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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 3, 7. Of the War Against the Thuringians
Theuderic, ever mindful of the wrong wrought by Hermanfrid, king of the Thuringians, summoned his brother Lothar to his aid, and prepared to march against him,1 promising King Lothar a share of the booty, should Heaven grant them the reward of victory. He therefore assembled the Franks and spoke as follows: ‘Rouse ye to wrath, I pray you, remembering now both the wrong done to me and the murder of your kinsfolk. Forget not that the Thuringians in the past fell brutally upon our fathers and did them much evil. Our people gave them hostages, and desired to make a treaty of peace, but they did the hostages to death by divers tortures; they then broke in upon our people, seized all their goods, and hanged the boys upon the trees by the sinews of their thighs. Two hundred girls they caused to perish by a cruel death; they bound their arms about the necks of horses which, goaded with sharp points, dashed asunder and tore the victims limb from limb. Others they stretched out on the ruts of roads, fixing them to the earth with stakes; then they caused laden wains to pass over them, breaking their bones, and gave their bodies to feed dogs and birds. Behold now, Hermanfrid hath been false to the promise given to me, and altogether refuseth to fulfil it. Lo, here have we a clear cause; up and against them, with the aid of the Lord.’ When the Franks heard this, they were wroth at the commission of such crimes; with one intent and with a single mind they set forth against Thuringia. Theuderic, taking with him as allies Lothar his brother and Theudebert his son, took the field with his army. When the Franks approached, the Thuringians prepared stratagems against them. They dug ditches in the future field of battle, and covered them over closely with sods, so that they seemed part of the unbroken plain. When the encounter began, numbers of Frankish horsemen fell into these ditches, and were sorely hindered; though when the trick was once discovered, they began to look more cautiously about them. At length, when Hermanfrid their king was put to flight, and they saw their army cut to pieces, the Thuringians turned their backs and fled as far as the river Unstrut; but there was made such slaughter of them that the bed of the stream was choked with their dead bodies, and the Franks used them as a bridge on which to cross to the other side. The victory thus achieved gave them possession of that region, which they subjected to their authority.
Lothar, returning home, took with him as his captive Radegund, daughter of King Berthar; her he wedded, though afterwards he caused her brother to be slain by evil men. This queen turned to God and, changing her habit, built for herself a monastery in Poitiers; by the virtue of her prayers, fastings, charities, and vigils she won so shining a repute that her name was held great among the peoples. While the above-named kings were in Thuringia, Theuderic sought to slay his brother Lothar. Having first set armed men in ambush, he invited him to his presence, as if he would discuss with him some privy matter. He had stretched tent-canvas from one wall to the other in a part of the house, and stationed the armed men behind it. But the hanging was too short, and the feet of the men showed below it. Lothar, warned already of the trap, entered the house accompanied by his men-at-arms. As soon as Theuderic saw that he knew all, he made up some story, and talked at random of one thing after another; at last, seeing no way of glozing over his treachery, he made him a present of a great silver salver. Lothar thanked him for the gift, bade him farewell, and returned to his lodging. Then Theuderic complained to his people that he had lost his silver dish without sufficient cause, and said to his son Theudebert: ‘Go to thy uncle, and ask him to give up to thee the present which I made to him.’ The boy went, and obtained his request. Theuderic was very artful in this kind of trickery.
Notes
- About A. D. 531.