The grave of Childerik I
Childerik (sometimes written as Chilperik) was the son of Merovech, the namegiver to the Merovingian dynasty.
Childerik I was the last fully pagan king of the Frankish era. He was buried at the Belgian town Doornik/Tournai, which borders France in the Picardian region.
During works nearby St. Brixius church in Tournai anno 1653, a deaf and mute stonemason stumbled across the grave of the late Merovingian king and army leader. According to legend, the screams of the otherwise mute Adrien Quinquin gathered a crowd. Wholesome detail, the stonemason was rewarded for finding the grave.
The grave itself is incredibly rich. It contained 21 sacrificed horses, a complete armor/weapons set, a coin hoard and gold-garnet jewelry.
His signet ring is made completely in Roman style, but the portrait shows a man in long hair. This is indicative of not only his Germanic origin, but also shows how he identified.
The whole gravesite was recorded by order of Leopold Wilhelm of Austria. All the finds were described in detail and copper etchings were made. This account is regarded as the earliest archaeological recording of a (grave) site.
The treasure was gifted to Louis XIV in 1665, after the death of Leopold. The whole grave set was stored in the Louvre palace.
On the faithful night of 5-6 November 1831, about 80 kg of treasures were stolen from the Louvre, including the Childerik treasures. Later, the police discovered that all artifacts in gold had been melted. Only the garnet-inlayed pieces had survived, hidden in bags, lowered into the Seine.
Later excavations of the Tournai site showed that Childerik was buried under a burial mount which measured 20 meters in width.
Unfortunately, 70-90% of the treasure is permanently lost. Painful detail is that because of the 17th century copper etchings, researchers know exactly which pieces are missing. The original bees have become an icon for the hoard, even inspiring Napoleon Bonaparte to use bees as a contrasting symbol to the French royalist Fleur-de-Lys.
All pictures of the “complete” hoard are replica’s made for museum display.
Image credit:
Drawing by Jacob van Werden for copper engravings by Cornelis Galle the Younger. Drawings published by Jean Jacques Chiflet in 1655 by order of Leopold Wilhelm of Austria.
