Kingdom of Paris (Childebert I)

This article is about the specific polity Kingdom of Paris (Childebert I) and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

Was one of the many Frankish Teilreiche (polities emerging from the hereditary divisions of the Frankish Kingdom that repeatedly divided and reunited) of the Merovingian Dynasty. It originated with the division of the Empire at the death of King Clovis I.

Establishment

November 511: Frankish King Clovis died in Paris in 511. According to old Germanic custom, his kingdom was divided equally among his four sons. Childebert received the Kingdom of Paris.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. Frankish Partitions

The Frankish Kingdom was partitioned and reuinited several times as the Frankish rulers used to divide their territories equally among their heirs. This lead also to a number of wars and revolts.

1.1.Partition of the Frankish Kingdom (511)

After the death of King Clovis I, the Frankish Kingdom was divided among his four sons.

1.2.Partition of the Kingdom of Orleans

The Kingdom of Orleans (a Frankish Kingdom originated from one of the many Frankish partitions) was to be divided among the three sons of late King Chlodomer but was finally occupied and partitioned between Chlothar I and Childebert I, who were Chlodomer's brothers.

January 525: The three sons of Clodomiro, Theobald, Guntario and Clodoaldo, were entrusted to the custody of their grandmother, Saint Clotilde, and her kingdom was divided between the brothers Clotaire I and Childebert I, waiting for the legitimate heirs to come of age. But Clotaire I and Childebert I agreed to divide the kingdom and had their two eldest nephews suppressed: only Clodoald escaped the massacre and managed to hide until he was an adult, then accepting to become a monk in Novientum and thus being spared.

1.3.Conquest of Burgundy

The Burgundian kingdom was invaded and divided between the Frankish rulers.

January 535: In 532, Childebert and Chlothar seized Autun. They hunted for Godomar III, brother of Sigismund, with the help of his father and ally, the king of the Ostrogoths Theoderic the Great. The death of Athalaric, the grandson and successor of Theodoric the Great, in 534 generated a succession crisis in the Ostrogothic kingdom, the Burgundian ally. Chlothar, Theudebert, and Childebert took the opportunity to invade the Burgundian kingdom, now devoid of Ostrogothic protection. The Burgundian kingdom was overtaken and divided between the three Frankish rulers. Chlothar received Grenoble, Die and many of the neighbouring cities.

1.4.Unification of the Frankish realm (558)

On 23 December 558, Childebert, the Frankish sub-King of Paris and Orléans died childless after a long illness. This allowed Chlothar, who ruled all other Frankish territories, to reunite the Greater Frankish Kingdom.

December 558: On 23 December 558, Childebert died childless after a long illness. This allowed Chlothar to reunite the Greater Frankish Kingdom, as his father Clovis had done, and seize the treasure of his brother.

2. Frankish conquest of Narbonne

Was a Frankish military expedition to conquer the region of Narbonne from the Visigoths.

January 532: Childebert I, King of Paris, invaded Septimania in 531 and defeated Amalaric, the Visigothic King, near Narbonne. Amalaric fled to Barcelona in an attempt to seek refuge.

February 532: Childebert was the Frankish king of Paris, while Amalaric was the Visigothic king of Hispania. The Kingdom of the Visigoths was a Western European power during the early Middle Ages, with Narbonne being a key city in their territory.

3. Gothic Wars

Were a series of conflicts between the Roman Empire and the Goths.

3.1.Gothic War (535-554)

Was a war between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes.

3.1.1.First Intervention (Gothic War)

Was the first Eastern Roman campaign in Italy under General Belisarius during the Gothic War (535-554).

September 539: Frankish raid in Liguria.

October 539: After their raid, the Franks left Liguria.