Blithildis

Blithildes or Bilichilde (c538-c603). Her ancestry is unknown (Weis, Ancestral Roots 180:5). However, the earliest sources, which tried to connect the Carolingians to the Merovingian dynasty they displaced, say that she was a daughter of one of the Merovingian kings of France, such as Chlothar I or his son Charibert I. Such an identification is possible, but the motivation of the Carolingians gives reason to be cautious.

Stuart identifies her as a daughter of Chlodéric de Cologne (Royalty For Commoners 171:50, 236:48). The theory has not won general acceptance.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlothar_I#Family

A false genealogy found in the Brabant trophies, made in the ninth century during the reign of Charles the Bald, invents a daughter of Chlothar's named Blithilde who supposedly married the saint and bishop Ansbert of Rouen, who was himself alleged to be son of Ironwood III. The Duke Arnoald, father of Arnulf of Metz, was said to have been born of this marriage, thus connecting the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties and creating the appearance that the Carolingian ruled by right of inheritance. It also linked them to the Romans by their affiliation with the senatorial family Ferreoli.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansbertus:

Blithilde, also called Bilichilde (ca 538 – ca 603), "Blithilde filia Clotharii regis Francorum." or "filiam Hlotharii regis Francorum.", daughter of Chlothar I, King of the Franks, and wife Waldrada, a Lombard princess. Married to Ansbertus. Before 555 and they had:

• Arnual or Arnoldus or Arnoald, Bishop of Metz and Margrave of Schelde
• Saint Munderic, Bishop of Arisitum
• Tarsicius or Tarsice

  ---

This person marks the start of the legendary portion of the lineage before Charlemagne. Her name is mentioned in the Liber Historiae Francorum, as is her husband Senator Ansbertus, but not in documents that are contemporary to her time.

According to the French Wikipedia page on Faux Merovingiens:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansbert_le_s%C3%A9nateur#Ansbert_le_s....

Bilichilde

Bilichilde serait fille du roi Clotaire Ier, épouse d'Ansbert et mère d'Arnoul, évêque de Metz.

Bilichilde est une personne qui apparait dans deux généalogies carolingiennes, la Genealogia domni Karoli, du début du IXe siècle et la Genealogia domni Arnulfi, du IXe siècle. Elle est donnée comme fille du roi Clotaire Ier (ou Clotaire II selon les documents), épouse d'Ansbert et mère d'Arnoul, évêque de Metz au début du VIIe siècle. L'existence d'Arnoul est confirmée par des documents contemporains, au contraire de ses parents, bien qu'aucun fait ne vienne remettre en cause leur existence. Les deux généalogies sont trop tardives pour avoir une quelconque autorité. La filiation royale de Bilichilde est impossible d'un point de vue chronologique[4].

In English:

Bilichilde:

Bilichilde is a person who appears in two pedigrees of the Carolingians, the Genealogia domni Karoli from the early 9th century, and Genealogia domni Arnulfi from the 9th century. It is given that she is the daughter of King Clotaire I (or Clotaire II according to some documents), wife of Ansbertus, and mother of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz from the early 7th century. The existence of Arnold is confirmed by contemporary records, but not his parents, though no one really questioned their existence. The two genealogies are too late to have any authority. The royal lineage of Bilichilde is also impossible from a chronological point of view.

According to the Wikipedia page on her supposed father, King Clothar I des Franks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlothar_I

Family

Chlothar's first marriage was to Guntheuc, widow of his own brother Chlodomer, sometime around 524. They had no children. His second marriage, which occurred around 532, was to Radegund, daughter of Bertachar, King of Thuringia, whom he and his brother Theuderic defeated. She was later canonized. They also had no children. His third and most successful marriage was to Ingund, by whom he had five sons and two daughters:

1. Gunthar, predeceased father

2. Childeric, predeceased father

3. Charibert, King of Paris

4. Guntram, King of Burgundy

5. Sigebert, King of Austrasia

6. Chlothsind, married Alboin, King of the Lombards

His next marriage was to a sister of Ingund, Aregund, with whom he had a son, Chilperic, King of Soissons. His last wife was Chunsina (or Chunsine), with whom he had one son, Chram, who became his father's enemy and predeceased him. Chlothar may have married and repudiated Waldrada

{line (48-4) as stated in Weis 180-5, but there is no 4 in line 43, itstarts with #10; T.Barton, 2-15-98.} m. Ansbertus, the Galo-RomanSenator;-- 1

There is controversy about the ancestry of Blithilde (also called Bilichilde), married to Ansbertus before 555: "Blithilde filia Clotharii regis Francorum" or "filiam Hlotharii regis Francorum," supposed daughter of Chlothar I, King of the Franks, and wife Waldrada, a Lombard princess. This supposition has not been independently attested, and so is not reproduced here.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansbertus for more information.

Blithilde, also called Bilichilde (ca 538 – ca 603), "Blithilde filia Clotharii regis Francorum." or "filiam Hlotharii regis Francorum.", daughter of Chlothar I, King of the Franks, and wife Waldrada, a Lombard princess, before 555 and they had: ▪ Arnual or Arnoldus or Arnoald, Bishop of Metz

"A false genealogy found in the Brabant trophies, made in the ninth century during the reign of Charles the Bald, invents a daughter of Chlothar's named Blithilde who supposedly married the saint and bishop Ansbert of Rouen, who was himself alleged to be son of Ironwood III. The Duke Arnoald, father of Arnulf of Metz, was said to have been born of this marriage, thus connecting the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties and creating the appearance that the Carolingian ruled by right of inheritance. It also linked them to the Romans by their affiliation with the senatorial family Ferreoli."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlothar_I

BUT

[BILICHILDIS . The Liber Historiæ Francorum records that "Chlotharius…rex" had seven children by "Ingunde", the same six as are named in Gregory of Tours with a marginal note adding "Blitchildim" as the seventh child and specifying that she married "Ansbertus nobilissimus" and by him was mother of "Arnoldum"[218]. An alternative origin for Bilichildis is provided by the Chronico Marcianensi de Sancta Rictrude which names “Dagobertum Regem et Blithildem sororem eius” as children of “Lotharius…[et] Beretrudam” (chronologically impossible if she was the grandmother of Arnoul Bishop of Metz), but commenting that “others say” that Bilichildis was the daughter of “primi Lotharii avi istius”, adding that Bilichildis married “Ansberto Duci nobili in Germania”[219]. The Carmen de Exordio Gentis Francorum names "Hlotharius [rex]…filia…Blithild" and records her marriage to "Ansbertus"[220]. The recorded names of the alleged children of Bilichildis do not have a Merovingian ring about them. It is uncertain whether Bilichildis existed at all or whether she and her family were invented for the purposes of compiling a Merovingian descent for the Carolingian dynasty, an enterprise undertaken in Metz from the late 8th century onwards. Her absence from the list of the children of King Clotaire given by Gregory of Tours certainly suggests that she was a spurious later invention, although Gregory's treatment of the families of the early Merovingians was not exhaustive, as can be seen from the examples of Berthoara, daughter of King Theodebald I, and [Theodechildis] sister of the same king (see above), whom Gregory does not mention at all. Settipani demonstrates convincingly that there are sufficient indications in other primary sources that parts, if not all, these reconstructions may be based on historical fact[221]. Sifting the fact from the fiction is inevitably speculative. m ANSBERT, son of ---. A 9th century genealogy names "Ansbertus…ex genere senatorum", his brothers "Deotarium, Firminum, Gamardum, Aigulfum episcopum et Ragnifridum" and their supposed descendants, Ansbert's marriage to "filiam Hlotarii regis Francorum…Blithildem" and their children as shown below[222].]http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/MEROVINGIANS.htm#ClovisIB

References

1. "Europe after Rome : a new cultural history 500-1000", by Julia M H Smith, Oxford University Press 2005 : "The Carolingian dynasty...appropriated the Roman past into its ancestry by a genealogy that claimed that its sainted (and historically attested) founder, Arnulf of Metz (d.c. 643) was the grandson of the (mythical) Merovingian princess Blithild and her (equally mythical) husband Ansbert, hailed as a Roman senator."
2. Weis, Frederick Lewis Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonist Who Came To America Before 1700 (7th ed.), lines 180 (all) & 190-9
3. New England Historic and Genealogical Register 101:112
4. Christian Settipani, Les Ancêtres de Charlemagne (France: Éditions Christian, 1989).
5. Christian Settipani, Continuite Gentilice et Continuite Familiale Dans Les Familles Senatoriales Romaines A L'epoque Imperiale, Mythe et Realite, Addenda I-III (juillet 2000-octobre 2002) (n.p.: Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2002).