Theudebert I King of Austrasia ^{1 2}

  Research Notes:

From Wikipedia - Theudebert I :

Theudebert I (French : Thibert or Théodebert) (c. 500 - 547 or 548 ) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 533 to his death in 548 . He was the son of Theuderic I and the father of Theudebald .

Most of what we know about Theudebert comes from the Histories or History of the Franks written by Gregory of Tours in the second half of the sixth century. In addition, we have diplomatic correspondence composed at the Austrasian court (known as the Austrasian Letters ), the poems of Venantius Fortunatus and a small number of other sources.

During his father's reign, the young Theudebert had shown himself to be an able warrior. In about 516 he defeated a Danish army under King Chlochilaich (Hygelac of Beowulf ) after it had raided northern Gaul. His reputation was further enhanced by a series of military campaigns in the south of Gaul against the Visigoths .

Upon his father's death, Theudebert had to fight both his uncles Childebert and Clotaire to inherit his father's kingdom. In the end, his military prowess persuaded Childebert to abandon the dispute and adopt Theudebert as his heir. Together they campaigned against Clotaire but sued for peace after their armies were hit by storm...

In common with other Frankish rulers at the time, Theudebert took several wives as and when he wanted. As heir to his father's kingdom, he was betrothed to Wisigard , daughter of Wacho , king of the Lombards . This sort of political match was rare for the Merovingian kings. Theudebert abandoned her for Deuteria, a Gallo-Roman he had met while on campaign in southern Gaul. However, his supporters were not best pleased by his treatment of Wisigard, perhaps because of the political dimension, and persuaded Theudebert to take her back. Wisigard, though, soon died, and Theudebert married again.

As well as being renowned for his military prowess, Theudebert was lauded by contemporaries for his patronage of the Gallic Church. Gregory of Tours reserves special praise for him in this regard, but his piety is also mentioned by Fortunatus.

Theudebert died in the 14th year of his reign (at the end of 547 or the beginning of 548) and Theudebald, his son by Deuteria, succeeded him. In contrast to that experienced by many Merovingian kings, Theudebald's accession was peaceful.

  Noted events in his life were:

• King of Austrasia, 533-548. Merovingian king.

Theudebert married Deuteria.

Theudebert next married Wisigarda, daughter of Wacho King of the Lombards and Ostrogotha. (Wisigarda was born in <Lombardy (Italy)>.)