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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
nb8
At the head of the book stand the words: ‘In the name of Christ here beginneth book the ninth’ (In Christo nom[ine] incipit Liber VIIII). The faulty Latin is not unusual, but it is curious that the number should be incorrect.
1. The tongue of the Syrians. The word Syrian was used to denote any orientals other than Jews; it included, for instance, Armenians. Cf. Introduction, p. 175. Orleans, being centrally situated, was naturally a convenient place for foreign trade, carried on especially by the ‘Syrians’.
2. The church of the holy abbot Avitus. This Avitus was abbot of Piciacus (La Perche) and of Miciacus (Micy-Loiret, now Saint-Mesmin-de-Micy). Cf. III. 6, and G. C., ch. 97. Avitus died in 527. See U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist. du Moyen Âge, col. 396. In G. C., ch. 97, we are told that a man who insisted on working in his vineyard on this saint’s day was punished by having his head twisted round.
Thou wert my kinsman. Bertram was a relative of Guntram. Cf. VII. 31.
3. Who had sung the responsorium. In the Gallican Mass this was sung before the deacon proceeded to the ambo for the reading of the Gospel (cf. Introduction, p. 337). In its more general meaning it was a psalm in which a solo singer was answered by the choir, thus differing from the Antiphon, in which the verses were alternately sung by the two sides of the choir (cf. Isidore, De Eccl. officiis, ch. 8, and Origenes, vi, ch. 19).
Sing in his turn before the king. Guntram had admired the singing of Gregory’s deacon, and as all the bishops then at Orleans were also accompanied by their deacons he perhaps thought that a competition might be of interest, or even (for he was of a jovial disposition) of amusement.
Another piece of a hundred and seventy pounds weight. This would be a huge piece of plate; and it was only one of fifteen, themselves forming but a part of Guntram’s half-share in the treasure of Mummolus. Such a passage once more illustrates the remarkable wealth of the Merovingian kings and notables in plate.
5. He had my brother Chilperic slain. Guntram accuses the bishop of Marseilles of causing Chilperic to be murdered in the interest of the pretender Gundovald and his Austrasian supporters. The charge seems to be without foundation, like so many others freely made at the time. Gregory’s retort, ‘Who slew Chilperic but his own wickedness?’ might almost suggest a suspicion on his part that the crime was committed in revenge for one of Chilperic’s many acts of cruelty and oppression; but any murderer would have been regarded as the instrument of the divine vengeance, so that Gregory cannot be claimed with certainty as one attributing the king’s death to a direct act of political revenge.
Lighted lamps and tapers were borne before him. Gregory’s vision seems to imply the defeat of Chilperic and his enforced entry into the church, the common fate of such Merovingian princes whose defeat did not end in death. The plain chair covered with black and the lights carried about it have a funereal suggestion, for the chairs on which bishops were enthroned in Gaul were richly decorated.
7. He was beginning the Prophetia. At the beginning of the Gallican Mass three canticles were sung: the Trisagion, the Kyrie Eleison, and the Benedictus or Prophetia, the last named receiving its second name from its prophetic character, its first name from the word with which it began. It consisted of the passage Luke i. 68–79, commencing Benedictus Dominus Israel, quia visitavit, et fecit redemptionem plebis suae. The present passage would seem to show either that the bishop chanted all three canticles, or that the Benedictus was sung first. In view of Guntram’s impetuous character we might assume the second alternative; the first place seems usually to have been given to the Trisagion (cf. Introduction, p. 336).
Adulteries. Bertram had been previously accused of adultery with Queen Fredegund. Cf. V. 49.
9. Governors (nutritores). Cf. note to V. 46.
That one of our leudes. The words are: ex leudibus nostris. For the leudes, personally bound by oath to the king, cf. Introduction, p. 386.
All took solemn oath with her. Such supporters in the taking of an oath varied with the importance of the person who had to take it. Cf. Grimm, Rechtsalterthümer, pp. 859 ff. A queen naturally produced a large number, and of high position. Cf. ch. 40 below.
10. The weir... for catching fish. The word used is lapsus; cf. V. P. xvii. 4, G. C., ch. 5, and Sulp. Severus, Dialogues, iii. 10. Ducange defines it as aquae divortium.
By his long hair. Cf. II. 8 (9).
The body of Merovech. This prince had met his death in the territory of Reims (V. 12 (18)).
11. A certain door-keeper (ostiarius). The ostiarii belonged to the clerical body, but to the lower grade of it, not in Holy Orders. Their duties included making the material arrangements for services and looking after the church.
Ansovald. An important man in Neustria who, after the death of Chilperic, helped to guard the young Lothar, and supported Fredegund; cf. VII. 7. In ch. 31 we find him accompanying the queen in her visit to the dying bishop Praetextatus.
12. In the quality of duke. The Merovingian dukes, whose functions were not as a rule so permanent as those of the counts, were often available for special missions like that here described. Cf. Introduction, p. 200.
The church of the holy Maximinus. S. Maximin, bishop of Trèves, died in 349. For works relating to him, see U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist.: Bio-bibliogr., as above, col. 3170.
13. As the king remained silent, I made answer. From the next chapter it appears that Gregory was visiting Childebert at Coblenz.
15. The town of Yvois (Eposium castrum). This place, mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary and in the Notitia Dignitatum, is on the river Chiers, not far from its confluence with the Meuse. It was known as Yvois until 1662, when Louis XIV changed its name to Carignan (Longnon, Géogr., p. 369). For castrum, see Introduction, p. 160.
Vulfolaic (Vulfilaicus). Better known to us as S. Walfroy. Cf. Analecta Bolland. xviii (1899), pp. 262-7, and, for other references, U. Chevalier, Rép. des sources hist., as above, cols. 4734-5.
An image of Diana (Dianae simulacrum). Perhaps a Celtic goddess, corresponding to Diana and therefore receiving a Roman name when imperial influences reached the Rhine. A cult of ‘Diana’ seems to have been widespread in this region. Cf. Rettberg, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, i, p. 64; Grimm, Mythologie, i, pp. 99, 263.
Simeon of Antioch, the Stylite. This most famous of stylites, who lived in the first half of the fifth century, stood on his column at a place near Antioch, now known as Kal‘at Sim‘ān, for thirty years. The column rose in the centre of an octagonal space, open to the air, upon which abutted four basilicas; the exact spot where the column stood can be seen (cf. Prof. Bury’s illustrated edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, iv, p. 104). In imitation of Simeon, numerous stylites stood on columns in the Christian East. In the West the custom was less common. …: on les admire, on ne les imite pas (Delehaye, as below). For Stylites as a definite class of ascetics, see H. Delehaye, Les saints Stylites (Soc. des Bollandistes, Brussels, 1924); and for the literature on S. Simeon, U. Chevalier, as above: Bio-bibliogr., col. 4279.
With crowbars. The word in the text is scutis. This might signify some form of chisels or iron wedges. But Bonnet’s emendation to scutalis allows us to introduce the more serviceable crowbar.
18. King Childebert... sent an army into Italy. From VI. 28 (42) we know that the money was advanced by the Emperor Maurice some years before 584, the time indicated in that passage, where the king’s first and most dishonourable expedition is mentioned. The quarrel between the leaders here noted is described by Paul the Deacon as due to ill feeling between the Franks and Alamanni in the army (Hist. Langobard, iii. 22). For Duke Wintrio, cf. IX. 3; his death in 597 is mentioned by Fredegar (Chron. iv. 18).
Offering immense presents to obtain it. Thus the kings sanctioned in civil appointments the vicious practice known as simony in relation to those made in the Church. Nicetius is again mentioned as duke (ch. 30 below) and as rector or governor of Provence (ch. 43).
Domigisel taking a leading part. This man is mentioned in VI. 11 (18) and 32 (45) as one of Chilperic’s dukes. The chief men of Neustria resented Guntram’s pretension to govern territory of his late brother through his own nominees. They were determined that the rights of the young Lothar II should not be overridden.
Shut up in the bath chamber of his house (inclusum in pensilem domus). This interpretation of pensilis in this passage is accepted by M. Bonnet, Le Latin de Grégoire de Tours, p. 249; he takes the word as meaning an arched or vaulted chamber. Ducange interprets it as the chamber where the maids were employed in spinning and weaving (s. v. Gynaeceum); in that case the derivation would be from pensum, the weighed portion of wool which the spinner had to spin.
19. Save those on whose account they cannot be reproached. In the sixth century men who were married before entering the Church were allowed to continue living with their wives on the understanding that they treated them as sisters. Cf. Introduction, p. 389.
20. Or present consecrated bread (eulogias dare). Better, ‘blessed bread.’ Cf. note to IV. 35.
That woman could not be called man. The bishop asked whether the word homo could properly be applied to a woman, and the Council replied that Holy Writ sanctioned such application. The word in classical Latin is common to either sex, and remained so in medieval times; the obvious answer was thus given to the question. The Council never approved any such idea as that women had no souls. Cf. G. Kurth, Études franques, 1919, Étude V: Le Concile de Mâcon et l’âme des femmes.
To drive a number of bishops into banishment. These were bishops who had joined the pretender Gundovald.
21. His domain of Beslingen (Belsonancum). This place, which Longnon (p. 388) identifies with Belsonancum, is in the district of Diekirch in the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.
But scant sympathy did she receive. On account of the general hostility of the aristocratic party towards her. Cf. Introduction, p. 70.
22. Though the king had promised never to appoint a layman bishop. The king was Guntram (Longnon, as above, pp. 589-90). It is here implied that he took a bribe. But only the previous year (584) he had protested in impressive words that it was not his practice to sell bishoprics (VI. 39). The Waldo here mentioned may be the deacon referred to by Fortunatus in Carm. ix. 13.
Wadelen, governor of King Childebert, died at this time. This was an event of some importance, as the next sentence, stating the assumption of power by the queen-mother, sufficiently shows. Wandelen in 581 succeeded Gogo, the Austrasian magnate (VI. 1) appointed by the aristocratic party as nutritor of the five-year-old Childebert II after the death of his father Sigibert in 575. He continued to serve the interests of the party, which in his person had a powerful representative at Court. After his death, the ambitious Brunhild, by refusing to accept a successor, took a decisive step towards the establishment of her own position and the realization of her policy, the enhancement of royal power against the notables. Cf. Introduction, p. 70. The office of governor or tutor (nutritor, nutritius, bajulus) had assumed political significance.
Duke Bodigisil. This duke, who had been governor at Marseilles, and held high office in Germany, is extolled by Fortunatus (Carm. vii. 5) for his justice, compassion, and generosity, no less than for his eloquence and knowledge of law.
28. Ingund. (Cf. ch. 18, 21, and VI. 26 (40), 29 (43)). According to Paul the Deacon, this sister of Childebert and daughter of Brunhild was taken by Byzantine soldiers while trying to get back to Gaul after Hermanfrid’s death (Hist. Langob. ii. 21); Paul adds that after her death her young son was sent to Constantinople, to which city the princess herself was being conducted as an important prisoner, or rather possible hostage. Gregory, however, says that Hermangild left his wife with ‘the Greeks’ (V. 28 (38); VI. as above), though he tells us nothing of the child’s fate. The boy, whose name was Athanagild, reached his destination, as we learn from letters addressed by Childebert and carried by his ambassadors (X. 2). Some were addressed to political persons, asking their influence in favour of a peace; but others have relation to the young Athanagild, whose restoration to Austrasia was ardently desired. One was written to the little son of Maurice, Theodosius, asking his protection for Athanagild; another is from Brunhild to the Empress Anastasia, making the same request (M. G. H., Epistolae Merov. et Karolini aevi, tom. i (1892), ed. W. Gundlach, Nos. 43, 44, on pp. 149, 150). Abstracts of the letters are given by Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, v, pp. 277-8; that of Brunhild to the little boy himself shows tender feeling. Guntram seems always to have held that Leuvigild should have prevented the retention by the Greeks of Ingund, the murder of whose husband Hermangild he regarded as an affront to Frankish dignity. Hence his refusal to make peace with the Visigoths. Brunhild and Childebert were more reasonable.
Was there buried. The territory in north-west Africa conquered by Justinian from the Vandals, and still in Byzantine hands, was touched at by vessels making the passage between the Spanish territory held by the East Roman Empire and Constantinople. The Princess Ingund would naturally be taken ashore, if her health did not permit her to go farther, and Carthage, as the most important maritime city, would be the place where she would stay until able to continue her voyage. It was here that she died.
Even the envoys sent by Childebert to Constantinople, carrying the letters with regard to Athanagild and the conclusion of a peace, had to touch at Carthage (cf. X. 2).
Hermangild. Cf. V. 30 (41); VI. 28 (43). John of Biclar (Chron., year 585) says that Hermangild was slain at Tarragona by one Sisbert (M. G. H., Auct. antiquiss. xi: Chron. Minora, ii (Berlin, 1894)). … Perhaps he derived his supposed facts from his friend Leander, bishop of Seville, while they were both at Constantinople. Leander (cf. V. 28 (38)) dared not return to Spain until the death of Leuvigild; he may have been ill-informed as to the real course of events. Paul the Deacon, writing in the eighth century, assumes the martyrdom of Hermangild as a matter of course. The story of Hermangild is well told by Hodgkin, as above, v, p. 253.
Buy it at any price you will. The text has: quod praemiis multis coemite. A more forcible reading would be quem praemiis, the reference then being to Guntram: Buy him, &c.
29. From both sides. Sigibert was stabbed in the same way from two sides (IV. 36 (51).
30. The horrible Goth. Consciously or unconsciously, Guntram was repeating the exhortation of his grandfather Clovis (II. 27 (37)). The Visigoths were ‘horrible’ because they were still associated in Guntram’s mind with the detested Arian heresy. For the resulting expedition, cf. Dahn, Die Könige der Germanen, v. 150.
That we bring this shame on our heads no longer. The speeches of Guntram and his dukes are of great interest as illustrating the disintegration of the Frankish military system and the total loss of discipline. Cf. Introduction, p. 227.
Cabaret. This appears to be the right identification of the castrum known as Caput Arietis. The place, which was constantly fortified in much later times, crowns a puy, or isolated hill, in the region of Carcassonne. Recared would attack it as one of the first strong places on the borders of Septimania. (Cf. Longnon, Géogr., p. 615.) The expedition of Recared is chronicled by John of Biclar, the Visigothic annalist above cited, under the year 585 in M. G. H., Auct. antiquiss. xi: Chronica Minora, ii. (Cf. also Vaissete, Hist. gén. de Languedoc, i, p. 679.)
The fortress of Beaucaire (Ugernum castrum). This was on the Rhône, near the present town of Beaucaire. Ugernum was known to Strabo, and is mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana. John of Biclar calls it Hodjernum. Cf. Longnon, Géogr., p. 436 ff.
Calumniosus, surnamed Egilan. A name of the same type as Injuriosus. Cf. note to I. 47. For Aegilan, cf. VII. 37, note s. v. Leudegisel.
31. Bring up to manhood. Literally, to the time of his majority (ad legitimam aetatem), which may have been the age of fifteen, when kings came of age.
Romachar, bishop of Coutances, died in the following year, 586. For this saint, see the Bollandist Bibl. hag. lat. (1901), 1058.
In concert with the child’s governors (cum his qui parvulum nutriebant). For the nutritores, cf. above, note to V. 46. The haughty answer of the governors shows that the Neustrian notables, though devoted to their royal house, had the same spirit as those of Austrasia.
33. Possessed by the demon of noon. It is commonly supposed that the effect of sunstroke is meant, to which men applied the words in Psalm xc. 6 (Vulgate), ‘the pestilence that walketh in the noonday’. We may note Grimm, Mythologie, ii, p. 114. Cf. also V. S. M. iii. 9 and iv. 36. It may be observed that the daemonium meridianum of the medieval monks was the spirit of Acedia, or the Tempter disguised as an angel of light. Cf. G. G. Coulton, Five Centuries of Religion, i, pp. 97, 312.
The church of the holy Vincent. Cf. III. 29 note.
Cured a leper’s skin by a kiss. For lepers, cf. Introduction, p. 422.
Who many a time commanded fires to cease. The putting out of fires, like the liberation of prisoners, was one of the chief works of miracle done by saints, and S. Martin was naturally celebrated for both. Cf. Sulpicius Severus, De beati Martini vita, ch. 11, and Dialogi, i, ch. 17.
On one side of the bridge. This was the bridge spanning the south arm of the Seine, and connecting the bank with the island. On this side were the then church of S. Vincent and the oratory of S. Martin.
A brazen serpent and a brazen rat (serpentem cleremque aereum). If clerem stands for glirem, the word is better translated ‘dormouse’.
37. The boy was named Theudebert. He was later declared by his grandmother Brunhild to be illegitimate at the time when she was encouraging his younger brother against him. She and her favourite, the Gallo-Roman Protadius, are said to have incited Theuderic against Theudebert, alleging that the latter was a gardener’s son (ortolani cuiusdam filius: Fredegar, iv. 27).
The hopes of Guntram were never realized. Theudebert was defeated and taken prisoner by his younger brother Theuderic (Thierry). He was shortly afterwards put to death at the age of twenty-seven in 612, his two children having been murdered by command of Theuderic.
39. His wife. A bishop or priest was allowed to retain his wife on certain conditions. Cf. note to ch. 19 above. Badegisil had been Mayor of the Household (VI. 9); some regard him as the first Mayor of the Palace. He is also mentioned in V. S. M. iv. 35.
The acquisition of my husband. Perhaps made after marriage, in which case the wife might claim a share. Cf. C. Galy, La famille à l’époque mérov., p. 126.
Referendary. Cf. V. 3, 45; VI. 20 (28); IX. 23, 33, 38; X. 19.
40. Keepers of the royal horses (Iumentorum fiscalium custodes). Literally, horses belonging to the domain. But this means simply the royal domain, the horses being kept on the various estates for the king’s use.
Both to the cathedral church and to the church of the holy Martin (qualiter ecclesiae vel basilicae sancti Martini). The distinction between ecclesia, the principal church of the civitas, and the ‘basilica’ of Martin is here again emphasized.
Sea-urchins in vessels (ethymnum in vasis). It is uncertain what ethymnus or ethynus really means. One conjecture is that it = echinus, in which case we can choose between: (1) sea-urchins; (2) hedgehogs; (3) edible chestnuts, the spikes on the shell of which give them a resemblance to a sea-urchin. The hedgehog is still eaten. Sea-urchins are edible, and formed an article of diet in these times (G. Spiess, Papyri Tandanae, Fasc. iv, No. 67, 1. 5).
Chose out twelve men, ... to swear falsely to his innocence. This is a case of compurgation, in which a man accused of an offence might clear himself by bringing a number of persons to swear that he was innocent. The number seems to have increased or diminished with the social importance of the accused. Queen Fredegund, when accused of having deceived her late lord, Chilperic I, produced no less than three bishops and three hundred laymen to assert her innocence (cf. ch. 9 above). In the case of daring and unscrupulous persons, the test was really of no value.
The church of the holy Martin in the village of Candes. It was at this place, on the Vienne, in the arrondissement and canton of Chinon (Indre-et-Loire), that Martin died, and here was the cellula of Martin. The spot was shown where he was wont to lie on the ground amid ashes, with a stone for his pillow. It was surrounded by a cancellum with a silk curtain hanging from it, a patena belonging to him, &c. It was a great place of pilgrimage, and numbers of poor people were fed there daily. … Cf. I. 35 (48) above; V. S. M. i. 14; ii. 19-23; iv. 10, 22. Radegund, after leaving Lothar I, gave great gifts to the cell at Candes (Baudonivia, Vita S. Radegundis, i, ch. 14: M. G. H., Scriptores rer. Merov. ii (1888), pp. 364 ff.). The saint himself had apparently founded a church at Candes (cf. A. Longnon, Géogr. de la Gaule au VIe siècle, p. 270).
42. Which belonged to Lothar, son of Chilperic. They belonged to the infant king; but Guntram, as his adoptive father, claimed the right of administering them. Cf. above, ch. 18.
In an upper chamber (in tristico). The correct form is tristegum, not tristicum. Whatever its original sense, the word came to mean an upper room, strictly a third-story room. Jerome in Ezek. xli translates τρίστεγα as caenacula tertia. See Ducange, s. v. Tristegum. One of the passages quoted by him from Abdias shows that a certain tristicum was reached from outside.
With many men of great place (cum multis honoratis viris). Perhaps these men were left by Beppolen as companions or guardians of his son.
43. Governor of the province of Marseilles. The title of rector, as already noted, was given to the governor of Provence.
To an island of the sea. Perhaps one of the Channel Islands.
45. Desiderius. The death of this duke is mentioned by John of Biclar (Chron., year 587).
Who shortly afterwards appointed him duke in the dead man’s place. According to Fredegar, Guntram himself started upon this expedition, but was obliged to turn back on account of ill health.
46. Some say that he repented him of his heresy. In the Dialogues of Gregory the Great there is a passage to the effect that Leuvigild commanded Leander, bishop of Seville, to convert his son Recared. But, as Altamira has argued (C. M. H. ii, p. 171), there is no evidence in contemporary documents to prove either this, or the further conjecture that Recared had secretly adopted Catholicism in his father’s lifetime. As Altamira observed, the character of Leuvigild, as illustrated by his actions, does not accord with the idea of a death-bed conversion; and the statement of the bishop of Tours may be based on nothing more than hearsay. The wish of many Catholics that such an event should have occurred may have been father to the thought, and this in its turn to a widespread rumour.