Queen Frédégonde, seated on her Throne, gives orders to two young Men of Térouanne to assassinate Sigebert, King of Austrasia.--Window in the Cathedral of Tournai, Fifteenth Century.

Fredegund, or Frédégonde, (d. 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons. Download high resolution version (1448x1476, 126 KB)Queen Frédégonde, seated on her Throne, gives orders to two young Men of Térouanne to assassinate Sigebert, King of Austrasia. ... Download high resolution version (1448x1476, 126 KB)Queen Frédégonde, seated on her Throne, gives orders to two young Men of Térouanne to assassinate Sigebert, King of Austrasia. ... Events Saint Augustine is created Archbishop of Canterbury. ... Chilpéric I was born c. ... For other uses of the term Merovingian, see Merovingian (disambiguation). ... Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ... The city of Soissons in the Aisne département, Picardie, France on the Aisne River is about 60 miles northeast of Paris and is one of the most ancient cities of France, and is probably the ancient capital of the Suessiones. ...

Originally a servant, Fredegund became Chilperic's mistress after he had murdered his wife and queen, Galswintha (c. 568). But Galswintha's sister, Brunhilda, in revenge against Chilperic, began a feud which lasted more than 40 years. Galswintha (540-568) was the daughter of Athanagild, Visigothic king of Spain; the sister of Brunhilda, queen of Austrasia; and the wife of Chilperic I, the Merovingian king of Neustria. ... Events April 1 - King Alboin leads the Lombards into Italy; refugees fleeing from them go on to found Venice. ... Brunhilda (in German) or Brunehaut (in French) (534-613) was a Frankish queen who ruled the East Frankish kindoms of Austrasia and Burgundy in the names of her sons and grandsons. ...

Fredegund is said to be responsible for the assassination of Sigebert I in 575 and made attempts on the lives of Guntram (her brother-in-law and the king of Burgundy), Childebert II (Sigebert's son), and Brunhilda. See Sigeberht I of Essex for the Saxon ruler by that name Sigebert I (535-575) was a Frankish King, one of the sons of Clotaire I and Ingund. ... Events June 2 - Benedict succeeds John III as Pope The Kingdom of East Anglia founded by the Angle groups North Folk and South Folk, naming the places of Norfolk and Suffolk, respectively. ... Guntram I was born around 545 and died in 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône. ... Coat of arms of the 2nd duchy of Burgundy and later of the French province of Burgundy Burgundy ( French: Bourgogne) is a historic region of France, inhabited in turn by Pre-Indo-European people, Celts ( Gauls), Romans ( Gallo-Romans), and various Germanic peoples, most importantly the Burgundians and the Franks. ... Childebert II (570-595), king of Austrasia, was a son of Sigebert I. When his father was assassinated in 575, Childebert was taken from Paris by Gundobald, one of his faithful leudes, to Metz, where he was recognized as sovereign. ...

After the mysterious assassination of Chilperic (584), Fredegund seized his riches and took refuge in the cathedral at Paris. Both she and her surviving son, Clotaire II, were protected by Guntram until he died in 592. Clotaire II (584-629) was not yet born when his father, King Chilperic I died in 584, although he was born later that year. ... Guntram I was born around 545 and died in 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône. ... Events After the great slaughter at Woddesbeorg, Ceawlin is deposed as both king of Wessex and Bretwalda. ...

Said to be ruthlessly murderous and sadistically cruel, Fredegund perhaps has few rivals in monstrousness. And although she did not live to see it, her son's execution of Brunhilda bore the mark of Fredegund's hatred: Clotaire had the old queen, now in her sixties, stretched in agony upon the rack for three entire days, then watched her meet her death chained between four horses that were goaded to the four points of the compass, tearing her body asunder. Rack may refer to any of the following: The rack is a torture device. ...