Editing Charibert I

{{Short description|King of Paris from 561 to 567}}
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{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Charibert I
| title        = 
| image        = Portrait Roi de france Caribert.jpg
| caption      = A portrait of Charibert
| succession   = [[King of Paris]]
| reign        = 561–567
| predecessor  = [[Chlothar I|Clotaire I]]
| successor    = Partitioned
| birth_date   = {{circa}} 517
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = December 567 (aged around 50)
| death_place  = 
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[Blavia castellum]], [[Tractatus Armoricani]]
| house        = [[Merovingian dynasty|Merovingian]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Chlothar I|Clotaire I]]
| mother       = [[Ingund, wife of Clotaire I|Ingund]]
| spouse       = [[Ingoberga]]<br>[[Theudechild]] (m. 566)
| issue        = [[Blithide of Cologne]]<br>[[Bertha of Kent]]
| religion     = [[Chalcedonian Christianity]] ([[excommunicated]])
}}
'''Charibert I''' ({{langx|fr|Caribert}}; {{langx|la|Charibertus}}; {{circa}} 517 – December 567) was the [[Merovingian]] [[List of Frankish kings|King of Paris]], the second-eldest son of [[Chlothar I]] and his first wife [[Ingund, wife of Clotaire I|Ingund]]. His elder brother Gunthar died sometime before their father's death. He shared in the partition of the Frankish kingdom that followed his father's death in 561, receiving the old kingdom of [[Childebert I]], with its capital at [[Paris]].

==Personal life==
[[File:Chérebert, roi de France, offrant l'anneau royal à Teudegilde (J D Lascours, d'après Jean-Antoine Laurent).jpg|thumb|right|Chartibert I, King of France, offering the royal ring to Theudechild (J D Lascours, d'après Jean-Antoine Laurent)]]
Charibert married [[Ingoberga]] and they had five children: 
*[[Blithide of Cologne]] (538–603), possibly married to [[Ansbert (6th century)|Ansbertus]], Gallo-Roman senator
*[[Charibert of Hesbaye]] (d. 636)
*[[Clithorice]] (541–569)
*[[Bertha of Kent|Bertha]], who married [[Æthelberht of Kent]]
*[[Chlothar the Young (d.542)|Chlothar]] (542)

Charibert's daughter Bertha married [[Æthelberht of Kent|Æthelberht]], the pagan [[King of Kent]]. She took  [[Liudhard|Bishop Liudhard]] with her as her private [[confessor]]. Her influence in the Kentish court was instrumental in the success of [[Augustine of Canterbury|St. Augustine of Canterbury's]] mission in 597, effecting the conversion to Christianity of the first Anglo-Saxon ruler.

==Military campaigns and enthronement==
[[File:Le royaume des Francs en 561.svg|thumb|Partition of Chlothar's kingdom, 561; Charibert's realm in pink]]
In 556, Chlothar sent his sons Charibert and [[Guntram]] (his youngest) against their stepmother, "Chunna," and younger stepbrother, "[[Chram]]n," who were in revolt. During ongoing negotiations, Chramn was hiding out on Black Mountain in the [[Limousin (province)|Limousin]]. When the negotiations failed, the two armies prepared for battle. However, a thunderstorm prevented any engagement, and Chramn (who was hiding out in [[Black Mountain (France)|Black Mountain]]) sent forged letters to his brothers (Charibert and Guntram) in which he falsely reported the death of their father (Chlothar). Charibert and Guntram immediately returned to [[Kingdom of Burgundy|Burgundy]] to secure their positions.

After the actual death of Chlothar in 561, the [[Frankish Empire|Frankish kingdom]] was divided between his sons in a new configuration (''map, left''). Each son ruled a distinct realm which was not necessarily geographically coherent but could contain two unconnected regions. Their kingdoms were named after the city from which they ruled. Charibert received [[Neustria]] (the region between the [[Somme (river)|Somme]] and the [[Loire]]), [[Aquitaine]], and [[Novempopulana]] with [[Paris]] as his capital. His other chief cities were [[Rouen]], [[Tours]], [[Poitiers]], [[Limoges]], [[Bordeaux]], [[Toulouse]], [[Cahors]], and [[Albi]]. Guntram received Burgundy. [[Sigebert I|Sigebert]] received [[Austrasia]] (including [[Rheims]]) with his capital at [[Metz]], and the youngest brother [[Chilperic I|Chilperic]] received a compact kingdom with [[Soissons]] as its capital.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Merovingian military organization, 481-751|last=Bachrach|first=Bernard S.|date=1972|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|isbn=0816606218}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Though Charibert was eloquent and learned in the law, [[Gregory of Tours]] found him one of the most dissolute of the early [[Merovingians]]. He maintained four concurrent wives, two of them sisters,<ref>A bishops' council held in Pars under Charibert in 561 or 562 narrowly defined the consanguinities ruled to be [[incest]]. (Alexander C. Murray, ed. ''A Companion to Gregory of Tours'' p. 454).</ref> and this resulted in his [[excommunication]] by [[Germain of Paris|Germanus]].<ref>Gregory, ''Hist.''  iv.26.</ref> This was the first ever excommunication of a Merovingian king.<ref name=":0" />  As a result, he was buried in disgrace at ''[[Blavia castellum]]'', a stronghold in the [[Tractus Armoricanus]]. At his death, his brothers divided his realm between them, agreeing at first to hold Paris in common. His surviving queen (out of four), Theudechild, proposed a marriage with Guntram, though a council held at Paris in 557 had outlawed such matches as incestuous. Guntram decided to house her more safely, though unwillingly, in a nunnery at [[Arles]]. His bastard, [[Charibert of Hesbaye]] receiving nothing.

The main source for Charibert's life is Gregory of Tours' ''History of the Franks'' (Book IV, 3,16,22,26 and IX, 26), and from the English perspective Bede's ''[[Ecclesiastic History of the English People]]''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Bernard Bachrach|Bachrach, Bernard S.]] ''Merovingian Military Organization, 481&ndash;751''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1971.
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/585Polltax1.html Historia Francorum Books I-IX] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814204801/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/585Polltax1.html |date=2014-08-14 }} at Medieval Sourcebook.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Charibert I}}

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{{S-hou|[[Merovingian|Merovingian Dynasty]]|517||567}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Clotaire I]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of Frankish Kings|King of Paris]]|years=561&ndash;567}}
{{S-aft|after=Partitioned}}
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{{Merovingians}}
{{Monarchs of France}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Merovingian kings]]
[[Category:510s births]]
[[Category:567 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:6th-century Frankish kings]]
[[Category:Frankish warriors]]