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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 5, How the Church of the Holy Dionysius Was Outraged on Account of a Woman
At Paris a certain woman fell under accusation, many asserting that she had forsaken her husband for a connexion with another man. The husband’s relatives went to her father, saying: ‘Either prove thy daughter innocent, or let her surely die, that her adultery be not suffered to bring disgrace upon our family.’ The woman’s father answered: ‘I know that my daughter is wholly innocent, nor is there truth in this rumour spread by evil tongues. Yet in order that the charge may proceed no farther, I will establish her innocence by an oath.’ They answered: ‘If she be free from guile, affirm it with an oath over the tomb of the blessed martyr Dionysius.’ ‘That will I do,’ said the father. On this understanding, they met at the church of the holy martyr, where the father, lifting up his hands over the altar, swore that his daughter was without guilt. The husband’s supporters, on the other hand, declared him perjured; thereupon an altercation arose, in which they unsheathed their swords, and rushed upon each other, so that there was bloodshed before the very altar, though they were of high birth and among the first at the court of Chilperic. Many received sword-wounds; the holy church was splashed with blood of men; the doors were pierced by javelins and swords; the weapons of wickedness raged even at the very sepulchre of the saint. As soon as the strife was with difficulty appeased, the celebration of holy offices in the church was suspended while the matter was brought to the king’s cognizance. The parties hastened before the royal presence, but were not received into favour. The king ordered them to be sent back to the bishop of the city, that if they were found not guilty they might in due course be admitted to communion. They then made composition for their offences, and were again received into communion by Bishop Ragnemod, head of the church of Paris. A few days after, the woman, on being summoned to trial, strangled herself with a noose.