History of the FranksGregory, Bishop of Tours, Saint
History
History of the Franks
Gregory, Bishop of Tours, Saint
France -- Church history -- To 987; France -- History -- To 987; Franks -- History -- To 768
Again, when he writes that Constantine was being besieged, he
uses these words: “The fourth month of the siege of Constantine
was scarcely yet under way, when news came suddenly from farther
Gaul that Iovinus had assumed royal state, and was threatening the
besiegers with the Burgundians, Alamanni, Franks, Alans, and all
his army. So the attack on the walls was hastened, the city opened
its gates, and Constantine surrendered. He was sent hastily into
Italy, and was slain at the river Mincio by assassins sent to meet
him by the emperor.” And a little later the same writer says: “At the
same time Decimus Rusticus, prefect of the tyrants, Agrœtius, one
of the chief secretaries of Jovinus, and many nobles, were captured
in Auvergne by the commanders of Honorius and cruelly put to death.
The city of Trèves was plundered and burnt in a second inroad of the
Franks.” And when Asterius had been made a patrician by an imperial
letter, he adds this: “At the same time Castinus, count of the
body-guard, undertook an expedition against the Franks and was sent
into the Gauls.” This is what these have told of the Franks. And the
historian Horosius says in the seventh book of his work: “Stilico
gathered the nations, crushed the Franks, crossed the Rhine, wandered
through the Gauls, and made his way as far as the Pyrenees.”
This is the evidence that the historians who have been named have
left us about the Franks, and they have not mentioned kings. Many
relate that they came from Pannonia and all dwelt at first on
the bank of the Rhine, and then crossing the Rhine they passed
into Thuringia, and there among the villages and cities appointed
long-haired kings over them from their first or, so to speak, noblest
family. This title Clovis’ victories afterwards made a lasting one,
as we shall see later on. [T]We read in the Fasti Consulares that
Theodomer, king of the Franks, son of Richimer, and Ascyla his
mother, were once on a time slain by the sword. They say also that
Chlogio, a man of ability and high rank among his people, was king of
the Franks then, and he dwelt at the stronghold of Dispargum which
is within the borders of the Thuringians. And in these parts, that
is, towards the south, the Romans dwelt as far as the Loire. But
beyond the Loire the Goths were in control; the Burgundians also,
who belonged to the sect of the Arians, dwelt across the Rhone in
the district which is adjacent to the city of Lyons. And Chlogio
sent spies to the city of Cambrai, and they went everywhere, and he
himself followed and overcame the Romans and seized the city, in
which he dwelt for a short time, and he seized the land as far as the
river Somme. Certain authorities assert that king Merovech, whose son
was Childeric, was of the family of Chlogio.
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