FREE THE HISTORY OF THE FRANKS PDF Bishop of Tours Saint Gregory,Lewis Thorpe | 720 pages | 01 Apr 1983 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780140442953 | English | London, United Kingdom Gregory of Tours - Wikipedia Gregory of Tours 30 November c. He was born Georgius Florentius and later added the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great- grandfather. His most notable work was his Decem Libri Historiarum Ten Books of Historiesbetter known as the Historia Francorum History of the Franksa title that later chroniclers gave to it, but he is The History of the Franks known for his accounts of the miracles of saints, especially four books of the miracles of Martin of Tours. Martin's tomb was a major pilgrimage destination in the 6th century, and St. Gregory's writings had the practical effect of promoting this highly organized devotion. Gregory was The History of the Franks in Clermontin the Auvergne region of central Gaul. Gregory had several noted bishops and saints as close relatives his family effectively monopolised the Bishoprics of Tours, Lyons, and Langres at the time of his birthand, according to Gregory, he was connected to thirteen of the eighteen bishops of Tours preceding him by ties of kinship. Gregory's paternal grandmother, Leocadia, descended from Vettius Epagatus, the illustrious martyr of Lyons. His father evidently died while Gregory was young and his widowed mother moved to Burgundy where she had property. Gregory went to live with his paternal uncle St. Gallus, Bishop of Clermontunder whom, and his successor St. Avitus, Gregory had his education. Gregory also received the clerical tonsure from Gallus. Having contracted a serious illness, he made a visit of devotion to the tomb of St. Martin at Tours. Upon his recovery, he began to pursue a clerical career and was ordained deacon by Avitus. Upon the death of St. Euphroniushe was chosen as bishop by the clergy and people, who had been charmed The History of the Franks his piety, learning, The History of the Franks humility. Their deputies overtook him at the court of King Sigebert of Austrasiaand being compelled to acquiesce, though much against his will, Gregory was consecrated by Giles, Bishop of Rheims, on 22 Augustat the age of thirty-four. He spent most of his career at Tours, although he assisted at the council of Paris in Gregory lived also on the border between the Frankish culture of the The History of the Franks to the north and the Gallo- Roman culture of the south of Gaul. At Tours, Gregory could not have been better placed to hear everything and meet everyone of influence in Merovingian culture. Tours lay The History of the Franks the watery highway of the navigable Loire. Five Roman roads radiated from Tours, which lay on the main thoroughfare between the Frankish north and Aquitania, with Spain beyond. At Tours the Frankish influences of the north and the Gallo-Roman influences of the south had their chief contact see map. As the center for the popular cult of St Martin, Tours was a pilgrimage site, hospital, and a political sanctuary to which important leaders fled during periods of violence and turmoil in Merovingian politics. The History of the Franks wrote in Late Latin which departed from classical usage frequently in syntax and spelling with relatively few changes in inflection. Summary- note- this is only a cursory summary of the major events in the royal Merovingian Dynasty. Gregory of Tours history is a dense work, full of numerous narratives and characters. Next Gregory covers the history of Christianity in Gaul and some of the major events in Roman-Gallo relations. Book 2- AD Covers the beginnings of the Merovingian dynasty. Book two ends with the death of King Clovis inafter his conquest of large tracts of land in modern day france. Book 3- AD Follows the four male inheritors of King Clovis who equally divide his realms at his death i. AD Despite their disputes, the four brothers can occasionally work together against a outside, such as successful cooperation against the Burgundians in Eventually Clothar becomes the most powerful King in the Frankish realm. Book three ends with the death of king Theudebert I in He is a grandson of Clovis and son to king Theodoric I, who died in bequesting his kingdom to Theudebert. The kingdom after falls to Theudobald I until At the time of his demise in AD like Clovis before himthe Kingdom is divided equally between four sons of Clothar and again the Kingly sons quarrel for control of the The History of the Franks Kingdom. A truce between the brothers is maintained until after the death of King Charibert I son of Clothar in Clothars remaining sons Kings Sigibert, Guntram, and Chilperic; fight for the supremacy of the kingdom, with King Sigibert showing the strongest military force. Book four ends with the killing of King Sigbert in AD The History of the Franks Gregory of Tours blames Fredegund, the wife of King Chilperic for this assassination. The death leaves King Chilperic as The History of the Franks dominant king. Fredegund has long held a grudge against King Sigibert and his wife Brunhilda. Book 5- AD This book begins the part of the narrative where the author Bishop Gregory of Tourshas much personal knowledge about the events in the Frankish Kingdom. This book and the ones hereafter, are considerably longer and more detailed than previous, whilst covering a smaller amount of time. This book also contains Gregories impressions of ecclesiastical issues he saw in person and The History of the Franks some bearing on. This book describes a possible debate that Gregory had with a rival Arian church leader. Childebert is taken along with Brunhilda under the protection of King Gunthram, brother and sometime rival of King Chilperic. Now Childebert forms an alliance with his uncle, King Chilperic, who had often been an enemy of King Sigibert. Later, King Chilperic is murdered under mysterious circumstances in AD In the future The History of the Franks will be king of all franks until his death inbut that is beyond gregories narrative which end in roughly AD Fredegund and her son are under the protection of King Gunthram. She remains in power until her death in AD The History of the Franks in this book is the rebellion of Gundovald and its failure. Gundovald claimed to be a lost illegitimate son of dead King Chlothar I. Many of the Frankish nobles and the Byzantine emperors Maurice gave some support to this rebellion; however, it is swiftly crushed by King Guntram. Book 9- AD Brunhilda also formally allies with Guntram and comes under his protection. The 18 Bishops of Tours are named and described. Book ten ends with a summary of Gregorys previous written works. The Historia Francorum is made up of ten books. Books I to IV initially recount the world's history from the Creation as was traditional ; [5] but move quickly on to the Christianization of Gaulthe life and times of Saint Martin of Toursthe conversion of the Franks and the conquest of Gaul under Clovis[6] and the more detailed history of the Frankish kings down to the death of Sigebert I in At this date Gregory had been bishop of Tours for two years. After hearing rumours that the Bishop of Tours had slandered his wife, FredegundChilperic had Gregory arrested and tried for treason—a charge which threatened both Gregory's bishopric and his life. The third part, comprising books VII to X, takes his increasingly personal account to the yearand concludes with a plea for further chroniclers to The History of the Franks his work in entirety as indeed would be done. Readers of the Historia Francorum must decide whether this is a royal history and whether Gregory was writing to please his patrons. It is likely that one royal Frankish house is more generously treated than others. Gregory was also a Catholic bishop, and his writing reveals views typical of someone in his position. His views on perceived dangers of Arianismstill strong among the Visigoths[10] led him to preface the Historia with a detailed expression of his orthodoxy on the nature of Christ. In addition, his ridiculing of pagans and Jews reflected how his works were used to spread the Christian faith. For example, in book 2, chaptershe describes the pagans as incestuous and weak and then describes the process by which newly converted King Clovis leads a much better life than that of a pagan and is healed of all the conundrums he experienced as a pagan. Gregory's education was the standard Latin one of Late Antiquityfocusing on Virgil 's Aeneid and Martianus Capella 's Liber de Nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiaebut also other key texts such as Orosius ' Chronicleswhich his Historia continues, and Sallust ; he refers to all these works in his own. His education, as was typical for the time, did not extend to a broad acquaintance with the pagan classics, [11] but rather progressed to mastery of the Vulgate Bible. Though he had read Virgil, considered the greatest Latin stylist, he cautions that "We ought not to relate their lying fables, lest we fall under sentence of eternal death. The main impression that historians once retained from the Historia focused on Gregory's anecdotes about The History of the Franks [14] until recently, historians tended to conclude that Merovingian Gaul was a chaotic, brutal mess. Recent scholarship has refuted that view. Through more careful readings, scholars have concluded that Gregory's underlying purpose was to highlight the vanity of secular life and contrast it with the miracles of the Saints.