Was 5 years old and in line to be King of the West Franks after the death of his father Louis II The Stammerer, son of Charles the Bald.
Charles the Fat, his cousin and son of Louis the German was selected instead but failed to help Eudes of Orleans against the Norsemen and was disposed of. Eudes became King of the West Franks despite 5 years civil war by opposing supporters. Eudes is Charles the Bald's wife's father.
Ruled from Leon, last effective Carolingian king. Unable to expel Rollo from the Seine.
Member of the Carolingian dynasty who ruled as King of France (or Western Francia) from 898 to his death.
The posthumous son of King Louis the Stammerer and Adelaide, Charles married Frederonne who died in 917 and he then married Eadgifu, the daughter of Edward the Elder of England, on October 7, 919.
As a child, Charles was prevented from succeeding to the throne at the time of the death in 884 of his half-brother Carloman or at the time of the deposition of the Holy Roman Emperor, his uncle Charles the Fat, in 887. Instead, Odo, Count of Paris, succeeded Charles the Fat. Nonetheless, Charles became king at the age of nineteen upon the death of Odo in 898.
The kingdom of Charles the Simple was similar to today's France, but he was obliged to concede what would become known as Normandy to the Norsemen.
In 922 some of the barons (including Herbert II of Vermandois) revolted and crowned Robert I, brother of Odo, king. In 923, at the battle of Soissons, King Robert was killed, but Charles was also defeated. Rudolph, Duke of Burgundy was elected king, and Charles was imprisoned.
Charles died on October 7, 929, in prison at Péronne (Somme, France) and was buried there at the L'abbaye de St-Fursy. His son with Eadgifu would eventually be crowned in 936 as Louis IV of France.
Always pictured with a full head of hair and beard, his title considered to be early medieval humour.
Gained most of Aquitane (France) as Emperor in the Treaty of Verdun, 843.
Granted three fiefs as buffers for his territory:
County of Flanders went to his son in law, Boudouin I
Neustria went to his father in law's father, Robert the Strong
The Duchy of Burgundy went to Richard Count of Autun.
Duchy of Gascony added to Aquitane in 1052
When Lothair's son, the emperor Louis II, died, Charles was crowned Emperor and King of Italy Dec 25, 875 by Pope John VIII in Italy. He forced Charles the Fat to retreat and brother Carloman to withdraw within a treaty.
In 876, after the death of Louis the German. Charles invaded Louis's possessions but was defeated at Andernach by Louis's son Louis the Younger. Charles's death in the next year occurred when another son of Louis the German, Carloman, was marching against him and when his own major vassals were in revolt.
Founded the Abbey of Orval in Belgium, 1097; founded Paies Priory, 1068; and that of Chiny, 1097
Chancelor for King Clothar III.
First contract between Chandler and Denison families when John and wife Joan sold a dwelling and land in Bishop's Stortford to John Denison of Thorley in 1563.
Warden of St. Michael's Church 1521-1522-1536. His wife died 1514.
Only son or only son to outlive his father. Left considerable property in Bishop's Stortford. Married an Agnes circe 1525.
King of the Franks 767-814, King of Lombards 774, Emperor of Romans 800-814
Six feet tall, atheletic, large expressive eyes and a merry disposition. Understood Greek, spoke Latin but never learned to read or write. He and his brother Carloman hated each other.
768 - Charles' father dies, leaving Austrasia, Neustria, Northern Aquitane
to Charles, the stronger interior of Paris, Burgundy, Provence, Septimanis,
Southern Aquitane to his brother, Carloman
768 - Charlemagne takes Bavaria
769 - Aquitane became rebellious, Carloman let Charles handle it
771 - Charlemagne married Desiderata, daughter of Lombard King Desiderius,
later divorced her
771 - Brother Carloman died, leaving Charlemagne the entire Frankish empire
772 - Charlemagne married Hildegarde of Vinzgau from Prussia
774 - Charlemagne takes Italy, sends Lombards and Desiderata to monastery
exile
775 - Starts campaign against Saxons
778 - Charlemagne invades Muslim Spain (Basques?) but was ambushed and lost
many generals. The Song of Roland was written the events.
780 - Charlemagne disinherits first son, Pippin the Hunchback, title and
name of Pepin goes to Carloman
781 - Aquitane becomes rebellious again, Charlemagne places son
Louis I the Pious there.
782 - Charlemagne orders execution of 4500 Saxon prisoners in response to
Saxon leader Widukind's attacks
783 - Charlemagne's wife, Hildegarde of Vinzgau dies in childbirth, Charlemagne's
mother, Bertrada Countess of Laon, dies three months later.
785 - Charlemagne finally conquered Saxony after thirty years and 18
campaigns
788 - Charlemagne absorbed Bavaria into his kingdom
792 - Conspirators talk Pippin into heading rebellion, Pippin feigns sickness
to avoid participating, but is banished to monastery of Prüm for life
792 - Offa angered Charlemagne by trying to marry their children, Charlemagne's
daughter and Offa's son, where as Charlemagne broke off all relations with
England.
796 - Charlemagne conquers Avars, now Hungary and Austria
800 - Charlemagne arrived in Rome to clear Pope Leo III of charges of mass
conspiracy
800, Dec 25 - Charlemagne crowned on Christmas Day by Pope Leo presents him
with gold crown and the only time in history, prostrates himself to Charlemagne
in honour.
801 - Pope crowned Charlemagne's sons, Pepin King of Italy,
Louis I the Pious King of
Aquitane
810 July - Pepin, King of Italy, Charlemagne's son, dies
800 Dec - Carloman, Charlemagne's son, dies
8?? - Charlemagne marries Irene Byzantium of Rome to ease tensions
813 Oct - Charlemagne spent entire month hunting
814 Jan 28 - Charlemagne dies at 70, turns over power to only living legitimate
son, Louis I the Pious.
The division of his empire:
Pepin received as subking Aquitane, Burgundy and parts of Septimania
Louis the German received Bavaria and the eastern Marches
Louis the Pious and his son Lothiar received Francia and most of Burgundy
Rebecka Chaney (or possibly McCracken) was born 1843 in Henry County, OH. She died abt 1905 in Painesville, OH. Her name is listed as McCracken on her tombstone.
First married Gilbert De Seagrave, child was Nichols de Seagrave
Chilperic I (c. 539 – September 584) was the king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of Clotaire I, sole king of the Franks, and Aregund.
Immediately after the death of his father in 561, he endeavoured to take possession of the whole kingdom, seized the treasure amassed in the royal town of Berny and entered Paris. His brothers, however, compelled him to divide the kingdom with them, and Soissons, together with Amiens, Arras, Cambrai, Thérouanne, Tournai, and Boulogne fell to Chilperic's share. His eldest brother Charibert received Paris, the second eldest brother Guntram received Burgundy with its capital at Orléans, and Sigebert received Austrasia. On the death of Charibert in 567, his estates were augmented when the brothers divided Charibert's kingdom among themselves and agreed to share Paris.
Not long after his accession, however, he was at war with Sigebert, with whom he would long remain in a state of—at the very least—antipathy. Sigbert defeated him and marched to Soissons, where he defeated and imprisoned Chilperic's eldest son, Theudebert. The war flared in 567, at the death of Charibert. Chilperic immediately invaded Sigebert's new lands, but Sigbert defeated him. Chilperic later allied with Guntram against Sigebert (573), but Guntram changed sides and Chilperic again lost the war.
When Sigebert married Brunhilda, daughter of the Visigothic sovereign in Spain (Athanagild), Chilperic also wished to make a brilliant marriage. He had already repudiated his first wife, Audovera, and had taken as his concubine a serving-woman called Fredegund. He accordingly dismissed Fredegund, and married Brunhilda's sister, Galswintha. But he soon tired of his new partner, and one morning Galswintha was found strangled in her bed. A few days afterwards Chilperic married Fredegund. (Chilperic reportedly killed her, her sister Brunhilda revenged her sister's death)
This murder was the cause of more long and bloody wars, interspersed with truces, between Chilperic and Sigebert. In 575, Sigebert was assassinated by Fredegund at the very moment when he had Chilperic at his mercy. Chilperic then made war with the protector of Sigebert's wife and son, Guntram. Chilperic retrieved his position, took from Austrasia Tours and Poitiers and some places in Aquitaine, and fostered discord in the kingdom of the east during the minority of Childebert II.
He pretended to some literary culture, and was the author of some halting verse, taking for his model Sedulius. He even added letters to the Latin alphabet, and wished to have the manuscripts rewritten with the new characters. The wresting of Tours from Austrasia and the seizure of ecclesiastical property, and Chilperic's habit of appointing as bishops counts of the palace who were not clerics, all provoked the bitter hatred of Gregory of Tours, by whom Chilperic was stigmatized as the Nero and Herod of his time (History of the Franks book vi.46).
It was one day in September of 584, while returning from the chase to his royal villa of Chelles, that Chilperic was stabbed to death.
Chilperic may be regarded as the type of Merovingian sovereigns. He was exceedingly anxious to extend the royal authority. He was jealous of the royal treasury, levied numerous imposts, and his fiscal measures provoked a great sedition at Limoges in 579. When his daughter Rigunth was sent to the Visigoths as a bride for King Reccared, laden with wagonloads of showy gifts, the army that went with her lived rapaciously off the land as they travelled to Toledo. He wished to bring about the subjection of the church, and to this end sold bishoprics to the highest bidder, annulled the wills made in favour of the bishoprics and abbeys, and sought to impose upon his subjects a unique conception of the Trinity
Chilperic's first marriage was to Audovera. They had four children:
Theudebert, died in the war of 575
Merovech (d.578), married the widow Brunhilda and became his father's enemy
Clovis, assassinated by Fredegund in 580
Basina, nun, led a revolt in the abbey of Poitiers
His short second marriage to Galswintha produced no children.
His concubinage and subsequent marriage to Fredegund produced four more legitimate offspring:
Samson, died young
Rigunth, betrothed to Reccared but never married
Theuderic, died young
Clotaire, his successor in Neustria, later sole king of the Franks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilperic_I
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Frankish_Kings
Daughter Basina:
Basina was the only daughter and youngest child of Chilperic I, king of Soissons (later Neustria), and his first wife, Audovera.
In 580, an epidemic of dysentery swept through Gaul and afflicted her father as well as killing all his remaining children, except Basina and her brother Clovis. The jealous third wife of their father, Fredegund, tried to remove the impediment to her children's succession by sending Clovis to Berny, where the epidemic was strong. This failed to kill him and she had him assassinated along with his mother, the repudiated Audovera. Basina was sent to a convent (Holy Cross) at Poitiers.
In 589, Basina joined her first cousin, Clotilda, daughter of Charibert I, in rebellion against the abbess of their convent. Clotilda led a secession of nuns to the church of Saint Hilary there and proceeded to garner a following of men, mostly criminals. She ordered them to abduct the abbess. The kidnapped abbess was imprisoned under Basina's watch. Eventually, however, she was freed by one Flavian.
When Clotilda became too arrogant for her cousin's liking, Basina made peace with the freed abbess. Things did not return to normal with this, however. The violence continued and, in Gregory of Tours' words, scarcely a day passed without a murder, or an hour without a quarrel, or a moment without tears [1]. This caused King Childebert II of Austrasia to propose to his uncle Guntram of Burgundy that they send joint embassies of their bishops to deal with the incindent in accordance with Canon law. Gregory, bishop of Tours, the aforementioned chronicler, was ordered to go, along with Ebregisel, bishop of Cologne; Maroveus, bishop of Poitiers; and Gundegisel, bishop of Bordeaux, to the commotion, but Gregory demanded that Macco, count of Poitou, quell it with the arm of the law first. The secular answer being inadequate, the bishops gathered in Poitiers and pronounced a judgement which reinstated the abbess and declared her innocent of any crimes of which the rebels had accused her. The cousins were excommunicated.
In 590, both Clotilda and Basina were pardoned by the king, and Basina—but not her cousin—returned to her monastery and lived, until her death, in obedience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basina%2C_daughter_of_Chilperic_I
Son of Gundioc King of the Burgundians. On his death, Gundioc divided his lands between his sons Gundobad, Godigisel, and Chilperic II. Gundobad and Godigisel quickly desposed of Chilperic and became the Kings of Burgundian territory.
Childeric I (c. 437- c. 482) was the Merovingian king of the Salian Franks from 457 until his death. He succeeded his father Merovech (Latinised as Meroveus or Merovius) as king, traditionally in 457 or 458. With his Frankish warband he was established with his capital at Tournai, on lands which he had received as a foederatus of the Romans, and for some time he kept the peace with his allies.
456 Childeric inherited his father's Salian kingdom, centers his kingdom at Tournai.
463 in Orléans, in conjunction with the Roman General Aegidius, who was based in Soissons, he defeated the Visigoths, who hoped to extend their dominion along the banks of the Loire River. After the death of Aegidius, he first assisted Comes ("count") Paul of Angers, together with a mixed band of Gallo-Romans and Franks, in defeating the Goths and taking booty. Odoacer reached Angers but Childeric arrived the next day and a battle ensued. Count Paul was killed and Childeric took the city. Childeric, having delivered Angers, followed a Saxon warband to the islands on the Atlantic mouth of the Loire, and massacred them there. In a change of alliances, he also joined forces with Odoacer, according to Gregory of Tours, to stop a band of the Alamanni who wished to invade Italy.
481 Fought as federate of Orleans when Aetius defeated Visigoths. Later defeated Saxons led by Odoacer on Loire, they jointly fought the Alamannis.
His tomb was found in 1653 at Tournia, the capital of the Salians. Childeric's tomb was discovered in 1653 by a mason doing repairs in the church of Saint-Brice in Tournai where numerous precious objects were found, including a richly ornamented sword, a torse-like bracelet, jewels of gold and cloisonné enamel with garnets, gold coins, a gold bull's head and a ring with the inscription CHILDERICI REGIS ("of Childeric the king"), which identified the tomb. Some 300 golden bees were also found.
These are all the facts known about him, and they are not secure. The stories of his expulsion by the Franks, whose women he was taking; of his eight-year stay in Thuringia with King Basin and his wife Basina; of his return when a faithful servant advised him that he could safely do so by sending to him half of a piece of gold which he had broken with him; and of the arrival in Tournai of Queen Basine, whom he married, are entirely legendary and come from Gregory of Tours' Libri Historiarum (Book ii.12).
He died in 481 and was buried in Tournai, leaving a son Clovis, afterwards king of the Franks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childeric_I
Was sent into exile because of his adoration for women. He took refuge with Bisinus, King of the Thuringian Franks, and his wife Basina. When he returned to his own kingdom, Basina followed him.
~~~~Childeric I: (traditional dates 456-81) expelled for 8 yrs and exiled to Thuringia, later returned, married Basina, wife of Bisinus kg of Thuringians (GT II, 12), fought at Orleans, took Angers c.463? or c.469 (GT II, 18), helped Odovacer of Italy defeat Aleman invasion of Italy 476/80 (GT II, 19), besieged Paris for 10 yrs (vita S.Genovefa) buried at Tournai. http://www.j-paine.org/merovingian.html
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Frankish_Kings
In the partition of the realm, he received as his share the town of Paris, the country to the north as far as the river Somme, to the west as far as the English Channel, and the Armorican peninsula (modern Brittany). His brothers ruled in different lands: Theuderic I in Metz, Chlodomer in Orléans, and Clotaire I in Soissons.
In 523, Childebert participated in the Burgundian War. Chlodomer died in the Battle of Vézeronce. In 524, after the murder of Chlodomer's children, Childebert annexed the cities of Chartres and Orléans.
He took part in later various expeditions against the kingdom of Burgundy. He besieged Autun in 532 and, in 534, received as his share of the spoils of that kingdom the towns of Mâcon, Geneva, and Lyon. When Witiges, the king of the Ostrogoths, ceded Provence to the Franks in 535, the possession of Arles and Marseilles was guaranteed to Childebert by his brothers. The annexation of that province was completed, with Clotaire's help, in the winter of 536–537.
In 531, he received pleas from his sister Chrotilda, wife of King Amalaric of the Visigoths. The Arian king of Hispania, Chrotilda claimed, was grossly mistreating her, a Catholic. Childebert went down with an army and defeated the Gothic king, killing him in battle. Chrotilda died on her return journey to Paris of unknown causes.
Childebert made other expeditions against the Visigoths. In 542, he took possession of Pamplona with the help of his brother Clotaire and besieged Zaragoza, but was forced to retreat. From this expedition he brought back to Paris a precious relic, the tunic of St Vincent, in honour of which he built at the gates of Paris the famous monastery of St Vincent, known later as St-Germain-des-Prés.
He died without issue on 13 December 558, and was buried in the abbey he had founded, where his tomb has been discovered
Excerpts from Historia Francorum with Ernest Brehaut's critical analysis of Gregory in the context of his time, Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476-918. 1914. Rivingtons, London, and Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.
NOTES: Some sources say Sigebert I was the son of the Childebert, others say he was the son of Clotair.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Frankish_Kings