He ruled Austrasia from 662 and Neustria and Burgundy from 673 until his death, making him sole king for the final two years of his life.

[3] His mother was Saint Balthild and his elder brother was Chlothar III,[3] who was briefly sole king from 661 but gave Austrasia to Childeric the next year.

[4] Childeric married his cousin Bilichild,[5] who gave birth to two sons: Dagobert and the future king Chilperic II.

In 675, Bodilo and his friends Amalbert and Ingobert conspired to assassinate the king, who was killed, along with his wife Bilichild and his five-year-old son Dagobert, while hunting in the forest of Livry (present-day Lognes).

Childeric, his wife, and their son Dagobert were buried in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, near Paris, where their tombs were discovered in 1645 and the contents pilfered.