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frankish gaul, 481,596 119
his four sons: Theuderic I (511?–533), the product of a first marriage, and
Chlodomer (511?–524), Childebert I (511?–558) and Chlothar I (511?–561)
who came from his marriage to Chlothild, daughter of the Burgundian king
Chilperic II. Like their father, these kings had to build up their own personal
followings by effective war leadership to be able to acquire the land
and treasure with which to reward their supporters. In this respect each presented
a threat to the other, and such rivalries between members of the
ruling house became a standard feature of the political life of sixth-century
Gaul. Initially, however, a number of vulnerable neighbours presented the
best opportunities for territorial aggrandizement. In 523 and 524 the three
younger rulers combined against the Burgundian kingdom with some
success at first. The death in battle of Chlodomer in 524 put an end to this,
but provided alternative rewards: Childebert and Chlothar murdered his
children and divided his kingdom up between them.
The best opportunities for building up a powerful realm probably
existed along the eastern frontiers of Francia. This area was dominated by
the senior branch of the descendants of Clovis in the persons of
Theuderic I (c. 511–33) and his son Theudebert I (533–48). They built up a
hegemony over most of the peoples living immediately to the east of the
Rhine, notably the Frisians, the Jutes, the Saxons and the Thuringians. The
outbreak of war between the emperor Justinian and the Ostrogothic
kingdom in 535 provided fresh ways of expansion. Theudebert in a series
of extant letters presented himself to Justinian as a powerful potential
Catholic ally against the Arian Goths. 19 At the same time he negotiated with
the Ostrogoths, who sought, if not his active help, then at least his neutrality.
Their king Vitigis ceded Provence to Theudebert in 536 with just such
a hope. In the outcome, Theudebert deceived both sides and in 539 invaded
Italy to try to annex more territory. Although, after taking Milan, his expedition
was forced to retreat by the outbreak of disease, Frankish control
was established over several regions in the north of Italy. These were
eventually regained by the empire in the time of his son Theudebald
(548–55). It is possible that Theudebert aspired to even greater things, and
Justinian ceded northern Pannonia to the Lombards not least to block the
perceived threat of a Frankish move into the Balkans, possibly aimed at
Constantinople.
The early death of Theudebald brought this branch of the Merovingian
dynasty (so named from Clovis’ possible grandfather Merovech) to an end.
The kingdom built up by these monarchs was taken over by Chlothar I, but
the Frankish position east of the Rhine began to weaken immediately, with
successful Saxon revolts. This shrinking of the eastern territories did not
immediately matter in that, on the death without heirs of his brother
19 Epist. Austras. 18–20, ed. Gundlach MGH SRM iii, pp.131–3.
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