Saracens, but nothing further is learned of him because the end of the single manuscript
(B.N. fr. 24372) is missing.
Theseus de Cologne depicts the final years of Dagobert. Now grown old, he is called
upon to rescue the king of Cologne, Foridas, father of Theseus. St. Denis appears as
mediator of a dispute between Theseus and Dagobert’s son, Ludovis (Clovis II). Before
the end of the poem, Dagobert, who has now reigned for eighty years, dies, leaving his
throne to Ludovis. (The historic Dagobert died by the age of thirty.)
When viewed in the context of the times that produced these tales, this
pseudogenealogy is no more exotic than the Chevalier au Cygne’s or Melusine’s or,
indeed, the Trojan origin of France, all popular in their day. Equally important is the
personality of Dagobert in Charles V’s successful program of propaganda to restore the
morale of his subjects after the disaster of Poitiers and Étienne Marcel’s civil uprising,
encouraged by the King of Navarre’s pretentions to the throne. Charles V’s direct descent
from Dagobert was an important element in this propaganda.
Charity Cannon Willard
[See also: CHARLES V THE WISE; DAGOBERT I; FLORENCE DE ROME;
FLORENT ET OCTAVIEN; GRANDES CHRONIQUES DE FRANCE]
Bossuat, Robert. “Florent et Octavien, chanson de geste du XIVe siècle.” Romania 73(1952):289–
331.
——. “Charles le chauve, étude sur le déclin de l’épopée française.” Lettres romanes 7(1953):107–
32, 187–99.
“Theseus de Cologne.” Moyen âge 65(1959):97–133, 293–320, 539–77.
——. “Le roi Dagobert, héros de romans du moyen âge.” Comptes rendus de l’Académie des
Inscriptions (1964): 361–67.
Willard, Charity C. “Florent et Octavien: The Fourteenth-Century Poem.” Olifant 14 (1989):179–
89.
DAGOBERT I
(608–638/39). The son of Clotar II, Dago-bert I was king of Austrasia (from 622) and
then also king over Neustria and Burgundy after the death of his father in 628/29. He is
the last Merovingian who is seen as a strong, active, and effective ruler over all of the
Frankish kingdoms.
Dagobert was associated with Clotar II as subking of Austrasia, ruling from Metz,
before moving to Paris upon his succession in Neustria and Burgundy. However, the
particularism of the regions of the kingdom remained strong, and he made his younger
brother Charibert (d. 632) subking in southern Aquitaine and established his young son
Sigibert III as subking in Austrasia in 634. The powerful aristocracy that was so visible in
the reign of Clotar II retained and enlarged its position, especially under the youthful
subkings.
Dagobert left a reputation for personally supervising royal officials throughout his
lands and personally giving judgments in legal cases. From his position as the source of
justice, he saw to the promulgation of the Lex Ribuaria for the Austrasians, and perhaps
he played a role in the codification of the laws of the Alemanni and the Bavar-ians. He
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 544