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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 8, 44. Of a Man Who Would Have Murdered King Guntram
Fredegund dispatched envoys to King Guntram in the name of her son. They presented their petition, received their answer, and retired after due farewells; but for some cause or other lingered a while in their lodging. At dawn the king, proceeding to matins, a wax taper being borne before him, perceived a man asleep, like one drunken, in a corner of the oratory; he was girded with a sword, and his spear leaned against the wall. At this sight the king cried out that there was an unnatural thing for a man to be found sleeping in such a place in the dread dark of night. Overpowered and bound with thongs, the man was questioned as to what all this meant, and on being forthwith put to torture, declared that he was dispatched by the envoys to slay the king. The envoys of Fredegund were then arrested, but would not plead guilty to any of the points on which they were examined, saying: ‘We were sent for no other purpose than to bring the king the message which we presented.’ The man was then severely flogged and committed to prison by the king’s command, while the envoys were banished to various places. It was very clear that they were dispatched by Fredegund to take the king’s life, which thing the mercy of God did not allow. Baddo was regarded as the chief among them.1
Notes
- Cf. IX. 13.