From the outset, the book promises to present the origins and deeds of the
Frankish kings and people. It states that the Franks originated from a group of
Trojan refugees, similar to the Italian refugees of the
Aeneid, finding themselves on the north coast of the
Black Sea, before making their way across the
Danubian Plain to the
Rhineland. To accomplish this, the book relies heavily on the Gallo-Roman bishop and historian
Gregory of Tours, who died in 594, whose history it adapts and augments. The last 19 chapters, numbered 35 through 53 in Bruno Krusch's edition, present an independent account of events in the Frankish lands in the 7th and early 8th centuries. This part of the work begins with
Chlothar II (584–629), who started his reign as an infant King of
Neustria, one of the smallest territories of
Francia. He was under the regency of his mother,
Fredegund, and in an uneasy alliance with Chlothar's uncle
Guntram,
King of Burgundy (d. 592). Chlothar assumed full power over Neustria upon the death of his mother in 597 and continued his mother's feud with
Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia with equal viciousness and bloodshed, finally achieving her execution in an especially brutal manner in 613 and uniting Francia under his rule. Like his father, he built up his territories by invading after the deaths of other kings. Chlothar's reign was lengthy by contemporary standards, but saw the continuing erosion of royal power by the nobility against a backdrop of feuding
Merovingians. The
Edict of Paris in 614, which was concerned with several aspects of appointments to offices and the administration of the kingdom, has been interpreted in different ways by modern historians. In 617, Chlothar made the
Mayor of the Palace a role held for life, an important step in the progression of this office from being first the manager of the royal household to the effective head of government, and eventually the monarch, under
Pepin the Younger in 751. Chlothar ceded rule over
Austrasia to his young son
Dagobert I in 623. Unusually for a Merovingian monarch, he practiced
monogamy, though deaths meant that he had three queens. He was generally an ally of the church and, perhaps inspired by the example of his uncle Guntram, his reign seems to lack the outrageous acts of murder perpetrated by many of his relations, with the exception of the execution of Brunhilda. Chapter 43 relates the attempted usurpation of Austrasia by the Pippinid mayor
Grimoald the Elder in summary form. It ends with Grimoald's death by torture under
Clovis II who ruled Neustria. Chapter 44 comments on Clovis: At the same time, he brought ruin to the kingdom of the Franks with disastrous calamities. This Clovis, moreover, had every kind of filthy habit. He was a seducer and a debaser of women, a glutton, and a drunk. About his death and end, nothing of historical worth may be said. Many writers condemn his end because they do not know the extent of his evil. Thus in uncertainty concerning it, they refer from one to another. The rest of this chapter and the beginning of the next chapter stretch between Clovis's death, usually dated to the late 650s, and the accession of
Theuderic III, usually dated to 673, a four-year reign of "the boy king
Chlotar". Chapters 45ff, as
Ursinus the Abbot had done, provide a hostile account of mayor
Ebroin of Neustria. In contrast to the description of Clovis II quoted above, the author has nothing but praise for
Childebert III, "a famous man", whom he describes as "the glorious lord of good memory, Childebert, the just king." The closing chapters mainly cover
Charles Martel. became a primary source for the
Continuations to Fredegar's Chronicle, as redacted by Count
Childebrand in 751 on behalf of his half-brother, Charles Martel. ==References==