General Notes

Assassinated.

King of Soissons 561-584

When Chlotar, King of the Franks, died in 561 he divided the kingdom
among his four sons: Chilperic received Soissons.  Right away, in 562,
Chilperic invaded the lands of his brother King Sigebert I of Metz, thus
starting the civil wars. Sigebert advanced all the way to the city of
Soissons, exiled Chilperic's son Theudebert, and forced a peace treaty
out of Chilperic. In 567, their brother King Charibert I of Paris died,
the kingdom was partitioned among the two and their other brother King
Guntram of Burgundy, and Chilperic immediately invaded Sigebert's legal
share, but was defeated.

Chilperic next allied with Guntram against Sigebert (who was in the midst
of a war with Guntram). As hostilities mounted, Guntram switched his
alliance to Sigebert and Chilperic surrendered. The same exact thing
happened the next year, 575, when Guntram again allied with Chilperic.
That year, Sigebert died and left his kingdom to his son Childebert II.
Chilperic banished Sigebert's wife Brunhild, took her money, and
imprisoned her daughters. Chilperic then renewed hostilities with
Guntram. In that year, Guntram's general Mummolus defeated Duke
Desidarius, Chilperic's senior general. In 577, Guntram and Childebert
made an alliance, demanding all of the lands Chilperic took from them.
When the dysentery epidemic swept through Gaul in 580, Chilperic not onlylost two sons but became ill himself. However, by the next year he wasdoing better and was able to make peace with Childebert. That year, asChilperic had no sons of his own, he named his nephew, King Childebert IIof Austrasia, his successor. A war with Guntram began and ended this yearin which Duke Desidarius took many cities from the kingdom of Burgundy.

In 582, Chilperic and Fredegund had another son, Theuderic, who died two
years later. In 584, Chilperic was assassinated. He died at peace withhis brother Guntram and at war with his nephew and alleged successorChildebert, but left a son born that very year: Chlotar.