Library › St Gregory of Tours › History of the Franks

History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 9, 20. Of My Mission to King Guntram for the Keeping of the Peace

In this year, the thirteenth of Childebert, I had journeyed to Metz to meet that king,¹ when I was commanded to proceed as envoy to King Guntram. I found him at Chalon, and spoke as follows: ‘Illustrious king, thy most glorious nephew Childebert sendeth thee his fullest greeting, rendering thee thanks beyond measure, for thy perpetual admonishment to do that which is pleasing in God’s sight, acceptable to thee, and fitting his people’s need. He promiseth to fulfil all that was agreed upon between you, and to break no clauses in the pact signed by you both.’ The king answered: ‘No like thanks can I return, seeing that the promise made to me is so clearly broken. He withholdeth from me my part in the city of Senlis. He hath not surrendered enemies of mine, whom, for my safety, I wished to have removed from his kingdom. How say ye, then, that my very dear nephew desireth in no way to transgress the provisions of the pact drawn up between us?’ To this I replied: ‘It is not his will to contravene any provision; he promiseth to fulfil them all, in such wise that if thou desirest to send with regard to the division of Senlis, thou shalt forthwith receive that which is due to thee. As to the men of whom thou dost complain, let their names be written down and sent to him, and every pledge shall be redeemed.’ After this statement of mine, the king commanded the agreement to be read over again before all present.

Copy of the Pact.

‘When in the name of Christ the most excellent lords King Guntram and King Childebert and the right glorious lady the queen Brunhild met together at Andelot for loving-kindness’ sake, that they might take full counsel to end whatsoever causes of offence might arise between them, it was settled, approved, and agreed between them with the concourse of their bishops and chief men, the grace of God being their help and mutual love their care, that as long as Almighty God shall grant them life in this present world they shall preserve mutual faith and loving-kindness in purity and singleness of heart. Likewise that since King Guntram, in accordance with the treaty which he made with King Sigibert of good memory, claimed all the portion of the said lord Sigibert in the kingdom of Charibert,² and since King Childebert sought to recover the whole part which his father had possessed; it is hereby after final deliberation decided between the parties as hereinafter followeth. All that the lord Sigibert obtained by treaty from the kingdom of Charibert, namely, the third part of the city of Paris, with its territory and its inhabitants, the castles of Châteaudun, Vendôme, and all that the said king had possessed in the territory of Étampes towards those regions, and in Chartres, with their territories and their inhabitants, shall remain in perpetuity under the lawful rule and dominion of King Guntram, in addition to all that he previously possessed of the kingdom of Charibert while the lord Sigibert was yet alive. In like manner the lord King Childebert shall from this day forward hold under his dominion the city of Meaux, two-thirds of Senlis, the cities of Tours, Poitiers, Avranches, Aire, Saint-Lizier, Bayonne, and Albi, with their territories; but on this condition, that whichever of the two kings God shall cause to survive the other, if that other pass childless from the light of this present world, shall inherit his kingdom in its entirety and for ever, and by God’s aid hand it down to his descendants.

‘It is especially determined, and through all things inviolably to be observed, that whatsoever the lord King Guntram hath presented to his daughter Clotild³ or by God’s favour shall yet present to her in all kinds of property, or in men, in cities, lands or revenues, shall remain under her power and control; and if she should be fain to dispose of any part of the domain lands assigned to her, or of costly objects, or money, or to bestow them upon any person, these gifts shall with the aid of the Lord be preserved to the possessors for ever, nor shall they at any time or by any man be taken from them; and she herself, under the guardianship and protection of King Childebert, shall hold in undisturbed possession, with all honour and dignity, everything of which she shall stand possessed at the death of her sire. Likewise the lord King Guntram promiseth that if, through the frailty of our human flesh, that should befall which he would fain not live to see, and which he trusteth that God’s goodness may forbid, namely, that King Childebert should depart first from the light of this world, leaving him behind, he will receive as a true father under his guardianship and protection the said king’s sons, Theudebert and Theuderic as kings, and any other sons which God may have willed to give him, and will see that in all security they possess their father’s kingdom; and that he will receive under his guardianship and defence in all spiritual affection the lady Queen Brunhild, mother of the lord King Childebert, and her daughter Chlodosind, sister of the lord King Childebert, as long as she shall remain in the Frankish dominions, and likewise his queen Faileuba,⁴ as it were his own dear sister, with her daughters, and shall grant them to possess in all security and quietness, with all honour and dignity, all their goods, their cities, lands, revenues, and rights, all their property, both such as they hold at this present time, and such as, with Christ’s guidance, they may lawfully add hereafter, so that if of their free will they shall desire to dispose of any part of that which was given them out of the domain lands, or of their several effects, or of their moneys, or to confer such property on any person, it shall be secured to him in safe possession in perpetuity, and their wish shall at no time and by no man whatsoever be annulled. As to the cities of Bordeaux, Limoges, Cahors, Lescar, and Cieutat, which were given, whether as dowry, or as morgengabe, which is to say morning-gift, to Galswinth, sister of the lady Brunhild, on her coming into Francia, and which the lady Brunhild, in the lifetime of kings Chilperic and Sigibert, acquired by decision of the lord King Guntram and of the Franks, it is agreed that the lady Brunhild shall forthwith receive in her own possession the city of Cahors with its territory and all its inhabitants, and that all the other cities named above in this relation shall belong to the lord Guntram during his life, but by God’s furthering grace shall revert after his death, undiminished in extent, into the possession of the lady Brunhild and her heirs; meanwhile, so long as the lord Guntram liveth, they shall at no time and under no pretext be claimed by the lady Brunhild, or by her son King Childebert, or by his sons. It is likewise agreed that the lord Childebert shall hold Senlis in its entirety, and that the said lord Childebert shall compensate the lord Guntram for the third part of it of right belonging to him, by adding to his possessions the third part of Ressons now in the lord Childebert’s possession. It is further agreed that in accordance with the compacts made between the lord Guntram and the lord Sigibert of blessed memory, those leudes⁵ who upon the death of King Lothar first took oaths of loyalty to the lord Guntram, and are shown thereafter to have transferred their allegiance elsewhere, shall be brought back from the places where they now dwell. Likewise those who after the death of the lord King Lothar are proved to have first taken oaths of fealty to the lord Sigibert, and then transferred their allegiance elsewhere, shall in like manner be sent back. Likewise whatsoever the above-mentioned kings have conferred upon churches and upon their own trusty adherents, or may yet by God’s propitious grace decide lawfully to confer upon them, shall be preserved to them in security. And whatsoever any trusty subject of the kings in either kingdom shall of law and justice possess, he shall suffer no prejudice, but shall be permitted to hold these things which are his due. And if, during an interregnum, anything be lost to any man without any fault of his, an inquiry shall be held and it shall be restored. And that which each man hath possessed through the munificence of preceding kings down to the death of the lord King Lothar of glorious memory, let him continue to possess it in security. And that which hath thereafter been taken from our trusty subjects, let it be forthwith returned. And since the aforesaid kings are now united in the name of God in a pure and single concord, it is agreed that at no time shall a free passage through the kingdom of either be refused to their respective leudes, whether a man would travel upon public or upon private affairs. In like manner it is agreed that neither shall invite to him the leudes of the other, or receive them if they come to him of their own accord. And if haply, on the ground of some offence, a subject of one king shall deem it well to seek the territory of the other, he shall be delivered up, but treated with such lenience as the nature of the offence allows.

‘Further, it was resolved to add this article to the present treaty: if either party shall by any subtle pretext, or at any time, transgress these its provisions, he shall forfeit all the benefits, as well those promised for the future as those straightway conferred, and these benefits shall profit him only who shall have observed all the above conditions; he shall be in all respects absolved from the obligation of keeping his oaths. These points being thus decided, the contracting parties swear by the name of Almighty God and the indivisible Trinity, by all things divine, and by the tremendous day of Judgement, that without any treachery or fraud they will inviolably observe all that is hereinbefore set down.

‘This treaty was made on the fourth day of the kalends of December,⁶ in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of the lord King Guntram, and in the twelfth year of the lord Childebert.’

When therefore it had all been read through,⁷ the king said: ‘May God’s judgement strike me, if I transgress aught of the provisions herein contained.’ Then, turning to Felix who had come with us as an envoy, he said: ‘Tell me, Felix, hast thou not joined in the fullest friendship my sister Brunhild and Fredegund, the enemy of God and man? Felix denying the charge, I said: ‘Let not the king doubt that the same kind of friendship which hath bound them these many years is still maintained. For know of a surety that the hatred which long ago was between them, far from being withered, is still in vigorous growth. Would that thou, most glorious king, wert less kindly disposed towards that queen! For as I have myself often perceived, thou dost receive her embassies with greater honour than ours.’ To this the king: ‘Know, O bishop, that I receive her envoys in such fashion as never to fall short in my affection for King Childebert my nephew. How could I establish friendship with one who hath often sent forth assassins to take my life?’ When he had thus spoken, Felix said: ‘I suppose that thy majesty hath heard that Recared hath sent an embassy to thy nephew to demand in marriage thy niece Chlodosind, the daughter of thy brother.⁸ But King Childebert is not minded to make any promise without thy sanction.’ The king answered: ‘It is by no means good that my niece should go to the same land where her sister was slain;⁹ nor can I accept it as right that the death of my niece Ingund should go unavenged.’ Felix replied: ‘They of Spain much desire to clear themselves, by taking oaths, or by any other means which thou mayst impose; only give thy consent that Chlodosind be betrothed as they desire.’ The king said: ‘If my nephew shall fulfil all the conditions written at his own wish in this treaty, then I on my side will gratify his wishes in this matter.’ We thereupon promised that he would fulfil them all, and Felix added: ‘He further beseecheth thee of loyalty to kin to lend him aid against the Lombards, that they may be driven out of Italy and that the territory which his sire claimed in his lifetime may come back to him; the remainder he would fain see, by thy aid and his own, restored to the dominions of the emperor.’ The king replied: ‘Nay, I cannot send my army into Italy, to give it over to destruction without need, for Italy is now devastated by a most grievous pestilence.’ Then I said: ‘Thou hast made known to thy nephew thy desire that all the bishops in his kingdom be assembled, on the ground that there be many matters calling for investigation. But following our canonical use, thy most glorious nephew preferreth that each metropolitan should meet together with the bishops of his province, and amend by decree of such councils the disorders occurring in his own region. And what reason should there be for assembling such a multitude in a single place? The faith of the Church is unshaken by any peril; no new heresy showeth its head. Where, then, is the necessity that all these bishops should meet together?’ The king answered: ‘There be many points calling for decision: many acts of injustice have been committed; there is much impurity of life; there are also the matters to be discussed between us. First and above all, there is that which concerneth God Himself; ye are to inquire how it befell that Bishop Praetextatus was slain by the sword in his cathedral church.¹⁰ But there should also be discussion with regard to those accused of immorality, that they may either amend their lives after yielding to your sanctions, or else, if proved innocent, be publicly acquitted of a false charge.’ He then commanded this council to be put off until the kalends of the fourth month.¹¹ When he had spoken we proceeded to the church, for that day was the festival of our Lord’s Resurrection. After the Mass he summoned us to his table, at which the abundance of the dishes was not greater than our own good cheer. For the king without ceasing talked of God, of building new churches, or of protecting the poor. But at times he would be merry, delighting us with jests harmless to religion, that we too might share in his happy mood. He said this, among other things: ‘Heaven grant that my nephew keep his promises, for all that I have is his. But if he take offence because I receive envoys from my nephew Lothar, am I in such wise a fool as not to be able to mediate between them and prevent the cause of dispute from spreading? Well do I know that it is better to end it than allow it to drag a weary length. I shall give Lothar, if I formally recognize him as my nephew, two or three cities in some part of my dominions, that he may not feel himself disinherited; thus may Childebert be easy as to the inheritance which his cousin shall receive.’ This he said, with much else; and after using us right lovingly, and loading us with presents, he dismissed us, bidding us ever give King Childebert such counsel as should further his prosperity.

Previous · Contents · Next