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
7. Afterward Theodoric, remembering the wrongs done by Hermenfred,
king of the Thuringi,[AJ] called his brother Clothar to his aid and
prepared to march against him, promising that a share of the plunder
should be given to king Clothar, if by God’s help the gift of victory
should come to them. So he called the Franks together and said to
them: “Be angry, I beg of you, both because of my wrong and because
of the death of your kinsmen, and recollect that the Thuringi once
made a violent attack upon our kinsmen and inflicted much harm on
them. And they gave hostages and were willing to conclude peace with
them, but the Thuringi slew the hostages with various tortures, and
made an attack upon our kinsmen, took away all their property, and
hung youths by the sinews of their thighs to trees, and cruelly
killed more than two hundred maidens, tying them by their arms to
the necks of horses, which were then headed in opposite directions,
and being started by a very sharp goad tore the maidens to pieces.
And others were stretched out upon the city streets and stakes were
planted in the ground, and they caused loaded wagons to pass over
them, and having broken their bones they gave them to dogs and birds
for food. And now Hermenfred has deceived me in what he promised, and
refuses to perform it at all. [AK]Behold, we have a plain word. Let
us go with God’s aid against them.” They heard this and were angry at
such a wrong, and with heart and mind they attacked Thuringia. And
Theodoric took his brother Clothar and his son Theodobert to help
him and went with his army. And the Thuringi prepared stratagems
against the coming of the Franks. For they dug pits in the plain
where the fight was to take place, and covering the openings with
thick turf they made it seem a level plain. So when they began to
fight, many of the Frankish horsemen fell into these pits and it was
a great obstacle to them, but when this stratagem was perceived they
began to be on their guard. When finally the Thuringi saw that they
were being fiercely cut to pieces and when their king Hermenfred
had taken to flight, they turned their backs and came to the stream
Unstrut. And there such a slaughter of the Thuringi took place that
the bed of the stream was filled with heaps of corpses, and the
Franks crossed upon them as if on a bridge to the further shore. The
victory being won they took possession of that country and brought
it under their control. And Clothar went back, taking with him as
a captive Radegunda, daughter of king Berthar, and he married her,
and her brother he afterwards killed unjustly by the hands of wicked
men. She also turned to God, changing her garments, and built a
monastery for herself in the city of Poitiers. And being remarkable
for prayer, fasting and charity, she attained such fame that she was
considered great by the people. And when the kings who have been
mentioned were still in Thuringia, Theodoric wished to kill his own
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