Chlothar II, sometimes called "the Young" (French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629) was king of the Franks, ruling Neustria (584–629), Burgundy (613–629) and Austrasia (613–623).
The son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund, he started his reign as an infant under the regency of his mother, who was in an uneasy alliance with Chlothar's uncle King Guntram of Burgundy, who died in 592. Chlothar took power upon the death of his mother in 597; though rich, his realm was one of the smallest portions of Francia. He continued his mother's feud with Queen Brunhilda with equal viciousness and bloodshed, finally achieving her execution by dismemberment in 613, after winning the battle that enabled Chlothar to unite Francia under his rule. Like his father, he built up his territories by seizing lands after the deaths of other kings.
His reign was long by contemporary standards, but saw the continuing erosion of royal power to the French nobility and the church against a backdrop of feuding among the Merovingians. The Edict of Paris in 614, concerned with several aspects of appointments to offices and the administration of the kingdom, has been interpreted in different ways by modern historians. In 617 he made the mayor of the Palace a role held for life, an important step in the progress of this office from being first the manager of the royal household to the effective head of government, and eventually the monarch, under Pepin the Short in 751. Chlothar was forced to cede rule over Austrasia to his young son Dagobert I in 623.
Unusually for a Merovingian monarch, he practised monogamy, though early deaths meant that he had three wives. He was generally an ally of the church and, perhaps inspired by the example of his uncle Guntram, his reign seems to lack outrageous acts of murder, the execution of Brunhilda excepted.
Frankish territories in the sixth century
The domain of Clothar II was located in the territorial and political framework derived from the Frankish kingdom present at 561 at the death of Clothar, son of Clovis and grandfather of Clothar II.
On the death of Clovis in 511, four kingdoms were established with capitals at Reims, Soissons, Paris, and Orléans, Aquitaine being distributed separately. In the year 550, Clothar I, the last survivor of four brothers reunited the Frankish kingdom, and added Burgundian territory (Burgundia) by conquest.
In 561, the four sons of Clothar I followed the events of 511 similarly and split the kingdom again: Sigebert I in Reims, Chilperic I in Soissons, Charibert I in Paris, and Guntram in Orleans, which then included the Burgundian kingdom territory (Burgundia). They divided Aquitaine separately again. Very quickly, Sigebert moved his capital from Reims to Metz, while Guntram moved his from Orléans to Chalon. On the death of Charibert in 567, the land was again split between the three survivors, of greatest importance Sigebert (Metz) received Paris and Chilperic (Soissons) received Rouen. The names Austrasia and Neustria seem to have appeared as the names of these kingdoms for the first time at this point.
In 560, Sigebert and Chilperic married two sisters, daughters of the Visigoth king of Spain Athanagild; princesses Brunhilda, and Galswintha respectively. However Chilperic was still very much attached to his lover and consort, Fredegund, causing Galswintha to wish to return to her homeland in Toledo. In 568 she was murdered and within days, after a brief period of grieving, Chilperic officially married Fredegund and elevated her to a queen of a Frankish kingdom. "After this action his brothers thought that the queen mentioned above had been killed at his command..."
Chilperic agreed, at first, to pay a sum of money to end the feud, but not soon after decided to embark on a series of military operations against Sigebert. This was the beginning of what is called the "royal feud " which did not end until Brunhilda died in 613. The main episodes until the assassination of Chilperic in 584 were as follows: the assassination of Sigebert (575), the imprisonment of Brunhilde and her marriage to a son of Chilperic, and the return of Brunhilda to her son Childebert II, successor of Sigebert.
Moreover, Fredegund strove to ensure her position, since she was from lower origins, by eliminating the sons that Chilperic had with his previous wife Audovera: Merovech and Clovis. Her own children, however, died at a very young age and appeared to be by foul play. When Fredegund had a son in the spring of 584, he would have been the future successor of Chilperic I, if he had lived long enough.
The main sources from the time are the chronicles of Gregory of Tours and the Chronicle of Fredegar. It is possible, however, that the authors contain a degree of bias in their works; for instance Gregory was a key figure in some of the conflicts of the time. The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours in the late sixth century only recounts up to 591. It is favorable to Queen Brunhild, Sigebert, and Chilperic but extremely hostile to Fredegund. The Chronicle of Fredegar, beginning in 584, on the other hand is extremely hostile to Brunhild. That chronicle includes:
Clothar II deals with the Lombards
Under Frankish customs, newborns did not receive names initially, in order not to spread concern related to the symbolic name of the Merovingian. Wanting to choose a name based on the development of unrest in the kingdom of the Franks, his father did not baptize him immediately. Chilperic and Fredegund desired to protect their child, since their four older sons may have been victims of murder, and there was much political intrigue at the time. He was raised in secret in the royal villa in Vitry-en-Artois to avoid detection.
In September 584, Chilperic I was murdered after a hunt near his villa of Chelles, perhaps on the order of Queen Brunhilda. This event produced general disorder and unrest. In this time Austrasians plundered parts of Neustria, seizing valuable treasures and goods, as well as important documents. Princess Rigunth, on the way to Spain to marry Prince Reccared, was captured by Duke Didier of Toulouse and was linked in conspiracy with Gondovald, who stole all that remained of her dowry, so that she was forced to abandon the marriage. Wars broke out between rival cities, and Orléans, Blois and Chartres stood against Châteaudun.
Fredegund managed to keep most of the treasury of the state as well as key political figures, such as the generals Ansoald and Audon, although many, such as chamberlain Eberul, abandoned her. She took her son to Vitry and sent a message to Guntram, King of Burgundy, asking him to adopt the child and offer his protection to him in return for exercising his authority over Neustria until the boy came of age.
Childebert II, who was at Meaux when Chilperic was murdered, considered an attack on Paris, but Guntram was ahead of him. Childebert II began negotiations with Brunhilda on one hand, Guntram on the other; Guntram, however, refused many of his requests, including allowing him into Paris. He refused to deliver Fredegund, who, Brunhilda claimed, was behind the regicide of Sigebert I, Clovis, and even Chilperic I.
Guntram convened a meeting of Greater Neustria, in which the court recognized Clothar as the son of Chilperic, although there were some doubts about his paternal identity. It was at this time that they gave him the name Clothar, naming him after his grandfather. Guntram then took legal responsibility of the child, adopting him and becoming his godfather.