Chlothar II

Son of Chilperic I and Fredegund, Chlothar became king of Neustria in 584 as an infant, his mother ruling as regent in tense alliance with his uncle Guntram of Burgundy until the latter's death in 592. Fredegund died in 597; Chlothar took power over the smallest slice of Francia, rich but hemmed in. He carried forward his mother's feud with Queen Brunhilda, finally defeating her forces in 613 and ordering her execution by dismemberment - a killing that let him unite all Francia under one crown. His long reign saw royal authority steadily drain to the nobility and the church; the Edict of Paris in 614 touched on appointments and administration, and in 617 he made the mayor of the Palace a lifetime post, a pivot toward that office becoming the true seat of power. By 623 he had ceded Austrasia to his son Dagobert I. Unusually monogamous by Merovingian standards and less murderous than most of his line, he died in 629 after forty-five years as king.