Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks1
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1 Primary Source 5.1 GREGORY OF TOURS, HISTORY OF THE FRANKS1 By the late 400s, the Roman government in the west had collapsed, and various Germanic tribes had established lordship in much of what is now Western Europe. The region on either side of the Rhine River—what is now France and Germany—was gradually occupied by the Franks. One Frankish tribe, the Merovingians, established control over all of Francia, or Gaul, under Childeric I (c. 440–481/82) and then his son Clovis I— or Chlodovech—(c. 466–c. 511). His sons and grandsons further extended the Merovingian authority across the Rhine and into the German lands. Civil wars among their descendants, however, prevented further territorial consolidation until the rise of Charlemagne in the late 700s. One of the few chroniclers of the history of the Franks during this period (400s-600s) is Saint Gregory of Tours (c. 538–594), bishop of Tours from 573 to 594. An influential statesman, he had first-hand knowledge of many of the events he narrates. For a link to the excerpt online, click here. For the full text, click here. II, 9. It is not known who was the first king of the Franks. .2 We read in the lists of consuls that Theodomer, king of the Franks, son of a certain Richemer, and his mother Ascyla were slain by the sword. They say also that afterward Chlogio, a brave and illustrious man of that race, was king of the Franks and had his seat at Dispargum, on the boundary of the Thuringians. In the region [around Tours], as far south as the Loire,3 dwelt the Romans; beyond the Loire the Goths held sway, while the Burgundians, who followed the heresy of Arius, dwelt across the Rhône, on which is situated the city of Lyon. Chlogio sent spies to the city of Cambrai to spy out the situation and report to him. Then he seized the city and dwelt there a short time, occupying the land as far as the Somme. Some assert that king Merovech, whose son was Childerich, belonged to the line of Chlogio. 27. After the death of Childerich his son Chlodovech ruled in his stead. In the fifth year of his reign, Syagrius, son of Ægidius, was ruling in Soissons as king of the Romans,4 where the said Ægidius had held sway. Now Chlodovech and his relative Ragnachar advanced against Syagrius and challenged him to battle; and the latter eagerly accepted the challenge. But in the course of the conflict Syagrius, seeing that his army was defeated, turned and fled from the field, seeking safety with king Alaric at Toulouse.5 Then Chlodovech sent to Alaric, ordering him to surrender Syagrius, on pain of being himself attacked; and Alaric, fearing to incur the wrath of the Franks, as is the habit of the Goths, gave over Syagrius bound to the messengers of Chlodovech. Then Chlodovech had him thrown into prison, and, after seizing his kingdom, had him secretly slain . 1 Oliver J. Thatcher and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Book for Mediaeval History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1905), 27-37. 2 All ellipses in original. 3 The longest river in France. 4 They were in fact Roman military commanders. 5 Alaric II was king of the West Goths (r. 485–507). Their capital was in Toulouse. After the defeat of Alaric by the Franks, the kingdom of the West Goths was mostly confined to Spain. 2 28. Now Gundevech, of the line of the persecuting king, Athanaric, was king of the Burgundians.6 He had four sons, Gundobad, Godegisel, Chilperic, and Godomar. Gundobad slew his brother Chilperic, and drowned Chilperic’s wife by tying a stone about her neck and throwing her into the water. He also condemned Chilperic’s two daughters to exile; of these the older was Chrona, who became a nun, and the younger was Chlothilde . Chlodovech sent an embassy to Gundobad demanding the hand of Chlothilde in marriage, and Gundobad, fearing to refuse him, surrendered her to the messengers of Chlodovech, who bore her straightway to the king . 30. The queen [Chlothilde] continually urged Chlodovech to abandon his idols and accept the true God. She was not successful, however, until finally, when he was waging war on the Alamanni, he was compelled by necessity to accept that which he had formerly refused. For in the course of the battle, when the two armies were engaged in fierce struggle, it happened that the army of Chlodovech was on the verge of utter rout, and seeing this the king raised his eyes to heaven, and cried: “Jesus Christ, thou whom Chlothilde doth call the son of the living God, who dost comfort those in travail and give victory to those that believe in thee, I now devoutly beseech thy aid, and I promise if thou dost give me victory over these mine enemies and if I find thou hast the power which thy believers say thou hast shown, that I will believe in thee and be baptized in thy name. For I have called on my own gods and they have failed to help me; therefore I believe they have no power, since they do not come to the aid of their worshippers. I call now upon thee; I desire to believe in thee, that I be not destroyed by mine enemies.” And as soon as he had cried thus, the Alamanni turned and fled. And when they saw that their king was slain they surrendered to Chlodovech, saying: “Let not thy people perish further, we beseech thee, for we are thine.” 31. Then the king demanded that he should be the first to be baptized by the bishop. So the new Constantine advanced to the font, to be cleansed from the old leprosy of his sin, and from the sordid stains of his past life, in the water of baptism. As he approached the font, the saint of God addressed him in these fitting words: “Bow thy head, Sigambrian;7 adore what thou hast burned, burn what thou hast adored.” . Then the king having professed his belief in omnipotent God the Trinity, was baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and was anointed with the holy oil with the sign of the cross of Christ. And more than 3,000 of his army were baptized also . 32. The brothers Gundobad and Godegisel were at this time ruling the land about the Rhône and the Saône and the province of Marseilles. They, as well as their people, were Arian. And when war was on the point of breaking out between them, Godegisel, who had heard of the conquests of Chlodovech, sent to him secretly, saying: “If you will give me aid in overthrowing my brother, so that I may kill him in battle or drive him from the kingdom, I will pay you such yearly tribute as you shall demand.” Chlodovech accepted the conditions gladly and promised to send aid to Godegisel whenever he should require it. At the time appointed, Chlodovech advanced with his army against Gundobad. When Gundobad, ignorant of the treachery of Godegisel, learned of the approach of Chlodovech, he sent to his 6 The Burgundians were an East Germanic people related to the Goths. Most Burgundians had been converted to the heretical Arian form of Christianity. Chlodovech’s conversion to Catholic Christianity gained him the support of the Roman population. 7 A tribe of the Frankish confederation, here synonymous with Frank. 3 brother, saying: “Come to my aid, for the Franks are coming against me to seize my kingdom. Let us unite to withstand this enemy, lest if we remain divided, each of us should suffer the fate of the other nations.” And Godegisel replied that he would bring his army to the aid of his brother. Thus the three armies advancing at the same time, came together at Dijon, and Godegisel and Chlodovech joined forces and defeated Gundobad. Gundobad, seeing the treachery of his brother, which he had not before suspected, turned and fled along the bank of the Rhône until he came to Avignon . 35. Now when Alaric, king of the Goths, saw that Chlodovech was conquering many nations, he sent to him and said: “If it please my brother, let us unite our interests under the protection of God.” And Chlodovech, agreeing, came to him, and they met on an island in the Loire, near the town of Amboise in the vicinity of Tours. There they held a conference, and ate and drank together, and separated in peace, having exchanged vows of friendship. But already many of the Gauls [under Alaric] were greatly desirous of being under Frankish rule. 37. Then Chlodovech said to his followers: “It causes me great grief that these Arians8 should hold a part of Gaul. Let us go with the aid of God and reduce them to subjection.” And since this was pleasing to all his followers, he advanced with his army toward Poitiers . And Chlodovech came up with Alaric, king of the Goths, at Vouillé, about ten miles from Poitiers . There the Goths fled, according to their custom, and Chlodovech gained a great victory with the aid of God. And Chloderic, the son of Sigibert the Lame, aided him in this battle. 40. Now while Chlodovech was staying at Paris, he sent secretly to the son of Sigibert, saying: “Behold now your father is old and lame. If he should die his kingdom would come to you and my friendship with it.” So the son of Sigibert, impelled by his cupidity, planned to slay his father.