  childebert i (c. 496 &ndash; 13 december 558) was a frankish king of the merovingian dynasty, as third of the four sons of clovis i who shared the kingdom of the franks upon their father's death in 511. he was one of the sons of saint clotilda, born at reims. he reigned as king of paris from 511 to 558 and orlÃ©ans from 524 to 558. in the partition of the realm, he received as his share the town of paris, the country to the north as far as the river somme, to the west as far as the english channel, and the armorican peninsula (modern brittany). his brothers ruled in different lands: theuderic i in metz, chlodomer in orlÃ©ans, and clothar i in soissons.  in 523, childebert participated with his brothers in a war against godomar of burgundy. chlodomer died in the battle of vÃ©zeronce (524). thereafter, concerned that the three sons of chlodomer would inherit the kingdom of orlÃ©ans, clothar conspired with childebert to oust them. they sent a representative to their mother clotilde, who as the queen mother had authority as the head of the family line. the representative presented a pair of scissors and a sword, offering her the choice to shear the three young boys, thereby depriving them of the long hair considered a symbol of royal power, or to have them killed. she famously replied, "it is better for me to see them dead rather than shorn, if they are not raised to the kingship".grÃ©goire de tours, histoire, livre iii, 18. after the murder of chlodomer's two elder childrenâthe third, clodoald, escaping to a monastic lifeâchildebert annexed the cities of chartres and orlÃ©ans. he took part in later various expeditions against the kingdom of burgundy. he besieged autun in 532 and, in 534, having conquered the kingdom along with his brother clothar and theuderic's son theudebert i, received as his share of the spoils of that kingdom the towns of mÃ¢con, geneva, and lyons. when witiges, the king of the ostrogoths, ceded provence to the franks in 535, the possession of arles and marseilles was guaranteed to childebert by his brothers. the annexation of that province was completed, with clotaire's help, in the winter of 536&ndash;537. in 531, he received pleas from his sister chrotilda, wife of king amalaric of the visigoths. the arian king of
496_births 558_deaths 6th-century_French_people 6th-century_monarchs_in_Europe Burials_at_the_Basilica_of_St_Denis Frankish_kings Kings_of_Burgundy Merovingian_dynasty