Childebert III

Childebert III the Just
A coin of Childebert III, now in the British Museum
King of the Franks
Reign	694–711
Predecessor	Clovis IV
Successor	Dagobert III
Mayor of the Palace	Pepin of Herstal
Born	c. 678/679[1]
Died	23 April 711 (aged 32–33)
Issue	Dagobert III Chlothar IV (?)
Dynasty	Merovingian
Father	Theuderic III
Mother	Clotilda

Childebert III (or IV), called the Just (French: le Juste) (c. 678/679 – 23 April 711), was the son of Theuderic III and Chrothildis (or Doda) and sole king of the Franks (694–711)[1]. He was seemingly but a puppet of the mayor of the palace, Pepin of Heristal, though his placita show him making judicial decisions of his own will, even against the Arnulfing clan. His nickname has no comprehensible justification except possibly as a result of these judgements, but the Liber Historiae Francorum calls him a "famous man" and "the glorious lord of good memory, Childebert, the just king."^[2]

He had a son named Dagobert, who succeeded him, as Dagobert III but his wife was not Edonne, the invention of later fantasists. It is possible, though not likely, that Chlothar IV was also his son. He spent almost his entire life in a royal villa on the Oise.

In 708, during his reign of sixteen years, the bishop of Avranches, Saint Aubert, founded the monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel supposedly at the urging of the Archangel Michael.

Upon his death on 23 April 711, southern Gaul began to grow independent: Burgundy under Bishop Savaric of Auxerre, Aquitaine under Duke Odo the Great, and Provence under Antenor. He died at St Etienne, Loire, France. He was buried in the church of St Stephen at Choisy-au-Bac, near Compiègne.

• From Merovingians to Carolingians: Dynastic Change in Frankia.
• Pfister, Christian (1911). "Childebert" . . Vol. 6 (11th ed.). p. 137.