Library › St Gregory of Tours › History of the Franks
History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 9, 34. Of the Enmity Between Fredegund and Her Daughter
Rigunth, daughter of Chilperic, was always attacking her mother,1 declaring that she was the real mistress, and that her mother owed her service; often she would assail her with abuse, and sometimes they even came to blows and buffets. One day her mother said to her: ‘Why dost thou set thyself against me, O my daughter? Here are possessions of thy father which I have under my control; take them and do with them as seemeth good to thee.’ She then went into her treasure-room, and opened a chest full of necklets and precious ornaments, for a long time taking out one thing after another, and handing them to her daughter, who stood by. At last she said: ‘I am weary; put thou in thy hand, and take out what thou mayst find.’ Rigunth put her arm into the chest to take out more things, when her mother seized the lid and forced it down upon her neck. She bore upon it with all her strength, until the edge of the chest beneath pressed the girl’s throat so hard that her eyes seemed about to start from her head. Then one of the maids who was in the place cried out as loud as she could: ‘Help, help! my mistress is being suffocated by her mother!’ The attendants outside, who were waiting for their coming forth, broke into the small chamber, and brought out the girl, whom they thus delivered from imminent death. Afterwards the hatred of mother and daughter sprang up ever more fiercely, for the most part ending in brawls and blows; the chief cause lay in the lecheries of Rigunth.
Notes
- Fredegund.