Dagobert IArticle Free Pass Dagobert I, (born 605—died Jan. 19,
639, Saint-Denis, France), the last Frankish king of the
Merovingian dynasty to rule a realm united in more than name
only. The son of Chlotar II, Dagobert became king of Austrasia
in 623 and of the entire Frankish realm in 629. Dagobert secured
his realm by making a friendship treaty with the Byzantine
emperor Heraclius, defeating the Gascons and Bretons, and
campaigning against the Slavs on his eastern frontier. In 631 he
sent an army to Spain to help the Visigothic usurper Swinthila
(Svintila). He moved his capital from Austrasia to Paris, a
central location from which the kingdom could be governed more
effectively. He then appeased the Austrasians by making his
three-year-old son Sigebert their king in 634. Famed for his
love of justice, Dagobert was nevertheless greedy and dissolute.
He was succeeded by Sigebert III and another son, Clovis II. The
prosperity of Dagobert’s reign, and the revival of the arts
during this period, can be judged f