 Abt 0450 - 0486 (36 years)
-
| Name |
BURGUNDEN Chilperich |
| Birth |
Abt 0450 |
Kingdom of Burgundians  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
0486 |
Lyon, Kingdom of Burgundians |
| Notes |
- Do not confuse with Chilperic II (c. 672 – 13 February 721), born Daniel, the youngest son of Childeric II and his cousin Bilichild, who was king of Neustria from 715 and sole king of the Franks from 718 until his death.
Biography
Name, Titles, Occupation
Chilpéric II, king of the Burgundians[1]
König der Burgunden
Chilpéric", "roi des Burgondes" [1]
Tétrarque, [1]
Roi des Burgondes (6e, 463-492), [1]
roi des Burgondes à Genève, [1]
King, [1]
king of the Burgundisns, [1]
King of Burgundy[1]
Geography
During this time period, the "barbarian" tribes were moving across Europe. Chilperic II was "King of the Burgundians", but the Burgundians at that time had not yet settled on a particular location. They were centered around Worms, in modern-day Germany, and had not yet moved farther southwest into the modern-day Burgundy area in France. They spoke an East Germanic language and not French.
Their earliest location was Bornholm, a Danish island to the east of Denmark and southeast of Sweden, which was known as Burgundaholmr in old Norse. [2]
The Burgundians had left Bornholm about 300 CE and settled near the Vistula.[3] The Vistula River flows northward from today's southern border of Poland, through Warsaw, and entering the Baltic Sea in Gdansk.
Jordanes relates that in this area they were thoroughly defeated by the Gepids in the 4th century and then moved across what is modern day Germany to the Rhineland,[3] the Rhine river basin bordering today's Germany and France.
Here the Burgundians were ruled by Gebicca (late 4th century – c. 407) and then his three sons, Gundomar I (c. 407 – 411), Giselher (c. 407 – 411), and Gunther (c. 407 – 436). [3] Flavius Aëtius then moves the Burgundians into Sapaudia (Upper Rhône Basin). [3]
The Burgundians were then ruled by Gunderic/Gundioc (436–473) opposed during most of this period by his brother Chilperic I (443–c. 480). [3]
Following Gundioc's death in 473, the kingdom of the Burgundians was divided between Gundioc's four sons, each ruling from a different site:
Gundobad (473–516 in Lyon (modern day France), king of all of Burgundian teritory from 480),
Chilperic II (473–493 in Valence, on the banks of the Rhone, in modern day southern France )
Gundomar/Godomar (473–486 in Vienne, modern day Austria)
Godegisel (473–500, in Vienne and Geneva, modern day Switzerland)
Sigismund, son of Gundobad (516–523)
Godomar or Gundimar, son of Gundobad (523–534)
450 Birth and Parentage
Chilperic II (c. 450 – 493) was King of the Burgundians from 473 until his death, though initially co-ruler with his father Gondioc from 463. [4]
Chilperic II was son of Gundioc / Gunderic, King of the Burgundians [1] and his wife, the sister of Ricimer [1][2]
Gregory of Tours names, in order, Gundioc's four sons: [5]
Gundobad, #Gundobad, King of the Burgundians; [1]
Godegisel, king of the Burgundians; [1]
Chilperic
Gundomar III, King of the Burgundians; [1]
The Liber Historiæ Francorum names "Gundeveus rex Burgundionum…ex genere Athanaric regis" and his four sons "Gundobadus, Godeghiselus, Chilpricus et Godmarus", recording that Gundobad killed his brother Chilperich[32]. [5]
Marriages
The name of Chilperich´s wife is not known. [5]. Other popular genealogies give his wives the name of Carétène and Agrippina [1]
473 Beginning of Reign
He succeeded his father in 473 as Chilperich King of Burgundy, at Lyon. [5]
He began his reign in 473 after the partition of the Burgundian kingdom with his younger brothers Godegisel, Gundobad and Godomar; he ruled from Valentia Julia (Valence) and his brothers ruled respectively from Geneva, Vienne, and Lyon.[4]
He became magister militum in Gaul during the reign of Emperor Glycinius, exercising authority between Lyon and Geneva[33]. [5]
Sometime in the early 470s Chilperic was forced to submit to the authority of the Roman Empire by the magister militum Ecdicius Avitus. In 475 he probably sheltered an exiled Ecdicius after the Visigoths had obtained possession of the Auvergne.[4]
486 Gundobad removes brother Godomar
After his brother Gundobad had removed his other brother Godomar (Gundomar) in 486, he turned on Chilperic. [4]
486 Murder of Chilperic
Cawley states that Chilperich was murdered in 486.[5] by his brother Gundobad, along with both of his sons. In addition, Gregory of Tours records that Chilperich's wife was drowned by her brother-in-law King Gundobad, after he tied a stone around her neck. The Liber Historiæ Francorum records the same event. [5]
(Others write, however that it was in 493 that Gundobad assassinated Chilperic and drowned his wife, and then exiled their two daughters, Chroma, who became a nun, and Clotilda, who fled to her uncle, Godegisel) [4]
Civil War with Clovis I, King of the Franks
When the Frankish king, Clovis I, requested Clotilda's hand in marriage, Gundobad was unable to decline. [4]
Clovis and Godegisel allied against Gundobad in a long, drawn out civil war.[4] The Kingdom of the Burgundians was eventually absorbed into Clovis' Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks.
Issue
Recognized four children of Chilperich
King Chilperich had four children:[5]
older son (-murdered 486). Gregory of Tours records that the two sons of Chilperich died at the same time as their father[36]. [5] [3] (d. 486)[4]
younger son (-murdered 486). Gregory of Tours records that the two sons of Chilperich died at the same time as their father[37]. [5] son[5] (d. 486)[6]
Sedeleube or Chroma ([481]-). Gregory of Tours names "Chroma" as the elder daughter of Chilperich. He records that she and her sister were driven into exile by their paternal uncle King Gundobad, and that Chroma became a nun[38]. The Liber Historiæ Francorum also records that "filia…senior…Chrona" was sent into exile after her parents were murdered[39]. Fredegar names "Sædeleuba" as the older daughter of Chilperich[40]. Fredegar records that "Sideleuba regina" had founded the church at Geneva to which the body of St Victor was taken[41]. Presumably this refers to the daughter of Chilperich King of Burgundy as no other reference to this name has been found. However, the text implies that Sedeleube was married to, or was the widow of, a king at the time, no other reference having been identified in Fredegar to an unmarried daughter of a monarch being referred to as "regina". If this is correct, the identity of her husband is not known. It is not known which of her names was her baptismal and which her ecclesiastical name.[5] (eldest dau) Sedeleube "Chroma; Chrona"[7][8]
Chrotechildis or Clotilde, Clotilda, Rotilde [42]] ([480]-Tours, monastery of Saint-Martin 544 or 548, buried Paris, basilique des Saints-Apôtres [later église de Sainte-Geneviève]). Gregory of Tours names "Clotilde" as the younger daughter of Chilperich, recording that she and her sister were driven into exile by their paternal uncle King Gundobad, but that the latter accepted a request for her hand in marriage from Clovis King of the Franks[43]. The Liber Historiæ Francorum records that, after the murder of her parents, "filia…iunior…Chrotchilde" was kept in Burgundy where she attracted the attention of Chlodoveo King of the Franks[44]. Fredegar states that Clotilde was driven into exile to Geneva by her uncle, after he allegedly murdered her father, and that King Clovis requested her hand in marriage as a means of controlling Gundobad's power[45]. Gregory of Tours records Clotilde's lack of success in converting her husband to Christianity until the fifteenth year of his reign, when he and his people were baptised by St Rémy Bishop of Reims[46]. Gregory of Tours records that Queen Clotilde became a nun at the church of St Martin at Tours after her husband died[47]. Clotilde was canonised by the Catholic church, her feast day is 3 Jun[48]. m (492) as his second wife, CLOVIS I [Chlodovech] King of the Franks, son of CHILDERICH I King of the Franks & his wife Basina ([464/67]-Paris [27 Nov] 511, bur Paris, basilique des Saints-Apôtres [later église de Sainte-Geneviève]). [5] Chrotechildis "Clotilde; Rotilde; Hrothchilde; Clotilda" (480 - 544/8)[9][10] -- orphan niece of Gundobad, m. (c.492/3) Clovis I, King of the Franks[11]
Other children named on Wikitree
Blesinde of the Suevi; [1]
--- of the Bavarians; [1]
Rodequilda de Borgoña and 1 other [1]
Sources
↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Chilperic II. King of the Burgundians, https://www.geni.com/people/Chilp%C3%A9ric-II-king-of-the-Burgundians/6000000001588539963. Accessed March 20, 2016
↑ Bornholm. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornholm. Accessed March 25, 2016.
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 List of the Kings of Burgundy. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_kings_of_Burgundy. Accessed March 25, 2016
↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Chilperic II of Burgundy. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilperic_II_of_Burgundy. Accessed March 19, 2016
↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 Chilperich. Cawley, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Medieval Lands Project. http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BURGUNDY%20KINGS.htm#_ftnref30. Accessed March 20, 2016.
Cawley, C. (2006). Medieval Lands v.3 fmg.ac[12]
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| Person ID |
I58190 |
Freeman-Smith |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
| Family |
SUEVIA Agrippine, b. Abt 0460, Europe d. Abt 0493, Villeurbanne, Gaul (Age 33 years) |
| Children |
| | 1. BURGUNDEN Chrotechildis, b. Abt 0480, Lyon, France d. Abt 03 Jun 0545, Monastery of Saint Martin, Tours, France (Age 65 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
|
| Family ID |
F25954 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
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