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History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 7, 14. Of the Embassy Sent by King Childebert to King Guntram

When the time came for the assembly, King Childebert sent to King Guntram Bishop Egidius, Guntram Boso, Sigivald, and many others. And when they came into his presence the bishop said: ‘We render thanks to Almighty God, most pious king, that after all these thy labours He hath restored thee to thy territories and thy kingdom.’ The king replied: ‘To Him indeed are thanks meetly to be rendered, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, who of His mercy hath deigned to bring these things to pass; but to thee none, through whose traitorous counsel and perjuries my lands last year were ravaged by fire,¹ who hast never kept whole faith with any man, whose plots are at work upon all sides, who standest confessed as no true bishop, but a declared enemy of my realm.’ At these words the bishop kept angry silence; but one of the envoys said: ‘Thy nephew Childebert maketh petition that thou command the cities held aforetime by his father to be restored.’ Whereto the king made answer: ‘I have already told you that by the terms of the agreement between us these towns fall to me, and therefore I am not minded to give them up.’ Another of the envoys then said: ‘Thy nephew asketh thee to order the surrender of Fredegund, the sorceress through whom many of the royal blood have lost their lives, that the deaths of his father, his uncle, and his cousins may be avenged.’ To this the king rejoined: ‘She cannot be surrendered into his hands, because she is the mother of a king. Moreover, the charges which ye make against her I deem untrue.’ Thereupon Guntram Boso approached the king, as if he would speak to him. But as it had been bruited abroad that Gundovald had been publicly raised on the shield as king, the king cut him short, crying: ‘O thou enemy of my country and my kingdom, who in these last years didst go into the East for no other end than to bring in upon my realm a Ballomer ’, for so he styled Gundovald; ‘thou traitor, ever false to thy word!’ The other replied: ‘Thou art lord, and sittest as king upon a royal throne, and none dareth make answer to that which thou sayest: yet do I declare myself innocent on this account. But if any man of my own rank hath brought this charge against me, keeping safe out of sight, let him come forth and speak openly. Do thou, most pious king, submit the issue to the judgement of God, that He alone may decide, when He seeth us do battle alone together upon one field.’ At this, all were silent, and the king proceeded: ‘All of us should now have one cause at heart, to drive out from our borders an adventurer whose father managed a mill; if the truth must be told, he also sat over the reeds and wove wool.’ Although, of course, it is plain that one man may practise both kinds of work, one of the envoys scoffingly answered: ‘Thou sayest then, that this man had two fathers, both a weaver and a miller? Be it far from thee, O king, to speak so simply. For who ever heard of a man having a second father, unless it were in the spiritual sense?’² At this many burst out laughing, and another envoy said: ‘We take our leave of thee, O king, since thou hast refused to restore the cities of thy nephew; but we know that the axe is still prepared which clave the heads of thy brothers; soon shall it sink in thine and cleave thy brain.’ With this they angrily withdrew. Then the king, enraged at what they said, commanded putrid horse-dung to be flung upon their heads as they departed, with rotten woodchips and mouldy hay, and even the foul mud from the road. Sorely defiled with these things, they went their way, beyond measure outraged and affronted.

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