Library › St Gregory of Tours › History of the Franks

History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 5, 49. Of His Treachery Towards Us, and How He Was Humbled

But since it would be wearisome to trace all his perjuries and other misdeeds one by one, let me come at once to his attempt to give me a fall by unjust and wicked calumnies, and to the descent upon him of the divine vengeance, to the fulfilment of that which is written: ‘Every man that supplanteth shall be supplanted,’¹ and again: ‘He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it himself.’²

Well then, after doing many wrongs to me and mine, and time and again plundering Church property, he conspired with the priest Riculf, a man of like perversity, and had the shamelessness to accuse me of having attacked Queen Fredegund, declaring that if Plato, my archdeacon, or my friend Gallienus were put to the torture, I should be convicted of the slander out of their mouths. Then it was, as I have said,³ that the king lost his temper, struck him with his fist and foot, and ordered him to be confined in prison. Leudast pretended to have said what he did on the authority of the cleric Riculf. Now this Riculf was a subdeacon, a man, like himself, wayward and void of all principle. The year before, he had plotted with Leudast about this matter, seeking grounds of offence that, once embroiled with me, he might have a pretext for going over to Leudast. He at length found one, and joined his patron. He then for four months prepared all manner of traps and snares, and then returned to me with Leudast, entreating me to pardon him and take him back. I did it, I admit, and publicly took into my house my secret enemy. On the departure of Leudast, he threw himself at my feet making this petition: ‘If thou aid me not betimes, I am lost. For, behold, set on by Leudast I have said things which I ought not to have said. Now, therefore, send me forth into one of the other kingdoms, for if thou do it not, I shall be taken by the king’s people and pay the penalty.’ I answered: ‘If thou hast spoken madly, thy words shall be upon thine own head; I will not send thee into one of the other kingdoms, lest I incur the suspicion of the king.’ After this Leudast became his accuser, declaring that he had heard the subdeacon Riculf say the words which I have mentioned. When Leudast had been set free, Riculf was put in bonds and imprisoned; he now declared that Gallienus and the archdeacon Plato were both present on the day when I, their bishop, had said these words.

But the other Riculf, the priest, who had received a promise of my bishopric from Leudast, had grown so big a man that his pride was as that of Simon Magus. Though thrice or yet more often he had sworn loyalty to me over the tomb of the holy Martin, he yet, on the sixth day after Easter, reviled and spat at me in such wise that he could hardly keep his hands from doing me violence; so sure was he of the snare which he had laid. On the morrow, Easter Saturday, Leudast came to Tours, and pretending another errand, arrested Gallienus and the archdeacon Plato, putting them in chains; then he had them brought before the queen, fettered and stripped of their upper garments. The news was brought to me while I was in the church house; I was grieved and vexed in spirit, and going into my oratory, took up the book of the Psalms of David, that when I had opened it I might find a text of consolation. Now these were the words I found: ‘He led them on in hope, and they feared not, and the sea overwhelmed their enemies.’⁴ Meanwhile they had embarked on the river above the bridge supported by two boats, and the vessel bearing Leudast sank, so that he would probably have perished with his companions, if he had not saved himself by swimming. The other boat, carrying the prisoners and attached to the first, by God’s aid kept afloat. They were therefore taken in their chains before the king, and promptly accused; their end was to be compassed by capital punishment. But the king reconsidered the matter, and ordered them to be freed from their bonds and kept unharmed, under guard, but without close restraint.

At Tours, Duke Berulf and Count Eunomius invented the tale that King Guntram meant to take the city, and declared that in consequence the place must be closely guarded, to prevent any negligence. They therefore craftily posted a watch at the gates, who should seem to be protecting the citizens, but in fact should keep their eyes on me. They even sent emissaries to advise me that I should do well to take the best treasures of the church and make my escape to Clermont. I did not do as they wished.

The king now summoned the bishops of his kingdom⁵ and ordered the matter to be thoroughly investigated. Riculf the cleric⁶ was several times examined in secret and uttered many calumnies against me and mine; thereupon a certain Modestus, a carpenter, said to him: ‘Thou wretch, thus contumaciously to plot against thy bishop! It were better for thee to hold thy peace, ask his pardon, and once more obtain his favour.’ Whereat he made outcry with a loud voice, and said: ‘Behold, this fellow would bid me be silent and cease following after truth! Here is an enemy of the queen who would prevent us from examining the charge brought against her.’ The words were forthwith reported to the queen. Modestus was arrested, put to the torture, scourged, fast bound, and imprisoned. Now as he was there between two guards in his chains, fastened to the block, he prayed to the Lord while the men slept at the mid hour of the night, that of His omnipotence He might deign to visit one in misery, and that by the help of Martin the bishop and of Médard, he that was put in bonds without cause might be set free. And soon the bonds were riven asunder, the block broken, the door opened, and he himself came into the church of the holy Médard, where I was keeping vigil that night.

The bishops assembled at Berny received the order to take up their residence in one house. When the king arrived he greeted all present and received their benediction, whereupon he sat him down. Then Bertram, bishop of Bordeaux, against whom, equally with the queen, the charge was brought,⁷ set forth the whole matter, and questioned me, declaring me to be the author of the accusation. In all sincerity I denied having said anything of the kind; others might have heard such talk; nothing of the sort had come into my head. Outside the building there now rose a great uproar among the people, who cried: ‘Wherefore these attacks upon the priest of the Lord? Why doth the king pursue this matter? Could a bishop have spoken thus even of a slave? Alas! alas! Lord God, bestow Thine aid upon Thy servant.’ But the king said: ‘A charge brought against the queen is a disgrace for me. If therefore ye hold that witnesses should be called against the bishop, they are here present. But if ye decide that this may not be, and that the bishop’s honour shall be trusted, speak your will; right gladly will I hear what ye desire.’ All admired the mingled wisdom and restraint shown by the king. Then, as every one maintained ‘that the evidence of an inferior might not be believed against a bishop’, it was settled that I should say Mass at three altars and clear myself of the accusation by an oath. And, though these conditions were contrary to the canons, they were fulfilled out of consideration for the king. Nor need I conceal the fact that the princess Rigunth, in her sympathy with me in my tribulation, fasted with all her household until one of her servants brought the news that I had accomplished everything as it had been ordained. The bishops now returned to the king and said: ‘O king, the bishop hath fulfilled all the conditions imposed upon him. What remaineth now for thee but to be deprived of communion together with Bertram, accuser of his brother? ’ The king thereupon replied: ‘I did but repeat such things as I had heard.’ And when they asked who told him, he made answer that he heard it from Leudast. But this man had already fled; his was a nature without stability either in judgement or in purpose. Then the whole body of the bishops decreed that this sower of scandal, this slanderer of a queen, this accuser of a bishop, should be banned from all churches for having thus evaded judgement, and they dispatched to those bishops who were not present a letter to this effect signed by their hands. Thereupon they returned, every man to his own place. When Leudast heard what was done, he betook himself to the church of Saint Peter at Paris. But, learning the royal edict that no man in the kingdom should receive him in his house, and above all that his son, whom he had left at home, was dead, he came privily to Tours and removed the most valuable of his possessions to the territory of Bourges. The king’s servants pursuing him thither, he escaped from their hands by flight. His wife was taken, and sent into banishment in the district of Tournai: Riculf, the cleric,⁸ was condemned to death. His life was with difficulty granted me, but I could not save him from the torture. Nothing, not even metal, could bear such blows as this wretch had to endure. From the third hour of the day he hung suspended from a tree with his hands bound behind his back. At the ninth hour he was taken down, racked with the rope and pulley, and beaten with staves, with rods, and double thongs; and not by one or two assailants, but every one struck him who could get within reach of his wretched limbs. When he found himself in peril of death, then at last he revealed the truth and publicly laid bare the secret of the plot. He declared that the queen had been accused that she might be expelled from the realm; Chlodovech, after his brothers had been slain, was to receive his father’s kingdom, and Leudast a dukedom. The priest Riculf, who from the time of the holy bishop Eufronius had been the friend of Chlodovech, was to solicit the bishopric of Tours; he himself, the subdeacon, had been promised the office of archdeacon.

So by the grace of God I returned safe to Tours, but found the church thrown into confusion by Riculf, the priest. This man had been raised from poor estate under Bishop Eufronius, and ordained archdeacon. Promoted later to the priesthood, he withdrew to a house of his own. He was ever an upstart, full of bombast and presumption. For while I was absent with the king he insolently entered the church house as if he were already bishop, made an inventory of the church plate, and took possession of all the other effects. He gave rich presents to the principal clergy, making gifts of vineyards and distributing fields; to the lower clerics, on the other hand, he administered with his own hand a shower of blows and cudgellings, saying: ‘In me perceive your master, who hath won the victory over his enemies, whose genius hath purged Tours from the rabble of Auvergne.’ The wretch was ignorant that all the bishops but five who held the see of Tours were connected with my family. He often used to tell his intimates that perjury was the only means of deceiving a wise man. On my return he continued to treat me with contempt. He did not come out to greet me as the rest of the citizens did, but instead threatened me with death. I therefore took counsel with the bishops of my province, and ordered his removal to a monastery. He was there kept in close durance, but escaped by the help of envoys sent by Bishop Felix, who had supported those guilty of the affair above related. The abbot was taken in by lies, and Riculf came safely to Felix, who received with eagerness one whom he should have held in execration. Leudast betook himself to the territory of Bourges, taking with him all the treasure that he had amassed by plundering the poor. But soon afterwards the inhabitants, with the judge of the place, fell upon him and took from him all the gold and silver which he had brought with him, leaving him nothing but what he had upon his person; they would even have taken his life if he had not escaped by flight. But no sooner had he once more forces at his command than he attacked his despoilers with certain men of Tours, and, having slain one of his enemies and recovered some of his lost property, returned into the territory of that city. At news of this Duke Berulf dispatched a body of armed followers to take him. Seeing himself on the point of capture, he abandoned his goods and took refuge in the church of the holy Hilary at Poitiers; Duke Berulf then sent the king the property which had fallen into his hands. Leudast made frequent sallies from the church, broke into the houses of divers persons, and openly carried off the plunder. Moreover, he was taken in adulteries within the very porch of the holy building. The queen, indignant at this pollution of a place consecrated to God, ordered him to be ejected from the church. After his expulsion he once more betook himself to his friends in the territory of Bourges, and besought them to hide him.

Previous · Contents · Next