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Fredegund
(mid 500s - 597)
Assassination-obsessed Queen
(heads up: this is one of the earliest entries written for RP, and it's not up to the research standards of the rest of the site.)
Here is the most cartoonishly evil woman I have ever come across: Fredegund. This woman was a 6th-century Merovingian queen consort with a penchant for killing people. Her notable life went roughly as follows:
- She works her way into the palace of Chilperic I as a serving woman for the queen, Audovera.
- Chilperic I, although married to Audovera, takes Fredegund as a concubine.
- Fredegund convinces him to divorce Audovera and send her to a nunnery.
- Fredegund then quietly kills Audovera.
- Chilperic then marries another woman, Galswintha.
- Galswintha turns up strangled in her own bed.
- Chilperic marries Fredegund a couple days later, presumably getting the hint.
- Fredegund kills Chilperic’s brother Sigebert (the two brothers had been fighting). She also tries to kill Sigebert’s son.
- Chilperic turns up mysteriously dead.
- Immediately thereafter, Fredegund takes all his money, skips town, and starts living in Notre Dame Cathedral (sanctuary, indeed!) under the protection of Chilperic’s brother, Guntram.
- Three years later she tries to assassinate Guntram.
- Ten years later, Fredegund dies (how, I do not know).
If Fredegund had a foil, it was Galswintha’s sister (and Sigebert’s widow), Brunhild. For forty years, the two of them fought — resulting in endless warfare and, you can be sure, at least one assassination attempt. In the end, Brunhild outlived Fredegund, but even from beyond the grave, Fredegund had the last word.
Sixteen years after Fredegund’s death, with Brunhild now a sixty-something woman, Fredegund’s son killed her in as brutal a manner as I’ve ever heard. First, torture on the rack. Next, each of her extremities was tied to a different horse, and they were all set to run in different directions, tearing her apart. Lastly, they burnt her body.
But none of these are the craziest thing Fredegund ever did.
“Hey Rigunth, go pick out some jewelry from that treasure chest.”
When Rigunth poked her head in the treasure chest, Fredegund slammed it shut on her neck. Had servants not stopped her, she would have killed her own daughter.
Fredegund: cartoonishly, overwhelmingly evil.
Art Notes
- She has non-complementary colors, to emphasize how off she is (roughly the same color scheme as the Joker!).
- Her costume is as period-appropriate as I could figure. I found getting period reference for this character pretty difficult.
- I’m not happy with the disco light effect cause by light glinting off of the armor, but I maintain it could work. I just need to give it another go down the line.
- This was originally posted to the web on Mother’s Day.
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What kind of room is Fredegund supposed to be in? Though it looks like a hallway, that doesn’t explain the doors. Despite the appearance of a dais, which would make it a throne room, there wouldn’t be what looks like books in the throne room, or a treasure chest unless there’s a special occasion. It can’t be the treasury either, that would probably have smaller or no windows, and there would be more chests, also the ceiling’s to high for a treasury.
hahaha
Disco effect aside, that style of armor didn’t exist until the 14th century. Same with the swords. What they actually had at that time was pretty similar to what we normally associate with Vikings (chain coat, conical helm, round shield, etc), though there was probably still plenty old Roman gear kicking around as well.
Sorry, someone beat you to it. ;)
The way she tries to kill her daughter is a lot like the death of the boy in the fairy tale “The Juniper Tree”
Fun fact: While Fredegund might not have been a princess that Disney would’ve made a movie about, it’s thought that the popular folktale of Cinderella is based in part on the story of Fredegund and Rigunth.
O.o T-T-They made a movie???
She actually didn’t try to kill her daughter for wanting to be Queen. She tried to kill her because she was sleeping around. They couldn’t even be in the same manor together because the two were constantly getting into “fisticuffs.”
I have done much research on Fredegund, seeing as she is my ancestor, and from what I have come to understand, she is also believed to have assassinated the son of Audovera and Chilperic. His name was Clovis and he is said to have died under mysterious circumstances at the young age of 24.
She’d make a great villain :P