A Frankish aristocrat at the battle of Mag Rath Stefanie Hamann & Hermann Moisl Introduction A main achievement in the study of early Ireland over the past several decades has been the integration of Irish history and culture with that of contemporary Europe. Próinséas has been a prime mover in this [Ní Chatháin & Richter 1984, 1987, 1996], and it therefore seems appropriate to offer her something that advances the integration, even if only in a small way. Irish ecclesiastical interaction with Britain and the Continent in the early Middle Ages has been extensively researched and described. Much less has been done on such interaction at the level of secular politics. The reason for this is quite simple: the relevant evidence is sparse and difficult to interpret satisfactorily. The evidence that does exist is, however, worthy of careful scrutiny, for at least two reasons. Firstly, the main goal of the historiography of early medieval Europe to date has been as complete and accurate a reconstruction of the period as possible; if one subscribes to this goal, then any increase in historical knowledge of the period is intrinsically worthwhile. And, secondly, understanding of Irish ecclesiastical interaction with the rest of Europe is deepened by awareness of its secular political context: endowments to Irish missionaries were made and maintained by secular lords whose prime motivation was usually political advantage, and the interests of churchmen typically became closely identified with those of their patrons. This discussion aims to develop our knowledge of secular political interaction between Ireland and the rest of Europe in the early medieval period, and more particularly between Ireland and Francia in the seventh century. There was at least one secular political link between Ireland and continental Europe in the mid-seventh century: the Merovingian prince Dagobert II lived in Ireland for two decades between c. 656 and 675. The reason for his presence and its implications have been much discussed, and have now been --in our view satisfyingly-- elucidated by J.M. Picard [Picard 1991b; see also Wooding 1996 and Richter 1999, 154-6], who argued that Dagobert's Irish sojourn was a consequence of high-level Frankish politics in which the monastic community established in Francia by the Irish monk Fursey and his bothers Foillán and Ultán was deeply involved. We will argue that, a generation before Dagobert II, a Frankish aristocrat named Madelgarius was sent to Ireland by the Merovingian king Dagobert I, and that Madelgarius fought at the battle of Mag Rath in 637 AD. 1