Childebert II

Childebert II (570-596) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia, the eastern Frankish realm, who came to the throne as a child of five after the assassination of his father Sigebert I, ruling for years under the powerful regency of his mother, Queen Brunhild. In 587 he concluded the Treaty of Andelot with his uncle Guntram of Burgundy, who adopted him as heir, and on Guntram's death in 592 Childebert united Austrasia and Burgundy under his rule. He figures in the Epistulae Austrasicae, the diplomatic letter collection of the Austrasian court, including correspondence with the Eastern Roman emperor Maurice concerning a Frankish campaign against the Lombards in Italy. He died in 596 (probably poisoned), leaving his realm divided between his young sons Theudebert II and Theuderic II.