Library › St Gregory of Tours › History of the Franks

History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 8, 31. Of the Murder of Bishop Praetextatus

During these events Fredegund was living at Rouen. There were words of bitterness between her and Bishop Praetextatus, she telling him that the time would come when he should return to his former exile,¹ he retorting in the following words: ‘Whether in exile or out of exile, I have been, am, and shall remain a bishop; but as for thee, thou shalt not for ever enjoy royal power. By God’s grace am I come forth from exile to my kingdom; but thou from thy kingdom shalt be plunged into the abyss.² It were better for thee to leave thy foolishness and thy malice and turn thee betimes to better things; to rid thee of the boastful pride that gloweth ever within thee, that so thou mayst for thyself attain eternal life, and be able to bring up to manhood the young child whom thou hast borne.’ The queen took these words ill, and left his presence seething with bitter wrath.³

The day of our Lord’s Resurrection came, and the bishop went early to the church to perform the office. According to the use, he began the singing of the antiphons in their order, and during the chanting reclined upon a seat. While he was thus resting, behold a cruel assassin, who drew a dagger from his belt and stabbed him beneath the armpit. He cried out for help to the clergy who were present, but of all the number of those who stood near, not a man came to his aid Then, after holding forth over the altar his blood-stained hands, uttering prayers and giving thanks to God, he was carried by his trusty servants into his chamber and laid upon his bed. Forthwith appeared Fredegund, with Duke Beppolen⁴ and Ansovald,⁵ and said: ‘Such a thing should never have befallen ourselves, or thy people, O holy bishop, that a deed like this should be done to thee while performing thy holy office. May the villain be pointed out to us who hath dared do this thing, that we may inflict on him a punishment according to his crime’ The bishop well knew that she said this treacherously, and answered: ‘And who hath done these things, if not that person who hath slain kings, so often shed the innocent blood, and done so many deeds of evil in this kingdom?’ The queen replied: ‘In our household are very skilled physicians, able to heal this wound. Permit it, that they visit thee.’ He rejoined: ‘Now know I that it is God’s will to call me from this world. But thou, who art found the chief in these crimes, shalt in this world be accursed, and God shall avenge my blood upon thy head.’ And when she was gone forth, the bishop set his house in order and gave up the ghost.

Romachar, bishop of Coutances, came thereafter to bury him, and great grief overcame all the citizens of Rouen, above all the chief men of the Franks in that place. One of these came to Fredegund and said: ‘Much evil hast thou wrought in this world, but no worse deed than this, that thou hast caused one of the Lord’s bishops to be put to death. May God right soon avenge the innocent blood! All of us will search out this crime, that thou be no longer free to do such ruthless deeds.’ After this rebuke, he went forth from the queen’s presence, but she sent a messenger after him to invite him to her board. He refused. She then begged that, if he would not eat at her table, he would at least drink a cup and not go fasting from the royal dwelling. He waited, and they brought a cup from which he drank wormwood mixed with wine and honey,⁶ after the manner of the barbarians.⁷ But the draught was poisoned, and no sooner had he drunk it than he felt great pain rise in his breast, as if he were being all cut within. He called to his companions: ‘Fly, O ye that are in peril, fly this monster, that ye all perish not with me.’ They would not drink, but hastened to be gone. As for him, a blindness came over him; and though he mounted his horse, he fell dead three stadia⁸ along the road. Bishop Leudovald⁹ sent a letter to all the bishops, and having heard their opinion, closed the churches at Rouen, so that the people might attend no divine service until through the general indignation the doer of this vile deed should be discovered. Certain persons were arrested, from whom torture dragged the truth that these things were done at the prompting of Fredegund. But as she denied the charge, she could not be punished. It was reported that assassins were on the track of Bishop Leudovald because he was shrewdly resolved to get at the truth; but he was closely guarded by his people, and they were unable to do him a mischief.

When news of these events reached King Guntram, and the suspicion was thrown on Fredegund, he sent to the alleged son of Chilperic,¹⁰ named Lothar, as I have said above, three bishops, to wit, Arthemius of Sens,¹¹ Veranus of Cavaillon,¹² and Agricius of Troyes, with orders, in concert with the child’s governors, to discover the author of the crime and bring him into his presence. These bishops explained their orders to these notables, who thus replied: ‘To us such deeds are abominable; we desire their punishment ever more and more. But we cannot admit that if the guilty man be found among us, he should be taken before your king, since we are able, with the royal sanction, to put down the crimes of our own folk ourselves.’ The bishops answered: ‘Know that if he who did the crime be not given up, our king will come hither with an army and lay waste all this region with fire and sword; for it is manifest that she who commanded the murder of the Frank by her ill practices caused also the bishop to be put to the sword.’ With these words they went away without obtaining any proper answer, protesting formally that Melantius,¹³ who had already been appointed to succeed Praetextatus, could never legally perform the functions of a bishop in that cathedral.

Previous · Contents · Next