Book IV

After these things, king Guntram sent to his nephew, king Childebert (585 AD), to come to the meeting which had been arranged by common agreement [Aimon III.lxvii, in turn based on Gregory VII.xxxiii]. King Childebert came with many of his barons, as did king Guntram on his side. When the meeting was assembled, king Guntram commanded that Gundovald's emissaries be brought before everyone. Then they were commanded to tell their message as they had before. When everyone had heard it repeated in order, they added that Gundovald had seized all the treasures that king Chilperic had given to Rigonde, his daughter, at her marriage, when he had to send her to the king of Spain, and that he had said several times that it would be returned to France from parts of the East by the encouragement of Guntram Boso, and when they recognized afterward that the barons of the realm knew all these things very well, the two kings became suspicious and thought that it was for this reason that none of the barons of Childebert's kingdom came to this meeting.

King Guntram offered to his nephew a lance which he had and said to him: "Splendid nephew, by this sign you may know that you will reign after me in my kingdom. I grant you the power and the authority of all the cities of my land, and I want you to arrange in all matters as you wish. Keep in mind that only you and Lothar remain of all our lineage." When he had said this in front of all of the people, he drew his nephew aside to discuss other things, begging him not to reveal what he would tell him. Then he began to instruct him about whom to consult in the matter of governing the kingdom, whom to exclude from his counsel, and whom he might trust to guard his body and his well-being. He told him that he should guard himself against the tricks and the malice of Brunhild, his mother, and of Giles, the archbishop of Rheims, who was a liar, and disloyal. When the meeting was over, and everything had been taken care of and put in order, they sat down to eat. As soon as the nobility was seated at the table, the noble king Gunther began to speak to the barons and knights, and talked in this way: "Lords, noble princes of the kingdom of France, I ask and implore you to grant faith and honor to my nephew, who is no longer a child, and it is very clear that he will achieve great things, if God grants him life; do not hold him in contempt as a child, but honor him as your lord." Then he granted him all the cities that his father had held. Each then took leave of the other, returning to his own kingdom.

When these things happened, Gundovald's fortune changed in another way, for duke Desiderius, Mummolus, Bladast, Waddo, and Sagitarius, who had gone with him, abandoned him, as you will hear afterwards [Viard here points out the mistake made by Primat; in Gregory and in Aimon, only Desiderius abandons him]. He established himself in a city named Dordone [in the manuscript, there was a blank here, filled in later with Dordone; in Gregory and in Aimon, the name of the city is Comminges] that sits on the other side of the Gironde, on the top of a high mountain, far from the others. At the foot of the mountain flows a fountain, above which a high, enclosed tower protects the citizens from their enemies, when they go down the path to get water for themselves or for their animals. He tricked the people of the city by telling and advising them to carry all their goods up into the fortress to keep them from their enemies who were coming; they did as he advised them. Then he made them think that their enemies were coming, and that it would be a good thing to go out and fight them, so that they might not be quickly under siege. When they left, he cast the Archbishop out of the city, and shut the gates firmly; then he got ready to defend himself, together with his men, who had stationed themselves inside for protection. How blind is human thought, which does not consider the future! For the time came that he was driven from the city, and that he wished that he had kept and dearly cherished within the city those whom he had driven out, and driven out those whom he had kept inside, whom he thought to be loyal friends.

II

Here begins an account of how Gundovald was besieged in the city [Aimon II.lxx]. King Guntram sent him a letter, which claimed to be from Brunhild, commanding him to dismiss all the men whom he had assembled to fight, and to go to Bordeaux to spend the winter. He did what the letters told him to do. When the leaders of king Guntram's army, who were bivouaced on the banks of the Dordogne, knew that Gundovald had passed the river Gironde, they took the best, most courageous soldiers they had, and drew them up to swim across the Gironde. Some were drowned, because the water was strong and rough, and they were badly mounted. But when they reached the other side, they found many mules [Aimon has "camels"] and horses laden with gold and silver, and other riches, which their enemies, fleeing before them, had left behind. They sent these back to the part of the army which had remained behind, then rode off after Gundovald as quickly as they could. They came to the territory of Agen, intending to enter the abbey of St. Vincent, but the people of that land, having put their belongings in the abbey, to safeguard them, shut the doors. Now they threw fire into the abbey, and burned them, seizing whatever they could carry, like crucifixes and chalices and other ornaments for the altar; but they were swiftly struck by the vengeance of Our Lord, for some had their hands burned by hell-fire, others went insane, and others killed themselves with their own hands. Those who were not struck, because, by chance, they had done nothing to harm the martyr, came before the city where Gundovald and his men were entrenched, and pitched their tents; first they burned and laid waste the area around the town, as well as the surrounding country. But some, who were ardently greedy for booty, put more distance between themselves and the others than was good for them, and they were captured and killed by those who were guarding the possessions of the neighboring villages. When the city was under siege, some, who were hardier than the others, climbed a hill very near the city, and began to insult Gundovald with words like these: "Oh you, Ballomires, from whom such presumption comes that you style yourself a king. For your boasting and your atrocious behavior the kings of France had your hair cut, condemned you, and sent you into exile. Wretched slave, answer us, tell us the names of those who are helping you, and who are making you do this. You'll be captured soon, and prodded and tortured for your pride." With insulting remarks like these they were unable to provoke Gundovald, but he groaned and said that he well remembered the foul things his father had done to him, and that he had been exiled by his own kin from his own country, without cause. He had been welcomed with love and mercy by foreigners, while he own kin hated him like a mortal enemy. In foreign countries, princes and kings gave him great gifts and great wealth; he was loved and cherished by the emperor of Constantinople, while Guntram Boso deceived him treacherously. "He found me," he said, "in Constantinople when he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Eager to learn news about my father, I asked him about him and my brothers, and the state of the kingdom. He replied to me thus: 'You ask about your father. I tell you that he and your brothers are dead; hardly anyone is left alive. Guntram alone remains, but all his children are dead; only one of his nephews remains, the son of king Sigibert.' Then I said to him: 'Dear sweet friend, what do you advise me to do?' He advised me to return to France, and told me that the French wanted me very much, and that they would willingly grant me the kingdom, and the people of my nephew Childebert's kingdom are particularly eager, because he is too young and inexperienced to govern the kingdom. You, then fine sir, who may well know that I am your lord, remove the siege with which you have surrounded this city, and help me establish peace and harmony with my brother king Guntram." When Gundovalt had spoken in this way to those who were on the mountain, they began to curse and to threaten him, throwing lances and javelots into the city.

III

After five [15 in Aimon and in Gregory] days of the siege, Leudegisel, provost and constable, whom king Guntram had put in charge of the entire army, ordered his men to bring up machines to break down the walls. These machines were made like carts, covered with large planks of heavy wood, enclosing the top. Within were miners digging underneath the base of the walls; but these machines were of little value, because those inside the city, who were defending themselves vigorously, threw down large, sharp stakes and great, heavy stones, with which they resisted their efforts; the battering rams were not very useful either, because they could be easily burned by the sulfur, boiling pitch, and dried logs being thrown from the walls, so that those outside did not dare approach. All day the battle and the assault went on in this manner. The next day the besiegers tried to inflict damage on those inside the city by piling up sticks and branches of trees to fill in the deep moat, but their efforts were useless, for the moat was too deep, and those inside threw stones and burning fire on them, so that they could not get nearer.

Leudegisel saw clearly that their efforts were in vain, and that they were struggling without results. He decided, then, to try trickery. He had Mummolus summoned, to speak to him in secret. In Gregory, emissaries go back and forth; Aimon, presumably, wants, once again, to add a touch of dramatic confrontation.] He began to blame him and to upbraid him for having abandoned king Guntram, who was kind and decent, for a tyrannical criminal: "Why do you delay so?" he said, "are you waiting for the city to be taken, when you will die deservedly?" Mummolus replied that he would willingly follow this advice; he went back and called Sagittarius and Waddo, for Bladast, afraid that the city was about to be captured, had set fire to the church-house and, while the others were busy putting out the fire, secretly escaped. Together with these two, he called a citizen of the town named Chariulf, who had an independent income, and was very rich; Mummolus explained to them how their situation was untenable, and how they seemed shameful to all other people, since they had made a man of uncertain origin their king, and submitted to him. Finally he urged them to give in to Fortune, which was against them, and he would guarantee that they would lose neither life nor limb, if they surrendered the city, which was about to be taken, and the false king, with whom they had allied themselves; they all agreed. Mummolus let Leudegisel know that he was coming to speak to him; then he told him the results of the discussion, and that the plan pleased both himself and his companions. Leudegisel praised him highly for the good sense and foresight they had shown in their discussion, and swore that he would obtain guarantees for their lives from king Guntram, or, if the king remained angry with them, he would find sanctuary for them in a church until the king's ill-will had cooled. Mummolus, who was deceived by this treachery, went to Gundovald and said: "You are well aware that I have always been loyal to you, and that I have served you with all my heart and with all my mind. You also know that I have always given you good and loyal advice, and I have fought against your enemies, and that, on the basis of my advice, your affairs have prospered. My desire to advise you well is as great as ever before, because you have well deserved it; therefore I am telling you now that I have spoken with our enemies outside the town to determine how they are disposed towards us. As far as I can tell, they have no ill will towards you, but they say that they are amazed that you flee from and avoid your brother, and they say that they think that it might be because you do not wish to argue with those who know the genealogy of your lineage, because you are not certain of it, and therefore do not wish to come into the presence of your brother, who would willingly see you. If you want my advice, you will go to your brother king Guntram, together with them and with me, if you can put aside your suspicion, because I believe that this will result in peace and well-being for you."

IV

Gundovald, who who saw clearly that these words were spoken only to deceive him, replied in this way: "Against my will I left these lands and went to (Eastern) Europe, on your advice. I have always supported you, with good will and in good faith, and even though the faithlessness of him who made me return to these lands is self-evident, since he fled and left me in this danger, and, above all, he carried away part of my wealth, I have always loved you like my brother, and like those of whom I have a high opinion, for having protected my body and my well-being. If you, then, wish to behave otherwise, and you want to deceive and betray me, when I have placed in your hands my body, my life, and my wealth, may He who knows the secrets in men's hearts admonish you and prevent you from being able to do so." Having said this, he agreed to go down with them to the tents of their enemies. Mummolus told him that he should not go so proudly, nor in so noble an outfit, and that he should hand him the golden baldric he had tied around him, which Mummolus had given him, and wear instead his own, which was not so rich and splendid. To this Gundovald replied: "Your disloyalty is very clear, since you ask me to give back to you now what you once gave to me, and which I have kept until now." The traitor replied that he should not be afraid, because he would not deceive him. With these words they came to the gate, where their enemies Boso and Bollo [a misreading by Aimon of Gregory's Ollo, apparently], the count of Bourges, were waiting for them, with a large company of knights and servants, well-armed and well prepared. Mummolus had the gates opened, handed Gundovald over to them, then returned into the city and had the gates shut again.

When Gundovald saw that his own people had betrayed him and delivered him into the hands of his mortal enemies, and then closed the gates of the city, without hope of return, he raised his hands to heaven with a great groan, and with heartfelt grief prayed to Our Lord with words like these: "God, who art eternal judge and avenger of the innocent, to whom all secrets are revealed, who takes no delight in deceit, who is not pleased with evil betrayers, avenge my wrongs, and turn the noose of deception upon those who have betrayed me and delivered me into the hands of my enemies." Having said this, he made the sign of the holy cross on his forehead and on his whole body, and they led him to where the prisoners were kept, like any other prisoner. However, as they were passing a high mound above the city, Boso pushed him so hard that he fell on his face and rolled into the very deep ravine. As he stood up and lifted his head, Boso threw a stone and hit him in the head, decapitating him. Then he was dragged up by ropes around his feet, stripped of the vest he had been wearing, and, even though he was dead, they stuck spears and swords into him, and had him led through the army, like a murderer. Mummolus, the traitor, who had returned to the city, seized Gundovald's treasury and stored it in various places. The next day he opened the gates of the city to the besiegers, who promptly slaughtered the multitude, sparing no one, whether man, woman, peasant or noble. In their murderous passion they even killed priests performing their offices at the altars. Finally they set fires everywhere, burning the city and those who had by chance escaped death (until then). Duke Leudegisel, who was the head of the army, had sent to king Guntram to ask what should be done with the traitors who had betrayed their lord and the city, and he sent a reply ordering them to be killed, for it was the custom, borrowed from the kingdom of France, that one tyrant would not aid another against their lord. Aware of this, Waddo and Chariulf fled. When Mummolus saw that some among the army were arming themselves, he understood that it was with the intention of attacking him. He ran directly to the tent of Leudegisel, and began demanding loudly that he keep his oath to him. Leudegisel said to him that he would come out and quiet them down. Then he stepped out of the tent and made a sign to his men to kill Mummolus and the bishop Sagittarius. When they caught the sign, they got ready to carry out his orders, but Mummolus ordered the servants who had come with him to defend the entrance to the tent until he had armed himself. He stood at the entrance to the tent and faced his enemies, defending himself so well that he made them retreat, and he chased them. But he went too far from the protection of the tent, and was surrounded on all sides, unable to get back when he wanted to; he was struck by so many spears and swords that he fell dead in his tracks. Bishop Sagittarius was terrified; he stood trembling so much that one man said to him: "Bishop, why are you behaving like a man without any sense; why don't you cover your head and flee quickly into the woods?" Taking this advice, Sagittarius covered his head and fled; but another man, seeing him, ran after him and struck him with a sword, making his head roll, together with the hood. Leudegesil returned to France after these exploits, but because he did not forbid his men from looting and pillaging, they laid waste the entire countryside they passed through.

V

Fredegund, who was anxious about her daughter, sent one of her chamberlains, whose name was Chuppa, to find out how she was doing, and she ordered him to bring her back, if possible, in any way he could think of. He tried very hard to carry out her order; he came to Toulouse, where the lady was in exile, and found her poor and greatly humiliated, and he brought her back as carefully as he could.

King Guntram ordered the treasury of Mummolus, of whose death you have just heard, to be brought to him; he gave part of it to Mummolus' wife, because she was noble, and of aristocratic lineage. The total amount came to 30,000 gold besants, and 250 silver ones [Aimon says 30 talents of gold, 200 of silver, while Gregory gives 250 talents of silver, and more than 30 of gold]. King Guntram and king Childebert shared them equally; each took his part, leaving nothing for the child Lothar, king Chilperic's son. King Guntram did not wish to hold on to his share, but gave his portion away, to churches and in giving of alms. He also took in a man of Mummolus' household, who was three feet taller than any other man.

An incident. At that time king Aptachar ruled over the Lombards; there was a very great flood in the territory of Venice, and in a part of Lombardy which is called Liguria, and in many other parts of Italy; people thought that such a flood had not taken place since the time of Noah. In the midst of this great storm, the Tiber, which runs through the city of Rome, overflowed the city walls, and engulfed much of the surrounding area. This second flood was followed by a pestilence called squinancie (swellings in the groin, plague); pope Pelagius was the first to die; the sickness spread and grew so, that in Rome they died in heaps.

At this point, when (596) they were suffering so, saint Gregory, who had been deacon and guardian of the documents and vessels of the church under pope Pelagius, was elected to the office of Pope by all the clergy and all the people. At this time, to be elected and ordained required only the assent and order of the emperor of Constantinople, nor could anyone be elected without his assent. The holy man, saint Gregory, whose election did not please him very much, sent a letter to the emperor, whose name was Maurice, pleading with him not to assent to the election that the people had celebrated for him. But the provost of the city took the letters from the emissary and tore them to pieces, sending on to the emperor the message that the clergy and the people had assented. The emperor was very pleased with this, for he had found the place and the occasion to honor his deacon, whom he loved very greatly, and he cherished him for his sanctity, and because he was his colleague. He gave the order that Gregory be ordained immediately, and he was crowned and placed in the holy see. Glorious saint Gregory was so wise and humble in all things, that (as one can tell by his books and by the Holy Writings that he compiled, with which the Holy Church is illumined) since his time there has been no one who can be compared to him for rhetorical eloquence, purity of teaching, or sanctity of life.

At that time (596-597), he sent Augustine, Mellitus, John, and other preachers of the Christian faith to Great Britain, which is now called England, to convert the people to the faith of Jesus Christ. He gave them letters of recommendation to the king of France and to the prelates of his kingdom, because they had to pass through that land. By the preaching of these good men, error and disbelief were destroyed, and the holy faith was sown and propagated. The holy man was so pleased with this that he mentioned it in the book of moralities that he wrote, and he took joy in Our Lord for the fruits of his good works, and he said: "The tongue of the Britons, which used to do nothing but Britonize various languages is now eager to sing Halleluja in praise of its creator." [Moralia XXVII,xi; Aimon gives: qui nihil aliud noverat quam barbarum frendere, and mentions the language of thanksgiving as Hebrew].

VI

In the twenty-fifth year of king Guntram's reign, prince Mummolus was killed in the city of Seanz, by order of Guntram, against whom he had revolted. Domnolus and Gandalmar, the king's chamberlains, brought back his wife and his treasury.

In the next year, he fought in Spain, but because the air that year was fouler than usual, he brought his army back without accomplishing any great task.

The next year, Leudigisel became seneschal of Provence. In the same year, king Childebert had a son whose name was Theudebert.

In that year there were great floods in Burgundy, and the rivers overflowed their banks. A flash of lightning fell from the burning sky, with great lightning and thunder.

King Guntram this year sent Count Siagre to Constantinople, to confirm and renew cordial relations with the emperor. While there, he tried very hard to acquire a county by trickery and deception; he began the task, but could not bring it to completion.

Leuvigild, the king of Spain, died in this year (586); his son, Recared, then became king.

In the twenty-eighth year of king Guntram's reign, he heard that king Childebert had had a child, whose name was Theudebert [read Theodoric -V]. He was very pleased with this, and sent for him and his mother Brunhild, to come and meet him at a place named Andelot. He renewed his will, making Childebert the heir to all his territory. Present were the daughter and the sister of king Childebert, and many barons of France and Burgundy, for everyone knew that king Childebert would have the kingdom of Burgundy after the death of his uncle, king Guntram. Satacechingues [Rauching in Gregory and Fredegar], Guntram Boso, Ursio and Archefroiz, Bertefridus in Aimon III.76.] barons of the kingdom of Childebert, were killed that year because they had treacherously wanted to murder the king. Landefroiz, a German duke, was disliked by king Childebert, and therefore fled and hid, to avoid being killed. Another man, named Uncelinus, became the duke of the duchy he had held.

Tassilo became the king of Bavaria after Caribert, by king Childebert's dispensation. Very soon afterwards, he attacked Slavonia, destroying and laying waste the country, and he returned with a great victory and with much booty. Caribert became the son-in-law [father-in-law actually -V] of Aptachar of Lombardy, in a manner I shall now describe. He happened to go to Lombardy as an emissary, and saw the king's daughter, Theodolinda, who was very beautiful, in the palace. Her appearance pleased him so that he fell deeply in love with her. When he returned to his own country, he sent emissaries asking for her hand, and king Aptachar willingly sent her to him.

Recared, the king of the Goths, did not follow the heretical belief of his father, king Leuvigild, but rather held the true belief of holy Church, as had his brother Hermangild. He was baptized by bishop Leander, and then he had all the Goths who had been Arians baptized and brought back into the one holy Church. He had all the books which contained the teachings of this heresy collected, and he had them burned in the city of Toulouse.

King Guntram assembled his Burgundian army to fight in Spain, in the twenty-ninth year of his reign (589), putting prince Boso at their head. When they entered Spain, the Goths defending their country killed most of them, because of Boso's negligence and sloth. He lost so many men that he could hardly get back to his own country.

VII

In the thirtieth year of Guntram's reign, the news spread throughout the entire kingdom of France that the cloak of Our Lord, which he had worn on the day of his glorious passion, had been found overseas; it was the same of which the Evangelist speaks, upon which the tyrants threw dice in fulfillment of the prophecy. Aimon III.77; Fredegar Iv.11; Gregory .us Liber in gloria martyrum vii.] They say that this coat was seamless, and that our Lady made it with her own precious hands, but the Evangelist says nothing about this. It was revealed by a man named Simon, son of another man named James; for fourteen days he was held until he finally confessed that it was in a city named Jaffa, far from Jerusalem, in a marble chest. Gregory of Antioch, Thomas of Jerusalem, John of Constantinople, the patriarch, and many other archbishops and bishops devoutly went there. But first, they and all the people prayed and fasted for three days and three nights; they found the precious relic, as he had said, and carried it with great joy and great reverence to Jerusalem, in the marble chest, which seemed so light to those who carried it, that they thought it weighed nothing. It was placed in the city, where the holy cross was worshipped.

In that year, there was a total eclipse of the moon (590), and there was a great battle between the Bretons and the French at the Wisone. A duke of France named Pepelmes [Beppelenus in Aimon] was killed there by the treachery of another duke named Ebrechar, who became completely destitute thereafter, because he was compelled to pay a very great sum of money, when the law demanded that he pay recompense to the children whose father he had killed.

Aptachar, the king of Lombardy, sent emissaries to king Guntram to renew peace and harmony between them; the king gladly received them, then sent them to king Childebert, his nephew, because he wanted the alliance confirmed with his assent also. While the emissaries were in France, king Aptachar died, perhaps poisoned, in a city of his country called Pavia. As soon as he was dead, the Lombards sent other emissaries to king Guntram, to announce the death of king Aptachar, and to renew once again peace and harmony. The king received them honorably, promising them that he would firmly and faithfully keep the peace and harmony that had been established between them. But I don't know exactly how long afterwards he falied to keep these promises. After king Aptachar died, Theolinda, the queen who was much loved by the Lombards, married a duke of Thuringia named Agilulf, with the assent and permission of the barons of Lombardy. Saint Gregory sent to queen Theolinda three books of his dialogue, because he knew how firmly committed she was to the faith of Jesus Christ, and how exceptional were her behavior and accomplishments.

At this time, the Lombards destroyed and pillaged the abbey of Montecassino, of which saint Benedict had been the abbot a long time before. They carried off everything they could get their hands on, but they could not capture any of the monks, because the prophecy that saint Benedict's had pronounced was fulfilled, in which he said: "I have entreated for you, from Our Lord, that the souls of this place may not be given to perdition." The monks left the abbey and fled to Rome, carrying with them the rule that the holy man had compiled and some other writings, a measure of bread, a measure of wine, and whatever of their possessions they could carry. The abbey of Montecassino was governed, after saint Benedict, by an abbot named Constantine, the third was Sulpicius, the fourth Vitalis, the fifth Bonins; in his time the place was destroyed, as you have heard.

In the thirty-second year of king Guntram's reign, the sun's body became so small that it was scarcely one-third its normal size; this eclipse lasted from morning until noon (19 march 592).

VIII

After king Guntram had reigned thirty-three years, and had ruled his kingdom nobly, he left the transitory realm, and passed on, as seems likely, to the eternal realm, for he had always behaved well, in good conscience, and had given alms liberally. He was buried in the abbey of Saint Marcel of Chalon, which he had founded in the suburbs of the city. He installed monks of the order rule of saint Benedict, endowed the place richly with income and possessions, and convoked a council of forty bishops to dedicate the church, and to regularize the service entirely according to what saint Avitus and the other bishops of his time had established at the church of Saint-Maurice of Agen in the time of king Sigismund of Burgundy, who founded it. This same rule and the same style of chanting and of reading had been previously established at the church of Saint Martin of Tours, and from there was adopted by the abbey of Saint Vincent of Paris by monseigneur saint Germanus, and after that by king Dagobert in the church of Saint Denis of France, which he founded, as we shall tell you later. We shall not tell you about the order as it is described in the rule, for we do not want to describe something that can only be a burden to hear for those who have not put their hearts into hearing such things [Aimon does give the details].

One might say much of the good qualities of king Guntram; he was generous towards prelates, humble and mild towards the ministers of holy church, a man of good will towards his own people, and gentle towards foreigners. Because he shone with such virtues, many foreign nations magnified his name and his praise. He left his kingdom to king Childebert, his nephew, as he had promised.

King Childebert was very powerful, for he possessed two kingdom [Aimon III.61]. He began to think about avenging the death of his father and his uncle, who had been killed by Fredegund. He assembled the armies of his two kingdoms, made Witrio and Gundovald their leaders, and ordered them to enter the kingdom that Fredegund held for her son Lothar, and to burn the cities, take booty, and threaten to enslave the people. The set out from Champagne la Raenciene, and attacked the countryside around Soissons, to lay waste and destroy the entire region. But Fredegund, who knew much about doing harm, had prepared herself. She summoned all the barons of her son's kingdom, as well as Landry, whom king Guntram had previously made tutor and governor of her son, because he was still a child. When they all assembled, she reasoned with them with words like these, with her child, still a suckling at her breasts, in her arms: "Nobles, princes of the kingdom of France, do not despise your lord and your king because he is small. You should not permit the noble kingdom of France to be laid waste by his enemies and yours. Remember that you promised that you would not treat him like an insignificant child, but would honor him like a king; you should nourish the love that you owe him as a child until he has reached the age of majority, to offer it manifold at that time and in that place [Aimon III.81.] so that he will not be devoid of the honor that is rightly his. You should also understand that I shall be on high ground from which I shall be able to survey the battlefield, watching who fights bravely and who does not, and I shall give rich rewards to everyone who does well for my son." When Fredegund had thus encouraged and stirred the barons, making them eager for battle, her final words were: "Nobles, do not be afraid of the great numbers of enemies you must confront face-to-face, for I have prepared a trick by means of which we shall have victory, and they shame and loss. I shall go out in front, and you follow me and do what you see Landry doing." The queen's thoughts pleased everybody. She rode out in front, the little king in her arms; the armed knights drew up their battle-lines. When night came, Landry the constable, led them into a nearby forest; he cut a long, leafy branch from a tree, and hung on his horse's neck a bell like the kind attached to the necks of animals that pasture in the woods. He ordered the others to do the same, and they all dismounted and did as he had done; then they remounted their horses and rode until they reached a spot near their enemies' tents. Queen Fredegund went in front, the little king in her arms, right up to the place of battle. The barons were moved to pity the child, who might fall from king to prisoner if they were defeated. Those who were supposed to look out for the enemy army saw them coming, arrayed in this manner. It was still early morning, and there was very little daylight. The man who lead the watch asked one of his companions what it might be: "Last night," he said, "at vespers, there was nothing where I am looking in the forest, neither hedges, nor bushes, nor undergrowth." His companion then replied: "You're still digesting the food you ate last night, and you have not yet recovered from the wine you drank. You have completely forgotten what you did yesterday. Therefore you don't see that it's the woods where we found fodder for our horses, and you don't hear the bells of the animals that go through this forest." It was the custom among the French, as well as among those in whose country they were, to hang such bells on the necks of their horses when they let them graze in the pastures of the forest, so that, if they got lost in the woods they could be found by the sound of the bells. While they were speaking to each other like this, Fredegund's men threw down the branches they were carrying, and what had looked like woods to their enemies now was clearly a battle line of knights, armed with bright, shining armor. When they saw their enemies drawn up and ready for combat in front of them, they became very frightened, but their opponents were not at all frightened, since their adversaries were all asleep or lying in bed, tired and worn out by what they had done during the day, nor did they think that their enemies would dare attack them in this way. Fredegund's men attacked their encampment with great energy, killing and capturing many of them, though some escaped by fleeing. The leaders and the highest-ranking nobles mounted their horses and escaped with some difficulty. Landry, who was the leader of Fredegund's army, chased Guidron, but could not catch him, for he wore no armor, and was mounted on a swift horse. Thus they won a victory over their enemies by means of the queen's malice and cleverness, and they took tents and spoils from their enemies. They did not restrain themselves, but entered Champagne Raencienne, killed the people, plundered the countryside, and wrought havoc everywhere; by day they plundered, by night they burned. The killed everyone fit to fight, and the others they enslaved. When they had reduced the entire country in this way, Fredegund and her army returned to Soissons. These events occurred in Saxony, and in a place called Truet.

IX

In the second year after king Childebert had received the kingdom of Burgundy, from French and the Bretons fought against each other, with great destruction on either side (594).

In the next year, several signs appeared in the sky; a starry comet was seen, portending the death of a prince, as some interpreted it.

In the same year, the army of king Childebert fought against the men of Auvergne, who attempted to revolt; they crushed them and destroyed them utterly.

At this point, Grippo, who had been sent by the king as a emissary to the emperor Maurice, came back from Constantinople. He spoke highly of the honor that had been paid to him out of respect for Childebert, and then said that he was very angry at the way the Carthaginians had treated him when he passed through their country, and that he would take vengeance upon them, at the king's pleasure.

King Childebert sent twenty dukes to Lombardy, with a large and powerful army to destroy the Lombards entirely, and to disgrace their name completely. Of all these leaders, Audovald, Olo, and Cedinus were the principle and most renowned figures. Olo, who was incautious, was struck in the chest by a projectile from a crossbow, in front of a castle, named Bilaitio, to which he was laying siege. This blow knocked him to the ground, and he died instantly. Audovald and six of the other dukes took part of their troops and went off to lay siege to the city of Milan. There emissaries arrived from the emperor, telling them that the emperor was sending to them aid and assistance, which would reach them within three days. They would know that they had arrived when they saw a village located on a high mountain burning, with the smoke rising to the sky. But when they had waited six days, they saw no one coming from anywhere, and there was no sign of their arrival. Cedinus and the other thirteen dukes turned towards the left part of Lombardy; they captured five castles, took the oaths of loyalty and fealty to king Childebert from the people, and then went on into the territory of a city named Trent. In this area they took ten castles, and enslaved all of the people. Ingenes, the bishop of Savone, and Agnellus, the bishop of Trent, begged and pleaded with the French to spare a castle which was called Ferruge. Because of their plea, the castle remained standing, but they levied a ransom of twelve deniers for each person, which came to a total of 600 sous [in Aimon and Paulus Diaconus, one solidus from each came to a total of 600 solidi]. It was summer then, and warm. Because they were unfamiliar with the country, and because of the unhealthiness of the air, a sickness, called dysentery, ran through the army. For three whole months they had fought in Lombardy; they went looking for the king of the land, but they could not find him, because he was safely in the city of Trent. And because this sickness struck the army with such severity that they could take no more, they returned to the country from which they had set out.

X

King Childebert passed from this world at the age of twenty-five, in the twenty-third year of his reign, since he was only two years old when he received the kingdom, and four when he received the kingdom of Burgundy; he and his wife died at the same time. Some thought that they had been poisoned. This king Childebert was the son of king Sigebert, and was called young Childebert, because there had been another before him; he had two sons who were still small and young; one was named Theudebert, and the younger Theuderic. The shared the kingdom in the following manner: Theudebert, the elder, held the kingdom of Austrasia, which his father held by lawful inheritance, and Theuderic, the younger, held the kingdom of Burgundy that king Guntram had given to their father. But From here to the end of the paragraph, Primat's gives geographical disquisition.] Because they did not know the exact boundaries of the kingdom of Austrasia, we say, according to what can be made out from the history, that this kingdom begins at Champagne la Rencienne as far as Lorraine, and on the other end extends as far as Germany. At that time the seat of the kingdom was in Metz. According to the opinion of some, it derived its name from the name of a prince named Austrases, who once reigned in that country, and in the opinion of others, from the name of a wind that comes from that region, called Auster.

Saint Gregory sent a letter to these two brothers and to Brundhild, their grandmother, to introduce saint Augustine, whom he had sent to England to convert the people. In this letter he mentioned sending to Brundhild the relics of saint Peter and of saint Paul, which she had asked for.

An incident. At this time the Huns came out of Pannonia and fought many bitter battles against the French in Lorraine, but queen Brunhilda and her grandchildren made them return to their own country by giving them gifts of money (The people who were called Huns then are now called Slavs, and the land that was called Pannonia is now called Slavonia).

Ago, the king of Lombardy, sent Agnelus, the bishop of Trident, to France, for the prisoners that the French had taken in the castles subject to that city; he brought back some whom Brunhild had ransomed with her own money [Aimon III.lxxxiv]. Then he sent Euvin, the duke of that same city, to France, to obtain peace and harmony with the French; he returned to his country when he had completed his task.

In the year that king Childebert died (596), queen Fredegund, swollen with pride because of the victory she had won against him, in the fashion we have described, assembled her army, from armed men of Paris and other cities of the kingdom of her son Lothar, and attacked the two brothers, Theudebert and Theuderic, who had also assembled their army. After a long, hard battle, Fredegund's people killed many of their enemies; those who escaped death fled.

In the second year of the reign of Theudebert and Theuderic, queen Fredegund died, old and full of days; she was buried in the abbey of Saint Vincent below Paris, in which her father, king Chilperic was buried. In the third year of the reign of these two kings, duke Wintrion was killed, entrapped by Brunhild. In the next year, Colains, who was of French lineage, became patrician and seneschal.

An incident. At this time a plague ran through the city of Marseille, and other cities of Provence; a swelling grew in the necks of people, quickly growing to the size of a small nut, resulting in death.

An incident. Into a lake near a castle named Dum, Mistranslation of Aimon III.85, who mentions no castle.] a river named the Arola flows, which became so hot and boiling at that time, that the fish were heaped up on the river banks, entirely cooked.

Garnicaires, mayor of the palace, died, leaving everything he owned to the poor.

King Theudebert and the barons of his kingdom expelled Brundhild from the land, for the murders and treachery she had performed. A poor man found her alone and distraught; she begged him to lead her to her other nephew, king Theuderic. When she arrived, she was received as his grandmother, for it seemed that he was compelled to treat her with honor. She stayed with him as long as he lived, but it would have been better for him had he banished her, for she later had him poisoned to death, as you will hear afterwards. As a reward for his service, she gave to the poor man who had brought her the bishopric of Auxerre.

XI

An incident. In the fifth year of the reign of the two kings spoken of above, the same signs that had been seen earlier reappeared in the sky; great flashes of fire streaked the sky, like the traces of fire that had appeared several times in the sky; these signs occurred throughout the Western regions.

In the sixth year of the reign of Theudebert and Theuderic duke Ratin Catinus in Aimon.] was killed, and, in the next year, another man, named Egil, was killed without cause, by Brunhild's provocations. King Theudebert had a son, named Sigebert, by a concubine.

At that time king Theudebert and Theuderic fought against the Gascons, defeating and overcoming them in battle, and establishing a duke named Genial over them.

An incident. At that time Adoald was crowned king of the Lombards, by the will of his father Agilulph, in the presence of king Theudebert's emissaries, who asked for his daughter for their lord, and by this act, peace was confirmed between the French and the Lombards.

At this time the French fought against the Saxons, with great losses on both sides.

The two brothers, king Theudebert and king Theuderic, encouraged by Brundhild, finally showed their hatred of king Lothar, attacking him with a large army, at a river called the Orvanne; there were great losses on both sides, but especially by Lothar's people, an[d the river was so full of corpses that the water could not flow in its proper channel [Aimon III.87; Fredegar IV.xx].

During this battle, an angel was seen holding a bloody spear. When king Lothar saw that so many of his people were being killed, he fled, first to Melun, and from there to Paris. The two kings pursued him, laying waste a great part of the cities of the kingdom, compelling the citizens to submit to their authority, and forcing Lothar to make peace with them, on their terms. Under the terms of the peace, king Theudebert would hold all the territory between the Loire and the Seine, extending as far as the sea of Britanny, while king Theuderic would hold all the territory between the Seine and the Oise, as far as the sea-shore, and twelve counties between the Oise and the Seine would remain king Lothar's.

An incident. Saint Ethomins, bishop of Therouene [apparently Oeconius or Hiconius, bishop not of Therouanne Morinenesis, but of .us Maurianensis, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne], in that year found the bodies of three glorious confessors, saint Victor, saint Salodore [the name of a city, not of a saint] and saint Ursin, in a manner I shall describe to you. One night he was lying in bed, in the city of which he was bishop, when a holy revelation urged him to go quickly to a church that queen Sedeleuba of Burgundy had once founded outside the walls of Orleans [Geneva, actually; Genabum is Latin name for Orleans]. In the middle of the church he would find the place where the holy bodies were buried. The holy man got up, took two other bishops with him, Rusticius and Patricius, and went to the city of Orleans; there they spent three days in abstinence and prayer, and the next night a great brightness shone over the place where the holy bodies lay. They raised a stone that covered the relics, and they found them in a silver casket. The faces of the glorious friends of Our Lord shone seven times more brightly than that of any living man. King Theuderic was present at this sacred discovery, and gave to the place a great part of the treasure that Warnicar, the mayor of the palace, had bequeathed to the poor. Our Lord later provided many miracles at the tomb of these glorious confessors.

In that year (602) Aetherius, the bishop of Langres, He was the bishop of Lyons.] died; a man named Secundinus took his place.

In that year king Theuderic had a son by a concubine; he was named Childebert, after his grandfather.

In that year (602) a synod of bishops convened in the city of Chalon in Burgundy; Desiderius the bishop of Vienne, was removed from his see and sent into exile by the malice of Brunhild and Aridius, the archbishop of Lyons. The bishop who replaced him was named Domnolus.

In that year there was an eclipse of the sun.

In the ninth year of the reign of Theudebert, a son named Corbes was born to him.

XII

At this time Berthoald, a wise, restrained man, strong in battle, and faithful to his lord, was count of the palace of king Theuderic. In matters entrusted to him, he behaved entirely in conformity with the king's own manner and style. There was another man in court, named Prothadius, a Roman, who was very close to Brunhild, and was her lover. As a result, she made him the duke of a duchy that had been held by duke Dalmares, In Fredegar and Aimon, Wandalmar.] and the more comfortable they grew with their sin, the more the desire of the queen to advance her lover and to raise him to a high position grew. As part of her plan to carry this out, in her presumption and eagerness she asked king Theuderic, her nephew, to order Berthoald to be killed, and to make Prothadius mayor of the palace. At this point the king had sent Berthoald with three hundred knights to defend Neustria, which is now called Normandy. But when king Lothar heard this, he sent Meroveus there, one of his sons, and Landry, the mayor of the palace, with many good men, to seize Neustria. Berthoald's spies notified him that his enemies were coming, and he saw that he did not have enough men to resist them for very long, without suffering very great losses. Therefore he fled to the city of Orleans. Saint Austrenus, the bishop, received him very willingly; Landry and Meroveus followed, with their whole army. He challenged Berthoald to come out to fight him; Berthoald replied: "You are confident because you have a large number of men, and you know very well that I don't have enough men with me to overcome you; but if you withdraw your men, with the understanding that you and I, without the aid of any of our men, no matter how badly either of us is doing, fight in single combat, then I shall come out to do battle with you." Landry refused the battle to which he was challenged, and Berthoald then said: "Because you do not dare fight me now, it won't be long before king Theuderic arrives to defend the part of the kingdom you have seized, and certainly your lord, king Lothar will also come. Then, when the two armies clash, you and I will fight hand-to-hand, with your permission; you will be able to feel my rage and to test your prowess and valor" [both Fredegar and Aimon give an additional detail, the colors they are to wear in order to be easily identifiable -- vermillion -- which Primat omits]. Landry agreed to this proposal, on condition that he who broke this agreement would be shamed and reproached perpetually. This happened on the feast day of Saint Martin.

When king Theuderic learned that king Lothar had seized that part of his kingdom, he set out with his army on the day of Our Lord's Nativity. When he reached Estampes, he drew up his battle lines at a section of the river Juine, against king Lothar, who was not slow in getting ready to face him, but because the river was narrow at that point, the battle had begun before all of king Lothar's army had crossed over. When the battle was at its height, and many men on both sides had been killed, Berthoald went looking for Landry on the battlefield, and dared him to come fight with him according to the agreement that they had previously made. But Landry, who heard the challenge very clearly, refused to fight, and retreated little by little. Berthoald, who cared little for his life, fought the strongest of his enemies in the battle, and because he knew that Brunhild was trying to take his position and his honor from him, and to put Prothadius in his place, preferred to die honorably on the battlefield rather than to end his days in dishonor. He began to fight too vigorously, pushing back his enemies, killing those who came near him with his sword. As he fought in this way, he went too far ahead of his own troops, and he found himself surrounded on all sides by his enemies. Because one man cannot hold out against many, he was killed fighting. At the end, luck turned against king Lothar's people; his son was captured in this battle. Landry and Lothar turned and fled when they saw their people defeated, and king Theuderic, victorious on the battlefield, pursued them as far as Paris, and entered the city.

I don't know how much later, king Theudebert came to Compiegne with king Lothar; then they ordered their armies to return without fighting.

XIII

In the tenth year of the reign of Theuderic, Prothadius, of whom we spoke above, became mayor of the palace, in accordance with the king's orders, and with Brunhild's wishes. He was a wise man, good at politics, but greedy, and covetous above all. In order to fill the king's treasury and to enrich himself, he oppressed the people, especially those who were wealthy; he oppressed the greatest and most noble of the Burgundian barons, taking everything from them by force, and without cause. He wanted to trample them all under foot, so that no one could harm him, or remove him from the position he was in. Therefore he could find no powerful man who would speak to him politely, or who had any love or affection for him.

But the faithless Brunhild, who had not yet forgotten that her other grandchild, king Theudebert, had sent her away and banished her from his sight and from the kingdom, was planning to take vengeance. She advised king Theuderic to ask his brother Theudebert for the treasures of their father that he had taken. She made him believe that he was the son of a gardener, and not of king Childebert, and that he should therefore not inherit the kingdom. Prothadius, on the other hand, advised him to follow the counsel of Brunhild, his grandmother. King Theuderic, who finally consented to their malice, called up his army and moved against his brother. He had them pitch their tents at a village called Quierzy. The next day he proposed to fight against king Theuderic, who was not far from there, with a large company of good knights of his realm. The barons and leading men of his army advised him to make peace with his brother, and not to shatter the beauty of fraternal loyalty out of evil greed. But Prothadius was against those who wanted to pursue peace, and said that it was not right to make peace so easily. All the barons saw clearly that he alone was against their plan and against what was good for the kingdom; they began to say that it would be better for him alone to die than to put the entire army in jeopardy. The king, who came out of his tent to look at his army, heard rumors that the barons wanted to kill Prothadius. To thwart their will, and to prevent them from doing any harm to him, he held his men back by force. Then he called a knight and told him to go to the barons, and to order them, in the king's name, not to lay a hand on Prothadius, nor to do him any harm. The knight to whom he gave this order, whose name was Uncelinus, went to the barons and told them the opposite of what the king had said to him. They were all ready to do the deed, and they surrounded the king's tent, where Prothadius was playing backgammon with a physician, whose name was Peter. Then Uncelinus said to them: "The king orders that Prothadius, a disturber of the peace, be killed." After these words, they all ran into the tent and killed the enemy of peace and harmony. Then they went to the king, eased his heart, and brought him to an agreement for peace; then they broke up their armies and each returned to his own country.

XIV

After Prothadius' death, the mayor of the palace was a Roman, like his predecessors; his name was Claudius, and he was a wise, loyal, eloquent man, pleasant and amiable to all, and very far-sighted, though remarkably fat [Aimon III.91.] He maintained peaceful relations with everyone, and even though he may naturally have had such impulses, he must have taken heed of what happened to his predecessor.

In the twelfth year of the reign of Theuderic, Uncelinus, who had been the cause of Prothadius' death, was not sufficiently on guard against Brundhild's connivings; she had one of his feet cut off and took all of his property from him, so that he dwelt in abject poverty. Volfus, another rich man, was killed on the king's orders, by the connivance of Brunhild, at a city called Faverny, because he had agreed to the killing of Prothadius. A concubine then produced for King Theuderic a son who was named Meroveus; he was lifted from the font by king Lothar.

King Theuderic recalled from exile Desiderius, bishop of Vienne, then, encouraged by Brundhild and Aridius, the archbishop of Lyons, had him stoned to death. But Our Lord, who graciously received his suffering, performed many miracles at his tomb.

At that time king Theuderic sent emissaries to Bertricius [Vitteric, Viard points out.] the king of Spain; the emissaries were Aridius, archbishop of Lyons, and Rocco and Eborinus, two of the higher nobility in the palace. The emissaries asked him to send his daughter, and to take the emissaries' oath that she would be proclaimed queen for all the days of her life. King Bertricius was very happy with this offer, and he gave his daughter to the emissaries, together with generous amounts of money and jewels. King Theuderic received her gladly, and was very pleased; for a while he loved her very much, but the faithless Brunhild cast a spell so that he no longer made love to her. The demon did even more, bringing the king to the point that he took her treasures and jewels from her, and sent her back to Spain; the woman's name was Mauberge, King Bertricius was very angry that his daughter had been rejected, and he sent a message to king Lothar, saying that if he wanted to avenge the wrongs that king Theuderic had done to him, he himself would willingly form an alliance with him, to avenge the shame that he had inflicted upon his daughter. King Lothar willing agreed to this, and sent the same emissaries to king Theudebert, to find out whether he would accompany them in this undertaking. He replied that he would willingly go with them. Then emissaries were sent to king Agilulph of Lombardy, to find out if he would join them as the fourth, in a joint attack against king Theuderic, whose purpose was to take his kingdom and his life. When king Theuderic heard that these four kings had made a conspiracy against him, he was very angry. The emissaries, content with the job they had done, then returned to the king of Spain, their lord.

XV

In the fourteenth year of the reign of Theuderic and Theudebert (608-609), saint Columbanus left an island in the sea, which is called Ireland [Aimon III.94; Fredegar IV.36, which is taken nearly word-for-word from Jonas' life of St. Columbanus, Acta Sanctorum Ordinis sancti Benedicti, saec. II, pp. 17-20]. He arrived in the kingdom of Theudebert, who gladly received him. But when his life and goodness were known throughout the country, so many people from all parts of the country came to him that he did not wish to stay there, for he wanted above all to lead a solitary life. Therefore he left the country and went to Theuderic's kingdom, and lived in a place called Lieuberbiz [a misreading of Aimon; see BN lat. 5925, fol. 67 for split of lux and ovium] with the king's permission. The king himself often went down to visit him; the holy man often reproved the king for having abandoned the woman he had married for adulterous relationships with loose women, who did not belong to him. And because the king listened willingly to these chastisements and to his holy speech, Brundhild, who was inflamed by the urgings of the devil inside her, became angry and indignant towards him. One day saint Columbanus came to restrain her malice, to a city called Bruquele. [in Aimon, Bruchariacus; Viard adopts Krusch's suggestion of Bruyere-le Chatel]. When she saw him coming, she went out to meet him, with her two grandsons before her. She asked him to give them his blessing, because they were of royal lineage, but he replied that they should not hold the sceptre, because they were bastards. She was exceedingly provoked at what he said, and she ordered the children to leave; she herself followed them quickly. Saint Columbanus departed, and as soon as he left the room, a clap of thunder fell, so loud that the entire palace seemed to rumble; but even this did not frighten the serpentine heart of the queen, who, instead, grew angrier and more indignant at the holy man. She could not bear the idea that the king would marry, for if he chose a noble woman, and abandoned the women of base lineage, she was afraid that she herself would fall from her position of honor, and be exiled from the kingdom. She forbad saint Columbanus and the disciples who were with him to leave the church grounds. Then she ordered the knights and others of her entourage not to receive them in their homes. One day saint Columbanus went to her to urge her to revoke the order she had given to do him harm. On the day that he came there, to a city called Spinsi, it happened by chance that the king was with her; he was told that the holy man was outside the gates and that he did not want to come in. Then the king was very much afraid of the wrath of Our Lord, and he said that it was much better to honor the man of God, and to grant him what he needed, than to incur the wrath and ill-will of Our Lord for mistreating his servants. Then he ordered that a meal be prepared for him, and that he be given whatever he needed. All was done as he commanded. The palace servants brought enough food for him and his companions, but when the holy man saw them, he replied to them in the words of scripture: "Gifts from criminals are not pleasing to God, for his servants should not take gifts from those they know He hates." When he had said this, the vessels in which the king's servants had carried the food fell to pieces, and the vessels containing the wine broke and were smashed, and the wine spilled on the ground. The servants were very frightened, and returned to the king and told him what they had seen. Very much frightened, the king came to speak to the holy man, bringing with him his grandmother Brundhild. He asked pardon for what he had done wrong, that is, he begged Our Lord to forgive him, and promised that he would amend his life from that time forth. The holy man felt better because of the king's promises to lead a better life, and he returned to his church, but the promise that the king had made bore no fruit, for he wallowed in the filth of his lechery, doing exactly as he had before; nor did Brunhild's heart, nourished and hardened by malice, restrain itself, when corrected by the holy man, from doing further harm and persecution. Instead, she had the holy man sent into exile in a castle far from his own country, then had him recalled to do even worse, by sending him to Great Britain, so that, having crossed the sea, he would not return to France. The holy man, who did not intend to return to his land, because he did not want to go to England, went instead through the kingdom of Theudebert directly to Lombardy. There he founded an abbey, which was called Bobio (612), and a short while later he passed from this mortal life to heavenly joy, old and full of days.

XVI

King Theudebert, in an attempt to take some land from his brother, king Theuderic, and conquer him, sent his army against him in the fifteenth year of his reign (609-610). But, by the advice of some good men, who tried to establish peace between the brothers, a day of peace was agreed to at a place called Saloise (Seltz). There they agreed to come on a certain day, with only a small retinue, bringing with them the most important and wisest barons in order to come to an agreement quickly. King Theuderic brought only ten thousand men, but king Theudebert brought far too large a group of barons and other people, intending to break up the peace and accord if his brother would not submit to his will. King Theuderic was very much afraid when he saw how many people his brother had brought; therefore he agreed to the peace on his brother's terms, without good will on his own part. In this way the agreement was drawn up, with king Theudebert receiving the counties of Torene [Thurgovia, with additional complications in Aimon's text] and Champagne, to be held forever, with the lands and income as his own. Then they deparated, commending each other to God, in apparent grace and love, but their hearts and their wills were not in it.

In that year the Germans invaded the land of the Venetians [Primat's error generated by Aimon's mistranslation of Fredegar's in pago Aventicense, Avenches in Switzerland, as Veneticorum fines]. In command of these people were two leaders, one of whom was named Cambelins and the other Herpins. The Venetians (sic) fought against them, but were defeated and driven into the mountains. There they took refuge to avoid death. The Germans passed on, putting everyone to the sword, burning and looting the cities; they took some prisoners, and then returned to their own country, loaded with spoils.

In that year king Theudebert's wife, whose name was Belechild, died; Brunhild had made him marry her after buying her from a merchant, because she was extremely beautiful. He married another after her, whose name was Theudechild.

King Theuderic very much wanted to avenge himself against his brother, who had taken his land from him. He consulted his people on how he might harm his brother; following their advice, he sent this message to king Lothar: "I want to take vengeance against my brother for the wrongs and injuries he has committed against me, if I can be sure that you will not help him. Therefore I ask you to remain at peace, and to promise that you will give him no help against me, and if I win, and am able to take from him his life and his kingdom, I faithfully promise you that I shall give you the duchy of Dentelin, which he took from you by force." King Lothar willingly agreed to this, in accordance with the stated conditions. Then king Theuderic assembled, in the city of Langres, an army of the best and finest knights in his kingdom, and he moved his men against his brother. He passed by the newly-begun city of Verdun, and from there he went directly to the city of Toul [Viard points out here that Fredegar gives a more reliable itinerary] from the other direction, king Theudebert arrived, with a large army and with all the forces of the kingdom of Austrasia. They came together in battle; the fighting was intense and many were killed on both sides, but king Theudebert was finally defeated. When he saw that he was defeated, he fled, past the city of Metz and through the Vosges, finding a refuge in the city of Cologne. King Theuderic rushed as quickly as he could to pursue him. As he was pursuing his brother, he met saint Eleusin, bishop of Mascons. Actually Leudegasius of Mainz.] The holy man preached to him so well that he withdrew and returned. He went through the Ardennes, then came to a city called Tulbic (Zulpich). He went back more willingly because of the words of the holy man, for he knew very well that he spoke for his own good, and out of love, and he despised the folly and sin of his brother. Meanwhile, king Theudebert, who had fled to Cologne, prepared as large a force as he could gather, calling upon the Saxons and other German nations to help him. Then he came to fight his brother at the castle that I mentioned before, of Tulbic. The battle was bitter and long; king Theudebert held out as long as he could, sustaining great losses, as his enemies slaughtered his men like sheep. But when he saw that fortune was entirely against him, and that his losses were mounting, and he could no long wage effective resistance, he fled, giving the place to fortune and to his enemies. His men fled after him, for men brought together from different nations were quickly defeated, especially without a leader. Most of them were killed in flight; those who were left fled with the king to Cologne. At the beginning of the battle the fighting was so bitter and intense on both sides, and they attacked each other with such hardiness, that the dead remained on their horses as though they were still alive, nor were they able to fall, because they were packed in so closely with the living; they were pushed here and there by the movement of those battling. But when Theudebert's men began to lose, and to retreat, the dead fell to the ground in such numbers that the roads, the woods, and the fields were so packed with dead men, that all one could see was corpses.

XVII

When king Theuderic knew that his brother had escaped, he decided to pursue him, thinking that he could end the war and the fighting by killing such a great prince. He and his men set out in pursuit. He entered the country of the Ripuarians, burning and laying waste everything in his path. The inhabitants of the country came before him to beg that he spare the country, and not destroy it for the life of one man, for the country was entirely his to command, as though he had conquered it by right of battle. The king replied to them and said: "I do not wish to kill you, but my brother Theudebert, and if you wish to have my grace, and you want me to spare the country, you must bring me his head, or give him to me as a prisoner." They came to Cologne, entered the palace, and spoke to king Theudebert like this: "Your brother king Theuderic says that if you give him the part of your father's treasure that you seized, he will return to his own country, and leave this country to you; therefore we ask you to give up to him what he should have, and that you not allow our country to be destroyed because of this problem." The king agreed, certain that they were speaking the truth, and he led them to where the great wealth was. While he was thinking that he would be able to give his brother an amount that would not bother him too much, one of those near him drew his sword and cut off his head, then threw him out below the walls of the city. King Theuderic, who was well aware of what was going on, now entered the city and took the wealth that had been stored up in the treasury over such a long period of time. Then he made all the leading men of the city come before him in the church of Saint Gerion to receive homage from them, compelling them to both to pay homage to him and to swear fealty. While he was taking their oaths in front of the church, it seemed to him that some one struck a great blow at his chest or in his side. He turned towards his people and ordered them to shut the church doors quickly, so that no one might get out, for he thought that some traitor among those surrounding him wanted to kill him. When the doors were shut, his chamberlains disrobed him to see if he had any wound, but they found no blow of arms had been struck, only the sign of a blow, all red, which appeared in his side; it was thought that this was a sign and portent that he would die soon. When he had arranged everything as he wished, he left, loaded with great spoils, bringing with him his nephews, the sons of his brother, and their sister, who was very beautiful. He came to Metz, where he found Brunhild, his grandmother, who had come out to meet him. She took the children, king Theudebert's nephews, and killed them immediately. She struck Meroveus, the youngest of all, who was still in his alb, so powerfully with a stone, that she made his head fly [Fredegar attributes the murder to Thierry, not to Brunhild; no head flies in Aimon, but Primat may be influenced by the description later in this text of Brunhild's own death, during which her head, among other parts, flies off].

XVIII

Thus king Theudebert was killed, and his children, as you have heard, in the seventeenth year of his reign, although some authors have written that, after the great victory that king Theuderic won against him, he fled beyond the Rhine, and when king Theuderic took Cologne, he sent one of his chamberlains, whose name was Berthar, to get him. When he was captured and brought before him, he had his royal garments removed, and sent him into exile in the city of Chalons. To Berthar, who had captured him, he gave his own horse, and a royal statue [Primat seems to have read Aimon's stratura as statura, thereby converting the royal "harness" into a statue] as a reward for his service.

King Theuderic gave to king Lothar the duchy previously mentioned, according to their agreement, because he had not helped his brother against him. Afterwards, however, when he saw that he was lord of two kingdoms, and that all of the barons of the kingdom that had belonged to his brother willingly obeyed him, he demanded that Lothar give back the duchy that he had been given, and if he was unwilling, he should know that Theuderic would be very quick to give him as much trouble, and in as many ways, as he could.

While king Theuderic was staying in the city of Metz, he was overcome with love for his niece, whom he had brought from Cologne, and he wanted to marry her. But Brunhild forbad it, and when he asked what harm it would do if he took her in marriage, she replied that he should not marry his niece, the daughter of his brother. When the king heard this speech, he became furious, and said to her: "Oh, you faithless woman, despised by God and by all the world, against everything good, didn't you insist that he was not my brother, but the son of a shoemaker? Why did you compel me to commit a sin by killing him, and, manipulated by you, to become my brother's murderer?" Saying this, he drew his sword and rushed at her to kill her, but the bystanders intervened and led her out of the hall; thus she escaped, this time, imminent death. From that point on she plotted to avenge this humiliation, and to bring about his death; she saw a chance to do this when he was taking a bath. To the ministers who surrounded him, whom she corrupted with promises and gifts, she gave poisons, and ordered them to give them to the king to drink when he was to come out of the bath. The king drank the poison that they offered him, and died instantly, without confessing, without repenting for the great sins that he had committed throughout his whole life.

XIX

When all the kings who had descended from the line of great king Clovis had died or been killed, and they had reigned since the time of their great-grandfather (d. 561), about fifty-one years, all four kingdoms reverted to king Lothar, the son of king Chilperic, and the father of good king Dagobert, who founded the church of Saint Denis in France. There were no more than three heirs who might be legitimate heirs; therefore Lothar had to inherit the entire kingdom. But Brunhild argued that Sigibert, the bastard son of king Theuderic, should reign over Austrasia, whose capital was at Metz; Theuderic had had four sons by women who were not his wives: Sigibert, Corbe, Childebert, and Meroveus. And because they were not, on their mothers' sides, noble or aristocratic, they were not equal in lineage, nor worthy to govern the kingdom. There was another reason they could not rule, for Brunhild was thought to have chosen one of them, so that he might carry the name only of king, without any power, and she, above all others, might then govern and direct the kingdom. The noble barons of the kingdom did not wish to be under the rule of such a woman for any length of time, and Brunhild therefore did not attain her goal.

While this was going on, Arnulf and Pepin, who were the two most powerful of the Austrasian barons, invited king Lothar to meet them at the castle of Cathoniac [Andernach, today.] When Brunhild, who was in another castle, whose name was Garmac [Worms, perhaps], heard that king Lothar was in this area, she demanded that he surrender the kingdom left by king Theuderic to his sons. King Lothar replied that she should convoke a meeting of barons, and she should consult with them on the common concerns of the kingdom, and he would be completely ready to obey their directions and regulations. Brunhild understood quite well that she would be outmaneuvered at such talks, and she would lose her case, if she waited for such a meeting. Therefore she sent Sigibert, the eldest son of king Theuderic, Garnier, the mayor of the palace, and Alboin, one of the leading Austrasian princes, beyond the Rhine, to Thuringia, to form an alliance with the people of that country against king Lothar. She suspected that Garnier, the mayor of the palace, might be planning treachery against her, and might go over to king Lothar. Therefore she swiftly sent letters to Alboin, telling him to have Garnier killed. When he had read the letters, he tore them up and threw the pieces to the ground. One of Garnier's friends picked up the pieces, put them together, copied them onto wax tablets, and secretly told Garnier what Brundhild had commanded. When he heard this, Garnier knew that his life was in danger, and he began to plan how to kill the sons of Theuderic, and how he himself might get back safely to king Lothar. When they reached the people whose aid and comfort they had been sent to obtain, he did the opposite of what he had been sent to do, winning their hearts and wills by his speech, so that they would not form an alliance with Brunhild, nor with her grandchildren. On his return, he came to Burgundy with Brundhild and with her grandson Sigibert, and secretly won over all the barons and prelates to his side, with the same arguments he had used with the Thuringians; since they particularly hated Brunhild for her cruelty and pride, they willingly promised to be ready to do his will.

When Garnier had made the necessary arrangements, he sent a message to king Lothar, that if the king wanted absolutely to insure that he would not lose his honor or his life, he should come bravely, and he would give him the two kingdoms and the entire barony. Then Sigibert and the Burgundians came to Champagne, near the city of Chalons, at a river called the Aisne. King Lothar arrived from another direction, together with the Neustrians; he had with him a great part of the barons of the kingdom of Austrasia, who had come over to his side. Their names were Arethees [in Aimon, Aletheus], Rocco, Sigoald, and Eudilanus. They were all dukes and the highest ranking nobles of their country; the battle lines were quickly drawn up on both sides. As they stood ready, Garnier gave a sign to his associates, according to a pre-arranged plan, to leave the field before the battle began. They all left the field, since their desire to fight was no greater than his. King Lothar proceeded apace [Aimon IV.1], for he intended to do them no harm, since he was sure that they were still on his side. Thus they went forward, and he after them, as far as a river called the Saone; there three of Theuderic's sons were captured: Sigebert, Corbes, and Meroveus, but the fourth, Childebert, fled and got away because his horse was swift, and no one knew what happened to him afterwards. King Lothar went to a city called Rione, where he found Brunhild and Theudeline, the sister of king Theuderic, whom Garnier and those who were associated with him had captured. Then the king had Sigebert and Corbe, Brunhild's grandchildren, killed in his presence, but he had Meroveus brought up carefully and well, because he had lifted him from the baptismal font.

XX

The king ordered Brunhild brought before him, in the presence of all the barons who had come together from France, Burgundy, Austrasia and Normandy. Then he had the reason and opportunity to reveal how much he hated her. He had her beaten and tortured four times, then had her mounted on a camel and beaten with sticks as she was led through the entire army. Before killing her, he attacked her before all the assembled nobles, for her great brutality and treachery, in words like these: "Oh you cursed woman, subtle and clever at contriving stratagems to deceive everyone, how could such great faithlessness and such boundless cruelty enter your heart, that you have no shame or fear of killing, of poisoning and murdering the great and noble progeny of the kings of France? You have had ten kings killed, some of whom were killed by your advice, others by your own hands, others by poison you had given to them, not to mention the other counts and dukes who died because of your wickedness. You who are guilty of such great crimes should die as an example to all mankind. We know very well that king Sigibert, who was my uncle and your lord, rebelled against his brother, following your advice, and he died for it. Meroveus, who was my brother, conceived a hatred for his father because of you, for which he died a cruel death. King Chilperic, my father, you had treacherously murdered. I cannot relate the death of my dear father without grief and tears, for I shall remain an orphan, deprived of his support and guidance. I am ashamed to relate the hosts of blood brothers, the battles between close friends, and the deadly hatreds you have sown in the hearts of princes and barons, as torture and tempests for the palace and for the entire kingdom. Didn't you instigate war between your grandsons, so that one of them was killed? Theuderic, believing what you said, killed his brother, king Theudebert, because you made him think that he was not his relative, but was the son of a shoemaker. He killed his own son, Meroveus, with his own hands, because of you. It is well known that the eldest of the sons of your grandson Theudebert was killed by you; the younger, just born, and newly baptized, you threw so violently against a rock that you made his head fly. Furthermore, you poisoned king Theuderic, your own grandson, who had honored you. His bastard sons would not have inherited the kingdom had you moved against me in battle; three of them have died because of you. I shall not speak of the other dukes and barons who happened to be killed through your doing."

After the king had listed these things before the people, he turned towards the barons and said to them: "Gentlemen, noble princes of France, my companions and my knights, determine by what kind of death and by what kind of torture a woman who has created so much grief should die." They cried out that she should die by the most cruel death that could be devised. Then the king ordered that she be tied by the arms and hair to the tail of a young, untamed horse, and dragged through the entire army. As soon as the king gave this order, it was carried out. The first time the man who was on the horse dug his spurs in, the horse kicked up his heels with such force that Brunhild's head flew off. Her body was dragged through the bushes and brambles, over hills and dales, so that it was torn to pieces, limb from limb. Then the Sybil's prophecy, uttered far in the past, was fulfilled; a Brune would come from Spain, would cause the death of a great part of the kings of France, and would be torn to pieces by the feet of horses.

XXI

That was the end of queen Brunhild, a woman skilled and practiced in the death of her kinsmen. As soon as they were dead, she seized their treasures and their possessions. The power and prosperity of temporal things at her disposal made her proud that she had been raised above all other women. Nevertheless she was not entirely unbridled, for she had great reverence for the churches of the saints, both male and female, which the king and other good men had founded. She herself founded, in her own day, many abbeys and many churches. She founded the abbey of Saint Vincent outside the walls of Laon, another in the city of Autun, in honor of saint Martin; Syagrius, the honorable bishop of the city, supervised the work as her overseer. She founded many other churches in various places, in honor of saint Martin, for every day she placed more faith in him, and praised him above all other saints. She founded so many churches and other buildings which are still in the kingdom of France, in Avauterre

[in Austria -- Aimon], and in Burgundy, that one can scarcely believe that one woman could have built so much in her own lifetime.

During the time she was in power, there flourished in the kingdom of France, in holy opinion of good works, the following holy fathers: saint Aetherius, archbishop of Lyons; saint Syagrius, bishop of Autun; saint Desiderius, archbishop of Vienne; saint Aunarius, bishop of Auxerre; and saint Austrinus, his brother, bishop of Orleans; saint Lupus, archbishop of Sens; and saint Columbanus in hermitage, of whom we spoke earlier.

An incident. Austregisel [Aimon IV.ii] ,who was later archbishop of Bourges, as we shall tell you hereafter, was a valiant man, who was a member of the court in the time of king Guntram; he had been one of his servants, who held the towel for him when he washed his hands. One day he was accused of a crime before the king, without cause, by one of his enemies, who was treacherous and disloyal, as became clear later. The crime of which he was accused involved writing without the king's permission, but this he denied openly. Finally it became necessary for the king to order him to defend himself in a trial-by-combat, or he would be convicted of treason. He took up the challenge and said that he would defend himself with the aid of Our Lord. He got up in the morning, and had his arms carried to the field of battle, but he went to pray first in the church of Saint Marcel, and in other churches. He gave alms to a poor man whom he met, then began to pray, begging our Lord for counsel. This holy prayer was not fruitless, for when he got to the place where he was to fight in the presence of the king, an emissary arrived and told the king that Austregisel's opponent had fallen from his horse as he was riding to the field of battle, and had broken his neck. The king was very pleased with this news, and he turned to Austregisel and said: "Dear friend, rejoice and be happy, for Our Lord is your champion, and your enemy cannot hurt you." After these events, he was elected to the archbishopric of Bourges (in office 612-24). He led such a holy, pure life, that everyone marveled at his piety and goodness.

XXII

An incidents. While these things were happening in France, Maurice, the emperor of Constantinople, was killed, together with his three sons, Theodesius, Teribert, and Constantine, by an evil man named Phocas. This emperor had been good for all of his people; he often was victorious against his enemies. He beat the Huns, who are now called Slavs, many times. When he was at the height of his imperial power, he wanted to advance and authorize new sanctions and new heresies contrary to the divine faith. Several times saint Gregory, who was the apostle at that time, admonished him to change his position, but instead he conceived a great hatred towards the holy man for trying to correct his errors. He made many terrible threats, but his deeds did not match his threats; for this behavior, God chastised him, as you will hear. A monk, or a man who dressed like one, lived in the city; one day he went from one of the city gates to the middle of the market-place, with a naked sword in his hand, shouting that the emperor Maurice would be killed by a sword. When he heard this, he was very much afraid, and he called a friend, who was one of the provosts of justice, and told him to go speak to the holy men living apart in the desert. The emperor sent, through his friend, gifts of wax and other things, and asked them in all humility to beg Our Lord's mercy for him. He himself prayed to his creator night and day, begging him to punish him for his misdeeds in this mortal life, rather than to damn him, at the great day of judgement, to eternal death. When he returned from the hermitage, the provost said that the holy hermits had told him that Our Lord had heard his prayer, and that he would not suffer eternal death, but would lose his earthly honor, with great humiliation. The emperor was overjoyed to be assured that he would not lose the joy of paradise. Our Lord, who had pity on him, showed him such grace that he comforted him with a vision before his tribulation. One night, while he was lying in bed, it seemed to him that he was carried away before an image of Our Lord, which was at the gate of the palace. A voice came forth from this image, and it sounded exactly like the voice of a living man, and it said: "Give me Maurice." Then ministers of an unus