Wisigard

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Wisigard (ca. 510 - ca. 540) or Wisigardis was a Frankish Queen in the 6th century.

Franks people

The Franks were a collection of Germanic peoples, whose name was first mentioned in 3rd century Roman sources, associated with tribes on the Lower and Middle Rhine, on the edge of the Roman Empire. Later the term was associated with later Romanized Germanic dynasties within the collapsing Roman Empire, who eventually commanded the whole region between the rivers Loire and Rhine. They then imposed power over many other post-Roman kingdoms and Germanic peoples, and still later they were given recognition by the Catholic Church as successors to the old rulers of the Western Roman Empire.

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The life of Wisigard is slightly known by Gregory of Tours's Historia Francorum. [1] She was daughter of Wacho, king of the Lombards and grew up in the middle Danube region. After an abnormally long term of engagement of seven years, Wisigard married Theudebert I, Merovingian king of Austrasia. Around 531 Theuderich I, father of Theudebert I, had arranged the engagement for political reasons. But because of a liaison Theudebert had with a Roman woman named Deuteria, the union with Wisigard fell through. Anew for political reasons Theudebert abandoned Deoteria and finally married Wisigard in 537 or 538. Shortly after their wedding, she died.

Gregory of Tours Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours

Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florentius and later added the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather. He is the primary contemporary source for Merovingian history. His most notable work was his Decem Libri Historiarum, better known as the Historia Francorum, a title that later chroniclers gave to it, but he is also known for his accounts of the miracles of saints, especially four books of the miracles of Martin of Tours. St. Martin's tomb was a major pilgrimage destination in the 6th century, and St. Gregory's writings had the practical effect of promoting this highly organized devotion.

Wacho was king of the Lombards before they entered Italy from an unknown date until his death in 539. His father was Unichis. Wacho usurped the throne by assassinating his uncle, King Tato. Tato's son Ildchis fought with him and fled to the Gepids where he died. Wacho had good relations with the Franks.

Lombards Historical ethnical group

The Lombards or Longobards were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.

Posited burial site in Cologne Cathedral

In 1959 a very rich decorated grave of a Frankish woman was found by Otto Doppelfeld in the Cologne Cathedral. The woman had been buried with her precious jewelry and in a traditional costume that indicated her as a Lombardish princess. Based on the dating and the grave furniture, Doppelfeld, at that time director of the Romano-Germanic Museum, interpreted the dead woman as Wisigard. However, this interpretation is not proved by an inscription or other sources.

Cologne Cathedral Church in Cologne, Germany

Cologne Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day, and currently the tallest twin-spired church at 157 m (515 ft) tall.

Romano-Germanic Museum archaeological museum of ancient roman and germanic cultures in Colone, Germany

The Roman-Germanic Museum is an archaeological museum in Cologne, Germany. It has a large collection of Roman artifacts from the Roman settlement of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, on which modern Cologne is built. The museum protects the original site of a Roman town villa, from which a large Dionysus mosaic remains in its original place in the basement, and the related Roman Road just outside. In this respect the museum is an archaeological site.

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The Cross of Otto and Mathilde, Otto-Mathilda Cross, or First Cross of Mathilde is a medieval crux gemmata processional cross in the Essen Cathedral Treasury. It was created in the late tenth century and was used on high holidays until recently. It is named after the two persons who appear on the enamel plaque below Christ: Otto I, Duke of Swabia and Bavaria and his sister, Mathilde, the abbess of the Essen Abbey. They were grandchildren of the emperor Otto I and favourites of their uncle, Otto II. The cross is one of the items which demonstrate the very close relationship between the Liudolfing royal house and Essen Abbey. Mathilde became Abbess of Essen in 973 and her brother died in 982, so the cross is assumed to have been made between those dates, or a year or two later if it had a memorial function for Otto. Like other objects in Essen made under the patronage of Mathilde, the location of the goldsmith's workshop is uncertain, but as well as Essen itself, Cologne has often been suggested, and the enamel plaque may have been made separately in Trier.

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References

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Notes

  1. Gregor of Tours, Historiae III,20, III,27.