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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
nb1
Preface. Trained in the art of ordered composition. The words are quisquam peritus dialectica in arte grammaticus. Gregory does not here give to ars dialectica the strict sense of logic; he rather means the art of exposition, which we commonly call ‘writing’.
Heretics... catholics. By heretics here are meant the Arians, chiefly represented by the Visigoths. The Visigoths remained Arian until the conversion of Recared in 587.
The accomplished writer (philosophantem rhetorem)... the man of plain speech (loquentem rusticum). In the old Roman schools rhetor signified one who had pursued the advanced course of literary studies, which included more than rhetoric in the modern sense, corresponding somewhat to ‘humane letters’. In the same way, philosophans implies the thought and phraseology of a high general culture, rather than a purely philosophic treatment. Rusticus sermo in the late Latin writers always means common speech, the speech of ordinary men, untutored in the grammar and rhetoric of the schools.
First shall Antichrist come. In the text the words Neronem et, inserted before Antechristum prius esse venturum, have been erased. The text is corrupt; the last two letters of venturum have been rewritten by another hand, and erasure has followed.
Eusebius... Jerome. The chronicle of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea (d. 340), was written in Greek. The second book was translated into Latin by S. Jerome, and continued down to the year 378. The Greek original has only been preserved in a few fragments, but the whole work exists in an Armenian version, translated into Latin (A. Schöne, Eusebii Chronicorum libri duo, 1866 and 1875). Schöne may also be consulted for Jerome’s version of the chronicle (Die Weltchronik des Eusebius in ihrer Bearbeitung durch Hieronymus, 1900). Cf. A. Molinier, Les sources de l’hist. de France, p. 42, and J. B. Bury’s edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall (1909), i, Appendix, p. 560.
Orosius, a Spanish priest of Tarragona, wrote, at the beginning of the fifth century, a chronicle from the Creation down to his own day, at the suggestion of S. Augustine. It has no historical importance except in the part dealing with his own times. The text has been edited by K. Zangemeister (1889). For the authors who have written on Orosius and his works, see A. Molinier, as above, p. 43, and U. Chevalier, Répertoire des sources hist. du Moyen Âge: Bio-bibliographie, cols. 3434 and 3435.
Victorius. This writer was a native of Aquitaine who in 541 drew up a table of dates for Easter (Cursus Paschalis) at the request of Pope Hilary I. See M. G. H., Auct. antiquiss. ix: Chronica Minora, Saec. IV-VII, tom. i (Berlin, 1892), pp. 669 ff., ed. by Th. Mommsen. Cf. also the books cited by U. Chevalier, as above, col. 4668. Cf. n. to X. 23.
5. Who called him Zoroaster, which is to say, living star. This derivation, which is purely fanciful, is not obtained from the original Persian form Zarathustra, but from the Greek version Zoroaster, which might be regarded as a combination of the two Greek words: ζωρός (pure) and ἀστήρ (star).
6. And their own selves. The words of the text are: quorum vana cogitatione simul et lingua ipsiusque confutans Deus.
This is Babylon, built by the giant Hebron, son of Chus. Nimrod should be read for the Hebron of the text. In De cursu stellarum, 3, Gregory places Babylon as the second of the Seven Wonders of the World. The reference to Orosius is Hist., Bk. II, 68.
Five aripennes. The aripennis (later arpent) was both a linear and a square measure. As a measure of length it usually contained 125 feet, or 25 paces. Another aripennis had 120 feet, or 24 paces, constituting a half-jugerum, and divided into twelve equal parts called perticae (perches). See B. Guérard, Le polyptyque de l’Abbé Irminon (1844), Part I (Prolegomena), p. 165. Cf. also V. 21 (28), and n. on p. 544.
7. Who begat Abraham. The names of the descendants of Noah in the Vulgate are as follows: Sem, Arphaxad, Sale, Heber, Phaleg, Reu, Sarug, Nachor, Thare.
Nine hundred years. A blank space to contain four letters, or figures, occurs after the DCCCC of the text. Other MSS. have DCCCCXLII.
As Severus relates in his chronicle. This statement has not been verified. For Sulpicius Severus (c. A.D. 353-410) cf. H. Delehaye, Analecta Bolland. xxxviii; U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist. du Moyen Âge: Bio-bibliographie, s.v. Sulpice Sévère; and A. Molinier, Les sources de l’hist. de France (Manuel de bibliographie hist.), 1901, p. 43. He wrote Historiae Sacrae in two books, as well as his Dialogues and Letters on S. Martin, and his Life of the saint. Cf. also notes on pp. 487 and 602 below.
8. A hundred and seventy years. In Job xlii. 16 the number is given as 170.
9. Bowed down before him. The text uses the word procidere, the Vulgate adorare.
10. Dwellers on the Nile. This translation involves the emendation of incolae into Nilicolae.
Monasteries. The most famous centre of monastic settlements was the Natron valley in the desert of Scete, west of Cairo.
Another of the same name. Babylon in Egypt was on the Nile at Old Cairo. Cf. A. J. Butler, The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt (1884), i, pp. 155 ff.
The granaries larger at the base than the top are clearly the Pyramids, which medieval tradition ascribes to Joseph. They were in the neighbourhood of the Egyptian Babylon.
The aforesaid river, coming from the east, flows west in the direction of the Red Sea (Ante dictus vero fluvius ab oriente veniens, ad occidentalem plagam versus Rubrum mare vadit). The passage is obscure, and is perhaps to be explained by supposing Gregory to have believed in an old tradition that the sources of the Nile were in India.
Clysma. Now Tell Kolzum at the head of the Gulf of Suez. It was an important arsenal in Roman times and is mentioned by Ptolemy and by Lucian. Cf. British Museum, Greek Papyri, vol. iv (1910), by H. I. Bell, Intr., p. xxxiii. It is also mentioned in the Peregrinatio of Silvia (Aetheria) c. A. D. 385.
15. Three hundred and ninety years. Gregory omits the four last kings: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Further, the whole reign of David and the first seven years of Solomon are counted twice. At the close of Book IV he counts 390 years from the building of the Temple to the Babylonian captivity.
16. Which Joseph is counted as the fourteenth. Joseph is really thirteenth.
17. In their tongue. The word dynasty is of course of Greek derivation.
Cenchris... was twelfth king of the Egyptians. The meaning is, ‘within his dynasty’, as in the case of Thephei lower down.
18. The first imperial ruler was Julius Caesar. This erroneous view was commonly believed in the Middle Ages.
In the nineteenth year of his reign. Lyons had really been founded in 43 B.C.
21. The Acts of Pilate. The text has Testam Pilati, an obvious error for Gesta Pilati. This is an apocryphal book widely accepted in the Middle Ages. Cf. Harnack, Altchristliche Litteratur, III. i, p. 603. It is translated by M. R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament, pp. 94 ff.: The Gospel of Nicodemus, or the Acts of Pilate. A critical edition by E. von Dobschütz, now in preparation, will be included in the Berlin Corpus of Greek Ante-Nicene Christian writers.
The walls were restored to their former place. This detail is to be found in the Acts of Pilate, xv. 5, 6.
22. Vanquished Hell. The word used for Hell is Tartarus, as in the well-known hymn of Fortunatus, Vexilla Regis prodeunt, and elsewhere.
23. Six hundred and sixty-eight years. The figures DCLXVIII have been erased in the MS., but occur in the text of Arndt in the M. G. H.
24. A Manichaean. A strange statement, in view of the fact that Manes, the Persian founder of the Manichaean sect, lived in the third century after Christ.
Likewise Herod the King. In this passage the accounts of the death of Herod the Great and Herod Agrippa I in Eusebius are confused. Cf. Acts xii. 23.
28. The Adversary. i.e. the Evil One. The words used are pars adversa, a common euphemism for the Devil.
Marcion and Valentinus. Two heresiarchs of the second century. Marcion, of Sinope, died after A.D. 157; Valentinus, of Pharbetis in Egypt, a gnostic, was in Rome about A.D. 140, and died in the East about A.D. 161. For the literature relating to them see U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist., as above, cols. 3020 and 4617.
Justin the philosopher. Justin the martyr, born at Sichem (Nablus) in Samaria. He was converted to Christianity about A.D. 134, and martyred at Rome on 13 April, A. D. 168.
In Gaul also. The allusion is especially to persecutions at Lyons and Vienne in A.D. 177, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The early history of Christianity in Gaul is concisely treated by C. Bayet in Lavisse, Hist. de la France illustr., ii, pt. 1, pp. 2 ff. The documents for the evangelization of Gaul are scanty, and much fictitious matter was invented in later times to fill the lacunae. Even the events of the third century are insufficiently known. One point is clear, that the early Christianity of the country was derived from the East, notably from Asia Minor. Pothinus and Irenaeus both came from that part of the world, and other names connected with the history of the early years (Attalus, Alexander) had a like origin. For the position of early Gallican Christianity in relation to that of other parts of the Christian world, the reader may consult A. Harnack’s Mission und Ausbreitung des Christenthums in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten (1902). For the martyrs of Lyons, cf. G. de Montauzan, Du forum à l’amphithéâtre de Fourrières; les martyrs de l’an 177 (1910); Vachez, L’amphithéâtre de Lugdunum et les martyrs d’Ainay (1887). Dom Ruinart, in § 61 of his Preface to the History, is concerned to show that Gregory admits a date earlier than the sending of the seven bishops (I. 28 (30)).
29. Photinus, or Pothinus, bishop of Lyons from 150, died in prison at an advanced age after rough usage in the persecution of 177. Irenaeus, his successor, died on 28 June, A.D. 202. For works relating to them, see U. Chevalier, as above, cols. 2264-6 and 3810.
28 (30). Babillas, more correctly Babylas, saint and martyr, was bishop of Antioch about A.D. 236 and died 24 January, A.D. 250. For Babylas and the three boys who died at the same time, see Acta Sanctorum, January, ii, pp. 569, 570 (1643).
Xystus (Sixtus) = Sixtus II, saint and martyr, who died 6 August, A.D. 258.
Laurentius the archdeacon = S. Laurence the martyr, archdeacon of Rome, who suffered 10 August, A.D. 258.
Hippolytus, saint, bishop of Portus, the port of Rome, died 22 August, A. D. 238.
Novatianus, the heresiarch, was consecrated antipope at Rome in A.D. 251.
For all the above see Dict. of Christian Biography, and the references given by U. Chevalier, as above, under their respective names: Babylas, Sixte, Laurent, Hippolyte, and Novatien.
The history of the Passion of the holy martyr Saturninus. S. Saturninus (Sernin) was martyred at Toulouse, of which city he was bishop, on 29 November, about A. D. 257. For references, see Chevalier, as above, s. v. Saturnin. The passage quoted occurs in the second chapter of the history of the saint’s Passion, though it is not there stated that six other bishops were sent to Gaul. These are all well-known Gallican saints, references for whose lives will be found in Chevalier; for references for SS. Trophimus, Martial, and others, see the same authority.
Dionysius, bishop of Paris. There are two Passions of S. Denis, called from their first words the Gloriosae and the Post Beatam. The first alone has authority, and appears to be a ninth-century version of an original existing in the sixth century (L. Levillain, review of G. Kurth, Études franques (1919), in Bibl. de l’École des Chartes, lxxx (1919), p. 258).
The Capitol. i.e. at Toulouse. The end of Saturninus is mentioned in a poem of Sidonius (Letters, ix. 16). The memory of the Capitol is still perpetuated by the name of a street in Toulouse, adjoining its site.
31. One of their disciples. This was S. Ursinus of Bourges, for whom see G. C., ch. 79, S. A. Bennett in Dict. Christ. Biogr., and the references given by Chevalier, as above, col. 4606.
Leucadius the first senator. Members of the old landed aristocracy of Gaul appear to have been called ‘senators’ by courtesy long after the connexion of the province with Rome had been severed, because their families had in old days held high official rank. Cf. note to IV. 8 (13) on p. 519.
Lusor, son of this Leucadius, was buried in a marble sarcophagus in the crypt of a church in the territory of Bourges; S. Germanus worshipped before this tomb (G. C., ch. 90).
29 (32). Cornelius... Cyprian. For Cornelius, Pope, 251-2, and Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, 248-58, see the references given by U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist., as above, cols. 1049 and 1087-90.
Chroc, king of the Alamanni... overran Gaul. These events concerning Chroc (cf. also ch. 34) are recorded by Fredegar, Chron. ii. 60, who, however, calls him king of the Vandals. He adds details not mentioned by Gregory, stating that this king destroyed Mayence and Metz, and giving the name of his captor at Arles, ‘a certain soldier named Marius’. Loebell, Gregor von Tours, p. 324, thinks that these events may have happened in the fifth century. Cf. II. 1 (2).
A Chrocus or Crocus, king of the Alamanni, took an active part in the proclamation of Constantine as Augustus, at York in 306 (C. M. H. i, p. 3).
The shrine... Vasso Galatae. This passage has been sometimes translated: ‘which the Gauls (Galatae) call Vasso,’ but an inscription found at Bittburg near Trèves, bearing the words MERCURIO VASSO GALATI, suggests that the last word really forms part of the title. The site has been identified with that of the temple of Mercurius Dumias on the Puy de Dôme (A. Longnon, Géogr. de la Gaule au VIe siècle, p. 514). Mercurius Dumias was the Keltic god Teutates, identified by the Romans with Mercury. Cf. C. Jullian, in C. M. H. ii, pp. 463-5. The adornment of the interior walls with marble and mosaic should be noted: such work, afterwards characteristic of Christian churches, was introduced either from Italy, which had learned it from late Hellenistic sources, or direct from east Mediterranean cities, perhaps Alexandria or Antioch.
33. The martyrs Liminius... Antolianus... Cassius and Victorinus. Liminius was martyred at Clermont about 255 (Dict. Christ. Biogr. iii, p. 726). Cassius, Victorinus, and more than six thousand other martyrs died at the same place c. 264, see Acta SS., Mai, iii. 454; Bollandists, Bibl. hag. lat. (1901), p. 1330.
The wretched state of heathendom (relictis fanaticis sordibus). The adjective fanaticus is used, as above, ch. 31, for pagan or heathen.
34. Privatus, bishop of Javols. His martyrdom may have taken place in 265 or 266. Cf. J. Gammack’s article in Dict. of Christian Biography; Duchesne, Fastes épisc. de l’ancienne Gaule, ii, p. 54, places it before the Council of Arles (A.D. 314). For Privatus, see the references given by U. Chevalier, Répertoire, as above, col. 3823.) The see of Javols (Gévaudan) became later that of Mende. Cf. iv. 26 (39).
35. Quirinus, bishop of... Siscia. This saint was martyred in 308, the place being now known as Sissek, in Croatia. For Quirinus, see the list of works given by U. Chevalier, as above, col. 3858.
36. Sabaria. The town was on the site of the modern Szombathely (German, Stein-am-Anger) in Hungary. Cf. Sozomen, iii. 14; Sulpicius Severus, De Vita B. Martini, ch. i; S. Schönwisner, Antiquitatum et historiae Sabariensis... libri VIII (Budapest, 1791); and Ruinart’s note to this passage.
Put to death his son Crispus... and his wife Fausta. Gregory here repeats the story as given by Sidonius (Letters, v. 8), who was the first to state that Crispus was killed by poison. The story of Fausta and her step-son, which has been compared to that of Phaedra and Hippolytus, is told by Gibbon in his eighteenth chapter. (Cf. O. Seeck, in Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie, xxxiii (1890), pp. 63 ff.)
The venerable wood of the Lord’s Cross was discovered. There are Syriac, Greek, and Latin versions of the legend that Judas discovered the Cross for S. Helena. The authorities are given by Bury in his illustrated edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall (1909), vol. ii, Appendix 20. The following books may be mentioned: J. Gretser, De cruce Christi, ii. 530 ff.; O. Holder, Inventio verae crucis (1889); E. Nestle, De sancta Cruce (1889); Bedjan, Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum, pp. 326 ff. (1890); and Acta SS., 4 May, i, pp. 445 ff.
Eusebius... Jerome. For the chronicle in question, see Gregory’s preface to this Book, and n. on p. 481.
The priest Juvencus. Caius Vettius Aquilinus, a priest of Spain and Latin poet about A.D. 330. His metrical version of the Gospels is extant. For references to Juvencus see U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist.: Bio-bibliographie, col. 2706.
37. James of Nisibis. This saint was bishop of Nisibis c. 325 and his active life followed his consecration. When besieged by the Persians, Nisibis is said to have been delivered by his intercession. Swarms of gnats and flies threw the horses and elephants of Shapūr II into confusion and he raised the siege. Cf. Bollandists, Bibl. hag. gr. (1895), p. 55, and Bibl. hag. lat. (1899), p. 611; E. Venables in Dict. Christ. Biogr.
Maximinus,... bishop of Trèves. S. Maximin, elected in 332. For his life, see the article by S. A. Bennett in Dict. Christ. Biogr. A list of the works relating to him is given by Chevalier, as above, col. 3170. Gregory relates in G. C., ch. 91, that his tomb was fatal to perjurers who swore falsely before it.
38. In the nineteenth year of Constantine the younger. This is a mistake, this prince being slain in March 340, in the fourth year of his reign (cf. Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. xviii).
The monk Antonius. S. Antony the Great. He was born in 251, became a monk in the Thebaïd in 285 and abbot in the Fayûm in 305, dying in 356. His life by Athanasius may be read in Migne’s Patr. Gr., xxvi, pp. 835 ff. A bibliography of works relating to him is given by U. Chevalier, as above, cols. 282-4.
Hilary, bishop of Poitiers. Consecrated 350-5, exiled in Asia 356-60, died 366-8. His treatise De Trinitate (Migne, Patr. Lat. x, col. 25) was written during his exile. For his life see Dict. Christ. Biogr., s. v. Hilary, and for references, U. Chevalier, as above, col. 2147.
30 (39). Martin now began to preach in Gaul. The miracles of Martin are recorded by Sulpicius Severus (see note to X. 31 on p. 602), by Gregory himself, and by Fortunatus (Vita S. Martini). For Sulpicius Severus and his life, see H. Delehaye, Analecta Bollandiana, xxxviii (1920), pp. 5-136. Cf. also the same writer in Analecta, xliii, pp. 86 ff., Les miracles de S. Julian et de S. Martin, where references to recent works are given.
And endowed with many virtues. The words of the MS. are: multis virtutibus aeditus. In Late Latin the word virtus generally means ‘miraculous power’ or ‘miracle’; but if aeditus stands for praeditus, it may be taken here in its older and wider sense.
31 (40). Melania. There are two saints of this name, of whom the second was grand-daughter of the first. The elder was born at Rome of a noble family in 343, widowed in 365, visited Egypt in 371, and died at Jerusalem in 410. (See W. H. Fremantle’s article in Dict. Christ. Biogr.) Her son, here called Urbanus, is commonly styled Publicola. Her grand-daughter followed in her footsteps and also died in Jerusalem (439). Both founded monasteries. Cf. Cardinal Rampolla del Tindaro, Santa Melania giuniore, Senatrice Romana (1905).
32 (41). The enforcement of military service upon all monks. ‘The emperor [Valens] had observed that many of his subjects, … The ministers of Valens seem to have extended the sense of this penal statute, since they claimed a right of enlisting the young and able-bodied monks in the imperial armies. A detachment... marched from Alexandria into the adjacent desert of Nitria... and it is reported that a considerable slaughter was made in the monasteries which disobeyed the commands of their sovereign’ (Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. xxv).
Valens fled. The death of Valens at the battle of Adrianople (9 August, 378) is described by Gibbon, ch. xxvi.
Orosius. Cf. p. 481.
44. The church house. This was the house adjoining the church, where the bishop or priest lived. Cf. Introduction, p. 343. With the story of Stremonius told here, cf. that of Felix, bishop of Nantes, in G. C., ch. 77.
In a crypt at Chantoin. This place was a suburb north-east of Clermont (Longnon, Géogr., p. 497).
45. Hillidius... excellent in virtue. The name is generally spelled Illidius, as it is by Gregory himself in his account of the saint in V. P., ch. ii; the modern form is Allyre. Illidius was bishop of Clermont c. 370, and died c. 385. The word virtus may have the meaning here given in the translation. But it is possible to take it as ‘wonder-working power’. Cf. note to 30 (39) above.
47. Injuriosus. This was one of the names adopted in early Christian times as a mark of humility. After the first centuries it was doubtless handed down as a family name. Cf. Calumniosus (VIII. 30). The best-known Injuriosus was the bishop of Tours of that name, several times mentioned in the History.
Forsaken by Christ. … In the Acta of S. Thomas, Christ Himself appears to the daughter of the king of Andrapolis and her bridegroom, and enjoins continence (cf. Archaeologia, lxxii, p. 138).
By the fourfold stream of the Lamb. The Lamb is represented in early Christian art standing on the mount of Sion (Rev. xiv. 1), whence flow the four rivers of Paradise; the rivers were regarded as symbols of the four Gospels. Cf. H. Leclerq, in Cabrol’s Dict. d’arch. chrét., article Agneau, sect. iv.
Loathed are thy chambers. The word used is solaria. The solarium (later medieval ‘solar’) was a large upper chamber: cubiculum maius ac superius (Ducange). Such rooms were only found in the houses of the wealthy.
Armed with the sign of the Cross (armatus crucis vexillo). The meaning probably is that he made the sign of the Cross upon himself. Cf. n. to VII. 38.
35 (48). Full of virtues. Cf. notes to chapters 30 (39) and 45 above.
Candes. This village was at the confluence of the Loire and Vienne, between Tours and Angers. Gregory has much to tell elsewhere of the cellula of S. Martin there, in which was shown the place where the saint used to lie. It naturally became an important place of pilgrimage. Candes is again mentioned in the history (VIII. 40; X. 31).
Know that his first monastery was at Milan. Cf. Sulpicius Severus, De Vita B. Martini, ch. iv: Mediolani sibi monasterium statuit. This was during the banishment of S. Hilary from Gaul. Martin had received the diaconate from Hilary at Poitiers, and had then returned to see his parents in Pannonia. On his way back to Gaul, he learned of Hilary’s banishment and established himself at Milan until 360, when Hilary returned to Poitiers. He then rejoined him.
Deprived of priestly benediction. The words are: sine benedictione sacerdotali, which may either mean priestly or, more specifically, episcopal benediction, sacerdos being regularly used for ‘bishop ’.
Five thousand five hundred and ninety-six years. V̄DLXLVI = 5,000 + 500 + 50 + 46.