Editing Chlothar III

{{Infobox royalty
| name            =Chlothar III
| title           =King of the Franks
| image           =File:Tiers_de_sou_de_Clotaire_III_frapp%C3%A9_%C3%A0_Paris.jpeg
| caption         =A [[tremissis]] of Chlothar III minted at Paris

|succession1= [[List of Frankish kings#Kings in Neustria and Burgundy (613–679)|King of the Franks in Neustria and Burgundy]]
|reign1=657–673
|predecessor1=[[Clovis II]]
|successor1=[[Theuderic III]]

|succession2= [[List_of_Frankish_kings#Kings_in_Austrasia_(623–679)|King of the Franks in Austrasia]]
|reign2=661–662
|predecessor2=[[Childebert the Adopted]]
|successor2=[[Childeric II]]

|spouse=
|issue=[[Clovis III]]?
|house=[[Merovingian]]
|house-type=Dynasty
| father       =[[Clovis II]]
| mother       =[[Balthild]]
| birth_date   =652
| birth_place  =
| death_date   ={{death year and age|673|652}}
| death_place  =
| burial_date  =
| burial_place =[[Saint Denis Basilica]], [[Paris]]
| signature = 
}}
'''Chlothar III''' (also spelled ''Chlotar'', ''Clothar'', ''Clotaire'', ''Chlotochar'', or ''Hlothar''; 652{{sfn|Bachrach|Bachrach|Leese|2018}}–673) was [[List of Frankish kings|King of the Franks]], ruling in
[[List of Frankish kings#Kings in Neustria and Burgundy (613–679)|Neustria and Burgundy]] from 657 to his death. He also briefly ruled [[List_of_Frankish_kings#Kings_in_Austrasia_(623–679)|Austrasia]].

He was the eldest son of King [[Clovis II]], and his queen [[Balthild]] and succeeded his father under the regency of his mother.<ref>Liber historiae Francorum, c. 44, in Fouracre & Gerberding.</ref> Only a month beforehand, according to the near-contemporary ''Life of Eligius'' by the courtier [[Audoin (bishop)]] of Rouen, [[Saint Eligius]] had prophesied the death of Clovis, Balthild's downfall, and Chlothar's short reign.<ref>Audoin, Life of Eligius, c. 32: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/eligius.asp</ref>

Few things are known about the time of Chlothar's reign. The ''[[Historia Langobardorum]]'' reports that in the early 660s a Frankish army invaded Provence and then Italy.<ref>Paul the Deacon, History of the Lombards, V. 5.</ref> This force came upon the camp of the [[Lombards|Lombard]] king [[Grimoald I of Benevento]], at Rivoli near Asta. Grimuald pretended to flee. The Franks looted the camp and celebrated. Then, after midnight, Grimuald attacked and drove them back to Neustria.

After the death of [[Saint Eligius]] in 661, the ''Life of Eligius'' records that a plague reduced the population of France's cities.<ref>Audoin, Life of Eligius, c. 43: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/eligius.asp</ref>  A plague in the British Isles, according to [[Bede]], did the same there in 664.<ref>Bede, Ecclesiastical History, III. 27.</ref>

During the regency, [[Austrasia]]ns requested a king of their own and, in 662, Chlothar's court sent another son of Clovis II, [[Childeric II]], to be king there.<ref>Life of Balthild, c. 5</ref>

Also during his reign, the [[mayor of the palace]] [[Erchinoald]] died and a council of Franks elected [[Ebroin]] to replace him. Ebroin's early administrative authority was significant: [[Bede]] tells the story of how, in 668, the newly appointed Theodore of Canterbury could only travel through the Frankish kingdoms from Rome with the mayor's permission.<ref>Bede, Ecclesiastical History, IV.1</ref> Chlothar may have been more politically active after this time, as he reached the age of majority in 669. The nearest contemporary chronicle, the [[Liber Historiae Francorum]] of 727, relates only that he ruled for four years (presumably a reference to his active years 669–673) and then died. He is confirmed as still being in the sixteenth year of his reign in a chronological note in a Victorian Easter table of 673.<ref>B. Krusch, ‘Die Einführung des griechischen Paschalritus im Abendlande’, Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichteskunde 9 (1884), 99-169 at 132.</ref> His brother [[Theuderic III]] succeeded him as king later that same year.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book  |title=[[Deeds of the Bishops of Cambrai]], Translation and Commentary |first1=Bernard S. |last1=Bachrach |first2=David S. |last2=Bachrach |first3=Michael |last3=Leese |publisher=Routledge |year=2018 |isbn=9781317036210}}

==Further reading==
* Fouracre, P., & R. Gerberding, ''Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography 640-720'' (Manchester, 1996).
* Geary, Patrick, ''Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World'' (Oxford, 1988).
* Gerberding, Richard, ''The Liber Historiae Francorum and the Rise of the Carolingians'' (Oxford, 1987).
* Wood, Ian, ''The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751'' (Harlow, 1994).

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Merovingian|Merovingian Dynasty]]||652||673}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Clovis II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Frankish kings#Kings in Neustria and Burgundy (613–679)|King of Neustria and Burgundy]]|years=657&ndash;673}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Theuderic III]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Childebert the Adopted]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List_of_Frankish_kings#Kings_in_Austrasia_(623–679)|King of the Franks in Austrasia]]|years=661&ndash;662}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Childeric II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Merovingians}}
{{Monarchs of France}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:652 births]]
[[Category:673 deaths]]
[[Category:Frankish warriors]]
[[Category:Merovingian kings]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:7th-century Frankish kings]]
[[Category:Rois fainéants]]
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis]]