History assignment 1

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Medieval Sourcebook: Bede: Conversion of England

The Arrival in Kent of the missionaries sent By Gregory the Great (597)

In the year of our Lord 582, Maurice, the fifty-fourth emperor from Augustus, ascended the

throne and reigned twenty-one years. In the tenth year of his reign, Gregory, a man renowned for

learning and behavior, was promoted to the apostolic see of Rome,' and presided over it thirteen

years, six months, and ten days. He, being moved by divine inspiration, about the one hundred

and fiftieth year after the coming of the English into Britain, sent the servant of God, Augustine,

and with him several other monks who feared the Lord, to preach the word of God to the English

nation. . . .

[Augustine, with his companions, arrived in Britain.]. The powerful Ethelbert was at that time

king of Kent; he had extended his dominions as far as the great river Humber, by which the

southern Saxons are divided from the northern. On the east of Kent is the large Isle of Thanet,

containing, according to the English way of reckoning, six hundred families, and divided from

the other land by the river Wantsum, which is about three furlongs across and fordable only in

two places, for both ends of it run into the sea.

In this island landed the servant of our Lord, Augustine, and his companions, being, as is

reported, nearly forty men. They had, by order of the blessed Pope Gregory, brought interpreters

of the nation of the Franks, and sending to Ethelbert, signified that they were come from Rome,

and brought a joyful message, which most undoubtedly assured to all that took advantage of it

everlasting joys in heaven, and a kingdom that would never end with the living and true God.

The king, having heard this, ordered them to stay in that island where they had landed and that

they should be furnished with all necessaries till he should consider what to do with them. For he

had heard of the Christian religion, having a Christian wife, of the royal family of the Franks,

called Bertha, whom he had received from her parents upon condition that she should be

permitted to practice her religion with the bishop, Luidhard, who was sent with her to preserve

the faith.

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Some days later the king came into the island and, sitting in the open air, ordered Augustine and

his companions to be brought into his presence. For he had taken precaution that they should not

come to him in any house, lest, according to an ancient superstition, if they practiced any

magical arts they might impose upon him, and so get the better of him. But they came furnished

with divine, not with magic, power, bearing a silver cross for their banner, and the image of our

Lord and Saviour painted on a board; and singing"the the litany, they offered up their prayers to

the Lord for eternal salvation both of themselves and of those to whom they came.

When Augustine had sat down, pursuant to the king's commands, and preached to him and his

attendants there present the word of life, the king answered thus: " Your words and promises are

very fair, but they are new to us and of uncertain import, and I cannot approve of them so far as

to forsake that which I have so long followed with the whole English nation. But because you are

come from far into my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are desirous to impart to us those things

which you believe to be true and most beneficial, we will not molest you, but give you favorable

entertainment and take care to supply you with the necessary sustenance; nor do we forbid you to

preach and gain as many as you can to your religion."

Accordingly, he permitted them to reside in the city of Canterbury, which was the metropolis of

all his dominions, and pursuant of his promise, besides allowing them sustenance, did not refuse

them the liberty to preach. . . .

As soon as they entered the dwelling place assigned them, they began to imitate the course of life

practiced in the primitive church : applying themselves to frequent prayer, watching, and fasting;

preaching the word of life to as many as they could; despising all worldly things, as not

belonging to them; receiving only their necessary food from those they taught; living in all

respects conformably to what -they prescribed to others, and being always disposed to suffer any

adversity, and even to die for that truth which they preached. In short, several believed and were

baptized, admiring the simplicity of their innocent life and the sweetness of their heavenly

doctrine.

There was on the east side of the city a church dedicated to St. Martin, built whilst the Romans

were still in the island, wherein the queen, who, as has been said before, was a Christian, used to

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pray. In this they first began to meet, to sing, to pray, to say mass, to preach and to baptize, till

the king, being converted to the faith, allowed them to preach openly and to build or repair

churches in all places.

When he among the rest, induced by the unspotted life of these holy men and their delightful

promises, which, by many miracles, they proved to be most certain, believed and was baptized,

greater numbers be-an daily to flock together to hear the word and, forsaking their heathen rites.

to associate themselves, by believing, to the unity of the Church of Christ.

Gregory the Great: Instructions to the Missionaries

The Letter to Mellitus of 601

When Almighty God shall bring you to the most reverend Bishop Augustine, our brother, tell

him what I have, after mature deliberation on the affairs of the English, determined upon,

namely, that the temples of the idols in that nation ought not to be destroyed, but let the idols that

are in them be destroyed; let holy water be made and sprinkled in the said temples - let altars be

erected, and relics placed. For if those temples are well built, it is requisite that the be converted

from the worship of devils to the service of the true God; that the nation, seeing that their

temples are not destroyed, may remove error from their hearts and, knowing and adoring the true

God, may the more familiarly resort to the places to which they have been accustomed.

And because they have been used to slaughter many oxen in the sacrifices to devils, some

solemnity must be substituted for them on this account, as, for instance, that on the day of the

dedication, or of the nativities of the holy martyrs whose relics are there deposited, they may

build themselves huts of the boughs of trees about those churches which have been turned to that

use from temples, and celebrate the solemnity with religious feasting, no more offering beasts to

the devil, but killing cattle to the praise of God in their eating, and returning thanks to the Giver

of all things for their sustenance; to the end that, whilst some outward gratifications are permitted

them, they may the more easily consent to thee inward consolations of the grace of God.

For there is no doubt that it is impossible to efface every thing at once from their obdurate

minds., because he who endeavors to ascend to the highest place rises by degrees or steps and

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not by leaps. This the Lord made himself known to the people of Israel in Egypt: and yet he

allowed them to use the sacrifices which they were wont to offer to the devil in his own worship,

commanding them in his sacrifice to kill beasts to the end that, changing their hearts they mad

lay aside one part of the sacrifice whilst retained another: that whilest they offered the same

beasts which they were wont to offer, they should offer them to God, and not to idols, and thus

they would no longer be the same sacrifices.

The conversion of Northumbria

[Edwin, the king of Northumbria, urged by his Christian wife Ethelberga, and by the bishop

Paulinus,] answered that he was both willing and bound to receive the new faith which the

bishop taught, but that he wished, nevertheless, to confer about it with his principal friends and

counselors, to the end that, if they also were of his opinion, they might all be cleansed together in

Christ, the Fount of Life. Paulinus consenting, the king did as he said; for holding a council with

the wise men, he asked of every one in particular what he thought of the new doctrine and the

new worship that was preached.

To which the chief of his priests, Coifi, immediately answered: "O king, consider what this is

which is now preached to us; for verily I declare to you that the religion which we have hitherto

professed has, as far as I can learn, no virtue in it. For none of your people has applied himself

more diligently to the worship of our gods than I; and yet there are many who receive greater

favors from you, and are more preferred than I, and who are more prosperous in all their

undertakings. Now if the gods were good for anything, they would rather forward me who has

been more careful to serve them. It follows, therefore, that if upon examination you find those

new doctrines which are now preached to us better and more efficacious, we should immediately

receive them without any delay' "

Another of the king's chief men, approving of Coifi's words and exhortations, presently added: "

The present life man, O king, seems to me, in comparison with that time which is unknown to us,

like to the swift flight of a sparow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter amid

your officers and ministers, with a good fire in the midst whilst the storms of rain and snow

prevail abroad; the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door and immediately another, whilst he is

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within is safe from the wintry but after a short space of fair weather he immediately vanishes out

of your sight into the dark winter from which he has emerged. So this life of man appears for a

short space but of what went before or what is to follow we are ignorant. If, therefore, this new

doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed.'

The other elders and king's counselors, by divine inspiration, spoke to the same effect., But Coifi

added that he, wished more attentively to hear Paulinus' discourse concerning the God whom he

preached. So the bishop having spoken by the king's command at greater length, Coifi, hearing

his words,- cried out: "I have long since been sensible that there was nothing in that which we

worshiped, because the more diligently I sought after truth in that worship the less I found it. But

now I freely confess that such evident, truth appears in this preaching as can confer on us the

gifts of life, of salvation, and of eternal happiness. For which reason I advise, O king, that we

instantly abjure and set fire to those temples and altars which we have consecrated out reaping

any benefits from them."

In short, the king publicly gave his permission to Paulinus to preach the gospel, and, renouncing

idolatry, declare he received the faith of Christ: and when he inquired high priest who should

first profane the altars and temples of their idols, with the enclosures that were about them, the

high priest answered, ,I; for who can more properly than myself destroy those things which I

worshiped through ignorance, for an example to all others, through the wisdom which been given

me by the true God ? "

Then immediately, in contempt of his former superstitions, desired the king to furnish him with

arms and a stallion, and mounting the latter, he set out to destroy the idols ; for it was not lawful

before for the high priest either to carry arms or to ride on any beast but a mare. Having,

therefore, girt on a sword and carrying a spear in his hand, he mounted the king's stallion and

proceeded to the idols. The multitude, beholding him, concluded he was distracted; but he lost no

time, for as soon as he drew near the temple he profaned the same, casting into it the spear which

he held. And rejoicing in the knowledge of the worship of the true God, he commanded his

companions to destroy the temple, with all its enclosures, by fire.

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This place where the idols were is still shown, not far from York, to the eastward, beyond the

river Derwent, and is now called Godmundingham; where the high priest, by the inspiration of

the true God, profaned and destroyed the altars which he had himself consecrated.

The Synod of Whitby: Celtic and Roman: The Controveresy over the Date of Easter

The Roman monks, sent by Gregory the Great, found that the Christian missionaries from

Ireland observed Easter at a different time from that appointed by the Roman church. After years

of controversy it was agreed at a synod should be held where the difficulty might be settled. Bede

thus describes the arguments advanced both sides and the victory of the Roman party:

[Bishop Colman spoke for the Scots (i.e. Irish) and said:] The Easter which I keep I received

from my elders, who sent me hither as bishop; all our forefathers, men beloved of God, are

known to have kept it after the same manner; and that this may not seem to any contemptible or

worthy to be rejected, it is the same which St. John the Evangelist, the disciple beloved of our

Lord, with all the churches he presided, is recorded to have observed." . . .

Then Wilfrid was ordered by the king to speak for the Roman practice: " The Easter which we

observe we saw, celebrated by all at Rome, where the blessed apostles, Peter, and Paul, lived,

taught, suffered, and were buried - we saw the same done in Italy and in France, when we I

traveled through those countries for pilgrimage and prayer. found that Easter was celebrated at

one and the same time in Africa, Asia, Egypt, Greece, and all the world, wherever the Church of

Christ is spread abroad, through the various nations and tongues ; except only among these and

their accomplices in obstinacy, I mean the Picts and the Britons, who foolishly, in these two

remote islands of the world, and only in part even of them, oppose all the rest of the universe. . . .

You certainly sin if, having heard the decree of the apostolic see, and of the universal Church,

and that the same is confirmed by Holy Writ, you refuse to follow them; for, though your fathers

were holy, do you think that their small number, in a corner of the remotest island, is to be

preferred before the universal Church of Christ throughout the world ? And though that Columba

of yours (and, I may say, ours also, if he was Christ's servant) was a holy man and powerful in

miracles, yet should he be preferred before the most blessed prince of the apostles, to whom our

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Lord said, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall

not prevail against it. And I will give up to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven'?"

When Wilfrid had spoken thus, the king said, "Is it true, Colman, that these words were spoken

to Peter by our Lord?" He answered, "It is true, O king!" Then said he, "Can you show any such

power given to your Columba?" Colman answered, " None." Then added the king, " Do both of

you agree that these words were principally directed to Peter, and that the keys of heaven were

given to him by our Lord?' They both answered, , We do." , Then the king concluded "And I also

say unto you, that he is the doorkeeper, whorl I will not contradict, but will, as far as I know and

am able in all things obey his decrees, lest when I come to the gate of the kingdom of heaven

there should be none to open them he being my adversary who is proved to have the keys." The

king having said this, all present, both great and small gave their assent and, renouncing the more

imperfect institution, resolved to conform to that which they found to be better.

Gregory of Tours (539-594):

The Conversion of Clovis

Introduction:

Book II of Gregory of Tour's History of the Franks focuses on Clovis, the first king of the

Merovingian dynasty to convert to Catholicism. This selection of chapters, rather than merely

giving the account of the conversion [cc.30-31] seeks to set a context.

History of the Franks: BOOK II

28. Clovis marries Clotilda.

29. Death of their first son in his baptismal garments.

30. War with the Alamanni.

31. Clovis's baptism.

37. War with Alaric.

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38. King Clovis is made patrician.

42. Killing of Ragnachar and his brothers.

43. Death of Clovis.

28.

Now the king of the Burgundians was Gundevech, of the family of king Athanaric the

persecutor, whom we have mentioned before. He had four sons; Gundobad, Godegisel, Chilperic

and Godomar. Gundobad killed his brother Chilperic with the sword, and sank his wife in water

with a stone tied to her neck. His two daughters he condemned to exile; the older of these, who

became a nun, was called Chrona, 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 Gundobad without delay asking her in marriage. And

Gundobad 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.

29.

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 husband, saying: "The gods you worship are nothing, and

they will be unable to help themselves or any one 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 foul perpetrator of all shameful crimes, committing incest with men, mocking at his

kinswomen, not able to refrain from intercourse with his own sister as she herself says: Jovisque

et soror et conjunx. 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 worshipped who created

by his word heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is out of a state of nothingness, who

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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 was at the command of our gods that all things were created and came forth, and it is

plain that your God has no power and, what is more, he is proven not to belong to the family of

the gods." Meantime the faithful queen made her son ready for baptism; she gave command to

adorn the church with hangings and curtains, in order that he who could not 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. At 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 could not 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 Chlodomer at baptism; and when he fell sick,

the king said: "It is impossible that anything else should happen to him than happened to his

brother, namely, that being baptized in the name of your Christ, 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 the true God and cease worshipping idols. But

he could not be influenced in any way to this belief, until at last a war arose with the Alamanni,

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 saw it 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

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son of the 1iving 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 they 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 thus, the

Alamanni 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.

31.

Then the queen asked saint Remi, bishop of Rheims, 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 worshipping idols,

which could help neither themselves nor any one 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 Remi preaches." This was reported to the bishop, who was greatly rejoiced, and bade

them get ready the baptismal font. The squares were shaded with tapestried canopies, the

churches adorned with white curtains, the baptistery set in order, the aroma of incense spread,

candles of fragrant odor burned brightly, and the whole shrine of the baptistery was filled with a

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 foul 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,

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Sigamber; worship what you burned; burn what you worshipped." The holy bishop Remi was a

man of excellent wisdom and especially trained in rhetorical studies, and of such surpassing

holiness that he equalled the miracles of Silvester. For there is extant 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 the holy

ointment with the sign of the cross of Christ. And of his army more than 3000 were baptized. His

sister also, Albofled, was baptized, who not long after passed to the Lord. And when the king

was in mourning for her, the holy Remi sent a letter of consolation which began in this way:

"The reason of your mourning pains me, and pains me greatly, that Albofled 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 e mourned." Another sister also was converted,

Lanthechild 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.

37.

Now Clovis the king said to his people: "I take it very hard that these Arians hold part of the

Gauls. 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 Alaric was at that

time. But since part of the host was passing through Touraine, 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." And 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 of 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 striving

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' servants

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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, sang 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 Vienne 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

ford 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 they could 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 Hilarius and pass, as it were, over him, to show that, aided

by the light of the blessed confessor Hilarius, 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 Poitou 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 Cellula sancti

Maxentii. And when his monks saw a division of the host approaching the monastery, they

prayed to the abbot to come forth from his cell to consult with them. 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 a 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 all 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 uninjured. He worked many

other miracles also, and if any one diligently seeks for them he will find them all in reading the

book of his Life. In the twenty-fifth year of Clovis.

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Meantime king Clovis met with Alaric, king of the Goths, in the plain of Vouillé 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 Sigibert the lame, named Chloderic. This

Sigibert was lame from a wound in the leg, received in a battle with the Alemanni near the town

of Zulpich. Now when the king had put the Goths to flight and slain king Alaric, two of the

enemy 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 great number of the people of Auvergne, who had come with Apollinaris and the

leading senators. From this battle Amalaric, son of Alaric, fled to Spain and wisely seized his

father's kingdom Clovis sent his son Theodoric to Clermont 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. Alaric reigned twentytwo years. When Clovis had spent the winter in

Bordeaux and taken all the treasures of Alaric at Toulouse, he went to Angoulême. 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 chlamys, and placed a diadem on

his head. Then he mounted his horse, and in the most 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 or Augustus. Leaving Tours he went to Paris and there he

established the seat of his kingdom. There also Theodoric came to him.

42.

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Ragnachar was then king at Cambrai, a man so unrestrained in his wantonness that he scarcely

had mercy for his own near relatives. He had a counselor Farro, who defiled himself with a like

vileness. And it was said that when food, or a gift, or anything whatever was brought to the king,

he was wont to say that: it was enough for him and his Farro. And at 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 Ragnachar's leudes to

be invited to attack him. Moreover, when Clovis had set his army in motion against him, and

Ragnachar 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: is a great sufficiency for you and

your Farro." 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 Ricchar 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 ax 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 ax 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 they were alive and were 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 Rignomer by name, was slain by Clovis' order at the city of

Mans. 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 some one still to kill.

43.

15

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 Clotilda. He passed away in the fifth year after the battle; of

Vouillé, and all the days of his reign were thirty years, and his age was forty-five. From the death

of St. Martin to the death of king Clovis, which happened in the eleventh year of the episcopate

of Licinius, bishop of Tours, one hundred and twelve years are reckoned. Queen Clotilda came to

Tours after the death of her husband and served there in the church of St. Martin, and dwelt in

the place with the greatest chastity and kindness all the days of her life, rarely visiting Paris.