Childeric II was the king of Austrasia

Austrasia

Austrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...

 from 662 and of Neustria

Neustria

The territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities...

 and Burgundy

Kingdom of Burgundy

Burgundy is a historic region in Western Europe that has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities - the first around the 6th century, the second around the 11th century - have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy; a third was very...

 from 673 until his death, making him sole King of the Franks for the final two years of his life. He was the second eldest son of Clovis II

Clovis II

Clovis II succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639 as King of Neustria and Burgundy. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her death in her early thirties in 642...

. His elder brother Chlothar III was briefly sole king from 661, but gave Austrasia to Childeric the next year. He was still a mere child when he was raised on the shields of his warriors and proclaimed king in Austrasia.
After the death of Chlothar in 673, Theuderic III

Theuderic III

Theuderic III was the king of Neustria on two occasions and king of Austrasia from 679 to his death in 691. Thus, he was the king of all the Franks from 679...

, his youngest brother, inherited his kingdoms, but a faction of prominent Burgundian nobles led by Leodegar

Leodegar

Saint Leodegar or Leger, Bishop of Autun , was the great opponent of Ebroin— the mayor of the Palace of Neustria— and the leader of the faction of Austrasian great nobles in the struggles for hegemony over the waning Merovingian dynasty...

 and Eticho invited Childeric to become king in Neustria and Burgundy. He soon invaded his brother's kingdom and displaced him, becoming sole king. He made his Austrasian mayor of the palace

Mayor of the Palace

Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....

, Wulfoald

Wulfoald

Wulfoald was the mayor of the palace of Austrasia from 656 or 661, depending on when Grimoald I was removed from that office , to his death and mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy from 673 to 675.He was the regent of Austrasia during the minority of Childeric II until 670...

, mayor also in Neustria and Burgundy, displacing Ebroin

Ebroin

Ebroin was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681...

 of Neustria and upsetting his supporters in Burgundy who did not wish to see functionaries active in a kingdom other than their native one. In March 675, Childeric had granted him honores in Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

 to Eticho with the title of dux

Dux

Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....

. This grant was most probably the result of Eticho's continued support for Childeric in Burgundy, which had often disputed possession of Alsace with Austrasia.

The final straw for the magnates of Neustria, however, was Childeric's illegal corporal punishment of the noble Bodilo. Bodilo and his friends Amalbert and Ingobert conspired to assassinate the king, who was killed, along with his wife Bilichild

Bilichild

Bilichild was the cousin and wife of the Frankish king of Neustria and Burgundy, Childeric II. The two were married in 668 despite the opposition of such important men as the Bishop Leodegar...

, while hunting in the forest by Livry

Livry

- related :*Livry-Gargan, in the Seine-Saint-Denis département*Livry-Louvercy, in the Marne département*Livry-sur-Seine, in the Seine-et-Marne département...

. He was buried in Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Saint-Germain-des-Prés is an area of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés....

, near Paris, where the tombs of he, Bilichild, and his infant son Dagobert were discovered in 1645; the contents were pilfered.