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Brunhild

Character

c. 545-613 AD

Queen of Austrasia · Visigothic Princess

Birth: - c. 543/550 AD, Toledo, Visigothic Spain. Death: - 613 AD, near Renève — executed on orders of her great-nephew Chlothar II. Parents: - Father: Athanagild, King of the Visigoths. Mother: Goiswintha. Children: - Childebert II — succeeds Sigebert I at age five, with Brunhild as regent.

Historical Appearance Notes: - No contemporary portrait survives. As a Visigothic princess by birth, her material/dress background differs from the Frankish court she married into.

Notes: - Her story runs from Book IV directly into Book V's opening year (613, her real execution) — a rare figure whose historical arc spans two books.

Novel Relevance: - One of the two central antagonistic-yet-sympathetic poles of Book IV's civil war, alongside Fredegund; high-polish priority ahead of Book IV's release. Timeline: - 566/567 marries Sigebert I; 568 sister Galswintha murdered; 575 Sigebert assassinated, briefly imprisoned; 575-592 regent for Childebert II; 587 Treaty of Andelot; 613 handed to Chlothar II, executed. Witch's Rebirth Canon: - Her downfall (613) aligns exactly with the series' established Book V opening date; the Canon Timeline places Bishop Arnulf and Pepin of Landen at Metz in spring 613 — the same two historical figures who orchestrated her real fall that year.

Sources: - Gregory of Tours (through 591); Chronicle of Fredegar and Liber Historiae Francorum for her later life; Letters of Pope Gregory the Great. Modern: Janet Nelson, Ian Wood, Bonnie Effros.

Book IV, Book V

brunhild