Clovis III

Who was Clovis III?

Clovis III was the king of Austrasia from 675 to 676. Perhaps the son of Theuderic III or Clovis II, the Austrasian magnates who proclaimed him called him an illegitimate son of Clotaire III. They placed him on the throne in opposition to the young Dagobert II, the claimant of Wulfoald, the mayor of the palace. At this time, Ebroin, once mayor of the palace of Neustria, escaped from his monastic imprisonment and joined the partisans of Clovis. He probably hoped to use the claimant to oppose Theuderic III and Pepin of Heristal in Neustria and Burgundy as well. Though Ebroin intended it, he never succeeded in displacing Theuderic and Pepin, though he was eventually recognised as mayor in his old post.

Clovis died soon after his acclamation and he did nothing of his own will, being but a puppet of a faction. There remains the possibility that Clovis III was not really a Merovingian at all.