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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 6, 37. Of the Murder of Lupentius, Abbot of Javols
Lupentius, abbot of the church at Javols of Privatus, saint and martyr, was summoned by Queen Brunhild and came before her. He is said to have been accused by Innocentius, count of the city, of speaking ill against the queen. After being examined upon this charge, he was found innocent of lèse majesté, and suffered to depart. But on his way home he was seized by the count, taken to the domain of Ponthion, and cruelly handled. Once more he was dismissed, to continue his journey, and once more his enemy fell upon him, after he had pitched his tent on the bank of the Aisne. He was borne down; his head was cut off, placed in a sack weighted with stones, and thrown into the river. The trunk was tied to a piece of rock and sunk in the stream. But after a few days it was discovered by some shepherds, who drew it out of the water and prepared to give it burial. But while they were making all things ready, not knowing who the dead man was, lo! suddenly appeared an eagle, which fetched up the sack from the river-bed and set it down on the bank. All who stood by marvelled; they laid hold of the sack, eager to discover what it might contain, and found in it the head belonging to the body; so they buried the two together. Men say that in our time a celestial light appears at this tomb, and that if any sick man prays there in faith, he goes on his way whole.