Sigebert II
Encyclopedia
Sigebert II was king of Burgundy
Kingdom of Burgundy
Burgundy is a historic region in Western Europe that has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities - the first around the 6th century, the second around the 11th century - have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy; a third was very...

 and Austrasia
Austrasia
Austrasia formed the northeastern 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. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...

 (613). Bastard son of Theuderic II, he succeeded his father in 613; but the mayor of the palace
Mayor of the Palace
Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....

 of Austrasia, Warnachar, feared that at his young age he would fall under the influence of his great-grandmother Brunhilda
Brunhilda of Austrasia
Brunhilda was a Visigothic princess, married to king Sigebert I of Austrasia who ruled the eastern kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy in the names of her sons and grandsons...

.
Brunhilda had brought him before a national assembly, where he was proclaimed by the nobles, who did homage to him over both his father's kingdoms. But Warnachar and Rado
Rado (mayor of the palace)
Rado was the mayor of the palace of Burgundy from 613 to 617.He, along with Warnachar, Pepin of Landen, and Saint Arnulf, abandoned the cause of the queen Brunhilda and the young king Sigebert II and joined with Clotaire II, promising not to rise in defence of the queen-regent and recognising...

, mayor of the palace of Burgundy, abandoned the cause of Brunhilda and the young king and joined with Clotaire II
Clotaire II
Chlothar II , called the Great or the Young , King of Neustria, and, from 613 to 629, King of all the Franks, was not yet born when his father, King Chilperic I died in 584...

 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...

, promising not to rise in defence of the queen-regent and recognising Clotaire as rightful regent and guardian of Sigebert. Brunhilda and Sigebert met Clotaire's army on the Aisne
Aisne
Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...

, but the Patrician Aletheus, Duke Rocco, and Duke Sigvald deserted the host and the grand old woman and her king had to flee. They got as far as the Orbe
Orbe
Orbe is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.-History:Orbe is first mentioned about 280 as Urba. In 1179 it was mentioned as versus Orbam....

 before Clotaire's minions caught up with them by lake Neuchâtel. Both of them and Sigebert's younger brother Corbo were executed by Clotaire's orders. Brunhilda was tortured on the rack for three days before being ripped apart between four horses, thus ending the long and bloody feud between Austrasia and Neustria, and reuniting the two kingdoms. Clotaire then ruled the entire realm of the Franks.

Sources

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