperic chose to marry Galswintha, Brunhilde’s sister. According to the 6th century historian and Bishop Gregory of Tours (who will be our primary source for much of this story), Chilperic did not want to be outdone by his brothers, and appears to have been an ambitious man, unwilling to let himself be seen as lesser than his siblings. Even accounting for the bias of Gregory who was generally against Chilperic and in favor of Sigibert, who had appointed him bishop, Chilperic seems to have been a power hungry and prideful individual.

As a condition of his marriage to Galswintha, Chilperic was compelled to put aside all his previous partners, including a young Frankish woman named Fredegund. Fredegund’s exact backstory is not known, but she was likely of aristocratic birth. According to Gregory, she was as beautiful as she was ambitious, and Fredegund was not happy to see her position as a royal consort taken. Eventually, she managed to convince Chilperic that she was the only woman for him, and Galswintha was “dealt with.” More specifically, Chilperic ordered Galswintha strangled in her sleep, so that he could marry Fredegund.

Needless to say, this did not go over well with Brunhilde, and soon enough her husband and his brother were at war. Conflict between them would last for many years, as they fought over the Frankish kingdom. Sigibert, however, proved a superior military leader and his brother soon found himself on the back foot, and it seemed likely that victory would be in Sigibert’s grasp. Unfortunately for his brother, Chilperic and his wife had one more trick up their sleeve: the tried-and-true method of murder. Before he could destroy his brother, two assassins hired by Fredegund stabbed Sigibert to death with poisoned knives. Sigibert’s untimely death on the verge of victory left Brunhilde in an unfortunate position; Her son, Childebert II, was still a child and as a result many of her followers defected to Chilperic. Thankfully for her, a few loyal nobles including a certain noble named Gundobald managed to rescue her son when Chilperic occupied Paris, where the couple was residing, and the five year old boy was brought east, where he was proclaimed king of what remained of his father’s lands, and the Frankish statesman Gogo took power as regent. Brunhilde, however, wasn’t so lucky. 

Chilperic captured Brunhilde but decided she would remain under house arrest, as he likely thought it would be foolish to kill yet another princess and cause yet more conflict, especially as her son was now a king in his own right. For now, Fredegund could gloat over the imprisoned Dowager Queen, who was now kept in the city of Rouen, in modern day Normandy. That didn’t mean she would stop herself from plotting against her rivals, and she would strike back at them in a very powerful fashion.

Fredegund faced one major obstacle in her bid to ensure the success her children in this world of rivalries, her stepson, Merovech.  Merovech, the son of Chilperic from a previous marriage, resented his new stepmother and was eager to strike against her.  He was also eager to advance his claim to the throne. While visiting his own mother in Rouen, he saw his opportunity, as Brunhilde convinced him that the best way to defend his royal inheritance was to marry a royal. And so, in one of the stranger events in history, Merovech married his aunt. The bishop of Rouen, a man named Praetextatus, had them wedded. Fredegund would bring him to trial, but his fellow bishops would absolve him, and so once again she decided to employ her old tricks, and had him poisoned, at which point Praetextatus accused her of the misdeed on his deathbed.

Unfortunately for the new couple, their marriage would be neither long nor happy. Initially, Chilperic sought to undo the marriage by forcing Merovech to enter a monastery, but the prince escaped and made his way to the church of St. Martin in Tours, where our historian Gregory was reigning bishop. Chilperic besieged the church, but Merovech escaped and tried to raise a revolt. He was not successful, and seeing that his father would put him to death, he chose to die at the hands of a loyal servant instead. Thankfully for Brunhilde, she was able to escape during this chaos, and return to her son’s court, so in the end things worked out fine for her, while Chilperic caused his son’s death and Fredegund became vilified for assassinating a prominent clergyman. So we’ll put this down as a victory for the Visigoth.

At the royal court of Childebert, the nobility was loathe to support Brunhilde as the new regent for the king, and so she needed an ally. She found that in the other son of Chlothar, who was still living and ruling in Burgundy, the King Guntram. Guntram found opportunity to gain power himself by backing his young nephew and his mother, and so an alliance was formed. Guntram also happened to have no living sons, as he had killed one and the other had died of illness. And so, after negotiations at the town of Andelot, Guntram, Brunhilde, and the young Childebert established a treaty against Chilperic, and in addition, Guntram adopted Childebert and named him the full heir to the kingdom of Burgundy.

Things were looking bad for Chilperic and Fredegund, and they were about to get worse. Now that they were on the backfoot, Brunhilde saw her chance to strike. While on a hunting trip, Chilperic was attacked and killed by agents of the widowed queen, and died quite painfully. Although some sources would later claim Fredegund was the perpetrator, it seems unlikely, as the person with the most motivation was Brunhilde, who had now gained vengeance for both her sister and husband, who had died by Chilperic’s hand. With his death, his newborn son by Fredegund, Chlothar II, now stood to inherit the kingdom, and Fredegund’s position seemed untenable. It would have shocked anyone at the time to hear that Chlothar II would one day be the ruin of Brunhilde, and her killer. 

Come back next time, as we continue the story of two queens at war. Brunhilde seizes power over her son’s kingdom, as Fredegund struggles to keep her own alive. Guntram waxes in power as the royal uncle, and a series of unfortunate deaths bring the whole story to its bloody conclusion.

For further reading, see Gregory of Tours, The History of the Franks. The best modern translation is by Lewis Thorpe, and can be found HERE.