 Section 2 of SELECTIONS OF THE HISTORY OF THE FRANKS. This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. SELECTIONS OF THE HISTORIES OF THE FRANKS by Gregory of Tours, translated by Ernest Brayholt, Book 2, chapters 1 to 18. Here begins the second book. Following the order of time we shall mingle together in our tale the miraculous doings of the saints and the slaughters of the nations. I do not think that we shall be condemned thoughtlessly if we tell of the happy lives of the blessed together with the deaths of the wretched. Hence it is not the skill of the writer but the succession of times that has furnished the arrangement. The attentive reader, if he seeks diligently, will find in the famous histories of the kings of the Israelites that under the just Samuel the wicked Phineas perished, and that under David whom they called stronghand the stranger Goliath was destroyed, that him remember also in the time of the great prophet Elias, who prevented rains when he wished, and when he pleased poured them on the parched ground, who enriched the poverty of the widow by his prayer, what slaughters of the people there were, what famine and what thirst oppressed the wretched earth. Let him remember what evil Jerusalem endured in the time of Hezekiah, to whom God granted fifteen additional years of life. Moreover under the prophet Elisha, who restored the dead to life and did many other miracles among the peoples, what butcheries, what miseries crushed the very people of Israel. So to Eusebius, Severus, and Jerome in their chronicles, and Erosius also interwoven the wars of kings and the miracles of the martyrs. We have written in this way also, because it is thus easier to perceive in their entirety the order of the centuries and the system of the years down to our day. And so, leaving the histories of the writers who have been mentioned above, we shall describe at God's bidding what was done in the later times. After the death of the blessed Martin, Bishop of Tours, a very great and incomparable man whose miracles filled great volumes in our possession, Brecius succeeded to the bishopric. Now this Brecius, when he was a young man and the saint was yet living in the body, used to lay many traps for him, because he was often accused by St. Martin of following the easy way. And one day when a sick man was looking for the blessed Martin in order to get medicine from him, he met Brecius, at this time a deacon, in the square, and he said to him in a simple fashion, Behold, I am seeking the blessed man, and I don't know where he is or what he is doing. And Brecius said, If you are seeking for that crazy person look in the distance, there he is, staring at the sky in his usual fashion, as if he were daft. And when the poor man had seen him and got what he wanted, the blessed Martin said to the deacon, Well, Brecius, I seem to you crazy, do I? And when the latter in confusion at this denied he had said so, the saint replied, For not my ears at your lips, when you said this at a distance, verily I say unto you that I have prevailed upon God that you shall succeed to the bishop's office after me. But let me tell you that you will suffer many misfortunes in your tenure of the office. Brecius on hearing this laughed, and said, Did I not speak the truth that he uttered crazy words? Furthermore when he had attained to the rank of priest he often attacked the blessed man with abuse. But when he had become bishop by the choice of the citizens he devoted himself to prayer. And although he was proud and vain he was nevertheless considered chaste in his body. But in the thirty-third year after his ordination there arose against him a lamentable ground for accusation. For a woman to whom his servants used to give his garments to be washed, one who had changed her garb on the pretext of religion conceived and bore a child. Because of this the whole population of tours arose in wrath and laid the whole blame on the bishop, wishing with one accord to stone him. For they said, The piety of a holy man has too long been a cover for your wantonness. But God does not any longer allow us to be polluted by kissing your unworthy hands. But he denied the charge forcibly. Bring the infant to me, said he, and when the infant, which was thirty days old, was brought, the bishop said to it, I adjure you in the name of Jesus Christ, son of the omnipotent God, to declare publicly to all if I begot you. And the child said, It is not you who are my father. And when the people asked him to inquire who was the father, the bishop said, That is not my affair. I was troubled in so far as the matter concerned me. Inquire for yourselves whatever you want. Then they asserted that this had been done by magic arts, and arose against him in a conspiracy and dragged him along, saying, You shall not rule us any longer under the false name of a shepherd. And to satisfy the people he placed red-hot coals in his pocket, and drawing it close to him he walked as far as the tomb of the blessed Martin, along with throngs of the people. And when the coals were cast down before the tomb, his robe was seen to be unburned. And he said, Just as you see this robe uninjured by the fire, so too my body is undefiled by union with a woman. And when they did not believe, but denied it, he was dragged, abused, and cast out in order that the words of the saint might be fulfilled. Let me tell you that you will suffer many misfortunes in your episcopate. When he was cast out, they appointed Justinian to the office of bishop. Finally Vrissius went to see the pope of the city of Rome, weeping and wailing, and saying, Brightly do I suffer this because I send against the saint of God, and often called him crazy and daft, and when I saw his miracles I did not believe. And after his departure the people of Tours said to their bishop, Go after him and attend to your own interest, for if you do not attack him you shall be humiliated by the contempt of us all. And Justinian went forth from Tours, and came to Ferselli, a city of Italy, and was smitten by a judgment of God, and died in a strange country. The people of Tours heard of his death, and persisted in their evil course. They appointed Armentius in his place. But Bishop Vrissius went to Rome, and related to the pope all that he had endured, and while he remained at the Apostolic Sea he often celebrated the solemn ceremony of the Mass, weeping for the rung he had done to the saint of God. In the seventh year he left Rome, and by the authority of that pope purposed to return to Tours. And when he came to the village called Mount Louis at the sixth milestone from the city he resided there. Now Armentius was seized with a fever, and died at midnight. This was at once revealed to Bishop Vrissius in a vision, and he said to his people, Rise quickly, so that we may go to bury our brother the bishop of Tours. And when they came and entered one gate of the city, behold, they were carrying his dead body out by another. And when he was buried Vrissius returned to the bishop's chair and lived happily seven years after. And when he died in the forty-seventh year of his Episcopet, Saint Eustosius, a man of magnificent holiness, succeeded him, too. After this the vandals left their own country and burst into the Gauls under King Gundaric. And when the Gauls had been thoroughly laid waste they made for the Spains. The Swabi, that is, Alamani, followed them, seized Galicia. Not long after a quarrel arose between the two peoples, since they were neighbors. And when they had gone armed to the battle and were already at the point of fighting, the king of the Alamani said, Why are all the people involved in war? Let our people, I pray, not kill one another in battle, but let two of our warriors go to the field in arms and fight with one another. Then he whose champion wins shall hold the region without strife. To this all the people agreed that the whole multitude might not rush on the edge of the sword. In these days King Gundaric had died and in his place Thrasamund held the kingdom. And in the conflict of the champions the side of the vandals was overcome, and his champion being slain, Thrasamund promised to depart. And so when he had made the necessary preparations for the journey he removed from the territories of Spain. About the same time Thrasamund persecuted the Christians, and by torture and different sorts of death tried to force all Spain to consent to the perfidity of the Aryan sect. And it so happened that a certain maiden bound by religious vows was brought to trial. She was very rich and of the senatorial nobility according to the ranking of the world, and what is nobler than all this, strong in the Catholic faith and a blameless servant of Almighty God. And when she was brought before the eyes of the king he first began to coax her with kind words to be baptized again, and when she repelled his venomous shaft by the armor of the faith the king commanded that wealth be taken from her, who had already in her heart possessed the kingdom of Paradise, and later that she should be tortured without hope of this life. Why make a long story? Her long examinations, after losing the treasure of earthly riches, when she could not be forced to attack the blessed trinity, she was led against her will to be rebaptised. And when she was being forcibly immersed in that filthy bath and was crying loudly, I believe that the Father and the Holy Spirit are of one substance with the Son. When she said this, she stained the water with a worthy ointment. That is, she defiled it with excrement. Then she was taken to the examination according to the law, and after the needle, flame, and claw she was beheaded for Christ the Lord. After this the vandals crossed the sea. The Alamani followed as far as Tangier, and were dispersed throughout all Africa and Mauritania. Three. Persecution of Catholics by Arians under the Vandal King on Erich of Africa. Four. The same under the Gothic King, Athenaric, of Spain. Five. Journey of Bishop Aravatius of Tongris to Rome, that he might avert by prayer the threatened invasion of the Huns. But there he learns that it was sanctioned in the Council of the Lord, that the Huns must come into the Gauls and ravage them. He returns to Tongris and dies. Six. Now the Huns left Pannonia, and as certain say, on the very night watch of the Holy Easter arrived at the city of Metz, after devastating the country and gave the city over to burning, slain the people with the edge of the sword, and killing the priests of the Lord before the holy altars. And there remained in the city no place unburned except the oratory of the Blessed Stephan, the Deacon and First Murder. And I do not hesitate to tell what I have heard from certain persons about this oratory. For they say that before these enemies came a man of the faith saw in a vision the Blessed Levite Stephan, as if conferring with the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and speaking as follows about this disaster. I beg you, my lords, to prevent by your intercession the burning of the city of Metz by the enemy, because there is a place in it which the relics of my life on earth are preserved. Rather let the people burn that I have some influence with God. But if the wickedness of the people has grown too great, so that nothing else can be done except deliver the city to burning, at least let this oratory not be consumed. And they replied to him, Go in peace, beloved brother, your oratory alone the fires shall not burn. But as for the city we shall not prevail, because the sentence of the will of the Lord has already gone out over it. For the sin of the people has grown great, and the outcry of their wickedness ascends to the presence of God. Therefore this city shall be burned with fire. Whence it is certain that it was by the intercession of these that when the city was burned the oratory remained unharmed. Seven. And Attila King of the Huns went forth from Metz, and when he had crushed many cities of the Gauls he attacked or leans, and strove to take it by the mighty hammering of battering rams. Now at the time the most blessed Anianus was Bishop of the city just mentioned, a man of unequaled wisdom, and praiseworthy holiness, whose miracles were faithfully remembered among us. And when the people on being shut in cried to their bishop and asked what they should do, trusting in God, he advised them all to prostrate themselves in prayer, and with tears to implore the ever-present aid of God in their necessities. Then when they had prayed as he had directed, the bishop said, Look from the wall of the city to see whether God's mercy yet comes to your aid, for he hoped that by God's mercy Attias was coming. To whom he had recourse before at Arles when he was anxious about the future. But when they looked from the wall they saw no one, and he said, Pray faithfully, for God will free you this day. When they had prayed he said, Look again, and when they looked they saw no one to bring aid. He said to them a third time, If you pray faithfully, God comes swiftly. And they besought God's mercy with weeping and loud cries. When this prayer also was finished they looked from the wall a third time at the old man's command, and saw far off a cloud as it were arising from the earth. When they reported this the bishop said, It is the aid of the Lord. Meanwhile, when the walls were now trembling from the hammering of the rams, and were just about to fall, behold, Attias came, and Theodore king of the Goths, and Thoros modus, his son, hastened to the city with their armies, and drove the enemy forth, and defeated him. And so the city was freed by the intercession of the blessed bishop, and they put Attila to flight. And he went to the plain of Moray, and got ready for battle. And hearing this they made manful preparations to meet him. Attias with the Goths and Franks fought against Attila, and the latter saw that his army was being destroyed, and escaped, by flight. And Theodore king of the Goths was slain in the battle. Now let no one doubt that the army of Hans was put to flight by the intercession of the bishop, mentioned above. And so Attias, the patrician, along with Thoros modus, won the battle and destroyed the enemy. And when the battle was finished Attias said to Thoros modus, Make haste and return swiftly to your native land, for fear you lose your father's kingdom, because of your brother. The latter, on hearing this, departed speedily with the intention of anticipating his brother, and seizing his father's throne first. At the same time Attias, by a stratagem, caused the king of the Franks to flee. And when they had gone Attias took the spoils of the battle, and returned victoriously to his country with much booty. And Attila retreated with a few men. Not long after Aquilia was conquered by the Huns and burned, and altogether destroyed. Attila was overrun and plundered, Thoros modus, whom we have mentioned above, overcame the Alons in battle, and was himself defeated later on by his brothers, after many quarrels and battles, and put to death. 8. The history of Granadas Figuridas is quoted for the character of Attias, and on account of his death. 9. The question who was the first of the kings of the Franks is disregarded by many writers. Though the history of Sopesius Alexander tells much of them, still it does not name their first king, but says that they had dukes. However, it is well to relate what he says of them, for when he tells that Maximus, losing all hope of empire, remained within Aquilia, almost beside himself, he adds. At that time the Franks burst into the province of Germany under Gunobald, Markormer, and Suno, their dukes, and having broken through the boundary wall, they slew most of the people, and laid waste to the fertile districts, especially, and aroused fear even in Cologne. And when word was carried to Threves, Nananus, and Quintinus, the military officers to whom Maximus had entrusted his infant son, in the defense of the Gauls, assembled an army and met at Cologne. Now the enemies, laden with plunder after devastating the richest parts of the provinces, had crossed the Rhine, leaving a good many of their men on Roman soil, all ready to renew their ravages, and attack upon these turned to the advantage of the Romans, and many Franks, perished by the sword near Carboneer. And when the Romans were consulting after their success, whether they ought to cross into Francia, Nananus said no, because he knew the Franks would not be unprepared, and would doubtless be stronger in their own land. And since this displeased Quintinus and the remainder of the officers, Nananus returned to Mainz, and Quintinus crossed the Rhine, with his army near the stronghold of Nus. And at this second camp from the river he found dwellings abandoned by their occupants, and great villages deserted. For the Franks pretended to be afraid, and retired into the more remote tracks where they built an apatus on the edge of the woods. And so the cowardly soldiers burnt all the dwellings, thinking that to rage against them was the winning of victory, and they passed a wakeful night under the burden of their arms. At the first glimmer of dawn they entered the wooded country under Quintinus as commander of the battle, and wandered in safety till nearly midday, entangling themselves in the winding paths. At last, when they found everything solidly shut up by great fences, they struggled to make their exit into the marshy fields which were adjacent to the woods, and the enemy appeared here and there, and sheltered by trunks of trees, or standing on the apatus as if on the summit of towers, they sent as if from engines a shower of arrows poisoned with the juices of herbs. So that sure death followed even superficial wounds inflicted in places that were not mortal. Later the army was surrounded by the enemy in great number, and it eagerly rushed into the open places which the Franks had left unoccupied, and the horsemen were the first to plunge into the morasses, and the bodies of men and animals fell indiscriminately together, and they were overwhelmed by their own confusion. The foot soldiers also who had escaped the hoofs of the horses were impeded by the mud, and extricated themselves with difficulty, and hid again in panic in the woods, from which they had struggled a little before, and so the rinks were thrown into disorder and the legions cut in pieces. Heraclius, tribune of the Jovinians, and nearly all the officers were slain, when night and the lurking places of the woods offered a safe escape to a few. This he narrated in the third book of his history. And in the fourth book, when he tells of the killing of Victor, son of Maximus, the tyrant, he says, at that time Carrietto and Ceres, who had been appointed in place of Naninas, were absent in the province of Germany, in the army opposed to the Franks. And a little later, when the Franks had taken booty from Germany, he added, our bogasties, wishing no further delay, warned Caesar that the punishment due must be exacted from the Franks, unless they speedily restored all the pointer they had taken the previous year, when the legions were destroyed, and delivered up the instigators of the war to be punished for their treachery in breaking the peace. He related that this had been done under the leadership of Dukes, and says further, a few days later he held a hasty conference with Marquemer and Suno, princes of the Franks, and required hostages of them as usual, and then retired to Traves to spend the winter. But when he calls them princes, we do not know whether they were kings or held in the place of kings. Still the same writer, when he told of the hard straits of the emperor Valentinian, added this, while events of various sorts were taking place in the east throughout Thrace, the public order was disturbed in Gaul. Valentinian the emperor was shut up in Vienna in the palace, and reduced, almost, below the position of a private person, and the military command was given over to the Frankish allies, and even the civil offices fell under the control of Arbogas' faction. And no one of all the Oathbound soldiery was found to dare to heed the familiar speech or obey the command of the emperor. Then he says, in the same year Arbogas pursued with heathenish hate the princes of the Franks, Suno, and Marquemer, and hastened to Cologne in the depth of winter, since he knew that all the retreats of Francia could be safely penetrated, and ravaged with fire when the woods, left bare and dry by the fall of the leaves, could not conceal men lying in ambush. And so he gathered an army and crossed the Rhine, and devastated the country of the Brictauri near the bank, and also the district which the Shamavi inhabit, and no one met him anywhere except that a few of the Ampsavari and Shati appeared with Marquemer as Duke on the ridges of distant hills. At another time this writer no longer mentioning Dukes and princes openly asserts that the Franks had a king, without mentioning his name. He says, then the tyrant Eugenius undertook a military expedition and hastened to the Rhine to renew in the customary way the old alliance with the kings of the Alemani and the Franks, and to threaten the barbarian nations at that time with a great army. So much the historian mentioned above, wrote about the Franks. Renatus Profaturis Friguridus, whom we have already mentioned in his story of the capture of the destruction of Rome by the Goths, says, Meanwhile, when Gore had gone over to the Romans, resplendial King of the Alemani turned the army of the people from the Rhine, since the Vandals were getting the worse of the war with the Franks, having lost their king Golda Gasel and about twenty thousand of the army, and all the Vandals would have been exterminated if the army of the Alemani had not come to their aid in time. It is surprising to us that when he names the kings of the other nations, he does not name the king of the Franks as well. Moreover, when he says that Constantine, after seizing imperial power, commanded his son Constantius to come to him from the Spains, he speaks as follows. The tyrant, Constantine, summoned from the Spains his own son, Constance, also a tyrant, in order to consult with him about their general policy. And so Constance left at Saragossa his court and his wife, and gave Jaronius charge over all of the Spains, and hastened to his father without breaking his journey. And when they met many days past, and there was no danger from Italy and Constantine gave himself up to Gluttony, and urged his son to return to Spain. And while Constance was sending his troops forward, being still with his father, news came from Spain that Maximus, one of his clients, had been given imperial authority by Jaronius, and was securing a following of the Barbalians. Alarmed at this, they sent Edobecus forward to the German tribes, and Constance and Decimus Rusticus, now prefect, he had been master of the offices, hastened to the Gauls, with the intention of presently returning to Constantine with the Franks and the Alemani and all the soldiers. Again, when he writes that Constantine was being besieged, he uses these words. The fourth month of the siege of Constantine was scarcely yet under way, when news came suddenly from Father Gaul that Iovinas had assumed royal state, and was threatening the besiegers with the Burgundians, Alemani, Franks, Allens, and all his army. So the attack on the walls was hastened, the city opened its gates, and Constantine surrendered. He was sent hastily into Italy, and was slain at the river Minzio by assassins sent to him by the Emperor. And a little later, the same writer says, at the same time Decimus Rusticus, prefect of the tyrants, Argyotius, one of the chief secretaries of Jovinus, and many nobles, were captured at Auvirg by the commanders of Honorius, and cruelly put to death. The city of Trius was plundered and burnt in a second in-road of the Franks. And when Osterius had been made a patrician by an imperial order, he adds this, at the same time Castanus, Count of the Bodyguard, undertook an expedition against the Franks, and was sent into the Gauls. This is what has been told of the Franks, and the historian Herosius says in the seventh book of his work, Steliso gathered the nations, crushed the Franks, crossed the Rhine, wandered through the Gauls, and made his way as far as the Pyrenees. This is the evidence that the historians who have been named have left us about the Franks, and they have not mentioned kings. Many relate that they came from Pannonia, and all dwelt at first on the banks of the Rhine, and then crossing the Rhine they passed into Thuringia, and there among the villages and cities appointed long-haired kings over them from their first, or so to speak, noblest family. This title clovices victories afterwards made a lasting one, as we shall see later on. We read in the Fausti Consolaries that Theodomer, king of the Franks, Sanna Richimer, and Asla, his mother, were once on a time slain by the sword. They say also that Schloglio, a man of ability and high rank among his people, was king of the Franks then, and he dwelt at the stronghold of Dispargum, which is within the borders of the Thuringians, and in these parts, that is, towards the south, the Romans dwelt as far as the Lawyer, and beyond the Lore the Goths were in control, the Burgundians also, who belonged to the sect of the Arians, dwelt across the Rhine on the district which is adjacent to the city of Lyons. And Schloglio sent spies to the city of Cambria, and they went everywhere, and he himself followed and overcame the Romans and seized the city in which he dwelt for a short time, and he seized the land as far as the River Somme. Certain authorities assert that King Murovec, whose son was Shilderic, was of the family of Schloglio. Tim. Now this people seems to have always been addicted to heathen worship, and they did not know God, but made themselves images of the wood and the waters of birds and beasts, and of the other elements as well. They were want to worship these as God, and to offer sacrifice to them. Oh, wood that that terrible voice had touched the fibers of their hearts which spoke through Moses to the people, saying, Thou wilt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor worship any likeness of anything that is in heaven or on earth or in the water. Thou shalt not make them, and thou shalt not worship them. And in Isaiah he speaks a second time. I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God and Creator whom I do not know. They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity, and the things that they delight in shall not profit them. They are themselves witnesses of what they are, that they do not see nor have understanding, and they are confounded in them. Behold, all his fellows shall be put to shame, for the workmen are of men. On the coals and with hammers did he form it, and he worked it with his strong arm. In like manner too the carpenter fashioned it with compasses, and made the likeness of a man as if of a comely man dwelling in a house. He hewed down the wood. He worked and made a graven image, and worshiped it as a God. He fastened it with nails and hammers, so that it should not fall to pieces. They are carried because they cannot walk, and the remainder of the wood is prepared by men for the hearth, and they are warmed. And from another he made a God, and a graven image for himself. He bends before it, and worships it, and prays, saying, Deliver me, for thou art my God. I burned half of it with fire, and baked bread upon the coals. I baked flesh and ate, and from the residue I shall make an idol. I shall worship before a wooden trunk part of its ashes. The foolish heart worshipped it, and did not deliver his soul. And he does not say, perhaps there is a lie in my right hand. The nation of the Franks did not understand at first, but it understood later as the following history relates. 11. Avitas, citizen of Claremont, Emperor of Rome, and Bishop of Placentia. 12. Shilderick was excessively wanton, and being king of the Franks, he began to dishonor his daughters. And they were angry with him on this account, and took his kingdom from him. And when he learned that they wished also to kill him, he hastened to Thuringia, leaving there a man who was dear to him to calm their furious tempers. He arranged also for a sign when he should be able to return to his country. That is, they divided a gold piece between them, and Shilderick took one half, and his friend kept the other, saying, Whenever I send you this part, and the joint parts make one coin, then you shall return securely to your native place. 12. Accordingly, Shilderick went off to Thuringia, and remained in hiding with King Bissinas and Bacina his wife. The Franks, after he was driven out with one accord, selected a king Egidius, whom we have mentioned before as the commander of the troops sent by the Republic. And when he was in the eighth year of his reign over them, that faithful friend secretly won the good will of the Franks, and sent messengers to Shilderick with the part of the divided coin which he had kept. And Shilderick learned by this sure sign that he was wanted by the Franks, and returned from Thuringia at their request, and was restored to his kingdom. Now when these princes were reigning at the same time, the Bissina, whom we have mentioned above, left her husband and came to Shilderick. And when he asked anxiously for what reason she had come so far to see him, it is said that she answered, I know your worth, said she, and that you are very strong, and therefore I have come to live with you. For let me tell you that if I had known of anyone more worthy than you in parts beyond the sea, I should certainly have sought to live with him. And he was glad, and united her to him in marriage. And she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Clovis. He was a great and distinguished warrior. Thirteen Artemius, Bishop of Clermont, is succeeded by Vanirondus, and he by Rusticus. Fourteen In the city of Tours after the death of Bishop Eustosius in the seventeenth year of his Episcopate, Perpetus was ordained fifth bishop after the blessed Martin. And when he saw that miracles were being worked continually at St. Martin's tomb, and that the chapel, which had been built over it, was a tiny one, he judged it unworthy of such miracles. And moving it away, he built there a great church, which remains to the present day, situated five hundred and fifty paces from the city. It is one hundred and sixty feet long, and sixty wide, and forty-five high to the vault. It has thirty-two windows in the part around the altar, twenty in the nave, forty-one columns. In the whole building, fifty-two windows, one hundred and twenty columns, eight doors, three in the part around the altar, and five in the nave. The feast of the church is given sanctity by a triple virtue, that is, the dedication of the temple, the transfer of the body of the saint, and his ordination as bishop. This feast you shall observe four days before the knowns of July, and remember that his burial is the third day before the Ides of November. And if you celebrate these faithfully, you will merit the protection of the blessed bishop, both in the present life and in that to come. And since the sealing of the former chapel was of choice workmanship, the bishop thought it unworthy that this work should perish, and he built another church in honor of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, in which he placed the sealing. He built many other churches which remain to the present time in Christ's name. Fifteen. Euphronius, bishop of Autun, who piously sent the block of marble, that is, placed above the holy tomb of the blessed Martin. Sixteen. Now after the death of the bishop Rusticus, Saint Namatius became the eighth bishop of Clermont. He undertook the task of building the older church which is still standing, and is contained within the walls of the city, one hundred and fifty feet in length, sixty in width, that is, the nave. Fifty in height to the vault, with the round apps in front and on both sides, aisles finally built. The whole building is laid out in the form of a cross. It has forty-two windows, seventy columns, eight doors. The fear of God is in it, and a great brightness is seen, and in the spring a very great pleasant fragrance, as if of spices, is perceived there by the devout. It has, near the altar, walls of variegated work adorned with many kinds of marble. The blessed bishop, on finishing the building in the twelfth year, sent praise to Belogna in Italy to procure relics of Saint Igricola and Vitalis, who, we know very certainly, were crucified in the name of Christ, our king. Seventeen. His wife built the church of St. Stephen in the outskirts of the city, and wishing to adorn it with colors, she used to carry a book in her bosom, reading the histories of ancient times, and describing to the painters what they were to represent on the walls. It happened one day that while she sat in the church and read a certain poor man came to pray, and seeing her in black clothing, already an old woman, he thought she was one of the needy, and he took out part of a loaf and put it in her lap, and went on. But she did not disdain the gift of the poor man, who did not know her, but took it and thanked him, and put it away, and sat in it before her at meals, used it as holy bread until it was used up. Eighteen. Now Shelderic fought at Orleans, and Odossir came with the Saxons to Anjers. At that time a great plague destroyed the people. Egidius died and left a son, Sygrius, by name. On his death, Odossir received hostages from Angiers and other places. The Britannies were driven from Borges by the Goths, and many were slain at the Village of Deals. Count Paul, with the Romans and Franks, made war on the Goths, and took booty. When Odossir came to Anjers, King Shelderic came on the following day, and slew Count Paul, and took the city. In a great fire on that day the house of the bishop was burned. End of section two. Book two of Selections of the History of the Franks. This is a LibriVox recording, all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Selections of the History of the Franks. By Gregory of Tours. Translated by Ernest Brehalt. Book two. Chapters nineteen to thirty-four. Nineteen. After this war was waged between the Saxons and the Romans, but the Saxons fled and left many of their people to be slain, the Romans, pursuing. Their islands were captured and ravaged by the Franks, and many were slain. In the ninth month of that year there was an earthquake. Odossir made an alliance with Shelderic, and they subdued the Alemani who had overrun part of Italy. Twenty. Eurich, king of the Goths, in the fourteenth year of his reign, placed Duke Victorious in command of seven cities, and he went at once to Clermont, and desired to add it to the others, and writings concerning this exist to the present. He gave orders to set up at the Church of St. Julian the Columns, which are placed there. He gave orders to build the Church of St. Laurentius and St. Germonius at the village of Lycaniacus. He was at Clermont nine years. He brought charges against Eucarius, a senator whom he ordered to be put in prison and taken out at night. And after having him bound beside an old wall, he ordered the wall to be pushed over upon him. As for himself, since he was overwont in his love for women, and was afraid of being killed by the people of Averna, he fled to Rome, and there was stone to death because he wished to practice a similar wantonness. Eurich reigned four years after Victorious's death, and died in the twenty-seventh year of his reign. There was also at that time a great earthquake. 21. Bishop Eparchius of Clermont finds his church at night full of demons. 22. The Holy Sidonius was so eloquent that he generally improvised what he wished to say without any hesitation and in the clearest manner. And it happened one day that he went by invitation to a fate at the Church of the Monastery, which we have mentioned before, and when his book, by which he had been want to celebrate the holy services, was maliciously taken away, he went through the whole service of the fate, improvising with such readiness that he was admired by all, and it was believed by the bystanders that it was not a man who had spoken there but an angel. And this we have set forth more fully in the preface of the book, which we have composed about the masses written by him. Being a man of wonderful holiness, and as we have said, one of the first of the Senators, he often carried silver dishes away from home, unknown to his wife, and gave them to the poor people. And whenever she learned of it she was scandalized at him, and then he used to give the value to the poor, and restore the dishes to the house. 23. Terrible fate of priests who rebelled against their bishop. 24. In the time of famine in Burgundy, Eccdiceus feeds more than four thousand persons. 25. The Gothic King Evatrix persecutes the Christians in southwestern Gaul. 26. A bishop being suspected by the Goths is carried a captive into Spain. 27. After these events Childric died, and Clovis, his son, reigned in his stead. In the fifth year of his reign, Seagrius, king of the Romans, son of Egedius, had his seat in the city of Soissons, which Egedius, who had been mentioned before, once held. 27. And Clovis came against him with Ragnacar, his kinsman, because he used to possess the kingdom, and demanded that they make ready a battlefield. 28. And Seagrius did not delay, nor was he afraid to resist. 29. And so they fought against each other, and Seagrius, seeing his army crushed, turned his back, and fled swiftly to King Alaric at Toulouse. 30. And Clovis sent to Alaric to send him back, otherwise he was to know that Clovis would make war on him for his refusal. 31. And Alaric was afraid that he would incur the anger of the Franks on account of Seagrius, seeing it is the fashion of the Goths to be terrified, and he surrendered him in chains to Clovis's envoys. And Clovis took him and gave orders to put him under guard, and when he had got his kingdom he directed that he be executed secretly. At that time many churches were despoiled by Clovis's army, since he was as yet involved in heathen air. Now the army had taken from a certain church a vase of wonderful size and beauty, along with the remainder of the utensils for the service of the church. And the bishop of the church sent messengers to the king, asking that the vase at least be returned, if he could not send back any more of the sacred dishes. On hearing this the king said to the messenger, follow us as far as Soysons, because all that has been taken is to be divided there, and when the lot assigns me that dish I will do what the father asks. Then when he came to Soysons, and all the booty was said in their midst, the king said, I ask you brave warriors not to refuse to grant me in addition to my share yonder dish. That is, he was speaking of the vase just mentioned. In answer to the speech of the king, those of Morcense replied, Glorious king, all that we see is yours, and we ourselves are subject to your rule. Now do what seems well pleasing to you, for no one is able to resist your power. When they said this, a foolish, envious, and excitable fellow lifted his battle-axe and struck the vase, and cried in a loud voice, You shall get nothing here except what the lot fairly bestows on you. At this all were stupefied, but the king endured the insult with the gentleness of patience, and taking the vase he handed it over to the messenger of the church, nursing the wound deep in his heart. And at the end of the year he ordered the whole army to come with their equipment of armor to show the brightness of their arms on the field of March. And when he was reviewing them all carefully, he came to the man who struck the vase, and said to him, No one has brought armor so carelessly kept as you, for neither your spear nor sword nor axe is in serviceable condition. In seizing his axe he cast it to the earth, and when the other had bent over somewhat to pick it up, the king raised his hands and drove his own axe into the man's head. This, said he, is what you did at Soysons to the vase. Upon the death of this man he ordered the rest to depart, raising great dread of himself by the action. He made many wars and gained many victories. In the tenth year of his reign he made war on the Thuringi, and brought them under his domain. 28 Now the king of the Burgundians was Gundavec, of the family of King Athenaric, the persecutor, whom we have mentioned before. He had four sons, Gundabad, Godogisle, Shilperic, and Godomar. Gundabad killed his brother Shilperic with the sword, and sank his wife in water with the stone tied to her neck. His two daughters he condemned to exile. The elder of these, who became a nun, was called Krona, and the younger Clotilda. And as Clovis often sent embassies to Burgundy, the maiden Clotilda was found by his envoys. And when they saw that she was of good bearing and wise, and learned that she was of the family of the king, they reported this to King Clovis. And he sent an embassy to Gundabad without delay asking her in marriage. And Gundabad was afraid to refuse, and surrendered her to the men. And they took the girl and brought her swiftly to the king. The king was very glad when he saw her, and married her, having already by a concubine a son named Theodoric. Twenty-nine. He had a first-born son by Queen Clotilda. And as his wife wished to consecrate him in baptism, she tried unceasingly to persuade her king, saying, The gods you worship are nothing, and they will be unable to help themselves or anyone else, for they are graven out of stone or wood or some metal. And the names you have given them are names of men, and not of gods. As Saturn, who is declared to have fled in fear of being banished from his kingdom by his son, as Jove himself, the fall perpetrator of all shameful crimes, committing incest with men, mocking at his kin's woman, not able to refrain from intercourse with his own sister, as she herself says, Jovisk et soror et conjunks. What could Mars or Mercury do? They are endowed, rather, with the magic arts than with the power of the divine name. But he ought rather to be worshiped, who created by his word, heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, out of a state of nothingness, who made the sun shine, and adorned the heavens with stars, who filled the waters with creeping things, the earth with living things, and the air with creatures that fly, at whose nod the earth is decked with growing crops, the trees with fruit, the vines with grapes, by whose hand mankind was created, by whose generosity all that creation serves and helps man, whom he created as his own. But though the queen said this, the spirit of the king was by no means moved to belief, and he said, it is at the command of our God that all things were created and came forth, and it is plain that your God has no power, and what is more, he has proven not to belong to the family of the gods. Meantime the faithful queen made her sun ready for baptism. She gave command to adorn the church with hangings and curtains, in order that he who could not be moved by persuasion might be urged to belief by this mystery. The boy, whom they named Ingomer, died after being baptized, still wearing the white garments in which he became regenerate. Yet this the king was violently angry and reproached the queen harshly, saying, if the boy had been dedicated in the name of my gods he would certainly have lived, but as it is, since he was baptized in the name of your God he cannot live at all. To this the queen said, I give thanks to the omnipotent God, creator of all, who has judged me not wholly unworthy, that he should deign to take to his kingdom one born from my womb. My soul is not stricken with grief for his sake, because I know that, summoned from this world as he was in his baptismal garments, he will be fed by the vision of God. After this she bore another son, whom she named Clotimer, at baptism. And when he fell sick the king said, it is impossible that anything else should happen to him, then happen to his brother, namely, that being baptized in the name of your Christ he should die at once. But through the prayers of his mother and the Lord's command he became well. 30 The queen did not cease to urge him to recognize a true God and cease worshiping idols, but he could not be influenced in any way to this belief, until at last a war arose with the Alamani, in which he was driven by necessity to confess what before he had of his free will denied. It came about that as the two armies were fighting fiercely there was much slaughter, and Clovis's army began to be in danger of destruction. He sought and raised his eyes to heaven, and with remorse in his heart he burst into tears and cried, Jesus Christ, whom Clotilda asserts to be the son of the living God, who art said to give aid to those in distress, and to bestow victory on those who hope in thee. I beseech the glory of thy aid with the vow that if thou wilt grant me victory over these enemies, and I shall know that power which she says that people dedicated in thy name have had from thee, I will believe in thee and be baptized in thy name. For I have invoked my own gods, but as I find they have withdrawn from aiding me, and therefore I believe that they possess no power since I do not help those who obey them. I now call upon thee. I desire to believe thee. Only let me be rescued from my adversaries. And when he said this, the Alemani turned their backs and began to disperse in flight. And when they saw that their king was killed, they submitted to the dominion of Clovis, saying, Let not the people perish further, we pray, we are yours now. And he stopped the fighting, and after encouraging his men, retired in peace, and told the queen how he had had merit to win the victory by calling on the name of Christ. This happened in the fifteenth year of his reign, thirty-one. Then the queen asked Saint Remy, Bishop of Reims, to summon Clovis secretly, urging him to introduce the king to the word of salvation. And the bishop sent for him secretly, and began to urge him to believe in the true God, maker of heaven and earth, and to cease worshiping idols, which could help neither themselves nor anyone else. But the king said, I gladly hear you, most holy father, but there remains one thing. The people who follow me cannot endure to abandon their gods, but I shall go and speak to them according to your words. He met with his followers, but before he could speak, the power of God anticipated him, and all the people cried out together, O Pious King, we reject our mortal gods, and we are ready to follow the immortal God whom Remy preaches. This was reported to the bishop, who was greatly rejoiced, and made them get ready the baptismal font. The squares were shaded with tapestry canopies, the churches adorned with white curtains, the baptistry set in order, the aroma of incense spread, candles of fragrant odor burned brightly, the whole shrine of the baptistry was filled with the divine fragrance. And the Lord gave such grace to those who stood by that they thought they were placed amid the odors of paradise. And the king was the first to ask to be baptized by the bishop. Another Constantine advanced to the baptismal font, to terminate the disease of ancient leprosy, and wash away with fresh water the false spots that had long been borne. And when he entered to be baptized, the Saint of God began with ready speech. Gently bend your neck, Sig Amber, worship what you burned, burn what you worshipped. The holy bishop Remy was a man of excellent wisdom and especially trained in rhetorical studies, of such surpassing holiness, that he equalled the miracles of Sylvester, for there is extent a book of his life which tells that he raised a dead man. And so the king confessed all powerful God in the Trinity, and was baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and was anointed with a holy ointment with the sign of the cross of Christ, and of his army more than three thousand were baptized. His sister also, Alba Fled, was baptized, who not long after passed to the Lord. And when the king was in mourning for her, the holy Remy sent a letter of consolation which began in this way. The reason of your mourning pains me, and pains me greatly, that Alba Fled your sister, of good memory has passed away. But I can give you this comfort, that her departure from the world was such that she ought to be envied, rather than mourned. Another sister was also converted, length a child, by name, who had fallen into the heresy of the Arians, and she confessed that the Son and the Holy Spirit were equal to the Father, and was anointed. Thirty-two. At that time the brothers Gundabad and Godegissel were kings of the country about the Rhon and the Sion, together with the province of Marseilles, and they, as well as their people, belonged to the Aryan sect. And since they were fighting with each other, Godegissel, hearing of the victories of King Clovis, sent an embassy to him secretly, saying, If you will give me aid in attacking my brother, so that I may be able to kill him in battle or drive him from the country, I will pay you every year whatever tribute you yourself wish to impose. Clovis accepted this offer gladly, and promised aid whenever need should ask. And at a time agreed upon he marched his army against Gundabad. On hearing this, Gundabad, who did not know of his brother's treachery, sent to him saying, Come to my assistance, since the Franks are in motion against us, and are coming to our country to take it. Therefore let us be united against the nation hostile to us, lest because of division we suffer in turn what other people have suffered. And the other said, I will come with my army, and will give you aid. And these three, namely, Clovis against Gundabad and Godegissel were marching their armies to the same point, and they came with all their warlike equipment to the stronghold of Dizon. And they fought on the river Uk, and Godegissel joined Clovis, and both armies crushed the people of Gundabad. And he perceived the treachery of his brother, whom he had not suspected, and turned his back and began to flee, hastening along the banks of the Rhon. And he came to the city of Avignon, and Godegissel, having won the victory, promised to Clovis a part of his kingdom, and departed quietly, and entered Vien in triumph, as if he now held the whole kingdom. King Clovis increased his army further, and set off after Gundabad to drag him from his city and slay him. He heard it, and was terrified, and feared that sudden death would come to him. However, he had with him Iridius, a man famed for energy and wisdom, and he sent for him and said, Difficulties warm me in on every side, and I do not know what to do, because these barbarians have come against us to slay us, and destroy the whole country. To this Iridius answered, You must soften the fierceness of this man in order not to perish. Now, if it is pleasing in your eyes, I will pretend to flee from you and to pass over to his side, and when I come to him I shall prevent his harming either you or this country, only be willing to do what he demands of you by my advice, until the Lord in his goodness deigns to make your cause successful. And Gundabad said, I will do whatever you direct. When he said this, Iridius bade him good-bye and departed, and going to King Clovis he said, Behold, I am your humble servant, most pious king, I come to your protection, leaving the wretched Gundabad, and if your goodness condescends to receive me, both you and your children shall have in me a true and faithful servant. Clovis received him very readily, and kept him by him, for he was entertaining in storytelling, ready in counsel, just in judgment, and faithful to what was put in his charge. Then when Clovis with all his army sat around the walls of the city, Iridius said, O King, if the glory of your loftiness should kindly consent to hear the few words of my lowliness, though you do not need counsel, yet I would utter them with entire faithfulness, and they will be advantageous to you and to the cities through which you purpose to go. Why, said he, do you keep your army here when your enemy sits in a very strong place? If you ravage the fields, lay waste the meadows, cut down the vineyards, lay low the olive yards, and destroy all the produce of the country, you do not, however, succeed in doing him any harm. Send an embassy rather, and impose tribute to be paid you every year, so that the country may be safe, and you may rule forever upon a tributary. And if he refuses, then do whatever pleases you. The king took his advice, and commanded his army to return home. Then he sent an embassy to Gundabad, and ordered him to pay every year a tribute. And he paid it at once, and promised that he would pay it for the future. 33 Later he regained his power, and now contentiously refused to pay the promised tribute to King Glovis, and set his army in motion against his brother, Godogiso, and shut him up in the city of Vien, and besieged him. And when food began to be lacking for the common people, Godogiso was afraid that the famine would extend to himself, and gave orders that the common people be expelled from this city. When this was done, there was driven out among the rest the artisan who had charge of the aqueduct. And he was indignant that he had been cast out from the city with the rest, and went to Gundabad in a rage to inform him how to burst into the city, and take vengeance on his brother. Under his guidance an army was led through the aqueduct, and many with iron crowbars went in front, for there was a vent in the aqueduct, closed with a great stone. And when this had been pushed away with crowbars by direction of the artisan, they entered the city, and surprised from the rear the defenders, who were shooting arrows from the wall. The trumpet was sounded in the midst of the city, and the besiegers seized the gates, and opened them, and entered at the same time. And when the people between these two battle lines were being slain by each army, Godogiso sought refuge in the church of the heretics, and was slain there along with the Aryan bishop. Finally the Franks who were with Godogiso gathered in a tower, but Gundabad ordered that no harm should be done to a single one of them, but seized them, and sent them in exile to King Alleric at Toulouse. And he slew the Burgundian senators who had conspired with Godogiso. He restored to his own dominion all the region, which is now called Burgundy. He established milder laws for the Burgundians, lest they should oppress the Romans. 34. King Gundabad is converted to the doctrine of the Trinity, but will not confess it in public. The writings of Bishop Avitas are described. 35. Now when Alleric, King of the Goths, saw Clovis conquering nations steadily, he sent envoys to him saying, If my brother consents, it is the desire of my heart that with God's favor we have a meeting. Clovis did not spurn this proposal, but went to meet him. They met in an island on the lore, which is near the village of Ambois, in the territory of Tours, and they talked and ate and drank together, and plighted friendship, and departed in peace. Even at that time many in the Goths desired greatly to have the Franks as masters. 36. Whence it happened that Quintian Bishop of Rhodes was driven from his city through ill will on this account? For they said, It is your desire that the rule of the Franks be extended over this land. A few days later a quarrel arose between him and the citizens, and the Goths, who dwelt in the city, became suspicious when the citizens charged that he wished to submit himself to the control of the Franks. They took counsel and decided to slay him with the sword. When this was reported to the man of God he rose in the night and left the city of Rhodes, with his most faithful servants, and went to Clermont. There he was received kindly by the Holy Bishop Eufracius, who had succeeded Eplunculus at Dijon, and he kept Quintian with him, giving him houses as well as fields and vineyards, and saying, The wealth of this church is enough to keep us both, only let the charity which the blessed apostle preaches endure amongst the bishops of God. Moreover the Bishop of Lyons bestowed upon him some of the possessions of the church, which he had in a verne. And the rest about the Holy Quintian, both the ploddings which he endured, and the miracles which the Lord deigned to work through him, are written in the book of his life. 37. Not Clovis the king said to his people. I take it very hard that these Aryans hold part of the balls. Let us go with God's help and conquer them, and bring the land under our control. Since these words pleased all, he set his army in motion and made for Poitiers, where a lyric was at that time. But since part of the host was passing through Turin, he issued an edict out of respect to the blessed Martin, that no one should take anything from that country except grass for fodder and water. But one from the army found a poor man's hay and said, Did not the king order grass only to be taken, nothing else? And this said he is grass. We shall not be transgressing his command if we take it. But when he had done violence to the poor man, and taken his hay by force, the deed came to the king. And quicker than speech the offender was slain by the sword, and the king said, And where shall our hope for victory be if we offend the blessed Martin? It would be better for the army to take nothing else from this country. The king himself sent envoys to the blessed church, saying, Go, and perhaps you will receive some omen of victory from the Holy Temple. Then giving them gifts to set up in the Holy Place he said, If thou, O Lord, art my helper, and hast determined to surrender this unbelieving nation, always driving against thee into my hands, consent to reveal it propitiously at the entrance to the church of St. Martin, so that I may know that thou wilt deign to be favorable to thy servant. Clovis's servants went on their way according to the king's command, and drew near to the place. And when they were about to enter the Holy Church, the first singer, without any pre-arrangement, saying this response, Thou hast girded me, O Lord, with strength unto the battle. Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me, and hast made mine enemies turn their backs unto me, and thou hast utterly destroyed them that hated me. On hearing this singing they thanked the Lord, and, paying their vow to the blessed confessor, they joyfully made their report to the king. Moreover, when he came to the river Vien with his army, he did not know where he ought to cross, for the river had swollen from the rains. When he had prayed to the Lord in the night to show him a fort where he could cross, in the morning by God's will a hind of wonderful size entered the river before them, and when it passed over the people saw where to cross. When the king came to the neighborhood of Poitiers and was encamped some distance off, he saw a ball of fire come out of the Church of Saint Hilarious, and pass as it were over him, to show that, aided by the light of the blessed confessor Hilarious, he should more boldly conquer the heretic armies against which the same bishop had often fought for the faith. And he made it known to all the army that neither there nor on the way should they spoil any one or take any one's property. There was in these days a man of praiseworthy holiness, the Abbot Maxentius, who had become a recluse in his own monastery in Poitiers because of his fear of God. We have not put the name of the monastery in this account because the place is called to the present day Salula Sancti Maxinti. And when his monks saw a division of the host approaching the monastery, they prayed the Abbot to come forth from his cell to consult with him. And as he stayed, they were panic-stricken and opened the door and dragged him from his cell. And he hastened boldly to meet the enemy to ask for peace. And one of them drew out his sword to launch the stroke at his head. And when he had raised his hand to his ear, it became rigid. And the sword fell. And he threw himself at the feet of the blessed man, asking pardon. And the rest of them, seeing this returned in great fear to the army, afraid that they should perish together. The man's arm, the Holy Confessor, rubbed with consecrated oil and made over it the sign of the cross and restored it to soundness. And owing to his protection, the monastery remained un-injured. He worked many other miracles also. And if anyone diligently seeks for them, he will find them all in reading the book of his life in the twenty-fifth year of Clovis. Meantime, King Clovis met with a lyric, King of the Goths, in the plain of Voulay at the tenth milestone from Poitiers. And while the one army was for fighting at a distance, the other tried to come to close combat. And when the Goths had fled, as was their custom, King Clovis won the victory by God's aid. He had to help him, the son of Sigiburt, the lame, named Cloderek. This Sigiburt was lame from a wound in the leg, received in a battle with the Alamani near the city of Zupic. Now when the king had put the Goths to flight and slain King Alerek, two of the enemies suddenly appeared and struck at him with their lances, one on each side. But he was saved from death by the help of his coat of mail, as well as by his fast horse. At that time there perished a very great number of the people of Alverna, who had come with Apollonaris and the leading senators. From this battle Amalerek, son of Alerek, fled to Spain, and wisely seized his father's kingdom. Clovis sent his son Theodoric to Claremont by way of Albi and Rodez. He went and brought under his father's dominion the cities from the boundaries of the Goths to the limit of the Burgundians. Alerek reigned twenty-two years. When Clovis had spent the winter at Bordeaux and taken all the treasures of Alerek at Toulouse, he went to Angolumi, and the Lord gave him such grace that the walls fell down of their own accord when he gazed at them. Then he drove the Goths out and brought the city under his own dominion. Thereupon, after completing his victory, he returned to Tours, bringing many gifts to the Holy Church of the Blessed Martin. 38 Clovis received an appointment to the consulship from the Emperor Anastasius, and in the Church of the Blessed Martin he clad himself in the purple tunic and clamus and placed the diadem on his head. Then he mounted his horse and in a great generous manner he gave gold and silver as he passed along the way, which is between the gate of the entrance of the Church of St. Martin and the Church of the City, scattering it among the people who were there with his own hand. And from that day he was called Consul Lord Augustus. Leaving Tours he went to Paris, and there he established the seat of his kingdom. There also Theodoric came to him. 39 Nicinius was Bishop of Tours at the time of Clovis's visit. His travels. 40 When King Clovis was dwelling at Paris he sent secretly to the son of Sigiburt Sain. Behold, your father has become an old man, and limps in his weak foot. If he should die, said he, of due right, his kingdom would be yours together with our friendship. Let on by greed the son plotted to kill his father, and when his father went out from the city of Cologne and crossed the Rhine and was intending to journey through the wood Bucca, as he slept at midday in his tent, his son sent assassins in against him, and killed him there, in the idea that he would get his kingdom. But by God's judgment he walked into the pit that he had cruelly dug for his father. He sent messengers to King Clovis to tell about his father's death, and to say, My father is dead, and I have his treasures in my possession, and also his kingdom. Send men to me, and I shall gladly transmit to you from his treasures whatever pleases you. And Clovis replied, I thank you for your good will, and I asked that you show the treasures to my men who come, and after that you shall possess all yourself. When they came he showed his father's treasures, and when they were looking at the different things he said it was in this little chest that my father used to put his gold coins, thrust in your hands, they said, to the bottom, and uncover the hole. When they did so, and was much bent over, one of them lifted his hand and dashed his battle-axe against his head. And so, in a shameful manner, he incurred the death which he had brought on his father. Clovis heard that Sigiburt and his son had been slain, and came to the place, and summoned all the people, saying, hear what has happened. When I, said he, was sailing down the river Schilt, Cloderick, son of my kinsman, was in pursuit of his own father, asserting that I wished him killed. And when his father was fleeing through the forest of Bukkaw he sent highwaymen upon him, and gave him over to death, and slew him. And when he was opening the treasures he was slain himself by someone or other. Now I know nothing at all of these matters, for I cannot shed the blood of my own kinsman, which it is a crime to do. But since this has happened, I give you my advice, if it seems acceptable. Turn to me, that you may be under my protection. They listened to this, and, giving applause with both shields and voices, they raised him on a shield, and made him king over them. He received Sigiburt's kingdom with his treasure, and placed the people, too, under his rule. For God was laying his enemies low every day under his hand, and was increasing his kingdom, because he walked with an upright heart before him, and did what was pleasing in his eyes. Forty-one. After this he turned to Shararik. When he had fought with the Agrias, this Shararik had been summoned to help Clovis, but stood at a distance, eating neither side, but awaiting the outcome, in order to form a league of friendship with him to whom victory came. For this reason Clovis was angry and went out against him. He entrapped and captured him and his son also, and kept him in prison, and gave them the taunture. He gave orders to ordain Shararik Priest and his son Deacon. And when Shararik complained of his degradation and wept, it is said that his son remarked. It was on Greenwood, said he, that these twigs were cut, and they are not altogether withered. They will shoot out quickly, and be able to grow. May he perish as swiftly who has done this. This utterance was reported to the ears of Clovis, namely, that they were threatening to let their hair grow and kill him. And he ordered them both to be put to death. When they were dead he took their kingdom with the treasures and the people. Forty-two. Ragnakar was then King of Cumbria, a man so unrestrained in his wantedness that he scarcely had mercy for his own near relatives. He had a counselor Farl, who defiled himself with a like vileness, and it was said that when food or a gift of anything whatever was brought to the king, he was wont to say that it was enough for him and his Farl, and that this thing the Franks were in a great rage. And so it happened that Clovis gave golden armlets and belts. But all only made to resemble gold, for it was bronze gilded so as to deceive. These he gave to Ragnakar's ludes to be invited to attack him. Moreover, when Clovis had set his army in motion against him, and Ragnakar was continually sending spies to get information on the return of his messengers, he used to ask how strong the force was. And they would answer, it is a great sufficiency for you and your Farl. Clovis came and made war on him, and he saw that his army was beaten and prepared to slip away in flight, but was seized by his army, and with his hands tied behind his back he was taken with Rikar, his brother before Clovis. And Clovis said to him, Why have you humiliated our family in permitting yourself to be bound? It would have been better for you to die. And raising his axe he dashed it against his head, and he turned to his brother and said, If you had aided your brother he would not have been bound, and in the same way he smote him with his axe and killed him. After their death their betrayers perceived that the gold which they had received from the king was false. When they told the king of this it is said that he answered. Rightly said he, Does he receive this kind of gold, who of his own will brings his own master to death? It ought to suffice them that we're alive, and we're not put to death, to mourn amid torments the wicked betrayal of their masters. When they heard this they prayed for mercy, saying it was enough for them if they were allowed to live. The kings named above were kinsmen of Clovis, and their brother, Ragnamar by name, was slain by Clovis's order at the city of Mons. When they were dead Clovis received all their kingdom and treasures, and having killed many other kings and his nearest relatives, of whom he was jealous lest they take the kingdom from him he extended his rule over all the Gauls. However he gathered his people together at one time it is said, and spoke of the kinsmen whom he had himself destroyed. Woe to me who have remained as a stranger among foreigners, and have none of my kinsmen to give me aid if adversity comes. But he said this not because of grief at their death, but by way of a ruse, if perchance, he should be able to find someone still to kill. 43 After all this he died at Paris, and was buried in the church of the holy apostles, which he himself had built together with his queen Clotilde. He passed away in the fifth year after the battle of Voulay, and all the days of his reign were thirty years, and his age was forty-five. From the death of Saint Martin to the death of King Clovis, which happened in the eleventh year of the Episcopit of Licinius, Bishop of Tours, one hundred and twelve years are reckoned. Queen Clotilde came to Tours after the death of her husband, and served there in the church of Saint Martin, and dwelt in the place with the greatest chastity and kindness all the days of her life, rarely visiting Paris. Here ends the second book. End of Section 3. Section 4 of Selections of the History of the Franks. This is a LibriVox recording, all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Selections of the History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours, translated by Ernest Brayholt. Book No. 3. Chapters 1 through 14. In Christ's name, here begins the third book. I wish, if it is agreeable, to make a brief comparison of the successes that have come to Christians who confess the blessed trinity and the brun, which has come to heretics, who have tried to destroy the same. Let us omit how Abraham worshipped the trinity at the elk, and Jacob preached it in his blessing, and Moses recognized it in the bush, and the people followed it in the cloud, and dreaded the same in the mountain, and how Aaron carried it on his breastplate, or how David made it known in the Psalms, praying to be made new by a right spirit, and that the Holy Spirit should not be taken from him, and that he be comforted by the chief spirit. And for my part I consider it a great mystery, namely that the voice of the prophet proclaimed as the chief spirit, that which the heretics assert to be the lesser. But passing over these, as we have said, let us return to our times. For Arius, who was the first wicked inventor of this wicked sect, was subjected to infernal fires after he had lost his entrails in the privy. But hilarious, the blessed defender of the undivided trinity, though sent into exile for its sake, was restored both to his native land and to paradise. King Clovis confessed it, and crushed the heretics by its aid, and extended his kingdom over all the Gauls. Aleric, on the other hand, who denied it, was deprived of kingdom and people, and what is more of eternal life itself. And to true believers, even if through the plots of the enemy they lose something, the Lord restores it a hundredfold, but heretics do not gain any advantage, but what they seem to have is taken from them. This is proved by the deaths of Gorogiso, Gundobad, and Goromar, who at the same time lost their country and their souls. But we confess one God, invisible, infinite, incomprehensible, glorious, always the same, and everlasting, one in trinity in respect to the number of persons, that is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We confess him also triple in unity in respect to equality of substance, deity, omnipotence, or power, the one greatest omnipotent God ruling for eternal centuries. One. Now, on the death of King Clovis, his four sons, namely Theodoric, Clodomer, Childebert, and Clothar, received his kingdom, and divided it among them in equal parts. Theodoric had already at that time a handsome and valiant son, named Theodobert. And since they were very brave, and had abundant strength in their army, Amalerek, son of Amalerek, king of Spain, asked for their sister in marriage, and they kindly granted his request, and sent her into the Spanish country with a great quantity of beautiful things. Two. Quintiana's ex-bishop of Rodez is rewarded for his faithfulness to the Franks by being made Bishop of Clermont. Three. The Danes plunder the coast of Theodoric's kingdom. Four. Hermenfred becomes sole king of the Thuringy by Theodoric's help. Five. Now on Gundobald's death his son Sigismund held his kingdom, and he built with great skill the monastery at St. Maurice, with its dwellings and churches, and losing his first wife, the daughter of Theodoric, king of Italy, he married another, and she began to malign his son bitterly, and to make charges against him as is the custom of step-mothers. From this it came about that on a day of ceremonial, when the boy recognized his mother's dress on her he was filled with anger and said to her, You are not worthy to have on your back those garments, which are known to have belonged to your mistress, that is, my mother. And she was set on fire with rage, and she stirred her husband up with crafty words, saying, The wicked boy wishes to possess your kingdom, and he plans, when you are killed, to extend it as far as Italy, for sooth that he may proclaim the kingdom which his grandfather Theodoric held in Italy, for he knows that while you live he cannot accomplish this, and unless you fall he will not rise. Sigismund was aroused by these words, and, taking the advice of his wicked wife, he became a wicked parasite, for when his son had been made drowsy by wine he bade him sleep in the afternoon, and while he slept a neckin was placed under his neck and tied under his chin, and he was strangled by two servants who drew in opposite directions. When it was done the father repented too late, and falling on the lifeless corpse began to weep most bitterly, and a certain old man is reported to have spoken to him in these words. Henceforth Wale for yourself, said he, that you have become a most cruel parasite through base counsel, for there is no need to wail for this innocent boy who has been strangled. Nevertheless he went off to the Holy Saint Maurice, and spending many days in weeping and fasting, he prayed for pardon. After establishing their perpetual service of song he returned to Lyons, the divine vengeance attending on his footsteps, King Theodoric had married his daughter. Six. Queen Clotilda spoke to Clotamar and her other sons, saying, Let me not repent, dearest sons, that I have nursed you lovingly. Be angry, I beg you, at the insult to me, and avenge with a wise zeal the death of my father and mother. They heeded this, and they hastened to the Burgundies, and marched against Sigismund and his brother, Clotamar. Their army was completely routed, and Clotamar fled. But Sigismund was taken by Clotamar when he was endeavouring to make his escape to the Holy Saint Maurice, and led away captive with his wife and sons, and was placed under guard and kept prisoner in the territory of the city of our Lyons. When the kings departed, Clotamar recovered his courage, and gathered the Burgundians, and gained his kingdom back. And Clotamar was making preparations to march against him a second time, and determined to kill Sigismund. And the blessed Abbot Avitus, a great priest of that time, said to him, If, said he, you would look to God and amend your council so as not to allow these men to be killed, God will be with you, and you shall go and win the victory. But if you kill them, you shall be surrendered yourself into the hands of your enemies, and shall perish in the same way. And what you do to Sigismund, and his wife and children, shall be done to you, and your wife and sons. But he despised listening to this council, and said, I think it is foolish advice to leave enemies at home, and march against the rest. And when the former rise up in the rear, and the latter in front, I shall fall between two armies. The victory will be won better and more easily if one is separated from the other. If one is slain, it will be possible to doom the others to death easily. He gave orders to slay Sigismund at once, with his wife and children, by casting them into a well in the village Columna of the city Orleans, and hastened to the Burgundies, summoning to his aid King Theodoric. And the latter promised to go, not caring to avenge the wrong done to his father, Imlah, and when they met near Visorontia, a place of the city of Vienne, they fought with Godamar. And when Godamar had fled with his army, and Godamar was pursuing, and was separated a considerable distance from his men, the others, imitating his rallying cry, called to him saying, This way, come this way, we are your men. And he believed it, and went, and fell into the midst of his enemies, and cutting off his head, and setting it on a spike, they raised it aloft. The Franks saw this, and perceived that Clotamar was dead, and rallying they put Godamar to flight, and crushed the Burgundians, and reduced their country to subjection. And Clothar immediately married his brother's wife, Gunthuka, by name, and Queen Clotilda, after the period of mourning was passed, took his sons, and kept them. And one of these was called Theobald, a second Gunther, a third Clodavald. Godamar recovered his kingdom a second time. Seven. Afterward Theodoric, remembering the wrongs done by Hermenfred, king of the Thuringii, called his brother Clothar to his aid, and prepared to march against him, promising that a share of the plunder should be given to King Clothar, if by God's help the gift of victory should come to them. So he called the Franks together, and said to them, Be angry, I beg you, both because of my wrong, and because of the death of your kinsmen, and recollect, that the Thuringii once made a violent attack upon our kinsmen, and inflicted much harm on them. And they gave hostages and were willing to conclude peace with them, but the Thuringii slew the hostages with various tortures, and made an attack upon our kinsmen, took away all their property, and hung youths by the sinews of their thighs to trees, and cruelly killed more than two hundred maidens, tying them by their arms to the necks of horses, which they then headed in opposite directions, and being started by a very sharp goad toward the maidens to pieces. And others were stretched out upon the city streets, and stakes were planted in the ground, and they caused loaded wagons to pass over them, and having broken their bones they gave them to dogs and birds for food. And now Herman Fred has deceived me in what he promised, and refuses to perform it at all. Behold, we have a plain word. Let us go with God's aid against them. They heard this, and were angry at such a wrong, and with heart and mind they attacked Thuringia, and Theodoric took his brother Clothar and his son Theodobart to help him, and went with his army, and the Thuringii prepared stratagems against the coming of the Franks, for they dug pits in the plain where the fight was to take place, and covering the openings with thick turf they made it seem a level plain. So when they began to fight, many of the Frankish horsemen fell into these pits, and it was a great obstacle to them, but when this stratagem was perceived they began to be on their guard. When finally the Thuringii saw that they were being fiercely cut to pieces, and when their king, Herman Fred, had taken flight they turned their backs, and came to the stream Unsturt, and there such a slaughter of the Thuringii took place that the bed of the stream was filled with heaps of corpses, and the Franks crossed upon them as if on a bridge to the further shore. The victory being one they took possession of that country, and brought it under their control, and Clothar went back, taking with him as a captive, Radagunda, daughter of King Berthar, and he married her, and her brother he afterwards killed unjustly by the hands of wicked men. She also turned to God, changing her garments, and built a monastery for herself in the city of Poitiers, and being remarkable for prayer, fasting, and charity, she attained such fame that she was considered great by the people. And when the kings who have been mentioned were still in Thuringia, Theodoric wished to kill his own brother, Clothar, and preparing armed men secretly, he summoned him on the pretext that he wished to consult him privately, and stretching the cloth tent in one part of the house from one wall to the other, he murdered the armed men to stand behind it, and since the cloth was somewhat short, the feet of the armed men were in full sight. Clothar learned of this, and came into the house with his men armed also, and Theodoric perceived that he had learned of these things, and he made a pretense, and talked of one thing after another. Finally, not knowing how to put a good appearance on his stratagem, he gave him as a favor a great silver dish, and Clothar said good-bye, and thanked him for the gift, and returned to his place of encampment. But Theodoric complained to his people that he had lost his dish for no evident reason, and he said to his son Theodobart, go to your uncle and ask him to give you of his own free will the gift I gave him. He went, and got what he asked for. In such stratagems Theodoric was very skillful. Eat. He returned to his own country, and urged Herman Fred to come to him boldly, pledging his faith, and he enriched him with honorable gifts. It happened, however, when they were talking one day on the walls of the city of Tolbiak, that Herman Fred was pushed by someone or other, and fell from the height of the wall to the ground, and there died. But we do not know who cast him down from there. Many, however, assert that a stratagem of Theodoric was plainly revealed in this. Nine. King Childebert takes possession of Alverna on the false report of Theodoric's death. Ten. He leaves Alverna, and makes an expedition into Spain to avenge the ill treatment of his sister Clothchild by her husband Alameric. Eleven. Through thirteen. King Theodoric takes vengeance on the people of Alverna for receiving Childebert. Fourteen. Now Manderic, who asserted that he was a kinsman of the king, was puffed up with pride, and said, What have I to do with King Theodoric? For the throne of the kingdom is as much my do as his. I shall go out and gather my people, and exact an oath from them, that Theodoric may know that I am king just as much as he. And he went out and began to lead the people astray, saying, I am a chief, follow me, and it will be well with you. A multitude of country people followed him, as one might expect, from the frailty of mankind, taking the oath of fidelity and honoring him as a king. And when Theodoric found this out, he sent a command to him, saying, Come to see me, and if any share of my kingdom is due you, take it. Now Theodoric said this deceitfully, thinking that he would kill him when he came. But the other was unwilling, and said, Go, bear back word to your king that I am king just as he is. Then the king gave orders to set his army in motion, in order to crush him by force and punish him. And he learned this, and not being strong enough to defend himself, he hastened to the walls of the stronghold of victory, and strove to fortify himself in it with all his property, gathering together those whom he had led astray. Now the army got under way, and surrounded the stronghold, and besieged it for seven days. And Munderich resisted with his people, saying, Let us make a brave stand, and fight together, even to death, and not submit to the enemy. And when the army kept hurling javelins against them on every side, and accomplishing nothing, they reported this to the king. And he sent for a certain one of his people, named Argesalis, and said to him, You see, said he, what this traitor is able to do in his arrogance, Go, and swear an oath to him that he shall go forth safe, and when he has come forth kill him, and blot out his memory from our kingdom. He went away and did as he had been ordered. He had, however, first given a sign to the people saying, When I speak words thus and so, rush upon him immediately, and kill him. Now Argesalis went in and said to Munderich, How long will you sit here like one without sense? You will not be able to resist the king long, will you? Behold, your food has been cut off. When hunger overcomes you, you shall come forth, whether or not, and surrender yourself into the hands of the enemy, and you will die like a dog. Listen rather to my advice, and submit to the king that you may be able to live you and your sons. The other, disheartened by these words, said, If I go out I shall be seized by the king and slain, both I and my sons, and all my friends who are gathered with me. And Argesalis, said to him, Do not be afraid, but if you decide to go forth receive my oath as to your crime and stand securely before the king. Do not be afraid. You shall be on the same terms with him as you were before. To this Munderich answered, I wish I were sure I shall not be killed. Then Argesalis put his hands on the holy altar and swore to him that he should go out safely. So when the oath had been taken, Munderich went out from the gate of the stronghold, holding Argesalis's hand, and the people gazed at him from a distance. Then as a sign Argesalis said, Why do you gaze so intently, O people? Did you never see Munderich before? And at once the people rushed upon him. But he understood and said, I see plainly that by these words you gave a sign to these people to kill me, but I tell you, who have deceived me by perjury, no one shall ever see you alive again. And he drove his lance into his back and thrust it through him, and he fell and died. Then Munderich unsheathed his sword, and with his followers made great slaughter of the people, and until he died did not shrink back from anyone he could reach, and after he had been slain his property was added to the treasury.