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History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 7, 32. Of Other Envoys from Gundovald

After these things Gundovald again sent two envoys to the king, bearing consecrated rods according to the custom of the Franks, that they might not be touched by any man, but, after setting forth the object of their mission, return with their answer. These men were heedless enough to reveal to many persons, before they were given audience of the king, what they were instructed to ask. The king soon heard talk of this, and they were brought into his presence in chains. They did not dare to deny the object of their mission, or who sent them and to whom, but delivered their message: ‘Gundovald, who of late is come from the East, declareth himself the son of thy father King Lothar. We are sent to demand the portion of the kingdom which is his due. If this be not yielded up by thee, know that he will come into these regions with an army, for all the most powerful men in the parts of Gaul beyond the Dordogne have joined him. And thus speaketh he: “God’s judgement will decide, when we twain encounter in a single field, whether I am Lothar’s son or not.”’ Thereat the king, inflamed with wrath, ordered them to be stretched by the pulleys and severely flogged, that if they spoke sooth they might give yet more evident proof, or, if the depths of their hearts held further secrets, the frightful pain might drag the truth from them in their own despite. It was done, and as the agony increased, they declared that the king’s niece, King Chilperic’s daughter,¹ had been banished with Magnulf, bishop of Toulouse,² and that her whole treasure had been seized by Gundovald, who had been asked to take the throne by all the chief men of King Childebert; the request had been the special object of the visit made to Constantinople a few years before by Guntram Boso, who had brought him the invitation to enter Gaul.

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