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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
nb10
1. Our deacon, returning from Rome with relics of the saints. In G. M., ch. 82, we learn that the capsa of relics brought on this occasion from Portus to Marseilles was the means of averting a shipwreck.
Pope Pelagius. This was Pelagius II (578-90), successor of Benedict I.
The deacon Gregory. Gregory of Tours is the original authority for this account of events attending the election of his great namesake. Other early sources are the seventh-century writer of a notice in the Liber Pontificalis; an anonymous monk of Whitby anterior to Bede (Plummer, Baedae opera, ii, Appendix i); Bede himself (Hist. eccl. gentis Angl., esp. ii, ch. 1); Paul Warnefrid (Paul the Deacon), the historian of the Lombards, who, however, compiles from Gregory of Tours and Bede; Isidore, archbishop of Seville (d. 636), and Ildefonsus, archbishop of Toledo (d. 667), and John the Deacon. Cf. F. H. Dudden, Gregory the Great, 1905. To the general books on Gregory the Great cited by Dudden may be added H. H. Howorth’s Saint Gregory the Great (1912).
One of the first among senatorial families. The gens Anicia. His father was named Gordian, his mother Silvia.
Six monasteries in Sicily. One was on a property which had belonged to his mother Silvia in the diocese of Palermo.
In the silken garb of high office, adorned with glittering gems (Syrico contextus ac gemmis micantibus solitus erat per urbem procedere trabeatus). Gregory held the exalted position of Prefect of the City in 573; it was upon laying down this office that he transformed his ancestral palace on the Caelian Hill into a monastery, naming it after S. Andrew (John the Deacon, Vit. Greg. i. 6; Greg. Ep. vii. 13), and for some time making it at any rate an alternative place of residence.
Appointed as seventh among the deacons who assisted the pope. There were only seven of these deacons, so that Gregory was the junior. They had charge of the seven regions into which Rome was divided, and were especially concerned with the relief of the poor. It was suggested by Baronius that they were the precursors of the present Cardinal Deacons. Each region, as we see from the account of the sevenfold procession, below, had its special church.
The emperor Maurice, whose son he had received from the sacred font. Gregory had been apocrisiarius, or nuncio at Constantinople from 579 to 585, in the reigns of Tiberius and Maurice (cf. VI. 30; 28 (42); X. 2, 4)
Germanus, prefect of Rome. Some have taken Germanus as ‘brother’, and assumed that a brother of Gregory was praefectus urbis at the time, but this is a mere supposition. For the stopping of the messenger and the substitution of a new letter, cf. Dudden, as above, p. 216. The authorities, other than Gregory, are Paul the Deacon, Vita Greg. i. 10 (or the early writer to whom Paul’s name has been given), and John the Deacon, Vita, i. 39, 40.
His diploma of confirmation (praeceptio). As the consensus of the people has been mentioned just before, it appears that the election of the bishop of Rome followed similar lines to those of elections in Gaul, the emperor playing the part assigned in that country to the Frankish kings. Since the time of Justinian, the emperors had claimed the right of confirming elections to important sees, and notably to that of Rome. The elevation of an archdeacon or deacon to the episcopate was not an unusual occurrence.
The sevenfold Litanies. The seven processions organized by Gregory, following from the above-noted division of the city into seven regions, naturally resulted in a ‘sevenfold litany’, which became characteristically Roman. Cf. also Paul the Deacon, Hist. Lang. iii. 24, and John the Deacon, i. 42: the last-named gives a different order of procession, as Pope Gregory himself appears to do (Ep. xiii. 2), though the reference here is to a later repetition of the procession (Dudden, i, pp. 218-19).
Came... through the streets of the city. According to a later legend, when this procession of 25th April 590 came to the bridge over the Tiber, the archangel Michael appeared on the dome of the mausoleum of Hadrian with a flaming sword, which he proceeded to sheathe; the plague was then stayed. Hence the name of the bridge and castle of S. Angelo (see F. H. Dudden, as above, i, p. 219).
Given as pope (Papa urbis datus est). In Italy the title of pope (papa = father) was appropriated to the Roman pontiff in the time of Theodoric, but it was not confined to him in all other countries until a later date.
From Ostia. Portus should be read. The deacon’s return with the relics to Marseilles is mentioned in G. M., ch. 82. Portus, on the north bank of the Tiber opposite the earlier port of Ostia, and the seat of a bishopric, was in the time of Theodoric a place of great activity, much frequented by foreign merchants and sailors; many pilgrims and persons visiting Rome on business passed through it, and there received their first impression of Roman life. It was governed by a count, the formula of whose appointment is given by Cassiodorus (Var. vii. 9: Formula Comitivae Portus Urbis Romanae). He is told that he is fortunate in his work: deliciosa magis quam laboriosa militia est in Portu Romano comitivae gerere dignitatem... Illic copiosus navium adventus; illic veligerum mare peregrinos populos cum diversa provinciarum merce transmittit. His primum faucibus Romanae deliciae sentiuntur. Under the count was a vicarius, whose formula is also given by Cassiodorus (vii. 23). He is especially instructed to show tact in the reception of foreigners, and to treat the home merchant with consideration; he is also to prevent quarrels between members of different peoples.
2. A mission to the emperor Maurice. This mission was connected with the Lombard war (cf. IX. 25), and with the affair of Ingund, sister of Childebert (VIII. 28 n.).
Great Carthage. The ancient African city, distinguished from New Carthage (Cartagena) in Spain.
Bodegisil, son of Mummolen of Soissons. This may have been the Mummolen who gave Fortunatus so splendid a dinner (including a dessert of peaches) that he was quite upset by the feast (Carm. vii. 14), and to whom he writes two prose letters, one of condolence on the death of his son (Carm. x. 2, 3).
The man of chief rank in the city. The expression used is senior urbis. The Byzantine Prefect of Africa is probably meant.
3. It was commanded by twenty dukes. Paul the Deacon, borrowing from Gregory, makes the number twenty-two, apparently because he adds Wintrio and Olo to the six dukes with Audovald, whereas Gregory includes them in the total. This invasion is described in vol. v of Hodgkin’s Italy and her Invaders.
The lowlands called Canini. These are represented by the lower valley of the Ticino before it enters Lago Maggiore. Bellinzona is situated near the river, more than ten miles north-east of the lake.
A lake called Ceresium from which issued a narrow but deep stream. The lake of Lugano is connected with Lago Maggiore by such a channel.
A signal upon which the Lombards had agreed. The words are unde intelligi datur hoc signum sibi Langobardi praeparavisse. It may be that the Lombards wished to decide the war by a judgement of God, through a single combat. But the words equally admit the theory that the man was a champion in a more general sense, representing his nation in a post of exceptional danger.
Five strong places. Paul the Deacon (Hist. Lang. iii. 31) says that this army reached Verona, and mentions a number of strong places; obtaining the information not in Gregory from the Lombard history of Secundus, bishop of Trent (d. 612), a work unfortunately lost.
Guntram received their message graciously. Paul the Deacon (Hist. Lang. iii. 34) adds at this point a fabulous story of good King Guntram, which he thinks should be known. The king fell asleep in an interval of hunting, and a small serpentine creature was seen to issue from his ear. It was watched until it entered a fissure in a hill, whence in due time it returned, once more entering Guntram’s ear. The king, on waking, related his dream, that he had found a great treasure in the hill. The spot revealed by the small creature was pointed out, and excavation undertaken. Inestimable riches were soon found, of which Guntram caused to be made a massy gold canopy, placed over the tomb of S. Marcellus at Chalon. The tale is worth repeating, as illustrating the kind of legend growing up about a popular and generous personality, like that of Guntram. We may compare the legend about the generous Emperor Tiberius, who also finds a great treasure (V. 13 (19)). W. Gundlach, in a note to this passage of Paul, refers to Grimm’s Sagen, i, Nos. 247-9 and 455.
Announcing... the succession of Paul. In Paul the Deacon there is no mention of any such name. On the death of Authari, Theudelinda, his widow, chose Agilulf, duke of Turin, as king and consort. It has been suggested that Paul may be another name for Agilulf, given to him at the time of his baptism. For the history of the Lombards in Italy at this time, see L. Hartmann, in C. M. H. ii, ch. vii, p. 201.
5. Made gifts to the domestic. Corrupt methods were evidently practised in Merovingian courts of justice. If the king’s court was thus amenable to improper influences, it is easy to imagine what may have been the practice in the count’s courts.
The country house of Mareil (villa Maroialensis). According to Longnon (Géogr., pp. 296 ff.), this was most probably Mareil-sur-Loir (Sarthe).
7. All taxes due from churches, &c. Probably the remission applied only to arrears, for taxes seem to have been payable later. They were presumably for the most part land-taxes. For taxation in Merovingian Gaul, cf. Introduction, p. 220.
9. The Oust. Gregory writes Uldam fluvium; Uldum would have been more correct (Longnon, as above, p. 159).
The Saxons of Bayeux (Saxones Baiocassini). These people represented an old Saxon settlement made during the sea-raids of the fifth century (cf. V. 19 (26) and Introduction, p. 172).
Freed... by taper and tablet. It had been the custom, from the time of Constantine, to celebrate one form of manumission at the altar. The slave, holding a taper in his hands, was led thrice round the altar by the priest. He was then given a certificate of free status (ingenuitatis), written either on tablets (tabulae) or on paper (charta); men thus enfranchised in a church were commonly known as tabularii. Cf. Ducange (s. v. Manumissio), citing Augustine, Ep. 50, and the third Council of Orleans (538), Canon 26.
The Mayenne (Meduana). Gregory calls this affluent of the Loire a torrens; Lucan more justly describes it as a river (Phars. i. 438).
10. To kill game in the royal domain. This passage is of interest as illustrating the severity of ‘game laws’ in the royal forests; the mention of the custos silvae shows that regular keepers were employed.
The wild ox killed by Chundo is described by Gregory as buvalus, of which term bubalus and bufalus are variants. Both the bison and the aurochs may still have been found in the forests of North-eastern Gaul in the sixth century; and as Gregory was probably ignorant of zoological species, the actual word which he uses may be irrelevant. But Pliny, N. H. viii. 38, uses the term bison (Germania gignit bisontes), and perhaps Gregory might have known enough to use it had a bison been intended. The buffalo seems to have been confined to the south of Europe, and therefore to be excluded. Perhaps the aurochs (urus) was the species which King Guntram so carefully preserved. In Carm. vii. 4, l. 20, Fortunatus refers to the hunting of the validus bufalus in the Ardennes and Vosges, and possibly the word bufalus, or bubalus, was loosely used for urus.
The king ordered trial by single combat. Ordeal by battle was recognized in the early laws of the various Teutonic tribes (Ripuarian Franks, Bavarians, Lombards, &c.), and serfs were admitted to the test: the keeper’s son in the present case was probably a serf. The employment of a substitute was legitimate, as it was in the Middle Ages, when priests and women were represented by champions. Trial by battle remained a common practice down to the thirteenth century (G. G. Coulton, The English Village, p. 191), but persisted much later by exception. For this ordeal in Frankish times, see B. Guérard, Le polyptyque d’Irminon (Paris, 1844), i, pp. 313, 335). Cf. also Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer, p. 928, and E. B. Tylor, article Ordeal in Encyclopaedia Britannica. In VII. 14 Guntram Boso offers trial by battle.
14. Audioveus. The name, now Audain, suggests that this bishop may have been one of the increasing number of Franks who became candidates for bishoprics, Bertram (Bertchramn) of Bordeaux, King Guntram’s cousin, being a conspicuous example. But, as already noted, Gallo-Romans sometimes took Frankish names to advance their fortunes.
15. The scandal... in the monastery at Poitiers. Cf. IX. 39 and note.
The shrine containing the holy Cross. This was a casket (arca) of precious metal, and possibly enriched with gems. As stated above in note to IX. 40, the relic itself is preserved in the present convent of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. The original casket in which it was kept down to the French Revolution is only known to us through a not very careful drawing of the seventeenth century (Conway, Antiquaries Journal, 1923, Fig. 1, p. 5). This shows a rectangular châsse with pyramidal lid surmounted by a cross. All the surfaces are covered with cabochon stones and antique gems in plain raised settings, evidently of Frankish workmanship, though in appearance rather suggesting Carolingian than Merovingian date. It is just possible that the drawing represents the very arca of which we read in these pages of Gregory; if not, the châsse which it depicts may have followed the lines of an earlier one, destroyed, perhaps, in this very riot of the nuns led by the turbulent Clotild.
We have previously noted that the arrival at Poitiers of this relic, already mounted in its enamelled panel, inspired Fortunatus, who must then have been a new-comer in the city, to write the two famous hymns, Pange lingua gloriosi proelium certaminis and Vexilla Regis prodeunt (Carm. ii. 2, 7).
The lady provost Justina. Niece of Gregory; cf. Introduction, p. 362. The word used is praeposita (provost, prioress).
In the sanctuary of the cathedral church (super tribunal ecclesiae). The sanctuary, or presbytery, was named tribunal from the part of the Roman basilica where the praetor sat. In the early Christian basilica the bishop’s chair or throne was in a similar position in the middle of the apse. The name was then extended so as to include the whole sanctuary. In the present case the central seat would have been occupied by the presiding metropolitan, the bishop of Bordeaux.
After the custom of the imperial palace. i.e. the palaces of Constantinople, where oriental customs were followed in this matter, and eunuchs rose to high position in the State, the most famous example being the great general Narses, who, in these very times, had reconquered Italy for the Empire, and is mentioned in the pages of the History (III. 32; V. 13 (19); VI. 16 (24); VII. 36).
The chief physician (archiater, from ἀρχίατρος). This is the literal meaning of the word (archiater primarius inter medicos), but apparently the title was given to all physicians attending the royal families (medici principis, et qui in sacro palatio, militant, Ducange, s. v.). The archiater Marileif is mentioned in V. 8 and VII. 25, in each case under circumstances which show that he was a man of substance. The nun Baudonivia in her Life of S. Radegund, ii, ch. 14 (in M. G. H., Script. rer. Merov. ii), relates that Radegund sent to Jerusalem, to obtain relics from the patriarch, one Reovalis, described as archiater Pictaviensis, who, like the physician mentioned in the present passage, had studied medicine at Constantinople; Baudonivia describes him as having afterwards become a priest, but he may not be the same person as the physician appearing at this trial.
The formula for the ‘count of the royal physicians’ (Formula Comitis Archiatrorum) under Theodoric the Ostrogoth is given by Cassiodorus (Var. vi. 19). This document contains various details as to the royal doctors and shows that their superior or count had the entrée to the palace.
A letter of Theodoric (Cassiodorus, Var. iv. 41) is addressed to John the archiater. Fredegar, Chron. iv. 27, mentions the fact that when Protadius, the detested minister of Queen Brunhild and her son Theuderic, was attacked in camp by the army, Protadius was sitting in the king’s tent playing ‘tables’ (see below) with the archiater Peter (in tenturio regis cum Petro archiatro tabulam ludens sedebat). For medicine and its practitioners in sixth-century Gaul, see Introduction, pp. 415 ff.
Which... I had seen performed... at Constantinople. This passage and the above-mentioned fact as to Reovalis show that Franks went to study surgery and medicine at Constantinople as the chief centre of medical science.
16. Play the board-game. The words are ad tabulam luserit. The game of ‘tables’, similar to backgammon, remained popular through the Middle Ages. A Roman variety, known as duodecim scripta, in which there were both dice and men, is suggested in the description given by Sidonius of the game played by the Visigothic king Theuderic (Ep. i. 2). The same writer describes a board and pieces as one of the attractions upon a river excursion (viii. 12. 5). It is evident that the use of such games continued in Gaul after the time of Roman occupation.
A silken altar-covering (palla holoserica). The rich figured silks used for such purposes, frequently mentioned by Gregory, were at this time chiefly of East Christian or even Persian origin. Cf. Dalton, Byzantine Art and Archaeology, pp. 583 ff.; East Christian Art, pp. 350 ff. and the references there given. Silk (probably unpatterned) was used by the Franks at an even earlier period for wearing apparel. Sidonius mentions a young prince named Sigismer as wearing a silk tunic (Ep. iv. 20).
When masques were played in the monastery. The words are barbaturias intus eo quod celebraverit. This passage suggests that life in the monastery of the Holy Cross was not always austere. Barbaturiae (or barbatoriae) were supposed to be so named because the performers were disguised with beards or masks (Ducange, s. v.). The term would probably cover any kind of mime or play-acting.
A Council held at Auxerre in 585 forbade the celebration of the New Year by masquerades in pagan fashion (cf. H. Martin, Hist. de France, ii, p. 86), showing that such usages were prevalent in Gaul about this time. Cf. Introduction, p. 248.
She had offered bread of oblation (eulogias obtulisse). For the presentation by bishops or abbots of eulogiae to guests or friends, cf. IV. 35; VII. 1; VIII. 2, where Gregory presents eulogiae of S. Martin to King Guntram, visiting him in his lodging at Orleans.
She had received earnest money (arras accepisse). This giving by the future husband of presents to his future wife by way of earnest (arrha, arrha sponsalitia) was a regular usage in Roman betrothal, and was also called propter nuptias donatio. In Gregory’s book on the miracles of S. Andrew, ch. 11, a father sends money on behalf of his two sons who were to marry their cousins, the daughters of his brother (obligaverunt hanc convenientiam per arrabonem quod pater puerorum misit). Cf. C. Galy, La famille a époque mérovingienne, pp. 73 ff.
A silk mantle (mafortem). Mafortis or mafortium seems to mean a kind of long linen tunic, though some have regarded it as a veil. Cf. Baudonivia’s Life of S. Radegund, i, ch. 9. Radegund, when queen of Lothar I, divested herself of a new linen mafortis enriched with gold and gems, and laid it upon the altar as a sign of humility (Fortunatus, Vita S. Rad., ch. 9).
The gold fillet. This passage affords yet another instance of the free use of jewellery among the Franks. Cf. Introduction, p. 434.
Gundegisel. It has been noted above that the bishop of Bordeaux was metropolitan, and that Poitiers was in his province.
18. His house of Marlenheim (domus Mariligensis, or villa Marilegia). This villa, already mentioned in IX. 38, was on the site of the village of Marlenheim, in the arrondissement of Strasbourg in Alsace (Longnon, Géogr. de la Gaule au VIe siècle, p. 380).
19. The king then declared him his enemy. As on the occasion when Chilperic acted as prosecutor of Bishop Praetextatus, so here we find the king personally intervening in the trial of a bishop, though in the present case only at the beginning. Egidius was a bad example of those bishops who took an unscrupulous and often disloyal part in politics. Cf. Introduction, p. 285.
A grant of domain lands (possessionum fiscalium). As the domain was absolutely under the king’s control, this simply means a grant from the royal lands. Cf. note to IX. 38 on p. 588.
Referendary at the time. For the referendary, cf. V. 3, 45; VI. 20 (28); VIII. 39; IX. 23, 33, 38. This official would be responsible for applying the royal signet to documents relating to the transference of Crown lands.
A studied signature (subscriptio meditata). Skilfully reproduced. Another conjecture is, that it had elaborate flourishes as a precaution against forgery (Giesebrecht, ad loc.). We may note that a signature, and not, as commonly in later times, a seal, authenticated the document.
Shorthand copies of the letters (haec notarum titulis per tomos chartarum comprehensa). The man probably took copies of the bishop’s letters for the latter’s reference. ‘Tachygraphy’ was in common use in the sixth century; the Civil Service in Italy under Theodoric contained a class of exceptores (cf. T. Hodgkin, The Letters of Cassiodorus, p. 110). Sidonius in the fifth century had shorthand secretaries for copying manuscripts (Ep. ix. 9). In V. S. M. iv. 10 Gregory relates that one of his own notarii, named Bodilo, was rebuked by him for taking down badly from dictation and not properly revising his work. He was found to be indisposed, but was cured by a draught from the blue glass vessel (patena colore sapphirino) supposed to have belonged to S. Martin, and worked with greater efficiency ever after.
The town of Châteaumeillant. The text here has Mediolanense castrum, which must refer to Châteaumeillant, Cher, not to Melun or Castrum Miglidunense. Cf. Longnon, Géogr., p. 468.
20. The king begged that both might be pardoned. When we recall the abominable and criminal actions of Clotild, we cannot but read this with surprise, even though custom conceded almost unlimited privileges to royal blood in Merovingian times. The breaker of monastic vows and deliberate instigator of murder and sacrilege is rewarded with a country estate.
21. A man holding the position of tribune. Cf. above, VII. 23. The ‘tribune’ of Frankish times was subordinate to the count. A passage in Fortunatus (Carm. vii. 6) seems to show that a man who held this rank would naturally rise to that of count; other passages in the same author show that the tribune had charge of ‘forts and prisons’: castrorum et carcerum (Vita S. Germani Episc., chs. 62, 68; Vita S. Radegundis, ch. 38). It would be natural to infer from this that a tribunus had the rank either of a hundred-man (centenier) or of a vicarius; in the time of Charles the Great and his successors the latter seems to have been the case (cf. Ducange, s. v. Tribunus). In G. C., ch. 40, Gregory mentions one Nunninus, of Clermont, a tribune, who with his sword hacked off a fragment from the tomb of S. Germanus at Autun, and was supernaturally punished by being held in absolute rigidity with his arm in the air. In VII. 23 we read of another tribunus named Médard, who had borrowed money from Jews, and was supposed to be implicated in their death.
In Italy the office of tribune in the time of Theodoric was regarded as a stepping-stone for a young and energetic man (Cassiodorus, Var. v. 25). Later allusions suggest that it grew in importance, and it has been supposed that in the time of Gregory the Great it may have approximated in power to the office of count (F. H. Dudden, Gregory the Great, i, p. 183). Bede (Hist. Eccl. i. 18) mentions ‘a man of tribunitial power’ (quidam tribuniciae potestatis) in England at the time of the visit paid to the country by Germanus and Lupus.
When the count came... to pay moneys due from him to the treasury. This was done annually. Cf. Introduction, p. 203.
Offering... a great baldric enriched with gold and gems. This was a clear attempt to bribe the king, which would hardly have been made were it not a more or less accepted custom. On this occasion the king resisted the temptation.
The splendid character of these objects reminds us of the sword of Childeric found near Tournai, and now in the Cabinet des Médailles at Paris (E. Babelon, as above, p. 569), and the votive crowns from Guarrazar at Madrid and in the Musée de Cluny at Paris. The expression ‘stones of Spain’ may have been used at this time in allusion to the style of inlaying coloured stones (orfèvrerie cloisonnée) illustrated by these objects, because the Visigoths practised it with peculiar skill, and may have been more richly provided with the garnets which were chiefly used. Cf. Introduction, p. 436.
23. Victorius, in his cycle. Victorius (cf. note on pp. 481-2) drew up in the fifth century a table of dates for Easter which was generally followed in Gaul, having been introduced at the Council of Orleans in 541. Victorius in his Chronicon Paschale used a cycle of 532 years, and this was adopted by the Scythian monk Dionysius, who wrote in Rome during the pontificates of Symmachus and Hormisdas (498-523), dating events from the Nativity of our Lord. Cf. Gregory’s Introduction to Book I. Such disputes as that here described came to an end on the general adoption of the Dionysian Table. For the literature relating to Victorius, see U. Chevalier, Rép. des Sources hist.: Bio-bibliogr., col. 4668; the Paschal Chronicle is printed in M. G. H. (see p. 482 above). For Dionysius, cf. Chevalier, cols. 1176-7.
The springs in Spain which are miraculously filled. i.e. at Osset; cf. V. 11 (17) n.
24. The destruction of Antioch. In 573. Cf. above, IV. 27 (40). The date was formerly given as 572. Simon must have been a captive in Persia for a series of years. We may note, however, that a great part of Antioch was destroyed by earthquake in 589, sixty thousand lives being lost (Evagrius, Hist. vi). There may have been an earthquake in 573; or Simon may have coloured his story of disaster and captivity by adding the horrors of a much more recent event.
The holy forty-eight martyrs. These martyrs suffered in a frozen lake in Armenia, as related by Gregory in G. M., ch. 95.
Together with thy Simeon. i.e. the famous ascetic Simeon ‘the Stylite’, who stood for years on a column at Kal‘at Sim‘ān. Cf. VIII. 15 n.
25. The plague. The plague in this year (591) broke out also in Italy, as recorded by Paul the Deacon. Cf. note to IV. 3 on p. 516, and references there given.
The province of Arles. Cf. IV. 5, 30 (44); VIII. 30; IX. 7. On the death of Lothar I, the old provincia was divided between the kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy, the portion of the latter being called by Gregory the province of Arles, that of the former the province of Marseilles. But the actual civitas of Marseilles was also divided.
Entering the territory of Velay, he proceeded to the place called Anicium. This is Le Puy, the name of the old hill being still preserved in that of Mont Anis (Longnon, Géogr., p. 532).
26. Ragnemod, bishop of Paris (576-91), had been a friend of Fortunatus, who addressed poems to him (cf. Carm. v. 14) and called him ‘Rucco’.
A certain merchant... a Syrian by race. This passage has become a kind of locus classicus to prove the influential position attained by wealthy oriental traders in Gaul. The bribe (multa munera) was presumably offered to Guntram on behalf of the boy king Lothar II. The success of the briber is remarkable after the king’s earlier professions (cf. VI. 39).
27. Until night covered the earth (ut nox mundum obrueret). This is one of the half-poetical expressions in which Gregory takes pleasure, reminiscences of his slender classical studies in his youth. Cf. Introduction, p. 7.
28. The domain of Rueil (Rotoialensis villa). Cf. VII. 19, and Longnon, Géogr., p. 361. The event here recorded shows that in the sixth century the domain was connected with the village of Nanterre. Fredegar mentions this royal baptism, but places the scene elsewhere.
Thine own promise, freely given. The reference is to the Pact of Andelot (IX. 20). Childebert feared that Guntram might establish his young cousin not only in Paris, but in those Austrasian towns which Chilperic had so long usurped.
Let the boy... fulfil the meaning of this name. The root of the name Lothar, related to the modern German word lauter, means ‘clear’. The rest of Guntram’s wish, that Lothar II might reign over a kingdom equal to that of his grandfather and namesake, was actually accomplished, though he himself did little to further its fulfilment. This son of Chilperic finally obtained the dominion of all Gaul.
29. Aredius. This saint, now known as S. Yrieix, was an abbot in Limoges. Gregory has already spoken of him in the History (VIII. 15, 27), and has more to relate of him in his other works (V. S. M. ii. 39, and G. C., ch. 9). In V. P. xvii he says that Aredius was brought up and ordained by S. Nicetius of Trèves; but though he received many signs of the divine favour, he remained modest: non cothurno iactantiae tumescebat. Fortunatus also celebrates his virtues (Carm. v. 22). For the Vita Aridii Abbatis Lemovicini, see M. G. H., Script. rer. Merov. iii, pp. 576 ff. (ed. B. Krusch), and for other works relating to him, U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist.: Bio-bibliogr., col. 4807. The judgement of Krusch, both as to the man and his Life, is highly critical.
One of the noble youths attached to the royal household. The words used are aulici palatini, which might mean no more than ‘courtiers’. But the context, and the mention of similar cases in which boys of good family were sent to Court, seems to justify the translation given. Cf. V. 45 (46), and Loebell, Gregor von Tours, p. 248. Aredius is said to have become cancellarius prior, or senior subordinate of the royal referendary.
The bishop’s cell. Presumably the chamber of the bishop in the domus ecclesiae, or ‘church house’ adjoining his cathedral church. From other passages in the History we gather that the chamber often opened into an oratory.
Pelagia. She is mentioned elsewhere by Gregory as a holy woman (G. C., ch. 104). She died in 572. Her husband was named Jocundus.
The tilling of the vineyards. Aredius was evidently a man of great wealth. His will is extant, showing him to have been possessed of various estates, with which he endowed the Church.
Founded a monastery. Known as S. Yrieix, in the Limousin.
The Rule of Cassian. It will be remembered that Radegund adopted for her nunnery the Rule of Caesarius of Arles (see p. 589). At this period, before the Benedictine Rule had won its later ascendancy, there was no predominant Rule in Gaul. Cf. Introduction, p. 367. The Basilian Rule, almost universal in the religious houses of the Greek Church, never predominated in the West.
He fixed a stick which he carried in the ground. The modern waterfinder generally twirls the stick above the ground. Though Aredius first sticks it in the earth, …
30. Rogations. Cf. II. 25 (34); IV. 5, 8 (13); IX. 6, 21; Introduction, p. 339.
For dishonouring the Lord’s Day. The miraculous punishment of Sabbath-breakers is frequently mentioned by Gregory. Cf. V. S. M. ii. 40; iii. 3, 7, 24, 29, 31, 45, 55-6; iv. 45; V. P. vii; G. C., ch. 5. Some of the earliest decrees of the Frankish kings (Clovis, Childebert I) specially enjoin the observance of the Sabbath, ordering that only the necessary minimum of cooking shall be done.
31. The first bishop Gatianus. For works relating to S. Gatien, cf. U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist.: Bio-bibliogr., col. 1661. He is supposed to have died about 301. In G. C., ch. 4, Gregory describes Gatian as appointed a Romanis episcopis, and mentions a miracle at his tomb.
The pope of Rome (Romanae sedis papa). For the use of the word papa for the bishop of Rome, cf. Introduction, p. 271. In IV. 19 (26) it is used by King Charibert. Cf. also below, in this chapter, in the passage relating to S. Brice, and note to V. 20 on p. 543.
In the eighth year of Valens and Valentinian. The date of S. Martin’s birth is supposed to have been about 316 (cf. Gallia Christ. xiv, col. 6).
The heretics. Maximus had been called upon by Bishop Ithacius to punish the Priscillianists. Cf. Sulpicius Severus (see below), Sacrae Historiae, ii. 65.
He died at Candes (apud Condatensem vicum). Cf. I. 35 (48); VIII. 40. See note to the latter chapter.
Three books written by Sulpicius Severus on his life. Sulpicius Severus was born in Aquitaine in the middle of the fourth century and died in 410. His Life of Martin is entitled De Vita Beati Martini; but two of the three books of his Dialogi are also concerned with the saint. He was the disciple of Martin while the saint was bishop of Tours, and is therefore an authority of the first importance. Gregory himself wrote a Life of Martin (V. S. M.), and so did Fortunatus. For works relating to Sulpicius Severus, see U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist.: Bio-bibliogr., col. 4348. Cf. notes on pp. 482 and 487 above.
In the monastery now known as the Greater, he built a church in honour of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. This is the famous monastery of Marmoutier (Maius Monasterium), the foundation of which by Martin is mentioned by Sulpicius Severus (De Vita B. Mart., ch. 7); the site is in the commune of Sainte-Radegonde, arrondissement and canton of Tours, Indre-et-Loire. The monastery later became a great Benedictine house. Cf. Gallia Christ. xiv, cols. 192 ff.; Longnon, Géogr., as above, p. 276; and U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist.: Topo-biogr., col. 1852. In V. P. xx Gregory mentions the name of Eustochius as abbot of Marmoutier.
In many villages... he built churches. The places mentioned are all in the district of Tours; see the map given by Longnon, Géogr., as above, p. 261. Longnon disagrees with the former view that the village of Cisomagus is represented by Chisseaux, preferring to identify the site with that now occupied by Ciran-la-Latte (pp. 269, 270).
Brice betook himself to the pope of Rome (ad papam Urbis). Cf. note on p. 601. Rome is styled Urbs, ‘the City’ par excellence.
He erected the small basilica above the body of the blessed Martin. This sentence appears to be an interpolation, as it breaks the context, and repeats the substance of that which concludes the paragraph. See note on Bishop Perpetuus below.
The villages of Clion, Brèches, Ruan, Brizay, and Chinon. For these see Longnon, Géogr., as above, pp. 264 ff. Some of the identifications have given rise to difference of opinion, and Clion appears to be doubtful, though no certain improvement has been suggested. Chinon is mentioned elsewhere in the History (V. 11 (17); VI. 13). Maximus, a pupil of Martin, established a monastery there (G. C., ch. 22).
Braye, Yzeures, Loches, and Dolus. Braye is now known as Reignac (Longnon, as above, p. 266. For the other places, see his pp. 272 ff.). Yzeures is Iciodorum vicus; Loches, Lucas vicus.
In a letter by the holy Paulinus. Cf. Migne, Patr. lat. lxi, col. 339.
The sixth bishop... was Perpetuus. In II. 14 Perpetuus is called ‘fifth’ bishop after the holy Martin. In the earlier books Gregory counts from Martin, and includes Justinian and Armentius. The church of Perpetuus is described by Sidonius, a friend and correspondent of this bishop (Ep. iv. 18). Perpetuus died in 490. For works referring to him, see U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist., as above, col. 3581.
At Montlouis (Monte Laudiaco). The village is in the canton of Tours (Longnon, as above, p. 275). It is mentioned as Vicus Laudiacus in II. 1.
In the villages of Esvres... Vernou. See Longnon, as above, pp. 272 ff.; all are in Indre-et-Loire.
When he made his will. These gifts are not mentioned in the will and must have been made in the bishop’s lifetime.
Volusianus. 491-8. Cf. de la Coudre, La vie de St. Volusien éque de Tours (Limoges, 1722).
The monastery in which the holy abbot Venantius was buried. This monastery, near S. Martin’s, was later represented by the collegiate church of S. Venant (Longnon, p. 259).
In the tenth place Theodore and Proculus. In III. 17 Gregory puts these two after Leo, i.e. in the fourteenth place.
A church... of the holy Gervasius and Protasius... the church of Saint Mary. Cf. Longnon, Géogr., as above, pp. 246, 250.
A worker in wood (Faber lignarius), of which he made turrets covered with gold. The turres olocriso tectas of the text were perhaps the tower-shaped vessels in which the bread to be consecrated was carried from the sacristy to the altar during the Mass. Cf. Introduction, p. 337. The bishop must therefore be regarded as a skilled craftsman and carver in wood. In III. 17 Leo is described as vir strenuus atque utilis in fabrica operis lignarii.
The fifteenth. In III. 17 Gregory places Injuriosus after Martin, still calling him fifteenth bishop. This is because he there counts Theodorus and Proculus as two, whereas in the present list they count as one only.
The common table for canons (mensa canonicorum). The canons were the clergy of the cathedral church whose names were entered on the matricula or ‘canon’; they were supported by its revenues. In V. P. ix we are told that there was a common table at Bourges, and that to be absent from it, even for the purpose of fasting, was an offence dealt with by the archdeacon.
The villages of Thuré, Céré, and Orbigny. Cf. Longnon, Géogr., pp. 268, 283.
It was all ruined. The cathedral church (ecclesia urbis Turonicae), built by Litorius (337-91), was destroyed by the fire which laid waste the city in the time of Euphronius, Gregory’s predecessor, who restored two other churches, but not the cathedral (cf. Longnon, Géogr., p. 245). This was left for Gregory to rebuild, and was completed about 580. The poem by Fortunatus (Carm. x. 6) entitled Ad ecclesiam Toronicam quae per Episcopum Gregorium renovata est, must refer to this reconstruction of the cathedral church, for the words ecclesia Toronica could not refer to any other. Fortunatus describes the mural paintings executed by order of Gregory to illustrate scenes from the life of Martin and miracles wrought by the saint. It is possible that the painted decoration mentioned in the present passage may be identical with the work described by Fortunatus, even though the word basilica is used by Gregory, for he might apply the term in a general sense even to the ecclesia or cathedral church. But it may be that he refers to the church of S. Martin, always called by him a basilica. In that case we must suppose him to have had mural paintings renewed there when the partial damage caused by Wiliachar was restored. But the words parietes adustos repperi, ‘I found the walls burned’, suggest a church in a state of abandonment when Gregory first became bishop, and this is only true of the ecclesia Turonica. Moreover, in IV. 13 (20) the restoration after Wiliachar’s fire is said to have been carried out by the order, and presumably at the expense of King Lothar, and Gregory was not the kind of man to claim credit for work done under such conditions. It is therefore advisable to take the whole passage as referring to the restoration of the cathedral.
Relics of the martyrs of Agaune. According to the legend, the Theban legion, composed of Christians, was sent by Diocletian to join in quelling an insurrection in Gaul in 287. While camped in the Valais, it refused to participate in an official (pagan) sacrifice, and in consequence of this act of disobedience it was cut down. Its commander was named Mauritius, whence the modern name, Saint-Maurice-d’Agaune. A monastery was built on the place where the legionaries died; here Sigismund, king of Burgundy, who had restored it, took refuge (III. 5, 6). Cf. note to III. 5 on pp. 506-7. The Passio of the martyrs of Agaune by Eucharius (d. 455) is in M. G. H., Script. rer. Merov. iii (1896), pp. 20, pp. 20 ff., ed. by B. Krusch.
The custodian of the church. The word is aedituus. His duties may have corresponded to those of a sacristan.
I placed all in the cathedral church (in ecclesia collocavi). Gregory restored the relics to his own cathedral, from which they had been removed to the church of S. Martin.
Burned with fire. By Wiliachar, as mentioned in the note above.
Decorated by the skill of our craftsmen (artificum nostrorum opere). The words read as if there were skilled decorators, perhaps including fresco-painters, in the regular service of the Church. But nostrorum may also be taken in a more general sense, ‘our craftsmen of Tours’.
I have written ten books of History. For Gregory’s written work, see M. G. H., Script. rerum Merov., vol. i.
One book on the Offices of the Church. The treatise called De cursu stellarum, the position of the stars being important for determining the hour of nocturns and matins. Cf. Introduction, p. 372 n.
To be condemned with the Evil One. This seems a penalty disproportionate to the offence.
Our Martianus. This is Martianus Capella, the grammarian of the fifth century, whose work called Satiricon, consisting of nine books, was a classic in the schools from his own day to the later Middle Ages. Most of the books are devoted to the Seven Liberal Arts. A knowledge of Martianus Capella was indispensable to any one pretending to the higher culture.
It has been suggested that the whole of the invocation closing the History and addressed to the writer’s successors is ironical. They are not to add, subtract, or change a jot or tittle. But if it amuses them, they may make their verse of it, for that will in no way endanger its value. Only let them leave the original text alone. This view does not seem to agree with what we know of Gregory’s character and mode of thought. He was a downright man with an almost excessive admiration for the literary arts which he did not possess and the higher education which he had not himself enjoyed. In the prologue to G. C. he quite sincerely addresses himself to the litterati of his time, deploring his grammatical weakness, and concluding that his rude and terse writings will at least have the advantage of forming the raw material, the substance of which they may expand in elegant verse (quod nos inculte et breviter stilo nigrante describimus, vos lucide ac splendide... versu in paginis prolixioribus dilatetis). In times when the Bible itself was versified by literary churchmen, it is unnecessary to seek any other than the obvious meaning in Gregory’s words. Diffuseness and prolixity were literary virtues in the fifth and sixth century, not least in verse, as the admired poems of Fortunatus sufficiently show. But the prose preface of Fortunatus to his metrical Vita Sancti Martini is sufficient to settle the question. In this preface, addressed to Gregory, the poet says that he sends back by Gregory’s messenger the metrical version of the Vita Beati Martini and the Dialogues of Sulpicius Severus, which (evidently at Gregory’s request) he has rendered into four books of hexameters. He not only does this, but offers forthwith to render into verse Gregory’s own prose Miracles (virtutes) of S. Martin in the same way, the bishop having expressed the wish that such a version should be made: Cum iusseritis autem, ut opus illud... quod de suis virtutibus explicuisti, versibus debeat digeri, id agite ut ipsum mihi relatum iubeatis transmitti. It is perfectly clear from the whole tenor of this prefatory letter that Gregory heartily approved of poetical versions from the prose works of himself and others. All that he desired was that his original text should be preserved intact. Cf. Leo’s note on the present passage (M. G. H., Script. rer. Merov. i, p. 293).
The sum of all which years is five thousand seven hundred and ninety-two. Gregory’s figures present difficulties, and manuscripts disagree. Attempts to rectify and reconcile have been many, and the result new discrepancies. As Ruinart remarks in his final note to the History: quonam autem modo haec annorum series cum antiquis auctoribus aut etiam cum ipsomet Gregorio componenda sit fusius inquisiere viri docti, Scaliger, Petavius, Menander, Maanus, Valesius, &c., sed cum non eandem viam inierint, in varias abiere sententias. He judged it vain to carry the inquiry farther, and in that judgement the reader will probably concur.