Chlothar III of the Franks, King of the Franks^[1]

- 673

• Name	Chlothar III of the Franks
  Suffix	King of the Franks
  Gender	Male
  Acceded	657
  Death	673
  Burial	Saint Denis Basilica , Paris
  Notes	Acceded: 657 King of Neustria and Burgundy. http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssbct/cgi-bin/gedlkup.php/n=royal?royal11950 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlothar_III «b»Chlothar III«/b» (or «i»Chlotar«/i», «i»Clothar«/i», «i»Clotaire«/i», «i»Chlotochar«/i», or «i»Hlothar«/i», giving rise to «u»Lothair «/u»; 652\endash 73) was the eldest son of «u»Clovis II «/u», king of «u»Neustria «/u» and «u»Burgundy «/u», and his queen «u»Balthild «/u». When Clovis died in 658, Chlothar succeeded him under the regency of his mother. The «u»«i»Historia gentis Langobardorum «/u»«/i» claims of the early 660s that a Frankish army invaded Provence and then Italy (bk 5, ch V). This force came upon the camp of the «u»Lombard «/u» king «u»Grimoald I of Benevento «/u», at Rivoli near Asta. Grimuald pretended to flee. The Franks looted the camp and celebrated. Then, after midnight, Grimuald attacked and drove them back to Neustria. After the death of «u»Saint Eligius «/u» in 661, the «i»Life of Eligius«/i» \emdash written soon after Chlothar's death \emdash records that a plague reduced the population of France's cities. A plague in the British Isles, according to «u»Bede «/u», did the same there in 664. During the regency, «u»Austrasians «/u» begged for a king of their own and sometime between 660 and 662, the Neustrians gave Austrasia to another son of Clovis II, Chlothar's brother «u»Childeric II «/u». Also during his reign, the «u»mayor of the palace «/u» «u»Erchinoald «/u» died and a council of Franks elected «u»Ebroin «/u» to replace him. As of 668, «u»Bede «/u» tells that Ebroin was running the nation's foreign policy and internal security. Given that the «u»«i»Liber historiae Francorum «/u»«/i»admits four years for Chlothar's reign, it remains possible that Chlothar began to exert some real authority when his mentors deemed him an adult, 669. Chlothar died in Spring 673. He was buried in «u»Saint Denis Basilica «/u» and a tomb, probably his, was discovered there recently. Then, his brother «u»Theuderic III «/u» succeeded him. It is notable that he is often described as the first «u»«i»roi fainéant «/u»«/i»\emdash do-nothing king\emdash of the «u»Merovingian dynasty «/u»; and at least until the last four years of his life this description is fitting.
  Person ID	I5887	Glenn Cook Family
  Last Modified	14 Nov 2009

  
  

  Father	Clovis (Chlodovech) II of the Franks, king of Burgundy and Neustria,   b. 637, Moselle, France d. 27 Nov 655, St Denis, Aude, France (Age 18 years)
  Mother	Saint Balthild of Ascania,   b. Between 626 and 627   d. 30 Jan 680 (Age 54 years)
  Family ID	F1964	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family
  Children	1. Clovis   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F1965	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	30 Nov 2006

  
  

• Sources

  [S36] Brian Tompsett, Dept of Computer Science, University of Hull, England(B.C.Tompsett@dcs.hull.ac.uk), Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, (This work is Copyright b 1994-2002 Brian C Tompsett).