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History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 7, 29. Of Eberulf’s Death

While these things befell, King Guntram dispatched a certain Claudius with these instructions: ‘If’, he said, ‘thou goest hence, and having cast forth Eberulf from the church,¹ dost slay him with the sword, or bind him in chains, I will enrich thee with great largess; but above all I warn thee to do no outrage to the hallowed church.’ Claudius, a reckless and rapacious fellow, flew to Paris, his wife being a native of the territory of Meaux. He turned the question over in his mind, whether he should see Queen Fredegund: ‘If I see her,’ thought he, ‘I may get some reward of her, for I know that she hateth the man against whom I am sent.’ He did go to see her, and forthwith received great rewards, together with many promises, if he should succeed in dragging Eberulf from the church and slaying him, or if he should ensnare and bind him, or even cut him down in the very atrium. Returning now to Châteaudun,² he required the count to furnish him with three hundred men, as if to guard the gates of Tours, but in reality that on his arrival there he might use them to kill Eberulf. While the count was warning the men for service, Claudius himself went to Tours. Upon his way, after the custom of the barbarians,³ he began to take notice of omens, and to find them unfavourable. At the same time he inquired of many whether the power of the holy Martin had of late been made manifest against breakers of oaths; and, especially, whether instant vengeance followed a wrong done to such as had put their trust in him. Then, in advance of the men who were to have afforded him support, he went in person to the church. There he at once accosted the unhappy Eberulf, gave him his oath, and swore by all that he held sacred, by the power of the holy bishop present with them,⁴ that none could be more faithful to his cause than he; none could represent his cause so well before the king. For the wretch had thus determined with himself: ‘Unless I can deceive him by false oaths, I shall not have the better of him.’ When Eberulf heard him make these promises upon oath both within the walls of the church and in the porticoes and the other venerated spots of the forecourt, the wretched man believed the perjurer. The next day, while I was staying at a country estate some thirty miles out of the city, he was invited to a dinner at the holy church with Claudius and certain of the citizens. Claudius would have struck him down with his sword then and there, if only his servants had not been standing too near; but Eberulf, light and vain as ever, noticed nothing. At the close of the meal he and Claudius strolled together about the forecourt of the church house, swearing to each other faith and brotherhood with mutual exchange of oaths. While they were talking thus, Claudius said to Eberulf: ‘I should delight to drain a cup at thy lodging, if the wine were mixed with spice, or if thy mightiness would ask for a draught of stronger wine for me.’ Eberulf was overjoyed at these words, and answered that he had what was desired: ‘And all that thou wouldst have thou shalt find at my lodging, let but my lord deign to enter the humble place of my abode.’ And he sent his servants, one after the other, to get stronger wines, those of Latium and those of Gaza. As soon as the servants were gone and his victim was left alone, Claudius lifted up his hand towards the church and said: ‘Most blessed Martin, grant me right soon to see once more my wife and my kinsmen.’ For he was now on the point of hazard: the villain purposed to do murder in the forecourt, but at the same time feared the power of the holy bishop. Then one of the servants of Claudius, who was stronger than the rest, seized Eberulf from behind, grappled him close with his powerful arms, and forced his breast upward, so that it lay open to a deadly blow. Claudius drew his sword from his baldric and made at him. But Eberulf in his turn, hampered though he was, pulled a dagger from his belt and held it ready to strike. Claudius, raising his hand high, thrust his blade into Eberulf’s breast. But the latter instantly planted his dagger below his adversary’s armpit, then withdrawing it, with a second blow cut off his thumb. Thereupon the servants of Claudius ran up from all sides with their swords, and wounded Eberulf in several places. He slipped out of their hands and, though more dead than alive, tried to flee; but they took his drawn sword, and gave him a deep wound upon the head; his brains were scattered, and he fell dead. Nor did he deserve to be saved by the saint whom he never knew to implore with a true heart. Claudius, filled with terror, betook himself to the abbot’s cell, seeking protection from one whose patron he had not been wise enough to reverence. He said to the abbot, who was there present: ‘A great crime hath been committed; unless thou help we shall perish.’ While he was still speaking, the followers of Eberulf rushed in with swords and spears, and finding the door barred, broke the glass panes, hurled their spears through the window in the wall, and transfixed Claudius, who was already more dead than alive: his own followers were hidden behind the door and under the beds. Two of the clergy took hold of the abbot and brought him away at risk of his life through the drawn swords, and the door being now open, the whole crowd of armed men entered. Some of the almsmen attached to the church, with other of the poor, angered at the crime, tried to pull down the roof of the cell. Moreover, sundry possessed men and beggars with stones and clubs came to avenge the outrage to the church, indignant that it should be the scene of deeds never before attempted. What need of further words? The fugitives were dragged from their hiding-places and cruelly slain, so that the floor of the cell was stained with gore. Their dead bodies were then dragged out and left lying stark on the cold ground; the slayers collected the spoils and fled away the following night. Thus did the vengeance of God straightway fall on those who had defiled the blessed atrium with human blood; but none can deem the guilt of that man small whom the holy bishop suffered to endure such things.⁵ The king was exceeding wroth at these events, but when all was explained to him he was soon calm again. All the property, personal and real, of the unhappy Eberulf, and all that he had inherited from his ancestors, he distributed among his chief adherents, who left the dead man’s wife despoiled of all in the holy church. The bodies of Claudius and the others were borne by their nearest relatives into their own country, and buried there.

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