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History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 7, 38. Of the Slaying of Gundovald

When the besiegers saw that their efforts availed nothing, they sent messengers to Mummolus in secret, saying: ‘Acknowledge thy true lord, and desist even at this late hour from thy frowardness. What madness constraineth thee, that thou servest a man unknown? Thy wife and thy children are taken captive; thy sons are surely slain. Whither rushest thou? To what canst thou look forward but thy ruin?’ On receipt of this message he replied: ‘I see that our dominion draweth already to its end, and our power declineth. But one course remaineth; and had I surety that my life should be safe, I might spare you many toils.’ When the messengers were gone, Bishop Sagittarius, with Mummolus, Chariulf, and Waddo, proceeded to the church, and there they made mutual oaths that if they were assured of their lives, they would renounce their loyalty to Gundovald, and surrender his person to the enemy. The messengers came back with a promise that their lives should be spared. Mummolus said: ‘Grant but that, and I will surrender this man into your hands; I will acknowledge my lord and king, and straightway seek his presence.’ Thereupon they promised that if he would keep his word, they would receive him with kindliness, and if they failed to obtain his pardon from the king, they would place him in a church that he might escape punishment of death. They promised this under oath, and took their departure.

Then Mummolus, with Sagittarius and Waddo, went to Gundovald and said: ‘Thou knowest, thou that standest here before us, what oaths of fealty we took to thee. But hear now a wholesome counsel. Depart from this city and present thyself before thy brother, as thou hast often wished to do. For we have already held conference with these men, and they have told us that the king desireth not to lose thy support, since of the royal line so few remain alive.’ Gundovald saw through their treachery, and said with many tears: ‘It was by your invitation that I was brought to Gaul, and of my treasures, including an immense weight of gold, silver, and divers precious things, part is kept back in Avignon, and part was plundered by Guntram Boso. All my hope was placed in you, next to God’s aid; I gave you all my confidence; by your help I ever hoped to reign. If ye now have spoken to me falsely, lay your account with God, for He shall judge my cause.’ To this Mummolus made answer: ‘We have said nothing with treacherous intent; and, behold, already there stand at the gate stout men of war awaiting thy coming forth. Now therefore put off my golden baldric which thou wearest, that thou seem not to go forth in a bravery; gird on thy own sword, and restore me mine.’ He replied: ‘I see well enough the double purport of these words: that these things of thine which I have worn till now as symbols of our friendship are now to be taken from me.’ Mummolus then solemnly swore that no evil should be done him.

So they went out from the gate, and Gundovald was received by Ullo, count of Bourges, and by Boso; but Mummolus and his followers drew back within the city and made the gate fast behind them. When Gundovald saw that he was betrayed into the hands of his enemies, he lifted up his hands and his eyes to heaven and cried: ‘O Eternal Judge, and true avenger of the innocent, Thou God from whom all justice proceedeth, who hatest a lie, in whom is no guile nor craft of malice, to Thee do I commend my cause, that Thou avenge me swiftly on those who have betrayed me, innocent of all offence, into the hands of mine enemies.’ Having said these words, and made the sign of the Lord’s Cross, he went away with the men of whom I have written. When they had gone some distance from the gate, the city being surrounded by a valley with precipitous sides, Ullo pushed him down, shouting as he did so, ‘Behold your Ballomer¹ who declareth himself son and brother of kings!’ He then thrust at him with his spear, wishing to run him through, but the rings of his hauberk turned the blow, and made it harmless. Gundovald then rose and tried to go back up the hill, but Boso hurled a stone and struck his head so that he fell and breathed his last. A crowd of men came up and pierced the body with their spears. They then bound his feet with a rope and dragged him through the whole camp; the hair of his head and his beard were plucked out, and he was left unburied on the spot where he was slain.

On the following night the chief men in the town secretly removed all the treasures which they could find, including the church plate. The next morning the gates were opened and the besieging army was admitted. All the common people within were put to the sword, and the priests of the Lord, with those who served them, were massacred before the altars. When all were dead, so that there remained not one that pisseth against a wall,² they set fire to the city with all its churches and other buildings. They left nothing but the naked ground.

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