History of the Franks 1 part 23/38

Now when the girl, bidding farewell, after tears and kisses was going out from the gate, one axle of the carriage being broken, they all cried out 'May it bode well!'—which by some was taken as an omen. Then, having set out from Paris, at the eighth milestone from the city she ordered the tents to be pitched. For fifty men, rising in the night, having seized a hundred of the best horses and as many golden bridles and two great chains, slipped away in flight to King Childebert. But also throughout the whole journey, whoever could slip away did so, carrying off with himself whatever he had been able to snatch.

A great apparatus of provisions also was gathered along the way from the various cities, for which the king commanded that nothing should be given from his own fisc, but everything from the levies upon the poor. But since the king had a suspicion that his brother or his nephew might prepare some ambushes for the girl on the road, he ordered her to proceed surrounded by an army. Now there were with her men of distinction: Duke Bobo, son of Mummolenus, with his wife, as bridesman; Domigisel and Ansoald; and the mayor of the palace Waddo, who had once ruled the county of Saintes; the rest of the common throng was above four thousand. But the other dukes and chamberlains, who had hastened along with her, returned from Poitiers; while these others, accomplishing the journey, went on as they were able.

Along that road such spoils and such plunder were taken that they can scarcely be recounted; for they despoiled the little dwellings of the poor, they laid waste the vineyards, so that, the stocks being cut, they carried off the grapes with them, taking up the cattle and whatever they could find, leaving nothing along the way by which they passed; and that was fulfilled which was said through the prophet Joel: That which the locust hath left, the cankerworm hath eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left, the locust-grub hath eaten; and that which the locust-grub hath left, the mildew hath consumed (Joel I, 4). So this too came to pass at that time, that what the frost left the tempest destroyed, and what the tempest left the drought scorched, and what the drought left the hostility carried off. XLVI.

So while these were proceeding with this plunder, Chilperic—the Nero and Herod of our time—came to the villa of Chelles, which is distant from the city of Paris about a hundred stadia, and there engaged in hunting. But one day, having returned from the hunt, the night being already somewhat dark, while he was being helped down from his horse and held one hand upon the shoulder of a servant, a certain man, coming up, struck him with a knife under the armpit, and with a repeated blow pierced his belly; and at once, with a copious flow of blood pouring forth both through his mouth and through the opening of the wound, he poured out his wicked spirit. What wickedness he wrought, the foregoing account teaches. For he very often laid waste and set fire to very many regions;

and from these things he had no grief, but rather gladness, just as once Nero did, when amid the burning of his palace he chanted tragedies. Very often he punished men unjustly for the sake of their goods; in his time only a few clerics, and that in a manner, merited the bishopric. For he was given over to gluttony, whose god was his belly, and he asserted that no one was wiser than himself; and he composed two books, in imitation, as it were, of Sedulius, whose feeble little verses can stand on no feet, in which, while he did not understand, he put short syllables for long, and set long ones for short; and other little works, or hymns, or masses, which can by no reasoning be accepted.

He held the causes of the poor in hatred, and continually blasphemed the priests of the Lord; nor, when he was in private, did he exercise his mockery or jests upon any subject more than upon the bishops of the churches. One he reckoned frivolous, another proud, this one extravagant, that one luxurious; one he asserted to be haughty, this one swollen with conceit: hating nothing more than the churches. For he often said: 'Behold, our fisc has been left poor; behold, our riches have been transferred to the churches. None reign at all but the bishops alone; our honor has perished, and has been transferred to the bishops of the cities.' Saying these things

continually, he frequently tore up the wills which had been drawn up in favor of the churches, and often trampled upon the very ordinances of his own father, supposing that there would remain no one to keep his will. As for lust and luxury, nothing can be found in thought which he would not have perpetrated in deed; and he was always seeking out new devices for injuring the people; for if he found any guilty at that time, he ordered their eyes to be torn out. And in the ordinances which he sent to the judges for his own advantages, he added this: 'If anyone shall have despised our precepts, let him be punished by the plucking out of his eyes.' He loved no one purely, and was loved by none; and therefore, when he had breathed out his spirit, all his men forsook him.

But Mallulf, bishop of Senlis, who had already for three days been residing in his tent and had not been able to see him, when he heard that he had been slain, came; and having washed him, he clothed him in better garments, and, the night being spent in hymns, he lifted him into a boat and buried him in the basilica of Saint Vincent which is at Paris, Queen Fredegund being left in the church. Here ends the sixth book of Georgius Florentius, that is, of Gregory, bishop of Tours. Thanks be to God. Here begin the chapters of the seventh book. I. On the death of Saint Salvius, bishop of the Carnotes. II. On the clash of the Carnotes and the Aurelianenses. III. On the death of Vedastus surnamed Avus. IV. That Fredegund took refuge in a church;

and concerning the treasures brought to Childebert. V. That King Guntram came to Paris. VI. That the same king brought under himself the things which belonged to Childebert. VII. That the envoys of Childebert demand Fredegund. VIII. That the king petitioned the people, lest he be slain like his brothers. IX. That Rigunthis was detained by Desiderius, her treasures being taken away. X. That Gundovald was raised up in the kingdom; and concerning Rigunthis, daughter of King Chilperic. XI. On the signs which appeared. XII. On the signs, the burning of the region of Tours, and the power of Saint Martin. XIII. On the burning and plundering of the city of Poitiers. XIV. On the envoys of King Childebert sent to King Guntram. XV. On the wickedness of Fredegund. XVI. On the return of bishop Praetextatus. XVII.

On bishop Promotus. XVIII. On that which was said to the king, that he should make himself careful lest he be killed. XIX. That the queen was ordered to go off to an estate. XX. That she sent the man who was to kill Brunhild. XXI. On the flight and custody of Eberulf. XXII. On his wickedness. XXIII. On the Jew slain with his people. XXIV. On the plundering of the city of Poitiers. XXV. On the spoils of Marileif. XXVI. That Gundovald went round the cities. XXVII. On the injury done to bishop Magnulf. XXVIII. That the army advanced forward. XXIX. On the death of Eberulf. XXX. On the envoys of Gundovald. XXXI. On the relics of Saint Sergius the martyr. XXXII. On other envoys of Gundovald. XXXIII. That Childebert came to his uncle Guntram.

XXXIV. That Gundovald went off to Comminges. XXXV. On the basilica of Saint Vincent the martyr of Agen laid waste. XXXVI. On the parley of Gundovald with the army. XXXVII. On the war against the city. XXXVIII. On the death of Gundovald. XXXIX. On the death of bishop Sagittarius and of Mummolus. XL. On the treasures of Mummolus. XLI. On the giant. XLII. On the power of Saint Martin. XLIII. On Desiderius and on Waddo. XLIV. On the woman who was a soothsayer. XLV. On the famine of the present year. XLVI. On the death of Christophorus. XLVII. On the civil war among the citizens of Tours. BOOK SEVEN. I.

Although it be my purpose to pursue the history which the order of the earlier books has left off, yet devotion first demands that I say something concerning the death of the blessed bishop Salvius, who is proved to have died in this year. For this man, as he himself was wont to relate, having long abided in the secular habit, prosecuted worldly causes together with the judges of the world; yet he never bound himself in those concupiscences with which the mind of the young is wont to be entangled. Now when the fragrance of the divine breath had touched the inward parts of his bowels, having forsaken the secular service, he sought out a monastery; and the man, even then given over to the Godhead, understood that it was better to make use of poverty with the fear of God than to follow after the gains of a perishing world:

In that monastery he lived for a long time under a rule established by the fathers. But now, when he had advanced to greater maturity both in understanding and in age, and the abbot who presided over this monastery had died, he undertook the office of feeding the flock; and he who ought rather to have made himself publicly available to the brethren for their correction, having taken on the honor, became more withdrawn. At once he sought for himself a more secluded little cell. For in his former cell, as he himself used to declare, having been worn away by excessive abstinence more than nine times, he changed the very skin of his body. Then, when, having received the honor, he gave himself with greater zeal in this frugality to prayer and reading, he would often turn over this thought: that it would be better for him to be hidden among the monks than to have received the name of abbot before the people.

What more is there to say? He shut himself in, bidding farewell to the brethren, and they bidding farewell to him. In this enclosure he remained in all abstinence, more than he had practiced before, striving in the service of charity that, whenever any stranger came, he might both offer prayer and minister blessed bread with most abundant grace; and these things often brought complete healing to many of the sick. Now at a certain time, exhausted by a severe fever, he lay gasping upon his little bed; and behold, suddenly the cell, made bright with a great light, trembled. But he, with hands stretched out to heaven in thanksgiving, breathed forth his spirit.

With mingled wailing the monks, together with his own mother, drew out the body of the dead man, washed it with water, clothed it in garments, and laid it upon the bier, and passed the waning night in chanting psalms and weeping. But when morning came, and the funeral office had been prepared, the body began to move upon the bier. And behold, as his cheeks grew red, the man, as though roused from a deep sleep, started up, and opening his eyes and raising his hands, said: 'O merciful Lord, what hast Thou done to me, that Thou shouldst permit me to return to this dark place of earthly dwelling, when in heaven Thy mercy was better for me than the utterly worthless life of this world?'

While his people were astounded and asked what such a portent might be, he answered nothing to those who questioned him. But rising from the bier, feeling no harm from the affliction by which he had suffered, he continued for three days without the nourishment of food or drink. On the third day, having summoned the monks and his mother, he said: 'Hear, O most beloved, and understand, that what you behold in this world is nothing; but they are, according to that which Solomon the prophet sang, all vanity (Eccl. 1:2). For happy is he who is able so to act in this age that he may deserve to behold the glory of God in heaven.' And as he said these things, he began to doubt whether he should speak further or be silent. While he kept silence, being pressed by the prayers of the brethren to explain what he had seen, he said:

'When, four days ago, you saw me lifeless as the cell trembled, I was seized by two beings and carried up into the heights of heaven, so that I seemed to have beneath my feet not only this squalid world, but even the sun and the moon, the clouds and the stars. Then through a gate brighter than this light I was brought into that dwelling, where the whole pavement was gleaming like gold and silver, the light unspeakable, the vastness beyond telling; which so great a throng of varied multitude had covered over, that its length and breadth could by no means be fully discerned for the crowd. And when a way was being prepared for us among those who pressed in, by the angels who went before, we came to a place which we had already been gazing upon from afar:

over which there hung a cloud brighter than every light, in which neither sun nor moon nor star could be seen, but above all these it shone more splendidly than natural light. And a voice proceeded from the cloud like the voice of many waters. There too men in priestly and sacerdotal raiment humbly greeted me, a sinner, whom those who went before me declared to be the martyrs and confessors whom we here honor with the highest devotion. So then, standing in the place where I was bidden, a fragrance of exceeding sweetness covered me, so that, refreshed by this sweetness, I desire as yet no food or drink. And I heard a voice saying: "Let this man return to the world, for he is needed for our churches."

For a voice was heard, yet the one who spoke could not be seen at all. And I, prostrate upon the pavement, said with weeping: "Alas! alas, Lord! why hast Thou shown me these things, if I was to be deprived of them! Behold, today Thou dost cast me away from before Thy face, that I should return to the frail world, and be unable to come back here again. Do not, I beseech Thee, Lord, take away Thy mercy from me, but I implore Thee to permit me to dwell here, lest falling back yonder I should perish." And the voice that spoke to me said: "Go in peace. For I am thy guardian, until I bring thee back to this place." Then, left by my companions, descending with weeping, through the gate by which I had entered, I returned hither.'

As he was saying these things, while all who were present stood astonished, the holy man of God again began to say with tears: 'Woe to me, who have dared to reveal such a mystery! For behold, the fragrance of sweetness which I had drawn in from the holy place, and by which I have been sustained for these three days without any food or drink, has departed from me. But my tongue too is covered with grievous wounds, and so swollen that it seems to fill my whole mouth. And I know that it was not pleasing to the Lord my God that these secrets should be made common. But Thou knowest, Lord, that I did this in simplicity of heart, not in boasting of mind. But I beg that Thou wouldst pardon me, and not forsake me, according to Thy promise.' And saying these things he fell silent, and took food and drink.

But I, in writing these things, fear lest to some reader it may seem incredible, according to that which Sallust, in writing history, says, where he speaks mindful of the virtue and glory of good men: 'What each man thinks easy for himself to do, he accepts with an even mind; things beyond that he holds, as though feigned, to be false.' For I call Almighty God to witness that all the things I have related I came to know as heard from his very mouth. But after a long time this same blessed man, drawn out of his cell and elected to the episcopate, was, against his will, ordained:

in which office, as I suppose, when he was passing his tenth year, as a plague of the groin grew strong throughout the city of Albi, and a very great part of that people had already perished, when only a few of the citizens remained, the blessed man, like a good shepherd, never wished to withdraw from that place, but always exhorted those who were left to apply themselves to prayer and to persevere earnestly in vigils, and ever to occupy themselves with good things both in works and in thought, saying: 'Do these things, so that, if God should will you to depart from this world, you may be able to enter not into judgment, but into rest.' But when, as I believe, the Lord now revealing it, he recognized the time of his calling, he himself prepared a sarcophagus for himself,

washed his body, put on his garment, and thus, with his mind ever intent upon heaven, breathed forth his blessed spirit. He was a man of great holiness and of the least greed, never wishing to possess gold. For if he had been compelled to accept any, he at once distributed it to the poor. In his time, when the patrician Mummolus had carried off many captives from that city, he followed after and ransomed them all. And the Lord granted him such great favor with that people, that even those very men who had led off the captives both remitted to him the ransom price and bestowed gifts on him besides; and thus he restored the captives of his homeland to their former liberty. And I have heard many good things of this man; but since I desire to return to the work of history I have begun, I pass over very much. II.

Therefore, when Chilperic was dead, and had found the death he had long sought, the people of Orléans, joined with those of Blois, rushed upon the people of Châteaudun, and, catching them off guard, trampled them; they gave to the flames the houses and stores of grain, and whatever they could not easily carry off; they plundered the cattle, and carried away the goods they were able to lift. As these withdrew, the people of Châteaudun, joined with the rest of the men of Chartres, followed close on their track, treating them with the same fate by which they themselves had been afflicted, leaving nothing in the houses, nor outside the houses, nor of the houses.

And while they were still raging in quarrels among themselves, and the men of Orléans were brandishing arms against these, through the intercession of the counts a peace was granted until a hearing, namely, that on the day on which the judgment was to be held, the party which had unjustly flared up against the other should make amends with justice mediating; and thus the war was brought to a halt. III. Vedastes, surnamed Avo, who in years past had killed Lupus and Ambrosius for love of the wife of Ambrosius, and had taken her, who was said to be his own cousin, into marriage, while he was perpetrating many crimes within the territory of Poitiers, having joined at a certain place with Childeric the Saxon, while they provoked one another with insults, one of Childeric's servants pierced Avo through with a spear.

He, falling to the ground, still wounded by many blows, poured out his wicked soul with his blood flowing forth; and the divine majesty was the avenger of the innocent blood which he had shed with his own hand. For this most wretched man had committed many thefts, murders, and adulteries, which I think it better to pass over in silence. That Saxon, however, made satisfaction for his death to his sons. IV. Meanwhile Queen Fredegund, now widowed, came to Paris, and with the treasures which she had enclosed within the circuit of the walls, she fled to the church, and was protected by Bishop Ragnemod; but the rest of the treasures, which had remained at the villa of Chelles, among which was that golden serving-dish which she had recently made (Book VI, ch. 2),

the treasurers took up, and quickly crossed over to King Childebert, who was then staying at the city of Meaux. V. So Queen Fredegund, having taken counsel, sent envoys to King Guntram, saying: 'Let my lord come, and receive the kingdom of his brother. I have,' she said, 'a tiny infant, whom, desiring to place in his arms, I submit my very self to his lowly authority.' Now when King Guntram learned of his brother's death, he wept most bitterly. And with his lamentation moderated, he set his army in motion and directed it to Paris. And when he had been received within the walls, King Childebert, his nephew, arrived from another quarter. VI.

But when the people of Paris were unwilling to receive him, he sent envoys to King Guntram, saying: 'I know, most pious father, that it is not hidden from your piety in what manner up to the present time the hostile party has oppressed us both, so that no one is able to find justice concerning the things owed to him. Therefore I now suppliantly beseech that the agreements which were woven between us after the death of my father may be kept.' Then King Guntram said to his envoys: 'O wretched and ever-treacherous men, having nothing true in you, nor abiding in your promises! Behold, abandoning all the things you promised me, you wrote a new pact with King Chilperic, that, having driven me from my kingdom, you might divide my cities among yourselves.

Behold the very pacts, behold the subscriptions of your own hands, by which you confirmed this connivance! And with what face do you now seek that I should receive my nephew Childebert, whom by your perversity you wished to make my enemy?' To whom the envoys said: 'If such anger has seized your mind that you grant nothing to your nephew of the things you promised, at least cease to take away those things which are owed from the kingdom of Charibert.' To which he said: 'Behold the pacts that were made between us, that whoever should enter the city of Paris without his brother's consent should lose his share, and that Polyeuctus the martyr, together with the confessors Hilary and Martin, should be his judge and requiter. After this, my brother

Sigibert entered into it, who, perishing by the judgment of God, lost his share. Chilperic likewise did the same. Through these transgressions, therefore, they lost their shares; and so, because they failed according to the judgment of God and the curses of the pacts, I shall, with the law lending aid, subject the whole kingdom of Charibert with its treasures to my dominion; nor thereafter shall I grant anything to anyone except by my own free will. Depart, therefore, you ever-lying and treacherous men, and report these things to your king.' VII. As these were departing, the envoys of Childebert again came to the aforesaid king, demanding Queen Fredegund, and saying: 'Hand over the murderess, who struck down my aunt, who killed my father and my uncle;

who also slew with the sword those very kinsmen of mine.' But he said: 'At the assembly which we hold, we shall decide all things, considering what ought to be done.' For he protected Fredegund with his patronage, and often invited her to a banquet, promising that he would even become her greatest defender. Now on a certain day, while they were feasting together at table, the queen, rising and bidding farewell, was detained by the king, who said to her: 'Take yet a little food.' To whom she said: 'Pardon me, I beg, my lord, for it has befallen me, after the custom of women, that I should rise on account of being with child.' Hearing this, he was astounded, knowing it to be the fourth month since she had borne another son; yet he allowed her to rise.

The chief men also of Chilperic's kingdom, such as Ansovald and the rest, gathered themselves to his son who was, as we said above, four months old, whom they named Chlothar, exacting oaths throughout the cities which had formerly belonged to Chilperic, namely that they should be faithful to King Guntram and to his nephew Chlothar. And King Guntram restored all things which the faithful men of King Chilperic had wrongfully carried off in various ways, with justice intervening. He also conferred many things on the churches, and restored the testaments of the dead, who had instituted the churches as their heirs, and which had been suppressed by Chilperic; showing himself kindly to many and bestowing much on the poor. VIII.

But because he was not safe from the men among whom he had come, he armed himself, nor did he ever go to church or to the other places where he was pleased to go without a great guard. Whence it came to pass that on a certain Lord's Day, after the deacon had enjoined silence on the people that the Masses might be listened to, the king, turning to the people, said: 'I adjure you, O men with women who are present, that you deign to keep your faith inviolate toward me, and not slay me as you lately did my brothers; and that it may be permitted me for even three years to nurture my nephews, who have been made my adopted sons: lest perchance it happen—which the eternal Godhead suffer not—that, when I am dead, you should perish together with those little ones;

since from our line there would be no strong man who might defend you.' As he said this, all the people poured forth prayer to the Lord for the king. IX. While these things were being done, Rigunth, the daughter of King Chilperic, with the treasures written of above, advanced as far as Toulouse, and seeing herself now near to the border of the Goths, she began to weave in delays, her people moreover saying to her that she ought to remain there, since they themselves, wearied by the journey, had unkempt garments and torn footwear, and the equipment of the horses and wagons themselves were still, just as they had been conveyed on the carts, set apart unharnessed.

It would be better, they said, that all these things should first be carefully set in order, and so to proceed on the journey, and to be received with all elegance by the bridegroom: lest perchance, if they should appear unkempt among the Goths, they be mocked by them. So while they were delayed for these reasons, the death of King Chilperic slipped into the ears of Duke Desiderius. He too, having gathered with him very strong men, entered the city of Toulouse, and took away the treasures he found from the power of the queen (Rigunth), and consigned them to a certain house under the protection of seals and the guard of strong men, allotting to the queen a meager sustenance, until he should return to the city. X. But he himself hastened to Mummolus, with whom he had entered a treaty two years before.

At that time Mummolus was staying within the walls of the city of Avignon with Gundovald, of whom we made mention in the preceding book (ch. 24). He, having joined with the aforesaid dukes, approached the territory of Limoges, and came to the village of Brive-la-Gaillarde, in which rests Saint Martin, the disciple, as they say, of our Martin; and there, set upon a shield, he was raised up as king. But when they circled around the third time with him, he is said to have fallen, so that he could scarcely be held up by the hands of those standing about. Then he went through the cities placed round about. But Rigunth was residing in the basilica of Saint Mary at Toulouse, in which the wife of Ragnovald, of whom we made mention above, fearing Chilperic, had taken refuge.

But Ragnovald, returning from Spain, his wife and property were restored to him. For he had set out for Spain on account of an embassy, directed by King Guntram. In that storm, by a great fire, the basilica of the aforesaid blessed Martin at the village of Brive was burned by the threatening enemy, so that both the altar and the columns, which had been fitted of diverse kinds of marble, were dissolved by the fire. But this building was afterward so repaired by Bishop Ferreolus, as though it had suffered nothing evil. For the inhabitants greatly admire and venerate this saint, because they often experience his miracles. XI. Now it was, when these things were being done, the tenth month.