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Grimoald the Elder

 

 
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Grimoald the Elder
 
 
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Grimoald I (616-656), called the Elder (in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, Grimaud) was the Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
Austrasia

Austrasia formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands....
 from 643 to 656. He was the son of Pepin of Landen and Itta
Itta

Saint Itta or Itta of Metz , was the wife of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia. Her brother was Saint Modoald, bishop of Trier....
.

With the death of Pepin of Landen in 640, Grimoald became the head of his household, the most powerful in Austrasia. At this time, Radulf
Radulf, King of Thuringia

Radulf was the Duke of Thuringia from 632 or 633 until his death after 642. He was a son of Chamar, a Frankish aristocrat, and he rose to power under Dagobert I....
, Duke of Thuringia, rebelled against Sigebert III
Sigebert III

Sigebert III was the king of Austrasia from 634 to his death probably on 1 February 656, or maybe as late as 660. He was the eldest son of Dagobert I....
, king of Austrasia. Grimoald participated in the ensuing expedition against the insurrection, but it was a failure.






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Grimoald I (616-656), called the Elder (in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, Grimaud) was the Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
Austrasia

Austrasia formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands....
 from 643 to 656. He was the son of Pepin of Landen and Itta
Itta

Saint Itta or Itta of Metz , was the wife of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia. Her brother was Saint Modoald, bishop of Trier....
.

With the death of Pepin of Landen in 640, Grimoald became the head of his household, the most powerful in Austrasia. At this time, Radulf
Radulf, King of Thuringia

Radulf was the Duke of Thuringia from 632 or 633 until his death after 642. He was a son of Chamar, a Frankish aristocrat, and he rose to power under Dagobert I....
, Duke of Thuringia, rebelled against Sigebert III
Sigebert III

Sigebert III was the king of Austrasia from 634 to his death probably on 1 February 656, or maybe as late as 660. He was the eldest son of Dagobert I....
, king of Austrasia. Grimoald participated in the ensuing expedition against the insurrection, but it was a failure. Nevertheless, Grimoald succeeded in saving the life of the king and became his close friend. Then, by removing the mayor of the palace, Otto, he took over the position which his father once held.

Grimoald convinced the childless king (Sigebert III) to adopt his son, named Childebert
Childebert the Adopted

When King Sigebert III died in 656, Grimoald the Elder had Sigebert's son Dagobert II shorn of hair and packed off to an Ireland monastery and then proclaimed his own son, Childebert the Adopted , king of Austrasia....
 at his baptism
Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted as a full member of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered....
. Sigebert eventually had an heir, Dagobert II
Dagobert II

Dagobert II was the List of Frankish Kings , the son of Sigebert III and Chimnechild of Burgundy. He was the last of the Merovingian dynasty to rule independently in Austrasia, with the exception of Charles Martel's dubious candidate Clotaire IV....
, but Grimoald feared the fate of his own dynasty and exiled the young Dagobert to either an Irish
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 monastery
Monastery

Monastery , a term derived from the Greek language word ???ast?????, neut. of ???ast????? - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of Monk, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in Cenobium or alone ....
 or the cathedral school of Poitiers
Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain in west central France. It is a commune in France and the capital of the Vienne d?partement in France and of the Poitou-Charentes r?gion in France....
. Upon Sigebert's death, probably in 651, Grimoald put his son on the throne.

Grimoald was deposed and executed by the king of Neustria
Neustria

The territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities....
, who thereby reunited the Kingdom of the Franks. The Liber historiæ Francorum tells that Clovis II
Clovis II

Clovis II succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639 as Neustria and King of Burgundy. His brother Sigebert III had been Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her untimely death in her early thirties in 642....
 had captured and executed him by 657 (subsequently treating Clovis's reign with hostility and his son Chlothar's reign with disdain).