Siegbert III King of Austrasia ¹

  General Notes:

One of the first so-called rois fainéants (“sluggard kings”) of the Merovingian dynasty, who held no real power of his own but was ruled by whoever was his mayor of the palace.

Made king of Austrasia by his father, Dagobert I, in 634, Sigebert was governed first by Bishop Chunibert of Cologne and Duke Adalgisile.

On the death of Dagobert, Sigebert ruled Austrasia independently, and free from any subjection to Neustria.

He tried in vain to add Thuringia to his kingdom, but was defeated by Duke Radulph in 640. It was under his reign that the mayor of the palace began to play the most important role in the political life of Austrasia.

Grimaud, the son of Pepin I, managed to convince the king to adopt his son Childebert. When Sigebert finally had a son of his own, the future Dagobert II, the mayor of the palace felt threatened, and on the death of Sigebert he exiled the young Dagobert to Ireland. Sigebert's remains, defiled during the French Revolution, are preserved in the cathedral at Nancy.

Acceded: King of Austrasia, 634

[source: Ketil Ken Nygaard's Genealogy, http://nygaard.howards.net]
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In 632, Dagobert I of the Franks, losing Austrasia to his nobles, put his three year old son Sigebert III on the throne, without the infamous Pepin I as his Mayor of Palace, however he was re-instated to the position some years later. In 639, Dagobert died, and the next year Pepin died. His son Grimoald succeeded as Mayor of the Palace, and allowed Sigebert, now 11, to rule independent of the nobles. Grimoald allowed him to lead the Frankish armies against the revolting Thuringian Franks, and he lost. Many years later, in 656, Sigebert died at the age of 27, and his son Dagobert II, three years old, became King of Austrasia.

[source: Ketil Ken Nygaard's Genealogy, http://nygaard.howards.net]

Siegbert married Hymnegilde on an unknown date.