The marriage of Childeric II and Bilichild in the context of the Grimoald coup

Abstract

The marriage of the Neustrian prince Childeric II to his Austrasian first cousin Bilichild, consummated in 662, is the only known union between blood-related members of the Merovingian ruling houses. It is not, however, as unique in its contravention of custom and canon law as it may first appear, but is merely one of several instances in which a Merovingian ruler made use of controversial marital politics in order to respond to sudden shifts in the power currents of the Frankish regna. Given that Childeric and Bilichild’s common ancestry lends an extra dimension to a comparison with earlier incestuous marriages within the Merovingian family, it seems likely that their union was conceived in response to a hitherto unprecedented challenge to Merovingian authority. Rooted in the unusual circumstances of the late 650s, it may therefore have been directly connected with the Merovingian need to re-establish control over Austrasia in the wake of the so-called Grimoald coup.