Fredegund
Frankish queen
Fredegund or Fredegunda (Latin: Fredegundis; French: Frédégonde; c. 543 – 8 December 597) was the queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Neustria. Fredegund served as regent during the minority of her son Chlothar II from 584 until 597.
Fredegund has traditionally been given a rather poor reputation, foremost by the accounts of Gregory of Tours, who depicts her as ruthlessly murderous and sadistically cruel, and she is known for the many stories of her cruelty, particularly for her long feud with her sister-in-law queen Brunhilda of Austrasia.
Queen
Fredegund was born into a low-ranking family but gained power through her association with King Chilperic. Originally a servant of Chilperic's first wife Audovera, Fredegund won Chilperic's affection and persuaded him to put Audovera in a convent and divorce her.
Chilperic put Fredegund aside and married Galswintha, the daughter of Visigothic King Athanagild, after his half-brother and rival, King Sigibert I of Austrasia, had married Galswintha's younger sister Brunhilda in 566. Gregory of Tours remarks that the marriage to Galswintha began happily, because she brought with her a handsome dowry. The marriage soon deteriorated, and Galswintha died the same year, probably strangled on the orders of Chilperic or Fredegund (c. 568), who succeeded Galswintha as queen. Galswintha's sister, Brunhilda, however, began a feud which lasted more than 40 years.
The public source identifies “Fredegund” as frankish queen. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fredegund, Frankish and queen.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q230898. VIAF identifies the subject as 232197400. The Library of Congress control number is n88128550. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Fredegund” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.