Galswintha (540-568) was the daughter of
Athanagild,
Visigothic king of
Hispania (the
Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern
Spain and
Portugal), and
Goiswintha. Galswintha was the sister of
Brunhilda, queen of
Austrasia; and the wife of
Chilperic I, the
Merovingian king of
Neustria.
Galswintha and Chilperic were married at Rouen in 567, but soon afterwards she was murdered at the instigation of Chilperic's mistress Fredegund, who then married him. Chilperic in turn was murdered by Fredegund in 584. [1]
Galswintha's death aroused the enmity of her sister Brunhilda against Chilperic, bringing about 40 years of warfare between the Frankish kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria.
The late Latin poet Venantius Fortunatus wrote a long commemorative poem (Carmina VI.5) in honour of Galswintha.
