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+====== The History of the Franks ======
+by Gregory Bishop Of Tours
+===== Contents =====
+  * Introduction ix
+History Of The Franks Selections:
+  * Book I . I
+  * Book II . 19
+  * Book III . 51
+  * Book IV . 73
+  * Book V . 103
+  * Book VI . 143
+  * Book VII . 167
+  * Book VIII . 187
+  * Book IX . 203
+  * Book X . 225
+Selections From The Eight Books Of Miracles . 249 \\
+Notes . 263 \\
+Genealogies . 276 \\
+Bibliography . 279 \\
+Map facing . 280 \\
+Index . 281 \\
+===== Introduction =====
+THE History of the Franks by Gregory, bishop of Tours, is an historical record of great importance. The events which it relates are derails of the perishing of the Roman Empire and the beginning of a great modern state and for these events it is often the sole authority. However although Gregory was relating history mainly contemporaneous or recent, we must allow largely for error and prejudice in his statements of fact. It is rather as an unconscious revelation that the work is of especial value. The language and style, the intellectual attitude with which it was conceived and written, and the vivid and realistic picture, unintentionally given, of a primitive society, all combine to make the History of the Franks a landmark in European culture. After reading it the intelligent modern will no longer have pleasing illusions about sixth-century society.
+Gregory's life covers the years from 538 to 594. He was a product of central Gaul, spending his whole life in the Loire basin except for brief stays elsewhere. 1 The river Loire may be regaraecl as the southern limit of Prankish colonization and Gregory therefore lived on the frontier of the barbarians. He was born and grew up at. Clermont in Auvergne, a city to which an inexhaustibly fertile mountain valley is tributary. In this valley his father owned jm^state. Its wealth brought Clermont much trouble during the disorderly period that followed the break-up of Roman rule, and Gregory gives a hint of the eagerness which the Prankish kings felt to possess this country. 2
+Besides Clermont and Tours in which cities Gregory spent most of his life we hear of stays at Poitiers, Saintes, Bordeaux, Riez, Cavaillon, Vienne, Lyons, Chalon-sur-Sa6ne, Chalons-sur-Marne, Rheims, Soissons, Metz, Coblentz, Braine, Paris, Orleans. Monod, Sources de Vhistoire Merovingienne, p. 37.
+Childebert the elder is represented as saying : Velim unquam Arvernam Lemanem quae tantae jocunditatis gratia refulgere dicitur, oculis cernere. H. F, III, 9.
+ix
+After 573 Gregory lived atJJ^unMin the lower Loire valley. This city with its pleasant climate and moderately productive territorial background had more than a local importance in this age. It ja/v on the main thoroughfare between Spain and Aquitania and the north. Five Roman roads centered in it and the traffic of
+the Loire passed by it. The reader of Gregory's history judges that sooner or later it was visited by every one of importance at the time. It jwas here that the Prankish influences of the north and the Roman influences of the south had their chief contact.
+However the natural advantages of Tours at this time were surpassed by the supernatural ones. Thanks to the legend of St. Martin this conveniently situated city had become "the religious Metropolis " of Gaul. St. Martin had made a great impression on his generation. 1 A Roman soldier, turned monk and then bishop of Tours, he was a man of heroic character and force. He had devoted himself chiefly to the task of Christianizing the pagani or rural population of Gaul and had won a remarkable ascendancy over the minds of a superstitious people, and this went on increasing for centuries after his death. The center of his cult was his tomb in
+the great church built a century before Gregory's time Just outside the walls of Tours. This was the chief point of Christian pilgrimage in Gaul, a place of resort for the healing of the sick and the driving out of demons, and a sanctuary to which many fled for protection, 2 In a time of dense superstition and political
+and social disorder this meant much in the way of securing peace, influence, and wealth, and it was to the strategic advantage of the office of bishop of Tours as well as to his own aggressive character that Gregory owed his position as the leading prelate of Gaul.
+Qregoryjdoes not neglect to tell us of his family connections and status in society. 3 He he1onge4 tg foe privileged ^a^^g Of his father's family he tells us that "in the Gauls none could be found better born or nobler," and of his mother's that it was "a great and leading family." On both his father's and his mother's side he was of senatorial rank, a distinction of the defunct Roman
+In France, including Alsace and Lorraine, there are at the present time three thousand six hundred and seventy-five churches dedicated to St. Martin, and four hundred and twenty-five villages or hamlets are named after him. C. Bayet, in Lavisse, Histoire de France, 2i, p. 16. C. Bayet, in Lavisse, Histoire de France, 2i, pp. 13 ff.
+Monod, op. cit. pp. 25 ff. See pp. 13, 84, 109, 140.
+xi
+empire which still retained much meaning in central and southern Gaul. But the great distinction open at this time to a Gallo-Roman was the powerful and envied office of bishop. Men of the most powerful families struggled to attain this office and we can therefore judge of Gregory's status when he tells us proudly that
+of the bishops of Tours from the beginning all but five were connected with him by ties of kinship. We hear much of Gregory's paternal uncle Gallus, bishop of Auvergne, under whom he probably received his education and entered the clergy, and of his grand-uncle Nicetius, bishop of Lyons, and of his great-grand-father Gregory, bishop of Langres, in honor of whom Gregory discarded the name of Georgius Florentinus which he had received  from his father. Entering on a clerical career with such powerful connections he was at the same time gratifying his ambitions and obeying the most strongly felt impulse of his time.
+In spite of all these advantages, under the externals of Christianity Gregory was almost as superstitious as a savage. His superstition came to him straight from his father and mother and from his whole social environment. He tells us that his father, when expecting in 534 to go as hostage to king Theodobert's court,
+went to "a certain bishop" and asked for relics to protect him. These were furnished to him in the shape of dust or "sacred ashes" and he put them in a little gold case the shape of a pea-pod and wore them about his neck, although he never knew the names of the saints whose relics they were. According to Gregory's account the miraculous assistance given to his father by these relics was a common subject of family conversation. After his death the relics passed to Gregory's mother, who on one occasion extinguished by their help a great fire that had got started in the straw stacks on the family estate near Clermont. While on a horseback journey from Burgundy to Auvergne Gregory himself happened to be wearing these same relics. A fearful thunderstorm
+threatened the party, but Gregory "drew the beloved relics from his breast and lifted them up against the cloud, which at once separated into two parts and passed on the right and left, and after that did no harm to them or any one else." In spite of himself Gregory could not help being somewhat elated at the incident
+and he hinted to his companions that his own merit must have
+xii
+had something to do with it. "No sooner were the words spoken than my horse shied suddenly and threw me heavily on the ground ; and I was so shaken that I could scarcely get up. I understood that my vanity was the cause of it, and it was a lesson to me to be on my guard against the spur of pride. And if thereafter I
+happened to have the merit merely to behold miracles of the saints I would say distinctly that they had been worked by God's grace through faith in the saints." 1
+The number of miracles at which Gregory "assisted" was great. A picturesque and significant one is the following: "It happened once that I was journeying to visit my aged mother in Burgundy. And when passing through the woods on the other side of the river Bebre we came upon highwaymen. They cut us off from escape
+and were going to rob and kill us. Then I resorted to my usual means of assistance and called on St. Martin for help. And he came to my help at once and efficiently, and so terrified them that they could do nothing against us. And instead of causing fear they were afraid, and were beginning to flee as fast as they could.
+But I remembered the apostle's words that our enemies ought to be supplied with food and drink, and told my people to offer them drink. They wouldn't wait at all, but fled at top speed. One would think that they were being clubbed along or were being hurled along involuntarily faster than their horses could possibly go." 2
+The reality of this incident need not be doubted. The highwaymen were as superstitious as Gregory, probably more so. When they found what they had against them they fled in a panic. The peculiar wording of the last sentence makes it seem likely that Gregory for his part thought that the highwaymen had demons to help them and that these in their urgent flight before the superior "virtue" of St. Martin were responsible for the appearance he describes.
+Of Gregory's education and literary training we receive scanty
+details. At the age of eight he was beginning to learn to read. 3
+The books he read were naturally the Scriptures and works of
+Christian writers and his contact with pagan literature of the classi-
+cal period must have been slight ; he appears to have read Virgil
+Gloria Martyrum, c. 83. 2 De Virtut. S. Mart. I, 36. 3 Vita Patrum, VIII, 3.
+xiii
+and Sallust's Catiline but probably did not go beyond these. 1
+His attitude toward pagan literature was the conventional on^ofjiis
+age, fear ol the demonTcTnfluences embodieoTm it ; * he expresses
+it thus : " We ought not to relate their lying fables lest we fall under
+sentence of eternal death." 3 Among Christian writers Sulpicius
+Severus, Prudentius, Sidonius Apollonaris, and Fortunatus were the
+only ones to exercise a genuine influence on his style.
+The question has been much discussed whether sixth-century
+education in Gaul included a knowledge of the liberal arts. Gregory
+gives us no definite information on the point. It is true that he is
+explicit as to his own case. He says, "I was not trained in gram-
+mar or instructed in the finished style of the heathen writers, but
+the influence of the blessed father Avitus, bishop of Auvergne,
+turned me solely to the writings of the church." 4 Gregory does
+indeed mention Martianus Capella's work on the seven liberal
+arts and seems to have had some notion of the scope of each one, 5
+but in the face of his repeated confessions of ignorance of the most
+elementary of them as well as the actual proof of ignorance which
+he constantly gives, the conclusion must be that they were not
+included in his education. As to the general situation the only
+evidence is furnished by Gregory's famous preface in which he
+declares that "liberal learning is declining or rather perishing in
+the Gallic cities," and no one could be found sufficiently versed
+in the liberal arts to write the History of the Franks as it ought to
+be written. We may feel certain that Gregory's idea of the quali-
+fications for historical writing were not high; correct spelling,
+knowledge of the rules of grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic as laid
+down in the text-books would be sufficient. But, as he tells us,
+no person so qualified could be found to undertake the task. Again
+we hear of bishops who were illiterate. It is plain that the trend
+of the evidence is all in one direction, namely that in Gaul by this
+time the liberal arts had disappeared from education.
+Gregory's Latin presents many problems. Its relation to sixth-
+century linguistic development is not well understood although it
+Bonnet, Le Latin- de Gregoire de Tours, pp. 48-76.
+Speaking of Jupiter, Mercury, Minerva, Venus, a character in the Vitae Patrutn,
+XVII, 5, says, Nolite, o, viri, nolite eos invocare, non sunt enim dii isti sed damones.
+Gloria Mariyrum, Pref. 4 Vita Patrum, II, Pref. 6 See p. 240.
+xiv
+has been closely scrutinized. Gregory's vocabulary does not show
+the decadence that might be expected. It is extremely rich and
+varied and contains a moderate number of Celtic, Germanic, and
+Hunnish additions. Old Latin words, however, often have new
+and unexpected meanings. In the field of grammar the situation
+is different. Judged by anything like a classical standard Gregory
+is guilty of almost every conceivable barbarity. He_spells_incor-
+rectly, blunders in. the use of the inflections, confuses genders, and
+often uses the wrong case with the preposition. In addition he is
+very awkward in handling the Latin verb : the different voices,
+tenses, and modes are apt to look alike to him. His constructions,
+too, are frequently incorrect. In all this he seems very erratic;
+he may use the correct form ten times and then give us something
+entirely different. No method has so far been traced in his vagaries.
+Gregory's literary style is as peculiar as his language. It is-
+often vigorous and direct, giving realistic and picturesque delinea-
+tions of events. Within his limitations he well understood the
+complexity of human motives and actions, and now and then he
+shows a trace of humor. However, offending elements often ap-
+pear ; sometimes his realism verges on a brutal plainness. He is
+also by no means free from literary affectation; indeed by his
+choice of expressions, his repetitions and unnatural arrangement
+of words, he is almost always striving for effect. In his day the
+tradition of literary workmanship was quite dead but it would
+seem as if its ghost tortured Gregory. On the whole his literary
+style is uncouth, awkward, and full of rude surprises.
+There are well-marked variations in the style. At times we
+have the conventionalized jargon of the church, in which Gregory
+was proficient and which was always in the back of his mind ready
+to issue forth when other inspiration failed. At the opposite ex-
+treme from this is the easy, clear narrative in which the popular
+tales, both Frankish and Roman, are often recited. It is believed
+that in some of these we have a version of epic recitals of Frankish
+adventures. Then there are the passages, like the baptism of
+Clovis l or the tale of the two lovers, which Gregory labored to
+make striking. These do not offend; they are so naively over-
+done that they are merely amusing.
+See p. 40.
+xv
+In the light of these conclusions, objectively reached, 1 as to
+Gregory's language and style, how shall we interpret the confes-
+sions in regard to them which he repeatedly makes? In these
+confessions there are two leading notions : first, that he is without
+the qualifications to write in the literary style; second, that the
+popular language can be more widely understood. The inference
+is always therefore that Gregory writes in the language of the day.
+This, however, cannot be so. A language spoken by the people
+would have something organic about it, and it would not defy as
+Gregory's does the efforts of scholars to find its usages. It would
+be simpler than the literary language and probably as uniform in
+its constructions. We must decide then that Gregory's self -analysis
+is a mistaken one, correct in the first part but not in the second.
+He knew he could not write the literary language but in spite of this
+he made the attempt, and the result is what we have, a sort of hy-
+brid, halfway between the popular speech and the formally correct
+literary language.
+In the Epilogue of the History of the Franks written in 594, the
+year of Gregory's death, he gives us a list of his works: "I have
+written ten books of History, seven of Miracles, one on the Lives
+of the Fathers, a commentary in one book on the Psalms, and one
+book on the Church Services." 2 These works represent two sides
+of Gregory's experience, his profession, and his relations with the
+Merovingian state.
+In the former sphere the overshadowing interest was the mirac-
+ulous. We have eight books devoted to miracles and it may be
+said that as a churchman Gregory never got very far away from
+them. It is idle to discuss the question whether he believed in
+them or not. It is more to the point to attempt to appreciate the
+part they played in the thought and life of the time. They were
+They are substantially the conclusions of Bonnet in Le Latin de Gregoire de Tours,
+Paris, 1890.
+See p. 247. In the Arndt and Brusch edition in the Monumenta Germanics His-
+torica we have all these titles included. The commentary on the Psalms however is
+in a fragmentary condition, and the Lives of the Fathers appears as one of eight
+books of Miracles. The book on Church Services is there entitled Account of the Move-
+ments of the Stars as they ought to be observed in performing the Services. It is really a
+brief astronomical treatise the purpose of which was in the absence of clocks to guide
+the church services at night.
+xvi
+considered as the most significant of phenomena. They seemed
+a guarantee that the relations were right between the supernatural
+powers on the one hand and on the other the men who possessed
+the " sanctity" to work miracles and those who had the faith or
+merit to be cured or rescued by them. Gregory's eight books of
+Miracles were thus a register of the chief interest of his day, with
+an eye of course to its promotion, and it is much more remarkable
+that he wrote a History of the Franks than that he compiled this
+usually wearisome array of impossibilities.
+A brief glance at the practical situation that lay back of the
+four books which Gregory devotes to the miracles wrought by St.
+Martin will be enlightening. The cult of St. Martin was a great
+organized enterprise at the head of which Gregory was placed. In
+the sixth century St. Martin's tomb was a center toward which
+the crippled, the sick, and those possessed by demons flowed as if
+by gravity from a large territory around Tours. The cures wrought
+there did much "to strengthen the faith." They passed from
+mouth to mouth and brought greater numbers to the shrine and
+it was to aid this process that the four books of St. Martin's miracles
+were written. Gregory is here a promoter and advertiser. To get
+at the practical side of the situation we have only to remember that
+St. Martin's tomb was the chief place of healing among the shrines
+of Gaul, and that the shrines of the sixth century stood for the
+physicians, hospitals, drugs, patent medicines, and other healing
+enterprises of the twentieth.
+The History of the Franks is Gregory's chief work. It was writ-
+ten in three parts. The first, comprising books I-IV, begins with
+the creation, and after a brief outline of events enters into more
+detail with the introduction of Christianity into Gaul. Then
+follow the appearance of the Franks on the scene of history, their
+conversion, the conquest of Gaul under Clovis, and the detailed
+history of the Frankish kings down to the death of Sigibert in 575.
+At this date Gregory had been bishop of Tours two years. The
+second part comprises books V and VI and closes with Chilperic's
+death in 584. During these years Chilperic held Tours and the
+relations between him and Gregory were as a rule unfriendly. The
+most eloquent passage in the History of the Franks is the closing
+chapter of book VI, in which Chilperic's character is unsympatheti-
+xvu
+cally summed up. The third part comprises books VII-X. It
+comes down to the year 591 and the epilogue was written in 594,
+the year of Gregory's death. The earlier part of the work does not
+stand as it was first written ; Gregory revised it and added a number
+of chapters. It will be noticed that from the middle of the third
+book on, Gregory was writing of events within his own lifetime, and
+in the last six books, which are of especial value, of those that
+took place after he became bishop. For the earlier part of the
+work he depended on various chronicles, histories and local annals, 1
+and also on oral tradition.
+For the task undertaken by Gregory in the History of the Franks ,
+no one else was so well qualified. His family connections were
+such as to afford him every opportunity of knowing the occurrences
+of central Gaul, while his position as bishop of Tours with all that
+it entailed brought him into touch with almost every person and
+matter of interest throughout the country. His frequent journeys
+and wide acquaintance, his leadership among the bishops, and his
+personal relations with four kings, Sigibert, Chilperic, Gunthram,
+and Childebert and also with most of the leading Franks, gave
+him unsurpassed opportunities for learning what was going on.
+Perhaps his most realistic notions of the working of Frankish society
+were obtained in dealing with the political refugees who sought
+refuge in St. Martin's church. Though these people must have
+always been interesting to talk with, they were the cause of some
+of Gregory's most harrowing and at the same time informing ex-
+periences. This varied contact with the world about him made
+Gregory what every reader feels him to be, a vivid and faithful
+delineator of his time.
+The History of the Franks must not be looked upon as a secular
+history. The old title, Ecclesiastical History of the Franks, is a
+better one descriptively. It is written not from the point of view
+of the Gallo-Roman or the Frank, but solely from that of the church-
+man, almost that of the bishop. Gregory does not take a tone of
+The list as given by Manitius is as follows : Chronicles of Jerome, Victor, Sulpicius
+Severus; history of Orosius; church history of Eusebius-Rufinus; life of St. Martin
+by Sulpicius Severus ; letters of Sidonius Apollinaris and Ferreolus ; writings of Avitus ;
+histories of Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus and Sulpicius Alexander (not elsewhere
+known) ; annals of Aries, Angers, Burgundy. Geschichte der Lateinischen Litteratur
+des Mittelalters, p. 220.
+xviii
+loyalty to the Frankish kings, much less of inferiority. His atti-
+tude toward them is cold unless they are zealous supporters of the
+church, and he speaks with the utmost disgust of their civil wars,
+which seemed to him absolute madness in view of the greater war
+between the good and evil supernatural powers. 1 On the other
+hand his loyalty to his worthy fellow-bishops is often proved. No
+doubt the words he quotes from Paulinus expressed his own feel-
+ings : " Whatever evils there may be in the world, you will doubt-
+less see the worthiest men as guardians of all faith and religion." 2
+Everywhere we can read in the lines and between the lines Gregory's
+single-minded devotion to the church and above all to the cult of
+St. Martin.
+The great value of Gregory's writings is that we get in them an
+intimate view of sixth-century ideas. At first sight, perhaps, we
+seem to have incongruous elements which from the modern view-
+point we cannot bring into harmony with one another. Credulity
+and hard-headed judgment appear side by side. How could Greg-
+ory be so shrewd and worldly-minded in his struggle with Chilperic
+and at the same time show such an appetite for the miraculous?
+How could he find it necessary to preface his history, as no other
+historian has done, with an exact statement of his creed? And
+how could he relate Clovis's atrocities and then go on to say,
+" Every day God kept laying his enemies low before him and en-
+larging his kingdom because he walked with right heart before
+him and did what was pleasing in his eyes"? These apparently
+glaring incongruities must have some explanation.
+The reason why they have usually passed as incongruities is
+perhaps that it is difficult for us to take an unprejudiced view of
+religious and moral phenomena that are in the direct line of our
+cultural descent. If we could regard the Franks and Gallo-Romans
+as if they were alien to us, living, let us say, on an island of the
+southern Pacific, and believing and practising a religion adapted
+to their general situation, the task of understanding the History
+of the Franks would become easier. It is really a primitive society
+with a primitive interpretation of life and the universe with which
+we have to deal.
+III, Pref. and IV, Pref. H. P., II, 13- Cf. V, n. p. 113.
+xix
+Look at the conception of religion held by Gregory. It seems
+most explicable, not by the creed he thrusts at us or by any tradi-
+tional elements interpreted in a traditional sense, but by the living
+attitude toward the supernatural which he held. Two words are
+always recurring in his writings ; sanctus and virtus, 1 the first mean-
+ing sacred or holy, and the second the mystic potency emanating
+from the person or thing that is sacred. These words have in
+themselves no ethical meaning and no humane implications what-
+ever. They are the key- words of a religious technique and their
+content is wholly supernatural. In a practical way the second
+word is the more important. It describes the uncanny, mysterious
+power emanating from the supernatural and affecting the natural.
+The manifestation of this power may be thought of as a contact
+between the natural and the supernatural in which the former,
+being an inferior reality, of course yielded. These points of con-
+tact and yielding are the miracles we continually hear of. The
+quality of sacredness and the mystic potency belong to spirits, in
+varying degrees to the faithful, and to inanimate objects. They
+are possessed by spirits, acquired by the faithful, and transmitted
+to objects.
+There was also a false mystic potency. It emanated from spirits
+who were conceived of as alien and hostile, and, while it was not
+strong as the true "virtue," natural phenomena yielded before it
+and it had its own miracles, which however were always deceitful
+and malignant in purpose. This " virtue" is associated with the
+devil, demons, soothsayers, magicians, pagans and pagan gods,
+and heretics, and through them is continually engaged in aggressive
+warfare on the true " virtue." 2
+For the attainment of the true mystic potency asceticism was
+the method. This was not a withdrawal from lower activities of
+life to gain more power for higher activities, but it was undertaken
+in contempt of life, and in the more thoroughgoing cases the only
+restraint was the desire to avoid self-destruction, which was for-
+bidden. Almost every known method of self-denial and self-
+Nunc autem cognovi quod magna est virtus eius beati Martini. Nam ingrediente
+me atrium domus, vidi virum senem exhibentem arborem in manu sua, quae mox
+extensis ramis omne atrium texit. Ex ea enim unus me adtigit ramus, de cuius ictu
+turbatus corrui. VII, 42. 2 See pp. 38, 162, 185, 205.
+xx
+mortification was practised. Humility of mind was insisted on as
+an always necessary element. Fasting was part of the prescribed
+method. The strength of the motive behind asceticism may
+be judged from the practice of immuring, 1 several specimens of
+which are related by Gregory. In this the ascetic was shut in a
+cell and the door walled up and only a narrow opening left to hand
+in a scanty supply of food. Here he was to remain until he died.
+Such men were regarded as having the true "virtue" in the highest
+degree. In reality their life must have made them distinctly in-
+ferior in all the ordinary virtues of a natural existence. 2
+As asceticism was the method by which mystic potency was
+attained, so miracles were the product, and the proof that it had
+been acquired. Of course in theory the main object of the mystic
+was to assimilate himself to the supernatural and not expressly
+to work miracles. Still to society in general the miracles were the
+important thing. In the first place they served the immediate
+purpose for which a miracle might be needed, healing the sick or
+driving out a demon or something of the sort ; in the second place
+they encouraged society by evidencing the fact that things in
+general were right and that their spiritual leaders had the right
+"medicine." Incredulity is not to be expected in such a situation.
+The miracle played an integral part in the life- theory of the time.
+It was the proof of religion and it did not need to be proved itself.
+Furthermore many miracles were real ; for example, the cessation
+of a pain or natural recovery from a sickness would be regarded as
+a miracle.
+Some mention should be made of the transmissibility of the
+mystic potency. The case of St. Martin is a good example.
+During his lifetime he acquired this power in a large degree. When
+he died on November 8, 397, at a village half-way between Tours
+For an objective account of immuring as the climax of religious practice see vol.
+II, chap, i, Sven Hedin's Trans-Himalaya, 1909. The following is his account of
+an immured monk who was brought out from his cell after a long time. "He was all
+bent up together and as small as a child and his body was nothing but a light-gray parch-
+ment-like skin and bones. His eyes had lost their color, were quite bright and blind.
+His hair hung round his head in uncombed matted locks and was pure white. His
+body was covered only by a rag for time had eaten away his clothing and he had re-
+ceived no new garments. He had a thin unkempt beard, and had never washed him-
+self all the time or cut his nails."
+pp. 147-150, 158, 198-199-
+xxi
+and Poitiers, the inhabitants of these cities were all ready to fight
+for his body, when the people of Tours managed to secure it by
+stealth. This was because of the sanctity and mystic "virtue"
+inherent in it. It was carried to Tours and buried there and proved
+the greatest asset of the city. The mystic potency resided in the
+tomb and the area about it, and was transmitted to the dust accumu-
+lated on it, the wine and oil placed on it for the purpose, and was
+carried in these portable forms to all parts of Gaul. Gregory him-
+self, for example, carried relics of St. Martin on his journeys and
+records that they kept his boat from sinking in the river Rhine.
+The system of superstition just outlined is the greater and more
+real part of Gregory's religion. There was the right mystery and
+the wrong mystery; and both were of a low order; men had to
+deal with capricious saints and malignant demons. It was a real,
+live, local religion comparable with that of savages. By the side
+of this and intertwined with it the elements of traditional Chris-
+tianity in a more or less formalized and ritualized shape were re-
+tained. Here the great stress was laid on the creed, not, however,
+that it amounted to anything in Gregory's mind as a creed. He was
+no theologian. His acceptance of it and insistence on it was
+ritualistic. However, although he accepted it as he tells us with
+pura credulitaSj 1 that is, without a critical thought, it was not mere
+formality. He felt, no doubt, that it was a sort of mystic formula,
+especially the Trinitarian part of it, for putting men into the
+right relation with the supernatural. If they believed in the creed
+they had the right " medicine" ; if they did not, they had not.
+This system of superstition was not calculated to nourish deli-
+cate moral sensibilities. Life had gone too far back to the primi-
+tive. The word applied to the adept in this religion was sanctus,
+and it indicated not moral excellence at all but a purely mystic
+quality. The " virtue" which this person possessed was mystic
+potency, which was not moral but a supernatural force. The
+orthodox of course called the saint good, but this was merely because
+they were on the same side, just as Cicero for example six centuries
+before called the members of his political party the boni. Greg-
+ory's moral praise or blame is distributed in the same way. When
+he praises a man we must look for the service done by this man to
+H.F., I, Pref.
+xxii
+the church, and when he blames one we must look in like manner for
+the opposite. Outside of the interests of the orthodox group Greg-
+ory is not morally thin-skinned ; he shared in the brutality of his
+contemporaries, as we can see in many recitals. His portrait of
+Clovis throws no false light back on Gregory. Clovis was a cham-
+pion and favorite of the right supernatural powers in their fight
+with the wrong ones, and any occasional atrocities he committed in
+the struggle were not only pardonable but praiseworthy. 1
+Secular activities and the state of mind just indicated could
+not coexist in the same society. We have noticed already how
+education was desecularized. It is of interest to note also what
+had happened to the secular professions of medicine and law.
+The profession of medicine had almost completely disappeared.
+It is true indeed that we hear of a few physicians. For example
+when Austrechild, king Gunthram's wife, was dying, she accused
+her two physicians of having given her "potions" that were prov-
+ing fatal, and asked the king to take an oath to have them executed.
+He did so and kept his word and Gregory remarks with what seems
+excessive moderation, " Many wise men think that this was not
+done without sin." 2 Again we hear of Gregory's own illness, when
+he sent for a physician. He soon decided that "secular means
+could not help the perishing/' and sent for some dust from St.
+Martin's tomb which he put in water and drank, and was soon
+cured. 3 Such tales indicate the status of the medical profession.
+The truth was that the condition of the people's minds made the
+profession an impossibility. Disease was looked upon as super-
+natural. The sick man thought he had a better chance if he called
+the priest rather than the doctor. Gregory tells us of Vulfilaic,
+who was suddenly covered from head to foot with angry pimples ;
+he rubbed himself with oil consecrated at St. Martin's tomb, and
+they speedily disappeared. He reasoned that if they had been
+driven away by St. Martin, they had plainly been sent by the devil. 4
+This meant to him that the whole thing was supernatural and that
+the true mystic power had driven out the false which had caused
+the trouble.
+Perhaps this was not the reasoning in every case, but at any rate
+See pp. 47-So. 2 p. 130. 8 De Virtut. S. Martin., II, i. 4 p. 196.
+xxiii
+the people went to the shrines and churches to be healed. In some
+cases the diagnosis was quite clear as with a patient at Limoges.
+The priest put holy oil on his head and "the demon went down
+into his finger-nail ; seeing this the priest poured oil on the finger
+and soon the skin burst, blood flowed from the place, and the
+demon thus took his departure." 1
+Such practices were not isolated or unusual, but typical. Mysti-
+cal healing was adjusted to an everyday basis as many " cases"
+cited by Gregory indicate. Many like the following are found :
+"Charigisil, king Clothar's secretary, whose hands and feet were
+made helpless by a humor, came to the holy church, and devoting
+himself to prayer for two or three months, was visited by the blessed
+bishop 2 and had the merit to obtain health in his crippled limbs. He
+was later domesticusoi the king I have mentioned, and did many kind-
+nesses to the people of Tours and the officials of the holy church."
+An analysis of this record reveals the typical elements, with the
+exception of fasting which is usually mentioned. The miraculous
+properties of St. Martin were thus reenforced by change of scene,
+prolonged treatment, and a rigorous mental and physical regimen.
+With such a state of mind prevailing no rivals of the clergy in the
+healing art were to be found except among those healers who used a
+"virtue" of another kind the false virtue of the magicians and
+demons ; the few physicians who remained were not real competitors.
+The administration of justice was also affected by the same
+causes which brought about the disappearance of medicine. There
+was little inducement to look for evidence when an appeal could
+be made to superstitious fear. Hence the importance of the oath.
+Gregory himself, when he was charged with slandering queen
+Fredegunda, had to take oath to his innocence on three altars.
+We have also other appeals to the supernatural in the trial by com-
+bat and the ordeal. Another interference in the domain of law
+was a peculiar one ; holy men seemed to have a particular desire
+to set prisoners free. Gregory himself begs them off. We hear
+of one dead bishop whose body sank like lead on the street before
+the jail and could not be moved until all in the jail were let loose. 3
+Another holy man tried to secure the pardon of a notorious criminal,
+and failing, brought him back to life after he was executed.
+Glor. Conf., c. 9. 2 St. Martin. 3 De Virtut. S. Martin., I, 21, 25.
+xxiv
+In the History of the Franks attention is given from time to time
+to natural phenomena. With few exceptions these passages deal
+with prodigies. Gregory tells for example of the prodigies of the
+year 587. Most of them are given from his own personal observa-
+tion. 1 Mysterious marks which could not be deleted in any way
+appeared on dishes ; vines made a new growth and bore deformed
+fruit in the month of October after the vintage ; at the same time
+fresh leaves and fruits appeared on fruit trees ; rays of light were
+seen in the north. In addition Gregory mentions from hearsay
+that snakes had fallen from the clouds, and that a village with its
+inhabitants and dwellings had disappeared entirely. He goes on
+to say, "Many other signs appeared such as usually announce a
+king's death or the destruction of a country." In the same way
+he tells us of the signs preceding plagues. Sometimes he relates
+the prodigies without giving any sequel to them. In one case he
+says, "I do not know what these prodigies foretold." It is evident
+that the idea which Gregory had of the phenomena of nature was
+such as to prevent his giving any intelligent attention to them.
+The supernatural came between him and objective realities in such
+a way as to prevent the latter from having a natural effect upon his
+mind.
+The inhibiting and paralyzing force of superstitious beliefs
+penetrated to every department of life, and the most primary and
+elementary activities of society were influenced. War, for example,
+was not a simple matter of a test of strength and courage, but super-
+natural matters had to be taken carefully into consideration. When
+Clovis said of the Goths in southern Gaul, "I take it hard that
+these Arians should hold a part of the Gauls ; let us go with God's
+aid and conquer them and bring the land under our dominion," 2
+he was not speaking in a hypocritical or arrogant manner but in
+real accordance with the religious sentiment of the time. What
+he meant was that the Goths, being heretics, were at once enemies
+of the true God and inferior to the orthodox Franks in their super-
+natural backing. Considerations of duty, strategy, and self-in-
+terest all reenforced one another in Clovis's mind. However, it
+was not always the orthodox side that won. We hear of a battle
+fought a few years before Gregory became bishop of Tours between
+IX, 5. See p. 45-
+xxv
+king Sigibert and the Huns, 1 in which the Huns "by the use of magic
+arts caused various false appearances to arise before their enemies
+and overcame them decisively. " It is very plain that one exceedingly
+important function of the leader of a sixth-century army was to keep
+in the right relation with the supernatural powers. Clovis is repre-
+sented as heeding this necessity more than any other Frankish king. 2
+It is clear that in the sixth-century state of mind in Gaul nothing
+was purely secular. As far as possible all secular elements had been
+expelled. Men did not meet the objective realiliejj)lsociety and of
+nature as they were ; there was a superstitious interpretation for
+everything. The hope in such a condition of things lay only in un-
+conscious developments which might break through the closed system
+of thought before the latter realized that it was on the defensive.
+The most promising element in the situation was the Frankish
+state. Apparently the Frankish kingship was not to any large
+extent a magico-religious institution, but simply a recent develop-
+ment arising out of the conquest. As an institution it was not
+grounded in the superstitious past, and the cold hostility of the
+bishops kept it from the development usual in a benighted society.
+To this chance we may perhaps attribute a momentous result ; in
+it lay the possibility and promise of a secular state.
+In the case of King Chilperic we apparently have a premature
+development in this direction. We must read between the lines
+when Gregory speaks of him. Gregory calls him "the Nero and
+Herod of our time," and loads him with abuse. He ridicules his
+poems, and according to his own story overwhelms him with an
+avalanche of contempt when he ventures to state some new opinions
+on the Trinity. The significant thing about Chilperic was this,
+that he had at this time the independence of mind to make such a
+criticism, as well as the hard temper necessary to fight the bishops
+successfully. "In his reign," Gregory tells us, "very few of the
+clergy reached the office of bishop." Chilperic used often to say :
+" Behold our treasury has remained poor, our wealth has been trans-
+ferred to the churches ; there is no king but the bishops ; my office
+has perished and passed over to the bishops of the cities." 3 Chil-
+peric was thus the forerunner of the secular state in France.
+E. B.
+H. F., IV, 29. pp. 36-38, 40, 45, 53-54- ' See p. 166.
+====== History Of The Franks ======
+by Gregory Bishop Of Tours
+Here Begins Gregory's First Preface
+WITH liberal culture on the wane, or rather perishing in the Gallic
+cities, there were many deeds being done both good and evil : the
+heathen were raging fiercely ; kings were growing more cruel ; the
+church, attacked by heretics, was defended by Catholics ; while the
+Christian faith was in general devoutly cherished, among some it was
+growing cold; the churches also were enriched by the faithful or
+plundered by traitors and no grammarian skilled in the dialectic
+art could be found to describe these matters either in prose or verse ;
+and many were lamenting and saying: "Woe to our day, since
+the pursuit of letters has perished from among us and no one can
+be found among the people who can set forth the deeds of the present
+on the written page." Hearing continually these complaints and
+others like them I [have undertaken] to commemorate the past,
+in order that it may come to the knowledge of the future ; and
+although my speech is rude, I have been unable to be silent as to
+the struggles between the wicked and the upright ; and I have been
+especially encouraged because, to my surprise, it has often been said
+by men of our day, that few understand the learned words of the
+rhetorician but many the rude language of the common people.
+I have decided also that for the reckoning of the years the first
+book shall begin with the very beginning of the world, and I have
+given its chapters below.
+===== Here Begin The Chapters Of The First Book =====
+  - Adam and Eve.
+  - Cain and Abel.
+  - Enoch the Just.
+  - The flood.
+  - Cush, inventor of idols.
+  - Babylonia.
+  - Abraham and Ninus.
+  - Isaac, Esau, Job and Jacob.
+  - Joseph in Egypt
+  - Crossing of the Red Sea.
+  - The people in the desert and Joshua.
+  - The captivity of the people of Israel and the generations to David.
+  - Solomon and the building of the Temple.
+  - The division of the kingdom of Israel.
+  - The captivity in Babylonia.
+  - Birth of Christ.
+  - The various kingdoms of the nations.
+  - When Lyons was founded.
+  - The gifts of the magi and the slaughter of the infants.
+  - The miracles and suffering of Christ.
+  - Joseph who buried Him.
+  - James the apostle.
+  - The day of the Lord's resurrection.
+  - The ascension of the Lord and the death of Pilate and Herod.
+  - The suffering of the Apostles and Nero.
+  - James, Mark and John the evangelist.
+  - The persecution under Trajan.
+  - Hadrian and the heretics' lies and the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp and Justin.
+  - Saints Photinus, Irenaeus and the rest of the martyrs of Lyons.
+  - The seven men sent into the Gauls to preach.
+  - The church of Bourges.
+  - Chrocus and the shrine in Auvergne.
+  - The martyrs who suffered in Auvergne.
+  - The holy martyr, Privatus.
+  - Quirinus, bishop and martyr.
+  - Birth of St. Martin and the finding of the cross.
+  - James, bishop of Nisibis.
+  - Death of the monk Antony.
+  - The coming of St. Martin.
+  - The matron Melania.
+  - Death of the emperor Valens.
+  - Imperial rule of Theodosius.
+  - Death of the tyrant Maximus.
+  - Urbicus, bishop of Auvergne.
+  - The holy bishop Hillidius.
+  - The bishops Nepotian and Arthemius.
+  - The chastity of the lovers.
+  - St. Martin's death.
+===== IN CHRIST'S NAME HERE END THE CHAPTERS OF THE FIRST BOOK =====
+===== IN CHRIST'S NAME HERE BEGINS THE FIRST BOOK OF THE HISTORIES =====
+As I am about to describe the struggles of kings with the heathen
+enemy, of martyrs with pagans, of churches with heretics, I desire
+first of all to declare my faith so that my reader may have no doubt
+that I am Catholic. I have also decided, on account of those who
+are losing hope of the approaching end of the world, to collect the
+total of past years from chronicles and histories and set forth clearly
+how many years there are from the beginning of the world. But I
+first beg pardon of my readers if either in letter or in syllable I
+transgress the rules of the grammatic art in which I have not been
+fully instructed, since I have been eager only for this, to hold fast,
+without any subterfuge or irresolution of heart, to that which we
+are bidden in the church to believe, because I know that he who is
+liable to punishment for his sin can obtain pardon from God by
+untainted faith.
+I believe, then, in God the Father omnipotent. I believe in
+Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord God, born of the Father, not
+created. [I believe] that he-has always been with the Father, not
+only since time began but before all time. For the Father could
+not have been so named unless he had a son ; and there could be
+no son without a father. But as for those who say: " There was
+a time when he was not," 1 1 reject them with curses, and call men
+to witness that they are separated from the church. I believe
+that the word of the Father by which all things were made was
+Christ. I believe that this word was made flesh and by its suffer-
+ing_the world was redeemed, and I believe that humanity, not
+deity, was subject to the suffering. I believe that he rose again on
+the third day, that he freed sinful man, that he ascended to heaven,
+A leading belief of Arian Christology.
+that he sits on the right hand of the Father, that he will come to
+judge the living and the dead. I believe that the holy Spirit pro-
+ceeded from the Father and the Son, that it is not inferior and is
+not of later origin, but is God, equal and always co-eternal with
+the Father and the Son, consubstantial in its nature, equal in omnip-
+otence, equally eternal in its essence, and that it has never existed
+apart from the Father and the Son and is not inferior to the Father
+and the Son. I believe that this holy Trinity exists with separation
+of persons, and one person is that of the Father, another that of
+the Son, another that of the Holy Spirit. And in this Trinity I
+confess that there is one Deity, one power, one essence. I believe
+that the blessed Mary was a virgin after the birth as she was a
+virgin before. I believe that the soul is immortal but that never-
+theless it has no part in deity. And I faithfully believe all things
+that were established at Nicaea by the three hundred and eighteen
+bishops. But as to the end of the world I hold beliefs which I
+learned from our forefathers, that Antichrist will come first. And
+Antichrist will first propose circumcision, asserting that he is Christ ;
+next he will place his statue in the temple at Jerusalem to be wor-
+shiped, just as we read that the Lord said: "You shall see the
+abomination of desolation standing in the holy place." But the
+Lord himself declared that that day is hidden from all men, saying :
+"But of that day and that hour knoweth no one not even the angels
+in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father alone." Moreover we
+shall here make answer to the heretics 1 who attack us. asserting
+that the Son is inferior to the Father since he is ignorant of this day.
+Let them learn then that Son here is the name applied to the Chris-
+tian people, oT whom God says: "I shall be to them a father and
+they shall be to me for sons." For if he had spoken these words o
+the only-begotten Son he would never have given the angels first
+place. For he uses these words : "Not even the angels in heaven
+nor the Son," showing that he spoke these words not of the only-
+begotten but of the people of adoption. But our end is Christ him-
+self, who will graciously bestow eternal life on us if we turn to him.
+As to the reckoning of this world, the chronicles of Eusebius,
+bishop of Csesarea, and of Jerome the priest, speak clearly, and
+they reveal the plan of the whole succession of years. Orosius
+The Arians.
+too, searching into these matters very carefully, collects the whole
+number of years from the beginning of the world down to his
+own time. Victor also examined into this in connection with the
+time of the Easter festival. And so we follow the works of the
+writers mentioned above and desire to reckon the complete series
+of years from the creation of the first man down to our own time,
+if the Lord shall deign to lend his aid. And this we shall more
+easily accomplish if we begin with Adam himself.
+. In the beginning the Lord shaped the heaven and the earth
+in his Christ, who is the beginning of all things, that is, in his son ;
+and after creating the elements of the whole universe, taking a
+frail clod he formed man after his own image and likeness, and
+breathed upon his face the breath of life and he was made into a
+living soul. And while he slept a rib was taken from him and the
+woman, Eve, was created. There is no doubt that this first man
+Adam before he sinned typified the Redeemer. For as the
+Redeemer slept in the stupor of suffering and caused water and
+blood to issue from his side, he brought into existence the virgin
+and unspotted church, redeemed by blood, purified by water, hav-
+ing no spot or wrinkle, that is, washed with water to avoid a spot,
+stretched on the cross to avoid a wrinkle. These first human beings,
+who were living happily amid the pleasant scenes of Paradise, were
+tempted by the craft of the serpent. They transgressed the divine
+precepts and were cast out from the abode of angels and condemned
+to the labors of the world.
+. Through intercourse with her companion the woman con-
+ceived and bore two sons. But when God received the sacrifice of
+the one with honor, the other was inflamed with envy ; he rushed
+on his brother, overcame and killed him, becoming the first parricide
+by shedding a brother's blood.
+. Then the whole race rushed into accursed crime, except the
+just Enoch, who walked in the ways of God and was taken up from
+the midst by the Lord himself on account of his uprightness, and
+freed from a sinful people. For we read : "Enoch walked with the
+Lord, and he did not appear for God took him."
+. And so the Lord, being angered against the iniquities of
+the people who did not walk in his ways, sent a flood, and by its
+waters destroyed every living soul from the face of the earth ; only
+Noah, who was most faithful and especially belonged to him and
+bore the stamp of his image, he saved in the ark, with his wife and
+those of his three sons, that they might restore posterity, gere
+the heretics upbraid us because the holy Scripture says that the
+Lord was angry. Let them know therefore that our God is not
+angry like a man ; for he is aroused in order to inspire fear ; he
+drives away to summon back.; he is angry in order to amend. Fur-
+thermore I have no doubt that the ark typified the mother church.
+For^ssing-amidst the waves and rocks of this world it protects us
+in its motherly arms from threatening ills, and guards us with its
+hply_embrace and protection.
+Now from Adam to Noah are ten generations, namely : Adam,
+Seth, Enos, Cainan, Malalehel, Jareth, Enoch, Mattusalam,
+Lamech, Noah. In these ten generations 2242 years are included.
+The book Joshua clearly indicates that Adam was buried in the
+land of Enacim, which before was called Hebron.
+. Noah had after the flood three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.
+From Japheth issued nations, and likewise from Ham and from
+Shem. And, as ancient history says, from these the human race
+was scattered under the whole heaven. The first-born of Ham
+was Cush. He was the first inventor of the whole art of magic
+and of idolatry, being instructed by the devil. He was the first
+to set up an idol to be worshipped, at the instigation of the devil,
+and by his false power he showed to men stars and fire falling from
+heaven. He passed over to the Persians. The Persians called
+him Zoroaster, that is, living star. They were trained by him to
+worship fire, and they reverence as a god the man who was himself
+consumed by the divine fire.
+. Since men had multiplied and were spreading over all the
+earth they passed out from the East and found the grassy plain
+of Senachar. There they built a city and strove to raise a tower
+which should reach the heavens. And God brought confusion both
+to their vain enterprise and their language, and scattered them over
+the wide world, and the city was called Babyl, that is, confusion,
+because there God had confused their tongues. This is Babylonia,
+built by the giant Nebron, son of Cush. As the history of Orosius
+tells, it is laid out foursquare on a very level plain. Its wall, made
+of baked brick cemented with pitch, is fifty cubits wide, two hun-
+dred high, and four hundred and seventy stades in circumference.
+A stade contains five agripennes. Twenty-five gates are situated
+on each side, which make in all one hundred. The doors of these
+gates, which are of wonderful size, are cast in bronze. The same
+historian tells many other tales of this city, and says: " Although
+such was the glory of its building still it was conquered and de-
+stroyed."
+[7. Abraham, who is described as "the beginning of our faith."
+. Isaac, Esau, Jacob, Job. 9. The twelve patriarchs, the
+story of Joseph, and the coming out of Egypt to the crossing of the
+Red Sea.] 1
+. Since many authorities have made varying statements
+about this crossing of the sea I have decided to give here some in-
+formation concerning the situation of the place and the crossing
+itself. The Nile flows through Egypt, as you very well know, and
+waters it by its flood, from which the inhabitants of Egypt are
+named Nilicolae. And many travellers say its shores are filled at
+the present time with holy monasteries. And on its bank is situ-
+ated, not the Babylonia of which we spoke above, but the city of
+Babylonia in which Joseph built wonderful granaries of squared
+stone and rubble. 2 They are wide at the base and narrow at the
+top in order that the wheat might be cast into them through a tiny
+opening, and these granaries are to be seen at the present day.
+From this city the king set out in pursuit of the Hebrews with armies
+of chariots and a great infantry force. Now the stream mentioned
+above coming from the east passes in a westerly direction towards
+the Red Sea ; and from the west a lake or arm of the Red Sea juts
+out and stretches to the east, being about fifty miles long and eigh-
+teen wide. 3 And at the head of this lake the city of Clysma is
+built, not on account of the fertility of the soil, since there is noth-
+ing more barren, but because of the harbor, since ships coming
+from the Indias lie there for the convenience of the harbor; and
+the wares purchased there are carried through all Egypt. Toward
+this arm the Hebrews hastened through the wilderness, and they
+came to the sea itself and encamped, finding fresh water. It was
+in this place, shut in by the wilderness as well as by the sea, that
+( rhe square brackets indicate where less significant sections of the text have
+been summarized. 2 The Pyramids, apparently. 3 Gregory's geography is mixed.
+they encamped, as it is written: " Pharaoh, hearing that the sea
+and the wilderness shut them in and that they had no way by which
+they could go, set out in pursuit of them." And when they were
+close upon them and the people cried to Moses, he stretched out
+his wand over the sea, according to the command of the Deity,
+and it was divided, and they walked on dry ground, and, as the
+Scripture says, they crossed unharmed under Moses' leadership, a
+wall of water on either hand, to that shore which is before Mount
+Sinai, while the Egyptians were drowned. And many tales are
+told of this crossing, as I have said. But we desire to insert in
+this account what we have learned as true from the wise, and espe-
+cially from those who have visited the place. They actually say
+that the furrows which the wheels of the chariots made remain to
+the present time and are seen in the deep water as far as the eye
+can trace them. And if the roughness of the sea obliterates them
+in a slight degree, when the sea is calm they are divinely renewed
+again as they were. Others say that they returned to the very
+bank where they had entered, making a small circuit through the
+sea. And others assert that all entered by one way ; and a good
+many, that a separate way opened to each tribe, giving this evidence
+from the Psalms: "Who divided the Red Sea in parts." l But
+these parts ought to be understood according to the spirit and not
+according to the letter. For there are many parts in this world,
+which is figuratively called a sea. For all cannot pass to life
+equally or by one way. Some pass in the first hour, that is those
+who are born anew by baptism and are able to endure to the depar-
+ture from this life unspotted by any defilement of the flesh. Others
+in the third hour, plainly those who are converted later in life;
+others in the sixth hour, being those who hold in check the heat of
+wanton living. And in each of these hours, as the evangelist relates,
+they are hired for the work of the Lord's vineyard, each according
+to his faith. These are the parts in which the passage is made
+across this sea. As to the opinion that upon entering the sea they
+kept close to the shore and returned, these are the words which the
+Lord said to Moses: "Let them turn back and encamp before
+Phiahiroth which is between Magdalum and the sea before Bel-
+sephon." There is no doubt that this passage of the sea and the
+Psalms cxxxv. 13.
+pillar of cloud typified our baptism, according to the words of the
+blessed Paul the apostle: "I would not, brethren, have you igno-
+rant that our fathers were all under the cloud and all baptized unto
+Moses in the cloud and in the sea." And the pillar of fire typified
+the holy Spirit. Now from the birth of Abraham to the going forth
+of the children of Israel from Egypt and the crossing of the Red
+Sea, which was in the eightieth year of Moses, there are reckoned
+four hundred and sixty-two years.
+[u. The Israelites spend forty years in the wilderness. 12.
+From the crossing of the Jordan to David. 13. Solomon. 14.
+Division of the kingdom into Judaea and Israel. 15. The cap-
+tivity. 1 6. From the captivity to the birth of Christ.]
+. In order not to seem to have knowledge of the Hebrew
+race alone 1 we shall tell what the remaining kingdoms were in the
+time of the Israelites. In the time of Abraham Ninus ruled over
+the Assyrians ; Eorops over the Sitiones ; among the Egyptians it
+was the sixteenth government, which they call in their own tongue
+dynasty. In Moses' time lived Trophas, seventh king of the Argives ;
+Cecrops, first in Attica ; Generis, who was overwhelmed in the Red
+Sea, twelfth among the Egyptians;. Agatadis, sixteenth among
+the Assyrians; Maratis was ruler of the Sicionii. . . . 2
+[18. Beginning of the Roman empire ; founding of Lyons, a city
+afterwards ennobled by the blood of martyrs. 19. Birth of Christ.
+. Christ's crucifixion. 21. Joseph is imprisoned and escapes mi-
+raculously . 2 2 . James fasts from the death of the Lord to the resur-
+rection. 23. The day of the Lord's resurrection is the first, not the
+seventh. 24. Pilate transmits an account of Christ to Tiberius.
+The end of Pilate and of Herod. 25. Peter and Paul are executed
+at Rome by order of Nero, who later kills himself. 26. The mar-
+tyrs, Stephen, James and Mark ; burning of Jerusalem by Vespasian ;
+death of John. 27. Persecution under Trajan. 28. The rise of
+heresy. Further persecutions. 29. The martyrs of Lyons. Iren-
+aeus, second bishop, converts the whole city. His death and that
+of " vast numbers," of whom Gregory knows of forty-eight.]
+Gregory's purpose is not realized.
+Jerome's Chronicle was the source for the history summarized here. It is clear
+that Gregory had not much sense of the historical perspective in spite of a list of
+names which might impress his audience. He passes directly from " Servius the sixth
+king of Rome " to Julius Caesar the founder of the empire.
+. Under the emperor E)ej:iusjmjm^^
+the name of Christ, and there was such a slaughter of believers that
+they could not be numbered. Babillas, bishop of Antioch, with
+his three little sons, Urban, Prilidan and Epolon, and Xystus,
+bishop of Rome, Laurentius, an archdeacon, and Hyppolitus, were
+made perfect by martyrdom because they confessed the name of
+the Lord. Valentinian and Novatian were then the chief heretics
+and were active against our faith, the enemy urging them on. _At_
+this time^ sevenjiien were ordained as bishops anoL_sent into the
+Gaoals tojpreach^ as the history of the^rnart^5oiriof the Jholyjnartyr
+Sa^urnjrius relates. For it says : "In the consulship ofDecius and
+Gratus, as faithful memory recalls, tfrp n'ty n
+Saturninus as its first and greatest bishop." These bish-
+,- ops were sent: bishop (Jatianus to Tours; bishop Trophimus to
+Aries ; bishop Paul to Narbonne ; bishop Saturninus to Toulouse ;
+bishop Dionisius to Paris ; bishop Stremonius to Clermont ; bishop
+Martial to Limoges.
+And of these the blessed Dionisius, bishop of Paris, after suffer-
+ing divers pains in Christ's name, ended the present life by the
+threatening sword. And Saturninus, already certain of martyrdom,
+said to his two priests: "Behold, I am now to be offered as a victim
+and the time of my death draws near. I ask you not to leave me
+at all before I come to the end." But when he was seized and was
+being dragged to the capitol he was abandoned by them and was
+dragged alone. And so when he saw that he was abandoned he is
+said to have made this prayer; "Lord Jesus Christ, grant my re-
+quest from holy heaven, that this church may never in all time have
+the merit to receive a bishop from among its citizens." And we
+know that to the present it has been so in this city. And he was
+tied to the feet of a mad bull, and being sent headlong from the
+capitol he ended his life. Catianus, Trophimus, Stremonius, Paul
+and Marcial lived in the greatest sanctity, winning people to the
+church'and^ spfeHflirig ' the"~f aith of Christ among all, and dJedm
+peace, confessing the faith. And thus the former by martyrdom,
+as well lis the latterTiy confession, left the earth and were united
+in the heavens.
+. One of their disciples went to the city of Bourges and car-
+ried to the people the news of Christ the lord as the saviour of all.
+A few of them believed and were ordained priests and learned the
+ajn>^^ to build^TcEurclT
+and how they ought to observe the worship of the omnipotent
+God. But as they had small means for buikfing as yet," tHe~citizefis"
+asked for "the house of a certain man to use for a church. But the
+senators and the rest of the better class of the place were at that
+time devoted to the heathen religion and the believers were of the
+poor, according to the word of the Lord with which he reproached
+the Jews saying; "Harlots and publicans go into the kingdom of
+God before you." And they did not obtain the house from the
+person from whom they asked it, but they found a certain Leo-
+cadius, 1 the first senator of the Gauls, who was of the family of
+Vectius Epagatus, who, we have said above, suffered in Lyons in
+Christ's name. And when they had made known to him at the
+same time their petition and their faith he answered; "If my own
+house in the city of Bourges were worthy of this work I would not
+refuse to offer it." And when they heard this they fell at his feet
+and offered three hundred gold pieces on a silver dish and said
+the house was very worthy of this mystery. And he accepted three
+gold pieces from them for a blessing and kindly returned the rest,
+although he was yet entangled in the error of idolatry, and he be-
+came a Christian and made his house a church. This is now the
+first church in the city of Bourges, built with marvelous skill and
+made illustrious by the relics of Stephen, the first martyr.
+. Valerian and Gallienus received the Roman imperial power
+in the twenty-seventh place, and set on foot a cruel persecution
+of the Christians. At that time Cornelius brought fame to Rome
+by his happy death, and Cyprian to Carthage. In their time also
+Chrocus the famous king of the Alemanni raised an army and over-
+ran the Gauls. This Chrocus is said to have been very arrogant.
+And when he had committed a great many crimes he gathered
+the tribe of the Alemanni, as we have stated, by the advice,
+it is said, of his wicked mother, and overran the whole of the
+Gauls, and destroyed from their foundations all the temples which
+had been built in ancient times. And coming to Clermont he set
+Gregory's paternal grandmother was Leocadia, who traced her descent from
+Vectius Epagatus. See Historia Francorum ed. Arndt, Introd. p. 4, in Monumenta
+Germaniae Historica. The story related above was from Gregory's family tradition.
+on fire, overthrew and destroyed that shrine which they call Vasso
+Galatae in the Gallic tongue. It had been built and made strong
+with wonderful skill. And its wall was double, for on the inside
+it was built of small stone and on the outside of squared blocks.
+The wall had a thickness of thirty feet. It was adorned on the
+inside with marble and mosaics. The pavement of the temple
+was also of marble and its roof above was of lead.
+[33. Martyrs of Clermont. 34. The bishop of Gevaudan is
+maltreated by the Alemanni.]
+. Under Diocletian, who was emperor of Rome in the thirty-
+third place, a cruel persecution of the Christians was kept up for
+four years, at one time in the course of which great numbers of
+Christians were put to death, on the sacred day of Easter, for wor-
+shiping the true God. At that time Quirinus, bishop of the
+church of Sissek, 1 endured glorious martyrdom in Christ's name.
+The cruel pagans cast him into a river with a millstone tied to his
+neck, and when he had fallen into the waters he was long supported
+on the surface by a divine miracle, and the waters did not suck him
+down since the weight of crime did not press upon him. And a
+multitude of people standing around wondered at the thing, and
+despising the rage of the heathen they hastened to free the bishop.
+He saw this and did not permit himself to be deprived of martyr-
+dom, and raising his eyes to heaven he said: " Jesus lord, who
+sittest in glory at the right hand of the Father, suffer me not to be
+taken from this course, but receive my soul and deign to unite me
+with thy martyrs in eternal peace." With these words he gave up
+the ghost, and his body was taken up by the Christians and rever-
+ently buried.
+. Constantine was the thirty-fourth emperor of the Romans,
+and he reigned prosperously for thirty years. In the eleventh
+year of his reign, when peace had been granted to the churches after
+the death of Diocletian, our blessed patron Martin was born at
+Sabaria, a city of Pannonia, of heathen parents, who still were not
+of the lowest station. This Constantine in the twentieth year of
+his reign caused the death of his son Crispus by poison, and of his
+wife Fausta by means of a hot bath, because they had plotted to
+betray his rule. In his time the venerated wood of the Lord's
+In Hungary.
+cross was found, through the zeal of his mother Helen on the infor-
+mation of Judas, a Hebrew who was called Quiriacus after baptism.
+The historian Eusebius comes down to this period in his chronicle.
+The priest Jerome continues it from the twenty-first year of Con-
+stantine's reign. He informs us that the priest Juvencus wrote the
+gospels in verse at the request of the emperor named above.
+[37. James of Nisibis and Maximin of Treves. 38. Hilarius
+bishop of Poitiers.]
+. At that time our light arose and Gaul was traversed by
+the rays of a new lamp, that is, the most blessed Martin then began
+to preach Jrrthe^GaulSj^and he overcame the unbelieToTtEeligatlieii,
+showing among the people by many miracles that Christ the Son
+of God was the true God. He destroyed heathen shrines, crushed
+heresy, built churches, and while he was glorious for many other
+miracles, he completed his title to fame by restoring three dead
+men to life. At Poitiers, in the fourth year of Valentinian and
+Valens, Saint Hilarius passed to heaven full of sanctity and faith,
+a priest of many miracles ; for he too is said to have raised the dead.
+[40. Melania's journey to Jerusalem.]
+. After the death of Valentinian, Valens, who succeeded to
+the undivided empire, gave orders that the monks be compelled
+to serve in the army, and commanded that those who refused should
+be beaten with clubs. After this the Romans fought a very fierce
+battle in Thrace, in which there was such slaughter that the Romans
+fled on foot after losing their horses, and when they were being cut
+to pieces by the Goths, and Valens was fleeing with an arrow wound,
+he entered a small hut, the enemy closely pursuing, and the little
+dwelling was burned over him. And he was deprived of the burial
+he desired. And thus the divine vengeance finally came for shed-
+ding the blood of the saints. Thus far Jerome; from this period
+the priest Orosius wrote at greater length.
+[42. The pious emperor Theodosius. 43. The emperor Maxi-
+mus with capital at Treves. 44. Urbicus, second bishop of Cler-
+mont, and his wife. 45. Hillidius, third bishop of Clermont, and
+his miracles. 46. Nepotian and Arthemius, fourth and fifth
+bishops of Clermont. 47. Legend of the two lovers of Clermont.]
+. In the second year of the reign of Arcadius and Honorius,
+Saint Martin, bishop of Tours, departed this life at Candes, a
+village of his diocese, and passed happily to Christ in the eighty-
+first year of his life and the twenty-sixth of his episcopate, a man
+full of miracles and holiness, doing many services to the infirm.
+He passed away at midnight of the Lord's day, in the consulship
+of Atticus and Csesarius. Many heard at his passing away the
+sound of psalm-singing in heaven, which I have spoken of at greater
+length in the first book of his Miracles. Now as soon as the saint
+of God fell sick at the village of Candes, as we have related, the
+people of Poitiers came to be present at his death, as did also the
+people of Tours. And when he died, a great dispute arose between
+the two peoples. For the people of Poitiers said : "As a monk, he
+is ours ; as an abbot, he belonged to us ; we demand that he be
+given to us. Let it be enough for you that when he was a bishop
+on earth you enjoyed his conversation, ate with him, were strength-
+ened by his blessings and cheered by his miracles. Let all that
+be enough for you. Let us be permitted to carry away his dead
+body." To this the people of Tours replied : "If you say that the
+working of his miracles is enough for us, let us tell you that while
+he was placed among you he worked more miracles than he did here.
+For, to pass over most of them, he raised two dead men for you,
+and one for us; and as he used often to say himself, there was
+more virtue in him before he was bishop than after. And so it is
+necessary that he complete for us after death what he did not finish
+in his lifetime. For he was taken away from you and given to us
+by God. If a custom long established is kept, a man shall have
+his tomb by God's command in the city in which he was ordained.
+And if you desire to claim him because of the right of the monastery,
+let us tell you that his first monastery was at Milan." While they
+were arguing in this way the sun sank and night closed in. And
+the body was placed in the midst, and the doors were barred and
+the body was guarded by both peoples, and it was going to be car-
+ried off by violence by the people of Poitiers in the morning. But
+omnipotent God was unwilling that the city of Tours should be
+deprived of its protector. Finally at midnight the whole band from
+Poitiers were overwhelmed with sleep and no one remained out of
+this multitude to keep watch. Then when the people of Tours
+saw that they had fallen asleep they seized on the clay of the holy
+body and some thrust it out the window and others received it
+outside, and placing it in a boat they went down the river Vienne
+with all their people and entered the channel of the Loire, and made
+their way to the city of Tours with great praises and plentiful psalm-
+singing, and the people of Poitiers were waked by their voices, and
+having no treasure to guard they returned to their own place
+greatly crestfallen. An$ if any one asks why there was only one
+bishop, that is, Litorius, after the death of bishop Gatianus to the
+time of Saint Martin, let him know that for a long time the city of
+Tours was without the blessing of a bishop, owing to the resistance
+of the heathen! For they who lived as Christians at that time
+celebrated the divine office secretly and in hiding. FQrJLany_hris-
+tians were found by the heathen they were punished with stripes or
+slain by the sword.
+Now from the suffering of the Lord to the passing of Saint
+Martin, 412 years are included.
+HERE ENDS THE FIRST BOOK CONTAINING 5597 YEARS WHICH
+ARE RECKONED FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD TO THE
+DEATH OF THE HOLY BISHOP MARTIN.
+===== HERE BEGIN THE CHAPTERS OF THE SECOND BOOK =====
+. The episcopate of Bricius.
+. The Vandals and the persecution of the Christians under them.
+. Cyrola the heretics' bishop and the holy martyrs.
+. The persecution under Athanaric.
+. Bishop Aravatius and the Huns.
+. St. Stephen's church in the city of Metz.
+. The wife of ^tius.
+. What the historians have written about ^Etius.
+. What the same say of the Franks.
+. What the prophets of the Lord write about the images of the nations.
+. The emperor Avitus.
+. King Childeric and Egidius.
+. The episcopate of Venerandus and of Rusticus in Auvergne.
+. The episcopate of Eustochius at Tours and of Perpetuus; St. Martin's
+church.
+. The church of St. Simphorianus.
+. Bishop Namatius and the church at Clermont.
+. His wife and St. Stephen's church.
+. How Childeric went to Orleans and Odoacer to Angers.
+. War between the Saxons and Romans.
+. Duke Victor.
+. Bishop Eparchius.
+. Bishop Sidonius.
+. The holiness of bishop Sidonius and the visitation of the divine vengeance
+for the wrongs done to him.
+. The famine in Burgundy and Ecdicius.
+. The persecutor Euvarege.
+. Death of the holy Perpetuus and the episcopates of Volusianus and Virus.
+. Clovis becomes king.
+. Clovis marries Clotilda.
+. Death of their first son in his baptismal garments.
+. War with the Alamanni.
+. Clevis's baptism.
+. War with Gundobad.
+. Killing of Godegisel.
+. How Gundobad wished to be converted.
+
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+. Clovis and Alaric have an interview.
+. Bishop Quintian.
+. War with Alaric.
+. King Clovis is made patrician.
+. Bishop Licinius.
+. Killing of Sigibert the elder and his son.
+. Killing of Chararic and his son.
+. Killing of Ragnachar and his brothers.
+. Death of Clovis.
+HERE END THE CHAPTERS
+HERE BEGINS THE SECOND BOOK
+FOLLOWING the order of time we shall mingle together in our
+tale the miraculous doings of the saints and the slaughters of the
+nations. I do not think that we shall be condemned thoughtlessly
+if we tell of the happy lives of the blessed together with the deaths
+of the wretched, since it is not the skill of the writer but the suc-
+cession of times that has furnished the arrangement. The atten-
+tive reader, if he seeks diligently, will find in the famous histories
+of the kings of the Israelites that under the just Samuel the wicked
+Phineas perished, and that under David, whom they called Strong-
+hand, the stranger Goliath was destroyed. Let him remember
+also in the time of the great prophet Elias, who prevented rains
+when he wished and when he pleased poured them on the parched
+ground, who enriched the poverty of the widow by his prayer, what
+slaughters of the people there were, what famine and what thirst
+oppressed the wretched earth. Let him remember what evil Jeru-
+salem endured in the time of Hezekiah, to whom God granted fifteen
+additional years of life. Moreover under the prophet Elisha, who
+restored the dead to life and did many other miracles among the
+peoples, what butcheries, what miseries crushed the very people of
+Israel. So too Eusebius, Severus and Jerome in their chronicles,
+and Orosius also, interwove the wars of kings and the miracles
+of the martyrs. We have written in this way also, because it is
+thus easier to perceive in their entirety the order of the centuries
+and the system of the years down to our day. And so, leaving
+the histories of the writers who have been mentioned above, we
+shall describe at God's bidding what was done in the later time.
+i. After the death of the blessed Martin, bishop of Tours, a
+very great and incomparable man, whose miracles fill great volumes
+in our possession, Bricius succeeded to the bishopric. Now this
+'Bricius, when he was a young man and the saint was yet living in
+
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+the body, used to lay many traps for him, because he was often
+accused by Saint Martin of following the easy way. And one day
+when a sick man was looking for the blessed Martin in order to get
+medicine from him he met Bricius, at this time a deacon, in the
+square, and he said to him in a simple fashion: " Behold I am
+seeking the blessed man, and I don't know where he is or what he
+is doing." And Bricius said: "If you are seeking for that crazy
+person look in the distance ; there he is, staring at the sky in
+his usual fashion, as if he were daft." And when the poor man
+had seen him and got what he wanted, the blessed Martin said to
+the deacon : "Well, Bricius, I seem to you crazy, do I ? " And when
+the latter, in confusion at this, denied he had said so, the saint
+replied: "Were not my ears at your lips when you said this at a
+distance? Verily I say unto you that I have prevailed upon God
+that you shall succeed to the bishop's office after me, but let me tell
+you that you will surfer many misfortunes in your tenure of the
+office." Bricius on hearing this laughed and said: "Did I not
+speak the truth that he uttered crazy words ? " Furthermore, when
+he had attained to the rank of priest, he often attacked the blessed
+man with abuse. But when he had become bishop by the choice
+of the citizens, he devoted himself to prayer. And although he
+was proud and vain he was nevertheless considered chaste in his
+body. Butjp.--the thirty-third year after his ^ordination there
+arose agajSst him aTfaffiffptahte ground for accusation. For a
+woman to whom his servants used to give his garments to be washed,
+one who had changed her garb on the pretext of religion, conceived
+and bore a child. Because of this the whole population of Tours
+arose in wrathand laid the whole blame on the bishop, wishing with
+one accord to stone him. For they said: "The piety of a holy
+man has too long been a cover for your wantonness. But God
+does not any longer allow us to be polluted by kissing your unworthy
+hands." But he denied the charge forcibly. "Bring the infant
+to me," said he. And when the infant, which was thirty days old,
+was brought, the bishop said to it: "I adjure you in the name
+of Jesus Christ, son of omnipotent God, to declare publicly to
+all if I begot you." And the child said : "It is not you who are
+my father." When the people asked him to inquire who was the
+father, the bishop said: "That is not my affair. I was troubled
+THE SECOND BOOK 23
+in so far as the matter concerned me ; inquire for yourselves what-
+ever you want." Then they asserted that this had been done by
+magic arts, and arose against him in a conspiracy, and dragged him
+along, saying: "You j&all not rule us any longer underthe false
+name of a shepherd." And to satisfy the people he plaoecf red-hoF
+coals in his cloak and drawing it close to him he walked as far as
+the tomb of the blessed Martin along with throngs of the people.
+And when the coals were cast down before the tomb his robe was
+seen to be unburned. And he said: "Just as you see this robe
+uninjured by the fire, so too my body is undefiled by union with a
+woman." And when they did not believe but denied it, he was
+dragged, abused, and cast out, in order that the words of the saint
+might be fulfilled : "Let me tell you that you will suffer many
+misfortunes in your episcopate." When he was cast out they
+appointed Justinian to the office of bishop. Finally Bricius went
+to see the pope of the city of Rome, weeping and wailing and say-
+ing-: "Rightly do I suffer this because I sinned against a saint of
+God and often called him crazy and daft; and when I saw his
+miracles I did not believe." And after his departure the people
+of Tours said to their bishop : "Go after him and attend to your
+own interest, for if you do not attack him, you shall be humiliated
+by the contempt of us all." And Justinian went forth from Tours
+and came to Vercelli, a city of Italy, and was smitten by a judg-
+ment of God and died in a strange country. The people of Tours
+heard of his death, and persisting in their evil course, they appointed
+Armentius in his place. But bishop Bricius went to Rome and
+related to the pope all that he had endured. And while he remained
+at the apostolic see he often celebrated the solemn ceremony of the
+mass, weeping for the wrong he had done to the saint of God. In
+the seventh year he left Rome and by the authority of that pope
+purposed to return to Tours. And when he came to the village
+called Mont-Louis at the sixth mile-stone from the city, he resided
+there. Now Armentius was seized with a fever and died at mid-
+night. This was at once revealed to bishop Bricius in a vision,
+and he said to his people: "Rise quickly, so that we may go to
+bury our brother, the bishop of Tours." And when they came
+and entered one gate of the city, behold they were carrying his dead
+body out by another. And when he was buried, Bricius returned
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+to the bishop's chair and lived happily seven years after. And when
+he died in the forty-seventh year of his episcopate, Saint Eusto-
+chius, a man of magnificent holiness, succeeded him.
+. After this the Vandals left their own country and burst into
+the Gauls under king Gunderic. And when the Gauls had been
+thoroughly laid waste they made for the Spains. The Suebi, that
+is, Alamanni, following them, seized Gallicia. Not long after, a
+quarrel arose between the two peoples, since they were neighbors.
+And when they had gone armed to the battle, and were already at
+the point of fighting, the king of the Alemanni said : "Why are all
+the people involved in war? Let our people, I pray, not kill one
+another in battle, but let two of our warriors go to the field in arms
+and fight with one another. Then he whose champion wins shall
+hold the region without strife.'' To this all the people agreed, that
+the whole multitude might not rush on the edge of the sword. In
+these days king Gunderic had died and in his place Thrasamund held
+the kingdom. And in the conflict of the champions the side of the
+Vandals was overcome, and, his champion being slain, Thrasamund
+promised to depart, and so, when he had made the necessary prep-
+arations for the journey, he removed from the territories of Spain.
+About the same time Thrasamund persecuted the Christians,
+and by torture and different sorts of death tried to force all Spain
+to consent to the perfidy of the Arian sect. And it so happened
+that a certain maiden bound by religious vows was brought to
+trial. She was very rich and of the senatorial nobility according
+to the ranking of the world, and what is nobler than all this, strong
+in the catholic faith and a blameless servant of Almighty God.
+And when she was brought before the eyes of the king he first began
+to coax her with kind words to be baptized again. And when she
+repelled his venomous shaft by the armor of the faith, the king
+commanded that wealth be taken from her who already in her
+heart possessed the kingdom of paradise, and later that she should
+be tortured without hope of this life. Why make a long story?
+After long examinations, after losing the treasure of earthly riches,
+when she could not be forced to attack the blessed Trinity she was
+led against her will to be re-baptized. And when she was being
+forcibly immersed in that filthy bath and was crying loudly; "I
+believe that the Father and the holy Spirit are of one substance with
+THE SECOND BOOK 25
+the Son," when she said this she stained the water with a worthy
+ointment, 1 that is, she denied it with excrement. Then she was
+taken to the examination according to the law, and after the needle,
+flame and claw, she was beheaded for Christ the lord. After this
+the Vandals crossed the sea, the Alemanni following as far as
+Tangier, and were dispersed throughout all Africa and Mauretania.
+[3. Persecutions of Catholics by Arians under the Vandal king
+Honeric of Africa. 4. The same, under the Gothic king Athanaric
+of Spain. 5. Journey of Bishop Aravatius of Tongres to Rome
+that he might avert by prayer the threatened invasion of the Huns.
+But there he learns that "it was sanctioned in the council of the
+Lord that the Huns must come into the Gauls and ravage them."
+He returns to Tongres and dies.]
+. Now the Huns left Pannonia and, as certain say, on the very
+watch-night of holy Easter arrived at the city of Metz, after dev-
+astating the country, and gave the city over to burning, slaying
+the people with the edge of the sword and killing the very priests
+of the Lord before the holy altars. And there remained in the city
+no place unburned except the oratory of the blessed Stephen, the
+deacon and first martyr. And I do not hesitate to tell what I have
+heard from certain persons about this oratory. For they say that
+before these enemies came, a man of the faith saw in a vision the
+blessed levite Stephen as if conferring with the holy apostles Peter
+and Paul, and speaking as follows about this disaster : "I beg you,
+my lords, to prevent by your intercession the burning of the city
+of Metz by the enemy, because there is a place in it in which the
+relics of my life on earth are preserved ; rather let the people learn
+that I have some influence with God. But if the wickedness of
+the people has grown too great, so that nothing else can be done ex-
+cept deliver the city to burning, at least let this oratory not be
+consumed." And they replied to him: "Go in peace, beloved
+brother, your oratory alone the fire shall not burn. But as for the
+city, we shall not prevail, because the sentence of the will of the
+Lord has already gone out over it. For the sin of the people has
+grown great, and the outcry of their wickedness ascends to the
+presence of God; therefore this city shall be burned with fire."
+For aqua sanguine cuncta infecit read digne aquas unguine infecit. See Bonnet,
+Le Latin de Gregoire de Tours, p. 457.
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+Whence it is certain that it was by the intercession of these that
+when the city was burned the oratory remained unharmed.
+. And Attila king of the Huns went forth from Metz and
+when he had crushed many cities of the Gauls he attacked Orleans
+and strove to take it by the mighty hammering of battering rams.
+Now at that time the most blessed Annianus was bishop in the city
+just mentioned, a man of unequaled wisdom and praiseworthy
+holiness, whose miracles are faithfully remembered among us. And
+when the people, on being shut in, cried to their bishop, and asked
+what they were to do, trusting in God he advised all to prostrate
+themselves in prayer, and with tears to implore the ever present
+aid of God in their necessities. Then when they prayed as he had
+directed, the bishop said: "Look from the wall of the city to see
+whether God's mercy yet comes to your aid." For he hoped that
+by God's mercy ^Etius was coming, to whom he had recourse before
+at Aries when he was anxious about the future. But when they
+looked from the wall, they saw no one. And he said: "Pray
+faithfully, for God will free you this day." When they had prayed
+he said: "Look again." And when they looked they saw no one
+to bring aid. He said to them a third time: "If you pray faith-
+fully, God comes swiftly." And they besought God's mercy with
+weeping and loud cries. When this prayer also was finished they
+looked from the wall a third time at the old man's command, and
+saw afar off a cloud as it were arising from the earth. When they
+reported this the bishop said : "It is the aid of the Lord." Mean-
+while, when the walls were now trembling from the hammering of
+the rams and were just about to fall, behold, ytius came, and
+Theodore, king of the Goths and Thorismodus his son hastened to
+the city with their armies, and drove the enemy forth and defeated
+him. And so the city was freed by the intercession of the blessed
+bishop, and they put Attila to flight. And he went to the plain
+of Moirey and got ready for battle. And hearing this, they made
+manful preparations to meet him. . . .
+^Etius with the Goths and Franks fought against Attila. And
+the latter saw that his army was being destroyed, and escaped by
+flight. And Theodore, king of the Goths, was slain in the battle.
+Now let no one doubt that the army of Huns was put to flight by
+the intercession of the bishop mentioned above. And so ^Etius
+THE SECOND BOOK 27
+the patrician, along with Thorismodus, won the victory and de-
+stroyed the enemy. And when the battle was finished, ^Etius said
+to Thorismodus: "Make haste and return swiftly to your native
+land, for fear you lose your father's kingdom because of your
+brother." The latter, on hearing this, departed speedily with the
+intention of anticipating his brother, and seizing his father's
+throne first. At the same time ^Etius by a stratagem caused the
+king of the Franks to flee. When they had gone, ^Etius took the
+spoils of the battle and returned victoriously to his country with
+much booty. And Attila retreated with a few men. Not long after
+Aquileia was captured by the Huns and burned and altogether
+destroyed. Italy was overrun and plundered. Thorismodus,
+whom we have mentioned above, overcame the Alans in battle,
+and was himself defeated later on by his brothers, after many
+quarrels and battles, and put to death.
+[8. The history of Renatus Frigeridus is quoted for the char-
+acter of ytius and an account of his death.]
+. The question who was the first of the kings of the Franks is
+disregarded by many writers. Though the history of Sulpicius
+Alexander tells much of them, still it does not name their first king,
+but says that they had dukes. However, it is well to relate what
+he says of them. For when he tells that Maximus, losing all hope
+of empire, remained within Aquileia, almost beside himself, he
+adds : "At that time the Franks burst into the province of Germany
+under Genobaud, Marcomer, and Sunno, their dukes, and having
+broken through the boundary wall they slew most of the people
+and laid waste the fertile districts especially, and aroused fear
+even in Cologne. And when word was carried to Treves, Nanninus
+and Quintinus, the military officers to whom Maximus had in-
+trusted his infant son and the defense of the Gauls, assembled an
+army and met at Cologne. Now the enemy, laden with plunder
+after devastating the richest parts of the provinces, had crossed the
+Rhine, leaving a good many of their men on Roman soil all ready
+to renew their ravages. An attack upon these turned to the ad-
+vantage of the Romans, and many Franks perished by the sword
+near Carbonniere. And when the Romans were consulting after
+their success whether they ought to cross into Francia, Nanninus
+said no, because he knew the Franks would not be unprepared and
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+would doubtless be stronger in their own land. And since this
+displeased Quintinus and the remainder of the officers, Nanninus
+returned to Mayence, and Quintinus crossed the Rhine with his
+army near the stronghold of Neuss, and at his second camp from
+the river he found dwellings abandoned by their occupants and
+great villages deserted. For the Franks pretended to be afraid
+and retired into the more remote tracts, where they built an abattis
+on the edge of the woods. And so the cowardly soldiers burned all
+the dwellings, thinking that to rage against them was the winning
+of victory, and they passed a wakeful night under the burden of
+their arms. At the first glimmer of dawn they entered the wooded
+country under Quintinus as commander of the battle, and wandered
+in safety till nearly mid-day, entangling themselves in the winding
+paths. At last, when they found everything solidly shut up by
+great fences, they struggled to make their exit into the marshy
+fields which were adjacent to the woods, and the enemy appeared
+here and there, and sheltered by trunks of trees or standing on the
+abattis as if on the summit of towers, they sent as if from engines
+a shower of arrows poisoned by the juices of herbs, so that sure
+death followed even superficial wounds inflicted in places that were
+not mortal. Later the army was surrounded by the enemy in
+greater number, and it eagerly rushed into the open places which
+the Franks had left unoccupied. And the horsemen were the first
+to plunge into the morasses, and the bodies of men and animals
+fell indiscriminately together, and they were overwhelmed by their
+own confusion. The foot soldiers also who had escaped the hoofs
+of the horses were impeded by the mud, and extricated themselves
+with difficulty, and hid again in panic in the woods from which
+they had struggled a little before. And so the ranks were thrown
+into disorder and the legions cut in pieces. Heraclius, tribune
+of the Jovinians, and nearly all the officers were slain, when night
+and the lurking places of the woods offered a safe escape to a few."
+This he narrated in the third book of his History.
+And in the fourth book, when he tells of the killing of Victor,
+son of Maximus, the tyrant, he says: "At that time Carietto and
+Sirus who had been appointed in place of Nanninus, were absent
+in the province of Germany with the army opposed to the Franks."
+And a little later when the Franks had taken booty from Germany,
+THE SECOND BOOK 29
+he added: "Arbogastes, wishing no further delay, warned Caesar
+that the punishment due must be exacted from the Franks, unless
+they speedily restored all the plunder they had taken the previous
+year when the legions were destroyed, and delivered up the insti-
+gators of the war to be punished for their treachery in breaking
+the peace." He related that this had been done under the leader-
+ship of dukes and says further : "A few days later he held a hasty
+conference with Marcomer and Sunno, princes 1 of the Franks and
+required hostages of them as usual, and then retired to Treves to
+spend the winter." But when he calls them princes, we do not
+know whether they were kings or held in the place of kings.
+Still the same writer, when he told of the hard straits of the
+emperor Valentinian, added this: "While events of various sorts
+were taking place in the East throughout Thrace, the public order
+was disturbed in Gaul. Valentinian the emperor was shut up in
+Vienne in the palace, and reduced almost below the position of a
+private person, and the military command was given over to the
+Frankish allies, and even the civil offices fell under the control of
+Arbogast's faction, and no one of all the oath-bound soldiery was
+found to dare to heed the familiar speech or obey the command
+of the emperor." Then he says: "In the same year Arbogast
+pursued with heathenish hate the princes of the Franks, Sunno
+and Marcomer, and hastened to Cologne in the depth of winter,
+since he knew that all the retreats of Francia could be safely
+penetrated and ravaged with fire when the woods, left bare and
+dry by the fall of the leaves, could not conceal men lying in am-
+bush. And so he gathered an army and crossed the Rhine, and
+devastated the country of the Brictori, near the bank, and also the
+district which the Chamavi inhabit, and no one met him any-
+where, except that a few of the Ampsivarii and Chatti appeared
+with Marcomer as duke on the ridges of distant hills." At
+another time this writer, no longer mentioning dukes and
+princes, openly asserts that the Franks had a king, and without
+mentioning his name he says: "Then the tyrant Eugenius
+undertook a military expedition, and hastened to the Rhine to
+renew in the customary way the old alliances with the kings of the
+Alemanni and the Franks and to threaten the barbarian nations at
+Regalibus.
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+that time with a great army." So much the historian mentioned
+above wrote about the Franks.
+Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus, whom we have already men-
+tioned, in his story of the capture and destruction of Rome by the
+Goths, says: " Mean time when Goare had gone over to the Ro-
+mans, Respendial, king of the Alamanni, turned the army of his
+people from the Rhine, since the Vandals were getting the worse
+of the war with the Franks, having lost their king Godegisil, and
+about 20,000 of the army, and all the Vandals would have been
+exterminated if the army of the Alamanni 1 had not come to their
+aid in time." It is surprising to us that when he names the kings
+of the other nations he does not name the king of the Franks as
+well. However, when he says that Constantine, after seizing
+imperial power, commanded his son Constantius to come to him
+from the Spains, he speaks as follows: "The tyrant Constantine
+summoned from the Spains his son Constans, also a tyrant, in
+order to consult with him about their general policy; and so
+Constans left at Saragossa his court and his wife, and gave Geron-
+tius charge over all in the Spains, and hastened. to his father with-
+out breaking his journey. And when they met, many days passed
+and there was no danger from Italy, and Constantine gave himself
+up to gluttony and urged his son to return to Spain. And while
+Constans was sending his troops forward, being still with his father,
+news came from Spain that Maximus, one of his clients, had been
+given imperial authority by Gerontius, and was securing a fol-
+lowing of the barbarians. Alarmed at this, they sent Edobeccus
+forward to the German tribes, and Constans and Decimus Rusticus,
+now a prefect, he had been master of the offices, hastened to
+the Gauls, with the intention of presently returning to Constantine
+with the Franks and Alamanni and all the soldiers."
+Again, when he writes that Constantine was being besieged, he
+uses these words: "The fourth month of the siege of Constantine
+was scarcely yet under way, when news came suddenly from farther
+Gaul that lovinus had assumed royal state, and was threatening
+the besiegers with the Burgundians, Alamanni, Franks, Alans,
+and all his army. So the attack on the walls was hastened, the
+city opened its gates, and Constantine surrendered. He was sent
+Alamanni for Alani.
+THE SECOND BOOK 31
+hastily into Italy, and was slain at the river Mincio by assassins
+sent to meet him by the emperor." And a little later the same
+writer says: "At the same time Decimus Rusticus, prefect of the
+tyrants, Agrcetius, one of the chief secretaries of Jovinus, and
+many nobles, were captured in Auvergne by the commanders of
+Honorius and cruelly put to death. The city of Treves was plun-
+dered and burnt in a second inroad of the Franks." And when
+Asterius had been made a patrician by an imperial letter, he adds
+this: "At the same time Castinus, count of the body-guard,
+undertook an expedition against the Franks and was sent into the
+Gauls." This is what these have told of the Franks. And the
+historian Horosius says in the seventh book of his work: "Stilico
+gathered the nations, crushed the Franks, crossed the Rhine,
+wandered through the Gauls, and made his way as far as the
+Pyrenees."
+This is the evidence that the historians who have been named
+have left us about the Franks, and they have not mentioned kings.
+Many relate that they came from Pannonia and all dwelt at first
+on the bank of the Rhine, and then crossing the Rhine they passed
+into Thuringia, and there among the villages and cities appointed
+long-haired kings over them from their first or, so to speak, noblest
+family. This title Clovis' victories afterwards made a lasting one,
+as we shall see later on. We read in the Fasti Consulares that
+Theodomer, king of the Franks, son of Richimer, and Ascyla his
+mother, were once on a time slain by the sword. They say also
+that Chlogio, a man of ability and high rank among his people,
+was king of the Franks then, and he dwelt at the stronghold of
+Dispargum which is within the borders of the Thuringians. And
+in these parts, that is, towards the south, the Romans dwelt as far
+as the Loire. But beyond the Loire the Goths were in control ;
+the Burgundians also, who belonged to the sect of the Arians,
+dwelt across the Rhone in the district which is adjacent to the
+city of Lyons. And Chlogio sent spies to the city of Cambrai, and
+they went everywhere, and he himself followed and overcame the
+Romans and seized the city, in which he dwelt for a short time, and
+he seized the land as far as the river Somme. Certain authorities
+assert that king Merovech, whose son was Childeric, was of the
+family of Chlogio.
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+. Now this people seems to have always been addicted to/
+heathen worship, and they did not know God, but made them-
+selves images of the woods and the waters, of birds and beasts,
+and of the other elements as well. They were wont to worship
+these as God and to offer sacrifice to them. O ! would that that
+terrible voice had touched the fibers of their hearts which spoke
+through Moses to the people saying, "Thou shalt have no other
+gods before 'me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
+image nor worship any likeness of anything that is in heaven or
+on earth or in the water; thou shalt not make them and shalt
+not worship them." . . .
+And in Isaiah he speaks a second time : "I am the first, and I
+am the last, and besides me there is no god and creator whom I
+do not know. They that fashion a graven image are all of them
+vanity, and the things that they delight in shall not profit them.
+They are themselves witnesses of what they are, that they do
+not see nor have understanding, and they are confounded in them.
+Behold all his fellows shall be put to shame, for the workmen are
+of men. On the coals and with hammers did he form it, and he
+worked it with his strong arm. In like manner, too, the carpenter
+fashioned it with compasses, and made the likeness of a man as if
+of a comely man dwelling in a house. He hewed down the wood,
+he worked and made a graven image, and worshiped it as a god,
+he fastened it with nails and hammers so that it should not fall
+to pieces. They are carried because they cannot walk ; and the
+remainder of the wood is prepared by men for the hearth and they
+are warmed. And from another he made a god, and a graven
+image for himself. He bends before it and worships it and prays,
+saying: 'Deliver me, for thou art my god. I burned half of it
+with fire ; and baked bread upon its coals ; I baked flesh and ate,
+and from the residue I shall make an idol, I shall worship before a
+wooden trunk; part of it is ashes.' The foolish heart worshiped
+it, and did not deliver his soul. And he does not say : ' Perhaps
+there is a lie in my right hand ? ' ' The nation of the Franks did
+not understand at first; but it understood later, as the following
+history relates.
+[n. Avitus, citizen of Clermont, emperor of Rome, and bishop
+of Placentia.l
+THE SECOND BOOK 33
+. Childeric was excessively wanton and being king of the
+Franks he began to dishonor their daughters. And they were angry
+with him on this account and took his kingdom from him. And
+when he learned that they wished also to kill him he hastened to
+Thuringia, leaving there a man who was dear to him to calm their
+furious tempers ; he arranged also for a sign when he should be
+able to return to his country, that is, they divided a gold piece
+between them and Childeric took one half and his friend kept the
+other part, saying: "Whenever I send you this part and the
+joined parts make one coin, then you shall return securely to your
+native place." Accordingly Childeric went off to Thuringia and
+remained in hiding with king Basinus and Basina his wife. The
+Franks, after he was driven out, with one accord selected as king
+Egidius, whom we have mentioned before as the commander of
+the troops sent by the republic. And when he was in the eighth
+year of his reign over them that faithful friend secretly won the
+good will of the Franks and sent messengers to Childeric with the
+part of the divided coin which he had kept, and Childeric learned
+by this sure sign that he was wanted by the Franks, and returned
+from Thuringia at their request and was restored to his kingdom.
+Now when these princes were reigning at the same time, the Basina
+whom we have mentioned above left her husband and came to
+Childeric. And when he asked anxiously for what reason she had
+come so far to see him it is said that she answered : "I know your
+worth," said she, "and that you are very strong, and therefore I
+have come to live with you. For let me tell you that if I had known
+of any one more worthy than you in parts beyond the sea I should
+certainly have sought to live with him." And he was glad and
+united her to him in marriage. And she conceived and bore a son
+and called his name Clovis. He was a great and distinguished
+warrior.
+[13. Artemius, bishop of Clermont, is succeeded by Venerandus,
+and he by Rusticus.]
+. In the city of Tours after the death of bishop Eustochius
+in the iyth year of his episcopate, Perpetuus was ordained fifth
+bishop after the blessed Martin. And when he saw that miracles
+were being worked continually at Saint Martin's tomb, and that
+the chapel which had been built over it was a tiny one, he judged
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+it unworthy of such miracles, and moving it away he built there a
+great church which remains to the present day, situated 550 paces
+from the city. It is 160 feet long and 60 wide and 45 high to the
+vault; it has 32 windows in the part around the altar, 20 in the
+nave; 41 columns; in the whole building 52 windows; 120
+columns ; 8 doors, three in the part around the altar and five in the
+nave. The feast of the church is given sanctity by a triple virtue ;
+that is, the dedication of the temple, the transfer of the body of
+the saint, and his ordination as bishop. This feast you shall ob-
+serve four days before the Nones of July, and remember that his
+burial is the third day before the Ides of November. And if you
+celebrate these faithfully, you will merit the protection of the
+blessed bishop both in the present life and that to come. And
+since the ceiling of the former chapel was of choice workmanship
+the bishop thought it unworthy that this work should perish, and
+he built another church in honor of the blessed apostles Peter and
+Paul in which he placed the ceiling. He built many other churches
+which remain to the present time in Christ's name.
+[15. Eufronius, bishop of Autun, who " piously sent the block
+of marble which is placed above the holy tomb of the blessed
+Martin."]
+6. Now after the death of the bishop Rusticus, saint Namatius
+became the eighth bishop of Clermont. He undertook the task of
+building the older church which is still standing and is contained
+within the walls of the city, one hundred and fifty feet in length,
+sixty in width, that is, the nave, fifty in height to the vault,
+with a round apse in front and on each side aisles finely built ; the
+whole building is laid out in the form of a cross ; it has forty-two
+windows, seventy columns, eight doors. The fear of God is in it
+and a great brightness is seen, and in the spring a very pleasant
+fragrance as if of spices is perceived there by the devout. It has
+near the altar walls of variegated work adorned with many kinds
+of marble. The blessed bishop on finishing the building in the
+twelfth year, sent priests to Bologna in Italy, to procure relics of
+saints Agricola and Vitalis, who we know very certainly were
+crucified in the name of Christ our God.
+. His wife built the church of Saint Stephen in the outskirts
+of the city. And wishing to adorn it with colors she used to carry
+THE SECOND BOOK 35
+a book in her bosom, reading the histories of ancient times and
+describing to the painters what they were to represent on the walls.
+It happened one day that while she sat in the church and read, a
+certain poor man came to pray, and seeing her in black clothing,
+already an old woman, he thought she was one of the needy, and
+he took out part of a loaf and put it in her lap and went off. But
+she did not disdain the gift of the poor man who did not know her,
+but took it and thanked him and put it away, and setting it before
+her at meals used it as holy bread until it was used up.
+8. Now Childeric fought at Orleans and Odoacer came with
+the Saxons to Angers. At that time a great plague destroyed the
+people. Egidius died and left a son, Syagrius by name. On his
+death Odoacer received hostages from Angers and other places.
+The Britanni were driven from Bourges by the Goths, and many
+were slain at the village of Deols. Count Paul with the Romans
+and Franks made war on the Goths and took booty. When Odoacer
+came to Angers, king Childeric came on the following day, and slew
+count Paul, and took the city. In a great fire on that day the house
+of the bishop was burned.
+. After this war was waged between the Saxons and the
+Romans ; but the Saxons fled and left many of their people to be
+slain, the Romans pursuing. Their islands were captured and
+ravaged by the Franks, and many were slain. In the ninth month
+of that year, there was an earthquake. Odoacer made an alliance
+with Childeric, and they subdued the Alamanni, who had overrun
+part of Italy. ^=
+. Euric, king of the Goths, in the i4th year of his reign,
+placed duke Victorius in command of seven cities. And he went at
+once to Clermont, and desired to add it to the others, and writings
+concerning this exist to the present. He gave orders to set up at
+the church of Saint Julian the columns which are placed there.
+He gave orders to build the church of Saint Laurentius and saint
+Germanus at the village of Licaniacus. He was at Clermont nine
+years. He brought charges against Euchirius, a senator, whom he
+ordered to be put in prison and taken out at night, and after having
+him bound beside an old wall he ordered the wall to be pushed over
+upon him. As for himself, since he was over-wanton in his love for
+women, and was afraid of being killed by the people of Auvergne,
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+he fled to Rome, and there was stoned to death because he wished
+to practise a similar wantonness. Euric reigned four years after
+Victorius's death, and died in the twenty-seventh year of his reign.
+There was also at that time a great earthquake.
+[21. Bishop Eparchius of Clermont finds his church at night
+full of demons.]
+. The holy Sidonius was so eloquent that he generally im-
+provised what he wished to say without any hesitation and in the
+clearest manner. And it happened one day that he went by invi-
+tation to a fete at the church of the monastery which we have
+mentioned before, and when his book, by which he had been wont to
+celebrate the holy services, was maliciously taken away, he went
+through the whole service of the fete improvising with such readiness
+that he was admired by all, and it was believed by the bystanders
+that it was not a man who had spoken there but an angel. And
+this we have set forth more fully in the preface of the book which
+we have composed about the masses written by him. Being a,
+man of wonderful holiness and, as we have said, one of the first of
+the senators, he often carried silver dishes away from home, un-
+known to his wife, and gave them to poor people. And whenever
+she learned of it, she was scandalized at him, and then he used to
+give the value to the poor and restore the dishes to the house.
+[23. Terrible fate of priests who rebelled against their bishop.
+. In time of famine in Burgundy Ecdicius feeds more than four
+thousand persons. 25. The Gothic king Evatrix persecutes the
+Christians in southwestern Gaul. 26. A bishop being " suspected
+by the Goths" is carried a captive into Spain.]
+. After these events Childeric died and Clovis his son reigned
+in his stead. In the fifth year of his reign Siagrius, king of the
+Romans, son of Egidius, had his seat in the city of Soissons which
+Egidius, who has been mentioned before, once held. And Clovis
+came against him with Ragnachar, his kinsman, because he used
+to possess the kingdom, and demanded that they make ready a
+battle-field. And Siagrius did not delay nor was he afraid to re-
+sist. And so they fought against each other and Siagrius, seeing
+his army crushed, turned his back and fled swiftly to king Alaric
+at Toulouse. And Clovis sent to Alaric to send him back, other-
+wise he was to know that Clovis would make war on him for his
+THE SECOND BOOK 37
+refusal. And Alaric was afraid that he would incur the anger of
+the Franks on account of Siagrius, seeing it is the fashion of the
+Goths to be terrified, and he surrendered him in chains to Clovis'
+envoys. And Clovis took him and gave orders to put him under
+guard, and when he had got his kingdom he directed that he be
+executed secretly. At that time many churches were despoiled
+by Clovis' army, since he was as yet involved in heathen error.
+Now the army had taken from a certain church a vase of wonderful
+size and beauty, along with the remainder of the utensils for the
+service of the church. And the bishop of the church sent mes-
+sengers to the king asking that the vase at least be returned, if he
+could not get back any more of the sacred dishes. On hearing this
+the king said to the messenger: " Follow us as far as Soissons,
+because all that has been taken is to be divided there and when
+the lot assigns me that dish I will do what the father 1 asks." Then
+when he came to Soissons and all the booty was set in their midst,
+the king said : "I ask of you, brave warriors, not to refuse to grant
+me in addition to my share, yonder dish," that is, he was speaking
+of the vase just mentioned. In answer to the speech of the king
+those of more sense replied : " Glorious king, all that we see is yours,
+and we ourselves are subject to your rule. Now do what seems
+well-pleasing to you; for no one is able to resist your power."
+When they said this a foolish, envious and excitable fellow lifted
+his battle-ax and struck the vase, and cried in a loud voice : "You
+shall get nothing here except what the lot fairly bestows on you."
+At this all were stupefied, but the king endured the insult with the
+gentleness of patience, and taking the vase he handed it over to the
+messenger of the church, nursing the wound deep in his heart.
+And at the end of the year he ordered the whole army to come
+with their equipment of armor, to show the brightness of their
+arms on the field of March. And when he was reviewing them all
+carefully, he came to the man who struck the vase, and said to
+him: "No one has brought armor so carelessly kept as you; for
+neither your spear nor sword nor ax is in serviceable condition."
+And seizing his ax he cast it to the earth, and when the other had
+bent over somewhat to pick it up, the king raised his hands and
+papa. The word was used in the early Middle Ages in unrestricted, informal
+sense, and applied widely to bishops. Cf. Du Cange, Glossarium.
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+drove his own ax into the man's head. "This," said he, "is what
+you did at Soissons to the vase." Upon the death of this man, he
+ordered the rest to depart, raising great dread of himself by this
+action. He made many wars and gained many victories. In the
+tenth year of his reign he made war on the Thuringi and brought
+them under his dominion.
+. Now the king of the Burgundians was Gundevech, of the
+family of king Athanaric the persecutor, whom we have mentioned
+before. He had four sons ; Gundobad, Godegisel, Chilperic and
+Godomar. Gundobad killed his brother Chilperic with the
+sword, and sank his wife in water with a stone tied to her neck.
+His two daughters he condemned to exile ; the older of these, who
+became a nun, was called Chrona, and the younger Clotilda. And
+as Clovis often sent embassies to Burgundy, the maiden Clotilda
+was found by his envoys. And when they saw that she was of
+good bearing and wise, and learned that she was of the family of
+the king, they reported this to King Clovis, and he sent an embassy
+to Gundobad without delay asking her in marriage. /And Gundo-
+^. bad was afraid to refuse, and surrendered her to theinen, and they
+took the girl and brought her swiftly to the king. The king was
+very glad when he saw her, and married her, having already by a
+<:oncubme a son named Theodoric.
+. He had a first-born son by queen Clotilda, and as his wife
+wished to consecrate him in baptism, she tried unceasingly to per-
+suade her husband, saying: "The gods you worship are nothing,
+and they will be unable to help themselves or any one else. For
+they are graven out of stone or wood or some metal. And the
+names you have given them are names of men and not of gods, as
+Saturn, who is declared to have fled in fear of being banished from
+his kingdom by his son ; as Jove himself, the foul perpetrator of
+all shameful crimes, committing incest with men, mocking at his
+kinswomen, not able to refrain from intercourse with his own
+sister as she herself says: Jovisque et soror et conjunx. What
+could Mars or Mercury do? They are endowed rather with the
+magic arts than with the power of the divine name. But he ought
+rather to be worshipped who created by his word heaven and earth,
+the sea and all that in them is out of a state of nothingness, who
+made the sun shine, and adorned the heavens with stars, who
+THE SECOND BOOK 41
+divine fragrance : and the Lord gave such grace to those who
+stood by that they thought they were placed amid the odors of
+paradise. And the king was the first to ask to be baptized by the
+bishop. Another Constantine advanced to the baptismal font, to
+terminate the disease of ancient leprosy and wash away with
+fresh water the foul spots that had long been borne. And when
+he entered to be baptized, the saint of God began with ready
+speech: " Gently bend your neck, Sigamber; worship what you
+burned ; burn what you worshipped." The holy bishop Remi was
+a man of excellent wisdom and especially trained in rhetorical
+studies, and of such surpassing holiness that he equalled the miracles
+of Silvester. For there is extant a book of his life which tells
+that he raised a dead man. And so tl^Hn^j^^fe^s^o^ji-rjawerful
+God in the Trinity^ and was baptized in the name of the Father,
+Son and Holy Spirit, and was anointed with the holy ointment with
+the sign of the cross of Christ. AncLnLhis army jnore tharu^ooo-
+wffre . baptised./ His sister also, Albofled, was baptized, who not
+long after passed to the Lord. And when the king was in mourn-
+ing for her, the holy Remi sent a letter of consolation which began
+in this way: "The reason of your mourning pains me, and pains
+me greatly, that Albofled your sister, of good memory, has passed
+away. But I can give you this comfort, that her departure from
+the world was such that she ought to be envied rather than
+mourned." Another sister also was converted, Lanthechild by
+name, who had fallen into the heresy of the Arians, and she con-
+fessed that the Son and the holy Spirit were equal to the Father,
+and was anointed.
+. At that time the brothers Gundobad and Godegisel were
+kings of the country about the Rhone and the Saone together with
+the province of Marseilles. And they, as well as their people,
+belonged to the Arian sect. And since they were fighting with
+each other, Godegisel, hearing of the victories of King Clovis, sent
+an embassy to him secretly, saying: "If you will give me aid in
+attacking my brother, so that I may be able to kill him in battle
+or drive him from the country, I will pay you every year whatever
+tribute you yourself wish to impose." Clovis accepted this offer
+gladly, and promised aid whenever need should ask. And at a
+time agreed upon he marched his army against Gundobad. On
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+hearing of this, Gundobad, who did not know of his brother's
+treachery, sent to him, saying : "Come to my assistance, since the
+Franks are in motion against us and are coming to our country to
+take it. Therefore let us be united against a nation hostile to us,
+lest because of division we suffer in turn what other peoples have
+suffered." And the other said: "I will come with my army, and
+will give you aid." And these three, namely, Clovis against
+Gundobad and Godegisel, were marching their armies to the same
+point, and they came with all their warlike equipment to the strong-
+hold named Dijon. And they fought on the river Ouche, and
+Godegisel joined Clovis, and both armies crushed the people of
+Gundobad. And he perceived the treachery of his brother, whom
+he had not suspected, and turned his back and began to flee, hasten-
+ing along the banks of the Rhone, and he came to the city of Avignon.
+And Godegisel having won the victory, promised to Clovis a part
+of his kingdom, and departed quietly and entered Vienne in triumph,
+as if he now held the whole kingdom. King Clovis increased his
+army further, and set off after Gundobad to drag him from his
+city and slay him. He heard it, and was terrified, and feared that
+sudden death would come to him. However he had with him Ari-
+dius, a man famed for energy and wisdom, and he sent for him
+and said: "Difficulties wall me in on every side, and I do not
+know what to do, because these barbarians have come upon us to
+slay us and destroy the whole country." To this Aridius answered :
+"You must soften the fierceness of this man in order not to perish.
+Now if it is pleasing in your eyes, I will pretend to flee from you
+and to pass over to his side, and when I come to him, I shall pre-
+vent his harming either you or this country. Only be willing to
+do what he demands of you by my advice, until the Lord in his
+goodness deigns to make your cause successful." And Gundobad
+said: "I will do whatever you direct." When he said this, Ari-
+dius bade him good-by and departed, and going to King Clovis
+he said: "Behold I am your humble servant, most pious king, I
+come to your protection, leaving the wretched Gundobad. And
+if your goodness condescends to receive me, both you and your
+children shall have in me a true and faithful servant." Clovis
+received him very readily, and kept him by him, for he was enter-
+taining in story-telling, ready in counsel, just in judgment, and
+THE SECOND BOOK 43
+faithful in what was put in his charge. Then when Clovis with all
+his army sat around the walls of the city, Aridius said : "O King,
+if the glory of your loftiness should kindly consent to hear the few
+words of my lowliness, though you do not need counsel, yet I
+would utter them with entire faithfulness, and they will be advan-
+tageous to you and to the cities through which you purpose to go.
+Why," said he, "do you keep your army here, when your enemy
+sits in a very strong place? If you ravage the fields, lay waste
+the meadows, cut down the vineyards, lay low the olive-yards, and
+destroy all the produce of the country, you do not, however, succeed
+in doing him any harm. Send an embassy rather and impose
+tribute to be paid you every year, so that the country may be safe
+and you may rule forever over a tributary. And if he refuses,
+then do whatever pleases you." The king took this advice, and
+commanded his army to return home. Then he sent an embassy
+to Gundobad, and ordered him to pay him every year a tribute.
+And he paid it at once and promised that he would pay it for the
+future.
+. Later he regained his power, and now contemptuously
+refused to pay the promised tribute to king Clovis, and set his
+army in motion against his brother Godegisel, and shut him up
+in the city of Vienne and besiegeo^fiim. And when food began to be
+lacking for the common people, Godegisel was afraid that the
+famine would extend to himself, and gave orders that the common
+people be expelled from the city. When this was done, there was
+driven out, among the rest, the artisan who had charge of the
+aqueduct. And he was indignant that he had been cast out from
+the city with the rest, and went to Gundobad in a rage to inform
+him how to burst into the city and take vengeance on his brother.
+Under his guidance an army was led through the aqueduct, and
+many with iron crowbars went in front, for there was a vent in the
+aqueduct closed with a great stone, and when this had been pushed
+away with crowbars, by direction of the artisan, they entered the
+city, and surprised from the rear the defenders who were shooting
+arrows from the wall. The trumpet was sounded in the midst of the
+city, and the besiegers seized the gates, and opened them and
+entered at the same time, and when the people between these two
+battle lines were being slain by each army, Godegisel sought refuge
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+n the church of the heretics, and was slain there along with the
+Arian bishop. Finally the Franks who were with Godegisel
+gathered in a tower. But Gundobad ordered that no harm should
+be done to a single one of them, but seized them and sent them
+in exile to king Alaric at Toulouse, and he slew the Burgundian
+senators who had conspired with Godegisel. He restored to his
+own dominion all the region which is now called Burgundy. He
+established milder laws for the Burgundians lest they should
+oppress the Romans.
+[34. King Gundobad is converted to the doctrine of the Trinity
+but will not confess it in public. The writings of bishop Avitus
+are described.]
+. Now when Alaric, king of the Goths, saw Clovis conquer-
+ing nations steadily, he sent envoys to him saying : "If my brother
+consents, it is the desire of my heart that with God's favor we have
+a meeting." Clovis did not s^nrn this proposal but went to meet
+him. They met in an island of the Loire which is near the village of
+Amboise in the territory of Tours, and they talked and ate and
+drank together, and plighted friendship and departed in peace.
+Even at that time many in the Gauls desired greatly to have the
+Franks as masters.
+. Whence it happened that Quintian, bishop of Rodez, was
+driven from his city through ill-will on this account. For they
+said: "It is your desire that the rule of the Franks be extended
+over this land." A few days later a quarrel arose between himl
+and the citizens, and the Goths who dwelt in the city became sus- I
+picious when the citizens charged that he wished to submit him- /
+self to the control of the Franks ; they took counsel and decided to^
+slay him with the sword. When this was reported to the man of
+God he rose in the night and left the city of Rodez with his most
+faithful servants and went to Clermont. There he was received
+kindly by the holy bishop Eufrasius, who had succeeded Aprun-
+culus of Dijon, and he kept Quintian with him, giving him houses
+as well as fields and vineyards, and saying: "The wealth of this
+church is enough to keep us both ; only let the charity which the
+blessed apostle preaches endure among the bishops of God." More-
+over the bishop of Lyons bestowed upon him some of the possessions
+of the church which he had in Auvergne. And the rest about the
+THE SECOND BOOK 45
+holy Quintian, both the plottings which he endured and the miracles
+which the Lord deigned to work through him, are written in the
+book of his life. v ' ox
+. Now Clovis the king said to his people: "I take it very
+hard that these Arians hold part of the Gauls. Let us go with
+God's help and conquer them and bring the land under our control."
+Since these words pleased all, he set his army in motion and made
+for Poitiers where Alaric was at that time. But since part of the host
+was passing through Touraine, he issued an edict out of respect to
+the blessed Martin that no one should take anything from that
+country except grass for fodder, and water. But one from the
+army found a poor man's hay and said : "Did not the king order
+grass only to be taken, nothing else? And this," said he, "is
+grass. We shall not be transgressing his command if we take it."
+And when he had done violence to the poor man and taken his
+hay by force, the deed came to the king. And quicker than speech
+the offender was slain by the sword, and the king said: "And
+where shall our hope of victory be if we offend the blessed Martin ?
+It would be better for the army to take nothing else from this
+country." The king himself sent envoys to the blessed church
+saying: "Go, and perhaps you will receive some omen of victory
+from the holy temple." Then giving them gifts to set up in the
+holy place, he said: "If thou, O Lord, art my helper, and hast
+determined to surrender this unbelieving nation, always striving
+against thee, into my hands, consent to reveal it propitiously at
+the entrance to the church of St. Martin, so that I may know that
+thou wilt deign to be favo'rable to thy servant." Clovis' servants
+went on their way according to the king's command, and drew near
+to the place, and when, they were about to enter the holy church,
+the first singer, without any prearrangement, sang this response :
+"Thou hast girded me, O Lord, with strength unto the battle;
+thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me, and
+hast made mine enemies turn their backs unto me, and thou hast
+utterly destroyed them that hated me." On hearing this singing
+they thanked the Lord, and paying their vow to the blessed con-
+fessor they joyfully made their report to the king. Moreover,
+when he came to the river Vienne with his army, he did not know
+where he ought to cross. For the river had swollen from the
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+rains. When he had prayed to the Lord in the night to show him
+a ford where he could cross, in the morning by God's will a hind
+of wonderful size entered the river before them, and when it passed
+over the people saw where they could cross. When the king came
+to the neighborhood of Poitiers and was encamped some distance
+off, he saw a ball of fire come out of the church of Saint Hilarius
+and pass, as it were, over him, to show that, aided by the light of
+the blessed confessor Hilarius, he should more boldly conquer the
+heretic armies^ against which the same bishop had often fought
+for the faith. And he made it known to all the army that neither
+there nor on the way should they spoil anyone or take any one's
+property.
+There was in these days a man of praiseworthy holiness, the
+abbot Maxentius, who had become a recluse in his own monastery
+in Poitou because of his fear of God. We have not put the name
+of the monastery in this account because the place is called to the
+present day Cellula sancti Maxentii. And when his monks saw a
+division of the host approaching the monastery, they prayed to
+the abbot to come forth from his cell to consult with them. And
+as he stayed, they were panic-stricken and opened the door and
+dragged him from his cell. And he hastened boldly to meet the
+enemy to ask for peace. And one of them drew out his sword to
+launch a stroke at his head, and when he had raised his hand to
+his ear it became rigid and the sword fell. And he threw himself
+at the feet of the blessed man, asking pardon. And the rest of
+them seeing this returned in great fear to the army, afraid that
+they should all perish together. The man's arm the holy con-
+fessor rubbed with consecrated oil, and made over it the sign of
+the cross and restored it to soundness. And owing to his protec-
+tion the monastery remained uninjured. He worked many other
+miracles also, and if any one diligently seeks for them he will find
+them all in reading the book of his Life. In the, twenty-fifth year
+of Clovis.
+Meantime king Clovis met with Alaric, king of the Goths, in
+the plain of Vouille at the tenth mile-stone from Poitiers, and
+while the one army was for fighting at a distance the other tried
+to come to close combat. And when the Goths had fled as was
+their custom, king Clovis won the victory by God's aid. He had
+THE SECOND BOOK 47
+to help him the son of Sigibert the lame, named Chloderic. This
+Sigibert was lame from a wound in the leg, received in a battle
+with the Alemanni near the town of Ziilpich. JNow when the king
+had put the Goths to flight and slain king Alaric, two of the enemy
+suddenly appeared and struck at him with their lances, one on
+each side. But he was saved from death by the help of his coat
+of mail, as well as by his fast horse. At that time there perished
+a very great number of the people of Auvergne, who had come
+with Apollinaris and the leading senators. From this battle
+Amalaric, son of Alaric, fled to Spain and wisely seized his father's
+kingdom. Clovis sent his son Theodoric to Clermont by way of
+Albi and Rodez. He went, and brought under his father's domin-
+ion the cities from the boundaries of the Goths to the limit of the
+Burgundians. Alaric reigned twenty-two years. When Clovis
+had spent the winter in Bordeaux and taken all the treasures of
+Alaric at Toulouse, he went to Angouleme. And the Lord gave
+him such grace that the walls fell down of their own accord when
+he gazed at them. Then he drove the Goths out and brought
+the city under his own dominion. Thereupon after completing
+his victory he returned to Tours, bringing many gifts to the holy
+church of the blessed Martin.
+. Clovis received an appointment to the consulship from the
+emperor Anastasius, and in the church of the blessed Martin he
+clad himself in the purple tunic and chlamys, and placed a diadem
+on his head. Then he mounted his horse, and in the most gener-
+ous manner he gave gold and silver as he passed along the way
+which is between the gate of the entrance [of the church of St.
+Martin] and the church of the city, scattering it among the people
+who were there with his own hand, and from that day he was called
+consul or Augustus. Leaving Tours he went to Paris and there
+he established the seat of his kingdom. There also Theodoric
+came to him.
+[39. Licinius was bishop of Tours at the time of Clovis' visit.
+His travels.]
+. When King Clovis was dwelling at Paris he sent secretly
+to the son of Sigibert saying : "Behold your father has become an
+old man and limps in his weak foot. If he should die," said he,
+"of due right his kingdom would be yours together with our friend-
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+ship." Led on by greed the son plotted to kill his father. And
+when his father went out from the city of Cologne and crossed the
+Rhine and was intending to journey through the wood Buchaw, as
+he slept at midday in his tent his son sent assassins in against him,
+and killed him there, in the idea that he would get his kingdom.
+But by God's judgment he walked into the pit that he had cruelly
+dug for his father. He sent messengers to king Clovis to tell
+about his father's death, and to say: "My father is dead, and I
+have his treasures in my possession, and also his kingdom. Send
+men to me, and I shall gladly transmit to you from his treasures
+whatever pleases you." And Clovis replied: " I thank you for
+your good will, and I ask that you show the treasures to my men
+who come, and after that you shall possess all yourself." When
+they came, he showed his father's treasures. And when they were
+looking at the different things he said : "It was in this little chest
+that my father used to put his gold coins." "Thrust in your hand,"
+said they, "to the bottom, and uncover the whole." When he did
+so, and was much bent over, one of them lifted his hand and dashed
+his battle-ax against his head, and so in a shameful manner he
+incurred the death which he had brought on his father. Clovis
+heard that Sigibert and his son had been slain, and came to the
+place and summoned all the people, saying: "Hear what has
+happened. When I," said he, "was sailing down the river Scheldt
+Cloderic, son of my kinsman, was in pursuit of his own father,
+asserting that I wished him killed. And when his father was flee-
+ing through the forest of Buchaw, he set highwaymen upon him,
+and gave him over to death, and slew him. And when he was
+opening the treasures, he was slain himself by some one or other.
+Now I know nothing at all of these matters. For I cannot shed
+the blood of my own kinsmen, which it is a crime to do. But since
+this has happened, I give you my advice, if it seems acceptable ;
+turn to me, that you may be under my protection." They listened
+to this, and giving applause with both shields and voices, they raised
+him on a shield, and made him king over them. He received Sigibert's
+kingdom with his treasures, and placed the people, too, under his rule.
+For God was laying his enemies low every day under his hand, and
+was increasing his kingdom, because he walked with an upright
+heart before him, and did what was pleasing in his eyes.
+THE SECOND BOOK 49
+. After this he turned to Chararic. When he had fought
+with Siagrius this Chararic had been summoned to help Clovis,
+but stood at a distance, aiding neither side, but awaiting the out-
+come, in order to form a league of friendship with him to whom
+victory came. For this reason Clovis was angry, and went out
+against him. He entrapped and captured him and his son also,
+and kept them in prison, and gave them the tonsure ; he gave
+orders to ordain Chararic priest and his son deacon. And when
+Chararic complained of his degradation and wept, it is said that
+his son remarked: "It was on green wood," said he, "that these
+twigs were cut, and they are not altogether withered. They will
+shoot out quickly, and be able to grow ; may he perish as swiftly
+who has done this." This utterance was reported to the ears of
+Clovis, namely, that they were threatening to let their hair grow,
+and kill him. And he ordered them both to be put to death.
+When they were dead, he took their kingdom with the treasures
+and people.
+. Ragnachar was then king at Cambrai, a man so unrestrained
+in his wantonness that he scarcely had mercy for his own near
+relatives. He had a counsellor Farro, who defiled himself with a
+like vileness. And it was said that when food, or a gift, or any-
+thing whatever was brought to the king, he was wont to say that
+it was enough for him and his Farro. And at this thing the Franks
+were in a great rage. And so it happened that Clovis gave golden
+armlets and belts, but all only made to resemble gold for it was
+bronze gilded so as to deceive these he gave to Ragnachar's
+leudes to be invited to attack him. Moreover, when Clovis had
+set his army in motion against him, and Ragnachar was continually
+sending spies to get information, on the return of his messengers
+he used to ask how strong the force was. And they would answer :
+"It is a great sufficiency for you and your Farro." Clovis came
+and made war on him, and he saw that his army was beaten and
+prepared to slip away in flight, but was seized by his army, and with
+his hands tied behind his back, he was taken with Ricchar his
+brother before Clovis. And Clovis said to him: "Why have you
+humiliated our family in permitting yourself to be bound? It
+would have been better for you to die." And raising his ax he
+dashed it against his head, and he turned to his brother and said :
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+"If you had aided your brother, he would not have been bound."
+And in the same way he smote him with his ax and killed him.
+After their death their betrayers perceived that the gold which
+they had received from the king was false. When they told the
+king of this, it is said that he answered : "Rightly," said he, "does
+he receive this kind of gold, who of his own will brings his own
+master to death;" it ought to suffice them that they were alive,
+and were not put to death, to mourn amid torments the wicked
+betrayal of their masters. When they heard this, they prayed for
+mercy, saying it was enough for them if they were allowed to live.
+The kings named above were kinsmen of Clovis, and their brother,
+Rignomer by name, was slain by Clovis' order at the city of Mans.
+When they were dead Clovis received all their kingdom and treasures.
+And having killed many other kings and his nearest relatives, of
+whom he was jealous lest they take the kingdom from him, he
+extended his rule over all the Gauls. However he gathered his
+people together at one time, it is said, and spoke of the kinsmen
+whom he had himself destroyed. "Woe to me, who have remained
+as a stranger among foreigners, and have none of my kinsmen to
+give me aid if adversity comes." But he said this not because of
+grief at their death but by way of a ruse, if perchance he should
+be able to find some one still to kill.
+. After all this he died at Paris, and was buried in the church
+of the holy apostles, which he himself had built together with his
+queen Clotilda. He passed away in the fifth year after the battle
+of Vouille, and all the days of his reign were thirty years, and his
+age was forty-five. From the death of St. Martin to the death
+of king Clovis, which happened in the eleventh year of the episco-
+pate of Licinius, bishop of Tours, one hundred and twelve years
+are reckoned. Queen Clotilda came to Tours after the death of
+her husband and served there in the church of St. Martin, and
+dwelt in the place with the greatest chastity and kindness all the
+days of her life, rarely visiting Paris.
+HERE ENDS THE SECOND BOOK
+HERE BEGIN THE CHAPTERS OF THE THIRD BOOK
+. The sons of Clovis.
+. Episcopates of Dinifius, Apollinaris and Quintian.
+. The Danes make an attack on the Gauls.
+. The kings of the Thuringi.
+. Sigimund kills his own son.
+. Death of Chlodomer.
+. War with the Thuringi.
+. Hermenfled's death.
+. Childebert visits Auvergne.
+. Amalaric's death.
+. Childebert and Clothar go to the Burgundies, Theodoric to Auvergne.
+. Devastation of Auvergne.
+. Lovolautrum and Chastel-Marlhac.
+. Munderic's death.
+. Captivity of Attalus.
+. Sigivald.
+. The bishops of Tours.
+. Death of Chlodomer's sons.
+. The holy Gregory and the site of Dijon.
+. Theodobert is betrothed to Visigard.
+. Theodobert departs for Provence.
+. He later marries Deoteria.
+. Sigivald's death.
+. Childebert makes gifts to Theodobert.
+. Theodobert's goodness.
+. Death of Deoteria's daughter.
+. Theodobert marries Visigard.
+. Childebert and Theodobert march against Clothar.
+. Childebert and Clothar march into the Spains.
+. The Spanish kings.
+. The daughter of Theodoric, king of Italy.
+. Theodobert marches into Italy.
+. Asteriolus and Secundinus.
+. Theodobert's gift to the citizens of Verdun.
+. Sirivald's death.
+. Theodobert's death and the slaying of Parthenius.
+. A severe winter.
+HERE ENDS THE LIST OF CHAPTERS
+
+IN CHRIST'S NAME HERE BEGINS THE THIRD BOOK
+I wish, if it is agreeable, to make a brief comparison of the suc-
+cesses that have come to Christians who confess the blessed Trinity
+and the ruin which has come to heretics who have tried to destroy
+the same. And let us omit how Abraham worshipped the Trinity
+at the oak, 1 and Jacob preached it in his blessing, and Moses recog-
+nized it in the bush, and the people followed it in the cloud and
+dreaded the same in the mountain, and how Aaron carried it on
+his breastplate, or how David made it known in the Psalms, pray-
+ing to be made new by a right spirit and that the holy spirit should
+not be taken from him and that he be comforted by the chief
+spirit. And, for my part, I consider this a great mystery, namely
+that the voice of the prophet proclaimed as the chief spirit that
+which the heretics assert to be the lesser. But passing over these,
+as we have said, let us return to our times. For Arius, who was the
+first wicked inventor of this wicked sect, was subjected to infernal
+fires after he had lost his entrails in a privy. But Hilarius, the
+blessed defender of the undivided Trinity, though sent into exile
+for its sake, was restored both to his native land and to Paradise.
+King Clovis confessed it, and crushed the heretics by its aid and
+extended his kingdom over all the Gauls ; Alaric, on the other
+hand, who denied it, was deprived of kingdom and people, and
+what is more, of eternal life itself. Apj__tr>_tri lp hplWprs, p-vgn. if
+through the plots ofjhe^enemy they lose soi?thing, Jht T'^iTJ ff*-
+stores it a hundred fold, but heretics do not gain any advantage_,
+but what they seem to have is taken from them. This is proved
+by the deaths of Godegisel, Gundobad, and Godomar, who at the
+same time lost their country and their souls. But we confess one
+God, invisible, 2 infinite, incomprehensible, glorious, always the
+ad ilicem. Not in the Vulgate. Gregory probably used in part a rude popular
+version of the Scriptures. See Bonnet, p. 61. 2 Reading invisibilem for indivisibilem.
+
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+same, and everlasting, one in Trinity in respect to the number of
+persons, that is, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ; we con-
+fess him also triple in unity in respect to equality of substance,
+deity, omnipotence or power, the one greatest omnipotent God
+ruling for eternal centuries.
+i. Now on the death of king Clovis, his four sons, namely,
+Theodoric, Chlodomer, Childebert and Chlothar, received his
+kingdom and divided it among them in equal parts. Theodoric
+had already at that time a handsome and valiant son named The-
+odobert. And since they were very brave and had abundant
+strength in their army, Amalaric, son of Alaric, king of Spain,
+asked for their sister in marriage, and they kindly granted his re-
+quest, and sent her into the Spanish country with a great quantity
+of beautiful things.
+~ [2. Quintianus, ex-bishop of Rodez, is rewarded for his faith-
+fulness to the Franks by being made bishop of Clermont. 3. The
+Danes plunder the coast of Theodoric's kingdom. 4. Hermenfred
+becomes sole king of the Thuringi by Theodoric's help.]
+. Now on Gundobad's death his son Sygismund held his
+kingdom, and he built with great skill the monastery of St. Maurice,
+with its dwellings and churches. And losing his first wife, the
+daughter of Theodoric, king of Italy, he married another, and she
+began to malign his son bitterly and make charges against him as
+is the custom of stepmothers. Frorn this it came about that on
+a day of ceremonial when the boy recognized his mother's dress on
+her, he was filled with anger, and said to her : "You are not worthy
+to have on your back those garments which are known to have
+belonged to your mistress, that is, my mother." And she was set
+on fire with rage and she stirred her husband up with crafty words,
+saying : "The wicked boy wishes to possess your kingdom, and he
+plans when you are killed to extend it as far as Italy, forsooth,
+that he may possess the kingdom which his grandfather Theodoric
+held in Italy. For he knows that while you live he cannot accom-
+plish this ; and unless you fall liejvill not rise." Sygismund was
+aroused by these words7and taJungthe advice of his wicked wife
+he became a wicked parricide. For when his son had been made
+drowsy by wine he bade him sleep in the afternoon ; and while he
+slept a napkin was placed under his neck and tied under his chin,
+THE THIRD BOOK 55
+and he was strangled by two servants who drew in opposite direc-
+tions. When it was done the father repented too late, and falling
+on the lifeless corpse began to weep most bitterly. And a certain
+old man is reported to have spoken to him in these words : "Hence-
+forth wail for yourself," said he, "that you have become a most
+cruel parricide through base counsel. For there is no need to wail
+for this innocent boy who has been strangled." Nevertheless he
+went off to the holy Saint Maurice and spending many days in
+weeping and fasting he prayed for pardon. After establishing
+there a perpetual service of song he returned to Lyons, the divine
+vengeance attending on his footsteps. King Theodoric had
+married his daughter.
+. Queen Clotilda spoke to Chlodomer and her other sons,
+saying : "Let me not repent, dearest sons, that I have nursed you
+lovingly ; be angry, I beg you, at the insult to me, and avenge with
+a wise zeal the death of my father and mother." They heeded
+this ; and they hastened to the Burgundies and marched against
+Sygismund and his brother Godomar. Their army was completely
+routed and Godomar fled. But Sygismund was taken by Chlo-
+domer when he was endeavoring to make his escape to the holy
+St. Maurice, and led away captive with his wife and sons, and was
+placed under guard and kept prisoner in the territory of the city
+of Orleans. When the kings departed Godomar recovered his
+courage and gathered the Burgundians and gained his kingdom
+back. And Chlodomer was making preparations to march against
+him a second time and determined to kill Sygismund. And the
+blessed abbot Avitus, a great priest of that tune, said to him :
+"If," said he, "you would look to God and amend your counsel so
+as not to allow these men to be killed, God will be with you and
+you shall go and win the victory; but if you kill them you shall
+be surrendered yourself into the hands of your enemies and shall
+perish in the same way. And what you do to Sygismund and
+his wife and children shall be done to you and your wife and sons."
+But he despised listening to this counsel, and said: "I think it is
+foolish advice to leave enemies at home and march against the rest,
+and when the former rise up in the rear and the latter in front I
+shall fall between two armies. The victory will be won better and
+more easily if one is separated from the other; if one is slain it
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+will be possible to doom the others to death easily." He gave
+orders to slay Sygismund r>i once, with his wife and children, by
+casting them into a well in the village Columna, of the city Orleans,
+and hastened to the Burgundies, summoning to his aid king The-
+odoric. And the latter promised to go, not caring to avenge the
+wrong done to his father-in-law. And when they met near Viso-
+rontia, a place of the city of Vienne, they fought with Godomar.
+And when Godomar had fled with his army and Chlodomer was
+pursuing and was separated a considerable distance from his men,
+the others, imitating his rallying cry, called to him saying : "This
+way, come this way, we are your men." And he believed it and
+went, and fell into the midst of his enemies, and cutting off his
+head and setting it on a pike they raised it aloft. The Franks saw
+this and perceived that Chlodomer was dead, and rallying, they
+put Godomar to flight and crushed the Burgundians and reduced
+their country to subjection, and Clothar immediately married his
+brother's wife, Guntheuca by name. And queen Clotilda, after
+the period of mourning was past, took his sons and kept them;
+and one of these was called Theodoald, a second, Gunther, a third,
+Chlodovald. Godomar recovered his kingdom a second time.
+. Afterward Theodoric, remembering the wrongs done by
+Hermenfred, king of the Thuringi, called his brother Clothar to his
+aid and prepared to march against him, promising that a share of
+the plunder should be given to king Clothar, if by God's help the
+gift of victory should come to them. So he Called the Franks
+together and said to them : "Be angry, I beg of you, both because
+of my wrong and because of the death of your kinsmen, and recol-
+lect that the Thuringi once made a violent attack upon our kins-
+men and inflicted much harm on them. And they gave hostages
+and were willing to conclude peace with them, but the Thuringi
+slew the hostages with various tortures, and made an attack upon
+our kinsmen, took away all their property, and hung youths by
+the sinews of their thighs to trees, and cruelly killed more than
+two hundred maidens, tying them by their arms to the necks of
+horses, which were then headed in opposite directions, and being
+started by a very sharp goad tore the maidens to pieces. And
+others were stretched out upon the city streets and stakes were
+planted in the ground, and they caused loaded wagons to pass
+THE THIRD BOOK 57
+over them, and having broken their bones they gave them to dogs
+and birds for food. And now Hermenfred has deceived me in
+what he promised, and refuses to perform it at all. Behold, we
+have a plain word. Let us go with God's aid against them/'
+They heard this and were angry at such a wrong, and with heart
+and mind they attacked Thuringia. And Theodoric took his
+brother Clothar and his son Theodobert to help him and went
+with his army. And the Thuringi prepared stratagems against
+the coming of the Franks. For they dug pits in the plain where
+the fight was to take place, and covering the openings with thick
+turf they made it seem a level plain. So when they began to fight,
+many of the Frankish horsemen fell into these pits and it was a
+great obstacle to them, but when this stratagem was perceived
+they began to be on their guard. When finally the Thuringi saw
+that they were being fiercely cut to pieces and when their king
+Hermenfred had taken to flight, they turned their backs and
+came to the stream Unstrut. And there such a slaughter of the
+Thuringi took place that the bed of the stream was filled with
+heaps of corpses, and the Franks crossed upon them as if on a
+bridge to the further shore. The victory being won they took
+possession of that country and brought it under their control.
+And Clothar went back, taking with him as a captive Radegunda,
+daughter of king Berthar, and he married her, and her brother he
+afterwards killed unjustly by the hands of wicked men. She also
+turned to God, changing her garments, and built a monastery for
+herself in the city of Poitiers. And being remarkable for prayer^
+fasting and charity, she attained such fame that she was con- \
+sidered great by the people. And when the kings who have beenjj
+mentioned were still in Thuringia, Theodoric wished to kill his own
+brother Clothar, and preparing armed men secretly, he summoned
+him on the pretext that he wished to consult him privately. And
+stretching a tent-cloth in one part of the house from one wall to
+the other, he ordered the armed men to stand behind it. And
+since the cloth was somewhat short the feet of the armed men
+were in full sight. Clothar learned of this, and came into the house
+with his men armed also. And Theodoric perceived that he had
+learned of these things and he made a pretence, and talked of one
+thing after another. Finally, not knowing how to put a good
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+appearance on his stratagem, he gave him as a favor a great silver
+dish. And Clothar said good-by and thanked him for the gift and
+returned to his place of encampment. But Theodoric complained
+to his people that he had lost his dish for no evident reason, and he
+said to his son Theodobert; "Go to your uncle and ask him to
+give you of his own free will the gift I gave him." He went, and
+got what he asked for. In such stratagems Theodoric was very
+skilful.
+. He returned to his own country and urged Hermenfred to
+come to him boldly, pledging his faith, and he enriched him with
+honorable gifts. It happened, however, when they were talking
+one day on the walls of the city of Tolbiac that Hermenfred was
+pushed by some one or other, and fell from the height of the wall
+to the ground and there died. But we do not know who cast him
+down from there ; many however assert that a stratagem of The-
+odoric was plainly revealed in this.
+[9. King Childebert takes possession of Auvergne on a false
+report of Theodoric's death. 10. He leaves Auvergne and makes
+an expedition into Spain to avenge the ill-treatment of his sister
+Chlotchild by her husband Amalaric. 11-13. King Theodoric
+takes vengeance on the people of Auvergne for receiving Childe-
+bert.]
+. Now Munderic, who asserted that he was a kinsman of
+the king, was puffed up with pride and said : "What have I to do
+with king Theodoric. For the throne of the kingdom is as much
+my due as his. I shall go out and gather my people, and exact an
+oath from them, that Theodoric may know that I am king just as
+much as he." And he went out, and began to lead the people
+astray, saying : "I am a chief, follow me, and it will be well with
+you." [A multitude of country people followed him, as one might
+expect from the frailty of mankind, taking the oath of fidelity
+and honoring him as a king^ And when Theodoric found this out
+he sent a command to him, saying : "Come to see me, and if any
+share of my kingdom is due you, take it." Now Theodoric said
+this deceitfully, thinking that he would kill him when he came.
+But the other was unwilling and said : " Go, bear back word to your
+king that I am king just as he is." Then the king gave orders to
+set his army in motion, in order to crush him by force and punish
+THE THIRD BOOK 59
+him. And he learned this, and not being strong enough to defend
+himself, he hastened to the walls of the stronghold of Vitry, and
+strove to fortify himself in it with all his property, gathering
+together those whom he had led astray. Now the army got under
+way, and surrounded the stronghold, and besieged it for seven days.
+And Munderic resisted with his people, saying: "Let us make a
+brave stand, and fight together even to death, and not submit to
+the enemy." And when the army kept hurling javelins against
+them on every side, and accomplished nothing, they reported this
+to the king. And he sent for a certain one of his people, named
+Aregyselus, and said to him: "You see," said he, "what this
+traitor is able to do in his arrogance. Go and swear an oath to
+him that he shall go forth safe. And when he has come forth,
+kill him, and blot out his memory from our kingdom." He went
+away and did as he had been ordered. He had however first given
+a sign to the people, saying: "When I speak words thus and so,
+rush upon him immediately and kill him." Now Aregyselus went
+in and said to Munderic: "How long will you sit here like one
+without sense? You will not be able to resist the king long, will
+you? Behold, your food has been cut off. When hunger over-
+comes you, you will come forth whether or no, and surrender your-
+self into the hands of the enemy, and you will die like a dog. Listen
+rather to my advice, and submit to the king, that you may be
+able to live, you and your sons." Then the other, disheartened
+by these words, said: "If I go out, I shall be seized by the king
+and slain, both I and my sons and all my friends who are gathered
+with me." And Aregyselus said to him: "Do not be afraid, but
+if you decide to go forth, receive my oath as to your crime, and
+stand securely before the king. Do not be afraid. You shall be
+on the same terms with him as you were before." To this Mun-
+deric answered : "I wish I were sure I should not be killed." Then
+Aregyselus put his hands on the holy altar, and swore to him that
+he should go out safely. So when the oath had been taken, Mun-
+deric went out from the gate of the stronghold, holding Aregyselus'
+hand, and the people gazed at him from a distance. Then as a
+sign Aregyselus said: "Why do you gaze so intently, O people?
+Did you never see Munderic before?" And at once the people
+rushed upon him. But he understood and said : "I see very plainly
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+that by these words you gave a sign to the people to kill me, but
+I tell you who have deceived me by perjury, no one shall ever see
+you alive again." And he drove his lance into his back, and thrust
+it through him and he fell and died. Then Munderic unsheathed
+his sword, and with his followers made great slaughter of the
+people, and until he died did not shrink back from any one he could
+reach. And after he had been slain his property was added to the
+treasury.
+. Theodoric and Childebert made a treaty, and swearing to
+each other that neither would attack the other, they took hostages
+from each other, in order that their agreement might be more
+secure. Many sons of senators were given as hostages on that
+occasion, but a quarrel arose later between the kings, and they
+were given over to servitude and those who had taken them to
+guard now made slaves of them. Many of them however escaped
+by flight, and returned to their native place, but a good many
+were kept in slavery. Among these was Attalus, nephew of the
+blessed Gregory, bishop of Langres, who became a slave and was
+appointed keeper of horses. He was in servitude to a certain bar-
+barian in the territory of Treves. Now the blessed Gregory sent
+servants to inquire for him, who found him, and offered presents
+to the man, but he rejected them contemptuously, saying: "This
+fellow, belonging to such a family, ought to be ransomed with ten
+pounds of gold." And when they had returned, a certain Leo,
+belonging to the kitchen of his master, said: "I wish you would
+give me permission, and perhaps I might be able to bring him
+back from captivity." His master was glad of the offer, and he
+went straight to the place, and desired to carry the youth away
+secretly, but could not. Then bargaining with a certain man he said :
+"Come with me, and sell me in the house of that barbarian, and
+take the profit of my price, only let me have a freer opportunity
+of doing what I have decided." After taking an oath, the man
+went and sold him for twelve gold pieces, and departed. The pur-
+chaser asked the new slave what work he could do, and he answered :
+"I am very skilled in preparing all the things that ought to be
+eaten at the tables of masters, and I am not afraid that my equal
+in skill can be found. For I tell you that even if you desire to make
+ready a feast for the king, I can prepare kingly viands, and no one
+THE THIRD BOOK 61
+better than I." And he said: "The day of the sun is near,"
+for thus the Lord's day is usually named in the barbarian fashion
+"on this day my neighbors and kinsmen shall be invited to my
+house. I ask you to make me such a feast as to make them wonder
+and say 'we have not seen better in the king's palace.'" And the
+other said: "Let my master order a great number of fowls,
+and I will do what you command." Accordingly the preparations
+which the slave had asked for were made, and the Lord's day
+dawned, and he made a great feast full of delicacies. And- when
+all had feasted and praised the viands, the master's kinsmen went
+away. The master thanked this slave, and gave him authority
+over the food that he had ready for use, and he loved him greatly,
+and the slave used to serve food to all who were with his master.
+After the space of a year, when his master was now certain of him,
+Leo went out into a meadow which was near the house, with the
+slave Attalus, the keeper of the horses, and lying on the ground
+with him a long distance off, with their backs turned so they would
+not be recognized as together, he said to the youth: "It is time
+that we ought to be thinking of our native place. Therefore I
+advise you not to allow yourself to go to sleep to-night when you
+bring the horses to be shut in, but as soon as I call you, come, and
+let us undertake the journey." Now the barbarian had invited
+many of his kinsmen to a feast, and among them was his son-in-law,
+who had married his daughter. ./ And at midnight they rose from
+the banquet and retired to rest, and Leo attended his master's
+son-in-law to the place assigned and offered him drink. The man
+said to him: "Tell me, if you can, trusted servant of my father-
+in-law, when will you decide to take his horses and go to your own
+country." He said this in a joking way. In the same way the
+other jokingly gave the truthful answer: "To-night, I think, if it
+is God's will." And he said: "I hope my attendants will be on
+the watch that you take nothing of mine." They parted laugh-
+ingly. And when all were asleep, Leo called Attalus, and when
+the horses were saddled, he asked him if he had a sword. He
+answered: "I do not need one, I have only a small lance." But
+the other went into his master's house, and took his shield and
+spear. And when he asked who it was, and what he wanted, he
+answered: "I am Leo, your slave, and I am waking Attalus, so
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+that he may rise quickly and take the horses to pasture ; for he is
+sleeping as soundly as if he were drunk." And he said: "Do as
+you please." And saying this he fell asleep. The other went out
+of doors and armed the youth, and found unbarred, by divine
+help, the gates of the yard, which at nightfall he had barred with
+wedges driven by a hammer, to keep the horses safe; thanking
+God they took the remaining horses and went off, taking also a
+roll of garments. They came to the river Moselle in order to
+cross it, and being detained by certain persons they left their
+horses and clothes and swam over the river, supported on a shield,
+and climbing the further bank they hid themselves in the woods
+amid the darkness of the night. The third night was come since
+they had been on their way without tasting food. Then by God's
+will they found a tree full of the fruit which is commonly called
+plums, and ate and were strengthened somewhat, and began the
+journey through Champagne. And as they hastened, they heard
+the tramping of horses going at a rapid gait, and they said: "Let
+us throw ourselves down on the ground, so as not to be seen by
+the men who are coming." And behold they suddenly came
+upon a great bramble bush, and they passed behind and threw
+themselves on the ground with their swords unsheathed, in order
+to defend themselves quickly from wicked men if they should be
+noticed. And when the others had come to the thorn-bush they
+stopped; and one of them said, while their horses were making
+water: "Woe is me that these accursed wretches are escaped and
+cannot be found; but by my salvation, if they are found I com-
+mand one to be condemned to the gallows, and the other to be cut
+to fragments by strokes of the sword." Now the barbarian who
+said this was their master who was coming from the city of Rheims
+seeking for them, and he would certainly have found them on the
+way if night had not prevented. Then starting their horses, they
+went off. The fugitives reached the city on this very night, and
+going in, they found a man of whom they made inquiries, and he
+told them where the house of the priest Paulellus was. And while
+they were passing through the square, the bell was rung for matins
+- for it was the Lord's day and knocking at the priest's door,
+they went in, and Leo told about his master. And the priest said
+to him: "It was a true vision I had. For last night I saw two
+THE THIRD BOOK 63
+doves fly toward me and settle on my hand, and one of them was
+white, and the other black." And Leo said to the priest: "May
+the Lord be kind as the day is holy. For we ask you to give us
+some food; for the fourth day is dawning since we have tasted
+bread and meat." He hid the slaves, and gave them bread soaked
+in wine, and went away to matins. The barbarian followed them,
+asking lor the boys a second time, but he was deceived by the
+priest, and he went back. For the priest had an old friendship
+with the blessed Gregory. Then the youths, after refreshing their
+strength with food, and remaining two days in the home of the
+priest, departed, and thus they came to the holy Gregory. The
+bishop rejoiced at seeing them, and wept on the neck of Attalus
+his nephew ; he set Leo free from the yoke of slavery with all his
+family, and gave him land of his own, on which he lived a free man
+with his wife and children all the days of his life.
+[16. Sigivald, duke of Auvergne, is miraculously punished for
+taking church property. 17* Seven successive bishops of Tours
+are mentioned, one of them, Leo, being "a man of energy and skill
+in the building of wooden structures."]
+8. While queen Clotilda was staying at Paris, Childebert saw
+that his mother loved with especial affection the sons of Chlodo-
+mer, whom we have mentioned above, and being envious and fear-
+ful that they would have a share in the kingdom through the favor
+of the queen, he sent secretly to his brother king Clothar, saying :
+"Our mother keeps our brother's sons with her, and wishes them
+to be kings. You must come swiftly to Paris, where we will take
+counsel together and discuss what ought to be done about them,
+whether their hair shall be cut and they be treated like the rest of
+the common people, or whether we shall kill them and divide our
+brother's kingdom between ourselves equally." And Clothar was
+very glad at these words, and came to Paris. Now Childebert
+had spread the report among the people that the kings were meet-
+ing for the purpose of raising the little ones to the throne. And
+when they met, they sent to the queen, who was then dwelling in
+the city, saying: "Send the little ones to us, that they may be
+raised to the throne." And she rejoiced, not knowing their
+treachery, and giving the boys food and drink, she sent them say-
+ing : "I shall not think that I have lost my son, if I see you occupy
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+his place in the kingdom." And they went, and were seized at
+once, and were separated from their servants and tutors, and they
+were guarded separately, in one place the servants, in another
+these little ones. Then Childebert and Clothar sent Arcadius,
+whom we have mentioned before, to the queen, with a pair of scis-
+sors and a naked sword. And coming he showed both to the
+queen, and said: "Most glorious queen, your sons, our masters,
+ask your decision as to what you think ought to be done with the
+boys, whether you give command for them to live with shorn hair,
+or for both to be put to death." She was terrified by the news
+and at the same time enraged, especially when she saw the naked
+sword and the scissors, and being overcome with bitterness, and
+not knowing in her grief what she was saying, she said imprudently :
+"It is better for me to see them dead rather than shorn, if they are
+not raised to the kingship." But he wondered little at her grief,
+and did not think what she would say later in less haste, but went
+swiftly, taking the news and saying: "Finish the task you have
+begun with the queen's favor; for she wishes your design to be
+accomplished." There was no delay. Clothar seized the older
+boy by the arm, and dashed him to the earth, and plunging his
+hunting knife into his side, he killed him pitilessly. And while
+the child was screaming, his brother threw himself at Childebert's
+feet and seized his knees and said : "Help me, kind father, lest I
+perish like my brother." Then Childebert, his face covered with
+tears, said : "Dearest brother, I ask you to grant his life to me in
+your generosity, and let me pay for his life what you wish, only
+let him not be killed." But the other attacked him with abuse,
+and said : "Cast him from you, or you shall surely die in his place.
+It is you," said he, "that are the guilty instigator 1 of this matter.
+Do you so easily break faith?" Childebert heeded this and cast
+the boy away from him to the other, who seized him and plunged
+his knife into his side and slew him as he had his brother before :
+then they killed the servants and the tutors. When they were
+killed Clothar mounted his horse and went off, making a small
+matter of the killing of his nephews. And Childebert retired to
+the outskirts of the city. And the queen^JacedJtheir little bodies
+on a bier and followed thfinL-to^the church of St._Peter with loud
+Reading for incestator, instecator. Bonnet, Le Latin de Gregoire de Tours, p. 454, 5.
+THE THIRD BOOK 65
+singing and unbounded grief, and buried them side by side. One
+was ten years old, the other seven. But the third, Clodoald, they
+were unable to seize, since he was freed by the aid of brave men.
+He gave up his earthly kingdom and passed to the Lord's service,
+and cutting his hair with his own hand he became a clerk, busied
+with good works, and as a priest passed from this life. The two
+kings divided equally between them the kingdom of Chlodomer.
+And queen Clotilda showed herself such that she was honored by
+all; she was always diligent in alms, able to endure the whole
+night in watching, unstained in chastity and uprightness; with a
+generous and ready good-will she bestowed estates on churches,
+monasteries, and holy places wherever she saw there was need, so
+that she was believed to serve God diligently, not as a queen but
+as his own handmaid, and neither her royal sons, nor worldly am-
+bition, nor wealth, raised her up for destruction, but her humility
+exalted her to grace.
+. There lived at that time in the city of Langres the blessed
+Gregory, a great bishop of God, renowned for his signs and mir-
+acles. And since we have spoken of this bishop, I think it not
+unpleasing to insert in this place an account of the site of Dijon,
+where he was especially active. It is a stronghold with very
+solid walls, built in the midst of a plain,' a very pleasant place,
+the lands rich and fruitful, so that when the fields are ploughed
+once the seed is sown and a great wealth of produce comes in due
+season. On the south it has the Ouche, a river very rich in fish,
+and from the north comes another little stream, which runs in at
+the gate and flows under a bridge and again passes out by another
+gate, flowing around the whole fortified place with its quiet waters,
+and turning with wonderful speed the mills before the gate. The
+four gates face the four regions of the universe, and thirty-three
+towers adorn the whole structure, and the wall is thirty feet high
+and fifteen feet thick, built of squared stones up to twenty feet,
+and above of small stone. And why it is not called a city I do
+not know. It has all around it abundant springs, and on the
+west are hills, very fertile and full of vineyards, which produce for
+the inhabitants such a noble Falernian that they disdain wine of
+Ascalon. The ancients say this place was built by the emperor
+Aurelian.
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+[20. Betrothal of Theodoric's son Theodobert to Visigard.
+. The Franks retake some of the cities taken by Clovis from the
+Goths. 22. Theodobert falls in love with Deoteria.]
+. In those days Theodoric killed his kinsman Sigivald with
+the sword, sending secretly to Theodobert that he should slay
+Sigivald's son Sigivald whom he had with him. But he was unwilling
+to destroy him, because he had taken him from the sacred font.
+But he gave him the letter to read which his father had sent, say-
+ing: "Flee from here, because I have received my father's com-
+mand to kill you ; and if he dies and you hear that I am reigning,
+then return to me safely." On hearing this Sigivald thanked him,
+said good-by, and departed. Now at that time the Goths had
+taken possession of the city of Aries, from which Theodobert still
+had hostages. To it Sigivald fled. But he saw that he was not
+safe there, and went to Latium, and remained hidden there. While
+this was going on, word was brought to Theodobert that his father
+was seriously ill, and that if he did not hasten swiftly to him so as
+to find him alive, he would be excluded by his uncles, and would never
+be allowed to return. And he postponed everything on hearing this,
+and hastened thither, leaving Deoteria with her daughter at Cler-
+mont. And not many days after he had gone, Theodoric died, in the
+twenty- third year of his reign. And Childebert and Clothar rose
+against Theodobert and wished to take the kingdom from him, but
+he was defended by his leudes, after they had received gifts from
+him, and was established in his kingdom. He sent later to Clermont
+and summoned Deoteria thence, and married her.
+. Childebert saw that he was not able to prevail, and sent
+an embassy to him, and bade him come to him, saying: "I have
+no sons, I wish to treat you as a son." And when he came he
+bestowed such rich gifts upon him that all wondered. For he
+presented him with three pairs of all the articles of armor, vest-
+ments, and other equipments that it becomes a king to have, and
+likewise with horses and chains. Sigivald heard this, namely, that
+Theodobert had received his father's kingdom, and returned to
+him from Italy. And Theodobert rejoiced, and kissed him, and
+bestowed upon him a third part of the gifts which he had received
+from his uncle, and he gave orders that all that his father had
+seized of the property of Sigivald's father, should be returned to him.
+THE THIRD BOOK 67
+. And he was established in his kingdom, arid showed him-
+self great, and distinguished by every goodness. For he ruled his
+kingdom with justice, re^rjectin^the bishops, making gifts to the
+churches, relieving the poor, and doing kindnesses to many persons
+with a pious and generous heart. He kindly remitted all the
+tribute which was payable to his treasury from the churches situated
+in Auvergne.
+. Now Deoteria saw that her daughter was quite grown up,
+and was afraid that the king would desire and take her. She
+placed her in a litter, to which wild oxen were yoked, and sent her
+headlong over a bridge ; and she lost her life in the river. This
+happened in the city of Verdun.
+. As it was now the seventh year since Theodobert and
+Visigard had been betrothed, and he was unwilling to take her
+on account of Deoteria, the Franks, when they met, were greatly
+scandalized at him because he had abandoned his betrothed.
+Then he was alarmed, and abandoning Deoteria, by whom he had
+a little son named Theodobald, he married Visigard. And when
+she died not long after, he took another wife. But he did not have
+Deoteria after that.
+^'[28. Childebert and JTheodobert march against Chlothar but
+are turned back by a miraculous hailstorm sent by St. Martin.]
+. Later king Childebert set out for Spain. And entering the
+country with Clothar, they surrounded the city of Saragossa with
+their army, and besieged it. But the besieged turned to God in
+such humility that they put on haircloth, abstained from food and
+drink, and made the round of the walls of the city with psalm-
+singing, carrying the tunic of the blessed Vincent, the martyr ;
+the women, too, followed wailing, clothed in black robes, with
+their hair hanging loose and ashes upon it, so that one would think
+they were attending the funerals of their husbands. And to such
+a degree did that city place its whole hope in God's mercy that it
+was said they were celebrating the fast of the Ninevites there, and
+there was no idea of any other possibility than that the divine
+mercy might be won by prayers. But the besiegers did not know
+what was going on, and when they saw them go around the wall in
+such a way they supposed they were engaged in some sorcery.
+Then seizing one of the common people of the place, they asked
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+him what it was they were doing. And he said : " They are carry-
+ing the blessed Vincent's tunic, and at the same time they are
+praying the Lord to pity them." And they were afraid at this,
+and went away from that city. However, they acquired a very
+large part of Spain, and returned to the Gauls with great spoils.
+. After Amalaric, Theoda was ordained king in the Spains.
+But when he was slain they raised Theodegisil to the throne.
+When he was dining with his friends and was very cheerful, suddenly
+the lights were put out in the dining hall and he was slain by his
+enemies, being thrust through with a sword. After him Agila
+became king. ^For the Goths had formed the detestable habit, of
+attacking with the sword any one of their kings who did not please
+them, and they would appoint as king any one that took their fancy. \
+. Theodoric of Italy having married a sister of king Clovis^l
+died, and left his wife and a little daughter. When this girl was
+grown, because of her fickle temper she refused the counsel of her
+mother, who was looking out for a king's son for her, and took her
+slave named Traguilanis, and fled with him to a city where she
+hoped to defend herself. And when her mother raged at her
+furiously, and begged her not to disgrace further a noble family,
+and said it was her duty to send the slave off and take one of equal
+rank with herself from a royal family, whom her mother had pro-
+vided, she was by no means willing to agree to it. Then her mother,
+still raging _at her, set an army in motion. And they came upon
+them, and killed Traguilanis with the sword, chastised the girl
+herself, and took her to her mother's house. Now they belonged
+to the Arian sect, and as it is their custom that of those going to
+the altar the kings receive one cup and the lesser people another,
+she put poison in the cup from which her mother was going to
+receive the communion. And she drank it and died forthwith.
+Thr-e is no doubt that such harm is from the devil. What shall
+th ". wretched heretics answer to this charge that the enemy dwells
+in their holy place? But as for us who contess^he jMnTty^^(me\
+similar equality and omnipotence, even if we should drink a deadly
+draught in the name of the Father, Son and holy Spirit, the true
+and incorruptible God, it would not do us any harm. The Italians
+were indignant at this woman, and they invited Theodad, king of
+Tuscia, and made him king over them. When he learned what
+THE THIRD BOOK 69
+the harlot had been guilty of, how she had slain her mother on
+account of a slave whom she had taken, he gave orders that a bath
+be raised to a great heat, and that she be shut in the same with
+one maid. And when she entered the hot vapors she fell at once
+on the pavement, and died, and was consumed. And when the
+kings Childebert and Chlothar, her cousins, as well as Theodo-
+bert, learned this, namely, that she had been put to death in so
+shameful a manner, they sent an embassy to Theodad, blaming
+him for her death, and saying: "If you do not make an arrange-
+ment with us for what you have done, we will take your kingdom
+from you, and condemn you to a like punishment." Then he was
+afraid, and sent to them fifty thousand gold pieces. And Childe-
+bert, being as ever envious of king Clothar, and deceitful, joined
+with Theodobert his nephew, and they divided the gold between
+them, and refused to give any of it to king Clothar. But he made
+an attack upon the treasures of Chlodomer, and took much more,
+from them than that of which they had defrauded him.
+. Theodobert went to Italy, and there made great gains.
+But as those places according to report are full of diseases, his
+army was attacked by various fevers, and many of them died there.
+Seeing this, Theodobert returned from the country and brought
+much spoil, himself and his men. It is related that at that time
+he went as far as the city of Pavia to which he again sent Bucce-
+lenus. And he captured lesser Italy and brought it under the sway
+of the king who has been mentioned, and attacked greater Italy ;
+here he fought against Belsuarius many times and won the victory.
+And when the emperor saw that Belsuarius was being beaten more
+frequently he removed him, and put Narses in his place, and, as a
+humiliation, he made Belsuarius count of the stable, a place he had
+held before. But Buccelenus fought great battles against Narses :
+capturing all Italy he extended his boundaries to the sea, and he
+sent great treasures from Italy to Theodobert. When Narses
+made this known to the emperor, the emperor hired nations and
+sent aid to Narses, and in the battle later he was defeated. Then
+Buccelenus seized Sicily and exacting tribute from it he sent it to
+the king. He enjoyed great prosperity in these matters.
+[33. Feud between Asteriolus and Secundinus, advisers of King
+Theodobert.l
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+. Desideratus, bishop of Verdun, to whom king Theodoric
+had done many wrongs, was restored to liberty at the Lord's com-
+mand, after many losses and reverses and griefs, and received the
+office of bishop, as we have said, at the city of Verdun, and seeing
+its inhabitants very poor and destitute he grieved for them, and
+since he was left without his own property because of Theodoric,
+and had nothing of his own with which to relieve them, knowing
+the goodness and kindness to all of king Theodobert, he sent an
+embassy to him saying : "The fame of your goodness is spread over
+all the earth, since your generosity is such that you give aid even
+to those who do not seek it. I beg of your kindness if you have
+any money, that you lend it to us that we may be able to relieve
+our fellow-citizens; and when those in charge of business secure
+a return in our city such as the rest have, we will repay your money
+with lawful interest." Then Theodobert was stirred with pity
+and furnished seven thousand gold pieces, which the bishop received
+and paid out among his fellow-citizens. And they who were en-
+gaged in business were made rich through this and are considered
+great to the present day. And when the bishop who has been
+just mentioned offered the money which was due to the king, the
+king answered : "I have no need to take this ; it is enough for me
+if the poor men who were suffering want have been relieved by your
+care because of your suggestion and my generosity." And he
+whom we have mentioned made the citizens rich without demand-
+ing anything.
+[35. Syagrius avenges wrongs done to his father by killing
+Syrivald.J
+. After this king Theodobert began to be sick. And the
+physicians gave him much care ; but he did not get well because
+the Lord was already bidding him be summoned. And so after
+a very long illness he died of his infirmity. And as the Franks
+hated Parthenius intensely, because he had subjected them to
+tribute in the time of the king just mentioned, they began to attack
+him. He saw that he was in danger, and fled from the city,
+and humbly begged two bishops to conduct him to the city
+of Treves, and check the sedition of the frenzied people by
+their preaching. While they were on their way he was lying on
+his bed at night, and suddenly he made a loud cry in his sleep,
+THE THIRD BOOK 71
+saying : "Ho ! Ho ! Help, you who are here, and assist one who
+is perishing." By this shouting those who were there were
+awakened, and they asked him what the matter was. He answered :
+"Ausanius, my friend, and my wife Papianella, whom I slew long
+ago, were summoning me to judgment, saying : ' Come to defend"?
+yourself, since you are going to plead with us in the presence of 1
+the Lord." 3 Now he had slain his innocent wife and his friend
+some years before, under the influence of jealousy. Accordingly,
+the bishops approached the city just mentioned, and since they
+could not calm the sedition among the rebellious people, they
+wished to hide him in the church, placing him in a chest, and
+strewing above him vestments which were used in the church.
+The people came in, and after searching every corner of the church,
+went out in a rage when they found nothing. Then one said
+suspiciously: " Behold a chest in which our enemy has not been
+sought for." And when the guards said that there was nothing
+in it except that it contained furniture of the church, they demanded
+the key, saying : " Unless you quickly unlock it we will break it
+open ourselves." Finally the chest was unlocked, the linen cloths
+were removed, and they found him and dragged him out, rejoicing
+and saying: "God has delivered our enemy into our hands."
+Then they struck him with their fists, and spat on him, and tying
+his hands behind his back, they stoned him to death beside a
+column. He was very voracious in eating, and what he ate he ^
+digested speedily, taking aloes in order to be made hungry soon
+again. . . . And so he perished, meeting this kind of end.
+. In that year the winter was a grievous one and more severe
+than usual, so that the streams were held in the chains of frost and
+furnished a path for the people like dry ground. Birds, too, were
+affected by the cold and hunger, and were caught in the hand with-
+out any snare when the snow was deep.
+Now from the death of Clovis to the death of Theodobert there
+are reckoned thirty-seven years. When Theodobert died in the
+fourteenth year of his reign, Theodoald his son reigned in his stead.
+HERE ENDS THE THIRD BOOK.
+HERE BEGIN THE CHAPTERS OF THE FOURTH BOOK
+. Queen Clotilda's death.
+. King Clothar attempts to take a third of the revenues of the churches.
+. His wives and children.
+. The counts of the Bretons.
+. The holy bishop Gallus.
+. The priest Cato.
+. The episcopate of Cautinus.
+. The kings of the Spaniards.
+. Theodovald's death.
+. Rebellion of the Saxons.
+. The people of Tours at the bidding of the king invite Cato to be their
+bishop.
+. The priest Anastasius.
+. Chramnus's frivolity and wickedness and about Cautinus and Firmin.
+. Clothar makes a second expedition against the Saxons.
+. Episcopate of the holy Eufronius.
+. Chramnus and his followers and the crimes he committed and how he
+went to Dijon.
+. How Chramnus deserted to Childebert.
+8. Duke Austrapius.
+. Death of the holy bishop Medard.
+. Death of Childebert and killing of Chramnus.
+. King Clothar's death.
+. Division of the kingdom among his sons.
+. Sigibert marches against the Huns and Chilperic seizes his cities.
+. The patrician Celsus.
+. Gunthram's wives.
+. Charibert's wives.
+. Sigibert marries Brunhilda.
+. Chilperic's wives.
+. Sigibert's second war with the Huns.
+. The people of Auvergne at King Sigibert's bidding go to take Aries.
+1 . About the town of Tauredunum and other marvels.
+. The monk Julian.
+. The abbot Sunniulf.
+. The monk of Bordeaux.
+
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+. The episcopate of Avitus in Auvergne.
+. The holy Nicetius of Lyons.
+. The holy recluse Fiard.
+. The Spanish kings.
+. Death of Palladius at Clermont.
+. Emperor Justinus.
+. Albin and the Lombards settle in Italy.
+. Wars between them and Mummulus.
+. The archdeacon of Marseilles.
+. The Lombards and Mummulus.
+. Mummulus goes to Tours.
+. The killing of Andarchius.
+. Theodobert takes possession of the cities.
+. The monastery of Latta.
+. Sigibert goes to Paris.
+. Chilperic enters into a treaty with Gunthram ; death of Theodobert his
+son.
+. Death of king Sigibert.
+HERE END THE CHAPTERS
+HERE BEGINS THE FOURTH BOOK WITH HAPPY
+AUSPICES
+p#v
+[i. Queen Clotilda dies at Tours and is buried at Paris.]
+. King Clothar had ordered all the churches of his kingdom to
+y into his treasury a third of their revenues. But when all the
+other bishops, though jrr^gingly^ha^^
+thpJT-narnPs ; f h P hlftssad Tn jn fTn^is^nnipHjJTp Command and IT^an-
+f ullvjrefused tojdgn, saying, "If you attempt ^o t^ke tlie things of
+Go5^e x Lorawi|l take a^ay your kingdom spjeedily because }t is
+wrong for yo^r storehouses to be filled with the contributions of the
+poor whom you /yourself, ought to fee4/' He was irritated with
+the king and left nis presence without saying farewell. Then the
+king was alarmed and being afraid of the power of the blessed
+Martin he sent after him with gifts, praying for pardon and admit-
+ting the wrongfulness of what he had done, and asking also that
+the bishop avert from him by prayer the power of the blessed
+Martin.
+. The king had seven sons by several wives; namely, by
+Ingunda, Gunthar, Childeric, Charibert, Gunthram, Sigibert, and
+a daughter Chlotsinda; by Aregunda, sister of Ingunda, Chil-
+peric ; and by Chunsina he had Chramnus. I will tell why it was
+he married his wife's sister. When he was already married to
+IngufidaTand lo^dr4ier^alone,Jie received a hintTfrom her saying :
+"My Lord has done with his handmaid what he pleased and has
+taken me to his couch. Now let my lord the king hear what his
+servant wptfld sugges^t^fee-iuake his favor complete. I beg that
+you consent to find a husband for my sister, a man who will be of
+advantage to your servant and possess wealth, so that I shall
+not be humiliated but rather exalted and shall be able to serve you
+more faithfully." To this request he gave heed and being of a
+wanton nature he fell in love with Aregunda and went to the estate
+
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+on which she was living and married her himself. Having done
+this he returned to Ingunda and said : "I have tried to do the favor
+which your sweet self asked of me. I sought for a man of riches and
+wisdom to unite to your sister but I found no one better than my-
+self. And so allow me to tell you that I have married her, which I
+think will not displease you." And she replied; "Let my Lord
+do what seems good in his eyes; only let his handmaid live in
+favor with the king."
+Now Gunthar, Chramnus and Childeric died in their father's
+lifetime. Of the death of Chramnus I shall write later. And
+Albin, king of the Lombards, married Chlotsinda, his daughter.
+Injuriosus, bishop of Tours, died in the seventeenth year of his
+episcopate and Baudinus, a former official of king Clothar, suc-
+ceeded him, the sixteenth after the death of the blessed Martin.
+.^Chanao, count of the Bretons, killed three of his brothers.
+He wished to kill Macliavus also, and seized him and kept him in
+prison loaded with chains.^ But he was freed from death by
+Felix, bishop of Nantes. After this he swore that he would be
+faithful to his brother, but from some reason or other he became
+inclined to break his oath. Chanao was aware of this and began
+to attack him again and when Macliavus saw that he could not
+escape, he fled to another count of that district, Chonomor by name.
+When Chonomor learned that Macliavus' pursuers were near at
+hand, he hid him in a box underground and heaped a mound over
+it in the regular way leaving a small airhole so that he could breathe.
+And when his pursuers came, they said: "Behold here lies
+Macliavus dead and buried." On hearing this they were glad
+and drank on his tomb and reported to his brother that he was
+dead. And his brother took the whole of his kingdom. For since
+Clovis's death the Bretons have always been under the dominion
+of the Franks and [their rulers have been called counts, not kings.
+Macliavus rose from underground and went to the city of Vannes
+and there received the tonsure and was ordained bishop. But
+when Chanao died he left the priesthood, let his hair grow long, and
+took back not only his brother's kingdom but also the wife whom he
+had abandoned when he became a priest. However he was ex-
+communicated by the bishops. What his end was I shall describe
+later. Now bishop Baudinus died in the sixth year of his episco-
+THE FOURTH BOOK 77
+pate, and the abbot Gunthar was appointed in his place, the seven-
+teenth after the passing of the blessed Martin.
+[5. How St. Gall, bishop of Clermont, averted the plague from
+his people.]
+And when Saint Gall had departed from this world and his
+body had been washed and carried to the church, Cato the priest
+immediately received the congratulations of the clergy on becoming
+bishop. And as if he were already bishop he took under his control 1
+all the church property, removed the superintendents and cast
+the lesser officials out and regulated everything himself.
+. The bishops who came to St. Gall's funeral said to Cato the
+priest after the funeral: "We see that you are the choice of by
+far the largest part of the people ; come then, join us, and we will
+bless and ordain you as bishop. The king is very young and if
+any fault is found with you, we will take you under our protection
+and deal with the leading men of Theodovald's kingdom so that no
+wrong shall be done you. Trust us faithfully, since we promise
+that even if some loss shall come to you, we will make it all good
+from our own properties." But he was puffed up with the pride of
+vainglory and said : "You know from widespread report that from
+the beginning of my life I have always lived religiously, that I have
+fasted, delighted in almsgiving, often kept watch without ceasing
+and have frequently continued the singing of psalms without a
+break the whole night through. The Lord God to whom I have
+paid such service will not allow me to be deprived of this office.
+For I attained all the grades of the clergy as directed in the canons.
+I was reader ten years, I performed the duties of sub-deacon five
+years, I have been priest now for twenty years. What more is left
+for me except to receive the office of bishop which my faithful
+service deserves. You then return to your cities and busy yourselves
+with whatever tends to your advantage. For I intend to gain this
+office in the manner prescribed by the canons." The bishops
+heard this and departed cursing his empty boasting.
+. He was accordingly designated to be bishop by the choice
+of the clergy, and when he had taken charge of everything though
+he was not yet ordained, he began to make various threats against
+the archdeacon Cautinus, saying : "I will cast you out, I will
+degrade you, I will cause many sorts of violent death to threaten
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+you." And he answered : "I wish to have your favor, pious master ;
+and if I win it, there is one kindness I can do. Without any
+trouble on your part and without any deceit I will go to the king
+and obtain the office of bishop for you, asking no reward except
+to win your favor." But the other was suspicious that he meant
+to make a mock of him and rejected the offer with great disdain.
+And when Cautinus perceived that he was in disgrace and was the
+object of ill report he pretended sickness, and left the city by night,
+going to king Theodovald and reporting the death of Saint Gall.
+And when he and his court were informed of it they assembled
+the bishops at the city of Metz, and Cautinus the archdeacon was
+ordained bishop. And on the arrival of the messengers of the
+priest Cato he was already bishop. Then by the king's order
+these clerks were delivered over to him and all that they had
+brought from the property of the church, and bishops and officials
+of the treasury were appointed to accompany him, and they sent
+him on his way to Clermont. And he was gladly received by the
+clergy and citizens and was thus made bishop of Clermont. But
+later enmity arose between him and Cato the priest because no
+one was ever able to influence Cato to submit to his bishop. A
+division of the clergy appeared and some followed the bishop
+Cautinus and others the priest Cato. This was a great drawback
+to them. And Cautinus saw that Cato could not be forced in any
+way to submit to him and took all church property from him and
+his friends and whoever took his part, and left them weak and
+empty. But whoever of them returned to him, again received
+what he had lost.
+[8. King Agila of Spain loses cities to the emperor which his
+successor Athanagild recovers.]
+. When Theodovald had grown up he married Vuldetrada.
+This Theodovald, they say, had a bad disposition so that when he
+was angry with any one whom he suspected of taking his property
+he would make up a fable, saying: "A snake found a jar full of
+wine. He went in by its neck and greedily drained what was
+inside. But being puffed out by the wine he could not go out by
+the opening by which he had entered. And the owner of the wine
+came, and when the snake tried to get out but could not, he said to
+him : l First vomit out what you have swallowed and then you will
+THE FOURTH BOOK 79
+be able to go free.' " This fable made him greatly feared and hated.
+Under him Buccelenus after bringing all Italy under the rule of the
+Franks was slain by Narses, and Italy was taken by the emperor's
+party and there was no one to recover it later. In his time we saw
+grapes grow on the tree we call saucum [elder-tree] without having
+any vine on it, and the blossoms of the same trees, which as you
+know usually produce black seeds, yielded the seeds of grapes.
+At that time a star coming from the opposite direction was seen
+to enter the disk of the fifth moon. I suppose these signs announced
+the death of the king. He became very sick and could not move
+from the waist down. He gradually grew worse and died in the
+seventh year of his reign, and king Clothar took his kingdom,
+taking Vuldetrada his wife to his bed. But being rebuked by the
+bishops he left her, giving her to duke Garivald and sending his son
+Chramnus to Clermont.
+[10. King Clothar destroys the greater part of the rebellious
+Saxons and lays Thuringia waste.]
+ii. Bishop Gunthar died at Tours, and at a suggestion, it is
+said, of bishop Cautinus the priest Cato was requested to undertake
+the government of the church at Tours. And the clergy accom-
+panied by Leubastes, keeper of the relics and abbot, went in great
+state to Clermont. And when they had declared the king's will
+to Cato he would not answer them for a few days. But they wished
+to return and said : "Declare your will to us so that we may know
+what we ought to do ; otherwise we will return home. For it was
+not of our own will that we came to you but at the command of
+the king." And Cato in his greed for vainglory got together a
+crowd of poor men and instructed them to shout as follows : " Good
+father, why do you abandon us your children, whom you taught until
+now ? Who will strengthen us with food and drink if you go away ?
+We beg you not to leave us whom you are wont to support." Then
+he turned to the clergy of Tours and said : "You see now, beloved
+brothers, how this multitude of the poor loves me ; I cannot leave
+them to go with you." They received this answer and returned
+to Tours. Now Cato had made friends with Chramnus and got
+a promise from him that if king Clothar should die at that time,
+Cautinus was to be cast out at once from the bishop's office and
+Cato was to be given control of the church. But he who despised
+o HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+the chair of the blessed Martin did not get what he desired, and in
+this was fulfilled that which David sang, saying: "He refused the
+blessing and it shall be kept far from him." He was puffed up
+with vanity thinking that no one was superior to him in holiness.
+Once he hired a woman to cry aloud in the church as if possessed
+and say that he was holy and great and beloved by God, but Cautinus
+the bishop was guilty of every crime and unworthy to hold the
+office of bishop.
+. Now Cautinus on taking up the duties of bishop became
+greatly addicted to wine, and proved to be of such a character that
+he was loathed by all. He was often so befuddled by drink that
+four men could hardly take him away after dinner. Because of
+this habit he became an epileptic later on a disease which fre-
+quently showed itself in public. He was also so avaricious that if
+he could not get some part of the possessions of those whose boun-
+daries touched him he thought it was ruin for him. He took from
+the stronger with quarrels and abuse, and violently plundered the
+weaker. And as our Sollius 1 says, he would not pay the price
+because he despised doing so, and would not accept deeds because
+he thought them useless.
+There was at that time a priest Anastasius, of free birth, who
+held some property secured by deeds of queen Clotilda of glorious
+memory. Usually when he met him the bishop would entreat him
+to give him the deeds of the queen mentioned above, and place the
+property under his charge. And when Anastasius postponed
+complying with the will of his bishop, the latter would try now to
+coax him with kind words and now to terrify him with threats.
+When he continued unwilling to the end, he ordered him to be
+brought to the city and there shamelessly detained, and unless he
+surrendered the deeds, he was to be loaded with insults and starved
+to death. But the other made a spirited resistance and never
+surrendered the deeds, saying it was better for him to waste away
+with hunger for a time than to leave his children in misery. Then
+by the bishop's command he was given over to the guards with in-
+structions to starve him to death if he did not surrender these
+documents. Now there was in the church of St. Cassius the martyr
+a very old and remote crypt, in which was a great tomb of Parian
+Sidonius Apollinaris.
+THE FOURTH BOOK 81
+marble wherein it seems the body of a certain man of long ago had
+been placed. In this tomb upon the dead body the living priest
+was placed and the tomb was covered with the stone with which
+it had been covered before, and guards were placed at the entrance.
+But the faithful guards seeing that he was shut in by a stone as it
+was winter lit a fire and under the influence of hot wine fell asleep.
+But the priest like a new Jonah prayed insistently to the Lord to
+pity him from the interior of the tomb as from the belly of hell,
+and the tomb being large, as we have said, he was able to extend
+his hands freely wherever he wished although he could not turn his
+whole body. There came from the bones of the dead, as he used to
+relate, a killing stench, which made him shudder not only outwardly
+but in his inward parts as well. While he held his robe tightly
+against his nose and could hold his breath his feelings were not the
+worst, but when he thought that he was suffocating and held the
+robe a little away from his face he drank in the deadly smell not
+merely through mouth and nose but even, so to speak, through his
+very ears. Why make too long a story ! When he had suffered,
+as I suppose, like the Divine Nature, he stretched out his right
+hand to the side of the sarcophagus and found a crowbar which
+had been left between the cover and the edge of the tomb when
+the cover sank into place. Moving this by degrees he found that
+with God's help the stone could be moved, and when it had been
+moved so far that the priest could get his head out he made a larger
+opening with greater ease and so came out bodily. Meanwhile
+the darkness of night was overspreading the day though it had not
+spread everywhere as yet. So he hastened to another entrance
+to the crypt. This was closed with the strongest bars and bolts,
+but was not so smoothly fittecL that a man could not see between the
+planks. The priest placed his head close to this entrance and saw
+a man go by. He called to him in a low voice. The other heard,
+and having an ax in his hand he at once cut the wooden pieces by
+which the bars were held and opened the way for the priest. And
+he went off in the darkness and hastened home after vigorously
+urging the man to say nothing of the matter to any one. He
+entered his home and finding the deeds which the queen mentioned
+before had given him took them to king Clothar, informing him at
+the same time how he had been committed to a living burial by
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+his own bishop. All were amazed and said that never had Nero
+or Herod done such a deed as to place a live man in the grave.
+Then bishop Cautinus appeared before king Clothar but upon the
+priest's accusation he retreated in defeat and confusion. The
+priest, according to directions received from the king, maintained
+his property as he pleased and kept possession of it and left it to
+his children. In Cautinus there was no holiness, no quality to
+esteemed. He was absolutely without knowledge of letters both
+ecclesiastical and secular. He was a great friend of the Jews and
+subservient to them, not for their salvation, as ought to be the
+anxious care of a shepherd, but in order to purchase their wares
+which they sold to him at a higher price than they were worth,
+since he tried to please them and they very plainly flattered
+him.
+. At this time Chramnus lived at Clermont. He did many
+things contrary to reason and for this his departure from the world
+was hastened; and he was bitterly reviled by the people. He
+made friends with no one from whom he could get good and useful
+counsel, but he gathered together young men of low character and no
+stability and made friends of them only, listening to their advice
+and at their suggestion he even directed them to carry off daughters
+of senators by force. He offered serious insults to Firmin and drove
+him out of his office as count of the city, and placed Salust son of
+Euvodius in his place. Firmin with his mother-in-law took refuge
+in the church. It was Lent and bishop Cautinus had made prep-
+arations to go in procession singing psalms to the parish of Brioude,
+according to the custom established by St. Gall as we described
+above. And so the bishop went forth from the city with loud
+weeping, afraid that he would meet some danger on the way.
+For king Chramnus had been uttering threats against him. And
+while he was on the way the king sent Innachar and Scaphthar
+his chief adherents, saying: "Go and drag Firmin and Caesaria
+his mother-in-law away from the church by force." So when the
+bishop had departed with psalm singing, as I have said before, the
+men sent by Chramnus entered the church and strove to calm the
+suspicions of Firmin and Caesaria with many deceitful words. And
+when they had talked over one thing after another for a long time,
+walking to and fro in the church, and the fugitives had their atten-
+THE FOURTH BOOK 83
+tion fixed on what was being said, they drew near to the doors of
+the sacred temple which were then open. Then Innachar seized
+Firmin in his arms and Scaphthar Caesaria, and cast them out from
+the church, where their slaves were ready to lay hold of them.
+And they sent them into exile at once. But on the second day
+their guards were overcome with sleep and they saw that they were
+free and hastened to the church of the blessed Julian, and so es-
+caped from exile. However their property was confiscated. Now
+Cautinus had suspected that he himself would be subjected to
+outrage, and as he walked along on the journey I have told of, he
+kept near by a saddled horse, and looking back he saw men coming
+on horseback to overtake him and he cried : " Woe is me, for here
+are the men sent by Chramnus to seize me." And he mounted his
+horse and gave up his psalm singing and plying his steed with both
+heels arrived all alone and half dead at the entrance of Saint Julian's
+church. As I tell this tale I am reminded of Sallust's saying which
+he uttered with reference to the critics of historians. He says :
+"It seems difficult to write history; first because deeds must be
+exactly represented in words and second because most men think
+that the condemnation of wrong-doing is due to ill will and envy."
+However let us continue.
+. Now when Clothar after Theodovald's death had received
+the kingdom of Francia and was making a progress through it, he
+heard from his people that the Saxons were engaged in a second
+mad outburst and were rebelling against him and contemptuously
+refusing to pay the tribute which they had been accustomed to
+pay every year. Aroused by the reports he hastened toward their
+country, and when he was near their boundary the Saxons sent
+legates to him saying: "We are not treating you contemptuously,
+and we do not refuse to pay what we have usually paid to your
+brothers and nephews, and we will grant even more if you ask for
+it. We ask for only one thing, that there be peace so that your
+army and our people shall not come into conflict." King Clothar
+heard this and said to his followers : "These men speak well.___Let
+us not go against them for fear that we sin against God." But
+they said : "We know that they are deceitful and will not do at
+all what they have promised. Let us gojigainst themZi Again
+th?Baxon^offered half of their propertyTrTtEeir desire for peace.
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+And Clothar said to his men: "Give over, I beg you, from these
+men, lest the anger of God be kindled against us." But they
+would not agree to it. Again the Saxons brought garments, cattle
+and every kind of property, saying: "Take all this together with
+half of our land, only let our wives and little ones remain free and
+let war not arise between us." But the Franks were unwilling to
+agree even to this. And king Clothar said to them : " Give over,
+I beseech you, give over from this purpose; for we have not the
+right word ; do not go to war in which we may be destroyed. If
+you decide to go of your own will I will not follow." Then they
+were enraged at king Clothar and rushed upon him and tore his
+tent in pieces and overwhelmed him with abuse and dragged him
+about violently and wished to kill him if he would not go with
+them. Upon this Clothar went with them though unwillingly.
+And they began the battle and were slaughtered in great numbers
+by their adversaries and so great a multitude from both armies
+perished that it was impossible to estimate or count them. Then
+Clothar in great confusion asked for peace, saying that it was not
+of his own will that he had come against them. And having ob-
+tained peace he returned home.
+. The people of Tours heard that the king had returned from
+the battle with the Saxons and making choice of the priest Eufronius
+they hastened to him. When their suggestion had been made the
+king replied: "I had given directions for Cato the priest to be
+ordained there; why has my command been slighted?" They
+answered: "We invited him but he refused to come." And while
+they were speaking Cato the priest suddenly appeared to request
+the king to expel Cautinus and command that he himself be ap-
+pointed in Clermont. When the king laughed at him he made aj
+second request, that he should be ordained at Tours which he had \
+contemptuously refused before. And the king said to him: "I 1 ,
+at first gave directions that they should ordain you bishop of Tours,
+but as I hear, you looked down on that church ; therefore you shall
+be kept from becoming master of it." And so he went off in con-
+fusion. When the king asked about the holy Eufronius they told
+him that he was grandson of the blessed Gregory, whom I have^
+mentioned before. The king answered : "It is a great and leading
+family. Let the will of God and the blessed Martin be done ; let
+THE FOURTH BOOK 85
+the choice be confirmed." And according to his command the holy
+Eufronius was ordained bishop, the eighteenth after the blessed
+Martin.
+[16. Chramnus, king Clothar's son, opposes bishop Cautinus
+at Clermont. He goes to Poitiers and enters into an agreement
+with his uncle Childebert against Clothar. He assumes authority
+over part of Clothar's realm and Clothar sends two other sons,
+Charibert and Gunthram, against him. When they are ready to
+fight Chramnus causes a report of Clothar's death to be circulated
+and Charibert and Gunthram hasten off; Chramnus marches to)
+Dijon where he consults the Bible as to his future. King Clothar
+meanwhile fights the Saxons. 17. Chramnus joins Childebert in
+Paris. Childebert ravages Clothar's territory as far as Rheims.
+. Duke Austrapius takes refuge in St. Martin's church in fear
+of Chramnus. Chramnus orders him to be starved in the church.
+But he. obtains drink miraculously and is saved. He later becomes
+a priest. 19. Medard bishop of Soissons dies.]
+. King Childebert fell ill and after being bedridden for a
+long time died at Paris. He was buried in the church of the blessed
+Vincent which he had built. King Clothar took his kingdom and
+treasures and sent into exile Vulthrogotha and her two daughters.
+Chramnus presented himself before his father, but later he proved
+disloyal. And when he saw he could not escape punishment he
+fled to Brittany and there with his wife and daughters lived in
+concealment with Chonoober count of the Bretons. And Wilichar,
+his father-in-law, fled to the church of Saint Martin. Then be-
+cause of Wilichar and his wife the holy church was burned for the
+sins of the people and the mockeries which occurred in it. This we
+relate not without a heavy sigh. Moreover the city of Tours had
+been burned the year before and all the churches built in it were
+deserted. Then by order of king Clothar the church of the blessed
+Martin was roofed with tin and restored in its former beauty.
+Then two hosts of locusts appeared which passed through Auvergne
+and Limousin and, they say, came to the plain of Romagnac where
+a battle took place between them and there was great destruction.
+Now king Clothar was raging against Chramnus and marched with
+his army into Brittany against him. Nor was Chramnus afraid
+to come out against his father. And when both armies were
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+gathered and encamped on the same plain and Chramnus with the
+Bretons had marshaled his line against his father, night fell and
+they refrained from fighting. During the night Chonoober, count
+of the Bretons, said to Chramnus: "I think it wrong for you to
+fight against your father ; allow me to-night to rush upon him and
+destroy him with all his army." But Chramnus would not allow
+this to be done, being held back I think by the power of God.
+When morning came they set their armies in motion and hastened
+to the conflict. And king Clothar was marching like a new David
+to fight against Absalom his son, crying aloud and saying: "Look
+down, Lord, from heaven and judge my cause since I suffer wicked
+outrage from my son; look down, Lord, and judge justly, and
+give that judgment that thou once gavest between Absalom and
+his father." When they were fighting on equal terms the count
+of the Bretons fled and was slain. Then Chramnus started in
+flight, having ships in readiness at the shore; but in his wish to
+take his wife and daughters he was overwhelmed by his father's
+soldiers and was captured and bound fast. This news was taken
+to king Clothar and he gave orders to burn Chramnus with fire
+together with his wife and daughters. They were shut up in a hut
+belonging to a poor man and Chramnus was stretched on a bench
+and strangled with a towel; and later the hut was burned over
+them and he perished with his wife and daughters.
+. In the fifty-first year of his reign king Clothar set out
+for the door of the blessed Martin with many gifts and coming to
+the tomb of the bishop just mentioned at Tours, and repeating all
+the deeds he had perhaps done heedlessly, and praying with loud
+groaning that the blessed confessor of God would obtain God's
+forgiveness for his faults and by his intercession blot out what he
+had done contrary to reason, he then returned, and in the fifty-
+first year of his reign, while hunting in the forest of Cuise, he was
+seized with a fever and returned thence to a villa in Compiegne
+There he was painfully harassed by the fever and said: "Alas!
+What do you think the king of heaven is like when he kills such
+great kings in this way?" Laboring under this pain he breathed
+his last, and his four sons carried him with great honor to Soissons
+and buried him in the church of St. Medard. He died the next
+day in the revolving year after Chramnus had been slain.
+THE FOURTH BOOK 87
+[22. The four sons of Clothar make "a lawful division" of his
+kingdom. To Charibert is assigned Paris for his capital, to
+Gunthram, Orleans, to Chilperic, Soissons, to Sigibert, Rheims.
+. The Huns attack Sigibert and Chilperic takes the opportunity
+to seize some of his cities. Sigibert recovers them.]
+. When king Gunthram had taken his part of the realm like
+his brothers, he removed the patrician Agricola and gave the office
+of patrician to Celsus, a man of tall stature, strong shoulders, strong
+arms and boastful words, ready in retort and skilled in the law.
+And then such a greed for possessing came upon him that he often
+took the property of the churches and made it his own. Once
+when he heard a passage from the prophet Isaiah being read in
+the church, which says: "Woe to those who join house to house
+and unite field to field even to the boundaries of the place," he is
+said to have exclaimed : "It is out of place to say ; woe to me and
+my sons." But he left a son who died without children and left
+the greater part of his property to the churches which his father
+had plundered.
+. The good king Gunthram first took a concubine Veneranda,
+a slave belonging to one of his people, by whom he had a son Gun-
+dobad. Later he married Marcatrude, daughter of Magnar, and
+sent his son Gundobad to Orleans. But after she had a son Mar-
+catrude was jealous, and proceeded to bring about Gundobad's
+death. She sent poison, they say, and poisoned his drink. And
+upon his death, byj^dlsjiidgme^it she lost the son she had and
+incurred the hate of the king, was dismissed by him, and died not
+long after. After her he took Austerchild, also named Bobilla.
+He had by her two sons, of whom the older was called Clothar and
+the younger Chlodomer.
+. Moreover king Charibert married Ingoberga, by whom he
+had a daughter who afterwards married a husband in Kent and
+was taken there. At that time Ingoberga had in her service two
+daughters of a certain poor man, of whom the first was called
+Marcovefa, who wore the robe of a nun, and the other was Merofled.
+The king was very much in love with them. They were, as I have
+said, the daughters of a worker in wool. Ingoberga was jealous
+that they were loved by the king and secretly gave the father work
+to do, thinking that when the king saw this he would dislike his
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+daughters. While he was working she called the king. He ex-
+pected to see something strange, but only saw this man at a distance
+weaving the king's wool. Upon this he was angry and left Ingoberga
+and married Merofled. He also had another, a daughter of a
+shepherd, named Theodogild, by whom he is said to have had a son
+who when he came from the womb was carried at once to the grave.
+In this king's time Leontius gathered the bishops of his province at
+the city of Saintes and deposed Emeri from the bishopric, saying
+that this honor had not been given him in accordance with the
+canons. For he had had a decree of king Clothar that he should
+be ordained without the consent of the metropolitan who was not
+present. When he had been expelled from his office they made
+choice of Heraclius, then a priest of the church of Bordeaux, and
+they sent word of these doings in their own handwriting by the
+priest just named to king Charibert. He came to Tours and re-
+lated to the blessed Eufronius what had been done, begging him to
+consent to subscribe to this choice. But the man of God flatly
+refused to do so. Now after the priest had come to the gates of
+the city of Paris and approached the king's presence he said:"
+"Hail, glorious king. The apostolic see sends to your eminence
+the most abundant greetings." But the king replied: "You
+haven't been at Rome, have you, to bring us the greeting of the
+pope?" "It is your father Leontius" the priest went on, "who,
+together with the bishops of his province, sends you greeting and
+informs you that Cymulus this was what they used to call
+Emeri as a child has been expelled from the episcopate because
+he neglected the sacred authority of the canons and sought actively
+for the office of bishop in the city of Saintes. And so they have
+sent you their choice in order that his place may be filled, so that
+when men who violate the canons are condemned according to
+rule, the authority of your kingdom will be extended into distant
+ages." When he said this the king gnashed his teeth and ordered
+him to be dragged from his sight, and placed on a wagon covered
+with thorns and thrust off into exile, saying : "Do you think that
+there is no one left of the sons of king Clothar to uphold his father's
+acts, since these men have cast out without our consent the bishop
+whom he chose?" And he at once sent men of religion and re-
+stored the bishop to his place, sending also certain of his officers of
+THE FOURTH BOOK 89
+the treasury who exacted from bishop Leontius 1000 gold pieces
+and fined the other bishops up to the limit of their power of pay-
+ment. And snjjie. insnlt-io-Hip prinrp was avenged. After this
+he married Marcovefa, sister of Merofled. For which reason they
+were both excommunicated by the holy bishop Germanus. But
+since the king did not wish to leave her, she was struck by a judg-
+ment of God and died. Not long after the king himself died^-
+And after his death, Theodogild, one of his queens, sent messengers
+to king Gunthram offering herself in marriage to him. To which
+the king sent back this answer : "Let her not be slow to come to
+me with her treasures. For I will take her and make her great
+among the people, so that she will surely have greater honor with
+me than with my brother who has just died." And she was glad
+and gathered all together and set out to him. And the king seeing
+this said : "It is better for these treasures to be in my control than
+in the hands of this woman who has unworthily gone to my brother's
+bed." Then he took away much and left little, and sent her to a
+convent at Aries. But she took it very hard to be subject to fasts
+and watches, and made proposals to a Goth by secret messengers,
+promising that if he would take her to Spain and marry her she
+would leave the monastery with her treasures and follow him
+willingly. This promise he made without hesitation, but when
+she had got her things together and packed and was ready to go
+from the convent, the diligence of the abbess frustrated her purpose,
+and the wicked project was detected and orders were given to beat
+her severely and put her under guard. And she continued in
+confinement to the end of her life on earth, consumed with no
+slight passions.
+. Now when king Sigibert saw that his brothers were taking
+wives unworthy of them, and to their disgrace were actually marry-
+ing slave women, he sent an embassy into Spain and with many
+gifts asked for Brunhilda, daughter of king Athanagild. She was
+a maiden beautiful in her person, lovely to look at, virtuous and
+well-behaved, with good sense and a pleasant address. Her father
+did not refuse, but sent her to the king I have named with great
+treasures. And the king collected his chief men, made ready a
+feast, and took her as his wife amid great joy and mirth. And
+though shejyaa.a follower of the Arian law she was converted by
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+the preaching of the bishops and the admonition ol. the. kingjiim-
+self, and she confessed the blessed Trinity in unity, and believed
+and was baptized. And she still remains catholic in Christ's
+name.
+. When Chilperic saw this, although he had already too
+many wives, he asked for her sister Galsuenda, promising through
+his ambassadors that he would abandon the others if he could only
+obtain a wife worthy of himself and the daughter of a king. Her
+father accepted these promises and sent his daughter with much
+wealth, as he had done before. Now Galsuenda was older than
+Brunhilda. And coming to king Chilperic she was received with
+great honor, and united to him in marriage, and she was also
+greatly loved by him. For she had brought great treasures. But
+because of his love of Fredegunda whom he had had before, there
+arose a great scandal which divided them. Galsuenda had already
+been converted to the catholic law and baptized. And complain-
+ing to the king that she was continually enduring outrages and had
+no honor with him, she asked to leave the treasures which she had
+brought with her and be permitted to go free to her native land.
+But he made ingenious pretences and calmed her with gentle
+words. At length he ordered her to be strangled by a slave and
+found her dead on the bed. After her death God caused a great
+miracle to appear. For the lighted lamp which hung by a rope
+in front of her tomb broke the rope without being to- by any-
+one and dashed upon the pavement and the h^ * ' yielded
+under it and it went down as if into SOP~ _u,nce and was
+buried to the middle but not at all .._*, 6 cd. Which seemed a
+great miracle to all who saw it. But when the king had mourned
+her deat f ew days, he married Fredegunda again. After this
+action L rs thought that the queen mentioned above had
+been kille irnrnand, and they tried to expel him from the
+kingdom. ^* at that time had three sons by his former
+wife Audovera, na^jly Theodobert, whom we have mentioned
+above, Merovech and Clovis. But let us return to our task.
+. The Huns were again endeavoring to make an entrance
+into the Gauls. Sigibert marched against them with his army,
+leading a great number of brave men. And when they were about
+to fight, the Huns, who were versed in magic arts, caused false
+THE FOURTH BOOK 91
+appearances of various sorts to come before them and defeated
+them decisively. Sigibert's army fled, but he himself was taken
+by the Huns and would have remained a prisoner if he had not
+overcome by his skill in making presents the men whom he could
+not conquer in battle. He was a man of fine appearance and good
+address. He gave gifts and entered into an agreement with their
+king that all the days of their lives they should fight no battles
+with one another. And this incident is rightly believed to be
+more to his credit than otherwise. The king of the Huns also gave
+many gifts to king Sigibert. He was called Gaganus. All the
+kings of that people are called by this name.
+[30. King Sigibert attempts to take Aries from his brother
+Gunthram but fails.]
+. Now a great prodigy appeared in the Gauls at the town of
+Tauredunum, situated on the river Rhone. After a sort of rum-
+bling had continued for more than sixty days, the mountain was , i
+finally torn away and separated from another mountain near it,
+together with men, churches, property and houses, and fell into
+the river, and the banks of the river were blocked and the water
+flowed back. For that place was shut in on either side by moun-
+tains and the torrent flowed in a narrow way. It overflowed
+above and engulfed and destroyed all that was on the bank. Then
+the gathered water burst its way downstream and took men by
+surprise, as it had above, and caused a loss of life, overturned
+houses, destroyed beasts of burden, and overwhelmed with a sudden
+and violent flood all that was on the banks as far as the city of
+Geneva. It is told by many that the mass of water was so great
+that it went over the walls into the city mentioned. And there is
+no doubt of this tale because as we have said the Rhone flows in
+that region between mountains that hem it in closely, r jad being
+so closely shut in, it has no place to turn aside. It ca/ried away
+the fragments of the mountain that had fallen and thus caused it
+to disappear wholly. And after this thirty monks came to the
+place where the town fell in ruins and began to dig in the ground
+which remained when the mountain had fallen, trying to find
+bronze and iron. And while engaged in this they heard a rumbling
+of the mountain like the former one. And while they were kept
+there by their greed the part of the mountain which had not yet
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+fallen fell on them and covered and destroyed them and none of
+them was found. In like manner too before the plague at Cler-
+mont great prodigies terrified that region. For three or four
+great shining places frequently appeared about the sun and the
+rustics used to rail them suns, saying : "Behold, three or four suns
+in the sky." On.,e on the first of Octr ,er the sun was so darkened
+that not a quarter of it continued bri^nt, but it looked hideous and
+discolored, about like a sack. Moreover a star which certain call
+a comet, with a ray like a sword, appeared over that country
+through a whole year, and the sky seemed to be on fire and many
+other signs were seen. In the church at Clermont while the morn-
+ing watches were being observed at a certain festival, a bird of the
+kind we call lark entered, flapping its wings above the lights, and
+so swiftly extinguished them all that one would think they had
+been taken by the hand of a single man and plunged into water.
+The bird passed under the veil into the sanctuary and attempted
+to put out the light there but it was prevented from doing so by
+the door-keepers and killed. In the church of the blessed Andrew
+another bird did the same with the lighted lamps. And presently
+the plague came, and such a carnage of the people took place
+through the whole district that the legions that fell could not be
+counted. For when sepulchers and grave-stones failed, ten or
+more would be buried in a single trench. Three hundred dead
+bodies were counted one Sunday in the church of the blessed
+Peter alone. Death was sudden. A wound the shape of a serpent
+would appear on groin or armpit and the man would be so over-
+come by the poison as to die on the second or third day. Moreover
+the power of the poison rendered the victim insensible. At that
+time Cato the priest died. For when many had fled from the
+plague he never left the place, but remained courageously burying
+the people and celebrating mass. He was a priest of_great kind-
+liness and a warm friend of the poor. And if he had some pride,
+this virtue I think counterbalanced it. But the bishop Cautinus,
+after running from place to place in fear of this plague, returned
+to the city, caught it and died on the day before Passion Sunday.
+At that very hour too, Tetradius his cousin died. At that time
+Lyons, Bourges, Cahors, and Dijon were seriously depopulated
+from this plague.
+THE FOURTH BOOK 93
+[32. The remarkable virtue of the priest Julian. 33. The
+good abbot and the warning he received to be more severe with
+his monks.]
+. I will relate what happened at that time in a certain mon-
+astery, but I do not wish to give the name of the monk, who is still
+alive, for fear that when this account comes to him he may become
+vainglorious and lose merit. A young man came to the monastery
+and presented himself to the abbot with. the proposal to pass his
+life in God's service. The abbot made many objections, explain-
+ing that the service there was hard, and he could never accomplish
+what was required of him. But he promised that he would call
+on the Lord's name and accomplish it all. And so he was admitted
+by the abbot. After a few days during which he proved to all
+that he was humble and holy, it happened that the monks threw
+out of the granary about three chori of grain and left it to dry in
+the sun and appointed this monk to guard it. And while the
+others were taking refreshment and he was left to guard the grain,
+the sky suddenly became overcast, and a heavy rain with roaring
+wind came swiftly in the direction of the heap of grain. Upon
+seeing it the monk knew not how to act or what to do. He thought
+however that even if he called the rest considering the great quantity
+of grain they would not be able to store it in the granary before the
+rain, and so giving up everything else he devoted himself to prayer,
+beseeching the Lord not to allow a drop of the rain to fall on the
+wheat. And when he threw himself on the ground and prayed,
+the cloud was divided, and although there was a heavy downpour
+all around, if it is right to say so, it did not dampen a single grain of
+the wheat. And when the other monks and the abbot became
+aware of the coming storm they came quickly to take' the grain
+within, and saw this miracle, and looking for the man in charge
+of the grain they found him close by stretched out on the sand
+praying. The abbot on seeing this prostrated himself close to
+him, and when the rain had passed and the prayer was finished he
+called to him to arise, and gave orders to seize him and punish him
+with stripes, saying: "My son, you must grow in the fear and
+service of God with humility, and not be puffed up with prodigies
+and miracles." He ordered him to remain shut up in his cell
+sev^n_daj^_aiidto fast as if he were at fault, in order to keep
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+vainglory from forming an obstacle before him. At the present
+time, as we learn from men of the faith, the same monk is so ab-
+stemious that he eats no bread in the forty days of Lent and drinks
+only a cup of barley-water every third day. And may the Lord
+with yoiir^prayers__deign J:o L^eejD Jaim _ as is pleasing, taidmsell until
+his life is ended.
+--[35. The priest Eufrasius and the archdeacon Avitus are
+candidates for the bishopric of Auvergne. The former Gregory
+describes in these words: "He was indeed a man of refined man-
+ners, but his acts were not virtuous and he often made the bar-
+barians drunk and rarely helped the needy." 36. Nicetius suc-
+ceeds Sacerdos as bishop of Lyons. He is succeeded in turn by
+the wicked Priscus. 37. Death of the holy Friard. 38. Leuva
+and Leuvield, kings of Spain. The latter slew "all who had been
+accustomed to kill the kings." 39. Palladius and Parthenius,
+respectively count and bishop of Gevaudan, quarrel. Palladius ]
+accuses the bishop of unnatural crime ; he is removed and Ro-
+manus becomes count.]
+. ... It happened that one day Palladius and Romanus met
+in Clermont, and in their dispute about the office of count Palladius
+was told that he was going to be put to death by king Sigibert.
+However the story was false, and was ascertained to have been
+put in circulation principally by Romanus. Then Palladius was
+terrified and reduced to such despair that he threatened to kill
+himself with his own hand. And although he was carefully watched
+by his mother and his kinsman Firmin, to prevent the deed which
+he had conceived in the bitterness of his heart, he escaped from his
+mother's sight for a short time and went into his chamber where
+he could be alone, unsheathed his sword, and putting his feet on
+the crosshilt of the sword he put its point at his breast and pushed
+on the sword from above, and it entered at one of his breasts and
+came out at the shoulder-blade, and raising himself up a second
+time he thrust himself in like manner in the other breast and fell
+dead. I regard this deed with astonishment since it could not
+have been done without the help of the devil. For the first wound
+would have killed him if the devil had not supported him so that
+he could accomplish his wicked purpose. His mother rushed in
+half dead with alarm, and fell in a faint on the body of the son she
+THE FOURTH BOOK 95
+had lost, and the whole household uttered cries of lamentation.
+Nevertheless he was carried to the monastery of Cournon and
+buried there, but without being placed near the bodies of Chris-
+tians or receiving the solemn service of the mass. And this evi-
+dently happened to him for nothing else than his insulr^Eo~~the
+bishop.
+[40. Justin, a man of many vices, succeeds the emperor Justin-
+ian. He associates with himself Tiberius "who was just, chari-
+table, a discerner of the right and winner of victories and a
+feature that surpasses all other excellences a most orthodox
+Christian."]
+. Albin, king of the Lombards, who had married Chlotsinda,
+daughter of king Clothar, abandoned his country and set out for
+Italy with all the Lombard people. They put their army in motion
+and went with their wives and children, purposing to remain
+there. They entered the country and spent seven years chiefly
+in wandering through it, despoiling the churches, killing the bishops,
+and bringing the land under their control. When his wife Chlot-
+sinda died, Albin married another wife whose father he had killed
+a short time before. For this reason the woman always hated
+her husband and awaited an opportunity to avenge the wrong
+done her father, and so it happened that she fell in love with one
+of the household slaves and poisoned her husband. When he
+died she went off with the slave but they were overtaken and put
+to death together. Then the Lombards chose another king over
+them.
+. Eunius, who was also named Mummulus, was made patri-
+cian by king Gunthram. I think that certain details should be
+given as to the beginning of his military service. He was a son of
+Peonius and native of the city of Auxerre. Peonius governed this
+town as count. And when he had sent gifts to the king by his son
+to secure reappointment, the son gave his father's presents and
+asked for his father's office, and took his place when he should
+have helped him. From this start he gradually rose and attained
+a greater prominence. And upon the invasion of the Gauls by the
+Lombards the patrician Amatus, who had lately succeeded Celsus,
+went against them and engaged in battle, but was defeated and
+slain. And it is said that the slaughter of the Burgundians by the
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+Lombards was so great on that occasion that the slain could not be
+f counted. And the Lombards loaded with plunder departed again
+for Italy. And upon their departure Eunius, also named Mum-
+mulus, was summoned by the king and raised to the high office of
+patrician. When the Lombards made a second inroad into the
+Gauls and came as far as Mustia Calmes near the city of Embrun,
+Mummulus set his army in motion and came to that place with the
+Burgundians. He surrounded the Lombards with his army and
+made an abattis and attacked them in pathless woods, and killing
+many took a number of captives whom he sent to the king. The
+king ordered them to be kept under guard in various places through
+the country, but a few in one way or another escaped and took the
+news to their native land. There were present in this battle
+^Salonius and Sagittarius, brothers and bishops, who armed them-
+selves not with the cross of heaven but with the worldly helmet and
+coat of mail, and, what is worse, are reported to have killed many
+with their own hands. This was Mummulus' first victory. Then
+the Saxons, who had entered Italy with the Lombards, made a
+second expedition into the Gauls, and pitched camp in the territory
+of Riez, that is, near the village of Estoublon, scattering from
+there among the villages belonging to neighboring cities, taking
+booty, leading off captives and laying all waste. When Mummolus
+learned of this he set his army in motion and attacked them, killing
+many thousands, and he did not cease to cut them down until
+evening when night made an end. For he had taken them off
+their guard when they expected nothing of what happened. In
+the morning the Saxons marshaled their army and made ready for
+battle, but messengers passed from one army to the other and
+they made peace. They gave presents to Mummolus, and sur-
+rendered all the plunder of the region with the captives, and de-
+parted after taking oath that they would return to the Gauls in
+obedience to the kings and as allies to the Franks. And so the
+Saxons returned to Italy, and taking their wives and little ones and
+all their possessions undertook the return journey into the Gauls
+with the intention of presenting themselves to king Sigibert and
+establishing themselves again in the district which they had left.
+They formed two wedges [cunios\ as they call them ; and one came
+by way of Nice and the other by Embrun, keeping in fact to the
+THE FOURTH BOOK 97
+road they had come the previous year, and the two divisions united
+in the territory of Avignon. It was then harvest time, and that
+country had its crops chiefly in the open fields and the inhabitants
+had not stored any of them. When the Saxons came they divided
+the crops among them and gathered and threshed the grain and
+used it, leaving nothing to those who had done the work. But
+after the harvest had been used up and they came to the shore of
+the river Rhone in order to cross the torrent and present themselves
+in the kingdom of king Sigibert, Mummolus met them and said :
+"You shall not cross this torrent. Behold, you have devastated
+the land of my lord the king, you have gathered the crops, plun-
+dered the herds, burned the houses, cut down the olive groves and
+vineyards. You shall not go up unless you first satisfy those
+whom you have left in want; otherwise you shall not escape my
+hands, but I shall draw my sword against you and your wives and
+little ones and avenge the wrong done to my lord king Gunthram."
+Then they were very much afraid and gave many thousand pieces
+of coined gold as a ransom, and were allowed to cross, and thus
+they came to Clermont. It was then springtime. They broughtx
+there pieces of bronze engraved like gold, and any one seeing \
+them would have no doubt that it was gold tested and weighed;
+for it was colored by some device or other. And a good many
+were deceived by the false appearance and gave gold and received
+bronze and became poor. And they went on to king Sigibert and
+were settled in the land they had left.
+[43. Albinus, governor of Provence, seizes archdeacon Vir-**
+gilius on Christmas day in the church for failing to punish his
+men; Albinus is fined. 44. Three Lombard chiefs invade Gaul
+but are defeated and driven back into Italy by Mummolus. 45.
+Mummolus recovers Tours and Poitiers for Sigibert from Chilperic.]
+. As I am about to speak of the death of Andarchius, it
+seems best to tell first of his birth and native place. He was a
+slave of the senator Felix as they say, and being assigned to attend
+his young master he entered with him upon the study of letters
+and became distinguished for his learning. For he was fully
+instructed in the works of Virgil, the books of the Theodosian law,
+and the art of calculation. Being puffed up with such knowledge
+he began to hold his masters in contempt, and devoted himself to
+8 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+the service of duke Lupus when he went to the city of Marseilles
+by order of king Sigibert. When Lupus left Marseilles he told
+Andarchius to go with him and secured for him the favor of king
+Sigibert and put him at his service. And Sigibert sent him to
+various places and gave him an opportunity for military service.
+Being held in a sort of honor because of this he came to Clermont
+and there entered into friendship with Ursus, a citizen of the city.
+Then being of an ambitious temper he wished to be betrothed to
+Ursus' daughter, and concealed a coat of mail, as they tell, in a
+chest in which documents used to be kept, and said to Ursus'
+wife: "I give in your care a multitude of gold pieces, more than
+sixteen thousand, which I have placed in this chest, and it shall be
+yours if you will cause your daughter to be betrothed to me."
+"To what do you not drive the hearts of men, accursed greed for
+gold?" The woman believed him without reserve and in her
+husband's absence agreed to betroth the girl to him. He went
+back to the king and brought an order to the judge of the place
+commanding him to marry this girl, saying: "I paid the earnest
+money at the betrothal." But Ursus denied it saying: "I do not
+know who you are and I have none of your property." When the
+quarrel continued and grew hotter Andarchius had Ursus sum-
+moned to the presence of the king. And coming to the village of
+Braine he found another man named Ursus whom he caused to be
+taken secretly to the altar and to swear and say: "By this holy
+place and the relics of the blessed martyrs I will not delay in paying
+you the sixteen thousand solidi, since I am not to give my daughter
+in marriage to you." Now witnesses were standing in the sanctuary
+listening secretly to what was said but not seeing the person who
+spoke. Then Andarchius soothed Ursus with gentle words and
+caused him to return to his native place without seeing the king.
+After this he made an oath and when Ursus went away he produced
+before the king a document containing the oath and said: "Such
+and such is the writing I have from Ursus, and therefore I request
+an order from your glory that he give his daughter to me in mar-
+riage. Otherwise let me have authority to take his possessions
+until I receive sixteen thousand solidi and am satisfied in this case."
+Then he received the order and returned to Clermont and showed
+the judge the king's order. Ursus retired into the territory of
+THE FOURTH BOOK 99
+Velay. And when his property .was turned over to Andarchius he
+also went to Velay, and going into one of Ursus' houses he bade
+them prepare supper for him and heat water for bathing. And
+when the slaves of the household did not obey their new master,
+he beat some with clubs, others with switches, and struck some on
+the head, drawing blood. The whole household was in confusion
+but the supper was prepared; he bathed in hot water, became
+drunk with wine and stretched himself on his couch. He had
+only seven slaves with him. And when they were sound asleep,
+weighed down by drowsiness not less than by wine, the household
+was gathered together, and Ursus closed the doors of the house
+which were made of wooden boards. He took the keys and tore
+down the stacks of grain near by and heaped piles of the grain
+which was then in the sheaf around and above the house until it
+was seen that the house was entirely covered. Then he set fire to
+it in different places and when the burning timbers of the building
+were falling on the luckless ones they awoke and began to shout
+but there was no one to listen to them and the whole house was
+burned and the fire consumed all alike. Ursus fled in fear to the
+church of St. Julian, and after making presents to the king he
+received again a good title to his property.
+[47. Civil war between Chilperic and Sigibert. " There was at
+that time a worse outcry among the churches than in the time of
+Diocletian's persecution." 48. The wickedness of the people of
+Gaul as compared with earlier times ; the plundering of the mon-
+astery of Latta. 49. The civil war is continued. Sigibert forces
+Chilperic to restore his cities. 50. Chilperic shuts himself up in
+Tournai.]
+. In that year lightning was seen to traverse the sky as once
+we saw before the death of Clothar. Now Sigibert took the cities
+this side of Paris and marched as far as Rouen, wishing to destroy
+these same cities with his army. But he was prevented from doing
+so by his own people. He returned thence and entered Paris.
+And there Brunhilda came to him with her children. Then the
+Franks who had once looked to the older Childebert, sent an em-
+bassy to Sigibert that if he would come to them they would abandon
+Chilperic and make him king over them. On hearing this he sent
+men to besiege his brother in the city mentioned above, and he
+ioo HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+himself purposed to hasten thither. And the holy bishop Ger-
+' A to him: "If you go and do not purpose to kill your
+you shall return alive and victorious ; but if you have an-
+oiner purpose in mind you shall die. For thus said the Lord through
+Solomon : 'You who prepare a pit for your brother shall fall into
+it." : But because of his wickedness he failed to pay heed. And
+when he came to the village named Vitry, all the army was gathered
+about him, and they placed him on a shield and made him king
+over them. Then two slaves who had been placed under a charm
+by Queen Fredegunda, carrying strong knives with poisoned blades
+- of the sort commonly called scramasaxi approached him on
+some pretext and stabbed him one on each side. He cried aloud
+and fell and died in a short time. At the same time Charigysel,
+his chamberlain, was slain and Sigila who came from the land of
+the Goths was seriously wounded. He was afterwards seized by
+King Chilperic and met a cruel death, every joint being burned
+with white-hot irons and his limbs being torn one from the other.
+Charigysel was both fickle and avaricious. He had risen from a
+lowly place and become great with the king by flattery. He was
+a man who grasped other men's property, and was a breaker of
+wills, and the end of his life was such that he did not succeed in
+making his own will when death threatened, he who had so often
+destroyed the wills of others.
+Chilperic was in suspense and did not know whether he should
+escape or perish, when messengers came to him to tell of his brother's
+death. Then he left Tournai with his wife and children and clothed
+Sigibert and buried him in the village of Lambres. Whence he was
+later transferred to Soissons to the church of the holy Medard
+which he had built, and was buried there by the side of his father
+Clothar. He died in the fourteenth year of his reign, the fortieth
+of his life. From the death of Theodobert the elder to that of
+Sigibert twenty-nine years are included, and there were eighteen
+days between his death and that of his nephew Theodobert. Upon
+the death of Sigibert, Childebert his son reigned in his place.
+From the beginning to the flood there were 2242 years; from
+the flood to Abraham 942 years ; from Abraham to the going out of
+the children of Israel from Egypt 462 years ; from the going of the
+children of Israel from Egypt to the building of the temple of Solo-
+THE FOURTH BOOK 101
+mon 480 years ; from the building of the temple to its desolation
+and the migration to Babylon 390 years ; from the migration to
+the passion of the Lord 668 years ; from the passion of the Lord
+to the death of St. Martin 412 years ; from the death of St. Martin
+to the death of King Clovis 112 years; from the death of King
+Clovis to the death of Theodobert 37 years; from the death of
+Theodobert to the death of Sigibert 29 years. Which make a
+^otal of 5774 years.
+HERE ENDS THE FOURTH BOOK.
+HERE BEGIN THE CHAPTERS OF THE FIFTH BOOK
+. The rule of the younger Childebert ; his mother.
+. Merovech marries Brunhilda.
+. War with Chilperic ; Rauching's wickedness.
+. Roccolenus comes to Tours.
+. The bishops of Langres.
+. Leonastis, archdeacon of Bourges.
+. The recluse Senoch.
+. The holy Germanus, bishop of Paris.
+. The recluse Caluppa.
+. The recluse Patroclus.
+1 . Conversion of Jews by bishop Avitus. -_
+. The abbot Brachio.
+. Mummulus devastates Limoges.
+. Merovech after receiving the tonsure flees to St. Martin's church.
+. War between the Saxons and Suevi.
+. Death of Macliavus.
+. The uncertainty about Easter ; the church at Chinon ; how king Gunthram
+killed Magnachar's sons and lost his own and then allied himself with
+Childebert.
+8. Bishop Praetextatus and Merovech's death.
+. Tiberius's charities.
+. Bishops Salunius and Sagittarius.
+. The Breton Winnoc.
+. Death of Samson, Chilperic's son.
+. Prodigies that appeared.
+. Gunthram Boso takes his daughters from the church of the holy Hilarius
+and Chilperic attacks Poitiers.
+. Death of Dacco and of Dracolinus.
+. The army marches against the Bretons.
+. Salunius and Sagittarius are degraded.
+. Chilperic's taxes.
+. The ravaging of Brittany.
+. The rule of Tiberius.
+. The attacks of the Bretons.
+. Sacrilege done in the church of St. Denis because of a woman.
+. Prodigies.
+
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+. Dysentery and the death of Chilperic's sons.
+. Queen Austrechild.
+. Bishop Eraclius and Count Nanthinus.
+. Martin, bishop of Galicia.
+. Persecution of the Christians in the Spains.
+. Clevis's death.
+. Bishops Elafius and Eunius.
+. Legates from Galicia and prodigies.
+. Maurilio, bishop of Cahors.
+. Dispute with a heretic.
+. Chilperic's writings.
+. Death of bishop Agricola.
+. Death of bishop Dalmatius.
+. Eunomius becomes count.
+. Leudast's wickedness.
+. The plots he formed against us and how he was himself brought low.
+. Prediction of the blessed Salvius about Chilperic.
+HERE END THE CHAPTERS
+HERE BEGINS THE FIFTH BOOK WITH HAPPY
+AUSPICES. AMEN
+I am weary of relating the details of the civil wars that mightily
+plague the nation and kingdom of the Franks ; and the worst of
+it is that we see in them the beginning of that time of woe which
+the Lord foretold: " Father shall rise against son, son against
+father, brother against brother, kinsman against kinsman."
+They should have been deterred by the examples of former kings
+who were slain by their enemies as soon as they were divided. How
+often has the very city of cities, the great capital of the whole earth,
+been laid low by civil war and again, when it ceased, has risen as
+if from the ground ! Would that you too, O kings, were engaged in
+battles like those in which your fathers struggled, that the heathen
+terrified by your union might be crushed by your strength ! Re-
+member how Clovis won your great victories, how he slew opposing
+kings, crushed wicked peoples and subdued their lands, and left
+to you complete and unchallenged dominion over them ! And
+when he did this he had neither silver nor gold such as you now have
+in your treasuries. What is your object ? What do you seek after ?
+What have you not in plenty? In your homes there are luxuries
+in abundance, in your storehouses wine, grain and oil abound, gold
+and silver are piled up in your treasuries. One thing you lack:
+without peace you have not the grace of God. Why does one take
+from another? Why does one desire what another has? I beg
+of you, beware of this saying of the apostle: "But if ye bite and
+devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of
+another." Examine carefully the books of the ancients and you
+will see what civil wars beget. Read what Orosius writes of the
+Carthaginians, who says that after seven hundred years their city
+and country were ruined and adds: "What preserved this city
+so long? Union. What destroyed it after such a period? Dis-
+
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+union." Beware of disunion, beware of civil wars which destroy
+you and your people. What else is to be expected but that your
+army will fall and that you will be left without strength and be
+crushed and ruined by hostile peoples. And, king, if civil war
+jives you pleasure, govern that impulse which the apostle says
+is urgent within man, let the spirit struggle against the flesh and
+the vices fall before the virtues ; and be free and serve your chief
+who is Christ, you who were once a fettered slave of the root of
+evil.
+[i. Sigibert's son, Childebert, not yet five years old, is made
+king. Chilperic seizes Brunhilda and keeps her in exile at Rouen.]
+. Chilperic sent his son Merovech to Poitiers with an army.
+But he disobeyed his father's orders and came to Tours and spent
+there the holy days of Easter. His army did great damage to that
+district. Merovech himself in pretence that he wanted to go to see
+his mother went to Rouen and there met queen Brunhilda and
+married her. Upon news of this Chilperic became very bitter be-
+cause Merovech had married his uncle's widow contrary to divine law
+and the canons, and quicker than speech he hastened to the above
+mentioned city. But when they learned that he was determined
+to separate them they took refuge in the church of St. Martin that
+is built of boards upon the wall of the city. But when the king
+on his arrival strove to entice them thence by many artifices and
+they refused to trust him, thinking that he was acting treacherously,
+he took oath to them, saying : "If it was the will of God, he him-
+self would not attempt to separate them." They accepted this
+oath and came out of the church and Chilperic kissed them and
+gave them a fitting welcome and feasted with them. But after a
+few days he returned to Soissons, taking Merovech with him.
+[3. Godin makes an attack on Chilperic's territory but is de-
+feated. Chilperic suspects Merovech of being involved in the at-
+tack. Godin's wife after his death marries a notorious character,
+Rauching.]
+. ... Godin's wife married Rauching, a man full of every
+vanity, swollen with haughtiness, wanton with pride, who treated
+those under him in such a way that one could not perceive that he
+had any human feeling in him, and he vented his rage on his own
+people beyond the limits of human wickedness and folly and com-
+THE FIFTH BOOK 107
+mi t ted unspeakable wrongs. For whenever a slave held a candle
+for him at dinner, as the custom is, he would make him bare his
+legs and hold the candle against them until it went out ; when it
+was lighted he would do the same thing again until the legs of the
+slave who held the candle were burned all over. And if he uttered
+a cry or tried to move from that place to another a naked sword
+at once threatened him, and when he wept Rauching could scarcely
+contain himself for delight. Certain ones tell the story that two
+of his slaves at that time loved one another, namely, a man and
+and a maid a thing that often happens. And when this love
+had lasted a space of two years or more, they were united together
+and took refuge in the church. When Rauching found it out
+he went to the bishop of the place and demanded that his slaves
+be returned to him at once, and said they would not be punished.
+Then the bishop said to him: "You know what respect should
+be paid to the churches of God ; you cannot take them unless you
+give a pledge of their permanent union, and likewise proclaim that
+they shall remain free from every bodily punishment." When he
+had continued silent for a long time in doubtful thought, he finally
+turned to the bishop and placed his hands on the altar and swore,
+saying : "They shall never be parted by me but I will rather cause
+them to continue in this union permanently, because although it
+is annoying to me that this was done without my consent, still I
+welcome this feature of it, that he has not married a maid belonging
+to another nor she another's slave.' 7 The bishop in a simple-hearted
+way believed the crafty fellow's promise and restored the slaves
+under the promise that they would not be punished. Rauching
+took them and thanking the bishop went home. He at once
+directed a tree to be cut down and the trunk cut off close to the
+branches and split with wedges and hollowed out. He ordered the
+earth to be dug to a depth of three or four feet and half the trunk
+put in the trench. Then he placed the maid there as if she were
+dead and ordered them to throw the man in on top. And he put
+the covering on and filled the trench and buried them alive, saying :
+"I have not broken my oath that they should never be separated."
+When this was reported to the bishop he ran swiftly, and fiercely
+rebuking the man he finally succeeded in having them uncovered.
+However it was only the man who was alive when dragged out;
+io8 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+he found the girl suffocated. In such actions Rauching showed
+himself very wicked, having no other aptitude except in loud laugh-
+ter and trickery and every perversity. Therefore he justly met a
+fitting death, since he so behaved himself when he enjoyed this
+life ; but I shall tell of this later. . . .
+. In these days Roccolenus being sent by Chilperic came to
+Tours with great boasting and pitching camp beyond the Loire
+he sent messengers to us that we ought to drag from the holy church
+Gunthram, who was at that time wanted for the death of Theodo-
+bert ; if we would not do it he would give orders to burn the city
+with fire and all its suburbs. On hearing this we sent messengers
+to him saying that what he asked to have done had not been done
+from ancient time ; moreover the holy church could not now be
+violated ; if it should be, it would not be well for him or for the king
+who had given this command ; let him rather stand in awe of the
+holiness of the bishop whose power only the day before had given
+strength to paralytic limbs. But he had no fear of such words
+and while he was dwelling in a house belonging to the church beyond
+the river Loire he tore down the house itself which had been built
+with nails. The people of Mans who had come on that occasion
+with him carried the nails off, filling their bags, and they destroyed
+the grain and laid everything waste. But while Roccolenus was
+engaged on this he was struck by God, and becoming saffron color
+from the royal disease he sent harsh commands saying: " Unless
+you cast duke Gunthram out of the church to-day I will destroy
+every green thing around the city so that the country will be ready
+for the plow. 1 Meantime the sacred day of Epiphany came and
+he began to be in greater and greater torture. Then after taking
+counsel with his people he crossed the river and approached the
+city. And when [the clergy] were hastening from the cathedral
+to the holy church singing psalms, he rode on horseback behind
+the cross, preceded by his standards. But when he entered the
+holy church his rage and threats cooled and going back to the cathe-
+dral he could take no food on that day. Then being very short of
+breath he departed for Poitiers. Now these were the days of
+holy Lent during which he often ate young rabbits. And after
+setting for the first of March the actions by which he meant to ruin
+Cf. ad aratrum reducere, to ravage thoroughly.
+THE FIFTH BOOK 109
+and fine the citizens of Poitiers, he rendered up his life on the pre-
+ceding day ; and so his pride and insolence ceased.
+. At that time Felix, bishop of Nantes, wrote me a letter full
+of insults, writing also that my brother had been slain because he
+had killed a bishop, being himself greedy for the bishopric. But
+the reason Felix wrote this was because he wanted an estate belong-
+ing to the church. And when I would not give it he was full of
+rage and vented on me, as I have said, a thousand insults. I
+finally replied to him: " Remember the words of the prophet:
+'Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field !
+They are not going to inhabit the earth alone, are they ? ' I wish
+you had been bishop of Marseilles ! For ships would never have
+brought oil or other goods there, but only paper that you might
+have greater opportunity for writing to defame honest men. It is
+the scarcity of paper that sets a limit to your wordiness." He was
+a man of unlimited greed and boastfulness. Now I shall pass over
+these matters, not to appear like him, and merely tell how my
+brother passed from the light of day and how swift a vengeance the
+Lord visited upon his assassin. The blessed Tetricus, 1 bishop of
+the church of Langres, who was already growing old, expelled the
+deacon Lampadio from his place as procurator, and my brother
+in his desire to aid the poor men whom Lampadio had wickedly
+despoiled, joined in bringing about his humiliation and thus in-
+curred his hatred. Meantime the blessed Tetricus had an apoplec-
+tic stroke. And when the poultices of the doctors did him no good,
+the clergy were disquieted, and seeing they were bereft of their
+shepherd they asked for Monderic. The king granted their re-
+quest and he was given the tonsure and ordained bishop with the
+understanding that while the blessed Tetricus lived he should govern
+the town of Tonnerre as archpriest and dwell there, and when his
+predecessor died he should succeed him. But while he lived in
+the town he incurred the king's anger. For it was charged against
+him that he had furnished supplies and made gifts to king Sigibert
+when he was marching against his brother Gunthram. And so
+he was dragged from the town and thrust off into exile on the
+bank of the Rhone in a certain tower that was very small and
+had lost its roof. Here he lived for nearly two years to his great
+Great-uncle of Gregory on his mother's side.
+no HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+hurt, and then through the intercession of the blessed bishop
+Nicetius he returned to Lyons and dwelt with him for two months.
+But since he could not prevail on the king to restore him to the
+place from which he had been expelled he fled in the night and passed
+over to Sigibert's kingdom and was made bishop of the village of
+Arisitum with fifteen parishes more or less under him. These
+the Goths had held at first, and now Dalmatius, bishop of Rodez,
+judges them. When he went away the people of Langres again re-
+quested as bishop, Silvester, a kinsman of ours and of the blessed
+Tetricus. Now they asked for him at the instigation of my brother.
+Meantime the blessed Tetricus passed away and Silvester received
+the tonsure and was ordained priest and took the whole authority
+over the property of the church. And he made preparations to go
+and receive the blessing of the bishops at Lyons. While this was
+going on he was stricken by an attack of epilepsy, having been long
+a victim of the disease, and being more cruelly bereft of his senses
+than before he kept continually uttering a moaning cry for two
+days and on the third day breathed his last. After this Lampadius,
+who had lost his position and his means as is described above, united
+with Silvester's son in hatred of Peter the deacon, plotting and
+asserting that his father had been killed by Peter's evil arts. Now
+the son being young and light-minded was aroused against him,
+accusing him in public of murder. Upon hearing this Peter carried
+his case before the holy bishop Nicetius, my mother's uncle, and
+went to Lyons and there in the presence of bishop Siagrius and many
+other bishops as well as secular princes he cleared himself by oath
+of ever having had any part in Silvester's death. But two years
+later, being urged to it again by Lampadius, Silvester's son followed
+Peter the deacon on the road and killed him with a lance wound.
+When the deed was done Peter was taken from that place and car-
+ried to the town of Dijon and buried beside the holy Gregory, our
+great-grandfather. But Silvester's son fled and passed over to
+king Chilperic, leaving his property to the treasury of king Gun-
+thram. And when he was wandering through distant parts be-
+c~u^ of the crime he had committed, and there was no safe place
+for him 1 r dwell in, at length, I suppose, innocent blood called upon
+the divine power against him and when he was traveling in a cer-
+tain place he drew his sword and slew a man who had done him no
+THE FIFTH BOOK in
+harm. And the man's kinsmen, filled with grief at the death ot
+their relative, roused the people, and drawing their swords they
+cut him in pieces and scattered him limb by limb. Such a fate
+did the wretch meet by God's just judgment, so that he who slew
+an innocent kinsman should not himself live longer in guilt. Now
+this happened to him in the third year.
+After Silvester's death the people of Langres again demanded
+a bishop, and received Pappolus who had once been archdeacon
+at Autun. According to report he did many wicked deeds, which
+are omitted by us that we may not seem to be disparagers of our
+brethren. However, I shall not fail to mention what his end was.
+In the eighth year of his episcopate, while he was making the round
+of the parishes and domains of the church, one night as he slept
+the blessed Tetricus appeared to him with threatening face and said :
+"What are you doing here, Pappolus? Why do you pollute my
+see ? Why do you invade my church ? Why do you so scatter the
+flock that was put in my charge ? Yield your place, leave the see,
+go far from this territory." And so speaking he struck the rod he
+had in his hand sharply against Pappolus' breast. Upon this
+Pappolus woke up and while he was thinking what this meant a
+sharp pang darted in that place and he was tortured with the keen-
+est pain. He loathed food and drink and awaited the approach of
+death. Why more? He died on the third day with a rush of
+blood from the mouth. Then he was carried forth and buried at
+Langres. In his place the abbot Mummolus, called also Bonus,
+was made bishop. To him many give great praise : that he is
+chaste, sober, moderate, very ready for every goodness, a friend
+of justice and a zealous lover of charity. When he took the bish-
+opric he perceived that Lampadius had taken much of the church
+property by fraud, and by spoiling the poor had gathered lands,
+vineyards and slaves, and he ordered him to be stripped of all and
+driven out from his presence. He now lives in the greatest want
+and gets his living by his own hands. Let this be enough on these
+matters.
+. In the same year as that mentioned above, that is, the year
+in which Sigibert died and Childebert his son began to reign, many
+miracles were done at the tomb of the blessed Martin which I
+have described in the books I have attempted to compose about
+ii2 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+these miracles. And though my speech is unpolished I have still
+not allowed the things that I saw with my own eyes or learned
+from trustworthy persons to pass unknown. Here I shall relate
+merely what happens to the heedless who after a miracle from
+heaven have sought for earthly cures, because his power is shown
+in the ~ ^shment-of fools just as much as in the gracious working
+of cures. Leonastis, archdeacon of Bourges, lost his sight through
+cataracts that grew over his eyes. And when he altogether failed
+to recover it by going around among many physicians, he came to
+the church of St. Martin and remaining here for two or three months
+and fasting continuously he prayed to recover his sight. And when
+the festival came his eyes brightened and he began to see. He
+returned home and summoned a certain Jew and applied cupping
+glasses to his shoulders by the help of which he was to increase his
+eyesight. But as the blood flowed his blindness revived again.
+When this happened he again returned to the holy temple. And
+remaining there again a long time he did not succeed in recovering
+his sight. Whichj^ think was refused because of his sin, according
+to the words of the Lord: "For whosoever hath, to him shall be
+given, and he shall have abundance ; but whosoever hath not, from
+him shall be taken away even that whjrh he hah."_ ""RpholH t.hnii
+jirj^made whole; sin no more lest a worse thing befall thee." For \
+he would have continued in health if he had not brought in the Jew
+in addition to the divine miracle. For such is the warning and
+reproof of the apostle, saying: "Be not yoked with unbelievers.
+For what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what
+communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath
+Christ with Belial? Or what portion hath a believer with an un-
+believer? And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols?
+For you are a temple of the living God. Therefore come ye out
+from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord." Therefore
+let this case teach every Christian that when he has merit to receive
+heavenly medicine he should not seek after earthly help.
+[7. Death of tfo priest SenochTomT^f the tribe of Theifali."
+. Germanus, bishop of Paris, dies. As he is taken to be buried
+"his body bears heavily down on the street when the prisoners
+raise a cry and when they are released it is easily taken up again."
+. The recluse Caluppa dies. 10. The recluse Patroclus dies.
+THE FIFTH BOOK 113
+He was very abstemious and " always wore a hair shirt next his
+body." "His eyes never grew dim."]
+1 . And since our God always deigns to give glory to his bish-
+ops, I shall relate what happened to the Jews in Clermont this
+year. Although the blessed bishop Avitus often urged them to
+put aside the veil of the Mosaic law and interpret the Scriptures in
+their spiritual sense, and with pure hearts contemplate in the
+sacred writings Christ, son of the living God, promised on the author-
+ity of prophets and kings, there remained in their hearts, I will
+not now call it the veil which dimmed the light for Moses' face,
+but a wall. The bishop prayed alsoJjiat4iLe^_should-r^^
+to the Lord and that the veil of the letter ^onJHJip torn frjioilhprnj
+and one of them asked to be baptized on holy Easter, and being
+born again in God by the sacrament of baptism, in his white gar-
+ments he joined the white-clad procession with the others. When
+the people were going in through the gate of the city one of the
+Jews, urged to it by the devil, poured stinking oil on the head of
+the converted Jew. And when all the people, horrified at this,
+wished to stone him, the bishop would not allow it. But on the
+blessed day on which the Lord ascends to heaven in glory after the
+redemption of man, when the bishop was walking in procession
+from the cathedral to the church singing psalms, a multitude of
+those who followed rushed upon the synagogue of the Jews and
+destroying it from the foundations they leveled it to the ground.
+On another day the bishop sent messengers to them saying :
+do not compel you by force to confess the Son of God, but never-
+theless I preach him and I offer to your hearts the salt of wisdom.
+I am the shepherd put in charge of the Lord's sheep, and as regards
+you, the true Shepherd who suffered for us said that he had other
+sheep which are not in his sheepfold but which should be brought
+in, so that there may be one flock and one shepherd. And there-
+fore if you are willing to believe as I, be one flock with me as your
+guardian ; but if not, depart from the place." Now they continued
+a long time in turmoil and doubt and on the third day because of
+the prayers of the bishop, as I suppose, they met together and sent
+word to him saying ; " We believe in JesuSj^on of _the living God^
+promised to us by the words of the prophets, and therefore we ask
+that we be purified by baptism and remain no longer in this guiltT*
+ii 4 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+The bishop was rejoiced at the news and keeping watch through
+* *-* n "
+the night of holy pentecost went out to the baptistery beyond the
+walls and there the whole multitude prostrated themselves before
+him and begged for baptism. And he wept for joy, and cleansing all
+with water he anointed them with ointment and gathered them in
+the bosom of the mother church. Candles were lit, lamps burned
+brightly, the whole city was whitened with the white throng and
+the joy was as great as once Jerusalem saw when the holy spirit
+descended on the apostles. The baptized were more than five
+hundred. But those who refused baptism left that city and re-
+turned to Marseilles.
+[12. The abbot Brachio, a Thuringian and formerly a hunter,
+dies. 13. Great battle between Chilperic's duke, Desiderius, and
+Gunthram's patrician, Mummolus. Desiderius is defeated.]
+. After this Merovech, who was kept in custody by his father,
+received the tonsure, and changing his garments for those which it
+is customary for the clergy to wear he was ordained priest and sent
+to the monastery at Mans called Anninsola [Saint-Calais] to be
+instructed in the duties of priests. Hearing this Gunthram Boso
+who was then living in the church of St. Martin, as we have stated,
+sent the subdeacon Rigulf to advise him secretly to take refuge in
+the church of St. Martin. And when Merovech was on his way,
+Galen his slave went to meet him from the other side. And since
+his escort was not a strong one he was rescued by Galen on the way,
+and covering his head and putting on secular clothes he took refuge
+in the temple of the blessed Martin. We were celebrating mass in
+the holy church when he entered, finding the door open. After
+the mass he asked us to give him the consecrated bread. Now
+there was with us at that time Ragnemodus, bishop of the see of
+Paris, who had succeeded the holy Germanus ; and when we re-
+fused, Merovech began to raise a disturbance and to say that we
+did not rightly suspend him from the communion without the
+assent of our brethren. When he said this we examined the case
+in the light of canon law, and with the consent of the brother who
+was present he received the consecrated bread from us. I was
+afraid that if I suspended one from communion I would become
+a slayer of many. For he threatened to kill some of our people
+if he did not receive the communion from us. The country of
+THE FIFTH BOOK 115
+Tours has sustained many disasters on this account. In these
+days Nicetius, my niece's husband, went with our deacon to king
+Chilperic on business of his own, and he told the king of Merovech's
+flight. On seeing them queen Fredegunda said: "They are spies
+and have come to learn what the king is doing, in order to know
+what to report to Merovech." And she at once ordered them to
+be spoiled and thrust off into exile, from which they were released
+in the seventh month. Now Chilperic sent messengers to us say-
+ing : "Cast that apostate out of the church. If you don't I will
+burn that whole country with fire." And when we wrote back
+that it was impossible that what had not happened in the time of
+the heretics should now happen in Christian times, he set his army
+in motion and sent it toward this country.
+In the second year of king Childebert, when Merovech saw that
+his father was set in this purpose, he proposed to take with him
+duke Gunthram and go to Brunhilda, saying : "Far be it from me
+that the church of the master Martin should submit to outrage on
+my account, or his country be put into captivity for me." And
+going into the church and keeping watch he offered the things he
+had with him on the tomb of the blessed Martin, praying to the
+saint to help him and to grant him his favor so that he could take
+the kingdom. At that time count Leudast after setting many
+traps for him out of love for Fredegunda, at last craftily entrapped
+his slaves who had gone out into the country and slew them with
+the sword, and he desired to slay Merovech himself if he could find
+him in a suitable place. But Merovech followed Gunthram's
+advice and, desiring to avenge himself, he ordered Marileif the
+chief physician to be seized as he was returning from the king's
+presence, and after beating him most cruelly he took away the
+gold and silver and other valuables which he had with him and left
+him naked, and would have killed him if he had not escaped from
+the hands of those who were beating him and taken refuge in the
+church. And later we clothed him and having obtained his life
+sent him back to Poitiers. Now Merovech charged many crimes
+to his father and stepmother. But although they were partly
+true it was not acceptable to God I suppose that they should be
+made known through a son. This I learned to be so later on. For
+one day I was invited to dine with him and when we were sitting
+n6 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+together he begged urgently that something be read for the in-
+struction of his soul. So I opened the book of Solomon and took
+the first verse that came which contained the following : "The eye
+of him who looketh at his father askance, the ravens of the valleys
+shall pick it out." Although he did not understand it, I believed
+that this verse had been given by the Lord. Then Gunthram sent
+a slave to a certain woman known to him from the time of king
+Charibert, who had a familiar spirit, in order that she should relate
+what was to happen. He asserted besides that she had foretold to
+him the time, not only the year but also the day and hour, at which
+king Charibert was to die. And she sent back this answer by the
+slaves : " King Chilperic will die this year and king Merovech will ex-
+clude his brothers and take the whole kingdom. And you shall hold
+the office of duke over all his kingdom for five years. But in the
+sixth year you shall win the honor of the bishop's office, with the
+consent of the people, in a city which lies on the river Loire on its
+right bank, and you shall pass from this world old and full of days."
+And when the slaves had come back and reported this to their
+master he was at once filled with vanity as if he were already sitting
+in the chair of the church of Tours, and he reported the words
+to me. But I laughed at his folly and said : "It is from God that
+this should be sought ; what the devil promises is not to be be-
+lieved." He went off in confusion and I had a hearty laugh at
+the man who thought such things credible. At length one night,
+when the watch was being kept in the church of the holy bishop and
+I had lain down and fallen asleep on my bed, I saw an angel flying
+through the air. And when he passed the holy church he cried in
+a loud voice: "Alas. Alas. God has stricken Chilperic and all
+his sons and there shall remain no one of those who came forth
+from his loins to rule his kingdom forever." He had at this time
+four sons by different wives, not to speak of daughters. And when
+this was fulfilled later on, then I saw clearly that what the sooth-
+sayers promised was false. Now while these men were staying
+in the church of St. Martin, queen Fredegunda who already favored
+Gunthram Boso secretly for the death of Theodobert, sent to him
+saying : "If you can cast Merovech forth from the church so that
+he will be killed you shall receive a great gift from me." And he
+thought the assassins were close at hand and said to Merovech :
+THE FIFTH BOOK 117
+"Why are we so spiritless and timid as to sit here and hide slug-
+gishly around the church? Let our horses be brought and let us
+take hawks and hunt with dogs and enjoy the hunting and the
+open views." He was acting cunningly to get Merovech away
+from the holy church. Now Gunthram otherwise was a very good
+man but he was too ready for perjury, and he never took an oath
+to any of his friends but that he broke it forthwith. They went
+out, as we have said, from the church and went as far as the house
+of Jocundiacus near the city ; but Merovech was harmed by no one.
+And as Gunthram was at that time wanted for the killing of Theodo-
+bert, as we have said, king Chilperic sent a letter all written out to
+the tomb of St. Martin which contained the request that the blessed
+Martin would write back to him whether it was permissible to drag
+Gunthram from his church or not. And the deacon Baudegisil,
+who brought the letter, sent to the holy tomb a clean sheet of paper
+along with the one he had brought. And after waiting three
+days and getting no answer he returned to Chilperic. And he
+sent others to exact an oath of Gunthram not to leave the church
+without his knowledge. Gunthram took the oath eagerly and
+gave an altarcloth as pledge that he would never go thence without
+the king's command. Now Merovech did not believe the sorcerers
+but placed three books on the saint's tomb, namely, Psalms, Kings
+and the Gospels, and keeping watch the whole night he prayed the
+blessed confessor to reveal to him what was coming and whether he
+could be king or not, in order that he might know by evidence from
+the Lord. After this he continued three days in fasting, watching
+and prayer, and going to the blessed grave a second time he opened
+the book of Kings. And the first verse on the page which he opened
+was this : "Because you have forsaken the Lord your God and have
+gone after other gods and have not done right in his sight, therefore
+the Lord your God has betrayed you into the hands of your enemies."
+And this verse was found in the Psalms: "But thou hast
+brought evils upon them because of their deceitfulness ; thou hast
+hurled them down when they were lifted up. How have they
+been brought to desolation? They have suddenly failed and per-
+ished because of their iniquities." And in the Gospels this was
+found: "Ye know that after two days the passover cometh and
+the Son of man is delivered up to be crucified."
+n8 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+At these answers he was troubled and wept long at the tomb
+of the blessed bishop, and then taking duke Gunthram with him
+he went off with five hundred men or more. He left the holy
+church and while marching through the territory of Auxerre he
+was captured by Erpo, king Gunthram's duke. And while he was
+being held by him he escaped by some chance and entered the church
+of the holy Germanus. On hearing this king Gunthram was angry
+and fined Erpo seven hundred gold pieces and removed him from
+office, saying: "You held prisoner one who my brother says is
+his enemy. Now if you intended to do this, you should first have
+brought him to me; otherwise you should not have touched him
+whom you pretended to hold prisoner."
+King Chilperic's army came as far as Tours and plundered
+this region and burned it and laid it waste, and did not spare St.
+Martin's property, but whatever he got his hands on he took with-
+out regard for God or any fear. Merovech remained nearly two
+months in the church I have mentioned and then fled and went
+to queen Brunhilda, but he was not received by the Austrasians.
+And his father set his army in motion against the people of Cham-
+pagne, believing that he was hiding there. He did no injury, but
+he could not find Merovech.
+. Inasmuch as Clothar and Sigibert had settled the Suevi
+and other tribes on their land when Albin had gone to Italy, they
+who returned in the time of Sigibert, namely the men who had
+been with Albin, rose against them, wishing to thrust them out
+from that country and destroy them. But they offered the Saxons
+a third of the land, saying: "We can live together without inter-
+fering with one another." But the Saxons were angry at them
+because they had themselves held this land before and they were
+by no means willing to be pacified. Then the Suevi made them a
+second offer of a half and then of two-thirds, leaving one-third for
+themselves. And when the Saxons refused this, they offered all
+their flocks and herds with the land, provided only they would
+refrain from attacking them. But they would not agree even to
+this and demanded battle. And before the battle, thinking that
+they had the Suevi already as good as slain, they discussed among
+themselves how they should divide their wives and what each should
+receive after their defeat. But God's mercy which does justice
+THE FIFTH BOOK 119
+turned their thoughts another way. For when they fought there
+were 26,000 Saxons of whom 20,000 fell and of the Suevi 6000 of
+whom 480 only were laid low ; and the remainder won the victory.
+The Saxons who were left took oath that they would cut neither
+beard nor hair until they had taken vengeance on their adversaries.
+But when they fought again they were defeated with greater loss
+and so the war was ended.
+[16. Macliavus and Bodic, counts of the Bretons, are succeeded
+by Theodoric and Waroc. 17. King Gunthram loses his two sons.
+Easter is celebrated by some cities on March 2ist, by others on"!
+April 1 8th. Gunthram adopts his nephew Childebert and they
+order Chilperic to restore what he had taken from them.]
+. After this Chilperic heard that Praetextatus, bishop of
+Rouen, was giving presents to the people to his disadvantage, and
+ordered him to appear before him. When he was examined he was
+found to have property intrusted to him by queen Brunhilda. '
+This was taken away and he was ordered to be kept in exile until
+he should be heard by the bishops. The council met and he was
+brought before it. The bishops, who went to Paris, were in the
+church of the holy apostle Peter. And the king said to him ; " Why
+did you decide, bishop, to unite in marriage my enemy Merovech,
+who ought to be my son, and his aunt, that is, his uncle's wife.
+Did you not know what the canons have ordained for such a case ?
+And not only is it proven that you went too far in this matter but
+you actually gave gifts and urged him to kill me. You have made
+a son an enemy of his father, you have seduced the people with
+money so that no one of them would keep faith with me and you
+wished to give my kingdom over into the hands of another/' When
+he said this a multitude of Franks raised an angry shout and wished
+to break through the church doors as if to drag the bishop out and
+stone him ; but the king prevented them. And when the bishop
+Praetextatus denied that he had done what the king charged him
+with, false witnesses came who showed some articles of value say-
+ing : " These and these you gave on condition that we would plight
+faith with Merovech." Upon this he made answer; "You speak
+the truth in saying you have often received gifts from me, but it
+was not for the purpose of driving the king from the kingdom.
+For when you furnished me with excellent horses and other things
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+what else could I do but repay you with equal value?" The king
+returned to his lodging, and we being gathered together sat in the
+consistory of the church of the blessed Peter. And while we were
+talking together ^Etius, archdeacon of the church of Paris, came
+suddenly and greeting us said : "Hear me, bishops of God who are
+gathered together ; at this time you shall either exalt your name
+and shine with the grace of good report or else no one will treat
+you hereafter as bishops of God if you do not wisely assert your-
+selves or if you allow your brother to perish." When he said this
+no one of the bishops made him any answer. For they feared the
+fury of the queen at whose instance this was being done. As they
+continued thoughtful with finger on lip, I said : "Most holy bish-
+ops, give your attention, I beg, to my words, and especially you
+who seem to be on friendly terms with the king; give him holy
+and priestly counsel not to burst out in fury at God's servant and
+perish by his anger and lose kingdom and fame." When I said
+this all were silent. And in this silence I added : "Remember, my
+lord bishops, the word of the prophet when he says : ' If the watch-
+man sees the iniquity of a man and does not declare it, he shall be
+guilty for a lost soul.' Therefore do not be silent but speak and
+place the king's sins before his eyes, lest perchance some evil may
+befall him and you be guilty for his soul. Do you not know what
+happened lately? How Chlodomer seized Sigismund and thrust
+him into prison, and Avitus, God's priest, said to him: 'Do not
+lay violent hands on him and when you go to Burgundy you shall
+win the victory.' But he disregarded what was said to him by the
+priest and went and killed him with his wife and sons. And then
+he marched to Burgundy and was there defeated by the army and
+slain. What of the emperor Maximus? When he forced the
+blessed Martin to give communion to a certain bishop who was a
+homicide and Martin yielded to the wicked king in order the more
+easily to free the condemned from death, the judgment of the eternal
+King pursued him and Maximus was driven from the imperial
+throne and condemned to the worst death." When I said this no
+one made any answer but all stared in amazement. Still two flat-
+terers from among them it is painful to say it of bishops car-
+ried the report to the king, saying that he had no greater foe to his
+purposes than I. At once one of the attendants at court was sent
+THE FIFTH BOOK 121
+in all haste to bring me before him. When I came the king stood
+beside a bower made of branches and on his right bishop Bertram
+stood and on his left Ragnemod and there was before them a
+bench covered with bread and different dishes. On seeing me the
+king said: " Bishop, you are bound to give justice freely to all;
+and behold I do not obtain justice from you ; but, as I see, you con-
+sent to iniquity and in you the proverb is fulfilled that crow does
+not tear out the eye of crow." To this I replied : "If any of us, O
+king, desires to leave the path of justice, he can be corrected by
+you ; but if you leave it, who shall rebuke you ? We speak to you ;
+but you listen only if you wish ; and if you refuse to listen who will
+condemn you except him who asserts that he is justice ? " To this
+he answered, being inflamed against me by his flatterers: "With
+all I have found justice and with you only I cannot find it. But
+I know what I shall do that you may be disgraced before the people
+and that it may be evident to all that you are unjust. I will call
+together the people of Tours and say to them ' Cry against Gregory,
+for he is unjust and renders justice to no man.' And when they
+cry this out I will reply : 'I who am king cannot find justice with
+him and shall you who are less than I find it. 7 " At this I said : "You
+do not know that I am unjust. But my conscience knows, to
+which the secrets of the heart are revealed. And if the people cry
+aloud with false cries when you attack me, it is nothing, because
+all know that this comes from you. And therefore it is not I but
+rather you that shall be disgraced in the outcries. But why speak
+further ? You have the law and the canons ; you ought to search
+them diligently ; and then you will know that the judgment of God
+overhangs you if you do not observe their commands." But he
+tried to calm me, thinking that I did not understand that he was
+acting craftily, and pointing to the broth which was set in front of
+him he said : "It was for you I had this broth prepared ; there is
+nothing else in it but fowl and a few peas." But I saw his flattery
+and said to him : "Our food ought to be to do the will of God and
+not to delight in these luxuries, in order by no means to neglect
+what he commands. Now do you who find fault with others for
+injustice promise first that you will not neglect the law and the
+canons ; and then we will believe that you follow justice." Then
+he stretched out his right hand and swore by all-powerful God that
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+he would in no way neglect the teaching of the law and the canons.
+Then I took bread and drank wine and departed. But that night
+when the hymns for the night had been sung I heard the door of
+my lodging struck with heavy blows, and sending a slave I learned
+that messengers from queen Fredegunda stood there. They were
+brought in and I received greetings from the queen. Then the
+slaves entreated me not to take a stand opposed to her. And at
+the same time they promised two hundred pounds of silver if I
+would attack Praetextatus and bring about his ruin. For they said :
+"We have already the promise of all the bishops ; only don't you
+go against us." But I answered: "If you give me a thousand
+pounds of silver and gold what else can I do except what the Lord
+instructs me to do? I promise only one thing, that I will follow
+the decision that the rest arrive at in accordance with the canons."
+They did not understand what I meant but thanked me and went
+away. In the morning some of the bishops came to me with a
+similar message ; to which I gave a similar answer.
+We met in the morning in St. Peter's church and the king was
+present and said: "The authority of the canons declares that a
+bishop detected in theft should be cast from the office of bishop."
+When I asked who was the bishop against whom the charge of theft
+was made the king answered: "You saw the articles of value
+which he stole from us." The king had showed us three days
+before two cases full of costly articles and ornaments of different
+sorts which were valued at more than three thousand solidi; more-
+over a bag heavy with coined gold, holding about two thousand
+pieces. The king said this had been stolen from him by the bishop.
+And the bishop answered: "I suppose you remember that when
+queen Brunhilda left Rouen I went to you and said that I had her
+property in keeping, to wit, five parcels, and that her slaves came
+to me frequently to take them back but I was unwilling to give
+them without your advice. And you said to me, O king : ' Rid your-
+self of these things and let the woman have her property back, lest
+enmity rise over this matter between me and Childebert my
+nephew.' I went back to the city and gave one case to the slaves
+for they could not carry more. They returned a second time and
+asked for the others. I again took counsel with your greatness.
+And you gave me directions saying : ' Get rid of these things,
+THE FIFTH BOOK 123
+bishop, get rid of them, for fear the matter may cause a scandal.'
+I again gave them two cases and two more remained with me. But
+why do you calumniate me now and accuse me, when this case
+should not be put in the class of theft but of safe-keeping." Then
+the king said : "If you had this property deposited in your posses-
+sion for safe-keeping, why did you open one of them and cut in
+pieces a girdle woven of gold threads and give to men to drive me
+from the kingdom." Bishop Praetextatus answered: "I told you
+before that I had received their gifts and as I had nothing at
+hand to give I therefore took this and gave it in return for their
+gifts. I regarded as belonging to me what belonged to my son
+Merovech whom I received from the font of regeneration." King
+Chilperic saw that he could not overcome him by false charges,
+and being greatly astonished and thrown into confusion by his
+conscience, he withdrew from us and called certain of his flatterers
+and said : "I confess that I've been beaten by the bishop's replies
+and I know that what he says is true. What am I to do now, that
+the queen's will may be done on him?" And he said : "Go and
+approach him and speak as if giving your own advice ; ' You know
+that king Chilperic is pious and merciful and is quickly moved to
+compassion; humble yourself before him and say that you are
+guilty of the charges he has made. Then we will all throw our-
+selves at his feet and prevail on him to pardon you." : Bishop
+Praetextatus was deceived and promised he would do this. In the
+morning we met at the usual place and the king came and said to
+the bishop: "If you gave gifts to these men in return for gifts,
+why did you ask for an oath that they would keep faith with Mero-
+vech?" The bishop replied : "I confess I did ask their friendship
+for him ; and I would have asked not men alone but, if it were
+right to say so, I would have called an angel from heaven to be
+his helper ; for he was my spiritual son from the baptismal font,
+as I have often said." And when the dispute grew warmer, bishop
+Praetextatus threw himself on the ground and said : "I have sinned
+against heaven and before thee, most merciful king : I am a wicked
+homicide ; I wished to kill you and raise your son to the throne. "
+When he said this the king threw himself down at the feet of the
+bishops and said : "Hear, most holy bishops, the accused confesses
+his awful crime." And when we had raised the king from the
+i2 4 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+ground with teaS^Jie_ordered Praetextatus to leave the church.
+He went himself to his lodging, and sent the book of canons to
+which a new quaternion had been added containing the canons
+called apostolic and having the following : Let a bishop detected in
+homicide, adultery or perjury be cast out from his office. This was
+read and while Praetextatus stood in a daze, bishop Bertram spoke :
+"Hear, brother and fellow-bishop ; you have not the king's favor ;
+and therefore you cannot enjoy our mercy before you win the
+indulgence of the king." After this the king demanded that his
+robe should be torn from him and the hundred and eighth psalm
+which contains the curses against Iscariot be read over his head
+and at the least, that the judgment be entered against him to be
+excommunicated forever. Which proposals I resisted according
+to the king's promise that nothing be done outside the canons.
+Then Praetextatus was taken from our sight and placed in custody.
+And attempting to flee in the night he was grievously beaten and
+was thrust off into exile in an island of the sea that lies near the
+city of Coutances.
+After this the report was that Merovech was a second time try-
+ing to take refuge in the church of St. Martin. But Chilperic gave
+orders to watch the church and close all entrances. And leaving
+one door by which a few of the clergy were to go in for the services,
+guards kept all the rest closed. Which caused great inconvenience
+to the people. When we were staying in Paris signs appeared in
+the sky, namely, twenty rays in the northern part which rose in
+the east and sped to the west ; and one of them was more extended
+and overtopped the rest and when it had risen to a great height it
+soon passed away, and likewise the remainder which followed dis-
+appeared. I suppose they announced Merovech's death. Now
+when Merovech was lurking in Champagne near Rheims and did
+not trust himself to the Austrasians openly, he was entrapped by
+the people of Therouanne, who said that they would abandon his
+father Chilperic and serve him if he came to them. And he took
+his bravest men and went to them swiftly. Then they revealed
+the stratagem they had prepared and shut him up at a certain
+village and surrounded him with armed men and sent messengers
+to his father. And he listened to them and purposed to hasten
+thither. But while Merovech was detained in a certain inn he
+THE FIFTH BOOK 125
+began to fear that he would pay many penalties to satisfy the ven-
+geance of his enemies, and called to him Galen his slave and said :
+"Up to the present we have had one mind and purpose. I ask
+you not to allow me to fall into the hands of my enemies, but to
+take your sword and rush upon me." And Galen did not hesitate
+but stabbed him with his dagger. The king came and found him
+dead. There were some at the time who said that Merovech's
+words, which we have just reported, were an invention of the
+queen, and that Merovech had been secretly killed at her command.
+Galen was seized and his hands, feet, ears, and the end of his nose
+were cut off, and he was subjected to many other tortures and
+met a cruel death. Grindio they fastened to a wheel and raised
+aloft, and Ciucilo, once count of king Sigibert's palace, they exe-
+cuted by beheading. Moreover they cruelly butchered by various
+forms of death many others who had come with Merovech. Men
+said at that time that bishop Egidius and Gunthram Boso were the
+leaders in the betrayal, because Gunthram enjoyed the secret
+friendship of Fredegunda for the killing of Theodobert, and Egidius
+had been her friend for a long time.
+[19. Tiberius Caesar, his alms to the poor, and the treasures
+miraculously discovered by him.]
+. An uproar arose against the bishops Salunius and Sagit- \
+tarius. They had been trained by the holy Nicetius, 1 bishop of
+Lyons, and had attained the office of deacon; and in his time
+Salunius was made bishop of Embrun and Sagittarius of Gap.
+Having reached the office of bishop they became their own masters
+and in a mad way began to seize property, wound, kill, commit
+adultery, and various other crimes, and at one time when Victor,
+bishop of Saint-Paul Trois-Chateaux was celebrating his birthday,
+they sent a band of men to attack him with swords and arrows.
+They went and tore his robes, wounded his servants, and carried
+off the dishes and everything used at the dinner, leaving the bishop
+overwhelmed by abuse. When king Gunthram learned of it he
+ordered a synod to meet in Lyons. The bishops assembled with
+the patriarch, blessed Nicetius, and after examining the case found
+that they were absolutely convicted of the crimes charged to them,
+and they ordered that men guilty of such acts should be removed
+Gregory's great uncle.
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+from the office of bishop. But since Salunius and Sagittarius knew
+that the king was still favorable to them they went to him com-
+plaining that they were unjustly removed and asking for permis-
+sion to go to the pope of the city of Rome. The king listened to
+their prayers and gave them letters and let them go. They went
+to John the pope and told that they had been removed without
+any good reason. And he sent letters to the king in which he
+directed that they should be restored to their places. This the
+king did without delay, first rebuking them at length. But, what
+is worse, no improvement followed. However they did ask pardon
+of bishop Victor and surrendered the men whom they had sent
+at the time of the disturbance. But he remembered the Lord's
+teaching that evil should not be repaid one's enemies for "evil and
+did them no harm but allowed them to go free. For this he was
+afterward suspended from the communion, because after making
+a public accusation he had secretly pardoned his enemies without
+\ the advice of the brethren to whom he had made the charge. But
+by the king's favor he was again restored to communion. But
+these men daily engaged in greater crimes and, as we have stated
+before, they armed themselves like laymen, and killed many with
+their own hands in the battles which Mummolus fought with the
+Lombards. And among their fellow-citizens they were carried
+away by animosity and beat a number with clubs and let their
+fury carry them as far as the shedding of blood. Because of this
+the outcry of the people again reached the king. The king ordered
+them to be summoned. On their arrival he refused to let them
+come into his presence, thinking that their hearing should be held
+first and that if they were found good men they would deserve an
+audience with the king. But Sagittarius was transported with
+rage, taking the matter hard, and being light and vain and ready
+with thoughtless speech, he began to make many loud declarations
+about the king and to say that his sons cannot inherit the kingdom
+because their mother had been taken to the king's bed from among
+the slaves of Magnachar; not knowing that the families of the
+wives are now disregarded and they are called the sons of a king
+who have been begotten by a king. On hearing this the king was
+greatly aroused and took away from them horses, slaves and what-
+ever they had, and ordered them to be taken and shut up in distant
+THE FIFTH BOOK
+
+monasteries to do penance there, leaving not more than a single
+clerk to each, and giving terrible warnings to the judges of the
+places to guard them with armed men and leave no opportunity
+open for any one to visit them. Now the king's sons were living at
+this time, and the older of them began to be sick. And the king's
+friends went to him and said: "If the king would deign to hear
+favorably the words of his servants they would speak in his ears."
+And he said ; " Speak whatever you wish." And they said : "Be-
+ware lest perhaps these bishops be condemned to exile though inno-
+cent, and the king's sin be increased somewhat, and because of it
+the son of our master perish." And the king said; "Go with all
+speed and release them and beg them to pray for our little ones."
+They departed and the bishops were released and leaving the
+monasteries they met and kissed each other because they had not
+seen each other for a long time, and returned to their cities and
+were so penitent that they apparently never ceased from psalm-
+singing, fasting, almsgiving, reading the book of the songs of David
+through the day and spending the night in singing hymns and medi-
+tating on the readings. But this absolute piety did not last long
+and they fell a second time and generally spent the nights in feast-
+ing and drinking, so that when the clergy were singing the matins
+in the church these were calling for cups and drinking wine. There
+was no mention at all of God, no services were observed. When
+morning came they arose from dinner and covered themselves with
+soft coverings and buried in drunken sleep they would lie till the
+third hour of the day. And there were women with whom they
+polluted themselves. And then they would rise and bathe and lie
+down to eat; in the evening they arose and later they devoted
+themselves greedily to dinner until the dawn, as we have mentioned
+above. So they did every day until God's anger fell upon them,
+which we will tell of later.
+[21. Winnoc the Breton is made a priest. The miracle of the
+holy water from the tomb of St. Martin. 22. Death of Chilperic's
+young son. 23. List of prodigies. 24. Chilperic takes Poitiers
+from Childebert. 25. Duke Dracolen captures the deserter Dacco
+and takes him to Chilperic. He commits suicide. Dracolen then
+meets Gunthram Boso, fights him on horseback and is killed.
+Violent end of Gunthram's father-in-law. 26. Chilperic sends an
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+army including "the people of Tours" against the Bretons. Later
+he "orders fines to be paid by the poor and the younger clergy of
+the church because they had not served in the army" although
+" there was no custom for these to perform any state service."
+. Salunius and Sagittarius the bishops are degraded.]
+. King Chilperic ordered new and heavy impositions to be
+made in all his kingdom. For this reason many left these cities
+and abandoned their properties and fled to other kingdoms, think-
+ing it better to be in exile elsewhere than to be subject to such
+danger. For it had been decreed that each landowner should pay
+a measure of wine per acre [aripennis]. Moreover many other
+taxes were imposed both on the remaining lands and on the slaves,
+which could not be paid. When the people of Limoges saw that
+they were weighed down by such burdens they assembled on the
+first of March and wished to kill Marcus the referendary who had
+been ordered to collect these dues, and they would have done so,
+had not bishop Ferreolus freed him from the threatening danger.
+The assembled multitude seized the tax books and burned them.
+At this the king was greatly disturbed and sent officials from his
+court and fir?d the people huge sums and frightened them with
+tortures and put them to death. They say, too, that at that time
+abbots and priests were stretched on crosses and subjected to various
+tortures, the royal messengers accusing them falsely of having been
+accomplices in the burning of the books at the rising of the people.
+And henceforth they imposed more grievous taxes.
+[29. Fighting between Bretons and Franks goes on. 30. Ti-
+berius succeeds Justin as emperor. 31. The Bretons pillage the
+country about Nantes and Rennes.]
+. At Paris a certain woman fell under reproach, many charg-
+ing that she had left her husband and was intimate with another.
+Then her husband's kinsmen went to her father saying: "Either
+make your daughter behave properly or she shall surely die, lest
+her wantonness lay a disgrace on our family." "I know," said the
+father, "that my daughter is well-behaved and the word is not true
+that evil men speak of her. Still, to keep the reproach from going
+further, I will make her innocent by my oath." And they replied :
+"If she is without guilt declare it on oath upon the tomb herejpf^
+the blessed Denis the martyr." "I will do so," said the father.
+THE FIFTH BOOK 129
+Then having made the agreement they met at the church of the
+holy martyr and the father raised his hands above the altar and
+swore that hisjdaughter was not guilty. On the other hajiHTonieTs
+on the part of the husband declared that he had committed perjury.
+They entered into a dispute, drew their swords and rushed on one
+another, and killed one another before the very altar. Now they
+were men advanced in years and leaders with king Chilperic.
+Many received sword wounds, the holy church was spattered with
+human blood, the doors were pierced with darts and swords and
+godless missiles raged as far as the very tomb. When the struggle
+had with difficulty been stopped, the church was put under an in-
+terdict until the whole matter should come under the king's notice.
+They hastened to the presence of the prince but were not received
+with favor. They were sent back to the bishop of the place and
+the^acder^svas given that if theywere not found guilty of this crime
+they might rightly be admitted to communion. Then they atoned
+forjtheir_eyil_conduct and were taken back to^lhe communion of
+the church by Ragnemod, bishop of Paris. Not many days later
+the woman on being summoned to trial hanged herself.
+[33. A long list of prodigies.]
+. A very grievous plague followed these prodigies. For
+while the kings were quarreling and again preparing for civil war,
+dysentery seized upon nearly the whole of the Gauls. The sufferers
+had a high fever with vomiting and excessive pain in the kidneys ;
+the head and neck were heavy. Their expectorations were of a
+saffron color or at least green. It was asserted by many that it
+was a secret poison. The common people called it internal pimples
+and this is not incredible, seeing that when cupping glasses were placed
+on the shoulders or legs mattery places formed and broke and the
+corrupted blood ran out and many were cured. Moreover herbs
+that are used to cure poisons were drunk and helped a good many.
+This sickness began in the month of August and seized upon the
+little ones and laid them on their beds. We lost dear sweet children
+whom we nursed on our knees or carried in our arms and nourished
+with attentive care, feeding them with our own hand. But wiping
+away our tears we say with the blessed Job : "The Lord has given ;
+the Lord has taken away ; the Lord's will has been done. Blessed
+be his name through the ages."
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+In these days king Chilperic was very sick. When he got well
+his younger son, who was not yet reborn of water and the Holy
+Srjirit, fell ill, and when they saw_ herwas in danger they ^baptized
+Jn'm^ He was doing a little better when his older brother named
+Clodobert was attacked by the same disease. Their mother Frede-
+gunda saw they were in danger of death and she repented too late,
+and said to the king: "The divine goodness has longjborne with
+our bad actions ; it has often rebuked us with fevers and other
+evils but repentance did not follow and now we are losing our sons.
+It is the tears of the poor, the outcries of widows and the sighs of
+orphans that are destroying them. We have no hope left now in
+gathering weaHh. We get riches and we do not know for wKom.
+Our treasures v r ill be left without an owner, full of violence and
+curses. Our storehouses are full of wine and our barns of grain,
+and our treasuries are full of gold, silver, precious stones, neck-
+laces, and all the wealth of rulers. But we are losing what we held
+more dear. Come, please, let us burn all the wicked tax lists and
+let what sufficed for your father king Clothar, suffice for your
+treasury." So the queen spoke, beating her breast with her fists,
+and she ordered the books to be brought out that had been brought
+from her cities by Marcus, and when she had thrown them in the
+fire she said to the king: "Why do you delay; do what you see
+me do, so that if we have lost our dear children we may at least
+escape eternal punishment." Then the king repented and burned
+all the tax books and when they were burned he sent men to stop
+future taxes. After this the younger child wasted away in great
+pain and died. They carried him with great grief from Braine to
+Paris and buried him in the church of St. Denis. Clodobert they
+placed on a litter and took him to St. Medard's church in Soissons,
+and threw themselves down at the holy tomb and made vows for
+him, but being already breathless and weak he died at midnight.
+They buried him in the holy church of the martyrs Crispin and
+Crispinian. There was much lamenting among all the people ; for
+men and women followed this funeral sadly wearing the mourning
+clothes that are customary when a husband or wife dies. After this
+king Chilperic was generous to cathedrals and churches and the poor.
+. In these days Austrechild, wife of prince Gunthram, suc-
+cumbed to this disease, but before she breathed out her worthless
+THE FIFTH BOOK 131
+life, seeing she could not escape, she drew deep sighs and wished
+to have partners in her death, intending that at her funeral there
+should be mourning for others. It is said that she made a request
+of the king in Herodian fashion saying: "I would still have had
+hopes of life if I had not fallen into the hands of wicked physicians ;
+for the draughts they gave me have taken my life away perforce
+and have caused me swiftly to lose the light of day. And there-
+fore I beg you let my death not go unavenged, and I conjure you
+with an oath to have them slain by the sword as soon as I depart
+from the light ; so that, just as I cannot live longer, so they too
+shall not boast after my death, and the grief of our friends and of
+theirs shall be one and the same." So speaking she gave up her
+unhappy soul. And the king after the customary period of public
+mourning fulfilled her wicked order, forced by the oath to his cruel
+wife. He ordered the two physicians who had attended her to be
+slain with the sword, and the wisdom of many believes that this
+was not done without sin.
+[36. Nanthinus, count of Angouleme, dies of the plague. He
+had been a bitter enemy of the bishops. 37. Death of Martin,
+bishop of Galicia. 38. The Arian queen of Spain, Gaisuenta, is
+enraged at her Catholic daughter-in-law. "She seizes the girl by
+the hair of her head, dashes her on the ground, kicks her for a long
+time and covers her with blood and orders her to be stripped and
+ducked in the fish-pond." The girl however converts her husband
+but he is sent into exile. 39. Fredegunda brings about the death
+of Clovis, Chilperic's son. 40. Elafius, bishop of Chalons, and
+Eonius, exiled bishop of Vannes, die. 41. Chilperic seizes legates
+sent by the king of Galicia to king Gunthram. List of prodigies
+including a destructive wind of which Gregory says; "Its space
+was about seven acres in width but one could not estimate its
+length."]
+. Maurilio, bishop of the city of Cahors, was seriously ill of
+gout, but in addition to the pain which the humor caused, he sub-
+jected himself to added tortures. For he often put white-hot iron
+against his feet and legs in order to make his pain greater. While
+many were candidates for his office he himself preferred Ursicinus
+who had once been referendary to queen Vulthrogotha and he begged
+that Ursicinus be ordained before his death, and then passed away
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+from the world. He was a very liberal almsgiver, very learned in
+the church writings, so much so that he often repeated from memory
+the succession of generations given in the books of the Old Testa-
+ment which many find it difficult to remember. He was also just
+in judgments, and he defended the poor of his church from the
+hand of the wicked according to the judgment of Job : "I delivered
+the poor from the hand of the mighty and I helped the needy who
+had no helper. The mouth of the widow blessed me, for I was an
+eye to the blind, a foot to the lame, and a father to the weak."
+[43. Debate over the Trinity between Gregory and a Spanish
+legate.]
+. At the same time kmg_Chilperic wrote a little treatisejx>
+the effect that^ the holy Trinity should not be so called with refer-
+ence to distinct persons but should merely have the meaning of
+God, saying that i was unseemly that God should be called a person
+like a manof flesh ; affirming also that the Father is the same as
+the Son and that the Holy Spirit also is the same as the Father and
+the Son rr Such," said he, "was the view of the prophets and
+patriaxch^^njd~such isjteaching the law itself has given." When
+he had had this read to me he said : "I want you and the other
+teachers of the church to hold this view." But I answered him :
+"pood king, abandon this belief ; it is your duty to follow the doc-
+trine which the other teachers of the church left to us after the
+time of the apostles, the teachings of Hilarius and Eusebius which
+you~professed at baptism." Then the king was angry and said :
+"It is plain that in this case Hilarius and Eusebius are my bitter
+enemies." And I answered him : "It is better for you to be careful
+and nol..make_eiiemies either of O^ flf hf? f oiV>fg Now_Jet m
+tell you that as persons the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
+are distinct. It was not the Father whn t^)^ on fles|i r nor the
+Holy Spirit, but the Son, so that he who was Son of God became
+the son of a virgin also for the redemption of man. It was not the
+Father^wJio__suffered, nor the Holy Spirit, but the Son7^o~ttetjiu
+who had taken _on flesh^ in the world, was himself offered for the
+world. And what you say about persons must be understood not
+in a material but in a spiritual sense. In these three persons, then,
+there is one glory, one eternity, one power." But he became excited
+and said: "I will explain these matters to wiser men than you
+THE FIFTH BOOK 133
+and they will agree with me." I replied: "No wise man will he
+be but a fool, who will consent to follow your proposals." At this
+he ground his teeth and said no more. A few days later bishop
+Salvius of Albi visited him and he had this treatise read to him,
+begging him to accept his views. But upon hearing them Salvius
+was so revolted that if he could have laid hands on the paper con-
+taining the writing he would have torn it into bits. And so the
+king gave up the project. / The king wrote also other books in verse
+following Sedulius as a model. But those poor verses have no rela-
+tion of any sort with meter. He also added letters to our alphabet,
+namely G> as the Greeks have it, <z, the, vvi, which are written by
+the following characters : c*> 0, a i/r ? the Z, v m A. And he wrote
+to all the cities of his kingdom that boys should be taught these
+letters and that books written in previous times should be erased
+with pumice and rewritten.
+[45. Agricola, bishop of Chalon-sur-Saone, dies. "He con-
+structed many buildings in that city, erecting houses, and building
+a church which he supported with columns and adorned with vari-
+colored marbles and mosaics."]
+. At that time also Dalmatius bishop of Rodez passed away,
+a man distinguished for every kind of holiness, an abstainer from
+food and the desires of the flesh, a great almsgiver and kind to all,
+steadfast enough in prayer and watching. He built a church, but
+frequently tore it down to build it better and left it unfinished.
+After his death, as usual there were many candidates for his office. -
+And the priest Transobad, who at one time had been his arch-
+deacon, was making a great effort for it, relying on the fact that he-
+had put his son in care of Gogo who was then tutor to the king.
+Now the bishop had made a will in which he indicated to the king
+who was to receive this office after his death, adjuring him with
+terrible oaths not to appoint a stranger in that church, nor a greedy
+man, nor one entangled by marriage, but that one free from all
+these drawbacks should be put in his place, who would spend his
+days in the praise of the Lord and nothing else. Now the priest
+Transobad prepared a feast for the clergy in the city. And while
+they were seated one of the priests began to abuse shamelessly the
+bishop mentioned above, and he went so far as to call him a mad-
+man and a fool. While he was speaking the butler came to offer
+i 3 4 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+him a cup. He took it, but as he was raising it to his mouth he
+began to tremble and the cup dropped from his hand and he leaned
+his head on the man next him and gave up the ghost. He was
+carried from the feast to the grave and covered with earth. After
+this the bishop's will was read in the presence of king Childebert
+and his chief men, and Theodosius who was then archdeacon in
+that city was ordained bishop.
+. Now Chilperic heard of all the harm Leudast was doing
+to the churches of Tours and to all the people and he sent Ansoald
+thither. He came at the festival of St. Martin and, giving us and
+the people a choice, raised Eunomius to the office of count. Then
+Leudast perceived that he had lost his place and went to Chilperic,
+saying: "Most pious king, up to now I have guarded the city of
+Tours; but now that I have been removed see how it will be
+guarded. For let me tell you that bishop Gregory purposes to
+surrender it to Sigibert's son." Upon hearing this the king said :
+"By no means, but you make this charge only for the reason that
+you have been removed." But he answered: "There is more
+that the bishop says about you ; for he says that the queen com-
+mitted adultery with bishop Bertram." Then the king was en-
+raged and struck and kicked him and ordered him to be loaded
+with chains and thrust into prison.
+. Now as this book should soon be finished I wish to tell
+something of his actions; and first it seems best to describe in
+order his family, his native place, and his character. There is an
+island of Poitou called Gracina in which he was born to a slave
+(named Leuchadius) belonging to a vine-dresser of the fisc. Thence
+he was sent to service and assigned to the royal kitchen. But as
+his eyes were bleared when he was young and the bitter smoke
+hurt them, he was removed from the pestle and promoted to the
+basket, but he only pretended to be happy among the fermented
+dough, and soon ran away and left his service. And when he had
+been brought back twice or three times and could not be prevented
+from running away, he was punished by having one ear cut off.
+Then as he was not able by any power to conceal the mark of dis-
+grace on him, he fled to queen Marcovefa, whom king Charibert
+loved greatly and had married in her sister's place. She received
+him gladly and appointed him keeper of her best horses. Then
+THE FIFTH BOOK 135
+he was filled with vanity and given over to pride and began to
+intrigue for the office of count of the stables. Getting this, he
+despised and disregarded all ; he was puffed up with vanity, softened
+with wantonness, inflamed with greed and he hastened hither and
+thither in the service of his patroness. After her death, being now
+rich with plunder, he made gifts to king Charibert and began to
+hold a place with him. Then the sins of the people increased and
+he was sent as count to Tours, and here he was more uplifted by
+the pride of his high office and here he showed himself to be a
+greedy plunderer, a loud-mouthed disputer and a foul adulterer.
+And here by sowing discord and bringing false charges he acquired
+no small treasure. After Charibert's death, when the city had
+fallen to Sigibert's share he went over to Chilperic and all that he
+had wickedly accumulated was taken by the adherents of the king
+I have named. Then king Chilperic took possession of Tours
+through his son Theodobert, I having by this time come to Tours,
+and he was strongly recommended to me by Theodobert to hold
+the office of count which he had held before. He showed himself
+very humble and submissive to us, swearing often by the tomb of
+the holy bishop that he would never go against reason and that he
+would be loyal to me in his own causes as well as in all needs of
+the church. For he was afraid that, as later happened, king Sigi-
+bert would bring the city again under his rule. When Sigibert
+died Chilperic succeeded him and Leudast again became count.
+But when Merovech came to Tours he plundered all Leudast's
+property. Now during the two years that Sigibert held Tours,
+Leudast lay hid among the Bretons. And when he took the office
+of count, as we have said, he was so foolish as to enter the bishop's
+house with breastplate and coat of mail, girt with a quiver and
+carrying a lance in his hand, and with a helmet on his head, being
+secure with no one because he was an enemy to all. And if he sat
+at a trial with the chief men of the clergy and laity and saw any
+one seeking justice, he would at once be transported into a rage
+and would pour out abuse on the citizens ; he would order priests
+to be dragged away in fetters and soldiers beaten with clubs,
+and he showed such cruelty as can scarcely be described. And when
+Merovech, who had plundered his property, went away, Leudast
+began to accuse me falsely, asserting that Merovech had followed
+HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
+my advice in taking his property. But after doing me damage
+he again repeated his oath and gave a cloth from the tomb of the
+blessed Martin as security that he would never oppose me.
+. But as it is a tedious thing to relate in order his perjuries
+and other crimes, let us come to the story of how he wished by vile
+and wicked calumnies to oust me from my place, and how the
+divine vengeance fell upon him, so that the saying was fulfilled,
+"Every supplanter shall be supplanted," and again; " Whoso
+diggeth a pit shall fall therein." After the many wrongs he did
+to me and mine, after many plunderings of the church property,
+he united to himself the priest Riculf, as perverse and wicked as
+himself, and went so far as to say that I had made a charge against
+queen Fredegunda, asserting that if my archdeacon Plato or my
+friend Galien should be subjected to torture they would certainly
+convict me of such words. It was then that the king was angry,
+as I have stated above, and after beating and kicking him ordered
+him to be loaded with chains and thrust into prison. Now he said
+that he had Riculf, a cleric, on whose authority he said this. But
+this Riculfus was a sub-deacon, as unstable as Leudast, who a year
+before had entered into this design with Leudast, and had looked
+for causes of offense in order, forsooth, to go over to Leudast be-
+cause I was angry, and he found them and went to him, and for
+four months they prepared all their tricks and laid their traps, and
+then he came back to me with Leudast and begged me to pardon
+and take him back. I did it, I confess, and publicly received a
+secret enemy into my household. And when Leudast went away,
+Riculf threw himself at my feet and said: " Unless you come
+quickly to my help I shall perish. Behold, at Leudast's urging I
+have said what I should not have. Now send me to another
+kingdom; if you do not I shall be seized by the king's men and
+suffer the punishment of death." And I said to him: "If you
+have said anything out of the way your words shall be on your own
+head ; for I will not send you to another kingdom, lest I be held
+in suspicion by the king." After this Leudast became his accuser,
+saying that he had the words already mentioned from Riculf, the
+subdeacon. And he was bound and put under guard and Leudast
+was released. And Riculf said that Galien and the archdeacon
+Plato were present on the same day when the bishop said this.

GANINO

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