Gundoald, or Gundovald, a Merovingian usurper king in the area of southern Gaul in either 584 or 585, claims to be an illegitimate son of Clothar I and, with the financial support of the Emperor Maurice, takes some major cities in southern Gaul, such as Poitiers and Toulouse, which belong to Guntram, king of Burgundy, a legitimate son of Clothar.

Guntram marches against him, calling him nothing more than a miller's son and names him 'Ballomer'.

Gundowald flees to Comminges and Guntram's army sets down to besiege the citadel (now known as Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges).

The siege is successful, Gundovald's support drains away quickly and he is handed over by the besieged to be executed.

The Burgundians entirely raze the site; it will remain deserted for nearly five centuries.

The sole source for Gundovald is Gregory of Tours, who wrote about the events in his 'Histories', books 6 and 7.

While his main backers were magnates of Austrasia, the imperial support consisted of treasure to buy followers and it is probable that Gundovald spent time in Constantinople before setting off to conquer parts of Gaul.

The usage of 'ballomer', a Frankish (possibly offensive) word of which the meaning is not known, is one of the first instances of the mentioning of a Germanic word in a literary source.