Siegbert IV, count of Razès (Fictitious Person)

Fictitious person. Supposed son of Dagobert II and Giselle de Razès.

NOT THE SON OF DAGOBERT II: DAGOBERT ([652/56]-murdered Woëvre forest 23 Dec 679, bur Stenay, basilique Saint-Rémi). On the death of his father, Grimoald, maior domus in Austrasia, exiled Dagobert to Ireland where he may have lived at the abbey of Slane[413]. The Liber Historiæ Francorum names "filium eius [=Sighiberto rege] parvolum…Daygobertum" when recording that maior domus Grimoald had him tonsured and exiled with "Didonemque Pectavensem urbis episcopum in Scocia"[414]. He was brought to France [2 Apr/1 Jul] 676 by maior domus Wulfoald and Queen Chimnehildis, his mother, in opposition to King Theoderich III and maior domus Ebroin. After a brief period of conflict, it was agreed that King Theoderich should retain Neustria and Burgundy while Dagobert succeeded as DAGOBERT II King of the Franks in Austrasia. "Dagobertus rex Francorum" names "genitor noster Sigibertus rex" in his charter dated 1 Aug 677[415]. He was murdered on the orders of maior domus Ebroin.

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/MEROVINGIANS.htm

Priory of Sion hoax

According to the pseudohistorical Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau and related documents, Sigebert IV, on the assassination of his father Dagobert II, was rescued by his sister and smuggled to the domain of his mother the (otherwise unknown) Visigoth princess, Giselle de Razès in Rennes-le-Château. He is said to have arrived in the Languedoc in 681 and, at some point, adopted or inherited his uncle's titles, duke of Razès and count of Rhedae. He is also said to have adopted the surname, or nickname, of “Plant-Ard” (subsequently Plantard) from the French appellation ‘rejeton ardent’ ‘ardently flowering shoot’ of the Merovingian vine. Under this name, and under the titles acquired from his uncle, he is said to have perpetuated his lineage.[7]

Journalists and scholars who have debunked the Priory of Sion hoax argue that Pierre Plantard created the Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau and the fictitious biography of Sigebert IV to support his false claim that he was a descendant of the extinct Merovingian dynasty through this figure.[8] In 1990, Plantard revised himself by claiming he was only descended from a cadet branch of the line of Dagobert II, while arguing that the direct descendant was really Otto von Habsburg,[9] who, according to Plantard, was descended from Sigebert I (the son of Bera II and the grandson of Wamba), who married Magdala, the granddaughter of Dagobert II.[10][11]

References

1. According to the eighth century Vita Sancti Wilfrithi (Life of St Wilfrid), and also mentioned in a version of the Vita Sancti Arbogasti.
2. The early eighth century Vita Amandi Episcopi referred to "Sygiberto" [1] and to "Sigebertum, Dagoberti Filium" [2]
3. Historians tend to ignore the importance of these references, François Eudes de Mézeray, in Histoire de France (Paris, 1685) referred to an anonymous son, and doubted his existence.
4. René Descadeillas, Mythologie du Trésor de Rennes: Histoire Veritable de L'Abbé Saunière, Curé de Rennes-le-Château, Annexe VI (Mémoires de la Société des Arts et des Sciences de Carcassonne, Annees 1971-1972, 4me série, Tome VII, 2me partie; 1974).
5. Utho Argentinensis, Vita Sancti Arbogasti episcopi argentinensis in Germania prima (Apud Bolland., Junii tom. V, p. 170). [3] This version of the text does not refer to Mathildis.
6. Christian Settipani, in La Prehistoire des Capetiens (1993) argued that the Vita Sancti Arbogasti is too late a source to be accepted without care, and points to evidence that it places Arbogast and his successor Florentius up to a century too late (Arbogast died in around 600). He argues that the trio of Dagobert II, and his alleged wife Mathildis and son Sigebert, may actually have arisen from confusion with Dagobert I, his wife Nanthilde and son Sigebert (his mother was actually Ragnetrude).
7. Baigent, Michael; Leigh, Richard; Lincoln, Henry (1982). The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. Corgi. ISBN 0-552-12138-X.
8. Jean-Luc Chaumeil, The Priory of Sion - Shedding Light on the Treasure and Legacy of Rennes-le-Château and the Priory of Sion (Avalonia, 2010).
9. Quoting Pierre Plantard: "If anyone can claim to be a descendant of Sigisbert IV in the direct line it can only be Otto von Habsburg, and he alone. To all those people who write to me I have given this same reply." From Vaincre – Reprend le titre d'un périodique paru en 1942-1943, Number 1, April 1990 [4]
10. Quoting Plantard: "We would like to repeat that in no case have we found any trace of the son of Dagobert II in the list of the Visigothic Razes. This Sigibert IV found refuge with his abbess sister at Oeren and was the cousin of Sigebert de Rhedae, who was alive more or less around the same time. Historians conflate these two Sigiberts into one person. When did Sigebert IV die? We don't know. Some think that he was the founder of the Hapsburg family."
11. Jean-Luc Chaumeil, Le trésor du Triangle d'Or, page 163 (Nice: Alain Lefeuvre, 1979).

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Old data was:

• Childebrand Meroving
• Birth: estimated between 655 and 715 
• Immediate Family:
• Son of Dagobert II, King of Austrasia
• Father of Sigebert V de Razès, Comte de Razes <Sigebert Meroving>