Galswintha

540 - 567  (27 years)

• Name	Galswintha
  	Father: Atanagildo, King of the Visigoths Mother: Gosvinta [1, 2]
  Birth	540  [2]
  Death	567  [2]
  Galswintha was likely murdered at the urging of Chilperic's former wife, Fredegund. Even though Chilperic retained Galswintha's dowry, her untimely death aroused the enmity of her sister Brunhilda against him and Fredegund; it also incurred the wrath of his brother Sigebert, bringing about 40 years of conflict between the Frankish kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria—a veritable Merovingian civil war. When Chilperic was murdered in 584, Brunhilda's anger remained unassuaged, and the conflict following Galswintha's murder continued until Fredegund's death in 597. Beyond this, the result of such antipathy was a three-generation-long feud that essentially "wrecked the Merovingian family" and contributed to the death of ten of its kings. [1, 2]
  	The strangling of Galswintha by Chilperic I
  Person ID, Branch	I22767
  Last Modified	8 May 2025

  
  

  Spouse / Partner	Chilperic I, King of the Franks,   b. Before 535   d. 27 Sep 584 - 9 Oct 584, Chelles, Île-de-France, France (Age 49 years)  Other Partners: Audovere  m. 549;   Frédégunde  m. 568
  Marriage	564  [1]
  Chilperic sought Galswintha's hand in marriage after his brother, King Sigebert, had married the noblewoman, Brunhilda (Galswintha's sister),[a] a union that violated the Merovingian tradition of seeking the hand of a lowborn woman instead. According to Gregory of Tours, Chilperic was betrothed to multiple women at the time of his marriage to Galswintha and had promised to dismiss all of them if she accepted his proposal. Chilperic honored his avowal by dispensing with his other wives when he married Galswintha. [2]
  Age at Marriage	She : ~ 24 years - He : ~ 29 years.
  Family ID	F4444	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 Aug 2021

  
  

• Pedigree

  ← Click to display 1Galswintha(540 – 567) 2 3

  
  

• Sources 🟢 Primary Evidence 🟡 Secondary Evidence 🟠 Tertiary Evidence 🔴 Unreliable Evidence

  [S1508] anonymous. Franks, Merovingian Kings , (manuscript, 2007). [S304] Wikipedia, Galswintha.