Dana Schwartz (0:00)

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After all, Queen Brunhild and her husband, King Siegbert I of Austrasia, were on the verge of a decisive victory that would unite two neighboring Frankish realms under their rule. So this sudden incoming news must mean that the opposition had surrendered. Maybe the enemy king had even been killed. 575 would certainly be a year to remember for Brunhilde. But not for the reasons she had hoped. The messenger confirmed that a king had been slain, but the victim was Brunhild's own husband. Despite having a vastly superior army and a robust kingsguard, Siegbert had apparently been assassinated. Brunhild must have been stunned, but she knew she couldn't afford to panic or fully mourn what had been, by royal standards, a respectful and productive marriage. Being all too familiar with Francia's fickle politics and the Merovingian dynasty's history of violent betrayal, she was well aware that she could easily meet a similarly dire fate, as could her three young children, if she didn't play her hand exactly right. In the following hours, as many of Brunhilde's nobles defected and as she frantically strategized, she likely had little doubt about who would have had the cunning to have engineered such a shocking murder. This was not the first time Brunhilde had felt the bitter sting of losing a family member to the machinations of her main rival. And between the swirling rumors and peculiar piecemeal details of King Siegbert's death, this crime had all the hallmarks of Queen Fredegund. Sure enough, 40 miles away, Fredegund was triumphantly emerging from her hideout after pulling off the Hail Mary of all Hail Marys. Like Brynhild, Fredegund was well versed in the bloody, rapidly shifting tides of her opposing kingdom's ongoing civil war. It must have been gratifying to accept her husband's odd gratitude for saving them from the jaws of defeat. But she knew time was of the essence. They had to press their advantage quickly because her rival was far too intelligent and resourceful to be underestimated. Calling on allies, making desperate deals and hoarding treasure were all frequent components of Queen Brunhilde's calculated tactics. Brunhilde holed up in her Parisian palace as her enemies closed in, suddenly every bit as vulnerable as Fredegunde had been mere days before. Looking down from her tower once again as a much larger force galloped through the city gates, Brunhilde was surely alarmed, but she was staunch in her belief that she still had enough tricks up her silken sleeves to impact the future of Francia. Little did she know that her subsequent moves would further cement one of the greatest royal rivalries of all time. I'm Dana Schwartz and this is Noble Blood. It's tricky to pinpoint the precise birth of Queen Brunhilde's and Queen Fredegund's rivalry. Part of their immense animosity was personally fostered and part was inherited. So it's helpful to first understand in broad terms, the geopolitical landscape in the lead up to their unprecedented ascensions. The old King of the Franks, Chlothar I, ruled an empire that encompassed present day France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, parts of Germany and a good portion of Switzerland. When he died in 561, his four sons divided those lands into four kingdoms. After one brother died, that left three, three to share custody of Paris, while each also ruled their respective realms. Siegbert ruled Austria, Chilperic ruled Neustria, and Guntram ruled Burgundy. What a fair and harmonious decision, right? Naturally, this setup ushered in an era of extremely violent unrest due to the king's competitiveness, but arguably even more so because of their marital choices. It's important to note that unlike queens of various other empires, queens of the Merovingian dynasty were not crowned on their own. Their power almost entirely depended on marriage. Brunhild was a well educated daughter of a Visigoth king, and according to many contemporary descriptions of her at the time, she was quite beautiful and charming. The news that her father had strategically betrothed her to King Siegbert would have been daunting. It meant traveling over a thousand miles with a massive dowry from Spain to the foreign land of Austrasia, all at the age of around 18 but despite being far from fluent in the native language and customs, Brynhild received quite the welcome there in the spring of 567, especially because she came with a prestigious pedigree. This put her in stark contrast to the numerous women of lower socioeconomic status with whom Siegbert's brothers had had various trysts and eyebrow raising relationships. This wedding was extremely lavish and Brunhilde was reportedly embraced by the Austrasian court and public. Fredegunde, on the other hand, had a highly contrasting trajectory. She came to Chilperic's palace in Neutria as an enslaved girl. She was likely captured as a young child, but little is known about her origin, particularly since she seemingly wanted to keep her humble root hidden as she began to climb the ranks of power. The more favorable accounts of Fredegunde describe her at the time as a savvy young strawberry blonde girl of pleasing generosity. She initially became a favorite mistress of the king, but becoming a queen would be a tall order. Fredegunde purportedly first had to convince Chilpric to divorce his first wife and send her to a convent. Then Fredegunde had to deal with Chilperic getting married again. Not wanting to be upstaged by his brother Siegbert and his big name, big title bride, Chilprick married Brunhild's sister in another exceedingly opulent wedding in 568. Two brothers marrying two sisters to some of the citizens and nobles of Austrasia and Neustria, the notion of such closely knit royal families likely seemed like it would bring increased peace and prosperity. As legend has it, Fredegunde had other ideas. She continued her close relationship with Chilbrick, striving to finally sit on a throne herself. After Chilbric's second wife grew unhappy about his ongoing affair, he supposedly had her strangled in her bed. Many claimed that Fredegund had put him up to it, although again, this could have been gossip and slanderous rumor. Whatever the case, Chilprick's first two wives were out of the picture. Apparently, he didn't even bother to appear upset about it, as evidenced by the conspicuous absence of a duly sincere acknowledgment of the loss, let alone any sort of basic investigation into Brunhilde's sister's death. Only three days later, he married Fredegunde. The celebration was far more rushed, as would be expected given the lack of planning time and gigantic dead elephant in the room. Nevertheless, this meant that two incredibly formidable women, Fredegunde and Brunhilde were sisters in law as well as respective queens of Neustria and Austrasia. And although one had allegedly had a hand in killing the other's sisters, in the grand scheme of things their rivalry was only just beginning. Brunhilde was reportedly devastated by her sister's death. She had no other siblings and only months before she had learned about her father's passing while grieving her family's plight in her distant foreign palace. It's easy to imagine Brunhilde also fearing a similar fate for herself. Frankish laws and customs were such that there seemed to be little hope of holding her ex brother in law or Fredegunde specifically accountable for their murder. For all Brunhilde knew, one day she too could be killed in her bed and no one from Austrasia or back home would be willing or able to pursue significant retribution. But giving up was not in Brunhilde's nature. She knew that even if her husband Siegbert was sympathetic to her sadness and outrage, and according to some accounts he was, he could not take decisive action without the support of a sizable portion of his court. Brunhilde was also painfully aware that for all those ambitious self interested nobles, the idea of avenging a short lived foreign queen of a neighboring kingdom was simply not sufficient motivation. In steadily making alliances and learning the desires of various factions. However, Brunhilde discovered a broadly enticing carrot that she could dangle at the end of her justice seeking stick. Traditionally, Frankish brides at that time were given a mourning gift after consummating their marriage. To win the hand of such a high profile bride as Brunhilde, Siegbert had promised her an extravagant villa to secure a marriage with Brunhilde's sister. Chilpric had upped the ante and offered her essentially the southern third of his lands. Here Brunhilde saw a legal opportunity. Technically valuable holdings in Francia were supposed to pass to the deceased's family. And since her sister had no children and Brunhilde herself had just given birth to a succession securing son, Brunhilde could make a pretty solid case that those gifted lands should pass to her. Many Austrasian nobles loved the prospect of increasing their kingdom's boundaries and overall wealth. And after a fair amount of official wrangling, Siegbert used that claim as grounds to invade. The larger Austrasian army soon overwhelmed their opposition and surged towards towards the Neustrian capital of Sasson. This forced Fredegund and her husband to flee, bringing as much of their treasury with them as they could mobilize. With victory imminent, Brunhilde and Siegbert moved to Paris, their prospective new capital for their soon to be larger country. Meanwhile, Fredegunde hid in a bunker about 40 miles away. Defeat seemed inevitable as the Austrasian forces approached. She was probably still bleeding from what had been a traumatic birth of her second son, and her husband was off preparing for the likely end of his kingdom and his life. But just like Brunhild, Fredegunde was not one to simply surrender. As a last gasp plan, she summoned two enslaved boys whose loyalty she trusted, possibly having first connected with them while serving the royal family herself. She then gave them a nearly impossible suicide kill King Siegbert. According to a detailed account of the time, Fredegunde knew there was no way to confront Siegbert outright, considering he was surrounded by thousands of soldiers, had numerous formidable guards, and was even an experienced fighter himself. The only real chance her young agents had was to exploit Siegbert's seeming hubris by launching a sneak attack while he was celebrating his military victories. Infiltrating these celebrations was actually not overly difficult. According to some sources, the Austrasian invasion was so fast and and convincing that many Neustrians were practically tripping over themselves to switch to their aggressor's side. The two boys were apparently able to pose as two such defectors. The trickiest part then, was striking the final blow. Fredegunde counted on the fact that most Frankish men carried utility knives known as scrams knives, axes. The blades were so omnipresent that her chosen assassins would be able to openly carry them. Even if they were able to reach the king, though they might only be able to get one or two jabs in. So those had to count. This is where Fredegoon's grim innovation shows, because she supposedly gave them an added secret fast acting poison. By that time, poison made from herbs or berries had been used in countless murders, but it typically had to be directly ingested. Fredegunde was clever enough to know that, similar to many paranoid Roman emperors, Siegbert was presumably careful to avoid such devious methods, and likely even employed official tasters to check his food and drink. What she needed was a poison that could kill upon direct contact with a wound. The only two such substances known to have existed during this Frankish era were snake venom and wolfsbane. Both required careful preparation and their potency rapidly decreased when exposed to the air, meaning that in order to be effective, they had to be applied to a knife. A relatively short time before use if the tales are to be believed. Fredegund was knowledgeable enough in medicine, or per some claims in witchcraft and the dark arts to make or procure one of the two deadly toxins. She then gave it to the boys in a small vial and directed them to a place apply it to their knives only once they were within close enough range of Siegbert. Against all odds, Fred Goon's loyal assassins followed her orders. They stalked their target and they stabbed him with their poisoned daggers. The two boys were immediately caught and killed by guards. But soon the king was also dead. Fredegoons diabolical plan had tilted the entire fate of Francia. As soon as the news of Siegbert's death reached Brunhilde in Paris, she would have known that she and her children were in grave danger. She had a few options though. Given the Franks line of succession and generally minimal respect for widowed queens, it would be foolhardy to try to claim the Austrasian throne out outright. Her five year old son was the official heir, which normally would ensure her position to a degree, except they were isolated fairly far from home soil. Brunhilde could attempt to flee with her son and two daughters, but traveling as a family for several days through what could become increasingly hostile territory would leave them extremely open to attack. Brunhilde's court was also rapidly shrinking as most of her nobles and guards began escaping or defecting. If she were closer to her royal treasury, she would have been able to bribe many of them to stay, since Merovingian queens may have lacked power in other areas, but were often able to exercise control over their realm's tangible riches. Alas, handing out IOUs to flighty aristocrats and nervous soldiers was not going to fly during such a chaotic span. However, Brunhild was savvy enough to have brought along her own stash of gold. It was not a large enough fortune to pay a whole army and would probably be stolen if transported. So rather than futilely trying to retain all of her allies, Brunhilde set her sights on her key enemies. Between her personal wealth and remaining reputation, she figured she might have just enough leverage to draw Fredegunde and Chilprick's full attention. She was essentially opting for a last ditch move utilized by many a brave matriarch within the animal world. Stay and distract her attackers for long enough that her children might reach safety. Brunhilde's gambit paid off to an extent. She ensured that her son and daughters were safely Snuck away by those few individuals still loyal to her. Then she waited several days for the Neustrian army to reach her. This gave Brunhilde's son enough time to make it back to Metz, the Austrasian capital, where he was crowned king at the tender age of five. Her daughters briefly made it back over the border too, but they were eventually captured by Neustrian scouts and would later be leveraged by Chilbric as hostages. As Ferbrunhild, she had to anxiously anticipate her enemy's arrival. Defenseless yet defiant, who would find her? Her impulsive brother in law? More agents of her vindictive sister in law? And what would they want to do with her? Ultimately, it was Chilprick, who purportedly found Brunhilde waiting in her chambers. He could not have been thrilled that she had managed to sneak her children away, but seizing her hoarded treasure likely perked up his spirits somewhat. And rather than immediately sentencing her to death, likely thanks at least in part to Brunhilde's careful persuasion, he ordered that Brunhilde live out the rest of her days in a convent. To many, this must have seemed like a natural and all too common end to a promising young queen's rule. But as history would soon show, neither convent nor conventional wisdom could permanently snuff out a royal rivalry as incandescent as Brunhild and Fredegonde's. It's difficult to definitively say whether Fredegund and Brunhilde ever met face to face in the direct aftermath of Siegbert's death. But there is a reasonable argument to be made that Fredegunde knew meaningfully impacted her husband's pivotal decision to force her opposite number to become a nun. Even in a time when female agency was drastically limited, it's hard to think of many more effective cards to play in a power struggle than if it weren't for me, you'd be dead. Factoring in that, Fredegoon's poison tipped plan had also helped her and her husband upgrade from cowering in a bunker to to once again luxuriating in palaces. Her new clout as queen was off the charts. On top of that, Fredegund had already had a demonstrable degree of influence over her husband's actions prior to rejuvenating their country's war efforts. So it was said that he became exceedingly deferential to her afterward, particularly when it came to handing out punishments. On a personal level, it's possible that Fredegunde could have empathized with Brunhilde's plight as a desperate mother of young children. But given the cruel nature with which Fredegunde judged many other victims, though, the idea of executing Brunhilde was presumably even more tempting because of that. However, by that point, Fredegunde would have been well aware of other pressing economic factors. And in potentially hashing those out with her husband, they ostensibly reached the conclusion that Brunhilde was simply worthmore alive. After all, the war had taken its toll on Fredegunde and her husband's personal wealth, as well as their country's treasury, which, again, per precedent, was often overseen by the queen. Brynhilde, on the other hand, had coughed up a small fortune when captured, and it was possible that the Neustrian rulers saw her as a cash cow whom they could somehow extort for more riches. Perhaps even more importantly, Fredegund would have known that despite their latest upswing, her side was still in a delicate position in the larger war. They didn't have the resources or manpower to to launch a full scale counter invasion of Austrasia, and also had other foes to consider. Brunhild had worked to form ties with the ambitious Byzantine court, and the Visigoths might soon pose a threat as well. The Neustrian monarchs had gotten off easy after the strangling of Brunhild's sister, partially because her Visigothic family had been struggling to sort out their own succession crisis after Brunhilde's father's death. But the Spanish realm seemed to be gradually solidifying. So if Fredegunde and Chilprick killed their last remaining princess, that might have meant eventually fighting on multiple fronts. The discovery that Brunhilde had already managed to sneak her son off to Austrasia would have only increased the queen's value as an insurance play and make killing her even more risky. Fredegund, being both a mother and a budding military strategist, by this point, could have easily envisioned how effective it would be to tell a resentful little king. Tread lightly if you ever want to see your mother again. So, all in all, Brunhilde's nunnery banishment was logical enough, and there was plenty of precedent for dispatching widowed and or deposed queens in that way. That said, in handing out such a relatively common sentence, Fredegunde and Chilperic should probably have been more careful when specifically choosing and monitoring Brunhilde's new holy home. Brunhilde was sent to a small convent in ruins, Rouen, a Neustrian stronghold. Where life was by all accounts strict none recruits had to live by a harsh code, and they were almost entirely shut off from the outside world. But it was actually the world inside this particular convent that would be critically useful for the socially skilled Brunhild, because, according to some sources, one of the other top inmates there was none other than Chilbrick's first wife. And in her, Brunhild found a similarly infuriated ally. Nun life could not nullify these cloistered women's ambitions. If anything, it amplified them. Sure, Brunhilde and her new guide were basically captives in this this austere house of God. Yes, their odds of mounting a successful revenge mission against Fredgund must have seemed low. But ask any betting enthusiast, when does a single queen ever beat a pair? That's the first part of the unparalleled story of Brunhilde and Fredegoon's rivalry. 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