Biography
Dagobert II of Austrasia
About Dagobert II of Austrasia
Dagobert II was a king of Austrasia, the son of Sigebert III and Queen Himnehilde. Christian Wilsdorf dates his death by assassination to 679. Wilsdorf also cautions against the many stories connecting him with Alsace: the securely supported connection is an unsuccessful offer of the bishopric of Strasbourg to Wilfrid.
Stephen’s Life of Wilfrid describes Dagobert’s exile in Ireland and credits Wilfrid with helping him return to his own people. When Wilfrid later travelled through the Frankish kingdom, Dagobert received him gratefully and offered him Strasbourg. Wilfrid refused and continued toward Rome with royal assistance.
The same account gives a darker picture of Dagobert’s death. It alleges a plot involving dukes and consenting bishops. A hostile bishop confronts Wilfrid for helping restore a king whom he accuses of oppressive taxation and contempt for leading men and churches. Wilfrid replies that he had helped an exile in the hope that he would govern well. These are reported accusations within a partisan Life, not an impartial verdict on Dagobert’s conduct.
The later Life associated with his cult at Stenay is a different kind of evidence. Claude Carozzi shows how its author assembled an ideal royal saint from borrowed stories and reshaped historical material. Its narrative places Dagobert III in the central role and cannot simply be transferred to Dagobert II as factual biography.
Robert Folz traces how seventeenth-century scholarship restored Dagobert II to historical accounts and identified him with the saint honored at Stenay. He also describes later additions to his story, including family relationships and monastic foundations borrowed from traditions about Dagobert I. These additions require caution rather than repetition as established history.
The Archdiocese of Freiburg’s calendar entry honors Dagobert II as a saint and martyr, names him patron of Stenay and records his feast on December 23.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.