Liuvigild begins his sole reign of the…

Justin's forces had invaded Persia in the late summer of 572.

The Persians, however, have not only repulsed the Romans but themselves invaded Roman territory, capturing a number of important cities, including …

...Daraa, which falls in November 573.

…for another generation, the eastern Roman emperor will retain a base in southeastern Spain, which retains its old Roman name of Hispania Baetica.

The great majority of the Romanized population, from top to bottom, are staunch Roman Catholics; only the Visigothic nobles and the king are Arians.

There is much less Visigothic persecution of Catholics than legend and hagiography have painted: the dangers of Catholic Christianity are political.

The Catholic hierarchy are in collusion with the representatives of the Roman emperor, who has maintained a considerable territory in the far south of Spain ever since his predecessor had been invited to the peninsula by the former Visigothic king several decades before.

In the north, Liuvigild struggles to maintain his possessions on the far side of the Pyrenees, where his Merovingian cousins and in-laws cast envious eyes on them and have already demonstrated with the murder of Liuvigild's niece Galswintha that they will stop at nothing.

Although he is constantly at war with the imperial presence in southern Hispania, Liuvigild accepts the administration of the Roman Empire, adopts its pomp and ceremony, and imitates its coinage.

He makes important improvements in Visigothic laws.

Liuvigild further reinforces possibilities of a peaceful future succession, a perennial Visigothic issue, by associating his two sons, Hermenegild and Reccared, with himself in the kingly office and placing certain regions under their regencies.

Hermenegild, the elder, is married to a Frankish princess Inguthis (Ingund), daughter of King Sigebert I, the Austrasian king at Metz.

The Frankish Civil War: Sigebert I Defeats Chilperic I (573 CE)

Following Sigebert I’s seizure of Galswintha’s marriage settlement in 568 CE, Chilperic I attempts to reclaim the lost territories, sparking a full-scale war between Austrasia and Neustria.

The conflict, fueled by dynastic rivalry, territorial ambition, and personal vengeance, escalates into a brutal struggle for dominance, with Sigebert emerging victorious in 573 CE.

1. Chilperic’s Attempt to Reclaim Galswintha’s Lands

• After losing Bordeaux, Limoges, Quercy, Béarn, and Bigorre, Chilperic refuses to accept defeat.
• Determined to restore his kingdom’s strength, he launches a counteroffensive against Sigebert.
• This marks the beginning of one of the longest and bloodiest feuds in Merovingian history, exacerbated by the personal enmity between Brunhild and Fredegund.

2. Sigebert’s Victories and the Conquest of Neustria (573 CE)

• Sigebert decisively defeats Chilperic in battle and captures most of Neustria, reducing Chilperic’s power dramatically.
• He seizes control of Poitiers and Touraine, further expanding Austrasian influence into western Gaul.
• Chilperic, unable to resist Sigebert’s military superiority, is forced to flee and take refuge in Tournai, effectively losing his kingdom.

3. The Impending Triumph of Sigebert

• With Chilperic in hiding and on the verge of total defeat, Sigebert prepares to secure final control over Neustria.
• His supporters proclaim him king of all the Franks, signaling an imminent reunification of the kingdom under Austrasian rule.
• However, this victory will be short-lived, as Chilperic’s wife and chief political strategist, Fredegund, soon orchestrates a deadly counterstroke.

4. Consequences and the Road to Assassination

• Sigebert’s apparent victory over Chilperic marks the height of his power, but his growing dominance poses a direct threat to Fredegund’s ambitions.
• In 575 CE, at the moment of his greatest triumph, Sigebert is assassinated by agents of Fredegund, shifting the balance of power back in Chilperic’s favor.
• This assassination prolongs the civil war, deepening the deadly rivalry between Brunhild and Fredegund, which will shape Frankish politics for decades.

Conclusion: The Turning Point of the Merovingian Civil Wars

Sigebert’s victory in 573 CE nearly eliminates Chilperic, bringing Neustria under Austrasian control. However, his assassination in 575 reverses his gains, ensuring that the war between Austrasia and Neustria continues for generations. The personal feud between their queens, Brunhild and Fredegund, intensifies, defining one of the most infamous blood feuds in medieval history.

The Battle of Arfderydd (also know as Arderydd) is fought in 573 according to the Annales Cambriae.

The opposing armies are variously given in a number of Old Welsh sources, perhaps suggesting a number of allied armies were involved.

The main adversaries appear to have been Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio and either the princely brothers, Peredur and Gwrgi, or King Riderch Hael of Strathclyde.

Gwenddoleu is defeated, and his forces slaughtered.

His bard, Lailoken, said to be named also Myrddin Wyllt, goes mad and runs into the forest.

He is probably the original of the Arthurian character, Merlin, though this historical figure has no connection to King Arthur. (In a late fifteenth century manuscript, a story called 'Lailoken and Kentigern' places the battle on the plain between Liddel and Carwannok. This is believed to be at Arthuret, near Longtown, in Cumberland, now Cumbria).

Welsh tradition regards Riderch, or Rhydderch, as one of the northern British kings who fought against the early Anglo-Saxon realm of Bernicia.

The succession of al-Mundhir IV ibn al-Mundhir following the death of his brother Qabus in 573 was unpopular with the inhabitants of the capital, al-Hirah, because of his violent nature and his paganism.

A Persian governor, Suhrab, had been appointed and has ruled Hirah for a year, until Zayd ibn Hammad persuades the people to accept Mundhir as their king.

The Lombards have made several raids against the Franks in Gaul in 569, 571, and 574.

Cantabria had regained its independence from the rule of the Visigoths following the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Liuvigild invades Cantabria in 574, destroying its two principal towns: the City of Cantabria, believed to have been near modern Logroño, and …

Liuvigild makes his elder son, Hermenegild, duke of Narbonne and Recared, his younger son, duke of Toledo, as he tries to consolidate his power; but rebellious nobles cause him to quell insurgencies in Toledo and …