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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 9, 21. Of the Almsgiving and the Goodness of This King
King Guntram, as I have often said, was great in charity and disposed to fasting and vigils. At this time1 it was reported that Marseilles was ravaged by a plague affecting the groin, which had rapidly spread to a village called Octavus near Lyons. The king, like some good bishop providing the remedies to heal the scars of a people that had sinned, commanded every one to assemble in the great church2 and Rogations to be celebrated with the utmost devotion; nothing was to be taken by way of nourishment but barley bread and pure water; all were to be constant in keeping the vigils. His orders were obeyed. For three days the largess of his alms much exceeded his wonted amount, and he was so anxious for the whole people that he might have been taken not merely for their king but also for one of the Lord’s bishops. All his hope was now set on the Lord’s mercy; all the thoughts that came to him he threw upon God, through whose power he believed with a whole and perfect faith they should be brought to good effect. It was commonly told by the faithful that a certain woman, whose son was sick of a quartan ague and lay uneasily upon his bed, came up through the crowd immediately behind the king, and tore off by stealth some particles of the fringe upon his royal mantle. These she steeped in water, which she gave her son to drink; and immediately the fever was quenched, and he was made whole. I cannot doubt the story, since I myself have often heard evil spirits in the hour of their possession invoking the king’s name, and confessing their crimes, compelled by his miraculous power.
Notes
- In 588.
- Ecclesia.