Ansbert (Latin: Ansbertus) was a Frankish Austrasian noble, as well as a Gallo-Roman Senator. He is thought to be the son of Ferreolus, Senator of Narbonne and his wife, Dode. This would make him the great-grandson of Tonantius Ferreolus, Praetorian Prefect of Gaul and his wife Papianilla.
Little of his actual life is known. His wife Billihild was reputed to be a daughter of Charibert I (reigned 561–567), Merovingian King of Paris, and granddaughter of Chlothar I.
The Liber Historiae Francorum, written centuries later, states that he married Blithilde, a daughter of King Hlothar and then continues the line to the Pippinids through his son Arnoald to Arnulf of Metz, one of the progenitors of the Carolingians.[1] William of Malmesbury in his History of the Kings of England, repeats the line, without naming his source.[2] While some versions of the relationship identify this "King Hlothar" as the "father of Dagobert" and hence Clothar II,[citation needed] a 9th-century genealogy and some modern reconstructions posit that Ansbertus' wife must have been a daughter of Clothar I, making her the offspring of his brief relationship with Waldrada.[citation needed] However, Gregory of Tours, writing contemporary to the sons of Clothar I and our main source on the early Merovingians, does not ascribe to Waldrada any children by her brief extra-marital relationship with Chlothar.[3]
The following children are proposed for Ansbertus and Blithilde:
Arnoald, Bishop of Metz
Munderic, Bishop of Arisitum
Tarsicius or Tarsice.
Footnote:
1- Liber Historiæ Francorum 27, MGH SS rer Merov, Tome II, p. 285
2- "Chronicle of the Kings of England", William of Malmesbury, page 64
3- "The History of the Franks" IV.9, by Gregory of Tours
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansbert_(6th_century)
Hij is getrouwd met Blichildis van Soissons.
Zij zijn getrouwd
Kind(eren):
ANSBERT . The Chronico Marcianensi de Sancta Rictrude names “Ansberto Duci nobili in Germania” when recording his marriage[403]. A 9th century genealogy names "Ansbertus…ex genere senatorum", his brothers "Deotarium, Firminum, Gamardum, Aigulfum episcopum et Ragnifridum" and their supposed descendants, Ansbert's marriage to "filiam Hlotarii regis Francorum…Blithildem" and their children as shown below[404]. m BILICHILDIS, daughter of CLOTAIRE I [Chlothachar] King of the Franks & his third wife Ingundis [Ingonde] ([525/40]-). The Liber Historiæ Francorum records that "Chlotharius…rex" had seven children by "Ingunde", the same six as are named in Gregory of Tours with a marginal note adding "Blitchildim" as the seventh child and specifying that she married "Ansbertus nobilissimus" and by him was mother of "Arnoldum"[405]. An alternative origin for Bilichildis is provided by the Chronico Marcianensi de Sancta Rictrude which names “Dagobertum Regem et Blithildem sororem eius” as children of “Lotharius…[et] Beretrudam” (chronologically impossible if she was the grandmother of Arnoul Bishop of Metz, see below), but commenting that “others say” that Bilichildis was the daughter of “primi Lotharii avi istius”, adding that Bilichildis married “Ansberto Duci nobili in Germania”[406]. The Carmen de Exordio Gentis Francorum names "Hlotharius [rex]…filia…Blithild" and records her marriage to "Ansbertus"[407]. The recorded names of the alleged children of Bilichildis do not have a Merovingian ring about them. It is uncertain whether Bilichildis existed at all or whether she and her family were invented for the purposes of compiling a Merovingian descent for the Carolingian dynasty, an enterprise undertaken in Metz from the late 8th century onwards (see below, under her alleged grandson). Her absence from the list of the children of King Clotaire given by Gregory of Tours certainly suggests that she was a spurious later invention, although Gregory's treatment of the families of the early Merovingians was not exhaustive, as can be seen from the examples of Berthoara, daughter of King Theodebald I, and Theodechildis sister of the same king (see above), whom Gregory does not mention at all. Settipani demonstrates convincingly that there are sufficient indications in other primary sources that parts, if not all, these reconstructions may be based on historical fact[408]. The situation is further confused by the Chronico Marcianensi de Sancta Rictrude which names “Adabaldus Dux, et fratres eius Herchenaldus Major-domus Occidentalis Franciæ et Sigebertus Comes” as the sons of “Ansberto Duci nobili in Germania” and Bilichildis[409]. The Chronico omits Arnold, although the mention of Erchinoald makes it clear that this source is completely incompatible from a chronological point of view with the descent reported in the Carmen. Sifting the fact from the fiction in these two sources is inevitably speculative.
Ansbert & his wife had [five] children:
ARNOLD
FERIOLUS
MODERICUS
THARSICIA
Nn
Bronnen:
[403] Ex Chronico Marcianensi de Sancta Rictrude, RHGF III, p. 522.
[404] Genealogiæ Karolorum I, MGH SS XIII, p. 245.
[405] Liber Historiæ Francorum 27, MGH SS rer Merov, Tome II, p. 285.
[406] Ex Chronico Marcianensi de Sancta Rictrude, RHGF III, p. 522.
[407] Carmen de Exordio Gentis Francorum, MGH Poetæ Latini ævi Carolini II, pp. 142-3.
[408] Settipani, C. 'L'apport de l'onomastique dans l'étude des genealogies carolingiennes', Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. and Settipani, C. (eds.) (2000) Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident medieval (Prosopographica et Genealogica, Vol. 3), pp. 185-229.
[409] Ex Chronico Marcianensi de Sancta Rictrude, RHGF III, p. 522.
https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/FRANKSMaiordomi.htm#AnsbertMBilichildis