Name Merovech Merovech Children Childeric I | Parents Chlodio Died 458 AD, Hainaut, Belgium Grandparents Pharamond, Argotta | |
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Great grandchildren Chlothar I, Theuderic I, Amalasuntha, Chlodomer, Childebert I, Clotilde, Ingomer Similar People | ||
Grandchildren Clovis I, Audofleda | ||
Merovech (415-458) is the semi-legendary founder of the Merovingian dynasty of the Salian Franks (although either Childeric I, his supposed son, or Clovis I, his supposed grandson, may in fact be the founder), which later became the dominant Frankish tribe. He is said to be one of several barbarian warlords and kings that joined forces with the Roman general Aetius against the Huns under Attila on the Catalaunian fields in Gaul. The first Frankish royal dynasty called themselves Merovingians ("descendants of Meroveus") after him, although no other historical evidence exists that Merovech ever lived.
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Name
It has been suggested that Merovech refers to the Dutch river Merwede, once called Merwe or Merowe. Although this river was historically a main subsidiary of the Rhine, in modern times it is a tributary of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta, the area where, according to Roman historians, the Salian Franks once dwelled.
His name is also close to Marwig, lit. "famed fight" (compare modern Dutch mare "news, rumour"/vermaard "famous" as well as (ge)vecht "fight" with -vech).
Evidence for existence
There is little information about him in the later histories of the Franks. Gregory of Tours only names him once as the father of Childeric I while putting doubt on his descent from Chlodio. Many admit today that this formulation finds its explanation in a legend reported by Fredegar. The Chronicle of Fredegar interpolated on this reference by Gregory by adding that Merovech was the son of the queen, Chlodio's wife; but his father was a sea-god, bestea Neptuni. Some researchers have noted that Merovech, the Frankish chieftain, may have been the namesake of a certain god or demigod honored by the Franks prior to their conversion to Christianity.
Clodio, the sometime putative father of Merovech, is said to have been defeated by Flavius Aëtius at Vicus Helena in Artois in 448. Ian S. Wood would therefore place his son somewhere in the second half of the fifth century.
Another theory considers this legend to be the creation of a mythological past needed to back up the fast-rising Frankish rule in Western Europe.