The History of the Franks

The new Pope, Gregory “the Great,” was a genuinely pious man who was reluctant to accept the office: “He wanted very much to avoid the highest honour, lest as a result of his being elected the worldly pomp which he had renounced should invade once more his public life” (544). A Frankish official named Grippo had been sent on a diplomatic mission to Maurice, emperor of the Byzantine Empire. While stopping in the city of Carthage, a servant of one of the officials, Evantius, stole from a merchant. When the merchant later confronted him, the servant killed the merchant. A group of soldiers confronted the diplomats and, in the confrontation, killed Evantius and another official, Bodegisil.

Upset by what had happened to a diplomatic mission, Emperor Maurice gave gifts to Grippo. Later, Maurice sent a number of prisoners, claiming these were the men who killed Bodegisil and Evantius, although Grippo did not recognize them. Still, once again at the prompting of Emperor Maurice, Childebert II went to war against the Longobards of Italy. Through the mediation of King Guntram, a truce was soon agreed upon.

Gregory tells the story of Count Eulalius of Clermont-Ferrand, who was guilty of murdering his mother. As a result, Bishop Cautinus of Clermont refused to give him communion. When Eulalius denied the charge, Cautinus gave him communion while warning him that “God will be looking into the deepest confines of your heart” (554). Eulalius was also abusive toward his wife, Tetradia, who fell in love with Eulalius’s nephew, Virus. Hoping to marry her, Virus sent Tetradia and one of her sons to Duke Desiderius. Eulalius murdered Virus, after which Desiderius himself married Tetradia. Eulalius committed other crimes, including further murders. Later, he demanded from a council of bishops and laymen that they grant him restitution for some property Tetradia took with her. The judges ruled in Tetradia’s favor and decided that any children Tetradia had with Desiderius would be illegitimate.

After the Bretons attacked Nantes and Rennes, King Guntram sent an army led by Duke Ebrachar to invade Brittany. The campaign was a disaster, and some of the army ended up looting Tours. After Guntram blamed Ebrachar for the disastrous campaign, he went into hiding. When Charibert II found that someone had hunted in the royal forest without his permission, an official who managed the forest blamed the king’s chamberlain, Chundo. When Chundo denied the charges, Charibert decided to let Chundo and the forester determine the truth through a trial by combat. Chundo had his nephew fight on his behalf. Both combatants killed each other.

Chundo tried to flee, but Charibert had him stoned to death. According to Gregory, the king “was sorry that he had lost his temper and that for such a trifling offence he had recklessly killed out of hand a faithful servant whom he could ill spare” (559). When Ingitrude died, her daughter Berthegund petitioned King Childebert for permission to take her mother’s place as the abbess. Gregory alleges she then proceeded to steal everything from the convent for herself. Gregory got into a debate with a priest over the Christian doctrine of the “resurrection of the body” (560-66). Gregory managed to convince the priest to change his beliefs.

Meanwhile, Clotild’s revolt at the convent in Poitiers continued. She instigated what Gregory describes as “a band of cut-throats, evil-doers, fornicators, fugitives from justice and men guilty of every crime in the calendar” (567) to kidnap the abbess, Leubovera. An official named Flavianus rescued her. Further violence broke out. King Guntram sent soldiers to put down the revolt in Poitiers. Clotild was allowed to make her allegations against Leubovera in front of a council of bishops, comprised of bishops sent by both Guntram and Childebert II. She accused Leubovera of keeping a “man in the nunnery” (570).

The accused man appeared in court, claiming he dressed as a woman because he was “impotent” (570) and that he actually lived outside of Poitiers, so he had never met Leubovera in person before. She also accused the abbess of keeping eunuch servants, to which Leubovera replied she performed a surgery she learned from a surgeon from Constantinople on a boy who had pain in his groin. Clotild also complained about poor food, “harsh treatment” (571), not being given enough clothing, and the abbess hosting games and parties.

The bishops found the abbess innocent. When Clothild, Basina, and their supporters refused to apologize and instead threatened to kill Leubovera, they were excommunicated. Basina and Clothild would later have their excommunication lifted. While Basina agreed to return to the convent in Poitiers and make amends with Leubovera, Clothild left the convent for good and went to live on an estate in the country. Clothild and Basina went to King Childebert and he ordered an investigation of his own, but his officials could find no evidence of wrongdoing.

Another assassination attempt on Childebert by Fredegund was foiled. After this, Childebert put Bishop Egidius of Rheims on trial for allying with, and being bribed by, the deceased King Chilperic, insulting Queen Brunhild, and trying to cause conflicts between Childebert and Guntram. Egidius was exiled to the town of Strasbourg in Germany. A bishop from Armenia, Simon, came to Gaul and told the story of how the Persian Empire invaded Armenia and the city of Antioch. Simon himself was taken captive until the King of Armenia paid his ransom. Gregory also remarks that the bubonic plague appeared in Gaul, starting in the city of Marseilles. In the plague’s aftermath, a man in Bourges claimed to be Jesus Christ. A servant of the local bishop, Aurelius, was sent to see the man and killed him while his followers were disbanded.

A feud between a group of Franks led to many deaths on both sides. Fredegund tried to force both sides to make peace “for if the dispute continued it would become a public nuisance of considerable dimensions” (587). When they refused, Fredegund invited the three survivors of the original feud to a banquet and had them beheaded. Their families called for Fredegund to be executed, but she had fled the region.

After that, Fredegund asked Guntram to become the godfather of Lothar II in Paris. Childebert sent a message to Guntram, accusing him of siding with his enemy, Fredegund. Nonetheless, Guntram participated in the baptism of King Lothar II. Gregory describes miracles performed by Abbot Aredius of Limoges, such as healing the sick, causing water to appear in an arid area, and keeping rain from falling on himself.

Next, he lists the names of all the bishops of Tours, starting with Bishop Gatianus who came to Tours sometime between the years 249 and 251 (593) and ending with Gregory himself, the 19^th Bishop of Tours. While serving as bishop, Gregory had the cathedral rebuilt in a better state after it was devastated by a fire and restored the church’s reliquary, which had been neglected. Gregory draws the book to a close by urging future bishops of Tours to “never permit these books to be destroyed, or to be rewritten, or to be reproduced in part only with sections omitted” (603).