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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
nb4
1. In which the most blessed Genovefa is also interred. For this reason the church was afterwards called Ste Geneviève. In II. 43 the church is described as the church of the Holy Apostles. For the life of Ste Geneviève, see R. Poupardin in Bull. de la Soc. de l’hist. de Paris et de l’Île-de-France, xxxviii (1911), ‘Une nouvelle édit. de la Vie de Sainte Geneviève’; G. Kurth, Études franques (1919), Étude XI.
2. Should pay a third part of their revenues to his treasury. For taxation under the Merovingian kings, see Introduction, p. 220.
3. Fearing the power of the blessed Martin. The king was afraid that sickness or disaster might overtake him or his family through the anger of S. Martin, manifested through his remains buried in his church outside Tours.
Ex-domestic (ex domestico). The position of chief of the domestics at a Merovingian Court was a high one, and only held by persons of standing. This officer was not a military commander, like the Great Domestic in the East Roman Empire, nor was he chiefly concerned with the protection of the king’s person, but he was responsible for the economy of the Court and for the administration of royal domains. By degrees the office seems to have become administrative in a wider sense, and the holder could represent the king in the provinces in the same way as a count; but we gather from Fortunatus, Carm. vii. 16, that a domestic, if lower than a duke (cf. VI. 11), was of higher rank than a count. There were domestici of lower grade subordinate to the chief officer bearing the title, and from their number were drawn the men who received the revenues of secondary palaces and royal villas in the provinces (Fustel de Coulanges, Hist. des inst. iii, pp. 157 ff.). When the office of Mayor of the Palace rose to prominence, that of the domestic declined, the Mayor taking over his more important functions.
4. The Bretons. See Introduction, p. 174.
Felix, bishop of Nantes. This bishop, who died in 582, was not congenial to Gregory, and, indeed, he had charged Peter, our author’s brother, with the murder of his bishop, Tetricus of Langres. Gregory accuses him of boastfulness and verbosity (V. 5), and of having given asylum to his enemy, the priest Riculf (V. 49); Fortunatus, however, gives a more favourable judgement of his character. For this bishop see also V. 24 (31); VI. 9 (16).
Another count of that region (alium comitem regionis illius). Gregory probably uses the word count here for a chief exercising authority over his tribe: a few lines below he says comites, non reges appellati sunt, i.e. by the Franks, who after the time of Clovis claimed over the country a suzerainty which they were seldom able to enforce.
Let his hair grow long again. Perhaps this was less to show his royal rank than to mark his return to secular life. But probably all the Bretons wore their hair long, and the wearing of it so was not a mark of royal rank, as among the Franks (cf. note on II. 8 (9)).
5. As I have above related. This is not exact. Gregory has mentioned Quintianus, bishop of Clermont, in III. 2 and 12, but has said nothing of his death. This he records, however, in V. P., ch. vi.
Gall. S. Gall succeeded S. Quintianus about 527, and held the see until his death in 551.
The plague. Cf. Introduction, p. 421. This may have been the first recorded appearance of the oriental plague in Europe. Gregory has occasion to mention it many times in the History (IV. 31; VI. 14; VII. 1; IX. 21, 22; X. 1, 25).
Rogations. See II. 25 (34); IV. 8; IX. 6, 21; X. 30; and Introduction, p. 339.
About 360 stadia. The procession went this distance from Clermont to the church of S. Julian at Brioude, on which place see Longnon, Géogr. de la Gaule au VIe siècle, pp. 492 ff. As to the distance covered we are left in some uncertainty. Ducange describes stadium as mensurae species, sed ignata prorsus; others give its length as a little over two hundred yards. On this computation, the distance from Clermont to Brioude would be approximately forty miles.
Which writing was called Tau by the people. The text is unde a rusticis hic scriptos Tau vocabatur. This may be merely intended for hoc scriptum. But if scriptor Tau is read, we should translate: ‘for which reason he (Julian) was called the Tau-writer.’ The people were thinking of Ezek. ix. 4, and may have believed that Julian himself made this sign of the Cross on the houses to preserve them from the plague. The Greek letter tau, the form of which was T, was early regarded as a type of the Cross by Christians. In accounts of the plague in Italy we hear of indelible marks seen by visionaries on the clothes of doomed persons, and on houses; spectres were also seen; allusion is made to these things in the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great (cf. F. H. Dudden, Gregory the Great, i, p. 213). The scene of the writing of the Tau sign on the lintels was a favourite subject in later medieval art, especially in the twelfth century. It was represented with other scenes (Jacob blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness, the Spies carrying the grapes, and the Widow of Sarepta carrying crossed sticks) as one of the antitypes of the Crucifixion. For this typological symbolism, cf. E. Mâle, L’art religieux du 12me siècle en France, 1922, p. 138.
6. The king is a boy. The king was the young Theudebald, son of Theudebert. This proposed election at Clermont is one of the rare examples in which first the local bishops ignored the king, and subsequently the king in his turn ignored them.
According to canonical precept. See Introduction, p. 273.
7. Escorted... by the bishops and chamberlains. i.e. as a mark of honour. The camerarii were officers of the royal household attached to the king’s person. They were under the cubicularius and were also concerned with the custody of the royal treasure. (Cf. n. to VII. 21 on pp. 565-6.)
5 (8). King Agila. This king succeeded Theudegisel, successor of Theuda or Theudis (III. 30), in 549. Agila was detested by the Catholics, whom he, as an Arian, hated and oppressed. Athanagild, a Visigothic noble, determined to depose him, and obtained the support of the Emperor Justinian, who sent an army under his general Liberius. The Byzantine forces seized the larger towns on the Mediterranean coast, especially in Valencia, Murcia, and Andalusia; they held Cartagena, Malaga, and Cordova (Jordanes, Get., ch. 58; Isidore, Chron. 399; and Hist. Goth., p. 286). They helped Athanagild to defeat Agila, who withdrew to Merida and was there assassinated by his own troops (554). He was succeeded by Athanagild. (See Altamira, in C. M. H., vol. ii, p. 163; Bury, Hist. of the Later Roman Empire (1923), ii, pp. 286-7.) The Byzantine expedition must have landed before 551, because Jordanes, writing in that year, mentions it (Bury, as above, p. 287).
The cities which it had wrongfully invaded. Liberius had encroached by seizing all the land between the Guadalquivir and the Yucar, together with other territory (Altamira, as above, p. 164); he was doubtless supported by those Spanish Catholics who remembered the old Roman tradition. Athanagild, as Gregory says, did recover a few places (Isidore, as above), but a Byzantine province had been established in Baetica, which was held by the East Roman Empire for some seventy years. Its limits are not definitely known; but it included districts and towns to the west as well as to the east of the Straits (e. g. Cartagena, Corduba, Assidonia). It was placed under a military governor (cf. C. I. L. ii. 3420), who may or may not have been subordinate to the governor of Africa (Bury, as above, ii. 28. For the limits of this province, cf. Dahn, Die Könige der Germanen, v, p. 178. The Empire lost its last territory in Spain in 629, when the Algarves were conquered by Duke Svinthila (Altamira, as above, p. 175).
6 (9). Vuldetrada. This princess was a daughter of Wacho, king of the Lombards. Her elder sister, Wisigard, had married Theudebert, her bridegroom’s father (III. 20, 27); her mother was the Gepid princess Austriguna.
Buccelin was slain by Narses. Cf. III. 32; Marius of Aventicum, Chron., year 555 (M. G. H., Auct. antiquiss. xi: Chron. Min. ii); and Introduction, pp. 107-8.
To enter the circle of the moon. The text is Tunc in circolum lunae quinta stilla ex adverso veniens introisse visa est. Giesebrecht reads this in the sense that a star entered the circle on the fifth night.
Lothar succeeded to his kingdom. As Childebert was without male issue, Theudebald’s death meant the reunion of all Frankish Gaul under the dominion of Lothar I, whose possessions were now even greater than those of Clovis.
Garivald. Duke of Bavaria.
7 (10). The Saxons rebelled. We are not told how Saxons became tributary to the Franks. This first rebellion marked the beginning of a series of revolts on the part of the indomitable pagan Saxon people, of which an end was not made until Carolingian times. See Introduction, p. 183. Marius of Aventicum, Gregory’s contemporary, mentions in his Chronicle two expeditions of Lothar against the Saxons—one in 555, the other in the following year. The devastation of Thuringia he connects with the second of these expeditions—in 556. Cf. ch. 9 (14) below.
11. Martyrarius. This official is described by Ducange as Custos ecclesiae qui sacras in ecclesia reliquias custodit. He cites the will of S. Yrieix (Aredius), leaving sacred vessels and other objects to be guarded ‘by the aforesaid martyrarii’. Martyrarii are mentioned in Canon 13 of the second Council of Orleans; and from other allusions to them it may be inferred that they were drawn from the subdeacons or deacons.
As if possessed (quasi per inergiam). The ‘energy’ (ἐνέργεια) is that of an evil spirit, the possessed being described as ἐνεργούμενος; whence the French word énergumène.
12. As our own Sollius says. i.e. Sidonius, whose names included those of Caius and Sollius. The passage is in the first letter of his second book (Ep. ii. 1), where he is speaking of the predatory Roman governor Seronatus. This governor wrongfully seized lands for which, in his arrogance, he refuses to pay, nec accipit instrumenta desperans; this is the phrase here repeated by Gregory. The difficulty lies in the last word, especially as applied to Cautinus, for the context shows that the bishop took great care to obtain the title-deeds. It might be said of Seronatus that, expecting sooner or later to be arraigned, he did not trouble about documents because he knew that it would be hopeless to prove his title; but the same could not be said of Cautinus, who had nothing to fear from justice, except perhaps that administered by an episcopal council. If the passage could bear the interpretation that whenever he failed to get title-deeds he was in despair (mad with vexation), the difficulty would vanish; but nec accipit can hardly yield that meaning without putting a strain on the words.
The holy martyr Cassius. He is said to have died with Victorinus, Maximus, and 6,266 other martyrs at Clermont about A. D. 264.
Dead long ago (grandaevi cuiusdam hominis). The word grandaevus is used in a loose sense; it can hardly here have its strict meaning of far advanced in age.
8 (13). Senatorial families. The senatorial families, so frequently mentioned, were probably an aristocracy of Gallo-Roman descent, whose ancestors had enjoyed senatorial rank under the Empire. If we suppose them to have formed an exclusive provincial nobility, the expression ordo senatorius, used elsewhere by Gregory, would not be inappropriate. The senatorial class would then represent a noblesse ‘d’autant plus fière de son origine que son recrutement était tari, et d’autant plus vaniteuse de son titre que celui-ci ne répondait plus à rien de réel’ (L. Levillain, reviewing G. Kurth’s Études franques, in Bibl. de l’École des Chartes, lxxx, p. 253). As Levillain points out, Gregory himself exhibits this family pride, and clearly associates with the word senator birth as well as wealth. Kurth, in the work above mentioned, Étude XIII: Les sénateurs en Gaule au VIe siècle, sees in the ‘senators’ chiefly rich men and large landowners. In Italy the Senate continued to exist under the Ostrogoths, and is frequently addressed by Theodoric in the letters written for him by Cassiodorus. It remained in existence after the coming of the Lombards down perhaps to 590, but in the Byzantine and Papal city it was a mere shadow.
Firminus... Evodius. These are the names of members of well-known families in Auvergne, members of which were friends of Sidonius, both names occurring in the list of his correspondents (Ep. iv. 8; ix. 1, 16). Firminus received the rank of count. Cf. below, ch. 35.
King Chramn. All the sons and daughters of the Merovingian royal houses were spoken of as kings and queens, and claimed the title. Cf. the claim of Clotild in X. 15.
Sallust. In his Catilina, ch. 3.
9 (14). The land of the Franks (Francia). Here, as usually, except in IX. 20, this term is used for the country of the Ripuarians, or Eastern Franks, soon (in the time of Sigibert) to be called Austrasia. At the time described by Gregory in this book, the eastern territories are called Francia because in them the Teutonic element was least affected by contact with the Gallo-Roman: it was ‘the Frankish land’ par excellence. But the word, while sometimes retaining its earlier and narrower significance, soon acquired a wider meaning. Cf. P. Lauer, ‘De la signification du mot France aux époques mérov. et carolingienne’, in Mém. de la Soc. de l’hist. de Paris et de l’Île de France, xlii (1915); and G. Kurth, Études franques (1919), Étude III, Francia et Francus.
Making his progress round it. This was the formal progress of a new king after his accession. Cf. ch. 10 (16) below, and VII. 10, n. on p. 564.
Our usual tribute, which we have paid to thy brothers and thy nephews. The Saxons meant Theuderic, Lothar’s brother, Theudebert his nephew, and Theudebald his great-nephew, successively kings of the Ripuarians, whose territory Lothar I, surviving them all, had now inherited. The Saxons, in their frequent risings, appear to have had the upper hand in many encounters, both with Lothar (ch. 16 and 17 below) and with later kings. Yet Fredegar in his seventy-fourth chapter mentions a tribute of five hundred head of cattle imposed by Lothar, and only remitted by Dagobert in 631.
We know that they are liars. The subsequent history of the relations between the Franks and the Saxons leads us to suspect that the discontented Frankish warriors may well have been right. Saxon rebellions were again and again repeated, regardless of agreements. Cf. Introduction, pp. 183-5.
Then, furious with the king, they rushed upon him. This episode has been noticed in the Introduction (p. 108) as showing how far a Frankish king still was from safety in despotism if he risked too much in a particular direction, and how carefully he had to consider the opinions of the free Franks. This was especially the case in Austrasia, where the rivalry between the throne and the aristocratic party was always more acute than elsewhere.
15. They brought him their formal agreement in favour of Eufronius. This was called consensus. The royal sanction and permission to proceed with the consecration of the new bishop were given in the royal diploma (praeceptio). For the procedure in episcopal elections, see Introduction, p. 288.
The blessed Gregory. This was Gregory, bishop of Langres, great-great-grandfather of Gregory of Tours, who naturally records with complacency the royal estimate of his family: Prima haec est et magna generatio.
10 (16). The Black Mountain. This place is probably represented by the hill village of Saint-Georges-Nigremont, Creuse (arrondissement d’Aubusson). In accepting this attribution, Longnon (Geogr., p. 526) agrees with Jacobs and Deloche.
All the territory through which I have made my progress. The act of perambulating his territory imposed on a king the obligation of defending it.
In an earlier book. There is no earlier mention of Tetricus in the History, but in V. P., ch. vii, this bishop is described as son and successor of Gregory of Langres.
The clergy placed on the altar three books, &c. We find this use of Sortes Biblicae adopted by other persons mentioned in the History: thus Merovech, while in sanctuary at Tours, essayed it (V. 8). The present is an example of an oracular appeal similar to that of the Sortes Virgilianae, and it is interesting to find the clergy themselves resorting to it. It was usual at this time for a lesson from the Old Testament to be read, as well as the Epistle and Gospel. See Introduction, pp. 336-7.
The churches, where he was given bread to eat. The words ‘without the walls’ are required to make the meaning clear, as Chramn did not enter the walled town. The churches were probably those of S. Paschasia and S. Benignus, which were side by side and outside the Roman walls (Longnon, Géogr., as above, p. 212). By bread eulogiae may be indicated.
The Frankish land. i.e. Austrasia. Cf. ch. 14, above.
The city of Deutz (Divitia civitas). The use of the word civitas would imply that Deutz at this time was the seat of a bishopric. But when it begins to be mentioned in documents, it is already subordinate to Cologne (Longnon, Géogr. de la Gaule au VIe siècle, p. 11).
11 (17). The daughter of Wilichar. This Wilichar was first called Duke of Aquitaine by Aimoin (Hist. des Français, ii. 30). But it seems more probable that the Wilichar here mentioned is the same as the Willicharius sacerdos of ch. 13 (20) below, since there is evidence for his presence in Tours about the time of Chramn’s sojourn, and he had a daughter named Theoda, to whom that prince may have become attached (see note to ch. 13 (20) below). There was a count of Orleans with a very similar name, Wiliachar, or Villachar (cf. VII. 13; X. 9), who might possibly be intended.
12 (18). The duke Austrapius. This man must have been governor of Touraine and Poitou for Lothar I. According to Baudonivia (Vita Sanctae Radegundis, ii. 5), he, together with Pientius, bishop of Poitiers, helped Radegund to build her monastery of the Holy Cross in that city. At the close of Lothar’s reign he entered the Church, and was consecrated bishop at Sellense castrum (see below), a temporary bishopric having been made for him out of the diocese of Poitiers, to which he had been promised the succession by Lothar.
The judge of the place (iudex loci). The judge of a civitas like Tours was ordinarily the count, but the phrase iudex loci may sometimes be used by Gregory of the vicarius or representative of the count in a pagus or division of the civitas. In the absence of the count, a vicarius would doubtless represent him even in the chief city (Introduction, p. 203). Cf. also IV. 31 (45).
At Chantoceaux (Sellense castrum). This place, formerly Châteauceaux, is in Maine-et-Loire, arrondissement of Cholet (Longnon, Géogr., pp. 572-6). For the meaning of castrum as a secondary town, see Introduction, p. 160.
His town. i.e. Sellense castrum.
The Theifali. The Tiffauges. For this people, see Introduction, pp. 172-3.
19. The bishop Médard. S. Médard was successively bishop of Vermand, Noyon, and Tournai; he died about 545 (June 8). His life is related by Fortunatus, who states that he was of a noble Frankish family.
It was to Médard, then bishop of Noyon, that Radegund went first when she abandoned the Court of Lothar I (Fortunatus, Vita S. Medardi, 19; Baudonivia, Vita S. Radegundis, 12). In G. C., ch. 93, Gregory says that he himself often saw the fetters broken from the limbs of prisoners before S. Médard’s tomb.
A church over his tomb, which... Sigibert completed and furnished. The church of S. Médard at Soissons was of great splendour; Fortunatus in several places lauds Sigibert for his share in its embellishment (Carm. ii. 20).
Shackles of prisoners lying... broken. The falling asunder of fetters and chains when prisoners entered the basilica of S. Médard is related by Fortunatus in the above-mentioned poem, and in his prose Vita S. Medardi, 12. Several Gallican saints were celebrated during their lives and after their deaths for their power of releasing prisoners (cf. Introduction, p. 309). The setting free of prisoners and captives lay near to the heart of many good men in Merovingian times.
13 (20). In the church of the blessed Vincent. Cf. III. 29, note. The religious virtues of Childebert, who died in 558, are praised by Fortunatus in Carm. ii. 14, though, as noted elsewhere, his share in the brutal murder of his nephews throws a different light on his character (Introduction, pp. 99, 100).
Vultrogotha and her two daughters. The queen’s name is also given as Ultrogotha or Ultrogotho. Her daughters’ names were Chlotberg or Chrotberg, and Chlothsind or Chrotesind. Fortunatus tells us that Charibert, son of Lothar, on inheriting his share of his father’s kingdom, recalled his aunt and cousins from banishment, and established them at Paris (Carm. vi. 4, 21-4). In the same book he describes the garden of Ultrogotho, which had been planted by Childebert (Carm. vi. 8). The piety of this queen is recorded by Gregory in V. S. M. i. 12.
Willichar the priest (Willicharius sacerdos). Cf. ch. 11 (17), above. The reference there to the connexion between Chramn and a daughter of Wilichar has suggested the reading of socer eius for sacerdos (see below). But in V. S. M. i. 23 we are told that at the time of Chramn’s conspiracy, Wiliachar, presbyter, was freed from his chains by the miraculous power of S. Martin. In V. S. M. iii. 13 we are further told that Theoda, daughter of Wiliachar the presbyter, was cured by S. Martin of some affection of the feet. The mention of the priest’s imprisonment suggests that he may have been in some way implicated in Chramn’s affairs. Fredegar (Chron. iii. 54) calls him Quilliachar, and describes him as Chramn’s father-in-law (socer eius); the mistake noted above is therefore an old one. Of the restorations undertaken by Lothar at the church of S. Martin after the fire caused by Wiliachar, Fredegar (Chron. iii. 54) says Postea a Chlothario condigne recuperatur et stagno coperitur. The king’s restoration may not have been complete, or there may have been another fire, for Gregory himself carried out restorations. In X. 31, describing his own episcopate, he says that he repaired the walls of the holy basilica (of S. Martin), burned by fire, and caused his craftsmen to adorn and paint them with all the splendour in which they were seen before. Fortunatus (Carm. x. 6) speaks of the basilica of Martin as if it had fallen into complete ruin and had been rebuilt by Gregory, like the cathedral church. The church of which he speaks was originally built, he says, on the spot where Martin divided his cloak, giving half to the beggar. One of his couplets runs:
Invida subruerat quam funditus ipsa vetustas
Ut paries liquidis forte solutus aquis.
Another:
In senium veniens, melius revirescere discens,
Diruta post casum firmius acta situ.
Such a description does not agree with Gregory’s account. The restoration by King Lothar followed the damage so soon that vetustas could have had nothing to do with the matter. The church, wholly rebuilt by Gregory, was the cathedral church inside the city which had been destroyed by fire and left untouched by Gregory’s predecessor Euphronius. It had remained in a state of ruin for a number of years, and the expression used by Fortunatus might be applied to it by a stretch of poetical licence. The poet, who often visited Tours, must have known both churches well. In the title of the poem he describes the building as ecclesia Toronica, a phrase which could properly apply to no church but the cathedral. Either, therefore, the gift to the beggar took place, not on the site of the church where Martin was buried, but on that of the cathedral built by his immediate predecessor in the see, Litorius, or Fortunatus has made a mistake (cf. X. 31). It may be noted that Sulpicius Severus describes the gift to the beggar as having taken place in a vestry and not out of doors.
The plain of Romagnat (Romanicus or Romaniacus campus). This plain is identified by Longnon (Géogr., p. 510); the district of Romagnat, a village less than a mile to the south of Clermont.
Chanao, count of the Bretons. i.e. chief. The Corbie MS. has Chonoo. Both versions may be identical with the Chanao of ch. 4.
Chramn... stretched on a bench and strangled with a kerchief. The death of the prince is mentioned by Marius of Aventicum (Chron., year 560).
14 (21). In the fiftieth year of his reign. The text has anno quinquagesimo I, the I being an addition inserted to bring the passage into accord with the figure given a few lines lower down. Lothar enjoyed an exceptionally long life for a Merovingian king.
Cuise... Compiègne. The forest of Cotia was later known as the forest of Compiègne, which derives its name from the royal villa of Compendium, here mentioned (Longnon, as above, pp. 154, 401).
15 (22). Made lawful division. Cf. Introduction, p. 139.
Paris... fell to Charibert. Fortunatus (Carm. vi. 4) extols Charibert as a second Childebert, and congratulates Paris upon having its own king once more.
16 (23). The Huns. The Avars are meant; cf. also ch. 22 (29) below, and Introduction, p. 186. Justinian had subsidized them as foederati pledged to defend his frontiers. This first invasion of Merovingian territory probably took place in 562, while Justinian was still alive. Cf. Paul the Deacon, De gestis Langobard, ii. 10.
The domain of Ponthion (Villa Pontico). This royal domain may be identified with Pontion (Marne). Cf. Longnon, as above, pp. 405-6.
17 (24). The patrician Agricola. The title patrician was commonly given to the governor (rector) of Provence. Cf. 23 (30), 29 (42) below.
It ill agreeth to say (Incongrue hoc: Vae mihi et filius meis!). Altering the punctuation, we might read, exclamasse fertur incongrue hoc: Vae mihi, &c.: ‘He is said to have interrupted with the exclamation: Woe then to me and to my sons!’
18 (25). Magnar. Otherwise, Magnachar. Cf. V. 11 (17), where Guntram, the rex bonus of the present chapter, has the two sons of Magnar slain on the charge that they had spoken ill of Austrechild, successor of Marcatrude in his affections. Marcatrude is said by Fredegar (Chron. iii. 56) to have been accused of dabbling in witchcraft, and of immorality: she was, he says, a herbaria and a meretrix.
Austrechild. A woman of a spiteful and ruthless temper. Cf. V. 27 (35). Fredegar, as above, says she was an ancilla of Marcatrude, as Fredegund had been the handmaid of Audovera. The death of the two sons whom she bore to Guntram is mentioned by Marius of Aventicum under the year 577 (M. G. H., Auct. antiquiss. xi: Chronica Minora, ii (1894)).
19 (26). Charibert. The text has Sigibert, an obvious error.
Was taken as a bride to Kent (quae postea in Ganthia virum accipiens est deducta). This brief and incomplete notice is typical of Gregory’s allusions to England, of which country he seems to have known little or nothing (cf. IX. 26, and Introduction, pp. 187-8). The daughter in question was Adelberg (Ethelberg) or Bertha, queen of Ethelbert, king of Kent. For Bertha (Bercta), cf. Bede, ed. C. Plummer (1896), i. 25; ii. 5.
Marcovefa. Cf. V. 47.
They formally chose Heraclius (consensum fecere in Heraclium). For this stage in the election of a bishop, cf. Introduction, p. 288.
The apostolic see. In this case the metropolitan see of the province, i.e. Bordeaux. The passage shows that at this time the title was still given to sees in Gaul (cf. IX. 41, 42), though the king’s answer implies that already it was beginning to be regarded as proper to Rome.
Men of religion. Here probably clergy, perhaps bishops.
Excommunicated them both. Rather because Marcovefa had been a nun, than because the Church forbade marriage with a deceased wife’s sister.
20 (27). Brunhild, daughter of King Athanagild. This is Gregory’s first mention of the famous princess who was destined to play so great a part in Merovingian history (cf. Introduction, p. 69). With his eulogy of her qualities we may compare the words of Fortunatus:
Pulchra, modesta, decens, solers, grata atque benigna;
Ingenio, vultu, nobilitate potens.
(Carm. vi. 3: a panegyric of Sigibert and Brunhild). Their espousals are celebrated in the two earlier poems of the same book.
For Athanagild, Brunhild’s father, see ch. 5 (8) above. Fredegar (Chron. iii. 57) says that Sigibert sent Gogo, his ex-governor (nutritor), as head of the mission which solicited the hand of Brunhild.
Received the holy chrism (chrismata est). For the use of chrism in baptism, see II. 22 (31) n. on p. 499.
Until this day. Brunhild long survived Gregory, dying a violent death in 614. (Cf. Introduction, p. 134.)
21 (28). He already had several wives (plures uxores). His only known lawful wives were Audovera, mother of three sons, whom he had put away and relegated to a monastery in order to wed Fredegund, and Fredegund herself, whom he now temporarily dismissed.
Galswinth. The nuptials and death of Galswinth are sung by Fortunatus (Carm. vi. 7), who inevitably avoids any suggestion of foul play connected with her end.
Baptized. The word used is chrismata, as in the case of Brunhild, noted above.
She was found dead in her bed. The text has repperit, suggesting that Chilperic made the discovery. But perhaps the active verb is a mistake for the passive. Fredegar (Chron. iii. 60) says that Chilperic had her suffocated.
A great miracle to all who saw it. The wonder is mentioned by Fortunatus in the above-mentioned poem. Miracles connected with lamps suspended at tombs are frequently recorded by Gregory in his books in honour of the martyrs and confessors (cf. Introduction, pp. 254, 257).
22 (29). The Huns, who were versed in magic arts. The Avars are really intended here, as in ch. 16 (23) above. Justin II, on his accession in 565, defied the Avars, who were intimidated by his resolute tone. They turned their arms once more against Austrasia, rather than against the Empire, the result being the attack recorded here and by the Byzantine historian Menander (Frag. 14). The year was probably 566. The possession of magical power was commonly attributed to peoples coming from little-known regions, whether in east or north.
Gagan. i.e. Chagan or Khan, which, as Gregory rightly says, was not a personal name but a title, meaning ‘chief’ or ‘king’.
23 (30). Wishing to take the city of Arles. That is, to seize Guntram’s share in addition to his own. At the division made on the death of Lothar I, this civitas had been divided between King Guntram and his brother Sigibert.
Bishop Sabaudus. The name is commonly spelled with a p. Sapaudus (552-86) was the intermediary between the pope and the Gallican Church. He received the powers of vicar apostolic from Pelagius in 557, his death occurring nine years later (VIII. 39). Cf. Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux de l’ancienne Gaule, i, p. 259.
24 (31). A... prodigy occurred at... Tauredunum. For the disputes as to the locality of this castrum, see Longnon, Géogr., pp. 233-5. It would seem that to produce the effects described, the blocking of the Rhône must have taken place not very far from its issue into the Lake of Geneva. A probable theory places the site at Les Évouettes, near Chessel. The event is also mentioned by Marius of Aventicum (Chron., year 563). He says that the flood carried away the bridge of Geneva, together with the mills and a number of men, penetrating right into the city. The diocese of Marius included the eastern part of the north shore of the lake (M. G. H., Auct. antiquiss. xi: Chron. Min. ii (Berlin, 1894)).
The disaster in Auvergne. The words are clades Arverna, which were applied to this terrible visitation of the plague in 571 as ‘the disaster ’ above all others.
For visitations of the plague in Gaul, cf. Introduction, p. 421.
A star, by some styled comet. Cf. the De cursu stellarum, ch. 34. In that passage Gregory describes the significance of the comet. When it seems to have a flaming diadem, it portends the death of a king. When it has a long ray like a sword, glowing red, and spreads its hair abroad darkly (si autem gladium ferens, rutilans, cum nigrore sparserit comas), it announces ruin to the country (patriae excidium); even so it appeared, he says, in Auvergne during this plague. He goes on to say that the appearance of a comet preceded the death of Sigibert (nam et priusquam Sigibertus rex obierit, crinita multis apparuit), and that another announced the death of Lothar I. Cf. ch. 36 (51) below (where, however, nothing is said to show that the fulgor traversing the sky was a comet). In 14 (21) above, where Gregory describes the death of Lothar I, nothing is said of signs in the heavens.
32. The monastery of Randan (monasterium Randanense). The small town of Randan in Puy-de-Dôme has perpetuated the name.
Nor ate meat. The word is pulmentum, on which Ducange says: obsonium quod praeter panem est, vel pani additur. It might therefore mean fish or eggs as well as meat.
34. About three cori. Cf. British Museum, Greek Papyri, iii, by H. I. Bell, p. 103. The word is commonly used for liquid measure.
35. Son of... Evodius. The text has Euvodus, but Evodius is probably the correct form. In ch. 8 (13) above, mention was made of another son of Evodius, by name Salustius. Evodius is here described as senator, but this only means that he was of a senatorial family; cf. above, 8 (13).
Obtained from the Jews store of costly things. The Jews were recognized dealers in works of art in sixth-century Gaul; King Chilperic, a connoisseur, had his own dealer, a Jew named Priscus. Cf. VI. 5, 10 (17), and Introduction, p. 177. In the Letters of Gregory the Great we read of a Jew who managed to buy the church plate of Venatro from the clergy (F. H. Dudden, Gregory the Great, i, p. 384).
He would often make the barbarians drunk. By ‘barbarians’ Gregory, as a Gallo-Roman of aristocratic descent, means the Franks. The aristocratic family of Evodius would seem to have intermarried with the Franks, for Beregisil is a Teutonic name. But it was not an unknown occurrence for Gallo-Romans to take Teutonic names for their material advantage.
From the line of Hortensius, &c. Quintianus made this prediction because Hortensius refused to pardon one of his kinsmen. Gregory tells the whole story in V. P. iv. 3.
Their nomination. This was the consensus, or document signed by the electors, already more than once mentioned. Cf. also Introduction, p. 288. Avitus was a friend of Gregory’s own family, and had introduced him to the study of the Scriptures (V. P., ch. ii). Cf. Introduction, p. 6.
Disregarded the strict observance of canonical rule. The rule was that a bishop, whose election was duly carried out by the people and confirmed by the king, should be consecrated by the metropolitan of the province to which his new see belonged, and that the ceremony should take place in that province. The rule, however, was often broken; it was so in the case of Gregory himself.
The gift of blessed bread (de manu eius eulogias accipere). Eulogiae (εὐλογίαι, blessings) were small portions of the bread which had been offered by the faithful, but not actually required for communion and therefore not consecrated. This bread received a benediction, and was distributed to the congregation after Mass. Bishops sometimes had eulogiae in their houses, and seem to have given them to guests at their table, as did Nicetius, bishop of Lyons, on an occasion when Gregory, his grand-nephew, was present (V. P. viii. 3); possibly bishops blessed bread which had not been offered in church. Bishops and priests carried eulogiae with them when away from home. Thus Gregory had ‘eulogiae of S. Martin’ with him at Orleans on the occasion when Guntram visited him at his lodging; on this occasion he offered them to the king (VIII. 2). Eulogiae so carried were regarded as having the same kind of potency as relics, and as able to preserve from danger. A priest with eulogiae on his person asked shelter for the night in the hut of a peasant in Auvergne. The peasant had to get up early to cart wood, but refused to eat his breakfast unless the priest would bless it or give him eulogiae. The priest gave them. While driving across a pontoon bridge the peasant heard devils talking; they were admitting that they were unable to drown him, as they desired to do, because he carried a sacred thing (G. C. 30).
These portions of bread may have been prepared in forms which would keep them unimpaired when taken or sent to a distance, for they appear to have been sent as presents! Perhaps from such a usage the term eulogia came to be applied in a general sense to any small gift offered as an expression of goodwill. Cf. Dom Leclerq in Cabrol’s Dict. d’arch. chrét., s. v. Eulogie.
At Metz. This city was the capital of Austrasia, and contained the chief royal residence.
To this day. Avitus died in 594, a short time before Gregory’s own death.
36. Saffarac. He was made bishop in 549 and deposed a few years later. Cf. Dict. Christian Biography, s. v.
Nicetius, whom he had himself chosen. Cf. V. P. viii. 3. Bishops frequently exerted this kind of influence on the election of their successors. Cf. Introduction, p. 297. Nicetius (S. Nizier) was the great-uncle of Gregory of Tours. Cf. V. P., ch. viii, and Introduction, p. 6. Nicetius was really bishop for twenty-one years only.
The church house. The residence of the bishop and clergy, adjoining the church. Cf. I. 44, and Introduction, pp. 343-5.
The abbot. At the beginning of the story, Gregory omitted to mention his quality.
37. Friard. A recluse in the diocese of Nantes. For the modern literature concerning him, see U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist. du Moyen Âge: Bio-bibliographie, col. 1612.
Felix. Bishop of Nantes. Cf. V. 5.
25 (38). Leuvigild... succeeded to the throne. He at first shared the succession with his brother Leuva. Cf. Altamira in C. M. H. ii, p. 164.
He divided the kingdom equally. Apparently he gave each a half to administer. Hermangild he formally associated with himself in royal power in 578. The whole passage refers to the life-and-death struggle between the Crown and the aristocracy in Spain, which was only ended by a massacre of nobles upon a great scale. Cf. Altamira in C. M. H., as above, p. 166.
26 (39). Javols (Urbs Gabalitana). Cf. I. 34. This ancient seat of a bishopric, comprising the Gévaudan and properly civitas Gabalum, is now a village in the department of Lozère. The see was removed to Mende (Mimate, or Miniatum Gabalorum), at latest in the middle of the tenth century. Cf. Longnon, pp. 528, 532.
Nothing is known of Bishop Parthenius of Javols apart from this mention by Gregory.
The monastery of Cournon (Monasterium Chrononense). Cournon is in Puy-de-Dôme, arrondissement of Clermont, canton of Pont-du-Château (Longnon, pp. 498-9). Here, at the beginning of the sixth century, Gallus, paternal uncle of Gregory, first entered the Church (V. P. vi. 1). The place is 12 kilometres south-east of Clermont.
27 (40). His senators. Justinian’s policy aimed at making his power independent of the Senate. This filled the senators with resentment, and many of them were implicated in the famous Nika riot of 532, after which they were banished and their property was confiscated. The authorities are Malalas, Procopius, and Marcellinus (Bury, Hist. of the Later Roman Empire (1923), ii, pp. 42-8).
He lost his wits (ex sensu effectus). The account which Gregory gives of Justin is probably coloured by the dislike which he felt for that emperor, as one suspected by him of heresy. Justin is known as weak, partly through ill health, but not morally contemptible. Gibbon’s judgement of him is summed in the sentence: ‘The opinion which imputes to the prince all the calamities of his times may be countenanced by the historian as a serious truth or a salutary prejudice. Yet a candid suspicion will arise that the sentiments of Justin were pure and benevolent, and that he might have filled his station without reproach, if the faculties of his mind had not been impaired by disease ’ (Decline and Fall, ch. xiv).
Antioch in Egypt. This is a mistake for Antioch on the Orontes, in Syria. The capture of the city by Adarmaanes, general of Chosroes (Khusrau), probably took place in the spring of 573 (N. H. Baynes, C. M. H., ii, p. 272). Cf. X. 24 below.
The Persarmenians. These were the people of Greater Armenia, now subjected by Chosroes, the Sassanian king. Oppressed for their Christian religion and threatened with compulsory conversion to fire-worship, they sought support at the Byzantine Court, probably in 571 (p. 270).
The emperor’s solicitude. This is a grandiloquent phrase in the oriental manner, though the form is matched in such expressions as ‘the king’s grace’. The application of the term Emperor to the Persian monarch is incorrect: his most exalted title was ‘King of kings’.
28 (41). Alboin. The Lombard invasion is related by Paul the Deacon, Hist. ii. 7-10, 12, 14, 25-7. Cf. also Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. xlvi; T. Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders; and the short account by F. H. Dudden, Gregory the Great, i, pp. 81 ff. The story of Alboin’s death is given in full by Paul (Hist. ii. 28). The name of the famulus on whom she had cast her eyes was Helmichis, the king’s armour-bearer; this man, with Peredeus, another Lombard, suborned by Rosamund, killed Alboin with spears, the door having been left unbolted for their free entrance.
Another king to reign over them. Cleph, a duke or principal chief, elected in the assembly of the nation at Pavia in 573. He was himself murdered a year and a half later (574). Cf. Paul the Deacon, Hist. Lang. ii. 31.
29 (42). Eunius, surnamed Mummolus. The first name is sometimes given as Eonius.
The title of patrician. This title was granted by kings of Burgundy. Cf. Ducange, s. v. It was given to the governors of Provence, other holders of the office being Aegila and Dynamius. A list of these governors is given by Ducange, s. v. Patricius.
To renew his service. For the count’s office, see Introduction, pp. 200 ff.
Plan de Fazi. The locality of the battle-field of Musticae Calmes is not certain, but the plain of Plan de Fazi at the confluence of the Guil and the Durance is preferred by Longnon (p. 458) to Chamousse, a hamlet 10 kilometres north of Embrun, which other writers have regarded as the place.
Salonius and Sagittarius, one bishop of Embrun, the other of Gap, were notorious characters, who reappear in later pages of the History. Cf. V. 20, 20 (27); VII. 28, 34, 37, 38, 39. Sagittarius was present at the councils of Lyons (570) and Paris (573); he was finally deposed in 579. Cf. Duchesne, Fastes épisc. de l’anc. Gaule, i, p. 287. See also Introduction, p. 87.
The Saxons, who had entered Italy with the Lombards. Fredegar (iii. 68) says that the body of Saxons here mentioned had been sent into Italy by Theudebert.
At the domain of Stablo (apud Stablonem villam). This was a country estate, spelled Stublo by Longnon (p. 453), who identifies it with Estoublon, in the arrondissement of Digne, Basses-Alpes.
Slaying many thousands. The text has multa his similia interficit, which must be a mistake for multa ex his milia.
Into two bodies (duos, ut aiunt, cuneos). The word cuneus is here used in a general sense as a body of men.
Stamped bars of bronze. The words are: regulas aeris incisas pro auro. Giesebrecht conjectures tegulas instead of regulas, and translates ‘engraved bronze plates’. Hodgkin (Italy and her Invaders, v, p. 191) speaks of medals. It seems unlikely that the Saxons would have been provided with engraved plates, and coins or medals would have been in relief. Incisas may be taken simply as stamped with marks; we have almost certainly to deal with a currency in the form of metal bars. For the making of spurious money in Merovingian times, cf. II. 31 (42) and Introduction, p. 224. The whole story is curious, and, as Hodgkin remarks, it is not clear why the Saxons on their way back to Germany should have passed through Clermont. Paul the Deacon (Hist. Lang. ii. 5) bases his account on Gregory.
43. Governor (rector). This title was used in Provence only. Cf. above, ch. (17) 24. Jovinus, the superseded governor, was a friend of Fortunatus, but evidently a bad correspondent (Fortunatus, Carm. vii. 11, 12). Cf. also VI. 7.
The harbour of Marseilles. The word cataplus is here used for harbour. For the maritime trade of Marseilles, cf. V. 5.
Orcae. The orca had the shape of a butt or tun. The word translated ‘liquor’ is liquamen, which seems to have been applied to fermented liquors other than wine, e.g. cider, perry, and beer.
The most considerable. The text has maior natu, which might possibly refer to the aristocracy, but is more probably used for persons of consideration in the city. It is not likely to mean simply old men, but, like the word senior, is used to signify degree in importance rather than in age.
Four thousand pieces of gold (solidi). Attention may be drawn to the large amount of this fine: the solidus was a gold piece weighing 1/72 of a pound, so that the sum exacted was more than 55 lb. of gold.
30 (44). Three Lombard dukes. We do not know the Lombard title rendered as dux. After the death of King Cleph (above, ch. 28 (41)) there were thirty-five ‘dukes’ (Paul the Deacon, Hist. Lang. ii. 1 ff., who borrows his facts from Gregory). Amo, Zaban, and Rodan were three of these. If these dukes had been able to combine, a strong Lombard nation might have come into being (cf. F. H. Dudden, Gregory the Great (1905), pp. 158 ff.).
The domain called Macho. Perhaps the place now called Saint-Saturnin, Vaucluse (Longnon, pp. 446-7).
An animal...revealed a ford. This ‘motive’ has already occurred in the story of Clovis (II. 27 (37)).
They abandoned all their plunder. The text is: Tunc datis pariter cunctis in praeda, which might be taken to mean that they added to their plunder everything upon which they could lay their hands. But the context seems to require the other sense.
Susa (Sigusium urbs). Cf. Longnon, p. 432.
The emperor’s master of the soldiery resided there. The magistri militum were purely military officers, and at this time there might be more than one in the territory of a single duke (F. H. Dudden, Gregory the Great, p. 182). But the Lombards about this time (574) ceded Maurienne and Susa to Guntram, presumably as compensation for their raids into his territory in Gaul (Longnon, p. 332). Guntram established a bishopric of Maurienne and Susa (ibid., p. 430). Fredegar (Chron. iii. 68) says that the expedition of the three dukes was followed by another led by Taloard and Nuccio, who sacked the monastery of Agaune, but were defeated by Guntram’s generals, Wiolic and Theudofred.
31 (45). Fell by the agreement, &c. (Sigiberto regi per pactum in partem venerant). The agreement was the formal division of King Lothar’s dominions between his sons. See Introduction, p. 139.
Basilius and Sighar. We may note the co-operation of a Gallo-Roman and a Frank.
32 (46) Occupied with his master in the study of letters... arithmetical studies. We here find a Gallo-Roman aristocrat still preserving the Roman usage of keeping slaves to read to them (lectores) and to help in transcribing their literary work. Sidonius alludes to such slaves in Gallo-Roman families (Ep. iv. 12).
Lupus. Duke of Champagne (cf. VI. 4). Fortunatus dedicates a poem to Lupus (Carm. vii. 7), celebrating his victories over Saxons and Danes. This duke was a supporter of the Austrasian royal house against the aristocracy, and was a loyal adherent of Brunhild. At the time when the aristocracy had the upper hand after Sigibert’s death, he was forced to fly to King Guntram (VI. 4). After the agreement between Guntram and Childebert he was able to return in safety (IX. 11). Cf. also IX 14.
Was regarded as having attained official rank (quasi honoratus habitus). Honoratus was the current Roman designation for a man holding imperial official rank. There were still such officials in Provence when the Franks took possession of the country.
His mail shirt. Only persons of some standing wore body armour, and the possession of a mail shirt would be in some degree a guarantee of position. Cf. Introduction, pp. 208, 232.
To what dost thou not drive the hearts of mortals? This passage from Virgil is a stock quotation of Gregory, found several times in his books. Cf. Introduction, p. 21.
The judge of the place. i.e. the count or his vicarius. Cf. Introduction, p. 202, and n. to ch. 12 (18) above.
Ordering him to give him the girl in marriage. It was an ancient right of Teutonic kings to give the daughters of their subjects in marriage to their Court officials (J. Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer, p. 436). Cf. VI. 16.
Betook himself to Le Velay (in Vellavo territorio). Where he had landed property (Longnon, Géogr., pp. 532-3). Cf. VI. 18 (26), n. on p. 557.
Unwilling to obey so ill-bred a master. The text is: Sed cum servi domus domini rudi domo apparerent. The last two words may be a corruption of non parerent, in which case domino should be read.
Overcome with weariness and wine. Literally ‘buried’: somno vinoque sepulti, another Virgilian reminiscence.
33 (47). Duke Gundovald. This was the loyal Austrasian noble who, after the murder of Sigibert, brought off in safety to Austrasia the little King Childebert (V. 1).
48. The monastery of Latte. Formerly regarded as Ciran-la-Late, or la-Latte, in Touraine. Longnon opposes the identification, but without suggesting an alternative (Géogr., pp. 619, 620).
O barbarians! i.e. Franks. The monks were presumably Gallo-Romans.
34 (49). The peoples from beyond the Rhine. These were the pagan Germans, who nominally at least were under the suzerainty of the Ripuarian king. For the significance of this action, as a betrayal of Frankish solidarity and an outrage to Christendom, cf. Introduction, p. 114.
Alluyes (Avallocium vicus). Alluyes, 26 kilometres south of Chartres; or perhaps Havelu, 38 kilometres north of the same city (Longnon, Géogr., pp. 325-6).
If their two armies joined battle, their dominion would go down in ruin. The text has: consilio utroque exercitu; the true reading should probably be conliso. ‘Their dominion’ means the supremacy of the Franks in Gaul. Germanus of Paris, regarding Brunhild as a main cause of the civil war, wrote a letter to her, imploring her to seek peace; this letter has been preserved (see M. G. H., Epistolae Merov. et Karol. aevi, i, p. 122). Radegund likewise strove to prevent intestine war. Cf. Introduction, p. 114.
35 (50). The people of Châteaudun (Dunensibus). This town, in Eure-et-Loir, was known as Castellum Dunum (IX. 20) or Castrum Dunense (VII. 29). It was the next place after Chartres in the diocese of that name, and Sigibert tried to establish a bishopric there (VII. 17); cf. Longnon, pp. 326-8.
Dukes Godegisel and Guntram. Godegisel was son-in-law of Duke Lupus, mentioned below (IX. 12). The Guntram here named is the notorious Guntram Boso whose name so often recurs in the History.
36 (51). Their enemies. i.e. the pagan Germans who were this time to receive the promised plunder. ‘His own men’ means the Ripuarian Franks forming the more civilized part of his armies.
Childebert the elder. Childebert I, king of Paris, son of Clovis and uncle of Guntram, Sigibert, and Chilperic.
The royal villa named Vitry (Victoriacus). On the Scarpe, between Douai and Arras. It is mentioned by Fortunatus as one of the residences of Lothar I (Vita S. Radegundis, i. 3). Cf. Longnon, pp. 413-14.
Scramasaxes. The scramasax was the one-edged Frankish knife-dagger. See Introduction, p. 232.
No less frivolous in his conduct than serious in his avarice (tam levis opere quam gravis cupiditate). In this antithetical phrase we find an echo of a trick beloved by writers of the preceding century, dear also to Fortunatus and Cassiodorus.
When messengers reached him with the news of his brother’s death. The sudden change from an apparently desperate position to one of safety is described by Fortunatus in his poem to Chilperic (Carm. ix. 1).
Marius of Aventicum, chronicling the events of 576, says that Sigibert was slain when: eum (i.e. Chilperic) iam inclusum haberet, et de eius interfectione cogitaret (M. G. H., Auct. antiquiss. xi: Chron. Min. ii. (1894)).
Fredegar (Chron. iii. 71) says that the Austrasian Franks forced Sigibert to march against Chilperic after the three royal brothers had agreed upon peace at Virey-sous-Bar (Aube), because they saw that peace would deprive them of all hope of plunder.
The village of Lambres (Lambri vicus). This place lies about 7 kilometres from Vitry. It is a village in the arrondissement and canton of Douai (Longnon, as above, p. 413).
Which he had himself erected. He had completed it, his father Lothar I having begun the construction. Cf. Fortunatus, Carm. ii. 20.
In the fourteenth year of his reign. Lothar I died in 561, and Sigibert at the end of 575; it would seem therefore that the regnal year was the fifteenth.
Twenty-nine years. If Theudebert died in 548, the number should rather be twenty-seven.