——. The Book of the Treasure (Li livres dou tresor), trans. Paul Barrette and Spurgeon Baldwin.
New York: Garland, 1993.
——. Il tesoretto, ed. and trans. Julia Bolton Holloway. New York: Garland, 1981.
Holloway, Julia Bolton. Brunetto Latini: An Analytic Bibliography. Wolfeboro: Grant and Cutler,
1986.
BRUNHILDE
(ca. 545/50–613). A daughter of the Visigothic king Athanagild, Brunhilde became the
wife of the Merovingian king Sigibert I of Metz. After her husband’s death in 575, she
continued to play a leading role in Frankish royal affairs as the wife of Merovech, the son
of Sigibert’s brother Chilperic I by his first wife, Audovera, and therefore her own
nephew, and as regent for her son Childebert II of Austrasia (r. 575–95) and Burgundy (r.
ca. 590–95), her grandsons Theudebert II of Austrasia (r. 596–612) and Theuderic II of
Burgundy (r. 596–613), and her great-grandson Sigibert of Burgundy (r. 613). During her
reign, she was in correspondence with Pope Gregory I and clashed with the Irish monk
Columban, whom she banished from Burgundy in 612.
After repudiating Audovera, Chilperic I married Brunhilde’s sister Galswintha but
then murdered her, perhaps at the instigation of a third consort, Fredegunde, which set off
a feud matching Chilperic and Fredegunde on the one hand and Sigibert and Brunhilde on
the other. This feud lasted for three generations and led to the assassinations of both
Chilperic and Sigibert. Brunhilde’s domination of her grandson Theudebert II and her
attempt to romanize the royal administration led the Austrasian aristocrats, especially
Arnulf of Metz and Pepin I of Landen, to expel her. She moved to Burgundy, where she
held a commanding position over Theuderic II. In 612, she temporarily reunified
Burgundy and Austrasia, but again the Austrasians refused to accept her and called in
Clotar II of Neustria, the son of Chilperic and Fredegunde, who took over Burgundy as
well. Clotar had Brunhilde killed by being dragged to death by a wild horse to which she
had been tied.
Steven Fanning
[See also: FREDEGUNDE; GREGORY OF TOURS; MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY]
Gregory of Tours. Liber historiae Francorum, trans. Bernard S. Bachrach. Lawrence: Coronado,
1973.
——. History of the Franks, trans. Lewis Thorpe. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.
James, Edward. The Franks. Oxford: Blackwell, 1988.
Nelson, Janet L. “Queens as Jezebels: The Careers of Brunhild and Balthild in Merovingian
History.” In Medieval Women, ed. Derek Baker. Oxford: Blackwell, 1978, pp. 31–77.
Wood, Ian. The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450–751. London: Longman, 1994.
The Encyclopedia 289