Childebert the Adopted

{{Short description|Frankish king}}

{{Infobox royal

| name = Childebert the Adopted

| image = Tremissis de 7 siliques amis par Childebert l'Adopté.jpg

| caption = Coin of Childebert

| alt = Coin of Childebert

|image_size =

|succession = King of Austrasia

|reign = 656-657

|coronation =

|predecessor = Sigebert III

|successor = Chlothar III

|house = Pippinids

| father = Grimoald the Elder
Sigebert III (adoptive)

| mother =

}}

Childebert III the Adopted (Childebertus Adoptivus) was a Frankish king.Liber Historiæ Francorum 43, MGH SS rer Merov II, page 316.

Childebert was a son of the Mayor of the Palace Grimoald the Elder. He was thus a grandson of Pepin of Landen.Christian Settipani, La Préhistoire des Capétiens (Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste maison de France, vol. 1), 1993 ({{ISBN|2-9501509-3-4}})

He was adopted by King Sigebert III and Queen Chimnechild.Spiritual Kinship As Social Practice: Godparenthood and Adoption in the Early Middle Ages by Bernhard Jussen

When Sigebert III died in 656,R. P. Vincent, Histoire fidelle de st Sigisbert: XII roy d'Austrasie et III du nom; avec un abrégé de la vie du roy Dagobert, son fils: le tout tiré des antiquités austrasiennes Grimoald had Sigebert’s biological son Dagobert IIFredegario, Fredegarii scholastici chronicum, Pars quarta, LXXXVIII tonsured and sent him to an Irish monastery and then proclaimed Childebert king of Austrasia.J. Hoyaux, "Reges criniti: chevelures, tonsures et scalps chez les Mérovingiens", Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire 26 (1948)]; J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Long-Haired Kings and Other Essays (London, 1962:154ff).

Grimoald, Childebert and Ansegisel (who had married the daughter of Pepin of LandenLes ancêtres de Charlemagne, 1989, Christian Settipani) were finally seized and turned over to the king of Neustria, Clovis II, who had them killed. There are two differing accounts of his death, however. Either Clovis and his mayor of the palace, Erchinoald,Le Jan, Regne. Convents, violence and competition for Power in Francia. In Theuws, France; De Jong, Mayke; van Rhijn, Carine Topographies of power in the Early Middle Ages. Leeiden: Koninkslijke Brill NV, 2001. captured and executed him in 657 or Chlothar III annexed Austrasia in 661, deposing the young usurper and executing them both the next year.

The family reappeared in politics with the rise of Ansegisel’s son, Pepin of Herstal.