General Notes

King of the Franks (629-39), son of Clotaire II. He became king of Austrasia in 623 and at the death of his father the sole king of the Franks. By 632 he had also brought Burgundy and Aquitaine under his rule, becoming the most powerful of the Merovingian kings and the most respected sovereign in the West. He made Paris his capital. St. Eloi (588?-659) was Dagobert's principal adviser, and his rule was marked by the building of numerous monasteries and the strengthening of the royal power. At his death the Frankish kingdom was divided between his sons.