Galswintha

Other Events and Attributes:

• General Information: She was the daughter of Athanagild, Visigothic king of Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal), and Goiswintha. Galswintha was the sister of Brunhilda, Queen of Austrasia; and the wife of Chilperic I, the Merovingian king of Neustria.
• Parents: Father: Atanagildo, King of the Visigoths Mother: Gosvinta
• Last Full Review: 16 Jul 2020

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Died:
Galswintha was likely murdered at the urging of Chilperic's former wife, Fredegund. Even though Chilperic retained Galswintha's dowry, her untimely death aroused the enmity of her sister Brunhilda against him and Fredegund; it also incurred the wrath of his brother Sigebert, bringing about 40 years of conflict between the Frankish kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria—a veritable Merovingian civil war. When Chilperic was murdered in 584, Brunhilda's anger remained unassuaged, and the conflict following Galswintha's murder continued until Fredegund's death in 597. Beyond this, the result of such antipathy was a three-generation-long feud that essentially "wrecked the Merovingian family" and contributed to the death of ten of its kings.

Galswintha married Chilperic I, King of the Franks in 564. Chilperic (son of Clothaire I, King of the Franks and Aregunde) was born before 535; died in 27 Sep 584 - 9 Oct 584 in Chelles, Île-de-France, France; was buried in Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, Paris, Île-de-France, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Married:
Chilperic sought Galswintha's hand in marriage after his brother, King Sigebert, had married the noblewoman, Brunhilda (Galswintha's sister),[a] a union that violated the Merovingian tradition of seeking the hand of a lowborn woman instead. According to Gregory of Tours, Chilperic was betrothed to multiple women at the time of his marriage to Galswintha and had promised to dismiss all of them if she accepted his proposal. Chilperic honored his avowal by dispensing with his other wives when he married Galswintha.