Clovis II

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Clovis II
A sou of Clovis II
King of the Franks in Neustria and Burgundy
Reign	639–657
Predecessor	Dagobert I
Successor	Chlothar III
Born	633 [1]
Died	657 (aged 23–24)
Burial	Saint Denis Basilica, Paris
Spouse	Balthild
Issue	Chlothar III Childeric II Theuderic III
Dynasty	Merovingian
Father	Dagobert I
Mother	Nanthild

Clovis II (633 – 657) was King of the Franks in Neustria and Burgundy, having succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her death in her early thirties in 642. Nanthild's death allowed Clovis to fall under the influence of the secular magnates, who reduced the royal power in their own favour; first Aega and then Erchinoald. The Burgundian mayor of the palace Flaochad used him to lure his rival, Willebad, to a battle in Autun, in which Willebad was killed.

Clovis married Balthild, an Anglo-Saxon sold into slavery in Gaul. She had been owned by the Neustrian mayor of the palace, Erchinoald, but then attracted the interest of the king.^[2] They had three sons, who all became kings after his death. The eldest, Chlothar, succeeded him and his second eldest, Childeric, was placed on the Austrasian throne and eventually also succeeded in Neustria. The youngest, Theuderic, succeeded Childeric in Neustria and eventually became the sole king of the Franks.

Clovis was a minor for almost the whole of his reign. He is sometimes regarded as king of Austrasia during the interval 656–57 when Childebert the Adopted usurped the throne. Grimoald the Elder, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, was captured and later executed in Paris by Clovis II, the king of Neustria, in 657. He is often regarded as an early roi fainéant. Belgian historian Henri Pirenne stated that Clovis "died insane."^[3]

Clovis II was buried in Saint Denis Basilica, Paris.

• McConville, Julia (2018). "Clovis III". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press.

• Media related to Clovis II at Wikimedia Commons