Ingund

Who is Ingund?

Ingunde, Ingund, Ingundis or Ingunda, was the eldest child of Sigebert I, king of Austrasia, and his wife Brunhilda. She married Hermenegild and became the first Catholic queen of the Visigoths.

Following the tradition of the time, it would follow that Ingund was named after her father's mother. Siblings included a sister, Chlodosind and a brother Childebert. Sigebert became ruler of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia in 561 on the death of his father Chlothar I.

In 575, Sigebert was embroiled in a civil war with his half brother, Chilperic I, king of Neustria. On the verge of victory, Sigebert was assassinated. With the death of Sigebert, Brunhilda and the children were in great fear for their safety. Childebert, only five years old, faced almost certain death from Chilperic. Duke Gundovald immediately came to Paris, where Brunhilda and the children were living, took possession of Childebert and secured his safety among the Austrasian nobility. When Chilperic came to Paris, he seized Brunhilda and ordered Ingund and Chlodosind to be held in custody in the monastery of Meaux. Ingund would have been only seven or eight during this traumatic time.