Noble Blood - Rival Queens (Part 2)

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

The 6th-century feud between Brunhild and Fredegund would last the rest of their lives, defining their kingdoms for generations as the women went from queens to rival regents. A source that was particularly helpful in making this episode was The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry that Forged the Medieval World” by Shelley Puhak (Bloomsbury, 2022). Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon— Noble Blood merch— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, The cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeart Radio and grim and mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. With the king lying dead out in the stable yard, chaos reigned inside the villa. Nobles grabbed what valuables they could and fly. servants scrambled as rumors spread about assassins in their midst, and the queen frantically paced in an advisor's chambers, unable or unwilling to visit her husband's body. Any shock or grief that Queen Fredegund felt on that fateful September night in 584 was outweighed by her survival

instincts. Fredigand knew how swiftly the pendulum of power could swing in the warring realms of Francia, having experienced higher highs and lower lows than just about anyone. If she did not act quickly, she and her infant son, whose existence she had kept a secret, would both be at the mercy of her enemies. By that point, she had already lost four boys and could not bear to lose another. She had spent years clawing and scheming her way from slavery to the pinnacle of the Merivindian monarchy, and she wasn't about to lose at all. So Fredegund fled to a cathedral in Paris and hold up with her baby, cornered, but still calculating. Historians do not definitively know who ordered the hit on Fredegund's husband, but it's not hard to make an educated guess.

Fredegund herself would have had an instant hunch about the orchestrator because roughly a decade earlier, she herself had planned the assassination of a neighboring king who was the husband of a fierce rival. Fredegund also knew that whether or not that rival, Queen Brunhild, was responsible, Brun Hild would certainly seek to capitalize on the frenzied aftermath of the killing, because that was exactly how Fredegoon's rival operated. Sure enough, as panicky members of Fredegund's entourage fled, Brun Hild was already waiting to intercept them with her own son and their robust army. Similar to Fredegund, Brunhild had weathered grave tragedies and engineered.

stunning victories. She, too, had once even found herself vulnerably confined in Paris after suddenly becoming a widow. As Brunhild's forces closed in, she was likely unaware that Fredegund had recently given birth. She was probably hoping that this conquest would help her own teenage son consolidate power over Francia, with her expanding role as regent. The news that Fredegund had alluded capture and entrenched herself in a church would have surely been vexing to Brunhild, but probably not surprising. After all, that was how Brunhild's rival maneuvered. To some, the two queens' looming showdown might have seemed like it would finally bring an end to their epic,

war-perpetuating conflict. But for Brunhild and Fredegund, this would be yet one more blood-stained piece of their utterly unprecedented puzzle. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. Quite a lot happened in Brunhild's and Fredegund's storylines prior to where we left them at the end of part one. And in quickly recapping the highlights, eerie parallels and stark differences in their reigns, the narrative practically comes off like a sensational boxing match. In the Austra Asian corner, there was the early crowd favorite, Brune Hild, the highly touted princess-turned queen. Fighting out of Neustria, there's the underdog, Fredegund, a survivor who lifted herself all the way from forced servitude to the highest seat of power

available. The early rounds of their battle saw fierce sparring, everything from Fredegund possibly influencing her husband to murder Brunhild's sister, to Brunhild helping mastermind a clever legal claim so that her husband, King Sigbert, could invade Fredegund's country. Just when Brunhild's side seemed poised to strike a knockout blow, Fredegund came in with a stunningly sneaky jet. And engineering King Siegbert's assassination. This flipped the whole fight and left Brunhild on the ropes. Nevertheless, she opted to go down swinging, saving her children and getting herself sent off to a convent. This is where we pick back up with Brun Hild, stuck, desperately figuring out how to get herself back in the game. Fortunately for Brunhild, in that convent in Ruan, she reportedly found an ideal co-conspirator,

Adevera, the banished first wife of Chilprick, Fredigan's husband. According to some accounts, Otavara had high status among the insular world of the nuns. This won her certain privileges and a level of respect from the older brother. bishop in charge, which in turn made her a useful ally for Brunhild, especially because the two had so much in common. Both Brunhild and Adevera had been deposed by Fredegund and Chilperic, suffering losses and humiliating ostracisms in the process. On top of all the painful and personal reasons the queens may have wanted to seek revenge against the Neustrian monarchs, immense power and lucrative assets were hanging in the balance.

Brunhild's son was in a risky position as the king of Austria, since he was so young and did not have her there as a protective regent. For Odevere, her own children were supposed to inherit lands. and titles after Chilprick's death, except those agreements were put in jeopardy by all of Fredegoon's plotting and the birthing of her own heirs. So despite their limited resources

inside the nunnery, Brunhild and Adevera yearned to execute a decisive move. Odovera's connections evidently allowed them to send and receive covert messages. But the all-important question was, was, whom should they contact? Meanwhile, Fredegund was enjoying the dominance that her successful regicide had won her. Sources claimed that her husband would defer so significantly to Fredegund on court matters that he would sometimes refuse to take unilateral action without

her approval. As previously mentioned, Fredegund seemed particularly keen on using her newfound authority to dull out brutal justice. She reportedly regularly sentenced failed assassins, servants, and supposedly disloyal subjects to having their hands, noses, and ears hacked off. There are also several recorded instances of her ordering her enemies to be broken on the rack or burned alive. Fredegund also often pursued her own ends, without input from her hands. Without input from her husband by bribing many officials and planning further assassinations. She was so effective in her aims that many Franks, particularly Brunhild's supporters, increasingly labeled her an evil witch. But there appears to be little to know evidence that Fredegund even tried to refute those supernatural rumors.

Presumably, she preferred being feared. With word of Fredegoon's growing influence reaching even their convent, Brunhild and Adovera knew the clock was ticking on their comeback, so their strategic instincts hit on the fastest means of gaining power. Marriage. They hatched a mutually beneficial plan for Brunhild to contact and marry Otto Vera's oldest living son, who was, Chilprick's son and Fredegund's stepson, if you're keeping track.

Bucking Norm's Brunhild even probably proposed to him. This is not just revisionist history. A 7th century scribe stated it that way, reframing the bride as the active party. In theory, that match would greatly elevate both banished queen's positions. Otto Vera's son would become even more prominent, and they could then, claim that he was the rightful heir of Neustria, undermining Fredegund and her children. And Brunhild would be regent, as her son ruled Austrasia, and she could be a queen consort if her new husband overthrew his estranged father. She could potentially become queen of two-thirds of Francia.

Brunhild and Adevera's son wed in 576, in the same cathedral, where Brunhild's sister had married Chilprick. This wedding was much more cobbled together than Brunhild's first, and was also somewhat scandalous, since technically a groom marrying his uncle's widow was a form of incest frowned upon by the church. But their union was bolstered by several elements. First, Brunhild and her new husband were not blood relatives. Second, Audovera had previously gotten the presiding bishop to agree to be the groom's godfather, so he likely fancied himself a plum position if his godson became the new king of Neustria. And third, stirring up a bit of scandal was the whole point. Brunhild was trying to stoke a rebellion

against her ex-brother-in-law and new sister-in-law. Sorry for all the complicated inter-family dynamics here, but the headline is, this was a power move, and time to get your royal rivalry scorecards out because both queens were fully back in the ring. Unfortunately for Brunhild, her new husband's army seems to have been defeated in such a quick manner that their downfall comes across as,

as mystifyingly vague in most historical accounts. Nevertheless, what was clear was that Chilprick easily captured the newlyweds. He forced his wayward son to become a priest. Then, apparently tired of all the scandals and headaches that Brunhild was causing, the king negotiated with her to allow her to return to Austraia if she promised to completely abandon her new husband. Bruhnhild's deal-making skills were so honed by this point, though, that on top of securing her release, she also bought herself some added time to sneakily shore up her alliances before returning home.

She supposedly secretly delivered more a crude treasure to that same enterprising bishop, in case he could support her now disavowed husband in a second effort to overshund. throw his father. And on top of that, Brunhild somehow also got Chilprick to agree to return her hostaged daughters to her. So miraculously, if you're keeping track, in a matter of months, Brunhild had managed to escape her convent, return home, richer in gold and allies, and reunite her family so she could watch over them as regent of Austria. Fredegund may have gained the upper hand in the last few rounds of their fight, but this one went resoundingly to Brunhild. Over the next eight years, both Brunhild and Fredegund both proved to be productive

rulers. As regent, Brunhild became a skilled diplomat, deftly managed the squabbling nobles of her court, and heavily invested in infrastructure that included repairing old Roman roads and constructing a hospital and beautiful churches. Fredegund was noted for her popular tax reforms, as well as for sniffing out plots against her, both legitimate and perceived, and even for her military acumen. The legendary boldness and creativity that Fredegund exhibited,

especially when her forces were vastly outnumbered, won her the respect of her armies and inspired new. numerous historians, writers, and tacticians. But Fredegund also suffered many tragedies through this period. She devastatingly lost four sons in a seven-year span, mostly due to dysentery. And just after birthing a fifth son in secret, her life would once again be turned upside down. While staying at a villa outside of Paris in 584, her husband, Chilprick, returned to his stables after a hunt. His party began to disperse and allegedly, as he

dismounted himself, an assassin lunged forward and stabbed him multiple times. Whether or not Brunhild sent the assassin, momentum was massively swinging back into her favor. The king bled out on the ground, and his death caused such an instant frenzy that no one dared to the body for hours, being either afraid of associating themselves with the murder or too preoccupied with planning their next strategic moves. Fredegund fell into the latter category. While Brun Hild and her Austracian forces rapidly approached, Fredegund fled to Paris to seek sanctuary in a huge cathedral that was, by all accounts, as extravagant as most palaces. But it ascended eventually amounted to Fredegund as an ornate bunker, as she once again had to brainstorm how to avoid death or imprisonment.

Ultimately, she would choose a similar strategy as the one Brunhild had used years ago, namely using persuasive talents, as well as a large stash of treasure. Fredegund successfully drew Brunhild and her son's full attention, while also drawing the eye. of another influential figure, Guntram, King of Burgundy. We haven't brought up Guntram and his third kingdom of Francia much until this point, because, frankishly speaking, his ambitions and actions did not seem to be as consistently dramatic or earth-shaking as his brothers, let alone those of his sisters-in-law. Guntram often fell into the role of peacemaker, buffer, or, underdog supporter in the Civil War. Basically, he didn't want either neighboring kingdom to become

too powerful. Guntram also detested the idea of women ruling and thought widowed, deposed queens should stay stashed in convents. But when needed, Brunhild and Fredegund both found ways to get crafty with him. Knowing that Guntram had no surviving heirs, Brunhild had managed to make a deal with him to adopt her son as heir to Burgundy in exchange for agreeing to stop the Austrasian's war against Neustria. Once again, she was angling to ensure that her line would eventually be able to control at least two-thirds of Francia. However, Fredegund was apparently aware that Guthrum had done that, and she had also intuited that Guthrum was still resentful of Brunhild for wheeled so much power. So while stuck in her Paris cathedral with limited time and means of communication,

Fredegund thought carefully on the best tact to take with her potential lifeline. She tapped into Gutram's paternal instincts, but rather than asking him for any adoption favors, she sent him a message appealing for pity since she had a newborn. baby. According to Bishop Gregory of Tour, our most thorough source from this time, Fredegund wrote to Guthrum, quote, Let my lord come and take charge of his brother's kingdom. I have a tiny baby, whom I long to place in his arms. At the same time, I shall declare myself his humble servant. Fredegoon's cleverly timed baby surprise worked. Guntram stepped in. Guntram stepped in.

and he prevented Brunhild and her son from capturing Fredegund and her infant son. And Guntram also pushed for an end to his fellow Frankish country's civil war. For his troubles, he also likely helped himself to some of Fredegund's treasure. So major diplomacy points go to Fredegund here, although as part of the deal, she agreed to step away from royal life. But at last there was relative peace, at least until Guntram died. Soon, Brunhild and Fredegund went right back to leading their queensdoms against each other. Fredegund planned more assassinations and again grabbed her throne, serving as regent for her son. She oversaw Neustria's army and won decisive military victories, despite almost almost,

always being outnumbered. At one point after one of her generals was felled on the battlefield, Fredegund reportedly shocked the enemy by leading the Neustrand charge herself. At the same time, Brunhild shepherded her son's reign so skillfully that she was credited with impacting almost all of Austria's biggest decisions. The young king is usually portrayed as dependent and dependent. ineffectual. In 595, Brunhild's son died, leaving behind three of his own children. Surely, there were some tributes to the dead king, but the fact that so many chronicles paid so little attention to his death goes to show how unremarkable of a ruler he probably was. Likewise, Brunhild's reaction to this loss comes off as murky in some accounts. It must have been

an emotional blow, but having learned the hard way that a king's death could rip away a queen's power, Brunhild prudently secured her position as regent for two of her grandsons. They were nine and ten, and technically the new rulers of Austria and Burgundy, respectively. At that time, Fredegoon's king son was only 11, meaning Francia was entirely. in the hands of child kings. Although not really. The two queen mothers wielded all of the true power, and though both were in their ruling primes, if we were to update our royal rivalry score sheets, at this point Brunhild probably is winning for presiding over two-thirds of Francia. Still, any time Brunhild or Fredegund got the upper hand, the opposing queen would pull

off a gritty move to save herself and her lineage. Astonishingly, considering how powerful and wily they each could be, Brunhild and Fredegund were so evenly matched that, in the end, neither was able to directly defeat the other and settle the final score. In 597, Fredegund suddenly died. She was in her 50s. She didn't seem to have a specific illness, and it didn't appear to be poison. It was a surprisingly quiet end for such a fiery person, and at long last, her decades-spanning quarrel with Brunhild was over.

Mostly. Brunhild may have outlived Fredegund, but eventually Fredegoon's line would get the final say, and Brunhild's death wouldn't be anything close to quiet. Fast forward to 600. Brunhild served as regent for her great-grandson, meaning that she had been regent for three different generations, and, no surprise, she was helping him wage war against Neustria. But many of their side defected, and Fredegoon's ruling son finally captured them.

In the spirit of his mother's penchant for creative punishments, he purportedly had Brunhild quartered. That is, tied to several horses and pulled apart in a grisly public spectacle. For the first time in 52 years, Francia became united under one ruler. But Fredegund's and Brunhild's legacies and long-simmering hostilities would continue to haunt the realm for centuries. Although many subsequent monarchs and historians obscured certain facets of Brunhild's and Fredegund's lives, their reigns remain uniquely fascinating and have had meaningful impacts on art and popular culture. For example, Fredegund's military genius was on full display during the Battle of Jersey in 593.

Far outmatched by Austracian forces, she disguised her army with branches and leaves. This made it appear to an enemy century as if the forest were moving, which reportedly got this watchman derided as a drunkard. Fredegund also had her mounted troops attach bells to their horses to make opposing soldiers think they were simply grazing cattle, thus allowing her army to sneak up and steal a victory. These specific tactics became so famous that scholars claim that Shakespeare borrowed and featured them in Macbeth. Brunhild was also an inspiration for the slightly differently spelled character, Brunhild with an E at the end, the lead Valkyrie in the famous four-part cycle of musical dramas composed by Richard Wagner called The Ring Cycle.

This became such a memorable role that Brune Hild even affected how Vikings are commonly visualized today. Many historians assert that by outfitting performers in winged and horned helmets, the costume designer of the opera's cycle 1976 premiere, inextricably linked Vikings with that headgear in modern depictions, despite there being no actual evidence that Viking warriors really, wore pointy horns on their helmets. For many, the name Brunhild might even first conjure up images of Bugs Bunny evading Elmer Fudd as he sings, Kill Do Abbot, in the 1957 Looney Tunes cartoon What's Opera Doc? It's impossible to say what Brun Hild would have thought about her decades

in power being distilled into an animated opera parody starring a rabbit in drag. But on the other hand, in terms of lasting legacies, how many other six-century rulers can you say have been immortalized that way? Analyzing Fredegund and Brunhild also brings up intriguing questions about why the two are so often framed as adversaries in a heightened personal feud. On a basic level, conflict obviously sells, and the two did try to kill each other and each other's families quite a bit. It's worth asking whether Fred Agoon and Brunhild's actions, though, would be discussed or framed in these same terms if they were kings. Was it easier, particularly from many male historians' perspectives, to frame their relationship as a vindictive personal feud rather than a complicated imperial dispute?

To be sure, there was ample fuel for personal vendettas, but there were also critical, economic, factors in play. Treasuries, titles, lands, all up for grabs. Again, Brunhild and Siegbert didn't invade Neustria on the official grounds that Brunhild's sister was murdered, but technically in order to reclaim her extremely valuable land. All of that said, just as viewing Fredegund and Brunhild's relationship through too much of a personal drama-focused lens wouldn't reveal the full picture, neither is viewing their interrelated reins as solely hinging on coldly logical chest moves. In 6th century Francia, it was difficult for women to exercise various freedoms, much less rule. Yet both Brunhild and Fredegund maintained power for many years, perhaps

partly because both were able to effectively master political strategy and harness deep levels of emotional intelligence. Another possible way to look at it is that instead of a passionate feud being a narrative that was forced on the Queen's histories, it could be the other way around? Is it possible that having such a worthy adversary in some manner forced each other to, for lack of a better, phrase, up their game, which then catapulted both to new history-impacting heights. Grunhild and Fredegund are each undoubtedly worthy of extensive individual study, but nevertheless, discussing the two as a pair doesn't have to be reductive and can actually be tremendously informative and also interesting. Even today, it's pretty tricky to find examples of two

competing female rulers who simultaneously hold the amount of power that Brunhild and Fredegund did. Even with all the violence, upheaval, and lingering questions of the two queens reigns, one thing is for sure. Their epic rivalry was unrivaled. That's the second part of the fascinating story of Brunhild and Fredegund, but stick around after a brief sponsor break to learn an additional method of trying to quantify our queens's power. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Vodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell.

My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a lot. place that come look for up-and-coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot.

He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever.

I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, And dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot.

He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Attempting to keep score on a rivalry that lasted over 40 years may seem silly, but quantifying certain complicated subjects like individuals' overall statuses in life was actually common practice for a time. Frankish law dictated that every citizen was given a monetary value called a Vergeld, and if a heinous crime was committed against that person, their family could legally claim that amount as compensation. It was essentially a kind of life insurance policy. Women's Vergelds were typically higher than men's and very dependent on their ages and abilities to have children. They usually ranged from around 200 to 600 gold coins. For female rulers, the calculus was on another scale. The killing of a queen could lead to a fine as sky high as 50,000 gold coins. And while not

always the case, for some aging queens, their perceived worth did not simply depend on whether they could birth heirs, but on how much value they could provide in terms of their royal networking and ruling expertise. There don't appear to be surviving records regarding specific values assigned to Brune Hild or Fredgund, but given their accumulated experience in ruling Francia, as they each stayed in power for longer than almost every Roman emperor and king who came before them, the two Queen's exploits surely put them at the top of the all-time franking order. Noble Blood is a production of IHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston,

Hannah Zwick, Courtney Sender, Amy Height, and Julia Melani. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer, Rima Il Kali, and executive producers Aaron Manky, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Vodom. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall, and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit.

If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed human.