After 600, he repeatedly tried and failed to take over Austrasia and Burgundy. But in 612,
as Brunhilde fell from power, the magnates of those regions accepted Clotar as king, and
he ordered the execution of Brunhilde after her capture (613). Immediately afterward, in
October 614, Clotar held a great council of lay and ecclesiastical leaders at Paris; the
edict issued in this assembly confirmed the power that local nobles had acquired over the
appointment of both bishops and secular officials. Under Clotar II, Neustria, Austrasia,
and Burgundy each usually had its own administration under a mayor of the palace.
Clotar recognized the Austrasian desire for autonomy by associating his son Dagobert I
with him as subking there in 622.
Steven Fanning
[See also: AUSTRASIA; BRUNHILDE; FREDEGUNDE; MEROVINGIAN
DYNASTY]
Wallace-Hadrill, J.M., trans. The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with Its Continuations.
London: Nelson, 1960.
James, Edward. The Franks. Oxford: Blackwell, 1988.
Wallace-Hadrill, J.M. The Long-Haired Kings and Other Studies in Frankish History. London:
Methuen, 1962, pp. 206–31.
Wood, Ian. The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450–751. London: Longman, 1994.
CLOTHING, COSTUME, AND FASHION
. Medieval clothing in Gaul was a combination of earlier Germanic apparel with Roman
fashions introduced during the Roman occupation of Gaul (52 B.C.-ca. A.D. 486). The
Frankish settlers protected themselves against the cold by wearing tight-fitting garments
and für mantles and wrapping their legs in skins. The Romans introduced looser-fitting
tunics and more flowing garments for both men and women.
Peasants wore working shoes with heavy soles (often of wood), a snood cap fastened
under the chin, a leather belt over a simple knee-length smock (sayon), usually of linen,
and wrapped leg coverings. Their clothing, which is well represented on the calendar
pages of books of hours and in sculpted Labors of the Months, changed little throughout
the medieval period.
Dress for the upper classes varied more from epoch to epoch. The Merovingian period
appropriated many items of earlier Gallo-Roman dress, notably the flowing tunic and
mantle. The tunic extended in ample folds to the ground and was generally gathered by a
large belt or girdle, which could be adjusted for a longer or shorter waist. Multiple tunics
were often worn, with the sleeves of the undertunic extending to the wrist, while those of
the outer tunic, of a different color, ended at the elbow. The mantle was full and open in
the front; it was secured by a clasp or brooch, often at the shoulder. Women wore a
square of white or colored material over the head, secured by a circlet, often ornamented
with jewels. Hair was worn long and usually braided; for festive occasions, it was
intertwined with ribbons and gold threads. Heavy necklaces of gold disks, brooches of
enamelwork or encrusted with precious and semiprecious stones, earrings set with stones
cut en cabochon, rings, and bracelets were all favored by upper-class women. Colors
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