Dagobert II
Dagobert II (652 - 679) was a Frankish king, son of Sigebert III and Imiquilda/Hymmenegilde.
In 656, on the death of his father, murdered by a plot by his own brother Clovis II and Grimoaldo, mayor of the palace, with the aim of annexing the lands of Austrasia, Dagobert, at the age of four, He is sent in exile to Ireland by order of the butler of the palace, who felt threatened.
After the assassination of Childeric II in 675, some Austrasia magnates pressured the palace steward Wulfoald to make Dagobert king in memory of his father, but the group supporting Ebroin, the steward of Neustria, succeeded in ascending the throne to Clovis III. The sudden death of the latter in 676 finally facilitated Dagobert's accession to the throne.
The war against Theoderic III of Neustria continued, as he refused to recognize the independence of Austrasia, finally in 677 peace was reached. Dagoberto left the care of the government to his butlers, while he devoted himself to works of charity and piety. But the political conflicts between Neustria and Austrasia ended up catching up with him, and he was assassinated in the course of a hunt, on December 23, 679, at the age of 27.
Like his father, Dagobert II is considered a saint and martyr of the Catholic Church, and his feast day is celebrated on December 23.
Lineage of Dagobert II and Priory of Sion
Dagobert II plays a central role in the modern myth of the Priory of Sion, created by Frenchman Pierre Plantard in the mid-century XX. According to the documents handled by this author, the martyred king would have secretly had a male child (Sigebert IV) through whom the Merovingian dynasty would have continued (considered in turn as the secret lineage of Jesus Christ due to his alleged marriage to Mary Magdalene). to the present day. The secret organization known as the "Priory of Sion" would have always been taking care of this Sacred Lineage so that it would not be lost. The work The Sacred Enigma later amplified this myth. But its spectacular diffusion among the general public is mainly due to the novel The Da Vinci Code, which the American Dan Brown wrote inspired by Plantard's theories.