Editing Dagobert I (section)

==Rule in Neustria, from Paris==
Also in 632, the nobles of Austrasia revolted under the [[mayor of the palace]], [[Pepin of Landen]]. In 634, Dagobert appeased the rebellious nobles by putting his three-year-old son, [[Sigebert III]], on the throne, thereby ceding [[Realm|royal power]] in the easternmost of his realms, just as his father had done for him eleven years earlier. In historian Ian Wood's view, Dagobert's creation of a sub-kingdom for his son Sigibert had "important long-term implications for the general structure of Merovingian Francia."{{sfn|Wood|1994|p=145}}

[[File:Dagobert.jpg|thumb|left|Detail of Dagobert's tomb, thirteenth century]]
As king, Dagobert made [[Paris]] his capital. During his reign, he built the [[Burg Meersburg|Altes Schloss]] in [[Meersburg]] (in modern [[Germany]]), which today is the oldest inhabited castle in that country. Devoutly religious, Dagobert was also responsible for the construction of the Saint Denis Basilica at the site of a [[Benedictine]] monastery in Paris. He also appointed St. Arbogast bishop of [[Strasbourg]].{{sfn|Farmer|2011|p=26}} Dagobert was beloved in many ways according to Fredegar, who wrote that "He rendered justice to rich and poor alike," adding that, "he took little sleep or food, and cared only so to act that all men should leave his presence full of joy and admiration."{{sfn|Durant|1950|p=460}} Such images do not fully convey the power and domination wielded by Frankish kings like Dagobert, who along with his father Chlothar, reigned to such a degree that historian Patrick Geary described the period of their combined rule as the "apogee of Merovingian royal power."{{sfn|Geary|2002|p=153}}

Dagobert went down in history as one of the greatest Frankish kings, in spite of his mediocre military record (cf. his defeats by the Saxons and the Wends), having held his lands against the eastern hordes and with noblemen as far away as [[Bavaria]], who sought his overlordship.{{sfn|Wallace-Hadrill|2004|p=80}}  Only thirty six when he died, Dagobert is considered the last of the great Merovingian kings by most historians, but this does not mean there was a major waning in Frankish power, especially in light of the writings of [[Paul the Deacon]] and [[John of Toledo]].{{sfn|Fouracre|2005|p=380}} J.M. Wallace-Hadrill stated that Dagobert "had the ruthless energy of a Clovis and the cunning of a [[Charlemagne]]."{{sfn|Wallace-Hadrill|2004|p=80}} Despite having more or less united the Frankish realms, he likely was not expecting unitary rule to continue given the diverging interests of the Austrasian and Neustrian Franks, atop those of the Aquitanians and Burgundians.{{sfn|Wallace-Hadrill|2004|p=80}} Upon Dagobert's death in 639, Pepin of Landen was able to recoup his position at Metz.{{sfn|Riché|1993|p=18}} Meanwhile, Dagobert was buried in the abbey of Saint Denis Basilica, [[Paris]], the first Frankish king to be buried there.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=140}} Dagobert's interment at Saint-Denis established a precedent for the burial of future French rulers there.{{sfn|Horne|2004|p=6}}