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History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 4, 49. How Sigibert Came to Paris

While these things befell, King Sigibert set in movement the peoples from beyond the Rhine and began civil war by marching against his brother Chilperic.¹ As soon as the king heard of it, he sent envoys to his brother Guntram, and the two entered into a treaty that neither should suffer his brother to perish. Sigibert came on at the head of those peoples; Chilperic, on the other hand, awaited him with his army. But Sigibert could find no ford by which to cross the Seine and fall upon his brother. He therefore sent a message to Guntram to this effect: ‘If thou sufferest me not to cross this river by passing through thy lands, I will come up against thee with my whole army.’ In fear of this attack, Guntram made a treaty with him, and suffered him to cross. Chilperic perceiving that Guntram had abandoned him and gone over to Sigibert, moved his camp and withdrew to Alluyes, a village not far from Chartres. Sigibert followed, and called on him to fix the place of battle. But the other feared that if their two armies joined battle, their dominion would go down in ruin; he therefore sought terms of peace, and restored those cities of Sigibert’s which Theudebert had wrongfully invaded. He asked only that in no case should their inhabitants be held guilty, since Theudebert had unjustly forced them to his side by fire and sword.

During this time most of the villages about Paris were consumed by fire; the houses and all other property were pillaged by the enemy, and even the inhabitants were led away captive. King Sigibert besought his followers to abstain from such actions, but he was unable to control the savagery of the men from beyond the Rhine. He therefore bore it all with such patience as he could until he should be able to return to his own country. Some of these heathens murmured against him for not letting them fight. But as he never lacked courage, he mounted his horse and rode towards them, pacifying them with fair words; later, he had many of them stoned. It may not be doubted that the power of the blessed Martin was manifested, in that the kings made peace without recourse to arms; on the very day on which peace was made, three paralytics stood erect in the church of the saint. Which miracle, with God’s aid, I have recounted in later books.²

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