CHANGING BOUNDARIES, SHIFTING POWER

These maps show the Frankish empire at key points in the sixth century. In 561, the empire was divided among four brothers, including Charibert, who died in 567. By 568, the year Brunhild and Fredegund became sisters-in-law, the three surviving brothers had split Charibert’s lands among themselves. In 596, after all the brothers were dead, Brunhild was governing the majority of the lands, while Fredegund had control of Paris, along with a small area in what is now northwestern France.