During the early Middle Ages, when the Frankish kingdom was just emerging, and the France we were used to simply did not exist, an atmosphere of cruelty and tribal relations reigned.
In our article we will meet the most ruthless queen of the 6th century, who killed many souls on her way to power.
Fredegonda is a Frankish queen who lived in about 540-597. Translated, the name means "peaceful warrior", however, according to legends, her path to power and ways of holding the crown were so cruel that the queen's actions cannot be justified even by the period of the early Middle Ages, which was always famous for terrible reprisals against the unwanted.
A girl from a poor family came from and was a servant of Queen Audovera - the wife of Chilperic I, who was king of the West German Franks. Chilperic was distinguished by courage, with his brothers he conquered Paris, and a small kingdom, Neustria, also passed to him.
According to legend, Fredegonda was the king's mistress, but this status categorically did not suit her, once she came up with a plan of how to marry a powerful ruler. Audovera gave birth to a daughter while Chilperic was on another military campaign. Fredegonda convinced the queen that there were no worthy godparents for the princess in the whole court and suggested that Audovere baptize the child herself. In those days, the church forbade godparents to marry the godson's parents. Returning from the campaign, Chilperic decides to send his sinned wife and baby to the monastery.
Before Fredegond had time to rejoice, Chilperic marries the refined and educated girl Galeswinte. Galeswinta was a Visigothic princess, and her sister Brünnhilde was the wife of her brother Chilperic. Brunhilde and her husband Sigebert ruled the neighboring state of Australasia.
Fredegonda's persistence knew no bounds and she, left alone with the king, persuades him to strangle his young wife. It was rumored among the commoners that the cunning maid had resorted to magical powers to induce the king to a brutal murder. Be that as it may, Galeswinta was strangled during sleep, and in the morning Chilperic began to mourn theatrically the innocent queen. He did not grieve for long, and after nine days he married Fredegond.
Brünnhilde did not believe in the grief of Chilperic, and the murder of her sister unsettled her so much that she convinced her husband Sigibert to attack her brother's kingdom in order to take revenge on Fredegonda and her husband according to the laws of blood revenge. Sigebert unleashes a war against his brother, which lasted about 8 years. As a result, the advantage was on the side of Australasia. Sigebert decides to proclaim himself the new king of the Franks and is already celebrating victory, but Fredegond, not accustomed to defeat, sends two soldiers to the headquarters of the victors. Oddly enough, but they manage to approach Sigibert and strike with poisoned swords right in the heart of the newly minted conqueror.
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Fredegond and Chilperic are again in power, and Brunhilde is captured. Brunhilde at that time was only 28 years old and it so happened that the son of Chilperic from his first marriage, Merovei, fell in love with her. Fredegonda hated Merovey, since he was the heir to the kingdom, and her was her son. Now his marriage to Brunhilde, a woman whom Fredegonda hated with all her heart, added fuel to the fire. Realizing that something needs to be done with the heirs to the throne, Fredegonda begins to exterminate all her husband's children from his first marriage. The eldest son was killed by hired murderers, Merovei was captured and committed suicide, the youngest daughter was raped by servants, and then she was shaved into a nun. The only child of Chilperic, to whom the hand of the bloodthirsty stepmother did not reach, remains Clovis. But fate takes revenge on Fredegonda, and her own children begin to die one after another. The Blood Queen decides to use tragic deaths for her own purposes, she accuses Clovis of witchcraft. According to Fredegonda, it was he who was responsible for the death of the heirs. Clovis is burned at the stake.
Fredegonda gives birth to another son who is destined to survive and become the famous king Chlothar II, who united the lands of all Franks. Shortly thereafter, under mysterious circumstances, Chilperic dies, and power completely passes into the hands of Fredegonda.
The last victim of the Black Queen was almost her own daughter, who accused her mother of being born as a servant, while Rigunta herself was a girl of royal blood. Fredegonda decides to punish her daughter for her sharp tongue. She calls her into the room to show her riches in a chest, which after the death of the queen will belong only to her. The naive Rigunta looked into the chest, and the distraught Fredegonda slammed the lid with all her might, injuring her own daughter's neck. The servants heard the screams and were able to save the young princess.
Despite the rivers of blood shed through the fault of Fredegonda, she died a natural death. Not so enviable fate was prepared for Brunhilde, who lost all her relatives because of bloodthirsty relatives. Fredegonda's son, King Clotar, took the aged Brunhilde prisoner and tortured her for a long time, blaming the deaths of 10 Merovingian kings. Then he tied the woman to the tail of a horse so that she would die the most painful death. Fredegonda won this long battle, albeit posthumously.
OKRUZHKINA MARIA