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Guntram


Guntram ("war raven"; c. 532 in Soissons – 28 January 592, in Chalon-sur-Saône), also called Gontram, Gontran, Gunthram, Gunthchramn or (Saint) Guntramnus, was the king of Burgundy from 561 to 592. He was a son (third eldest, second eldest surviving) of Chlothar I and Ingunda. On his father's death (561), he became king of a fourth of the kingdom of the Franks, and made his capital at Orléans.

Guntram had something of that fraternal love which his brothers lacked and the preeminent chronicler of the period, Gregory of Tours, often calls him good king Guntram, as noted here, where Gregory discusses the fate of Guntram's three marriages:

The good king Guntram first took a concubine Veneranda, a slave belonging to one of his people, by whom he had a son Gundobad. Later he married Marcatrude, daughter of Magnar, and sent his son Gundobad to Orléans. But after she had a son Marcatrude was jealous, and proceeded to bring about Gundobad's death. She sent poison, they say, and poisoned his drink. And upon his death, by God's judgment she lost the son she had and incurred the hate of the king, was dismissed by him, and died not long after. After her he took Austerchild, also named Bobilla. He had by her two sons, of whom the older was called Clothar and the younger Chlodomer.

Guntram had a period of intemperance. He was eventually overcome with remorse for the sins of his past life, and spent his remaining years repenting of them, both for himself and for his nation. In atonement, he fasted, prayed, wept, and offered himself to God. Throughout the balance of his prosperous reign he attempted to govern by Christian principles. According to Gregory, he was the protector of the oppressed, caregiver to the sick, and the tender parent to his subjects. He was open-handed with his wealth, especially in times of plague and famine. He strictly and justly enforced the law without respect to person, yet was ever ready to forgive offences against himself, including two attempted assassinations. Guntram munificently built and endowed many churches and monasteries. Gregory of Tours relates many miracles performed by the king, both before and after his death, some of which he claims to have witnessed himself.

In 567, his elder brother Charibert I died and his lands (the Kingdom of Paris) were divided between the surviving brothers: Guntram, Sigebert I, and Chilperic I. They shared his realm, agreeing at first to hold Paris in common. Charibert's widow, Theudechild, proposed a marriage with Guntram, the eldest remaining brother, though a council held at Paris as recently as 557 had outlawed such tradition as incestuous. Guntram decided to house her more safely, though unwillingly, in a nunnery at Arles.


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