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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028133522 
 
THE FRANKS, 
 
 FROM THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE IN HISTORY 
 
 DEATH OF KING PEPIN. 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER C. PERRY, 
 
 DARRISTER-AT-LAW ; 
 DOCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY AND MASTER OF ARTS IN THL UNIVERSITY OF GOTT1NGEN. 
 
 LONDON : 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, AND ROBERTS. 
 
 1S57. 
 
THE FRANKS, 
 
 FROM THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE IN HISTORY 
 
 K. 
 
 DEATH OF KING PEPIN. 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER 0. PERRY, 
 
 DARRISTER-AT-LAW J 
 DOCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY AND MASTER OF ARTS IN THE UNIVERSITY UF GOTT1NGEN. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, AND ROBERTS. 
 
 IS 
 
 / 
 
 <"i\ 
 
PREFACE,, 
 
 The conscientious man, who knows to what straits 
 even the British Museum is put, by the influx of 
 unnecessary books, will not lightly write, still less 
 publish, a new work. The Author of the present 
 volume seeks an excuse in the comparative novelty 
 of his subject, and in the ready access he has enjoyed 
 to the sources of Frankish history, many of which 
 have only been cleared and rendered available during 
 the last few years by able editors and commentators 
 in Germany. 
 
 The following pages are the result of studies, the 
 chief object of which was to gain an insight into the 
 age of Charlemagne. They are offered to the public 
 in the hope that they may throw some little light 
 on one of the darkest but not least important ages 
 of the world, when, in the early dawn of modern 
 history, rude hands sowed the seeds of Christian 
 civilisation. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 The Author is well aware that he has chosen a 
 subject which has not been found generally in- 
 teresting, — which is looked on as the property of 
 the troubadour or the fabling monk, rather than 
 of genuine history. But he thinks it a legitimate 
 object of ambition to alter or modify these views. 
 If the glory of Athens gives a charm to the account 
 of Dorian migrations, and lights up even the distant 
 flitting shades of Pelasgi and Curetes, — if the gor- 
 geous spectacle of Augustan Rome leads us to watch 
 with interest the feuds and fortunes of the citizens 
 of a poor and small Italian town, — there is no reason 
 why we should remain indifferent to the primordia 
 of the mighty race whose annals are the history of 
 modern and Christian Europe — to the origin of the 
 wonderful political and social world in which it is 
 our lot to live. 
 
 Should the present volume meet with any decree 
 of public favour, the Author hopes to bring forward 
 another, on the life and times of Charlemagne, to 
 which this work, though complete in itself, mio-ht 
 form a kind of introduction. 
 
 For the many defects which will be found in his 
 book, and of which he is himself fully conscious the 
 Author begs the indulgence of his friends, on the 
 ground that he has performed it in the intervals 
 of a laborious and anxious occupation. 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 In conclusion, the Author cannot omit thus 
 publicly to express his grateful thanks to Professor 
 Ritschl, and the other librarians of the University 
 of Bonn, for the courtesy and kindness with which 
 they placed their valuable library at his disposal. 
 
 Bonn, May, 1857. 
 
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CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Ancient Germans - - - - 1 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 From the First Appearance of the Franks to the Death of 
 Clovis (a.d. 240— 511) - - - - - 39 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 From the Death of Clovis to the Death of Clotaire I., sole 
 Monarch of the Franks (a.d. 511— 561) - - 98 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 From the Death of Clotaire I., sole Monarch of the Franks, 
 to the Death of Brunhilda (a.d. 561—613) - - 128 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 From the Death of Brunhilda to the Death of Carl Martel 
 (a.d. 613—741) - - 196 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Carloman and Pepin the Short (a.d. 741-768) - - 286 
 
xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Tage 
 
 Political Institutions, Laws, Customs, &c. - - 343 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 State of Gaul at the Time of the Frankish Conquest- 368 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Period of Transition from Merovingian to Carlovingian 
 Institutions -._--- 386 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Salic Law - - - 419 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 The Church - 448 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 p. 121. lines 3. and 4 from bottom, for " the Frankish kingdom attained ," read 
 the Kingdom ot the Merovingians nearly reached " 
 
 224 ' U ^?- fi ;° m k? ttom > fur " Another son of Childeric " read » Another son 
 oflheodene. 
 
THE FRANKS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 If the Greeks and Romans are rightly called the 
 people of the past, the Germans, in the wider sense 
 of the appellation, have an undoubted claim to be 
 considered the people of the present and the future. 
 To whatever part we turn our eyes of the course 
 which this favoured race has run, whether under 
 the name of Teuton, German, Frank, Saxon, Dane, 
 Norman, Englishman, or North American, we find 
 it full of interest and glory. Majestic in stature, 
 high in spirit, with fearless hearts, on which no 
 shackle had been laid, they came forth from their 
 primeval forests to wrestle with the masters of the 
 world. They dared to meet the Romans when they 
 were mightiest * ; when their armies, schooled in a 
 
 1 Tae. Annal. ii. 88. : " Et qui (sc. Arminius) non primordia 
 Populi Romani sicut alii Reges Ducesque, sed florentissimum im- 
 perium lacessierit ; praeliis ambiguus, bello non victus." 
 
 B 
 
2 THE FRANKS. [CiiAr. I. 
 
 thousand battles with the bravest foes, were led by 
 " Danger's own twin brother," whose military genius 
 laid the Roman Empire at his feet : and he himself 
 has told us, that his tribunes and prefects wept 
 with terror at the very aspect of their giant foes ; 
 that throughout his ever victorious army the Ro- 
 man soldiers, on the eve of their first conflict with 
 the forces of Ariovistus, were engaged in making 
 their wills in the recesses of their tents. 1 This mere 
 horde of undisciplined barbarians, with naked bodies, 
 and swords so badly tempered that they bent at 
 every stroke, — with no fortifications but their wag- 
 gons, and no reserve but their wives and children 2 , 
 — rushed fearlessly on the finest armies that the an- 
 cient world produced, and came off with honour, and 
 sometimes with success, according to the testimony 
 of their not over-truthful enemies. 3 Triumphed over 
 
 1 Ccbs. B. G. i. 39. ; "Hi neque vultum fingere, neque interdum 
 lacrinias tenere poterant Vulgo totis castris testa- 
 men ta obsignabantur." 
 
 2 Flori Epit. Iter. Roman, iii. 3.: "Nee minor cum ux- 
 oribus eoruni pugna quam cum ipsis fuit ; cum objectis unclique 
 plaustris atque carpentis, altae desuper, quasi e turribus, lanceis 
 continue pugnarent." Florus, iv. 12.: "Quae fuerit caliidarium 
 gentium feritas facile vel mulieres ostendere quce deficientibus 
 telis infantes ipsos afflictos humo in ora militum adversa miserunt." 
 Tac. Hist. iv. 18.: " Ilortamenta victorias, vel pulsis pudorem." 
 Tac. Germ. viii. : "Memoriae proditur quasdam acies, inclinatas 
 jam et labantes a feminis restitutas, constantia precum," et seq. 
 Conf. Caes. B, G. i. 51. (Plutarch. Marius, 18, 19.) 
 
 3 Suetonii Octav. c. 23. « Graves ignominias cladesque duas 
 omnino nee alibi quam in Germania accepit Lollianam et 
 Varianam." Tac. Annal. ii. 21. : « Nee minor Germanis animus, 
 
Chap. I.] INDICATIONS OF GERMAN GREATNESS. 3 
 
 in the streets of Rome, they remained unconquered 
 on the Rhine. 1 The tide of German life which set 
 towards the East, was one of which no imperial com- 
 mand from Rome could stay the impetuous course. 
 When African, Parthian, Greek and Gaul had bent 
 the neck and borne the chain, the Germans alone 
 kept up a doubtful struggle 2 with the universal 
 conquerors, and laughed at their pompous threats 
 and empty triumphs. 3 
 
 And if Rome maintained for a time a nominal 
 empire over her barbarian foes, it was by that 
 
 sed genere pugnse et arniorum superabantur." Caesar was not 
 considered impartial even by Asinius Pollio. Vide Sueton. Julius 
 CcBsar, c. 56. : " Quum Ccesar pleraque et qua? per alios erant gesta 
 temere crediderit, et quae per se vel consulto vel etiam memoria 
 lapsus perperam ediderit." Cicero, pro Lege Manil. : " Sinite hoc 
 loco Quirites (sicut Poetas solent qui res Romanas scribunt) prce- 
 terire me nostram calamitatem." 
 
 1 Florus, iv. 12.: " Victi magis qnam domiti." Tac. Germ, 
 xxxvii. : " Triumphati magis qunm victi " (i. e. by Caligula, 
 Claudius, Vitellius and Domitian). Florus, iv. 12.. " Hac (Vari- 
 ana) clade factum, ut imperium quod in litore Oceani non steterat 
 in ripa Rheni fluminis staret.'' 
 
 - Tac. Germ, xxxvii. . " Tamdiu Germania vincitur 
 
 Non Samnis, non Poeni, non Hispanioe Galliasve ; ne Partlii quidem 
 saepius admonuere : quippe regno Arsacis acrior est Germanorum 
 libertas." Claudian. de IV. Cons. Honor. 455, 456. : 
 
 "Nobilitant veteres Germanica fcedera Diusos; 
 Marte sed ancipiti, sed multis cladibus emta." 
 
 3 Tac. Germ, xxxvii. : " Mox in^entes C. Csesaris minas in lu- 
 dibrium versae/' Conf. Suetonius, C Ca3s. Caligula, c. 43, 44. 
 C. Plinii Secundi Panegyr. c. xvi. (Epist. Libri x. et Pan. ed. 
 Gesner. Lips. 1805) : "Accipiet ergo aliquando Capitolium non 
 mimicos currus, nee falsa? simulacra victoriae," et seq. 
 
 b 2 
 
4 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 " counsel " (consilium) 1 which in others she called 
 " perfidy ; " by cunningly dividing the strength she 
 could not break ; by leading German mercenaries 
 against German freemen. 2 It was to his German 
 soldiers that the first Caasar owed the victory of 
 Pharsalia; and the throne of his successors, for many 
 generations, was propped by the Goth and Frank, 
 who, when it fell, divided the accumulated spoils of an 
 enslaved and plundered world. In somewhat more 
 than three hundred years after the conquest of Gaul 
 by the Franks, the power of the Roman Emperors of 
 the West, and even the very titles of Caesar and 
 Augustus, devolved upon a German head, and in the 
 person of Charlemagne the Germans were recognised 
 as the successors of the Italians in the Western Ro- 
 man Empire. To the great Frankish heroes there- 
 fore is attached an interest irrespective of their many 
 great deeds and noble qualities. They illustrate 
 to our minds the progress of a new and mighty 
 race ; their reign is a bright page in its annals, to 
 which many a brighter has succeeded, and will yet 
 succeed. 
 
 For many obvious reasons, and among others from 
 the circumstance that the French preceded the Ger- 
 mans in the field of literature, it has happened that 
 the great leaders and monarchs of the Frankish nation 
 
 1 Tac. Annul ii. 26. : "Plura consttio quam vi perfecisse "(i. e. 
 Tiberium). Conf. i. 49, 50, 51. Cass. B. Gall, i v. 13, 14. Dio 
 
 Cassius, lv. 6. 
 
 2 Tac. Ann.\.2A.; "Additur magna pars prcetoriani equitis 
 et robora Germanorum qui turn custodes Imperatori aderant." 
 
Chap. I.] THE FRANKS GERMANS. 5 
 
 have been far more closely connected with modern 
 France than is warranted by historical truth. It will 
 be observed that in the following pages we everywhere 
 speak of the Franks exclusively as Germans, as one 
 of the many offshoots of the mighty Teutonic race, 
 which for more than a thousand years has been 
 steadily advancing towards universal dominion over 
 the political, social and moral world. 
 
 It has been said with some humour (perhaps the 
 French have reason to say with ill humour), that of 
 the two great French Emperors, who reigned at an 
 interval of a thousand years, the one was a German 
 and the other an Italian. The latter part of this 
 assertion is true only in the least important sense, for, 
 in all essential characteristics, Napoleon Bonaparte 
 was pre-eminently French ; but we could only con- 
 trovert the former by reviving a theory respecting 
 the origin of the Frankish tribe, which is entirely 
 destitute of historical or ethnographical foundation. 1 
 Charlemagne was thoroughly German, in the mould 
 of his body, in the cast of his mind, in his lan- 
 guage, habits, tastes and sympathies ; and the fact 
 of his having ruled over the Romanised Celts of 
 Neustria, as well as over his own Austrasian coun- 
 
 1 A few French writers have ascribed a Gallic origin to the 
 Franks. Among these are Audigier and Pere Lacarry. Vide 
 Bouquet, vol. ii. p. 25. of Preface, where we are informed that the 
 Jesuit, de Tournemine, in his " Reflexions sur la dissertation de 
 M. Liebnitz," maintains that the Franks were descended from the 
 Volsci Tectosages, who, according to Caesar (B. G. vi. 24.), settled 
 in Germany near the Hercynian forest. 
 
 b 3 
 
6 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I* 
 
 try men, can never justify us in regarding him as a 
 Frenchman. 
 
 It would be unsatisfactory to write, and less 
 profitable to read, a history of the Frankish people 
 without some account of the race to which they 
 belong. 
 
 But little need be said of the physical characteristics 
 of the ancient Germans : the immense size and rude 
 beauty of their persons, — their fair complexions, 
 fierce blue eyes l , and flaxen hair 2 , — their loud harsh 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. c. iv. : " Truces et caerulei oculi, rutilae comae, 
 magna corpora." Conf. xxx. and Tac. Agric. Vit. c. xi. Tac. 
 Ann. ii. 21.: "Latos barbarorum artus." Tac. Hist. ii. 74. : 
 " Truces corpore, horridi sermone." Diodorus, v. 31. (ed. Din- 
 dorf. Paris, 184-2): Avrol 8' el<j\ t))v irp6(jo\\jiv KarairKriKTiKoX koX 
 rate <pioi'(iig fiapviiyjuq kcu TravrEkoiQ rpayy(pu)i>oi. The flaming eyes 
 of the ancient Germans are often referred to. Amtnian. Mar- 
 cellin. (xvi. p. 87. Hamburg, 1609), where he describes the defeat 
 of the Alemanni by Julian, says: "Eorumque ultra solitum 
 sa3vientium comae fluentes horrebant, et elucebat quidam furor ex 
 oculis" 
 
 2 The rutilae comaf, of which Tacitus and other writers speak, 
 seem to refer to the practice of dying the hair, in which they were 
 imitated by the Roman ladies, and more particularly by that class 
 among them which has in all ages been most solicitous about per- 
 sonal appearance. Cr>nf. Caes. B. G. i. 39. " Summa diligentia 
 capillos cinere rutilabant" (i. e. Romanas matrons). — Valerius 
 Max. ii. 1. 5. Servius, in IV. Virgilii, 698., says : " Matronis 
 nigram coraara meretricibus flavam probatam fuisse." Conf. 
 Ovid ad Puellam, Am. i. 14. 45. Vide Suetonius, Caligula, 47.: 
 "Coegitque non tantum rutilare et submittere comam sed et 
 sermonem Germanicum addiscere.' 7 Conf. Seneca de Ira iii. 
 26. : "Nee rufus crinis et coactus in nodum apud Germanos virum 
 dedecet." Tertullian {de Cultu, ii. 6.) draws a frightful omen for 
 the future fate of the Germans (or rather of their imitators), from 
 their flaming hair!— "Video quasdam capillam croco ve'rtere - 
 
Chap. I.] CHARACTERISTICS OF ANCIENT GERMANS. 7 
 
 voices, calculated to strike terror into their foes, are 
 celebrated by some of the greatest writers of antiquity, 
 and we find most of these peculiarities in their de- 
 scendants at the present day. 
 
 The dressing of the hair was an object of great care 
 and attention among all the German tribes, and the 
 mode of wearing it was made in some instances the 
 distinguishing mark of a particular class. Among 
 the Suevi, the nobles and the freemen wore it long, 
 and gathered it in a knot upon the top of the 
 head ; the serfs of the same nation were denied this 
 privilege. 1 " Their chiefs," says Tacitus, "have 
 a more ornamental way of wearing the hair " 
 than the simple freemen. It is probable that the 
 same custom prevailed amongst the Franks, in 
 whose laws, as well as in those of the Saxons, the 
 hair was protected by a heavy fine. The long and 
 
 pudet eas etiarn nationis suae, quod non Gerrnance aut Gallae sint 
 procreatae ; ita patriam capillo transferunt. Male ac pessime sibi 
 auspicantur flammeo capite?' Tac. Hist, iv. 61.: " Propexuni 
 rutilatumque crinem." Tac. Germ. 31. Conf. Martialis, ap. Clu- 
 ver. i. p. 131. : 
 
 " Crinibus in nodum torti venere Sicarnbri." 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. 38. : " Apud Suevos usque ad canitiem, horren- 
 tem capilluru retro sequuntur, ac saspe in solo vertice religant. , ' 
 The Greeks and Romans made an important ceremony of cut- 
 ting the hair of young people for the first time. Nero is said to 
 have offered the first-fruits of his head to Jupiter Capitolinus ; but 
 it was more usual to dedicate them to -ZEsculapius, Hercules, and 
 Apollo. Juvenal, Sat iii. 186.: " Ille metit barbam, crinem hie 
 deponit amati." 
 
 b 4 
 
8 THE FRANKS. [Chap. 1. 
 
 flowing locks of the Merovingian Kings were 
 the distinguishing mark of their royal race and 
 
 dignity. 1 
 
 The dress of the ancient Germans is described as 
 having been particularly simple, nor had they the 
 fondness for gaudy ornaments common to barbarous 
 nations. The general characteristic of their costume 
 was its being close and tight fitting, thus differing 
 from the loose and flowing robes of the Sarmatian 
 tribes. 2 " The dress of all," says Tacitus, " is a 
 short cloak, which they fasten with a clasp, or, if that 
 is wanting, with a thorn ; but they also pass whole 
 days on the hearth and before the fire without any 
 covering at all. The dress of the women is the same, 
 except that they often wear linen garments with a 
 purple border, but without sleeves, so as to leave the 
 arms and even the upper part of the bosom exposed 
 
 to view." 3 
 
 As might be expected in the rude dwellers of 
 
 a country " rough with forests and disfigured by 
 
 marshes," their mode of life was simple in the 
 
 1 Gregor. Turonen. vi. 24. (ap. Bouquet, torn, ii.), when 
 speaking of Gundobald, son of Clotaire, King of the Franks, says : 
 " Diligenti cura nutritus, ut regum istorum, mos est crinium 
 flagellis per terga demissis." Prolog. Leg. Sal.. "Chlodoveus 
 comatus et pulcher et inclytus." Lex Saxon, cap. vii. Vide 
 Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsalterthiimer. 
 
 2 Ccbs. B. G. vi. 21.: "Pellibus aut parvis rhenonum tegu- 
 mentis utuntur magna corporis parte nuda." Tac. Germ. c. xvii. : 
 " Locupletissimi veste distinguuntur non fluitante, sicut Sarmataa 
 ac Parthi, sed stricta et singulos artus exprimente.' , 
 
 3 Tac. Germ. c. xxvii. 
 
Chap. I.] THEIR INDIVIDUALITY. 9 
 
 extreme. With "the world before them where to 
 choose,'' and as yet in blissful ignorance of the rights 
 and cares of property \ they threw up their rude huts 
 of the roughest materials, wherever the fountain, the 
 field, or the grove, attracted their attention and 
 allured their choice. 2 Yet even here, as in almost all 
 that they did, they were unconsciously faithful to the 
 indelible instincts of their race. They lived apart, 
 each man in his own fashion ; they built no cities, nor 
 even connected houses, but — with as great a love of 
 seclusion and independence as their descendants, the 
 Westphalian boors, and the English country gentle- 
 men — every man surrounded his house with as much 
 open space as possible. Your true German 3 has 
 never been a gregarious animal ; where association is 
 necessary for the attainment of a worthy object, he 
 will readily unite with others, whether, as in ancient 
 times, to choose a leader or make a foray, or, as in the 
 present day, to elect a Parliament or hunt a fox ; but 
 he is most completely in his natural element, when, 
 in the solitude of his fields, or in the privacy of his 
 house, he sees about him none but the objects of his 
 family affection, or the dependent instruments of his 
 unbending will. 
 
 1 Cces. JB. G. vi. 22. : " Neque quisquam agri modum certum 
 aut fines habet proprios," 
 
 2 Tac. Germ. xvi. : " Colunt discreti ac diversi ut fons,, ut 
 campus, ut nenius placuit." 
 
 3 We have used the word German in its widest sense, to 
 denote the members of the great Teutonic race in all ages and 
 countries. 
 
10 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 Of the food of the ancient Germans, Tacitus has 
 said but little, and there is but little to say. It con- 
 sisted, like that of other barbarian nations, of wild 
 fruits, freshly-slain game \ and cheese. Pliny men- 
 dons butter also as a favourite luxury, used by the 
 wealthy alone. 2 Temperance in drinking was not 
 one of their virtues, and we need not be surprised 
 that they had skill enough to make beer,— although it 
 implies some slight attention to the much hated agri- 
 culture,— for what will not Germans do in the service 
 of the Cerevisian Bacchus? 3 Those who lived 
 nearest to the Rhine, drank wine, which was of course 
 imported, since we know that it was not intro- 
 duced into Germany until a much later period. The 
 meal was preceded by a bath, in which, notwith- 
 standing the rigour of their climate, they seem 
 to have taken great delight ; and every man had a 
 separate seat and table to himself. 4 
 
 A people so warlike, so independent of each other, 
 
 1 Tac. Germ, xxiii. : " Agrestia poma recens fera'' (not high, as 
 the Romans had begun to eat their game. Horat. Sat. ii. 8. 6.). 
 Conf. Cres. B. G. vi. 22. 
 
 2 Plin. Hist. Nat. torn. ii. lib. xxviii. cap. 35. (ed. Joh. Har- 
 duin. in usum Delphin. Paris. 1741): "E lacte lit et butyrum 
 barbararum gentium lautissimus cibus, et qui divites a plebe dis- 
 cernat. Plurimum e bubulo et inde nomen, pinguissimum ex 
 ovibus." 
 
 3 Tac. Germ, xxiii. : " Potui humor ex hordeo aut frumento." 
 Conf. Plin. xxii. 82. : " Ex iisdem fiunt et potus." Meiners 
 (Grundriss der Gesch. der Menschheit, p. 106.), says: "Even the 
 most savage and stupid of nations have found the means of 
 fuddling and stupifying themselves for a time.'' 
 
 4 Tac. Germ. xxii. 
 
Chai*. I.] THEIR LOVE OF WAR AND THE CHASE. 11 
 
 were little inclined to undergo the patient labours 
 of the husbandman. It seemed to them slothful and 
 cowardly to gain by the sweat of their brows what 
 might more readily be acquired at the cost of blood. 1 
 Even their rulers and magistrates, though they pro- 
 vided that a sufficient quantity of corn should 
 be raised by the common labour for the general use, 
 seem rather to have discouraged the settled habits 
 necessary for the successful tillage of the field ; lest, 
 as Caesar conjectures, the people, enamoured of pro- 
 perty and peace, should exchange the love and prac- 
 tice of war for the quiet pursuits of agriculture. 
 War was their chief delight, and, next to it, its 
 mimicry, the chase. 2 When not engaged in these, 
 the bravest warriors, leaving the meaner cares of daily 
 life to their women and their slaves, abandoned them- 
 selves to the sloth which vacuity of mind, the long sus- 
 tained exertions of the hunting field, and the excesses 
 of the precarious meal would naturally produce. 
 These intervals of torpor were however, occasionally 
 broken by drinking bouts of inordinate length, at 
 which quarrels were frequent, and were carried on, as 
 by their truest descendants, the English, with far more 
 blows than words. 3 They also sought relief from the 
 
 1 Cces.' Bell. Gatt.vi.22.: " Agriculturae non student." Tac. 
 Germ. xiv. : " Nee arare terrain aut expectare annum tarn fa- 
 cile persuaseris, quamvocare Lostes etvulnera mereri; pigrumquin- 
 immo et iners videtur, sudore adquirere quod possis sanguine 
 parare." 
 
 2 Tac. Germ. xv. Hist. iv. 16. : " Germani lata bello gens." 
 Ca?s. B. G. vi. 21. 
 
 3 Tac. Germ. xxii. : " Crebrre ut inter vinolentos rixa% raro 
 
12 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 monotony of life in the still fiercer excitement 
 of gambling; and often staked wife, and children, and 
 liberty, dearer to them than either, upon a single 
 throw. 1 
 
 Such then were some of the characteristics as 
 described to us by Caesar, Tacitus, and others, with 
 wonderful unanimity, of the people destined by 
 Providence to change the manners and remodel the 
 institutions of Europe, and make their influence felt 
 in every corner of the world. And if these were all, 
 we might perhaps, like Adelung and Gibbon, regard 
 our common ancestors as only an ordinary race of 
 savages, and place them, not perhaps below, as the 
 former of these writers has done, but on a level 
 with, North American Indians. But there are 
 other qualities which honourably distinguish them 
 from all other barbarous nations that have appeared 
 upon the great theatre of the world, since the 
 Greeks and Romans played out the part assigned 
 them. 
 
 The bravery of the Germans is spoken of by an- 
 cient writers with great admiration, and is ascribed by 
 some to a lively faith in the immortality of the soul 2 ; 
 
 conviciis, saspius crede et vulneribus transiguntur." This answers 
 
 to the modern schoolboy's phrase, " Don't quarrel Fight." Tac. 
 
 Annal. xi. 16. Italicus gained popularity among the Cherusci 
 by his qualities as a hard drinker. 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xxiv. : " Aleam (quod mirere) sobrii inter seria 
 exercent, tanta lucrandi perdendive temeritate ut cum omnia de- 
 fecerunt extremo ac novissimo jactu de libertate et de corpore 
 contendant." 
 
 2 Diod. Sic. v. 28. : . . Trap' ovUv mdifievoi Tt]v rod filov ts\svtw>. 
 'Evi<r X M 7«P ™p wale 6 UvBaySpov \6yot; 8rt rag ^u X « c rwi' 
 
Chap. L] MEETING OF J. CjESAR AND AEIOVISTUS. 13 
 
 but mere courage is common to almost all un- 
 civilised nations, and often arises in savages from 
 ignorance of the resources of a civilised enemjf. 
 When unattended by some higher quality, it can do 
 but little for its possessor, even in the field of battle. 
 The Romans, however, found, to their cost, that the 
 Germans did not long remain savages in their mode 
 of warfare. 1 It is evident from the Commentaries of 
 Csesar, that they were not destitute of military skill, 
 and that he found in Ariovistus no contemptible 
 opponent, even in point of generalship. 2 In the time 
 of Tacitus they had learned and adopted such parts 
 of the Roman tactics as were suited to their circum- 
 stances. The Catti in particular are described as 
 having introduced a thorough military discipline 
 among their troops, — as not only appointing leaders, 
 but obeying them, " and, what was very rare and 
 
 dv&p&Trwv adavarovg ilvat av^i^rfKEy /ecu cV trwv wpiGixiruiV kICKlv 
 fitovv eIq krepov crojfj.a rf]g \\/vyrig Ela6vofiEvr]g. Aio kat Kara rag 
 TcupaQ tQ>v TtreXevrrfKOTwy eviovg EirtaroXag yEypcifjifiEvag rolg 
 oliceloi£ teteXevty]k6(tiv EfihaWeiv eiq r>)v izvpkv ojg rdv teteXevty)- 
 k6tii)v avayrii)uof.LEvu)i f ravrag. Seneca, de Ira, i. 11. : " Germanis 
 quid est animosius? quid ad incursum acrius ? quid armor urn 
 cupidius?" Tac. Germ. vi. : "Scutum reliquisse prsecipuum 
 flagitiura." 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xxx. 
 
 2 Ca?s. B. G. i. 40. 51. Conf. Cces.B. G. v. 42. (Ctesar speaks 
 with admiration of the manner in which the Nervii fortified their 
 camp after the Roman manner): " Vallo pedum xi et fossa pedum 
 xv hiberna cingunt. Haec et superiorum annorum consuetudine 
 a nostris cognoverant .... nam minus horis tribus millium 
 decern in circuitu munitionem perfecerunt." Tac. Germ. xxx. : 
 "Plusreponere in Duce quam in exercitu." 
 
14 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 peculiar to Roman discipline, as laying greater 
 weight upon the general than upon the army." 
 
 Still more remarkable, as among barbarians, was 
 their chastity *; their respect for the female sex ; and 
 that fidelity to one wife which is the foundation of 
 all that is best in European civilisation. The ex- 
 istence of this virtue among the Germans is too well 
 attested by history to admit of any doubt. Yet the 
 
 1 Tac. Germ, xviii. : " Severa illic matrimonia nee ullam 
 partem morum partem magis laudaveris. Nam prope soli bar- 
 barorum singulis uxoribus contend sunt? Ca?s. B. G. vi. 21. : 
 " Qui diutissime impuberes permanserunt maximam inter suos 
 ferunt laudem." Tac. Germ. xix. : " Paucissima in tam numerosa 
 gente adulteria .... nemo illic vitia ridet." Conf. Bonifacii 
 Epist. XIX. ad Ethelbald. Anglorum Regem. Tac. Germ. viii. : 
 "Inessequinetiam (in feminis) sanctum aliquid et providumputant." 
 Salvian. de Gubernatione Dei, vii. 222. (ed. Conrad. Rittershus. 
 Altorf. 1620): " Plus adhuc dico, offenduntur Barbari ipsi im- 
 puritatibus nostris. . . . Impudicitiam nos diligimus Gothi exse- 
 crantur. Puritatem nos fugimus illi amant. Fornicatio apud 
 illos crimen atque discrimen est, apud nos decus." Quinctilian, pro 
 Milite Decl. iii. 16. (ed. Burman. Ludg. Batav. 17^0): "Nil tale 
 (meretricium) novere Germani, et sanctius vivitur ad Oceanum." 
 The captive wives of the Teutones begged Marius to give them 
 to the vestal virgins, that they might preserve their chastity, and 
 killed themselves in the night because their prayer was not 
 granted. Valer. Max. Fact, et Diet. Memorab, lib. vi. c. 1. ext. 
 sec. 3.: " Teutonorum vero conjnges Marium victorem orarunt 
 ut ab eo virginibus Vestalibus dono mitterentur, adfirmantes 
 ccque se atque illas virilis concubitus expertes futuras, eaque re 
 non impetrata laqueis sibi nocte proxima spiritum eripuerunt. 
 Dii melius, quod hunc animum viris earum in acie non de- 
 derunt. Nam si mulierum suarum virtutem imitari voluissent, 
 incerta Teutonics victoriae tropcea reddidissent." 
 
Chap. I.] GIBBON ON GEKMAN CHASTITY. 15 
 
 historian Gibbon, who had evidently no great admir- 
 ation for the continence imputed to them, endeavours 
 to explain the phenomenon in a manner which not 
 only takes away a great portion of its merit, but 
 makes chastity inseparable from a state of barbarism, 
 — a position which cannot be maintained. " He- 
 roines of such a cast," he says, — after speaking of 
 the readiness of the " unpolished wives " of Germany 
 to die for their husbands or the preservation of 
 their own honour, — " may claim our admiration, but 
 they were assuredly neither very lovely nor very 
 susceptible of love." 1 Their chastity was rather, he 
 appears to think, the result of want of attraction 
 in the woman, than of modesty or virtue on either 
 side ; and what he says further on the subject might 
 almost be considered as a defence of the Germans 
 from the imputation of being more chaste than any 
 other race would have been under the same circum- 
 stances. We, however, may be allowed to attribute 
 their superior purity to the fact that these barba- 
 rians respected their women, as the partners of their 
 labours and their dangers 2 , and viewed them in 
 a higher light than as the mere plaything of the 
 passions. The high position accorded to the woman 
 by the man, in the German races, has raised the love 
 of the sexes from the indiscriminate sensuality of 
 the Greeks and Romans to the chivalrous constancy 
 
 1 Gibbon, Dec. and Fall, cli. ix. 
 
 2 Tac, Germ, xviii.: "Laborum periculorumque sociam.'' 
 
16 THK FRANKS. [Ciiaf. I. 
 
 of the middle ages, to which we owe the idea of 
 home with all its noble and tender associations. 
 
 Chastity in the women had its counterpart of 
 honour in the men. The freeman has few tempta- 
 tions to deceive, and the brave man scorns to humble 
 himself before another by a lie. They kept their 
 word, even when they had staked their liberty upon 
 the cast of the die and lost. " This," says Tacitus, 
 "is obstinate perseverance in an evil purpose ; they 
 themselves call it honour" 1 The very fact of their 
 giving it this name is a proof that they were acting 
 on principle, and from noble motives. 
 
 The existence of the high qualities here ascribed 
 to the Germans has been recognised in every age. 
 The poet Lucan calls liberty emphatically " a German 
 blessing." 2 We owe, says M. Guizot, " to the Ger- 
 mans, the energetic sentiment of individual liberty, 
 of human individuality." 3 The spirit of the free- 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xxiv. : " Ea est in re prava pervicacia ; ipsi 
 Jidem vocant" 
 
 2 Lucan. Pharsalia, vii. 433. : 
 
 " Libertas ultra Tigrim Phenumque recessit 
 Ac toties nobis jugulo quoesita, negatur 
 Germanuni Scytbicumque bonum." 
 
 3 Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisat. (ed. Pichon et Didier. Paris 
 1829), vol. i. pp. 287, 288.: " Ce que les Germains ont surtout 
 apporte clans le monde romain, c'est Fesprit de liberie individuelle 
 
 le besoin, la passion de l'independance, de l'individualite 
 
 Les Germains nous ont donne l'esprit de liberte, de la liberie telle 
 que nous la concevons et la connaissons aujourd'hui, comme le 
 droit et le bien de chaque individu, maitre de lui-meme et de ses 
 actions, et de son sort, tant qu'il ne nuit a aucune autre." 
 
Chai\ I.] ANCIENT AND MODERN FREEDOM COMPARED. 17 
 
 dom which they have bequeathed to their descendants 
 differs much in its nature from that of the ancient 
 world. The liberty of the Greek and Roman was 
 political ; its aim was to make itself felt in public ; 
 while that of the German is to be individually undis- 
 turbed from without. The latter rests on a broader 
 and firmer foundation than the former ; it is not 
 always crushed even by the fall of political freedom ; 
 it has a temple in every heart, and a castle in every 
 house ; and these must be separately overthrown 
 before it can be utterly destroyed. 
 
 It is evident, however, that where this sentiment 
 of individual freedom predominates — where men do 
 not move gregariously — political science, the object 
 of which is to produce a well ordered and powerful 
 state, becomes exceedingly complicated and difficult. 
 In Sparta, and in a less degree in Athens and Rome, 
 the citizen was content to be a slave, that his country 
 might be free. The grand problem proposed to the 
 Germans was to reconcile the greatest possible indi- 
 vidual freedom with order, discipline and unity of 
 action. When we come, in another part of this work, 
 to consider the manner in which they endeavoured 
 to solve this important question, we shall see reason 
 to ascribe to the barbarians of the North a political 
 insight and a practical wisdom which will in vain 
 be sought for among the nations of antiquity. The 
 people to whom a monarch of our own times a few 
 years since emphatically ascribed "an hereditary 
 wisdom without parallel," do, in fact, owe much of 
 that wisdom to the traditions of their barbarian fore- 
 
 c 
 
18 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 fathers. "If," says Montesquieu, "you will read the 
 admirable work of Tacitus on the manners of the 
 Germans, you will see that it is from them that the 
 English have derived the idea of their political go- 
 vernment ; this beautiful system was invented in 
 the forests.' 71 
 
 There is scarcely a subject in the whole range of 
 history of which it is more difficult to gain a clear 
 and satisfactory view than the religion of the ancient 
 Germans. When we look for information on this 
 point, as we naturally do, to the accounts of the Roman 
 historians, we find them not only meagre but im- 
 probable, and singularly inconsistent with each other. 
 We learn, too, to receive with the utmost caution all 
 that the Romans say about the religion of other 
 countries, from the perception of their strong tendency 
 to identify the deities of the nations which they con- 
 quered with the gods of Rome, and to furnish them 
 with Latin names and rites, to fit them for their own 
 Pantheon. From Caesar, in whom we should gladly 
 place some confidence, — though we must not forget 
 that he saw the Germans chiefly away from their own 
 haunts, and in a state of war, — we have the remark- 
 able assurance that they had no priests and offered 
 no sacrifices. " They worshipped," he says, " only 
 those of the Gods whose forms they could see, and 
 whose beneficial influence they felt, as the sun, the 
 
 1 Esprit des Lois, xi. 6. : " Si Ton veut lire l'admirable ouvrage 
 de Tacite, sur les mceurs des Germains, on verra que c'est d'eux 
 que les Anglois out tire l'idee de leur Gouvernement politique. 
 Ce beau systeme a ete trouve dans les bois." 
 
CnAr. I.] RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT GERMANS. 19 
 
 moon, and the element of fire : of the rest they have 
 never even heard." 1 
 
 When we turn to Tacitus, who, as might be ex- 
 pected from the subject of one of his works, speaks 
 more at large, we are offended at the outset by find- 
 ing our old acquaintances from Olympus brought 
 forward as denizens of the primeval German forests; 
 and are almost tempted to believe that the historian 
 has been careless enough to mention the deities whom 
 a few Latinised tribes of Germany had adopted from 
 the Romans, as the original tutelary gods of the whole 
 Teutonic race. 
 
 Their chief god, he tells us, was Mercury, to whom 
 they offered human sacrifices. They also worshipped 
 Hercules and Mars, and sacrificed the customary 
 animals to them. Some of the Suevi he represents 
 as worshipping Isis, under the form of a light pin- 
 nace, which denotes, he thinks, that this cultus was 
 imported. 2 They sang, too, of Hercules, " the chief 
 of all brave men, as they rushed into battle." 3 
 He speaks of twin gods under the name of Alei, 
 as being worshipped in a forest in the country of 
 the Naharvali, and compares them to Castor and 
 Pollux. 4 
 
 How little weight is due to this decided mention of 
 Roman gods, whom Tacitus would hardly recognise 
 otherwise than in their statues, may be judged from 
 the words which immediately follow in the ninth 
 
 1 Cyes. Bell. Gall. vi. 21. 2 Tae. Germ. ix« 
 
 3 Ibid. iii. i Ibid, xliii. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 chapter, quoted above. " But they do not," he con- 
 tinues, " think it consistent with the greatness of 
 the gods to fashion them in the likeness of any 
 human form." 
 
 Thus far we learn little or nothing from Tacitus, 
 who is least to be depended on where he speaks with 
 the greatest decision and gives the names of gods. 
 In other parts of his works, where he merely relates 
 in general terms what he observed or heard, and 
 finds no opportunity to indulge in the favourite 
 assimilating process of the Romans, he is more in- 
 structive, and more reconcileable with what we know 
 from other sources. We are able, therefore, to intro- 
 duce his other notices in their proper connection. 
 
 What has been said of the vague and scanty nature 
 of our knowledge of the subject before us may sur- 
 prise those who are acquainted with the contents, or 
 even with the existence, of the voluminous works of 
 modern scholars on the subject of German mythology. 
 Yet he will be more fortunate than the author of 
 these pages, who (after studying the work of Jacob 
 Grimm \ and watching the efforts of this great literary 
 Demiurgus to bring order out of the chaos of popular 
 traditions and poetic fictions — of wild and barbarous 
 cosmogonies, and still wilder philosophical interpre- 
 tations thereof — of intermingled shreds and fragments 
 of creeds of different ages, localities, and tribes — and 
 all the embodied fancies of the frenzied, dithyrambic 
 imagination of the savage North) does not turn with 
 
 1 Deutsche Mythologie. 
 
Chap. L] GERMAN AND SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY. 21 
 
 a feeling of relief to the few names and facts — few, 
 but full of character and meaning — in which Roman 
 history and German tradition coincide. 
 
 The principal writers on this subject are at variance 
 with each other, as to the existence or non-existence 
 of a German Mythology in the narrower sense, as 
 distinguished from the Scandinavian, and the legends 
 of the Eddas and the Scalda. Koppen 1 says that of 
 the German gods little remains but the names. And 
 Simrock 2 , regarding the Scandinavians and Germans 
 as members of the same familv, attributes to them 
 essential identity of belief and worship. In his work, 
 therefore, we are launched into the great sea of 
 Scandinavian fable, with its Ymir, its Baldur, its 
 Loki, and Audhumbla, the celestial cow. 
 
 Jacob Grimm, on the other hand, attempts to con- 
 struct a specifically German mythology, a task in 
 which, though he displays his usual stupendous learn- 
 ing and admirable ingenuity, he can scarcely be called 
 successful, since he could do little more than arrange 
 the crumbling fragments of a forgotten system on the 
 Scandinavian model. 
 
 We cannot in this place discuss the theories of 
 these ingenious writers, whose works, moreover, are 
 very widely known. It will suffice for our present 
 purpose to give such a general account of German 
 heathenism as we think consistent with history and 
 tradition, and confirmed by strong traces in the 
 
 1 Nordische Mythologie. 
 
 2 Handbuch der Deutschen Mytholog. mit Einsehluss der 
 Nordischen. 
 
 c »? 
 
22 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 superstitions, songs, and legends, and even in the 
 language itself, of all the Germanic peoples. 
 
 The religion of the ancient Germans had its origin 
 and its home in external nature. They raised their 
 rude altars amid the awful gloom of primeval forests, 
 on the summits of lofty hills, by the sides of rivers, 
 and on the shores of secluded lakes. " They con- 
 secrate woods and groves and ccdl by the names of 
 gods that secret something which they see by rever- 
 ence alone" 1 There is a simplicity and grandeur 
 about their religious faith which well accords with 
 their national character and with the rude free life 
 thev led in the bosom of uncultivated nature. Their 
 ideas of Deity may be wild and grotesque, like the 
 sounds and shapes by which they were surrounded ; 
 their rites may be barbarous and cruel, for a nation 
 of warriors and huntsmen thought little of slaying 
 or being slain ; but they are at all events free from 
 the fetish littleness and meanness which often cha- 
 racterise the religion of barbarians. 
 
 There is evidence to show that they had some 
 idea of one omnipotent, omniscient and presiding 
 God (Allfadir), of whose worship the Semnones 2 , a 
 tribe of the Suevi, claimed for their territory the 
 honour of being the original seat. " All the tribes of 
 the same race" (i.e. the Suevic), which, as Tacitus 
 says, occupied the greater part of Germany, " meet to- 
 gether at stated periods by deputations, in a forest 
 hallowed by the auguries of successive generations, 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. ix. 
 
 - Between the Elbe and the Oder (Brandenburg). 
 
Ciiap. I.J WORSHIP OF ALLFADIR AND WUOTAN. 23 
 
 and by the awe-inspiring antiquity of the place. They 
 commence their barbarous rites by the sacrifice of 
 
 a human beino- No one dares to enter the 
 
 sacred wood until he has been bound with a chain in 
 token of humility, and of a deep sense of the presence 
 and power of the god." If the worshipper thus en- 
 cumbered " should happen to fall, it is not lawful for 
 him to be lifted up or to rise, but he must roll out 
 of the wood on the ground. This spot is regarded 
 by all as the centre of their religion, and, as it were, 
 the source of their nation, the dwelling-place of the 
 supreme God, the ruler of all things, to whom all 
 other deities are subject and subservient*" l 
 
 Of the gods whose names have come down to us, 
 and have left traces in our own as well as other 
 German languages, the principal was Wuotan (Wodan, 
 Odhinn), who sometimes appears as the Supreme Ruler 
 of gods and men, and at others as only one of a tri- 
 nity or larger co-fraternity. This was in all proba- 
 bility the deity whom Tacitus calls Mercuriiis 2 , whom, 
 he says " the Germans principally worship." 3 From 
 Wuotan all blessings were supposed to flow ; but 
 especially the chief of all blessings to a warlike people 
 — victory over their enemies. 
 
 With Wuotan the name of the goddess Freia is 
 usually associated as his wife. 4 Freia also appears in 
 
 1 Tac. Germ, xxxix. 
 
 2 Paull. Diac. de Gest. Langobard. i. 9. : " Wodan sane, quern 
 adjectalitera Godan dixerunt, ipse est, qui apud Romanos Mecurius 
 dicitur." 
 
 3 Tac. Germ, ix 
 
 1 Paull. Diac. de Gest. Langobard. i. s. 
 
24 TPIE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 the Edda in the character of the Teutonic Aphrodite, 
 the goddess of love and spring. 
 
 The next most prominent name is that of Donar 
 (Thorr, Thor), the god of thunder, and of the weather 
 in general ; and of the produce of the field in so far 
 as it is affected by atmospheric influences. 
 
 Zio (Tyr) appears to have been their more especial 
 god of war (the Mars of Tacitus), who, as they be- 
 lieved, was present at their battles and aided the 
 efforts of his warriors. 1 
 
 Of their goddesses, Tacitus mentions Nerthus (or, as 
 some read, Hertha), " Mother Earth/' 2 who was wor- 
 shipped in the country now called Mecklenburg and 
 Pomerania, and whose usual abode was the Island of 
 Riigen. 3 At certain times, probably once in the year, 
 the goddess was borne in a chariot yoked with cows in 
 solemn procession through the country. This conse- 
 crated vehicle, which only one priest was allowed to 
 approach, was usually concealed beneath a covering 
 in the umbrageous recesses of the sacred grove, in 
 which Nerthus herself resided. During her progress 
 through the favoured land, a state of things like the 
 medieval " truce of God " prevailed. Every day was 
 a holiday, and every place which she approached 
 became the festive scene of hospitality and joy. 
 The pleased inhabitants engaged in no wars and 
 carried no arms ; every weapon was carefully shut 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. vii. . "Deo, quern adesse bellantibus credunt." 
 
 2 Ibid. xl. . "Nerthum (Hertham), id est terrain matrem." 
 
 3 Alsen, Zealand, and Oesel have put in a rival claim to the 
 goddess: ! 
 
Cuai>. I.] THE GODDESS NERTIIUS. — TUISCO. 25 
 
 up. Then, and then only, were peace and quiet 
 known and loved, until the same priest restored the 
 goddess, sated with the society of men, to her sanc- 
 tuary in the holy island. Immediately on her 
 return "the chariot, the vestments, and, strange to 
 say, the goddess herself were bathed in the secret 
 lake. Slaves attended her on this occasion, whom 
 the same lake forthwith swallowed up ; and hence 
 the mysterious awe of the worshippers, and their 
 holy ignorance of the nature of the being, whom only 
 men about to die might see." l 
 
 Of a somewhat secondary class was Tuisco, " the 
 earthborn god," 2 from whom the Germans derived 
 life and name. His son Mannus was the first of 
 human beings, and father of Ingo, Isco, and Irmino, 
 the progenitors of the three great tribes into which 
 the German race was divided, the Ingaevones, Is- 
 caevones, and the Hermiones. 
 
 The traditions and legends of the early Germans 
 also manifest a belief in an inferior class of super- 
 natural beings, or Daemons, both bad and good. 
 Among these the Giants, if we may judge from 
 analogy with the Scandinavian Mythology, played 
 a terribly conspicuous part, as rivals and enemies 
 of the gods. Dwarfs, too, and Elves, and Cobolds 
 or Goblins, were objects of serious and universal 
 
 1 Tacitus (A?in. i. 51.) also mentions a German goddess Tanfana, 
 whose " temple' Germanicus destroyed in the country of the 
 Marsi (Westphalia): "Celeberrimum illis gentibus templum quod 
 Tanfanae vocabant solo sequanttir." 
 
 2 Tac. Genu. ii. : u Tuisconem Deum terra editum." 
 
26 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 faith, a faith which still, to a certain degree, main- 
 tains itself in the cottages and nurseries of modern 
 times. 
 
 It is a very peculiar characteristic of German 
 heathenism that women occupied so lofty a position 
 in its service. The power of prophecy was supposed 
 to reside chiefly in the female sex \ and in some indi- 
 viduals — the " Wise Women" or Alrunas — to such a 
 degree, that whole tribes regarded their responses 
 with as much respect as the oracles of a god. One 
 of these prophetesses, Veleda, a virgin of the Bruc- 
 terans, who had rightly foretold the victory of her 
 countrymen over the Roman legions, was treated with 
 more than royal honours, and her favour was sought 
 by powerful leaders at the head of armies. The 
 ambassadors sent by the people of Cologne to consult 
 her were not admitted to her presence. Seated in a 
 lofty tower, she delivered her responses to a chosen 
 kinsman, who was received by the expectant and 
 awe-struck envoys like a messenger from heaven. 
 Veleda was afterwards taken prisoner, and appears 
 to have graced a triumph in the streets of Rome." 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. viii. : " Inesse quinetiara sanctum aliquid et pro- 
 vidam (feminis) putant ; nee aut consilia earum adspernantur, aut 
 responsa negligunt." Conf. Plut.de Virtut Mulierum, p. 246. : 
 
 Ek: tovtuv CteriXovv 7repl re 7ro\£f.iov kcu elpijvqg fiovXevofAevoL jxerd 
 ru)i' ywaucwr. Jornand. de Rebus Goth. c. 24. The modern Ger- 
 mans are not all so polite as their ancestors. Lipsius, in a note 
 on the passage of Tacitus quoted, remarks : "Hocne supererat? 
 heu ipsos parum firma mente qui earn qucesivere apud amentem 
 sexton /' Tac. Germ. ix. Tac. Hist. iv. 61. 65., v. 22. 
 
 2 Statins Sih\ i. 4. 90. : " Captiraqut: preces Veleda'/' 1 
 
Chap. I.] THE ALRUNiE. — HUMAN SACRIFICES. 27 
 
 Mention is made of her successor Gauna, — who 
 flourished in the reign of Domitian, — of Aurinia, and 
 others. Though the above-mentioned prophetesses 
 appear to have been " virgins/ 7 the prophetic power 
 was not considered to be confined to the German 
 maidens, as is clear from a passage in Caesar, in 
 which he says that Ariovistus, on .one occasion, 
 declined battle, because the " matresfamilice" had de- 
 clared from the omens that the Germans could not 
 be victorious if they fought before the new moon. 1 
 The Alrunse took their auguries from the entrails 
 of sacrificial beasts, the blood of slaughtered captives, 
 and the sounds and phenomena of nature — as the 
 noise of the breaking waves, the changes of the 
 moon, &c. 
 
 We know even less of the modes of German worship 
 than of the gods themselves. It consisted of sacrifice 
 and, no doubt, of prayer. The victims were partly 
 human — prisoners taken in war, purchased slaves, and 
 criminals — and partly what Tacitus calls concessa ani- 
 malia {allowable animals), by which he means those 
 which were sacrificed by civilised nations. The hor- 
 rible practice of sacrificing men was not entirely dis- 
 continued among the Franks, even after their nominal 
 
 conversion to Christianity 2 ; and the Danes and 
 Normans retained the custom down to the time of the 
 emperor Henry the Fowler. It is generally held that 
 human victims were only offered to Wuotan (Odhinn, 
 
 1 C03S. B. Gall. i. 50. 
 
 2 Procop. dii Bell. Goth. ii. 25. 
 
28 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 or Mercury.) 1 To the other gods they sacrificed all 
 the usual beasts, but more particularly horses ; and it 
 Avould appear that to each god some one animal was 
 dedicated as his appropriate offering. Images of these 
 animals were kept in the consecrated groves, and 
 borne as standards in war 2 ; a custom from which 
 some derive the armorial bearings of distinguished 
 chiefs. With regard to their prayers, Grimm conjec- 
 tures that they were offered with bowed and unco- 
 vered head, upturned eye, clasped hands and bended 
 knee ; but nothing is really known on this subject. 
 Some writers follow Cassar in thinking that the 
 Germans had no priests ; a singular opinion in the 
 face of so much evidence to the contrary. Tacitus 
 tells us that the priests alone had the right of binding 
 and flogging in the German armies ; and that they did 
 it, not as it were by order of the general, but at the 
 command of the god who was present in the camp. 3 
 In the general legislative assembly of the people, 
 also, the priests commanded silence, preserved order, 
 and had the exclusive right of controlling that fierce 
 and armed democracy, who would listen to nothing 
 less than the command of God in the voice of his 
 ministers. 4 It is true, however, that there was no 
 
 1 But Jornand. (de Beb. Goth,) says of the Goths : " VictimaB 
 ejus (Martis) mortes fuere captorum." 
 
 2 Tac. Germ. vii. : " Effigiesque et signa qua3daro, detracta 
 lucis, in prcelium ferunt." Tac. Hist iv. 22. : "Inde depromptae 
 silvis lucisve ferarum imagines ut cuique genti prcelium inire mos 
 est." 
 
 3 Tac. Germ. vii. 4 Ibid. xi. 
 
Chap. L] THE BARDITUS. — THE SACRED HORSES. 29 
 
 priestly caste, and that every paterfamilice 1 could 
 perform religious offices for his own family. 
 
 The Germans took their auguries from the flight and 
 song of birds ; from the issue of a single combat be" 
 tween one of their own warriors and a captive enemy, 
 — each being armed with his national weapons 2 — and 
 from the cadence of the Barditus (Barritus), or war- 
 chaunt. 3 The Roman historian also describes a method 
 in use among them of taking omens from lots. Having 
 severed a branch from a fruit-bearing tree, they cut it 
 up into small pieces, and, after inscribing certain 
 marks or runes on each cutting, they scattered them 
 promiscuously over a white cloth. Then, if the omen 
 were sought respecting a public matter, the state priest 
 — if in a private affair, the paterfamilias — supplicated 
 the aid of the gods with upturned eyes, and, having 
 raised each cutting three times, interpreted the will of 
 heaven from the inscriptions. 4 
 
 But there were no auspices in which they placed 
 such implicit faith as those derived from the neighing 
 of horses. White horses were maintained at the 
 public expense in the very sacred forest abodes of the 
 gods themselves. Unpolluted by the contact of human 
 labour, these animals were kept exclusively forreligious 
 purposes ; and when they drew the chariot of a god, 
 the chief priest or the ruler of the state accompanied 
 them, and carefully observed the sounds they uttered. 5 
 The highest importance was attached to these indica- 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. x. - Ibid. x. 3 Ibid. iii. 
 
 4 Ibid. xi. 5 Ibid. x. 
 
SO THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 tions of the divine will by all classes of the people. 
 Even the priests considered that they themselves were 
 but the ministers, while the horses were the confidants 
 of the gods. 1 The Roman historian erroneously con- 
 siders that this kind of divination was peculiar to the 
 German races. 2 
 
 The notions of the ancient Germans respecting 
 a future state appear to have been somewhat analo- 
 gous to those of the early Greeks. Walhalla, like the 
 Elysian Fields, was only open to heroes, — to those who 
 had fallen bravely on the field of battle with their 
 wounds in front. These the goddess Freia with her 
 attendant maidens selected from the bloody plain 
 and bore away to the heavenly abode of the mighty 
 Wuotan, who came forth to welcome them in person. 
 A banquet was prepared for their reception, and they 
 feasted with the gods on the flesh of the divine Boar, 
 and quaffed the celestial Goat's mead from ever-flow- 
 ing goblets. The life in the future world was a con- 
 tinuation, on a sublimer scale, of the warrior's career 
 on earth. Each morning they rode forth armed and in 
 gorgeous array to some chosen battle-field, and, having 
 felled each other to the ground till they were weary, 
 returned with fresh delight to the banquets and the 
 wine- cups of Walhalla. 3 
 
 To those of our readers to whom the above account 
 is unsatisfactory from its unavoidable brevity, we re- 
 commend the works of Jacob Grimm and Simrock ; 
 
 1 " Se enim ministros Deorum, illos (equos) conscios putant." 
 
 2 Herodot. iii. 84, 83. 
 
 " Simrock's Handb. der Deutscli. Mythol. 
 
Chap. T.] VIEWS OF GRIMM, SIMROCK, AND LUDEN. 31 
 
 where they will find the subject ably treated and 
 thoroughly exhausted. And if there are some to 
 whom what is here said seems more than is warranted 
 by historical evidence, they may refresh themselves 
 with the conciseness of the historian Luden 1 , who 
 says, when speaking on this subject : " The Germans 
 believed in a Divine Providence rulins; over all 
 things, and before this power they bowed in humility 
 
 and reverence But they had no gods or 
 
 priests, nor any external church. Whatever else has 
 been said on this subject is error, fable, and misre- 
 presentation ! ' 7 
 
 As the foregoing account has been drawn princi- 
 pally, though not exclusively, from the work of 
 Tacitus, it will be necessary to say something of 
 that work itself, and to refer briefly to the opinion 
 of some modern writers, at variance with the views 
 which we have endeavoured to set before the reader. 
 It seems almost incredible that this admirable work, 
 confirmed as it is in all its most important state- 
 ments by the general voice of antiquity, and by in- 
 numerable facts which lie before us at the present 
 day, should ever have been denied all historical 
 value, and flippantly set aside as a clever fiction, 
 written by the author in an u acces d'humeur" to sa- 
 tirise the vices of his countrymen. 2 There are indeed 
 
 1 Gesch. der. Teutschen. i. p. 1S6. 
 
 2 Guizot, Hist, de la Civil., i. p. 258. . " Tacite a peint les Ger- 
 mains coroine Montaigne et Rousseau les sauvages, dans tin acces 
 cVhumeur contre sa patrie ; son livre est une satire des moeurs 
 romaines." Yet he allows that we may trust his facts. " Les faits 
 sont exacts ; . . . l'imagination de Tacite est essentiellement forte 
 
32 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 few who maintain this extraordinary view of the 
 " Germania " of Tacitus ; yet some writers of note 
 agree with M. Guizot in describing the ancient Germans 
 as a race of savages, in no way superior to other bar- 
 barians at the same stage of their progress towards 
 civilisation. Among these authors, we must reckon 
 Gibbon and Adelung. The latter, in speaking of his 
 forefathers, says : "In this state the barbarian ap- 
 proaches nearer to the rapacious beast than to the 
 civilised man, ennobled by knowledge, manners, and 
 taste." " Hence," he continues, a little farther on, 
 " the absence of all the more refined emotions of love, 
 gratitude, and benevolence, because the structure of 
 his nerves can only be shaken by powerful masses." 
 . . " Hence the oppression and subjuga- 
 tion of everything weaker than himself, and parti- 
 cularly of the woman, whom he degrades to a slave, 
 and condemns to the meanest and most laborious 
 offices. 1 In another passage, too long to quote entire, 
 he ascribes to them the violent passions of an enraged 
 
 et vraie ; . . . . jamais la vie barbare n'a ete peinte avec plus 
 de vigueur, plus de verite poetique. . . . Rien ne le prouve 
 mieux que les recits d'Ammien Marcellin. pur soldat, saus ima- 
 gination, sans instruction, qui avait fait la guerre contre les Ger- 
 mains, et dont les descriptions simple et breves, coincident presque 
 partout avec les vives et savantes couleurs de Tacite." 
 
 1 Adelung's Aelteste Gesch. der Deutschen (Leipzig, 1806), 
 p. 296, et seq. Did the civilised Athenians show any great 
 respect for their women ? As an antidote to the poisoned words 
 of Adelung, vide Pomp. Mela, iii. 3. : " Tantum hospitibus boni, 
 mitesque supplieibus." Conf. Cses. B. G. vi. 23. Tac. Germ. xxi. 
 Lex Burgund. tit. 33. : " Quicunque hospiti venienti tectum aut 
 focum negavcrit, trium solidorum inlatione multetur." 
 
Chap. I.J ADELUNO's OPINION OF HIS FOREFATHERS. 33 
 
 wild beast, and charges them with being addicted to 
 cruelty, " tempered only by interested motives," 
 " idleness, 1 ' " hatred of control " " drunkenness," 
 "theft," "rape," "falsehood," " treachery," and the 
 darkest superstition. Their hospitality he accounts 
 for by saying that " it always goes hand in hand 
 with the love of drinking," and that " barbarians are 
 always hospitable in proportion as they are rude and 
 wild." Their " chastity " fares no better at his hands. 
 " They could not," he says, " have many allurements 
 to the contrary in their cold and humid climate." The 
 continence, therefore, which " many writers praise 
 in the Germans, was not virtue but nature." When 
 the German punished adultery so severely, he did it, 
 " not out of hatred to vice, but out of revenge for the 
 attack on his property — his wife being the first 
 among his serfs." He reluctantly allows that they 
 were not cannibals, but declares that they " understood 
 scalping perfectly ! " l 
 
 Now, if the authorities for all this abuse — for we 
 can call it nothing else — were as good, as they are 
 utterly insufficient and worthless, would it be pos- 
 
 1 Adelitng, Aelteste Gesch. der Deutsch. p. 303. : " Dass sie das 
 scalpiren so gut verstanden, als die Nord-Amerikanischen Wilden, 
 erhellet noch aus mehrern Spuren selbst des mittlern Alters. 
 Das decalvare im West-Gothisehen Gesetze, das capillos et cutem 
 detrahere, welches bey den Franken noch 879 iiblich war, nach 
 den Annal. Fuld. das Angel-Sachs Hettinan, capillos cum ipsa 
 capitis pelle detrahere, das Haar mit Kloben auszuwinden der 
 mittlern Zeiten, wovon die Haranscara der spatern Zeiten noch 
 ein gelinder Ueberrest ist, war wohl nichts anders." 
 
 1) 
 
34 THE FBANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 sible to point out, or even imagine, a more degraded 
 race of savages ? And will any one who has studied 
 history assert that all barbarians are alike ? or that, 
 if there be any disparity among them, the ancient 
 Germans are at the bottom of the scale ? Is there, 
 then, really no difference between one race and another 
 in capacity for development, progress, and dominion ? 
 Were the early Greeks no better than the other 
 barbarians of their time ? Were the Germans of 
 whom Tacitus writes, no better than the Sarmatians 
 or the Huns ? — and could every other race, under the 
 same circumstances, have run the course which the 
 Anglo-Saxons are now running ? If Tacitus was 
 misled by his imagination and enthusiasm to paint 
 the Germans in too flattering colours, what was it 
 that excited his fancy and secured his predilection 
 in their favour ? If it was barbarism that he loved, 
 because it was farthest removed from the sickly 
 refinements, the unnatural tastes, and monstrous 
 vices of his age and country, why does he discrimi- 
 nate so carefully between different tribes of Germans ? 
 Why does he speak contemptuously of the equally 
 barbarous Gauls, the Sarmatians, and the Fins? 1 
 So discriminating an admiration cannot be the result 
 of unfounded partiality. Nor have we any good 
 grounds for believing in any peculiar regard on his 
 part towards his country's most formidable enemies. 
 He was a genuine Roman, and little likely to hail 
 with pleasure the new sun, which, as his acute and 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xlvi. 
 
Chap. I.] TACITUS NOT PARTIAL. 35 
 
 darkly foreboding mind foresaw, was about to rise 
 over the ruins of the tottering Empire. We have 
 before us a truly Eoman expression of feelings 
 forced from him by this presentiment, and breathing 
 anything but partial fondness. " The nation of the 
 Bructeri," he says, " was utterly destroyed by the 
 co-operation of the neighbouring tribes, either out 
 of hatred for their pride, or lust of booty, or by the 
 favour of the gods towards us ; for they did not 
 grudge us even the spectacle of the combat. Above 
 60,000 of them fell, not by Roman arms, but, what 
 is grander still, as a spectacle for our eyes. Long- 
 may there exist and endure among the nations, if 
 not a love for us, at least a hatred for one another ; 
 since, amid the declining fates of the Empire, fortune 
 can grant us no greater boon than the discord of our 
 enemies ! " 1 
 
 There is nothing so extravagant, even in the pas- 
 sages most flattering to the national character of the 
 Germans, as to lead us for one moment to suspect 
 that Tacitus is not drawing from the life. The im- 
 pression which he leaves upon our mind is, that they 
 were an energetic and noble race of barbarians of 
 whom much might be augured for the future ; but 
 still barbarians with many of the failings and vices 
 natural to their state. And this is all we claim for 
 them. We do not wish to fall into the morbid pa- 
 triotism of a Luden, who is inclined to call in ques- 
 tion the authenticity of the " Germania " because it 
 
 1 Tac. Germ, xxxiii. 
 
 l» 2 
 
3G THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 sometimes blames as well as praises his rude fore- 
 fathers ; and who actually disputes the truth of 
 some actions recorded there, because they are in- 
 consistent with his notions of the moral purity of 
 the German mind ! * Such principles of criticism 
 are simply ridiculous. All that we have endea- 
 voured in this place to prove, — that the Germans 
 possessed a pre-eminent capacity for development, 
 progress, and dominion — might be gathered from 
 other works of Tacitus (the historical value of which 
 has never been disputed), even though the " Ger- 
 mania" had not been written. The attitude which 
 the Germans assumed towards the Romans on their 
 first meeting in Gaul, and in their subsequent inter- 
 course, was never that of mere savages. 2 They did 
 
 1 It is not a little amusing to compare the opinions of Adelung 
 with those of Luden. The latter (Gesch. der Teutschen, i. p. 261.) 
 endeavours to show that the story of the abduction of Segestes' 
 daughter Thusnelda by Arminius must be false, because the heart 
 of the hero was too full of patriotism to have room for love, and 
 because such an act would offend the moral sense of the German 
 nation and lessen his influence over them. Thusnelda, Luden 
 thinks, would never have consented to bear children to be slaves 
 in Rome. 
 
 2 Read the interesting negotiations between Csesar and Ario- 
 vistus, in the course of which the latter, when invited to a con- 
 ference, replies (Cess. B. G. i. 34, 35, 36.): "Si quid ipsi a 
 Cresare opus esset, sese ad eum venturum fuisse ; si quid Me se 
 velit, ilium ad se venire oportere. . . . Sibi autem mirum 
 videri, quid in sua Gallia, quam bello vicisset, aut Caesari, aut orn- 
 nino populo Romano negotii esset." And again (c. 36.): " Nemi- 
 nem secum sine sua pernicie contendisse. Quum vellet, congre- 
 deretur ; intellecturum, quid invicti Germa?ii, exercitatissimi in 
 armis, qui inter annos quatuordecim tectum non subissent, virtute 
 possent." 
 
Chap. I.] NATIONAL PRIDE OF THE GERMANS. 37 
 
 not, indeed, undervalue the Roman power ; they 
 knew that it was terrible, that it had hitherto been 
 irresistible. They neither recklessly sought a colli- 
 sion with Ca3sar, nor did they timidly shrink from it, 
 when they thought their rights invaded, for they 
 had a proud consciousness of what was in themselves. 
 They were not overawed by the superiority which 
 long ages of wealth and civilisation had conferred 
 upon their opponents. They did not, as is the cus- 
 tom with mere savages, slink away before the face of 
 those who came armed with the power of knowledge 
 and adorned by the arts of life ; nor did they seek 
 to denationalise themselves by slavishly aping what 
 they could not really acquire. 1 They looked their 
 superiors boldly and calmly in the face ; they kept 
 up their pride in their own race and name, and 
 considered the Ubii degraded by the adoption of the 
 Roman dress and manners. They quickly learned 
 from their enemies what it suited their purpose to 
 
 1 Their pride in the German name is very remarkable. Tac. 
 Germ, xxviii. : "Treveri et Nervii circa adfectationem Germanics 
 originis ultro ambitiosi sunt, tanquam per heme gloriam sanguinis 
 a similitudine et inertia Gallorum separentur. . . Ne Ubii qui- 
 dem . . . origine erubescunt." Tac. Hist. iv. 28. : " Actae utro- 
 bique praedae, infestius in Ubiis, quod gens Germanicce originis 
 ejurata patria, Romanorum nomen, Agrippinenses vocarentur." 
 Compare the interesting passage in Tacitus (A?i?ial. xiii. 54.), 
 in which he relates that the Frisian ambassador, being in the 
 theatre at Rome, asked who the strangers were who occupied the 
 seats of the Senators: "postquam audiverant, 'earum gentium 
 legatis id honoris datum, quae virtute et amicitia Romana prae- 
 cellerent,' ?iullos mortalium armis aut fide ante Germanos esse 
 exclamant, degrediunturque et inter Patres considunt." 
 
 d 3 
 
38 THE FRANKS. [Chap. I. 
 
 know. In the service of the Empire, they became the 
 most skilful soldiers : they formed the bravest legions ; 
 they decided the fate of the most important battles ; 
 they furnished the ablest generals and statesmen, 
 — men who, single-handed, sustained the imperial 
 throne, yet in the very heart of the Emperor's palace 
 never ceased to be Germans. And when at last 
 they threw themselves upon the Roman Empire, with 
 the determination to take possession of its fairest 
 provinces, no difficulties and no disasters could deter 
 them. Though often defeated, they were never 
 conquered: a wave might roll back, but the tide 
 advanced ; they held firmly to their purpose till it was 
 attained ; they wrested the ball and sceptre from 
 Roman hands, and have kept them until now. 
 
39 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 FROM THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE FRANKS TO THE 
 
 DEATH OF CLOVIS. 
 
 A.D. 240 to A.D. 511. 
 
 It is well known that the name of " Frank " is not to 
 be found in the long list of German tribes preserved 
 to us in the " Germania " of Tacitus. Little or no- 
 thing is heard of them before the reign of Gordian 
 III. In A. d. 240 Aurelian, then a tribune of the 
 sixth legion stationed on the Rhine, encountered a 
 body of marauding Franks near Mayence, and drove 
 them back into their marshes. 1 The word " Francia' 7 
 is also found at a still earlier date, in the old Roman 
 chart called the Charta Peutingeria, and occupies on 
 the map the right bank of the Rhine from opposite 
 Coblentz to the sea. The origin of the Franks has 
 been the subject of frequent debate, to which French 
 
 1 Vopiscus, in Aurelian. c. 7. (Hist. Aug. Script Ludg. Batav. 
 1671, torn. ii. p. 433.): "Francos irruentes .... sic 
 adflixit, ut trecentos ex his captos, septingentis interemptis sub 
 corona vendiderit. Unde iterum de eo facta est cantilena : ' Mille 
 Francos,, mille Sarmatas serael occidimus.' The Franks on this 
 occasion, which was thought by the Romans important enough 
 to be celebrated by a song, lost about 1000 men killed or taken 
 prisoners ! 
 
 j> 4 
 
40 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 patriotism has occasionally lent some asperity. At 
 the time when they first appear in history, the 
 Romans had neither the taste nor the means for his- 
 torical research, and we are therefore obliged to de- 
 pend in a great measure upon conjecture and combi- 
 nation. It has been disputed whether the word 
 " Frank" was the original designation of a tribe, 
 which by a change of habitation emerged at the 
 period above mentioned into the light of history, or 
 that of a new league, formed for some common object 
 of aggression or defence, by nations hitherto familiar 
 to us under other names. 
 
 We can in this place do little more than refer to a 
 controversy, the value and interest of which has been 
 rendered obsolete by the progress of historical inves- 
 tigation. The darkness and void of history have as 
 usual been filled with spectral theories, which vanish 
 at the challenge of criticism and before the gradually 
 increasing light of knowledge. 
 
 We need hardly say that the origin of the Franks 
 lias been traced to fugitive colonists from Troy; 
 for what nation under Heaven has not sought to 
 connect itself, in some way or other, with the glo- 
 rified heroes of the immortal song ? x Nor is it sur- 
 prising that French writers, desirous of transferring 
 from the Germans to themselves the honours of the 
 Frankish name, should have made of them a tribe of 
 
 1 Domus Carol. Geneal. Monumenta Germanica (ed. Pertz), 
 torn. ii. p. 310. : "Priamus et Antenor egressi a Troja venerunt 
 in Secambria, et inde in Pannonia, et inde in Meotides paludes, 
 ut inde juxta ripas fluminis Reni in extrema parte Germanise." 
 
Chap. II. J THE FRANKS A CONFEDERACY, 41 
 
 Gauls, whom some unknown cause had induced to 
 settle in Germany, and who afterwards sought to re- 
 cover their ancient country from the Roman con- 
 querors. 1 At the present day, however, historians of 
 every nation, including the French, are unanimous 
 in considering the Franks as a powerful confederacy 
 of German tribes, who in the time of Tacitus inhabited 
 the north-western parts of Germany bordering on the 
 Rhine. And this theory is so well supported by 
 many scattered notices, slight in themselves, but 
 powerful when combined, that we can only wonder 
 that it should ever have been called in question. 
 Nor was this aggregation of tribes under the new 
 name of Franks a singular instance ; the same took 
 place in the case of the Alemanni and Saxons. 2 
 
 1 ITist Francor. Epitom. per Fredegar. Schol. c. ii. (ap. Bou- 
 quet, torn. ii. p. 391.) After describing the wanderings of the fu- 
 gitives from Troy, this writer continues : " Denuo bifaria divisione 
 Europam media ex ipsis pars cum Francione eorum Rege ingressa 
 fuit. Qui Europam pervagantes cum uxoribus et liberis Rheni 
 ripam occuparunt. Nee procul a Rheno civitatem ad instar 
 TrojaB nominis aedificare conati sunt .... Et per Fran- 
 cionem vocati stmt Franci" This Trojan theory has been de- 
 fended in modern times by Turk, Kritische Gesch. der Franken. 
 Conf. Cluveri Germania Antiqua, iii. p. 85. Ludg. Batav. 1616. 
 A false reading in Cicero's Ep. ad Atticum, lib. xiv. epist. 10., 
 where Fangones has been corrupted into Frangones, is brought 
 forward to prove that the Franks were known by that name in 
 the time of Cicero. Cluver. iii. 82. 
 
 2 Cluveri Germ. Antiq. iii. p. 85. : " Sed tempus nunc etiam 
 ostendatur, quo Francorum nomen dictae nationes, in unum corpus 
 congresses, primum sibi imposuerint. Factum id ego arbitror 
 paullo post quam Alemanni, contra Romanos rebellantes, in Galliam 
 Rhaetiamque excurrere coeperunt." 
 
42 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 The actuating causes of these new unions are un- 
 known. They may be sought for either in external 
 circumstances, such as the pressure of powerful ene- 
 mies from without, or in an extension of their own 
 desires and plans, requiring the command of greater 
 means, and inducing a wider co-operation of those, 
 whose similarity of language and character rendered 
 it most easy for them to unite. But perhaps we 
 need look no farther for an efficient cause than the 
 spirit of amalgamation which naturally arises among 
 tribes of kindred race and language, when their 
 growing numbers, and an increased facility of 
 moving from place to place, bring them into more 
 frequent contact. The same phenomenon may be 
 observed at certain periods in the history of almost 
 every nation, and the spirit which gives rise to it 
 has generally been found strong enough to over- 
 come the force of particular interests and petty na- 
 tionalities, 
 
 The etymology of the name adopted by the new 
 confederacy is also uncertain. The conjecture which 
 has most probability in its favour is that adopted 
 long ago by Gibbon, and confirmed in recent times by 
 the authority of Grimm, which connects it with the 
 German word Frank (free). 1 The derivation pre- 
 
 1 Grimm's G-esch. der Deutschen Sprache, i. p. 512. Franci 
 Francorum. In old high German, Franchon Franchono ; in 
 Anglo-Saxon, Francan Francena ; but the old Norse, Frakkar, 
 Frakka, leads us back to the notion " frank and free." Another 
 derivation, says Grimm, has been proposed : from the Gothic 
 Hramjan (Agere) comes the Frankish Adchramire, and after 
 
Ciiap. II.] SICAMBRI AND SALIAN FKANKS. 43 
 
 ferred by Adelung from frak (in modern German 
 frech, bold), with the inserted nasal, differs from that 
 of Grimm only in appearance. No small countenance 
 is given to this derivation by the constant recurrence 
 in after times of the epithet "truces" " feroces," 
 which the Franks were so fond of applying to them- 
 selves, and which they certainly did everything to 
 deserve. Tacitus speaks of nearly all the tribes, 
 whose various appellations were afterwards merged in 
 that of Frank, as living in the neighbourhood of the 
 Rhine. 1 Of these the principal were the Sicambri 
 (the chief people of the old Isccevonian tribe), who, 
 as there is reason to believe, were identical with the 
 Salian Franks. The confederation further comprised 
 the Bructeri, the Chamavi, Ansibarii, Tubantes, Marsi, 
 and Chasuarii, of whom the five last had formerly 
 belonged to the celebrated Cheruscan league, which, 
 under the hero Arminius, destroyed three Roman 
 legions in the Teutoburgian Forest. 2 The strongest 
 
 the substitution of pli for ch (p. 349.) adframire, the abused 
 framea, the Anglo-Saxon diminutive franca (for frameca), from 
 which Frank* For another derivation of the name of Frank, 
 vid. Libanii Orat. LX. (ed. Reiske, iii. p. 317.). 
 
 1 Plin. Nat. Hist iv. 28. : " Proximi autem Rheno Istaevones, 
 quorum pars . . . Chatti, Cherusci." 
 
 2 Amm. Mar. xx. 10. . " (Julian us) Rheno exinde transmisso 
 regionem subitopervasit Francorum, quos Atthuarios (Ampsuarios, 
 Ansuarios) vocant, inquietorum hominum, licentius etiam turn 
 percursantium extima Galliarum." Amm. Mar. (xvii. 8. 9.) and 
 the Emperor Julian speak of the Chamavi as Franks. Julian. 
 Orat. ad S. P. Q. Athen. (Julian, Op. ed. Spanhem. p. 280.) : 
 YTrE£)£L ) ajj.r}V jitv fxo'ipar rov SaXiiov idvovQ, Xa/.m£ovt; 8e it,i)\a(ju. 
 Nazar. Paneg. Constant. 18. : "Quid memorem Bructeros? quid 
 
44 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 evidence of the identity of these tribes with the 
 Franks, is the fact that, long after their settlement in 
 Gaul, the distinctive names of the original people were 
 still occasionally used as synonymous with that of the 
 confederation. The Sicambri are well known in the 
 Roman history for their active and enterprising 
 spirit, and the determined opposition which they 
 offered to the greatest generals of Rome. 1 It was on 
 their account that Caesar bridged the Rhine in the 
 neighbourhood of Bonn, and spent eighteen days, as 
 he informs us with significant minuteness, on the 
 German side of that river, Drusus made a similar 
 attempt against them with little better success. 
 Tiberius was the first who obtained any decided ad- 
 
 Charaavos ? quid Cheruscos .... ? " Gregr. Turon. ii. 9. 
 quotes from Sulpitius Alexander, by whom the Brieteri (sic), 
 Chamavi, Ampsuarii, and Chatti are spoken of as Franks. The 
 most certain and direct connection is that existing between the 
 Sigambri and the Franks. Cluveri, Germ. Antiq. iii. p, 85. 
 Sueton. in Vita Octav. 21. Flor. iv. 12. Conf. Strabo, vii. 1. 4. 
 Caes. B. G. vi. 35. Claudian de 1 V. Consul. Honor. 446. (ed. 
 Gesner. Lips. 1759): — 
 
 " Ante ducem nostrum Havana sparsere Sycambri 
 Caesariem, pavidoque orantes murmure Franci 
 Procubuere solo." 
 
 The Charta Peutingeria has " Chamavi Elpranci" probably a 
 corruption of et Franci. 
 
 1 Hor. Carm. iv. 2. 33. : — 
 
 " Concines majore poeta plectro 
 Caesarem, quandoque trahet feroces 
 Per sacrum clivum, merita decorus 
 
 Fronde, Sygambros." 
 
Chap. II.] THE SICAMBRI. 45 
 
 vantage over them ; and even he, by his own con- 
 fession, was obliged to have recourse to treachery. 1 
 An immense number of them were then transported 
 by the command of Augustus to the left bank of the 
 Rhine 2 , "that," as the Panegyrist expresses it, " they 
 might be compelled to lay aside not only their arms 
 but their ferocity." a That they were not, however, 
 even then, so utterly destroyed or expatriated as the 
 flatterers of the Emperor would have us believe, is 
 evident from the fact that they appear again under 
 the same name, in less than three centuries after- 
 wards, as the most powerful tribe in the Frankish 
 confederacy. 
 
 The league thus formed was subject to two strong 
 motives, either of which might alone have been 
 sufficient to impel a brave and active people into a 
 
 Hor. Carm. iv. 14. 51. : — 
 
 " Te caede gaudentes Sygambri 
 Compositis venerantur armis." 
 
 Cses. B. G. iv. 16. Dio Cassius, liv. 33. 
 
 1 Tac. Ann. ii. 26. : " Se (Tiberiura) novies a Divo August© 
 in Germaniam missum, plura consilio quam vi perfecisse ; sic 
 Sugambros in deditionem acceptos.' 7 
 
 2 Tac. Ann. xii. 39. : " . . . ut quondam Sugarabri excisi aut in 
 Gallias trajecti forent. . . ." Conf. S. Aurel. Victor. Epitom.i.i 
 "(Octavianus) Sigambros in G-alliam transtulit.'' Sueton. Octav. 
 c. 21. : " Sygambros dedentes se traduxit in Galliam atque in 
 proxirais Rheno agris collocavit." 
 
 3 Paneg. Incert. Auctor. c. 4. (apud Bouquet, torn. i. p. 714.) : 
 " Nee contentus vicisse ipsas in Romanas transtulit nationes, ut 
 non solum arma, sed etiam feritatem ponere cogerentur." Eu- 
 menii Paneg. Constantio, cc. viii. ix. 
 
46 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 career of migration and conquest. The first of 
 these was necessity, — the actual want of the neces- 
 saries of life for their increasing population, — and 
 the second desire, excited to the utmost by the 
 spectacle of the wealth and civilisation of the Gallic 
 provinces. 1 
 
 As long as the Romans held firm possession of 
 Gaul, the Germans could do little to gratify their 
 longings ; they could only obtain a settlement in that 
 country by the consent of the Emperor and on 
 certain conditions. Examples of such merely tolerated 
 colonisation were the Tribocci, the Vangiones, and the 
 Ubii at Cologne. But when the Roman Empire began 
 to feel the numbness of approaching dissolution, and, 
 as is usually the case, first in its extremities, the Franks 
 were amongst the most active and successful assailants 
 of their enfeebled foe : and if they were attracted 
 towards the West by the abundance they beheld of 
 all that could relieve their necessities and gratify 
 their lust of spoil, they were also impelled in the same 
 direction by the Saxons, the rival league, a people as 
 
 1 The Germans were very poor. Caesar, when speaking of the 
 Volscae Tectosages, says : " Nunc quoque in eadem ifiopia, egestate, 
 patientia qua Germany permanent." — B. G. vi. 24. They were 
 also very numerous. Ariovistus transferred 120,000 Germans 
 across the Rhine. — Cass. B. G. i. 31. The Usipetes and Tencteri 
 numbered 430,000. Ccbs. B. G. vi. 24. : " Gallis autem pro- 
 vincial propinquitas et transmarinarum rerum notitia multa ad 
 copiam atque usus largitur." Tac. Hist. iv. 73. : " Eadem sem- 
 per causa Germanis transcendendi in Gallias, libido atque avaritia 
 et mutandag sedis amor, ut relictis paludibus et solitudinibus suis 
 fecundissimum hoc solum vosque ipsos possiderent." 
 
Chap. II.] CAUSES OF FRANKISH MIGRATION 47 
 
 brave and perhaps more barbarous than themselves. 
 A glance at the map of Germany of that period will 
 do much to explain to us the migration of the Franks, 
 and that long and bloody feud between them and the 
 Saxons, which began with the Catti and Cherusci \ 
 and needed all the power and energy of a Charlemagne 
 to bring to a successful close. The Saxons formed 
 behind the Franks, and could only reach the provinces 
 of Gaul by sea. It was natural therefore that they 
 should look with the intensest hatred upon a people 
 who barred their progress to a more genial climate 
 and excluded them from their share in the spoils of 
 the Roman world. 
 
 The Franks advanced upon Gaul from two different 
 directions, and under the different names of Saltans, 
 and Ripuarians, the former of whom we have reason 
 to connect more particularly with the Sicambrian 
 tribe. The origin of the words Salian and Eipuarian, 
 which are first used respectively by Ammianus 
 Marcellinus and Jornandes, is very obscure, and has 
 served to exercise the ingenuity of ethnographers. 2 
 There are, however, no sufficient grounds for a de- 
 
 1 Tac. Germ, xxxvi. 
 
 2 Clovis was called " Sicamber " at his baptism by St. Rem?. 
 Claudian. de Laudibus Stilichonis, i. 222. : — 
 
 " Ut Salius jam rura colat, flexosque Sicambri 
 In falcem cur vent gladios." 
 
 Vita Sigismundi (Bouquet, torn. iii. p. 402.): "In ipsis temporibus 
 cum Sicambrorum gens." Ammian. Marcell. (xvii. 8.) is the 
 first who calls the Franks Salicms : ". . . . petit primos omnium 
 Francos quos consuetudo Salios appellavit." 
 
48 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 cided opinion. At the same time it is by no means 
 improbable that the river Yssel, Isala or Sal * (for 
 it has borne all these appellations), may have given 
 its name to that portion of the Franks who lived 
 along its course. With still greater probability may 
 the name Ripuarii or Riparii, be derived from Ripa, 
 a term used by the Romans to signify the Rhine. 2 
 These dwellers on the Bank were those that remained 
 in their ancient settlements while their Salian 
 kinsmen were advancing into the heart of Gaul. 
 
 It would extend the introductory portion of this 
 work beyond its proper limits to refer, however 
 briefly, to all the successive efforts of the Franks 
 to gain a permanent footing upon Roman ground. 
 Though often defeated, they perpetually renewed the 
 contest; and when Roman historians and panegyrists 
 inform us that the whole nation was several times 
 " utterly destroyed" the numbers and geographical 
 position in which we find them a short time after 
 every such annihilation, prove to us the vanity of 
 such accounts. Aurelian, as we have seen, defeated 
 
 1 Cluver. Germ. Antiq. iii. p. 60. : " Francorun quondam gentem 
 ad hoc usque pertinuisse flumen (Isalam), infra docebo. Julianus 
 Caesar in oratione ad senatum populumque Atheniensem, item 
 Marcellinus lib. xvii., et Zosimus lib. iii. ; Notitia imperii et 
 Sidonius Apollin. carm. vii. Salios habent gentem Francicam. 
 Hodie regio Isalae, adjacens vocatur vulgo Salland," seq. Leo, in 
 his " Mittelalter," derives the name Terra Salica from Saljan 
 tradere; so that the Salii would be the Franks who settled in 
 newly conquered possessions. 
 
 2 Tac. Gemu xxiii. : "Proximi Bipa>." Ibid. xxix. : " Non 
 multum ex Bipa.^ 
 
Chap. II.] PKOGRESS OF THE FRANKS IN GAUL. 49 
 
 them at Mayence, in a.d. 242, and drove them into 
 the swamps of Holland. They were routed again 
 about twelve years afterwards by Gallienus 1 ; but 
 they quickly recovered from this blow, for in a. d. 276 
 we find them in possession of sixty Gallic cities 2 , of 
 which Probus 3 is said to have deprived them, and 
 to have destroyed 400,000 of them and their allies 
 on Roman ground. 4 In a.d. 280, they gave their 
 aid to the usurper Proculus, who claimed to be of 
 Frankish blood, but was nevertheless betrayed by 
 them 5 ; and in a.d. 288, Carausius the Menapian 
 was sent to clear the seas of their roving barks. But 
 the latter found it more agreeable to shut his eyes 
 to their piracies, in return for a share of the booty, 
 and they afterwards aided in protecting him from the 
 chastisement due to his treachery, and in investing 
 him with the imperial purple in Britain. 6 
 
 1 Zon. Ann. xii. 24. (ed. B. G. Niebuhr. Bonn, 1844.) 
 
 2 Zosim. Hist. (ed. Reitemeier. Lips. 1784), 1. i. c. 37. 
 
 3 Zos. i. 68. 
 
 4 Vopisc.in Prob. 13.: " His gestis cumingenti exercitu Gallias 
 petit ; quae omnes, occiso Postumio turbatae fuerunt, interfecto 
 Aureliano, a Germanis possessae. Tanta autem illic praelia fe- 
 liciter gessit, ut a barbaris sexaginta per Gallias nobilissimas 
 reciperet civitates . . . caesis prope quadringentis millibus, 
 qui Romanura occupaverunt solum." 
 
 5 Vopisc. in Procul. : " Ipsis prodentibus Francis quibus fami- 
 liare est ridendo fidem frangere. . . ." 
 
 6 Eumenii Paneg. Const. Caes. 3. 9. (Paneg. Veter. ed. H. J. 
 Arntzenius, Traject. ad Rhenum, 1790). Eumenius {Pan, Const. 
 Ccbs. xvii.) speaks of a victory gained by Constantius's troops over 
 the Franks near London, to the great delight of the Londoners : 
 " Enimvero, Caesar invicte, tanto Deoruru immortalium tibi est 
 addicta, consensu omnium quidem, quos adortus fueris, hostium, 
 
 £ 
 
50 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 In the reign of Maximian, we find a Frankish 
 army, probably of Ripuarians, at Treves, where they 
 were defeated by that emperor ; and both he and 
 Diocletian adopted the title of " Franc^us," which 
 many succeeding emperors were proud to bear. The 
 first appearance of the Salian Franks, with whom this 
 history is chiefly concerned, is in the occupation of 
 the Batavian Islands, in the Lower Rhine. They 
 were attacked in that territory in a.d. 292, by Constan- 
 tius Chlorus, who, as is said, not only drove them out 
 of Batavia, but marched, triumphant and unopposed, 
 through their own country as far as the Danube. 
 The latter part of this story has little foundation 
 either in history or probability. 1 
 
 The most determined and successful resistance to 
 their progress was made by Constantine the Great, 
 in the first part of the fourth century. We must, 
 however, receive the extravagant accounts of the 
 imperial annalists with considerable caution. 2 It is 
 evident, even from their own language, that the 
 
 sed praecipue internecio Francorum, ut illi quoque milites vestri, 
 qui per erroreni nebulosi ut paullo ante dixi maris abjuncti ad 
 oppidum Londiniense pervenerant, quiquid ex mercenaria ilia 
 multitudine barbarorum prrelio superfuerat, cum direpta civitate, 
 fugam capessere cogitarent, passim tota urbe confecerint ; et non 
 solam provincialibus vestris in ccede hostium dederint salutem, sed 
 etiam in spectaculo voluptatem." 
 
 1 Eumenii Paneg. ii.: " . . . a ponte Rheni usque ad Danubii 
 transitum Guntiensem, deusta atque exhausta penitus Alamania." 
 
 2 Eumen. Paneg. Const. Aug. vi., x., xii. (Arntzen. p. 362.). 
 In chap. xii. Eumenius says : " . . . . exercitu repente trajecto 
 inopinantes adortus es, non quo aperto Marte diffideres, ut cui 
 palam eongrerli maluisses," &c. 
 
Chap. II.] THE " LUDI FRANCICI " AT TREVES. 51 
 
 great emperor effected more by stratagem than by 
 force. He found the Salians once more in Batavia, 
 and, after defeating them in a great battle, carried off 
 a large number of captives to Treves, the chief re- 
 sidence of the emperor, and a rival of Rome itself in 
 the splendour of its public buildings. 
 
 It was in the circus of this city, and in the pre- 
 sence of Constantine, that the notorious " Ludi 
 Francici " were celebrated; at which several thousand 
 Franks, including their kings Regaisus and Ascaricus, 
 were compelled to fight with wild beasts, to the inex- 
 pressible delight of the Christian spectators. 1 " Those 
 of the Frankish prisoners," says Eumenius, " whose 
 perfidy unfitted them for military service, and their 
 ferocity for servitude, were given to the wild beasts 
 as a show, and wearied the raging monsters by their 
 multitude." 2 " This magnificent spectacle " Nazarius 
 praises, some twenty years after it had taken place, 
 
 1 Eumenius {Paneg, Const. Aug. xxii.) gives us a high idea 
 of the magnificence of Treves: "Video Circum Maximum 
 aemulum, credo, Romano ; video basilicas et forum, opera regia, 
 sedemque justitiae in tantam altitudinem suscitari, ut se sideribus 
 et caelo digna et vicina promittant." 
 
 2 Incerti Paneg. (Maximiano et Constantino), iv. (Arntzen. i. 
 319.). Eumen. Paneg. Const, x., xi., xii.: *' Reges ipsos Francise, 
 qui per absentiam patris tui pacem violaverant, non dubitasti ulti- 
 mis punire cruciatibus.'' "Puberes, qui in manus venerunt, quorum 
 nee perfidia erat apta militias, nee ferocia servituti, ad pajnas 
 spectaculo dati, sasvientes bestias multitudine sua fatigarunt." 
 Incerti Paneg. Const Aug. xxiii. . " Tantum captivorum mul- 
 titudinem bestiis objicit, ut ingrati et perfidi non minus doloris 
 ex ludibrio sui quam ex ipsa morte patiantur 
 
 e 2 
 
 )> 
 
52 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 in the most enthusiastic terms, comparing Constan- 
 tine to a youthful Hercules who had strangled two 
 serpents in the cradle of his empire. 1 Eumenius 
 calls it a " daily and eternal victory," and says that 
 Constantine had erected terror as a bulwark against 
 his barbarian enemies. 2 This terror did not, however, 
 prevent the Franks from taking up arms to revenge 
 their butchered countrymen, nor the Alemanni from 
 joining in the insurrection. The skill and fortune of 
 Constantine generally prevailed ; he destroyed great 
 numbers of the Franks and the " innumerce gentes" who 
 fought on their side, and really appears for a time to 
 have checked their progress. 3 
 
 It is impossible to read the brief yet confused 
 account of these incessant encounters between the 
 Romans and Barbarians, without coming to the con- 
 elusion that only half the truth is told ; that while 
 every advantage gained by the former is greatly ex- 
 aggerated, the successes of the latter are passed over 
 in silence. The most glorious victory of a Roman 
 general procures him only a few months repose, 
 and the destruction of " hundreds of thousands " 
 of Franks and Alemanni seems but to increase their 
 numbers. 4 We may fairly say of the Franks, what 
 
 1 Nazarii Paneg. Const. Aug. xvi. (Paneg. Vet. ed. Arntzen. 
 i. 581.). 
 
 2 Eumen. Paneg. Const Aug. xi. : "Neque enim jam Rheni 
 gurgitibus, sed nominis tui terrore munimur." 
 
 3 Lactantius de Mort. Persecutor, xxix. (ed. Le Brim, Paris, 
 1748). Incert. Paneg. Const. Aug. xxii. 
 
 4 Naz. Panes?, ix. 1 7. 37. 
 
Chap. II.] EMPEROR CONSTANTINE AND THE FRANKS. 53 
 
 Julian and Eutropius have said respecting the 
 Goths, that they were not so utterly annihilated 
 as the panegyrists pretend, and that many of the 
 victories gained over them cost " more money than 
 blood." * 
 
 The death of Constantine was the signal for a fresh 
 advance on the part of the Franks. Libanius, the 
 Greek rhetorician, when extolling the deeds of Con- 
 stans, the youngest son of Constantine the Great, says 
 that the emperor stemmed the impetuous torrent of 
 barbarians " by a love of war even greater than their 
 own." 2 He also says that they received overseers; 
 but this was no doubt on Roman ground, which 
 would account for their submission, as we know that 
 the Franks were more solicitous about real than no- 
 minal possession. During the frequent struggles for 
 the Purple which took place at this period, the aid of 
 the Franks was sought for by the different pretenders, 
 and rewarded, in case of success, by large grants of land 
 
 1 The panegyrist groans out his sense of the difficulty of re- 
 pressing the Franks : " Trucem Francum quantce molis est supe- 
 rare vel capere ! " 
 
 2 Libanii Orat. (ed. Reiske. Altenburg, 1795), iii. 316. 318. 
 (Orat. lx.) : . . . avrog tcl 7TEp) ty]v kcnripai' edvrj fiap^apa irav- 
 
 rayo^EV TZEpiKEyvpiva ti)v Yiffv%iav ciyeii' Karr]}' ay kqlcte 
 
 Kar a\\o jjiev ovSev /jlel^u) Be rfjg ekeli'ojv iTEp\ rag ^ayaq irpoQvfiiaq 
 7v)v olh'etav vpolEi^aQ. P. 319. : ftpaKTOi jjlev ovv rotovrov v7rij\doi' 
 '(vybv ZovXelclq. to yap fjiij EyEtv ETEpovQ Xrj't^EaOai rovro ekelvoiq 
 %ov\Eia. . . . 'Ecit,avTO nap* rjfJiov apyovrag wcnrEp EiroTrrag tG>v 
 dpufjivwv. Conf. Idatii Fasti Consul, in Eusebii Farnph. Chron. 
 Canon, (ed. J. J. Scaliger. Amst. 1608), p. 33. Eusebii Pamph. 
 Chron. lib. i. (ed. Scalig. p. 48.). 
 
 E 3 
 
54 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 within the limits of the empire. 1 The barbarians 
 consented, in fact, to receive as a gift what had 
 really been won by their own valour, and could not 
 have been withheld. Even previous to the reign of 
 Constantine, some Frankish generals had risen to 
 high posts in the service of Roman emperors. Mag- 
 nentius, himself a German, endeavoured to support 
 his usurpation by Frankish and Saxon mercenaries ; 
 and Silvanus, who was driven into rebellion bv the 
 ingratitude of Constantius, whom he had faithfully 
 served, was a Frank. 2 
 
 The state of confusion into which the empire was 
 thrown by the turbulence and insolence of the Roman 
 armies, and the selfish ambition of their leaders, was 
 highly favourable to the progress of the Franks in 
 Gaul. Their next great and general movement took 
 place in a.d. 355, when, along the whole Roman fron- 
 tier from Strasburg to the sea, they began to cross 
 the Rhine, and to throw themselves in vast numbers 
 upon the Gallic provinces, with the full determination 
 of forming permanent settlements. But again the 
 relenting fates of Rome raised up a hero in the person 
 of the Emperor Julian, worthy to have lived in the 
 most glorious period of her history. After one or 
 
 1 Julian. Orat. ed. Spanhem, Lips. 1696, i. and ii., in Laudem 
 Constantii. 
 
 2 Julian (Orat. i. 34. 42.) says that Magnentius was a slave, a 
 barbarian captive : 'Arepairodov yap 7jy tuv zkuvov TTpoyovuv. 
 Aurelitfs Victor calls him a barbarian, and Athanasius, with his 
 usual vigour of style, speaks of Lira as tov lia€o\ov Mayvivrtor, 
 Amm. Marcell. xv. o. : " Exoritur jam hinc rebus afflictis haud 
 dispari provinciarum malo.'" 
 
Chap. IT.] THE SALIANS AT TOXANDRIA. 55 
 
 two unsuccessful efforts, Julian succeeded in retaking 
 Cologne and other places, which the Germans, true to 
 their traditionary hatred of walled towns, had laid 
 bare of all defences. 1 
 
 In the last general advance of the Franks in a. d. 
 355, the Salians had not only once more recovered Ba- 
 tavia, but had spread into Toxandria, in which they 
 firmly fixed themselves. 2 It is important to mark the 
 date of this event, because it was at this time that 
 the Salians made their first permanent settlement on 
 the left bank of the Rhine, and by the acquisition 
 of Toxandria laid the foundation of the kingdom of 
 Clovis. Julian indeed attacked them there in a. d. 358, 
 but he had probably good reasons for not reducing 
 them to despair, as we find that they were permitted 
 to retain their newly acquired lands, on condition of 
 acknowledging themselves subjects of the empire. 3 
 
 1 Julian. Orat. ii., and Epist. ad S. P. Q. Athen. Am?n. 
 Marcell. xv. 8. . " Constantium vero exagitabant assidui nuntii, 
 deploratas jam Gallias indicantes, nullo renitente ad inter- 
 necionem, barbaris vastantibus universa." Mam. GraL Act- 
 Jul. Aug. (Paneg. Vet. H. J. Arntzenius, Traj. ad Rh. 1790), 
 iv. : " Florentissimas quondam antiquissimasque urbes Barbari 
 possidebant .... In hoc statu Imperator noster Gallias 
 nactus minimum habuit adversus hostem laboris atque discri- 
 minis ; una acie Germania universa deleta est, uno praelio de- 
 bellatum.' , Zosimus (iii. 2.) says that 60,000 Alemanni fell 
 in the battle at Strasbourg, and as many were driven into the 
 Rhine. Chodonomarius, king of the Franks, was among the cap- 
 tives. Amm. Marcell. xvi. 3. 
 
 2 Zos. iii. 6. Amm. Marcell. xvii. 8. : " . . . ausos (Salios) olim 
 in Romano solo apud Toxandriam locum habitacula sibi ligere 
 praelicenter." 
 
 3 Julian. Epist. ad S. P. Q., Allien, pp. 278, 279. 
 
 e 4 
 
56 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 He was better pleased to have them as soldiers than as 
 
 enemies, and they, having felt the weight of his arm, 
 
 were by no means averse to serve in his ranks, and 
 
 to enrich themselves by the plunder of the East. 
 
 Once in undisputed possession of Toxandria, they 
 
 gradually spread themselves further and further, 
 
 until, at the beginning of the fifth century, we find 
 
 them occupying the left bank of the Rhine ; as may 
 
 safely be inferred from the fact that Tongres, Arras, 
 
 and Amiens are mentioned as the most northern of 
 
 the Roman stations. At this time they reached 
 
 Tournai, which became henceforth the chief town of 
 
 the Salian Franks. The Ripuarians, meanwhile, 
 
 were extending themselves from Andernach down- 
 ed 
 
 wards along the middle Rhine, and gained possession 
 of Cologne about the time of the conquest of Tour- 
 nai by their Salian brethren. On the left of the 
 river they held all that part of Germania Secunda 
 which was not occupied by the Salians. In Bel- 
 gica Secunda, they spread themselves as far as the 
 Moselle, but were not yet in possession of Treves, 
 as we gather from the frequent assaults made by 
 them upon that city. The part of Gaul therefore 
 now subject to the Ripuarians was bounded on 
 the north-west by the Silva Carbonaria, or Kohl- 
 enwald ; on the south-west by the Meuse and the 
 forest of Ardennes ; and on the south by the Mo- 
 selle. 
 
 We shall be the less surprised that some of the 
 fairest portions of the Roman Empire should thus 
 fall an almost unresisting prey to barbarian invaders, 
 
Chap. II.] FRANKS SUPPORT THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 57 
 
 when we remember that the defence of the empire 
 itself was sometimes committed to the hands of 
 Frankish soldiers. Those of the Franks who were 
 already settled in Gaul, were often engaged in en- 
 deavouring to drive back the ever-increasing mul- 
 titude of fresh barbarians, who hurried across the 
 Rhine to share in the bettered fortunes of their kins- 
 men, or even to plunder them of their newly-acquired 
 riches. 1 Thus Mallobaudes, who is called king of the 
 Franks, and held the office of Domesticorum Comes 
 under Gratian, commanded in the Imperial army 
 which defeated the Alemanni at Argentaria. 2 And, 
 again, in the short reign of Maximus, who assumed 
 the purple in Gaul, Spain, and Britain, near the end of 
 the fourth century, we are told that three Frankish 
 kings, Genobaudes, Marcomeres, and Sunno, crossed 
 the Lower Rhine, and plundered the country along 
 the river as far as Cologne ; although the whole of 
 Northern Gaul was already in possession of their 
 countrymen. The generals Nonnius and Quintinus, 
 whom Maximus had left behind him at Treves, the 
 seat of the Imperial government in Gaul, hastened to 
 Cologne, from which the marauding Franks had 
 already retired with their booty. 3 Quintinus crossed 
 
 1 These country cousins were by no means well received by 
 their civilised brethren. 
 
 2 Amm. MarcelL xxxi. 10: " . . . Mallobaudem . . . Regem 
 Francoru m virum bellicosuni et fortem." Argentaria= Strasbourg ; 
 (or Colmar in Alsace ?) Orosii adv. Pag. Hist. vii. 33. 
 
 3 Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fredeg. Schol. iii. (apud Bouquet, 
 torn. ii.). 
 
58 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 the Rhine, in pursuit, at Neus, and, unmindful of the 
 fate of Varus in the Teutoburgian wood, followed the 
 retreating enemy into the morasses. 1 The Franks, 
 once more upon friendly and familiar ground, turned 
 upon their pursuers, and are said to have .destroyed 
 nearly the whole Roman army with poisoned arrows. 
 The war continued, and was only brought to a success- 
 ful conclusion for the Romans by the courage and 
 conduct of Arbogastes, a Frank in the service of 
 Theodosius. Unable to make peace with his barbarous 
 countrymen 2 , and sometimes defeated by them, this 
 general crossed the Rhine when the woods were leaf- 
 less, ravaged the country of the Chamavi, Bructeri, and 
 Catti, and having slain two of their chiefs named 
 Priam and Genobaudes, compelled Marcomeres and 
 Surmo to give hostages. 3 The submission of the 
 Franks must have been of short continuance, for we 
 read that in a.d. 398 these same kings, Marcomeres 
 and Sunno, were again found ravaging the left bank of 
 the Rhine by Stilicho. 4 This famous warrior defeated 
 
 1 Snip. Alex, apud Greg. Tur. ii. 9. : " . . . paene omnibus, 
 qui militibus praeerant, exstinctis, paucis effugium tutum nox et 
 latibula sylvarum prasstitere." 
 
 - Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fredeg. iii. 
 
 3 Sulp. Alex. ap. Greg. Tur. ii. 9. 
 
 4 Great as was the merit of Stilicho, Claudian contrives to 
 put him in an almost ridiculous light by his fulsome adulation. 
 Drusus and Trajan were miserable bunglers when compared to 
 him ! See Claud, de Laud. Stil. i. 193. 196, 197. : — 
 
 " Cedant, Druse, tui, cedant, Trajane, labores. 
 
 totidemque diebus 
 
 Edomuit Ehenum, quot vos potuistis in annis.'' 
 
Chap. II.] STILICHO AND MABCOMERES. 59 
 
 them in a great battle, and sent the former, or perhaps 
 both of them, in chains to Italy, where Marcomeres 
 died in prison. 
 
 The first few years of the fifth century are occupied 
 in the struggle between Alaric the Goth and Stilicho, 
 which ended in the sacking of Rome by the former in 
 the year 410 a.d., the same in which he died. 1 
 
 While the Goths were inflicting deadly wounds on 
 the very heart of the empire, the distant provinces of 
 Germany and Gaul presented a scene of indescribable 
 confusion. Innumerable hosts of Astingians, Vandals, 
 Alani, Suevi, and Burgundians, threw themselves like 
 robbers upon the prostrate body of Imperial Rome, 
 and scrambled for the gems which fell from her costly 
 diadem. In such a storm the Franks could no longer 
 sustain the part of champions of the empire, but 
 doubtless had enough to do to defend themselves and 
 hold their own. We can only guess at the fortune 
 which befel the nations in that dark period, from the 
 state in which we find them when the glimmering 
 light of history once more dawns upon the chaos. 
 
 Of the internal state of the Frankish league in 
 these times, we learn from ancient authorities abso- 
 lutely nothing on which we can safely depend. The 
 blank is filled up by popular fable. It is in this 
 period, about 417 a.d., that the reign of Pharamond 
 is placed, of whom we may more than doubt whether 
 
 1 Alaric had the high distinction of appearing before the gates 
 of Rome, next after Hannibal. But what a different Rome did 
 he find ! 
 
60 THE FRANKS. LCiiAr. II. 
 
 he ever existed at all. To this hero was afterwards 
 ascribed, not only the permanent conquests made at 
 this juncture by the various tribes of Franks, but the 
 establishment of the monarchy, and the collection and 
 publication of the well-known Salic laws. The sole 
 foundation for this complete and harmonious fabric is 
 a passage interpolated into an ancient chronicle of the 
 fifth century ; and, with this single exception, Phara- 
 mond's name is never mentioned before the seventh 
 century. 1 The whole story is perfected and rounded 
 off by the author of the " Gesta Francorum," according 
 to whom, Pharamond was the son of Marcomeres, the 
 prince who ended his days in the Italian prison. 
 The fact that nothing is known of him by Gregory of 
 Tours or Fredegarius is sufficient to prevent our re- 
 garding him as an historical personage. 2 To this 
 may be added that he is not mentioned in the pro- 
 logue of the Salic law, with which his name has been 
 so intimately associated by later writers. 
 
 Though well authenticated names of persons and 
 
 1 Prosp. in Chron. a Pithoeo ed. ad an. xxvi. Honorii : "Fara- 
 mundus regnat in Francia." No value whatever is to be set on 
 this passage. Of the work of Prosper, who lived in the fifth cen- 
 tury, two MSS. are extant, one of which appears complete and 
 uncorrupted, and contains no reference to Pharamond. The other 
 is full of irrelevant interpolations, and among them the passage 
 above quoted, which probably dates from the seventh century. 
 Henschenius, in Exegesi de Epistola Tungrensi, doubts whether 
 his name occurs before the ninth century. 
 
 2 Gesta Franc, iv. (ap. Bouquet, torn, ii.): "Elegerunt Faramun- 
 dum filium ipsius Marcomiri, et levaverunt eum super se regem 
 crinitum." The Gesta Francor., as is well known, are of later 
 date than the history of Gregory of Tours. 
 
CiiAr. n.] PHAPAMOND A MYTHICAL PERSONAGE. Gl 
 
 places fail us at this time, it is not difficult to conjec- 
 ture what must have been the main facts of the case. 
 Great changes took place among the Franks, in the 
 first half of the fifth century, which did much to 
 prepare them for their subsequent career. The 
 greater portion of them had been mere marauders, 
 like their German brethren of other nations : they 
 now began to assume the character of settlers ; and 
 as the idea of founding an extensive empire was still 
 far from their thoughts, they occupied in preference 
 the lands which lay nearest to their ancient homes. 
 There are many incidental reasons which make this 
 change in their mode of life a natural and inevitable 
 one. The country whose surface had once afforded 
 a rich and easily collected booty, and well repaid 
 the hasty foray of weeks, and even days, had been 
 stripped of its movable wealth by repeated incur- 
 sions of barbarians still fiercer than themselves. All 
 that was above the surface the Alan and the Vandal 
 had swept away, the treasures which remained had 
 to be sought for with the plough. The Franks 
 were compelled to turn their attention to that agri- 
 culture which their indolent and warlike fathers 
 had hated ; which required fixed settlements, and all 
 the laws of property and person indissolubly con- 
 nected therewith. Again, though there is no suffi- 
 cient reason to connect the Salic laws with the 
 mythical name of Pharamond, or to suppose that 
 they were altogether the work of this age (since we 
 know from Tacitus that the Germans had similar 
 laws in their ancient forests), yet it is very probable 
 
62 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 that this celebrated code now received the form in 
 which it has come down to us. This view of the 
 case is strongly supported by internal evidence in 
 the laws themselves, which, according to the " Pro- 
 logue" were written while the Franks were still 
 heathens, and are peculiarly suited to the simple 
 wants of a barbarous people. Even the fiction of 
 the foundation of the Frankish monarchy by Pha- 
 ramond may indicate some real and important 
 change. That there was at that time but one king 
 " in Francia " is of course untrue ; but it seems 
 highly probable, when taken in connection with the 
 subsequent history, that the princes who reigned 
 over the different Frankish tribes established in 
 Gaul belonged, at this period, to one family. And 
 this is the truth which appears to lie at the founda- 
 tion of the story of this mythical personage. 
 
 The next important and well established histo- 
 rical fact which we meet with in this dreary waste 
 of doubt and conjecture, is the Conquest of Cam- 
 brai by Clodion, in a.d. 445. This acquisition 
 forms the third stage in the progress of the Salian 
 Franks towards the complete possession of Gaul. 
 Of this event it will be necessaiy to speak more at 
 large. 
 
 The foremost among the kindred chiefs of the 
 different Frankish tribes at this period was Clodion, 
 whom some modern historians, and among them 
 Gibbon, have represented, on the slenderest founda- 
 tion, as the father of Merovasus, and first of the race 
 of long-haired kings. Gregory of Tours gives no 
 
Chap. II.] CLODION AND MEROVEUS. 63 
 
 countenance to the statement thus boldly made 1 ; 
 he does not know that Meroveus was the son of 
 Clodion, nor has he anything to say about MerovaBiis 
 himself. 2 The residence of Clodion was at Dis- 
 pargum, "in agro Thoringorum" the situation of which 
 is doubtful : many suppose it to be the same as the 
 modern Dysborch in Brabant. 3 It was no doubt in 
 the neighbourhood of the Lower Rhine. That the 
 power of Clodion was considerable is evinced by the 
 magnitude of his undertakings. The growing num- 
 bers of the Franks in Gaul, continually increased 
 by fresh swarms of settlers from their ancient seats, 
 made an extension of their territory not merely 
 desirable, but even necessary to their existence. 
 Clodion therefore boldly undertook the conquest of 
 the Belgica Secunda, a part of which was still in 
 possession of the Romans. Having sent forward 
 spies to Cambrai, and learned from them that it 
 
 1 Greg. Ttcron. ii. 9. (Bouquet, Rer. Gal. et Franc, torn, ii.) : 
 " Ferunt etiam tunc Chlogionem utilem ac nobilissinium in gente 
 sua Regem Francorum fuisse, qui apud Dispargum castrum ha- 
 bitabat, quod est in termino Thoringorum." 
 
 2 The very name of Merovreus becomes suspicious when con- 
 sidered in connection with the doubts of Gregory. It may have 
 been invented to explain the name of the Merovingian Dynasty, 
 just as we have a king Francio, to account for the name of the 
 Frankish nation. (Vide Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred, ii.) The 
 reader of Gibbon will hardly suspect the real state of the case. 
 " The death of Clodion," he says, " after a reign of twenty years, 
 exposed his kingdom to the discord and ambition of his two sons. 
 Meroveus the younger," &c. 
 
 3 Vide Bucherii Atrebatis, Belgium Roman. Eccles. et Civile 
 (Leodii, 1655, fol.), lib. xv. c. 10. 
 
64 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 was insufficiently defended, he advanced upon that 
 city, and succeeded in taking it. After spending a 
 few days within the walls of his new acquisition, he 
 marched as far as the river Somme. His progress 
 was checked by Aetius and Majorian, who surprised 
 him in the neighbourhood of Arras, at a place called 
 Helena (Lens), while celebrating a marriage, and 
 forced him to retire. 1 Yet at the end of the war, 
 the Franks remained in full possession of the coun- 
 try which Clodion had overrun ; and the Somme be- 
 came the boundary of the Salian land upon the 
 south-west, as it continued to be until the time of 
 Clovis. 2 
 
 Clodion died in a.d. 448, and was thus saved from 
 the equally pernicious alliance or enmity of the ruth- 
 less conqueror Attila. 3 This " Scourge of God," as 
 he delighted to be called, appeared in Gaul about 
 the year 450 a.d., at the head of an innumerable 
 host of mounted Huns ; a race so singular in their 
 aspect and habits as to seem scarcely human, 
 and compared with whom, the wildest Franks and 
 Goths must have appeared rational and civilised 
 beings. 
 
 1 Prosp. Chr. p. 50. Sidon. Carm. v. 213. (Sirmondi. Paris, 
 1652.) Paneg. Jul., Val. Majoriano : — 
 
 " Post tempore parvo 
 Pugnastis pariter, Francus qua Cloco patentes 
 Atrebatum terras pervaserat." 
 
 2 Idat. Chron. p. 23. 
 
 3 Prosp. Pith. an. Theod. 22. seq. Olatii (Nicolai) Atila ed. Jo. 
 Sambucus in ap. Decad. Per. Ungar. Anton. Bonfinii, Francof. 
 1581. Jorn. Get. c. 35. Sigeb. Gembl. ad an. 453. 
 
Chap. II.] FRANKS AT CPIALONS. 65 
 
 The time of Attila's descent upon the Rhine was 
 well chosen for the prosecution of his scheme of 
 universal dominion. Between the fragment of the 
 Roman Empire, governed by Aetius, and the Franks 
 under the successors of Clod ion, there was either 
 open war or a hollow truce. The succession to the 
 chief power in the Salian tribe was the subject of a 
 violent dispute between two Frankish princes, the 
 elder of whom is supposed by some to have been 
 called Merovaeus. We have seen reason to doubt the 
 existence of a prince of this name ; and there is no 
 evidence that either of the rival candidates was a son 
 of Clodion. Whatever their parentage or name may 
 have been, the one took part with Attila, and the 
 other with the Roman Aetius, on condition, no doubt, 
 of having their respective claims allowed and sup- 
 ported by their allies. 1 In the bloody and decisive 
 battle of the Catalaunian Fields round Chalons, Franks, 
 under the name of Leti and Ripuarii, served under 
 the so-called Merovseus in the army of Aetius, to- 
 gether with Theoderic and his Visigoths. Among 
 the forces of Attila another body of Franks was 
 arrayed, either by compulsion, or instigated to this 
 unnatural course by the fierce hatred of party 
 spirit. From the result of the battle of Chalons, we 
 must suppose that the ally of Aetius succeeded to the 
 throne of Clodion. 
 
 The effects of the invasion of Gaul by Attila were 
 
 1 Sidon. Apoll. Carm. vii. 330. Greg. Turon. ii. 7. Idatii 
 Chron. p. 25. 
 
 F 
 
66 THE FRANKS. [CuAr. II. 
 
 neither great nor lasting, and his retreat left the 
 German and Roman parties in much the same con- 
 dition as he found them. The Roman Empire 
 indeed was at an end in that province, yet the 
 valour and wisdom of iEgidius enabled him to 
 maintain, as an independent chief, the authority 
 which he had faithfully exercised, as Master-General 
 of Gaul, under the noble and virtuous Magorian. 1 
 The extent of his territory is not clearly defined, but 
 it must have been, in part at least, identical with 
 that of which his son and successor, Syagrius, was 
 deprived by Clovis. Common opinion limits this to 
 the country between the Oise, the Marne, and the 
 Seine, to which some writers have added Auxerre 
 and Troyes. The respect in which iEgidius was 
 held by the Franks, as well as his own country- 
 men, enabled him to set at defiance the threats and 
 machinations of the barbarian Ricimer 2 , who virtu- 
 ally ruled at Rome, though in another's name. The 
 strongest proof of the high opinion they entertained 
 of the merits of iEgidius, is said to have been 
 given by the Salians in the reign of their next 
 king. The prince, to whom the name Merovaeus 
 has been arbitrarily assigned, was succeeded by his 
 son Childeric, in A. d. 45 6. 3 The conduct of this 
 licentious youth was such as to disgust and alienate 
 
 1 Greg. Turon. ii. 11, 12. Idat. Chron. p. 28. Sidon. Ap. v. 
 
 505. 
 
 2 Idat. Chron. p. 26. Sidon. Ap. ii. 360. 
 
 3 Sigeb. Gembl. an. 448. Greg. Turon. ii. 9. 12. Hist. Franc. 
 Epit. per Fred. c. 11., Bouq. torn. ii. 
 
Chap. II. J FRANKS EXPEL CI1ILDBRIC. G7 
 
 his subjects, who had not yet ceased to value female 
 honour, nor adopted the loose manners of the Romans 
 and their Gallic imitators. The authority of the 
 Salian kings over the fierce warriors of their tribe 
 was held by a precarious tenure. The loyalty Avhich 
 distinguished the Franks in later times had not yet 
 arisen in their minds, and they did not scruple to 
 send the corrupter of their wives and daughters into 
 ignominious exile. 1 Childeric took refuge with Bis- 
 sinus (or Bassinus), king of the Thuringians, a people 
 dwelling on the river Unstrut. It was then that 
 the Franks, according to the somewhat improbable 
 account of Gregory, unanimously chose iEgidius for 
 their king, and actually submitted to his rule for the 
 space of eight years. 2 At the end of that period, 
 returning affection for their native prince, the mere 
 love of change, or the machinations of a party, 
 induced the Franks to recall Childeric from exile, or, 
 at all events, to allow him to return. 3 Whatever 
 
 1 The exile appears, however, to have foreseen that his disgrace 
 would be but temporary, since,, as we are told, he obtained a pro- 
 mise from his faithful friend Wiomardus to do all in his power to 
 soothe his irritated subjects, and to send him the half of a golden 
 coin, which they divided between them, as a sign that the 
 time was come when he might return in safety. Greg. Turon. ii. 
 12. 
 
 2 Greg. Turon. ii. 12. Idat. Chron. p. 28. It is very remark- 
 able, that the fact of TEgidius, who is well known in Roman 
 history, having been king of the Franks for eight years should 
 not be referred to by Roman historians. 
 
 3 Hist. Franc. Epit. per. Fred. c. ii. This chronicler tells us that 
 the Franks were disgusted by the heavy taxes which iEgidius, ac- 
 cording to the treacherous advice of Wiomadus, kept continually 
 
 F 2 
 
68 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 may have been the cause of his restoration, it does 
 not appear to have been the consequence of an 
 improvement in his morals. The period of his exile 
 had been characteristically employed in the seduction 
 of Basina, the wife of his hospitable protector at the 
 Thuringian Court. This royal lady, whose character 
 may perhaps do something to diminish the guilt of 
 Childeric in our eyes, was unwilling to be left behind 
 on the restoration of her lover to his native country. 
 Scarcely had he re-established his authority when he 
 was unexpectedly followed by Basina, whom he 
 immediately married. 1 The offspring of this ques- 
 tionable alliance was Clovis, who was born in the 
 year 46 6. 2 The remainder of Childeric's reign was 
 chiefly spent in a struggle with the Visigoths, in 
 which Franks and Romans,- under their respective 
 leaders, Childeric and iEgidius, were amicably united 
 against the common foe. 
 
 We hasten to the reign of Clovis, who, during 
 
 increasing. Wiomadus is also said to have advised wholesale 
 murder: " Rebelles exsistunt tibi Franci ; nisi proeceperis ex eis 
 plurimos jugulari eorura superbiam non mitigas ! " 
 
 1 The language of Basina on this occasion is, to speak mildly, 
 very naive. When asked by Childeric on what account she had 
 come from such a distance, she replies : " Novi utilitatem tuarn, 
 quod sis valde strenuus ; ideoque veni ut habitem tecum ; nam 
 noveris, si in transmarinis partibus aliquem cognovissem utiliorem 
 te, expetissem utique cohabitationem ejus." So Gregory of Tours, 
 ii. 12. 
 
 - Conf. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. xii. The conception and 
 birth of Clovis are related here with fabulous ornament. We have 
 a vision of Childeric on the wedding night, and the interpretation 
 of Basina, 
 
Chap. II.] " THE ELDEST SON OF THE CHURCH." 69 
 
 a rule of about thirty years, not only united the 
 various tribes of Franks under one powerful 
 dynasty, and founded a kingdom in Gaul on a broad 
 and enduring basis, but made his throne the centre 
 of union to by far the greater portion of the whole 
 German race. 
 
 When Clovis succeeded his father as king of the 
 Salians, at the early age of fifteen, the extent of his 
 territory and the number of his subjects were, as we 
 know, extremely small ; at his death, he left to his 
 successors a kingdom more extensive than that of 
 modern France. 
 
 The influence of the grateful partiality discernible 
 in the works of Catholic historians and chroniclers 
 towards " the Eldest Son of the Church," who secured 
 for them the victory over heathens on the one side, 
 and heretics on the other, prevents us from looking 
 to them for an unbiassed estimate of his character. 
 Many of his crimes appeared to be committed 
 in the cause of Catholicity itself, and these they 
 could hardly see in their proper light. Pagans and 
 Arians would have painted him in different colours; 
 and had any of their works come down to us, we 
 might have sought the truth between the positive of 
 partiality and the negative of hatred. But for- 
 tunately, while the chroniclers praise his actions in 
 the highest terms, they tell us what those actions were, 
 and thus compel us to form a very different judg- 
 ment from their own. It would not be easy to 
 extract from the pages of his greatest admirers the 
 slightest evidence of his possessing any qualities 
 
 r 3 
 
70 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 but those which are necessary to a conqueror. In 
 the hands of Providence he was an instrument of 
 the greatest good to the country he subdued, inas- 
 much as he freed it from the curse of division into 
 petty states, and furthered the spread of Christianity 
 in the very heart of Europe. But of any word or 
 action that could make us admire or love the man, 
 there is not a single trace in history. His undeni- 
 able courage is debased by a degree of cruelty unusual 
 even in his times ; and the consummate skill and 
 prudence, which did more to raise him to his high po- 
 sition than even his military qualities, are rendered 
 odious by the forms they take of unscrupulous false- 
 hood, meanness, cunning and hypocrisy. 
 
 It will add to the perspicuity of our brief narrative 
 of the conquests of Clovis, if we pause for a moment 
 to consider the extent and situation of the different 
 portions into which Gaul was divided at his ac- 
 cession. 
 
 There were in all six independent states: 1st, that 
 of the Salians; 2nd, that of the Ripuarians ; 3rd, 
 that of the Visigoths; 4th, that of the Burgundians ; 
 5th, the kingdom of Syagrius ; and, 6th, Amorica 
 (by which the whole sea-coast between Seine and 
 Loire was then signified. Of the two first we have 
 already spoken. The Visigoths held the whole of 
 Southern Gaul. Their boundary to the north was 
 the river Loire, and to the east the Pagus Vellavus 
 (Auvergne). 
 
 The boundary of the Burgundians on the side of 
 Roman Gaul, was the Pagus Lingonicus (Upper 
 
Chap. II.] DIVISIONS OF GAUL. 7 1 
 
 Marne) ; to the west they were bounded by the ter- 
 ritory of the Visigoths, as above described. 
 
 The territory still held by the Romans was divided 
 into two parts, of which the one was held by 
 Syagrius, who, according to common opinion, only 
 ruled the country between Oise, Marne, and Seine ; 
 to this some writers have added Auxerre, Troyes, and 
 Orleans. The other — viz., that portion of Roman 
 Gaul not subject to Syagrius — is of uncertain extent. 
 Armorica (Bretagne and Maine), was an indepen- 
 dent state, inhabited by Britons and Saxons ; but 
 what was its form of government is not exactly 
 known. It is important to bear these geographical 
 divisions in mind, because they coincide with the 
 successive Frankish conquests made under Clovis 
 and his sons. 
 
 It would be unphilosophical to ascribe to Clovis a 
 preconceived plan of making himself master of these 
 several independent states, and of not only overthrow- 
 ing the sole remaining pillar of the Roman Empire in 
 Gaul, but, what was far more difficult, of subduing 
 other German tribes, as fierce and independent, and 
 in some cases more numerous than his own. In what 
 he did, he was merely gratifying a passion for the 
 excitements of war and acquisition, and that desire 
 of expanding itself to its utmost limits, which is 
 natural to every active, powerful, and imperious 
 mind. 1 He must indeed have been more than 
 
 1 "Dans les temps barbares" (says M. Guizot, 2ine Essai sur 
 FHist. cle France, p. 61. seq.), "comme dans les temps civilises, 
 
 r 4 
 
72 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 human to foresee, through all the obstacles that lay 
 in his path, the career he was destined by Provi- 
 dence to run. He was not even master of the whole 
 Salian tribe ; and besides the Salians, there were 
 other Franks on the Rhine, the Scheldt, the Meuse, 
 and the Moselle, in no way inferior to his own 
 subjects, and governed by kings of the same family 
 as himself. Nor was Syagrius, to whom the 
 anomalous power of his father iEgidius had de- 
 scended, a despicable foe. His merits, indeed, were 
 rather those of an able lawyer and a righteous judge 
 than of a warrior ; but he had acquired by his civil 
 virtues a reputation which made him an object of 
 envy to Clovis, who dreaded perhaps the permanent 
 establishment of a Roman dynasty in Gaul. There 
 were reasons for attacking Syagrius first, which can 
 hardly have escaped the cunning of Clovis, and 
 which doubtless guided him in the choice of his 
 earliest victim. The very integrity of the noble 
 Roman's character was one of these reasons. Had 
 Clovis commenced the work of destruction by at- 
 tacking his kinsmen Sigebert of Cologne and 
 Ragnachar of Cambrai, he would not only have 
 received no aid from Syagrius in his unrighteous 
 aggression, but might have found him ready to 
 oppose it. But against Syagrius it was easy for 
 Clovis to excite the national spirit of his brother 
 Franks, both in and out of his own territory. In 
 
 c'est par l'activite nee du besoin d'etendre en tous sens son exist- 
 ence, son uom, et son empire, que se fait reconnaitre un homme 
 superieur.'' 
 
Chap. II.] CLOVIS ATTACKS SYAGRIUS. 73 
 
 such an expedition, even had the kings declined to 
 take an active part, he might reckon on crowds of 
 volunteers from every Frankish gau. 
 
 As soon therefore as he had emerged from the 
 forced inactivity of extreme youth (a period in 
 which, fortunately for him, he was left undisturbed 
 by his less grasping and unscrupulous neighbours), 
 he determined to bring the question of pre emi- 
 nence between the Franks and Romans to as early 
 an issue as possible. Without waiting for a plau- 
 sible ground of quarrel, he challenged Syagrius, more 
 Germanico, to the field, that their respective fates 
 might be determined by the God of Battles. Rag- 
 nachar of Cambrai was solicited to accompany his 
 treacherous relative on this expedition, and agreed 
 to do so. 1 Chararich, another Frankish prince, whose 
 alliance had been looked for, preferred waiting until 
 fortune had decided, with the prudent intention of 
 siding with the winner, and coming fresh into the 
 field in time to spoil the vanquished. 2 
 
 Syagrius was at Soissons, which he had inherited 
 from his father, when Clovis, with characteristic 
 decision and rapidity, passed through the wood of 
 Ardennes, and fell upon him with resistless force. 
 The Roman was completely defeated, and the victor, 
 having taken possession of Soissons, Rheims, and 
 other Roman towns in the Belgica Secunda, extended 
 his frontier to the river Loire, the boundary of the 
 Visigoths. This battle took place in a. d. 486. 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 27. 2 Ibid. 41. 
 
74 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IT. 
 
 We know little or nothing of the materials of which 
 the Eoman army was composed. If it consisted 
 entirely of Gauls, accustomed to depend on Roman 
 aid, and destitute of the spirit of. freemen, the ease 
 with which Syagrius was defeated will cause us less 
 surprise. Having lost all in a single battle, the un- 
 fortunate Roman fled for refuge to Toulouse, the 
 court of Alaric, king of the Visigoths, who basely 
 yielded him to the threats of the youthful conqueror. 1 
 But one fate awaited those who stood in the way of 
 Clovis : Syagrius was immediately put to death, less 
 in anger, than from the calculating policy which 
 guided all the movements of the Salian's unfeeling 
 heart. 
 
 During the next ten years after the death of 
 Syagrius, there is less to relate of Clovis than might 
 be expected from the commencement of his career. 
 We cannot suppose that such a spirit was really at 
 rest : he was probably nursing his strength, and 
 watching his opportunities ; for, with all his impetu- 
 osity, he was not a man to engage in an undertaking 
 without good assurance of success. 
 
 Almost the only expedition of this inactive period 
 of his life, is one recorded in a doubtful passage by 
 Gregory of Tours, as having been made against the 
 Tongrians. This people lived in the ancient country 
 of the Eburones, on the Elbe, and had formerly been 
 subjects of his mother Basina. The Tongrians were 
 
 1 Greg. 7W. ii. 27. : " At ille (Alaricus) metuens, ne propter 
 eum iram Francorum incurreret, ut Gothorum pavere mos est 
 vinctum legatis tradidit." 
 
Chap. II.] ALEMANNI DEFEATED AT ZULPICH. 75 
 
 defeated, and their territory was, nominally at least, 
 incorporated with the kingdom of Clovis. 1 
 
 In the year 496 a. d. the Salians began that career 
 of conquest, which they followed up with scarcely 
 any intermission until the death of their warrior 
 king. 
 
 The Alemanni, extending themselves from their 
 original seats on the right bank of the Rhine, between 
 the Main and the Danube, had pushed forward into 
 Germanica Prima, where they came into collision 
 with the Frankish subjects of King Sigebert of 
 Cologne. Clovis flew to the assistance of his kins- 
 man, and defeated the Alemanni in a great battle 
 in the neighbourhood of Ziilpich. He then esta- 
 blished a considerable number of his Franks in the 
 territory of the Alamanni, the traces of whose re- 
 sidence are found in the names of Franconia and 
 Frankfort. 
 
 The same year is rendered remarkable in ecclesias- 
 tical history by the conversion of Clovis to Christianity. 
 In A. d. 493, he had married Clothildis, Chilperic 
 the king of Burgundy's daughter, who, being herself 
 a Christian, was naturally anxious to turn away her 
 warlike spouse from the rude faith of his forefathers. 
 The real result of her endeavours it is impossible to 
 estimate, but, at all events, she has not received from 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 27. Theoderic, Clovis's son, describes to the 
 Franks, at a subsequent period, the horrible cruelties committed 
 by the Tungrians, or Thuringians, on the Franks in this war, 
 which they are accused of beginning by a savage inroad into the 
 Frankish territory. Greg. Tur. iii. 7. 
 
76 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 history the credit of success. The mere suggestions 
 of an affectionate wife would be considered as too 
 simple and prosaic a means of accounting for a change 
 involving such mighty consequences. The conversion 
 of Clovis was so vitally important to the interests 
 of the Catholic Church, that the chroniclers of that 
 wonder-loving age, profuse in the employment of 
 extraordinary means for the smallest ends, could 
 never be brought to believe that this great event was 
 the result of anything but a miracle of the most 
 public and striking character. 
 
 The way in which the convictions of Clovis were 
 changed is unknown to us, but there were natural 
 agencies at work, and his conversion is not, under the 
 circumstances, a thing to excite surprise. According 
 to the common belief, however, in the Roman Church, 
 it was in the battle of Ztilpich that the heart of 
 Clovis, callous to the pious solicitude of his wife, and 
 the powerful and alluring influence of the catholic 
 ritual, was touched by a special interposition of Pro- 
 vidence in his behalf. When the fortune of the 
 battle seemed turning against him, he thought of the 
 God whom his wife adored, of whose power and 
 majesty he had heard so much, and vowed that if he 
 escaped the present danger, and came off victorious, 
 he would suffer himself to be baptized, and become 
 the champion of the Christian Faith. 1 Like another 
 
 1 The whole story rests on a slender foundation, for Gregory 
 of Tours, though he both describes the battle of Zulpich, and 
 speaks of the conversion of Clovis as having taken place during 
 a battle, does not connect the two events, and assigns no date 
 
Chap. II.] CONVERSION OF CLOVIS. 77 
 
 Constantine, he saw written on the face of Heaven 
 that his prayer was heard ; he conquered, and fulfilled 
 his promise at Christmas in the same year, when 
 he was baptized by Remigius at Rheims, with three 
 thousand of his followers. 1 
 
 The sincerity of Clovis's conversion has been called 
 in question for many reasons, — such as the uns us- 
 ability of his subsequent life to Christian principles, 
 — but chiefly on the ground of the many political 
 advantages to be derived from a public profession 
 of the Catholic Faith. We are too ready with 
 such explanations of the actions of distinguished 
 characters, too apt to forget that politicians are 
 also men, and to overlook the very powerful in- 
 fluences which lie nearer to their hearts than even 
 political calculation. A spirit was abroad in the 
 world, drawing men away from the graves of a dead 
 
 at all to the nUter. Greg. Tur. ii. 30. : " Regina vero," he says, 
 " non cessabat praedicare regi, ut Deum verura cognosceret . 
 sed nullo modo ad haec credenda poterat commoveri, donee tandem 
 aliquando bellum contra Alamannos commoveretur." Ibid. ii. 29. 
 Clovis, according to Gregory, replies to the queen's arguments : 
 " Deorum nostrorum jussione cuncta creantur et prodeunt, Deus 
 vero vester nihil posse manifestatur, et quod magis est> nee de 
 Deorum genere probatur. 77 Unfortunately for Clothildis's ar- 
 gument, her first child, who had been baptized in the Christian 
 Church, died, and Clovis ascribed its early death to its Christian 
 baptism. 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 30. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. xxi. Greg. 
 Tur. ii. 31. It was on this occasion that St. Remigius is said 
 to have used the words : " Mitis depone colla Sicamber ; adora 
 quod incendisti, incende quod adorasti ;" from which we may infer 
 that the distinctive names of the several tribes which went to form 
 the Frankish League were not yet forgotten. 
 
78 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 faith to the life and light of the Gospel, — a spirit 
 which not even the coldest and sternest heart could 
 altogether resist. There was something, too, pecu- 
 liarly imposing in the attitude of the Christian 
 Church at that period. All else in the Roman 
 world seemed dying of mere weakness and old age ~ 
 the Christian Church was still in the vigour of youth, 
 and its professors were animated by indomitable per- 
 severance and boundless zeal. All else fell down in 
 terror before the Barbarian conqueror — the fabric of 
 the Church seemed indestructible, and its ministers 
 stood erect in his presence, as if depending for 
 strength and aid upon a power, which Avas the more 
 terrible, because indefinite in its nature and uncer- 
 tain in its mode of operation. 
 
 Nor were there wanting to the Catholic Church, 
 sven at that stage of its development, those external 
 neans of influence which tell with peculiar force 
 lpon the barbarous and untutored mind. The em- 
 perors of the Roman world had reared its temples, 
 idorned its shrines, and regulated its services, in a 
 manner which seemed to them best suited to the 
 majesty of Heaven and their own. Its altars were 
 served by men distinguished by their learning, and 
 by that indestructible dignity of deportment, which is 
 derived from conscious superiority. The praises of 
 God were chaunted forth in well-chosen words 
 and impressive tones, or sung in lofty strains by 
 tutored voices ; while incense rose to the vaulted 
 aisle, as if to bear the prayers of the kneeling multi- 
 tude to the very gates of Paradise. 
 
Chap. II.] HIS MOTIVES. 79 
 
 And Clovis was as likely to be worked upon by 
 such means as the meanest of his followers. We must 
 not suppose that the discrepancy between his Chris- 
 tian profession and his public and private actions, 
 which we discern so clearly, was equally evident 
 to himself. How should it be so ? His own con- 
 science was not specially enlightened beyond the 
 measure of his age. The bravest warriors of his 
 nation hailed him as a patriot and hero, and the 
 ministers of God assured him that his victories were 
 won in the service of Truth and Heaven. It is always 
 dangerous to judge of the sincerity of men's religious 
 — perhaps we should say theological — convictions 
 by the tenor of their moral conduct, and this even in 
 our own age and nation; but far more so in respect 
 to men of other times and countries, at a different 
 stage of civilisation and religious development, at 
 which the scale of morality was not only lower, but 
 differently graduated from our own. 
 
 The conscience of a Clovis remained undisturbed 
 in the midst of deeds whose enormity makes us 
 shudder ; and, on the other hand, how trivial in our 
 eyes are some of those offences which loaded him 
 with the heaviest sense of guilt ! The eternal laws 
 of the God of justice and mercy might be broken 
 with impunity ; and what we should call the basest 
 treachery and the most odious cruelty, employed 
 to compass the destruction of an heretical or pagan 
 enemy ; but woe to him who offended St. Martin, or 
 laid a finger on the property of the meanest of his 
 servants ! When Clovis was seeking to gratify his 
 
80 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 lust of power, he believed, no doubt, that he was at 
 the same time fighting under the banner of Christ, and 
 destroying the enemies of God. And no wonder, for 
 many a priest and bishop thought the same, and told 
 him what they thought. 
 
 We are, however, far from affirming that the poli- 
 tical advantages to be gained from an open avowal 
 of the Catholic Faith at this juncture escaped the 
 notice of so astute a mind as that of Clovis. No one 
 was more sensible of those advantages than he was. 
 The immediate consequences were indeed apparently 
 disastrous. He was himself fearful of the effect 
 which his change of religion might have upon his 
 Franks, and we are told that many of them left him 
 and joined his kinsman Eagnarich. 1 But the ill 
 effects, though immediate, were slight and transient, 
 while the good results went on accumulating from 
 year to year. In the first place, his baptism into the 
 Catholic Church conciliated for him the zealous affec- 
 tion of his Gallo-Roman subjects, whose number and 
 wealth, and, above all, whose superior knowledge and 
 intelligence, rendered their aid of the utmost value. 
 With respect to his own Franks, we are justified in 
 supposing that, removed as they were from the 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 31. Gregory represents Clovis as saying to 
 St. Remigius : "Libenter te, sanctissime Pater, audiam, sed restat 
 unum, quod populus qui me sequitur, 7ion patitur relinquere Deos 
 suos." Hincmar, Vita S. Remigii^ Acta Sanct. Octob. t. i. p. 94. : 
 " Multi denique de Francorum exercitu nec-dum ad fidem conversi 
 cum Regis parente Raganario ultra Summam fluvium aliquamdiu 
 degerunt." 
 
Chap. II. J EFFECTS OF CLOVIS'S CONVERSION. 8 1 
 
 sacred localities with which their faith was intimately 
 connected, they either viewed the change with in- 
 difference, or, wavering between old associations and 
 present influences, needed only the example of the 
 king to decide their choice, and induce them to enlist 
 under the banner of the Cross. 
 
 The German neighbours of Clovis had either pre- 
 served their ancient faith or adopted the Arian 
 heresy. His conversion therefore was advantageous 
 or disadvantageous to him, as regarded them, accord- 
 ing to the objects he had in view. Had he really 
 desired to live with his compatriot kings on terms 
 of equality and friendship, his reception into a hostile 
 Church would certainly not have furthered his views. 
 But nothing was more foreign to his thoughts than 
 friendship and alliance with any of the neighbouring 
 tribes. His desire was to reduce them all to a state 
 of subjection to himself. He had the genuine spirit 
 of the conqueror, which cannot brook the sight of 
 independence ; and his keen intellect and unflinching 
 boldness enabled him to see his advantages and to 
 turn them to the best account. 
 
 Even in those countries in which Heathenism or 
 Arian Christianity prevailed, there was generally a 
 zealous and united community of Catholic Christians 
 (including all the Romance inhabitants), who, being 
 outnumbered and sometimes persecuted, were inclined 
 to look for aid abroad. Clovis became by his con- 
 version the object of hope and attachment to such a 
 party in almost every country on the continent of 
 Europe. He had the powerful support of the whole 
 
 G 
 
82 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 body of the Catholic clergy, in whose hearts the 
 interests of their Church far outweighed all other con- 
 siderations. In other times and lands (in our own 
 for instance) the spirit of loyalty and the love of 
 country have often sufficed to counteract the influence 
 of theological opinions, and have made men patriots 
 in the hour of trial, when their spiritual allegiance to 
 an alien head tempted them to be traitors. But what 
 patriotism could Gallo-Romans feel, who for ages had 
 been the slaves of slaves ? or what loyalty to barbarian 
 oppressors, whom they despised as well as feared ? 
 
 The happy effects of Clovis's conversion were not 
 long in showing themselves. In the very next year 
 after that event (a. d. 497) the Armoricans, inha- 
 biting the country between the Seine and Loire, who 
 had stoutly defended themselves against the heathen 
 Franks, submitted with the utmost readiness to the 
 royal convert ,whom bishops delighted to honour ; and 
 in almost every succeeding struggle the advantages 
 he derived from the strenuous support of the Catholic 
 party become more and more clearly evident. 
 
 In a. d. 500 Clovis reduced the Burgundians to a 
 state of semi-dependence, after a fierce and bloody 
 battle with Gundobald, their king, at Dijon on the 
 Ousche. In this conflict, as in almost every other, 
 Clovis attained his ends in a great measure by turning 
 to account the dissensions of his enemies. Gundobald 
 had called upon his brother Godegisil, who ruled over 
 one division of their tribe, to aid him in repelling the 
 attack of the Franks. The call was answered, in 
 appearance at least ; but in the decisive struggle 
 
Chap. II.] STRUGGLE WITH THE VISIGOTHS. 83 
 
 Godegisil, according to a secret understanding, de- 
 serted with all his forces to the enemy. Gundobald 
 was of course defeated, and submitted to conditions 
 which, however galling to his pride and patriotism, 
 could not have been very severe, since we find him 
 immediately afterwards punishing the treachery of 
 his brother, whom he besieged in the city of Vienne, 
 and put to death in an Arian Church. 1 
 
 The circumstances of the times, rather than the 
 moderation of Clovis, prevented him from calling 
 Gundobald to account. A far more arduous struggle 
 was at hand, which needed all the wily Salian's re- 
 sources of power and policy to bring to a successful 
 issue — the struggle with the powerful king and people 
 of the Visigoths, whose immediate neighbour he had 
 become after the voluntary submission of the Anno* 
 ricans in a. d. 497. The valour and conduct of their 
 renowned king Euric 2 had put the Western Goths in 
 full possession of all that portion of Gaul which lay 
 between the rivers Loire and Rhone, together with 
 nearly the whole of Spain. That distinguished 
 monarch had lately been succeeded by his son Ala- 
 ric II., who was now in the flower of youth. It was in 
 the war with this ill-starred prince — the most diffi- 
 cult and doubtful in which he had been engaged — 
 that Clovis experienced the full advantages of his 
 recent change of faith. King Euric, who was an 
 Arian, wise and great as he appears to have been in 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iL 32, 33. Greg. Epit. Fredeg. 22. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. ii. 25. Conf. Jornandes, Getica, 4.5. 
 
 o 2 
 
84 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IL 
 
 many respects, had alienated the affections of mul- 
 titudes of his people by persecuting the Catholic 
 minority x ; and though the same charge does not 
 appear to lie against Alaric, it is evident that 
 the hearts of his orthodox subjects beat with no true 
 allegiance towards their heretical king. The baptism 
 of Clovis had turned their eyes towards him, as one 
 who would not only free them from the persecution 
 of their theological enemies, but procure for them 
 and their Church a speedy victory and a secure 
 predominance. The hopes they had formed, and the 
 aid they were ready to afford him, were not unknown 
 to Clovis, whose eager rapacity was only checked by 
 the consideration of the part which his brother-in-law 
 Theoderic, King of the Ostrogoths, was likely to 
 take in the matter. This great and enlightened 
 Goth, whose refined magnificence renders the con- 
 temptuous sense in which we use the term Gothic 
 more than usually inappropriate, was ever ready to 
 mediate between kindred tribes of Germans, whom on 
 every suitable occasion he exhorted to live in unity, 
 mindful of their common origin. He is said on this 
 occasion to have brought about a meeting between 
 Clovis and Alaric on a small island in the Loire in 
 the neighbourhood of Amboise. 2 The story is very 
 doubtful, to say the least. Had he done so much, he 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 25. (He is accused of blocking up the paths 
 which led to the Churches with thorns) : " Scilicet ut raritas in- 
 grediendi oblivionem faceret fidei." Ibid. ii. 36. : " Multi jam tunc 
 ex Galliis habere Francos dominos sumino desiderio cupiebant." 
 
 2 Hist. Generale de Languedoc, v. 19. 
 
Chap. II. ] CLOVIS AND THE ARIANS. 85 
 
 would probably have done more, and have shielded 
 his youthful kinsman with his strong right arm. 
 Whatever he did was done in vain. The Frankish 
 conqueror knew his own advantages and determined 
 to use them to the utmost. He received the aid not 
 only of his kinsman Sigebert of Cologne, who sent an 
 army to his support under Chararich, but of the king 
 of the Burgundians, who was also a Catholic. With 
 an army thus united by a common faith, inspired by 
 religious zeal, and no less so by the Frankish love of 
 booty, Clovis marched to almost certain victory over 
 an inexperienced leader and a kingdom divided 
 against itself. 
 
 It is evident, from the language of Gregory of 
 Tours, that this conflict between the Franks and 
 Visigoths was regarded by the orthodox party of his 
 own and preceding ages as a religious war, on which, 
 humanly speaking, the prevalence of the Catholic 
 or the Arian creed in Western Europe depended. 
 Clovis did everything in his power to deepen this im- 
 pression. He could not, he said, endure the thought 
 that " those Arians" held a part of his beautiful 
 Gaul. 1 As he passed through the territory of Tours, 
 which was supposed to be under the peculiar protection 
 of St. Martin, he was careful to preserve the strictest 
 discipline among his soldiers, that he might further 
 conciliate the Church and sanctify his undertaking. 2 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 37. : Ci Valde moleste fero quod hi Ariani 
 partem teneant Galliarum." 
 
 2 One of Clo vis's soldiers took away some hay from a peasant 
 who lived in the lands belonging to St. Martin's church. " ' Quo 
 
 G 3 
 
86 THE PRANKS. [CHAr. II. 
 
 On his arrival at the city of Tours, he publicly dis- 
 played his reverence for the patron saint, and received 
 the thanks and good wishes of a whole chorus of 
 priests assembled in St. Martin's Church. He was 
 guided (according to one of the legends by which 
 his progress has been so profusely adorned) through 
 the swollen waters of the river Vienne by " a hind of 
 wonderful magnitude ; " and, as he approached the 
 city of Poitiers, a pillar of fire (whose origin we may 
 trace, as suits our views, to the favour of heaven or 
 the treachery of man) shone forth from the cathedral, 
 to give him the assurance of success, and to throw 
 light upon his nocturnal march. 1 The Catholic 
 bishops in the kingdom of Alaric were universally 
 favourable to the cause of Clovis 2 , and several of them, 
 who had not the patience to postpone the manifesta- 
 tion of their sympathies, were expelled by Alaric from 
 their sees. 3 The majority indeed made a virtue of 
 necessity, and prayed continually and loudly, if not 
 sincerely, for their lawful monarch. Perhaps they had 
 even in that age learned to appreciate the efficacy of 
 mental reservation. 
 
 Conscious of his own weakness, Alaric retired before 
 
 dicto citius gladio peremtoj ait, 'et ubi erit spes victoriae, si 
 beatus Martinus offenditur ? ' " — Greg. Tur. ii. 37. 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 37. ; " . . . pharus ignea de Basilica S. Hilarii 
 egressa. . . ." 
 
 2 Vid. Ep. Aviti Episc. Viennens. Chlodovecho, ap. Max. Bib. 
 vet. Patrum, torn. ix. p. 1677. 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. ii. 36. : " Quia desiderium tuum est ut Francorum 
 dominatio possideat terrain banc," said the Gotbs who deprived 
 Quintianus, Bishop of Rodez. 
 
Chap. II.] BATTLE OF VOUGLE. 87 
 
 his terrible and implacable foe, in the vain hope of 
 receiving assistance from the Ostrogoths. He halted 
 at last in the plains of Vougl6, behind Poitiers, but 
 even then rather in compliance with the wishes of his 
 soldiers than from his own deliberate judgment. His 
 soldiers, drawn from a generation as yet unacquainted 
 with war, and full of that overweening confidence 
 which results from inexperience, were eager to meet 
 the enemy. Treachery, also, was at work to prevent 
 him from adopting the only means of safety, which 
 lay in deferring as long as possible the too unequal 
 contest. The Franks came on with their usual impe- 
 tuosity, and with a well-founded confidence in their 
 own prowess ; and the issue of the battle was in ac- 
 cordance with the auspices on either side. Clovis, 
 no less strenuous in actual fight than wise and 
 cunning in council, exposed himself to every danger, 
 and fought hand to hand with Alaric himself. Yet 
 the latter was not slain in the field, but in the dis- 
 orderly flight into which the Goths were quickly 
 driven. 1 The victorious Franks pursued them as far 
 as Bordeaux, where Clovis passed the winter, while 
 Theocleric, his son, was overrunning Auvergne, 
 Quincy, and Rovergne. The Goths, whose new king 
 was a minor, made no further resistance ; and in the 
 following year the Salian chief took possession of the 
 royal treasure at Toulouse. 2 He also took the town 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 37. : tC Cumque secundum consuetudinem Gothi 
 terga vertissent." Greg. Epit. per Fredeg. 25. 
 
 2 Ibid. : "Cui (Clodoveo) Dorninus tan tarn gratiam tribuit, ut in 
 ejus contemplatione rauri sponte conruerent." 
 
 g 4 
 
88 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 of Angouleme, at the capture of which he was doubly 
 rewarded for his services to the Church, for not only 
 did the inhabitants of that place rise in his favour 
 against the Visigothic garrison, but the very walls, 
 like those of Jericho, fell down at his approach ! ! 
 
 a.d. 508. A short time after these events, Clovis 
 received the titles and dignity of Roman Patricius 
 and Consul from the Greek Emperor Anastasius ; who 
 appears to have been prompted to this act more by 
 motives of jealousy and hatred towards Theoderic the 
 Ostrogoth, than by any love he bore the restless and 
 encroaching Frank. 2 The meaning of these obsolete 
 titles, as applied to those who stood in no direct rela- 
 tion to either division of the Roman Empire, has 
 never been sufficiently explained. We are at first 
 surprised that successful warriors and powerful 
 kings like Clovis, Pepin, and Charlemagne himself, 
 should condescend to accept such empty honours at 
 the hands of the miserable eunuch-ridden monarchs 
 of the East. That the Byzantine Emperors should 
 affect a superiority over contemporary sovereigns is 
 intelligible enough ; the weakest idiot among them, 
 
 1 In the Gesta Francor. xvii. (ap. Bouquet, ii. p. 555.) we are 
 told that Clovis returned to Tours and enriched the church of St. 
 Martin with many costly presents. Among other things he had 
 given a horse, which he wished to repurchase, and sent 100 solids 
 for that purpose. " Quibus datis equus ille nulla tenus se movit. 
 At ille (Chlodoveus) ait : ' Date illis alios centum solidos ; ' cumquc 
 alios solidos dedissent, statim ipse equus solutus abiit. Tunc 
 cum laetitia Rex ait : ' Vere B. Martinus bonus est in auxilio, 
 sed carus in negotio.'" 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. ii. 38. 
 
Chap. II.] CLOVIS CREATED PATRICIUS OF ROME. 89 
 
 who lived at the mercy of his women and his slaves, 
 had never resigned one tittle of his pretensions to that 
 universal empire which an Augustus and a Trajan 
 once possessed. But whence the acquiescence of 
 Clovis and his great successors in this arrogant as- 
 sumption ? We may best account for it by remarking 
 how long the prestige of power survives the strength 
 that gave it. The sun of Rome was set, but the 
 twilight of her greatness still rested on the world. 
 The German kin^s and warriors received with 
 pleasure, and wore with pride, a title which brought 
 them into connection with that imperial city, of 
 whose universal dominion, of whose skill in arms 
 and arts, the traces lay everywhere around them. 
 
 Nor was it without some solid advantages in the cir- 
 cumstances in which Clovis was placed. He ruled 
 over a vast population, which had not long ceased to be 
 subjects of the Empire, and still rejoiced in the Roman 
 name. He fully appreciated their intellectual supe* 
 riority, and had already experienced the value of their 
 assistance. Whatever, therefore, tended to increase 
 his personal dignity in their eyes (and no doubt the 
 solemn proclamation of his Roman titles had this 
 tendency) was rightly deemed by him of no small im- 
 portance. 
 
 In the same year that he was invested with the 
 diadem and purple robe in the church of St. Martin 
 at Tours the encroaching Franks had the southern 
 and eastern limits of their kingdom marked out 
 for them by the powerful hand of Theoderic 
 the Great. The brave but peace-loving Goth had 
 
90 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IT, 
 
 trusted too much to his influence with Clovis, and 
 had hoped to the last to save the unhappy Alaric, 
 by warning and mediation. The slaughter of the 
 Visigoths, the death of Alaric himself, the fall 
 of Angouleme and Toulouse, the advance of the 
 Franks upon the Rhone, where they were now be- 
 sieging Aries, had effectually undeceived him. He 
 now prepared to bring forward the only arguments 
 to which the ear of a Clovis is ever open, — the 
 battle-cry of a superior army. His faithful Ostro- 
 goths were summoned to meet in the month of June, 
 a. d. 508, and he placed a powerful army under the 
 command of Eva (Ibba or Hebba), who led his forces 
 into Gaul over the southern Alps. The Franks and 
 Burgundians, who were investing Aries and Car- 
 cassonne, raised the siege and retired, but whether 
 without or in consequence of a battle, is rendered 
 doubtful by the conflicting testimony of the 
 annalists. The subsequent territorial position of 
 the combatants, however, favours the account that a 
 battle did take place, in which Clovis and his allies 
 received a most decided and bloody defeat. 1 
 
 The check thus given to the extension of his 
 kingdom at the expense of other German nations, 
 and the desire perhaps of collecting fresh strength 
 for a more successful struggle hereafter, seem to 
 
 1 Jornandes, c. 58., speaks of a battle in which the Franks and 
 their allies lost 30,000 men : " Nunquam Gothus Francis cessit, 
 dum viveret Theodericus. . . . Non minus tropliseum de 
 Francis per Hibbam suum Comitem in Galliis acquisivit plus 
 xxx millibus Francorum in proelio caesis." 
 
Chap. II.] SIGEEERT OF COLOGNE. 91 
 
 have induced Clovis to turn his attention to the 
 destruction of his Merovingian kindred. The 
 manner in which he effected his purpose is related 
 with a fulness which naturally excites suspicion. 
 But though it is easy to detect both absurdity and 
 inconsistency in many of the romantic details with 
 which Gregory has furnished us, Ave see no reason 
 to deny to his statements a foundation of historical 
 truth. 
 
 Clovis was still but one of several Frankish kings; 
 and of these Sigebert of Cologne, king of the Ri- 
 puarians, was little inferior to him in the extent of 
 his dominions and the number of his subjects. But 
 in other respects — in mental activity and bodily 
 prowess — " the lame" Sigebert was no match for his 
 Salian brother. 1 The other Frankish rulers were, Cha- 
 rarich, of whom mention has been made in connection 
 with Syagrius, and Ragnachar (or Ragnachas), who 
 held his court at Cambrai. The kingdom of Sigebert 
 extended along both banks of the Rhine, from Mayence 
 down to Cologne ; to the west along the Moselle as 
 far as Treves ; and on the east to the river Fulda 
 and the borders of Thuringia. The Franks who 
 occupied this country are supposed to have taken 
 possession of it in the reign of Valentinian III., when 
 Mayence, Cologne, and Treves, were conquered by a 
 host of Ripuarians. Sigebert, as we have seen, 
 had come to the aid of Clovis, in two very important 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 37. He was lame from a wound received at 
 the battle of Ziilpich. 
 
92 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 battles with the Alemanni and the Visigoths, and 
 had shown himself a ready and faithful friend when- 
 ever his co-operation was required. But gratitude 
 was not included among the graces of the cham- 
 pion of Catholicity, who only waited for a suitable 
 opportunity to deprive his ally of throne and life. 
 The present juncture was favourable to his wishes, 
 and enabled him to rid himself of his benefactor 
 in a manner peculiarly suited to his taste. An 
 attempt to conquer the kingdom of Cologne by force 
 of arms would have been but feebly seconded by 
 his own subjects, and would have met with a stout 
 resistance from the Ripuarians, who were conscious 
 of no inferiority to the Salian tribe. His efforts 
 were therefore directed to the destruction of the 
 royal house, the downfall of which was hastened by 
 internal divisions. Clotaire (or Clotarich), the ex- 
 pectant heir of Sigebert, weary of hope deferred, 
 gave a ready ear to the hellish suggestions of Clovis, 
 who urged him, by the strongest appeals to his 
 ambition and cupidity, to the murder of his father. 1 
 Sigebert was slain by his own son in the Buchonian 
 Forest near Fulda. The wretched parricide en- 
 deavoured to secure the further connivance of his 
 tempter, by offering him a share of the blood-stained 
 treasure he had acquired. But Clovis, whose part 
 in the transaction was probably unknown, affected 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 40. : " Cum autem Chlodovechus Rex apud 
 Parisios moraretur, misit clam ad filium Sigiberti, dicens, 'Ecce 
 pater tuus senuit, et pede debili claudicat. Si ille, inquit, morere- 
 tur, recte tibi cum amicitia nostra regnum illius redderetur.' 
 
Chap. II.] CLOVIS ELECTED KING OF RIPUARIANS. 93 
 
 a feeling of horror at the unnatural crime, and 
 procured the immediate assassination of Clotaire ; 
 an act which rid him of a rival, silenced an em- 
 barrassing accomplice, and tended rather to raise 
 than to lower him in the opinion of the Ripuarians. 
 It is not surprising, therefore, that when Clovis 
 proposed himself as the successor of Sigebert, and 
 promised the full recognition of all existing rights, 
 his offer should be joyfully accepted. In a. d. 509 
 he was elected king by the Ripuarians, and raised 
 upon a shield in the city of Cologne, according to the 
 Frankish custom, amid general acclamation. 
 
 " And thus/' sa}^s Gregory of Tours, in the same 
 chapter in which he relates the twofold murder of 
 his kindred, " God daily prostrated his enemies before 
 him and increased his kingdom, because he walked 
 before him with an upright heart, and did what was 
 pleasing in his eyes ! " x — so completely did his services 
 to the Catholic Church conceal his moral deformities 
 from the eyes of even the best of the ecclesiastical 
 historians. 
 
 To the destruction of his next victim, Chararich, 
 whose power was far less formidable than that of 
 Sigebert, he was impelled by vengeance as well as 
 ambition. That cautious prince, instead of joining 
 the other Franks in their attack upon Syagrius, had 
 stood aloof and waited upon fortune. Yet we can 
 hardly attribute the conduct of Clovis towards him 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 40. . " Prosttrnebat enim quotidie Deus hostes 
 ejus sub manu ipsius, et augebat regnura ejus, eo quod arabularet 
 recto corde coram eo, et faceret quae placita erant in oculis ejus." 
 
94 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 chiefly to revenge, for his most faithful ally had been 
 his earliest victim ; and friend and foe were alike to 
 him, if they did but cross the path of his ambition. 
 After getting possession of Chararich and his son, by 
 tampering with their followers, Clovis compelled 
 them to cut off their royal locks and become priests; 
 subsequently, however, he caused them to be put to 
 death. 
 
 Ragnachar of Cambrai, whose kingdom lay to the 
 north of the Somme, and extended through Flanders 
 and Artois, might have proved a more formidable 
 antagonist, had he not become unpopular among his 
 own subjects by the disgusting licentiousness of his 
 manners. l The account which Gregory gives of the 
 manner in which his ruin was effected is more curious 
 than credible, and adds the charge of swindling to the 
 black list of crimes recorded against the man who 
 " walked before God with an upright heart." Ac- 
 cording to the historian, Clovis bribed the followers 
 of Ragnachar with armour of gilded iron, which they 
 mistook, as he intended they should, for gold. 
 Having thus crippled by treachery the strength of 
 his enemy, Clovis led an army over the Somme, for 
 the purpose of attacking him in his own territory. 
 Ragnachar prepared to meet him, but was betrayed by 
 his own soldiers and delivered into the hands of the 
 invader. Clovis, with facetious cruelty, reproached 
 the fallen monarch for having disgraced their common 
 family by suffering himself to be bound, and then 
 
 1 Hincmar, Vit. S. Eemig. Acta Sanctor. i. p. 149. 
 
Chat. II.] CLOVIS AND HIS KINSMEN. 95 
 
 split his skull with an axe. The same absurd charge 
 was brought against Kichar, the brother of Ragnachar, 
 and the same punishment inflicted on him. A third 
 brother was put to death at Mans. 
 
 Gregory refers, though not by name, to other kings 
 of the same family, who were all destroyed by Clovis. 
 " Having killed many other kings," he says, u who 
 were his kinsmen, because he feared they might de- 
 prive him of his power, he extended his kingdom 
 through the whole of Gaul." He also tells us that 
 the royal hypocrite, having summoned a general 
 assembly, complained before it, with tears in his eyes, 
 that he was " alone in the world." " Alas, for me ! " 
 he said, u I am left as an alien among strangers, and 
 have no relations who can assist me." This he did, 
 according to Gregory, " not from any real love of his 
 kindred, or from remorse at the thought of his crimes, 
 but that he might find out any more relations and 
 put them also to death." 1 
 
 Clovis died at Paris, in a. d. 511, in the forty- 
 fifth year of his age and the thirtieth of his active, 
 blood-stained, and eventful reign. He lived there- 
 fore only five years after the decisive battle of 
 
 Vougl£. 
 
 Did we not know, from the judgment he passes on 
 other characters in his history, that Gregory of Tours 
 was capable of appreciating the nobler and gentler 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 41, 42, 43. We are here reminded of the sen- 
 timental Frenchman, who, having been condemned to death for the 
 murder of his father and mother, besought the judge to have pity 
 on a poor orphan. 
 
96 THE FRANKS. [Chap. II. 
 
 qualities of our nature, we might easily imagine, as 
 we read what he says of Clovis, that, Christian bishop 
 as he was, he had an altogether different standard of 
 right and wrong from ourselves. Not a single 
 virtuous or generous action has the panegyrist found 
 to record of his favoured hero, while all that he does 
 relate of him tends to deepen our conviction that 
 this favourite of Heaven, in whose behalf miracles 
 were freely worked, whom departed saints led on 
 to victory, and living ministers of God delighted to 
 honour, was quite a phenomenon of evil in the moral 
 world, from his combining in himself the opposite 
 and apparently incompatible vices of the meanest 
 treachery, and the most audacious wickedness. 
 
 We can only account for this amazing obliquity of 
 moral vision in such a man as Gregory, by ascribing 
 it to the extraordinary value attached in those times 
 (and would that we could say in those times only) to 
 external acts of devotion, and to every service ren- 
 dered to the Roman Church. If, in far happier ages 
 than those of which we speak, the most polluted con- 
 sciences have purchased consolation and even hope, by 
 building churches, endowing monasteries, and paying 
 reverential homage to the dispensers of God's mercy, 
 can we wonder that the extraordinary services of a 
 Clovis to Catholic Christianity should 'cover even his 
 foul sins as with a cloak of snow ? 
 
 He had, indeed, without the slightest provocation, 
 deprived a noble and peaceable neighbour of his power 
 and life. He had treacherously murdered his royal 
 kindred, and deprived their children of their birth- 
 
Chap. II.] HIS SERVICES TO CHUKCH AND STATE. 97 
 
 right. He had on all occasions shown himself the 
 heartless ruffian, the greedy conqueror, the blood- 
 thirsty tyrant ; but by his conversion he had led the 
 way to the triumph of Catholicism ; he had saved 
 the Roman Church from the Scylla and Charybdis of 
 Heresy and Paganism, planted it on a rock in the 
 very centre of Europe, and fixed its doctrines and 
 traditions in the hearts of the conquerors of the 
 West. 
 
 Other reasons, again, may serve to reconcile the 
 politician to his memory. The importance of the task 
 which he performed (though from the basest motives), 
 and the influence of his reign on the destinies of 
 Europe can hardly be overrated. He founded the 
 monarchy on a firm and enduring basis. He levelled, 
 with a strong though bloody hand, the barriers which 
 separated Franks from Franks, and consolidated a 
 number of isolated and hostile tribes into a powerful 
 and united nation. It is true, indeed, that this unity 
 was soon disturbed by divisions of a different nature ; 
 yet the idea of its feasibility and desirableness was 
 deeply fixed in the national mind ; a return to it 
 was often aimed at, and sometimes accomplished. 
 
 it 
 
98 THE FRANKS. [Chap. 111. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 FROM TIIE DEATH OF CLOVIS TO THE DEATH OF CLO- 
 TAIRE I., SOLE MONARCH OF THE FRANKS. 
 
 A.D. 511 — 561. 
 
 There can be no stronger evidence of the strength 
 and consistency which the royal authority had at- 
 tained in the hands of Clovis, than the peaceful and 
 undisputed succession of his sons to the vacant throne. 
 It would derogate from our opinion of the political 
 sagacity of Clovis, were we to attribute to his 
 personal wishes the partition of his kingdom among 
 his four sons. We have no account, moreover, of any 
 testamentary dispositions made by him to this effect, 
 and are justified in concluding that the division took 
 place in accordance with the general laws of inhe- 
 ritance which then prevailed among the Germans. 
 However clearly he may have foreseen the disastrous 
 consequences of destroying the unity which it had 
 been one object of his life to effect, his posthu- 
 mous influence would hardly have sufficed to recon- 
 cile his younger sons to their own exclusion, sup- 
 ported as they would naturally be by the national 
 sympathy in the unusual hardship of their lot. 
 
 Of the four sons of Clovis, Theoderic (Dietrich, 
 Thierry), Clodomir, Childebert, and Clotar (Clotaire), 
 
Chap. III.] DIVISION OF FKANKISH EMPIUE. 99 
 
 the eldest, who was then probably about twenty-four 
 years of age, was the son of an unknown mother, and 
 the rest, the offspring of the Burgundian princess 
 Clothildis. The first use they made of the royal 
 power which had descended to them was to divide 
 the empire into four parts ; in which division, though 
 Gregory describes them as sharing " aequa lance," l 
 the eldest son appears to have had the lion's share. 2 
 We should in vain endeavour to understand the prin- 
 ciples on which this partition was made, and it is no 
 easy matter to mark the limits of the several kingdoms. 
 Theoderic, King of Austrasia (orMetz), for example, 
 obtained the whole of the Frankish territories which 
 bordered on the Rhine, and also some provinces in 
 the south of Gaul. His capital cities were Metz and 
 Itheims, from the former of which his kingdom took 
 its name. Clodomir had his residence at Orleans, 
 Childebert at Paris, and Clotaire at Soissons ; and 
 these three cities were considered as the capitals of the 
 three divisions of the empire over which they ruled. 3 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 1. 
 
 2 This may be explained by supposing that Theoderic, in the 
 military expeditions he conducted during his father's reign, ac- 
 quired land on his own account. 
 
 3 Clodomir had the central parts of the modern France, an- 
 swering nearly to Beance, Anjou, Touraine and Berri. Childe- 
 bert had the lands along the sea from modern Picardy to the 
 Pyrenees, with the exception of Lower Bretagne, which was still 
 in a semi-dependent state. Clotaire's kingdom lay between 
 Normandy, Champagne, the sea, and the Scheldt. Theoderic 
 had all the possessions of Clovis along the Rhine, Moselle, and 
 Meuse ; also the Belgica Prima (the territory about Treves, 
 Metz, Toul, and Verdun), and a large pnrt of Belgica Secnnda, 
 
 n 2 
 
100 THE FRANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 The exact position and limits of their respective ter- 
 ritories cannot be defined with any certainty, but we 
 may fairly surmise, from the position of the towns 
 above mentioned, that the middle part of Neustria 
 belonged to the kingdom of Paris, the southern part 
 to Orleans, and the north-eastern to Soissons. 
 
 The kingdom of Theoderic, as will be seen by 
 a reference to the map, corresponded in a great 
 measure with the region subsequently called Aus- 
 trasia (Eastern Land) in contradistinction to Neu- 
 stria, which included the more recently acquired 
 possessions of the Franks. These terms are so 
 frequently used in the subsequent history, and the 
 distinction they denote was so strongly marked and 
 has been so permanent, that an explanation of them 
 cannot but be useful to the reader. 
 
 It is conjectured by Luden, with great probability, 
 that the Ripuarians were originally called the Eastern 
 people to distinguish them from the Salian Franks 
 who lived to the west. But when the old home of the 
 conquerors on the right bank of the Rhine was united 
 with their new settlements in Gaul, the latter, as it 
 would seem, were called Neustria or Neustrasia (New 
 Lands); while the term Austrasia came to denote 
 the original seats of the Franks, on what we now call 
 the German bank of the Rhine. The most important 
 difference between thein (a difference so great as to 
 lead to their permanent separation into the kingdoms 
 
 or the country about Rheims and Chalons-sur-Marne ; also a 
 part of Aquitania, including the modern Albigeois, Overci, and 
 Auvergne. 
 
Chap. III.] AUSTRASIA AND NEUSTRIA. 101 
 
 of France and Germany by the treaty of Verdun) was 
 this, that in Neustria the Frankish element was 
 quickly absorbed by the mass of Gallo-Romanism by 
 which it was surrounded ; while in Austrasia, which 
 included the ancient seats of the Frankish conquerors, 
 the German element was wholly predominant. 
 
 The import of the word Austrasia (Austria, Aus- 
 trifrancia) is very fluctuating. In its widest sense it 
 was used to denote all the countries incorporated into 
 the Frankish Empire, or even held in subjection to 
 it, in which the German language and population 
 prevailed ; in this acceptation it included therefore 
 the territory of the Alemanni, Bavarians, Thurin- 
 oians, and even that of the Saxons and Frises. In its 
 more common and proper sense it meant that part 
 of the territory of the Franks themselves which was 
 not included in Neustria. It was subdivided into 
 Upper Austrasia on the Moselle, and Lower Austra- 
 sia on the Rhine and Meuse. 
 
 Neustria (or, in the fulness of the Monkish La- 
 tinity, Neustrasia) was bounded on the north by the 
 ocean, on the south by the Loire, and on the south- 
 west towards Burgundy by a line which, beginning 
 below Gien on the Loire, ran through the rivers 
 Loing and Yonne, not far from their sources, and 
 passing north of Auxerre and south of Troyes, 
 joined the river Aube above Arcis. The western 
 boundary line again by which Neustria was separated 
 from Austrasia, commencing at the river Aube, 
 crossed the Marne to the east of Chateau Thierry, 
 
 H 3 
 
102 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IIT. 
 
 and passing through the rivers Aisne and Oise, and 
 round the sources of the Somme, left Cambrai on the 
 east, and reached the Scheldt, which it followed to 
 its mouth. 
 
 The tide of conquest had not reached its height 
 at the death of Clovis. Even in that marauding age 
 the Franks were conspicuous among the German races 
 for their love of warlike adventure ; and the union of 
 all their different tribes under one martial leader, who 
 kept them almost perpetually in the field, gave them 
 a strength which none of their neighbours were able 
 to resist. The partition of the kingdom afforded in- 
 deed a favourable opportunity to the semi-dependent 
 states of throwing off the yoke which Clovis had im- 
 posed ; but neither the Burgundians nor the Visigoths 
 were in a condition to make the attempt, and Theo- 
 deric, the powerful king of the Ostrogoths, was too 
 much occupied by his quarrel with the Greek Empe- 
 ror to take advantage of the death of Clovis. Under 
 these circumstances the Franks, so far from losing 
 ground, were enabled to extend the limits of their 
 empire and more firmly to establish their supremacy. 
 The power of Theoderic the Great prevented 
 Clovis from completing the conquest of Burgundy, 
 and its rulers regained before his death a virtual in- 
 dependence of the Franks. The sons of Clovis only 
 wanted a favourable opportunity for finishing the 
 work which their father had begun, and for changing 
 the merely nominal subjection of Burgundy into ab- 
 solute dependence. And here again it was internal 
 
Chat. III.] SIGERIC MURDERED BY HIS FATHER. 103 
 
 dissension which prepared the way for the admission 
 of the foreign enemy. 
 
 Gundobald, King of Burgundy, died in a.d. 517, 
 leaving two sons, Sigismund and Godomar, as joint 
 successors to his throne. The former of these had 
 married Ostrogotha, a daughter of Theodoric the 
 Great, by whom he had one son, Sigeric. On the 
 death of Ostrogotha, Sigismund took as his second 
 wife a person of low and even menial condition, 
 who pursued the son of the former queen with 
 all the hatred popularly ascribed to step-mothers. 1 
 Gregory relates that the boy increased the bitter- 
 ness of her feelings against him by reproaching 
 her for appearing on some solemn occasion in 
 the robe and ornaments of his high-born mother. 
 The new queen sought to revenge herself by ex- 
 citing the jealousy of her husband against his son. 
 She secretly accused Sigeric of engaging in a 
 plot to obtain the crown for himself and represented 
 him as having been moved to this dangerous and 
 unnatural enterprise by the hopes he cherished of 
 receiving aid from his mighty grandfather. This 
 last suggestion found but too ready an entrance into 
 the heart of Sigismund, and so completely poisoned 
 for the time its natural springs, that he ordered 
 Sigeric to be put to death. Inevitable remorse 
 came quickly, yet too late, and the wretched king- 
 buried himself in the monastery of St. Maurice, 
 and sought to atone for his fearful crime by say- 
 
 1 " Sicut novercaruni mos est," — Greg. Tur. iii. 5. 
 
 h 4 
 
104 THE FRANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 ing masses day and night for the soul of his mur- 
 dered son. 
 
 In the meantime Clothildis, the widow of Clovis, 
 herself a Burgundian princess, who had lived in 
 retirement at the church of St. Martin since her 
 husband's death, did all in her power to rouse her 
 sons to take vengeance on her cousin Si^ismund. 1 
 It is difficult to conjecture the source of the feeling 
 which thus disturbed her holy meditations in the 
 cloisters of St. Martin's, and filled her heart with 
 schemes of revenge and bloodshed. We can hardly 
 attribute her excitement on this occasion to a keen 
 sense of the cruelty and injustice which Sigeric had 
 suffered. The wife of Clovis must have been too well 
 inured to treachery and blood to be greatly moved by 
 the murder of her second cousin. Some writers have 
 found sufficient explanation of her conduct in the fact 
 that her own father and mother had been put to death 
 in a. d. 492 by Gundobald, the father of Sigismund. 
 But we know that when Gundobald was defeated by 
 Clovis he obtained easy terms, nor was the murder of 
 Clothildis 7 parents brought against him on that oc- 
 casion. It is not likely that a thirst for vengeance 
 which such an injury might naturally excite, after 
 remaining unslaked in the heart of Clothildis for 
 nearly thirty years, should have revived with increased 
 intensity on account of a murder committed by one 
 of the hated race upon his own kinsman. A more 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 6. : " Non me poeniteat carissimi vos dulciter 
 enutrisse. Indignaraini, quceso, injuriam meam, et patris matrisque 
 mere mortem sagaci studio vindicate." 
 
Chap. III.] DEFEAT AND CAPTURE OF SIGISMUND. 105 
 
 probable motive is suggested by a passage in Gregory 
 of Tours, in which he informs us that Theoderic of 
 Metz had married Suavegotta a daughter of Sigis- 
 mund of Burgundy. 1 Theoderic, as we have said, was 
 the eldest son of Clovis, by an unknown mother, and 
 was evidently the most warlike and powerful of the 
 four Prankish kings. A union between her stepson 
 and the Burgundian dynasty might seem to Clothildis 
 to threaten the welfare and safety of her own sons, to 
 whom her summons to arms appears to have been 
 most particularly addressed. Theoderic took no part 
 in the present war; and on a subsequent occasion, 
 when invited by Clodomir to join him in an expedition 
 against the Burgundians, he positively refused. 
 
 The sons of Clothildis, happy in being able to obey 
 their mother's wishes in a manner so gratifying to 
 their own inclinations, made a combined attack upon 
 Burgundy in a. d. 523. Sigismund and Godomar 
 his brother, were defeated, and the former, having 
 been given up to the conquerors by his own followers, 
 was carried prisoner to Orleans ; the latter escaped 
 and assumed the reins of government in Burgundy. 2 
 The Franks, like all barbarians of that age, found it 
 more easy to conquer a province than to keep it. In 
 the very same year, on the retreat of the Frankish 
 army, Godomar was able to retake all the towns 
 which had been surrendered to the Franks, and to 
 possess himself of his late brother's kingdom. 
 
 1 Greg, Tur. iii. 5. Conf. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fredeg. xxx\ i. 
 Fortunati Carm. (ap. Bouquet, ii. p. 497. note c). Frodoardus, 
 Hist. Remens. lib. ii. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iii. 6. 
 
106 THE FRANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 Clodomir renewed the invasion in the following 
 year. Before his departure he determined to put the 
 captive Sigismund, with his wife and children, to death; 
 nor could the bold intercession of the Abbot Avitus, 
 who threatened him with a like calamity, deter him 
 from his bloody purpose. His answer to the abbot 
 is highly naive. " It seems to me/' he said, " a foolish 
 piece of advice to leave some enemies at home 
 while I am marching against others, so that, with the 
 former in the rear and the latter in front, I may rush 
 between the two wedges of my enemies. Victory 
 will be better and more easily obtained by separating 
 one from the other." In accordance with this better 
 plan, he caused his captives to be put to death at 
 Columna near Orleans, and thrown into a well. 1 After 
 thus securing " his rear," he marched against the 
 Burgundians. In the battle which took place on the 
 plain of Veferonce near Yienne, Clodomir was deceived 
 by a feigned retreat of the Burgundian army, and, 
 having been carried in the impetuosity of his pursuit 
 into the midst of the enemy, he was recognised by the 
 royal length of his hair and slain on the field of battle. 2 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 6. : " Statimque interfeclo Sigismundo cum 
 uxore et filiis, apud Columnam Aurelianensis urbis vicum in puteum 
 jactari prascipiens." Gibbon (c. xxxviii.), says: " The captive 
 monarch, with his wife and children, were transported to Orleans 
 and buried alive in a deep well! " 
 
 2 Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fredeg. xxxvi. Agathias, lib. i. 
 
 p. 14. A. : . . . TTEUOVTOQ 0£ CIVTOV, EWElCr) T))^ KOfJLl]y 01 V>OVpyOv£'t<i)ViQ 
 
 Ka6Eif.iu'r)v ko.1 atyerov kdeacravTO kcu }J-i\pi rov fiETCKbpiyov ktyctXacr- 
 p.El'Y)V 
 
Chap. III.] DEATH OF CLODOMIR. 107 
 
 The loss of their leader, however, instead of causing a 
 panic among the Franks, inspired them with irresist- 
 ible fury ; they quickly routed the Burgundians, and, 
 after devastating their country with indiscriminate 
 slaughter, compelled them once more to submission. 1 
 Yet it was not until after a third invasion that 
 Burgundy was finally reduced to the condition of a 
 Frankish province, and even then it retained its own 
 laws and customs ; the only marks of subjection con- 
 sisting in an annual tribute and the liability to serve 
 the Frankish king in his wars. 
 
 On the death of Clodomir, his territories were 
 divided among the three remaining kings ; and 
 Clotaire, the youngest of them, married the widowed 
 queen Guntheuca. The children of Clodomir, being 
 still young, appear to have been taken no notice of 
 in the partition : they found an asylum with their 
 grandmother Clothildis. 2 
 
 While his half-brothers were enlarging the Frank- 
 ish frontier towards the south-east, Theoderic, 
 who had declined to join in the attack upon Bur- 
 gundy, was directing his attention towards Thu- 
 ringia 3 , which he ultimately added to the kingdom 
 of Austrasia. The accession of the Thuringians to 
 the Frankish Empire was the more important be- 
 cause they inhabited those ancient seats from which 
 the Franks themselves had gone forth to the con- 
 
 1 Gre"*. Tur. iii. 6> Gesta Francor. xxi. (ap. Bouquet, ii. 
 p. 556.) : "Apuero usque ad senes omnes perenierunt.'' 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iii. 6. 
 
 3 The present Saxon Duchies and Saxon Prussia. 
 
103 THE FRANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 quest of Gaul, and because it served to give ad- 
 ditional strength to the Austrasian kingdom, in 
 which the German element prevailed. 
 
 The fall of Thuringia is traced by the historian 
 to the ungovernable passions of one of the female 
 sex, which plays so prominent a part in the history 
 of these times. 
 
 About a. d. 528, this kingdom was governed by 
 three princes, Baderic, Hermenfried and Berthar, 
 the second of whom had the high honour, as it 
 was naturally considered, of espousing Amalaberg, 
 the niece of Theoderic the Great. The " happy 
 Thuringia," however, derived anything but advan- 
 tage from the " inestimable treasure" which, ac- 
 cording to her uncle's account of her, it acquired 
 in the Ostrogothic princess. 1 This lady was not 
 unconscious of the dignity she derived from her 
 august relative, and fretted within the narrow 
 limits of the fraction of a petty kingdom. Gregory 
 tells us a singular story of the manner in which she 
 marked her contempt of the possessions of her 
 husband, and at the same time betrayed her ambi- 
 tious desires. 2 On returning home one day to a 
 
 1 Cassiodor. Epist, var. lib. iv. epist. 1. Theoderic the Great, 
 when committing her to the care of Hermenfried, writes thus : 
 " Habebit felix Thoringia, quod nutrivit Italia literis doctam, 
 moribus eruditam, decoram non solum genere quantum et fceminea 
 dignitate, ut non minus patria vestra istius splendeat moribus 
 quam suis triumphis." 
 
 2 Gregory of Tours and Fredegar more justly call her " Uxor 
 iniqua atque crudelis " and " nequissima." 
 
Chap. III.] DISSENSIONS IN THURINGIA. 109 
 
 banquet, Hermenfried observed that a part of the 
 table had no cloth upon it; and when he inquired of 
 the queen the reason of this unusual state of things, 
 she told him that it became a king who was despoiled 
 of the centre of his kingdom to have the middle of his 
 table bare. Excited by the suggestions of his queen, 
 Hermenfried determined to destroy his brothers, 
 and made secret overtures to Theoderic of Austrasia, 
 to whom he promised a portion of his expected ac- 
 quisitions on condition of receiving aid. Theoderic 
 gladly consented, and, in conjunction with Hermen- 
 fried, defeated and slew both Baderic and Berthar 
 (Werther). A man who, to serve his ambition, had 
 not shrunk from a double fratricide, was not likely 
 to be very scrupulous in observing his engagements 
 to a mere ally. He entirely forgot his promise to 
 Theoderic and kept the whole of Thuringia to him- 
 self. 1 He relied for impunity on his connection with 
 the ro} 7 al house of the Ostrogoths, his alliance with 
 the Heruli and Warni, and the great increase of his 
 strength in Thuringia itself. But with all these ad- 
 vantages he was no match for Theoderic of Austrasia 
 and his warlike subjects. The death of the latter's 
 great namesake removed the only obstacle which 
 had prevented the Franks from attacking Thuringia. 
 In a, d. 530 the Austrasian king summoned his war- 
 like subjects to march against Hermenfried ; and, 
 in order to make the ground of quarrel as general 
 as possible, he expatiated to them on some imaginary 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 4. 
 
110 TLLE THANKS. [Chap. IIL 
 
 cruelties committed by the Thuringians upon their 
 countrymen. " Revenge," said he, " I pray you, both 
 the injury done to me, and the death of your own 
 fathers ; remembering that the Thuringians formerly 
 fell with violence upon our ancestors, and inflicted 
 many evils upon them, when they had given hostages 
 and were desirous of making peace ; but the Thu- 
 ringians destroyed these hostages in various ways, 
 and having invaded the territory of our forefathers, 
 robbed them of all their property, hung up young 
 men by the sinews of their legs, and destroyed more 
 than 200 maidens by a most cruel death." The 
 enumeration of all these horrors ends with some de- 
 gree of bathos: " But now Hermenfried has cheated 
 me of what he promised." l 
 
 The Franks, who required no very powerful 
 oratory to induce them to undertake an expedition 
 in which there was prospect of plunder, unanimously 
 declared for war ; and Theoderic, in company 
 with his son Theudebert and his brother Clotaire 
 of Soissons, marched into Thuringia. The inhabit- 
 ants endeavoured to protect themselves from the 
 superior cavalry of the invaders by a stratagem 
 similar to that employed by Robert Bruce at 
 Bannockburn, by digging small holes in front of 
 their own line. They were, however, compelled to 
 retreat to the river Unstrut in Saxon Prussia, 
 where they made a stand, but were defeated with 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 7. This historian does not tell us when or 
 why these cruelties were committed ! 
 
Chap. III.] REDUCTION OF THURINGIA BY THEODER1C. Ill 
 
 immense carnage, so that the river "was choked 
 with dead bodies, which served as a bridge for the 
 invaders." The whole country was quickly reduced 
 and permanently incorporated with Austrasia. And 
 thus, after a long interval, the Franks repossessed 
 themselves of the ancient homes of their tribe, and by 
 one great victory established themselves in the very 
 heart of Germany, which the Komans from the same 
 quarter had often, but vainly, endeavoured to do. 
 
 The growing separation between the German and 
 Romance elements in the Frankish Empire, as re- 
 presented by Theoderic, King of Metz, on the one 
 side, and his half-brother, on the other, becomes more 
 and more evident as our history proceeds. While 
 the sons of Clothildis were associated in almost every 
 undertaking, Theoderic frequently stood aloof, in a 
 manner which shows that his connection with them 
 was by no means of the same kind as theirs with 
 each other. The conquest of the purely German 
 Thuringia, was undertaken by Theoderic exclusively 
 on his own account and in reliance on his own 
 resources. Clotaire indeed accompanied him in his 
 expedition against that country, but in all proba- 
 bility without any military force, nor does he 
 appear to have put in any claim to a share of the 
 conquered territor)^. 1 The subjugation of Burgundy, 
 on the other hand, in which the Romance language 
 
 1 Theoderic is said during this very expedition to have made 
 a treacherous attempt on the life of his brother, which he would 
 hardly have ventured to do had Clotaire brought an army into 
 the, field. Greg. Tur. iii. 7. 
 
112 THE FRANKS. [Chai\ III. 
 
 and manners had acquired the ascendancy, was the 
 work of Clotaire and Childebert alone. Theoderic 
 w r as invited to join them, but refused on the ground 
 of his connection with the King of Burgundy. What- 
 ever may have been his reason for declining so 
 tempting an invitation, it was certainly not want of 
 support from his subjects, for we are told that they 
 were highly irritated by his refusal, and mutinously 
 declared that they would march without him. Yet he 
 adhered to his determination not to join his brothers, 
 and pacified the wrath of his soldiers by leading them 
 against the Arverni, in whose country they committed 
 the most frightful ravages, undismayed by several 
 astounding miracles ! 1 
 
 An inroad had been previously made upon the 
 Arverni, by Childebert, while Theoderic was still in 
 Thuringia. Childebert had suddenly broken off 
 from the prosecution of this war, and turned his 
 arms against Amalaric, King of the Visigoths, who 
 still retained a portion of Southern Gaul. This 
 monarch had married Clothildis, a daughter of Clovis, 
 from motives of interest and dread of the Frankish 
 power ; but appears to have thrown aside his fears, 
 and with them his conciliating policy, on the death 
 of his great father-in-law. 2 We are told that 
 Clothildis suffered the greatest indignities at the 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 12. 
 
 2 Procop. Goth. i. 13. (ap. Muratori Rer. Ital. Script, t. i.) : 
 "Rex autera Visigotbaruni Amalaricus adulta jam astate Ger- 
 manorum potentiam reformidans eorum Regis Theodeberti 
 (Childeberti ?) sororem in matrimonii! in duxit." 
 
Chap. HI.] VISIGOTHS DRIVEN FROM GAUL. 113 
 
 hands of Amalaric and his Arian subjects for her 
 faithful adherence to the Catholic Church. 1 Where 
 religious predilections are concerned, it is necessary 
 to receive the accounts of the dealings between the 
 Franks and their Arian neighbours with the utmost 
 caution. Few will believe that the object of Childe- 
 bert's march Avas solely to avenge his sister's wrongs ; 
 but the mention of them by the historian seems to 
 indicate that the invasion was made in reliance upon 
 Catholic support among the subjects of Amalaric 
 himself. The sudden resolution of Childebert (taken 
 probably on the receipt of important intelligence 
 from the country of the Visigoths), the rapid progress 
 and almost uniform success of the Franks, all point 
 to the same conclusion, that the Catholic party in 
 Southern Gaul was in secret understanding with the 
 invaders. Amalaric was defeated and slain in the 
 first encounter, and the whole of his Gallic posses- 
 sions, with the exception of Septimania, was incor- 
 porated without further resistance with the Frankish 
 Empire. The Visigoths, with their wives and 
 children, retired into Spain under their new king 
 
 Theudis. 
 
 Theoderic, King of Austrasia, died in a. d. 534, 
 after having added largely to the Frankish domi- 
 nions, and was succeeded by his son Theudebert. 2 
 An attempt on the part of his uncles Childebert and 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 10. Conf. Chron. Moiss. ad an. 531. (ap. Bou- 
 quet, ii. p. 650.). 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iii. 23. 
 
114 THE FRANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 Clotaire to deprive him of his kingdom and his life 
 was frustrated by the fidelity of his Austrasian sub- 
 jects. How venial and almost natural such a conspi- 
 racy appeared in that age, even to him who was to 
 have been the victim of it, may be inferred from the 
 fact that Theudebert and Childebert became soon 
 afterwards close friends and allies. The latter, 
 having no children, adopted his nephew, whose life 
 he had so lately sought, as the heir to his dominions, 
 and loaded him with the richest presents. 1 In a. d. 
 537 these two princes made a combined attack upon 
 Clotaire, who was only saved from destruction by the 
 intercession of his mother. That pious princess 
 passed a whole night in prayer at the sepulchre of 
 St. Martin, and Gregory tells us that the result of her 
 devotions — a miraculous shower of enormous hail- 
 stones — brought his cruel kinsmen to reason ! 2 
 
 The Empire of the Franks was soon after extended 
 in a direction in which they had hitherto found an 
 insurmountable barrier to their progress. On the 
 death of Theoderic the Great, or, as he is called 
 in song and legend, " Dietrich of Bern," the 
 sceptre which he had borne with such grace 
 and vigour passed into the hands of an infant 
 and a woman. The young and beautiful Amala- 
 
 i Greg. Tur. iii. 24. 
 
 2 Ibid. 28. : " Ipsi (Theudebert and Childebert) quoque super 
 infectam grandine humum in faciem proruunt, et a lapidibus 
 descendentibus graviter verberantur. Nullum enim illis tegumen 
 emanserat nisi parmoe tantum. . . . Tunc illi, ut dixiinus, a lapid- 
 ibus ccesi et humo prostrati, poenitentiam agebant . . . Super 
 Chlotachariam vero nerjue una quidem pluvicB gutta decklit /" 
 
CHAr. III.] AMALASUINTHA AND THEODATUS. 115 
 
 suintha 1 , daughter of Theoderic by the sister of 
 Clovis, and widow of Eutharic, exercised the royal 
 authority in the name of her son Athalaric 2 ; and 
 when the latter, prematurely exhausted by vicious 
 habits, followed his mighty grandfather to the 
 grave in a. d. 532 3 , she made Theodatus, son of 
 Amalafrida, the sister of Theoderic, her associate 
 in the royal power. The benefit was basely repaid. 
 Theodatus procured the murder of the unhappy 
 
 1 CassiodoriVita,) Pars Prima, s. 30.: "Amalasuntha pia imprimis 
 Regina." Greg, Tur. iii. 31. (Gregory of Tours gives an account of 
 Amalasuinth a entirely different from that of the Greek historian, and, 
 as far as we can judge, equally at variance with the truth): " Hasc 
 autem cum adulta facta esset. . . . relicto matris consilio quae ei 
 Regis filium providebat servum suum Traguilanem nomine accepit, 
 et cum eo ad civitatem, qua defensari possit aufugit." Gregory 
 then accuses her of poisoning her mother at the Lord's Supper, 
 and adds : " Nos vero Trinitatem in una aequalitate pariter et omni- 
 potentia confitentes etiam si mortiferum, bibamus in nomine Patris, 
 et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, veri atque incorruptibilis Dei, nihil nos 
 vocabit. Indignantes ergo Itali contra banc mulierem Theodadum 
 Regem Tusciae invitantes se Regem statuunt. Hie vero cum 
 didicisset quae meretrix ilia commiserat qualiter propter servum 
 quern acceperat in matrem extiterat parricida succenso vehementer 
 balneo earn in eodem cum una puella includi praecepit." The 
 bishop may have been blinded by the fact he mentions, that, 
 " Erant autem sub Ariana secta viventes" 
 
 2 Procop. Goth. i. 2. : ^A^aXaaovrda ce, u te tov 7raid6g kiri- 
 
 rpoirog ovcra, t)]V ap^y)v SiviceIto, ^vvecrEiog jj.ev teal ZiKaioavvqQ E7r\ 
 
 ttXeIgtoi' EXdovtra, Trjs Ce (frvffEiog eq ayav to appEvujwbv EvZEiKyvfiEvq. 
 
 Cassiod. Chron. A. D. 526. : " Infantulum adhuc vix decennem." 
 
 Jornand. Get. c. 59. 
 
 3 Procop. Goth i. 3, 4. : 'Ev tovtu> %e ^AraXapt^oQ eq KpanraXr^v 
 
 EfXTTE7TTlOKl^Q OpOV OVK EyOVfJElV VO(Jllf.ia.Tl flCtpCMTfJLOV ijXd). . . . YtTO 
 
 tov yjpovov tovtov ' ATaXapiyoq [iev rtj rocra) KaTa^iopardEiQ eteXevtjj- 
 
 rTEV, OKTlrt Tij UPXV £TTl{=> l( > v C ETt], 
 
 J 2 
 
116 THE FKANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 queen to whom lie owed his advancement x , and thus 
 drew down upon himself and his country the ven- 
 geance of all who were desirous of dismembering the 
 Empire of the Ostrogoths. Religious animosities, 
 which it had been the policy of the Arian but tolerant 
 Theoderic to sooth by the even-handed justice of 
 his administration, broke forth with destructive fury 
 under his feeble successors. The Roman subjects 
 of Theoderic's empire had not lost the pride, 
 although they had degenerated from the valour, of 
 their ancestors, and had never ceased to think it 
 shame and sin to be ruled by a barbarian monarch, 
 and that monarch, too, a heretic. They would 
 gladly have consented to forget their former jea- 
 lousies, and to unite themselves with the Eastern 
 Empire, especially when a temporary gleam of life 
 was thrown over its corrupt and dying frame by the 
 vigorous administration of Justinian. But, if it were 
 the will of Heaven that they should yield to a new 
 and more vigorous race, they wished at least to 
 have an orthodox master, who would not merely 
 protect their religious freedom, but agree with 
 their theological opinions. Their choice therefore 
 lay between Justinian and the Franks, who were 
 ever watching their opportunity to turn the errors 
 and divisions of their neighbours to their own 
 account. Justinian was the first to move; and, under 
 
 1 Marcellin. Chron. p. 52. : "Quo tempore Theodahadus, rex 
 Gothorum Amalasuentham reginam, creatricera suam de regno 
 pnlsam in insula laci Bulcinensis occidit. Cujus mortem Imperator 
 Justinianus lit doluit sic et ultus est." 
 
CiiAr. III.] THEODATUS BRIBES THE FRANKS. 117 
 
 the pretext of avenging the death of Amalasuintha, 
 he sent his celebrated general Belisarius to attack 
 Theodatus. The Franks beheld with joy the ap- 
 proaching struggle between their two mightiest rivals, 
 and prepared to take the advantageous position of 
 umpires. 
 
 Both Justinian and Theodatus were aware that 
 the Franks could turn the scale in favour of either 
 party, and both made the greatest efforts to con- 
 ciliate their aid. Justinian appealed to their natural 
 enmity against heretics and Goths, but deemed it 
 necessary to quicken their national and theological 
 antipathies by a large present of money, and still 
 larger promises. The Franks received the money 
 and promised the desired assistance the more 
 readily, as they felt themselves aggrieved by the 
 murder of a niece of Clovis. 1 Theodatus, on the 
 other hand, hearing that Belisarius was already on 
 his way to Sicily, endeavoured to ward off the 
 attack of the Franks by offering them the Gothic 
 possessions in Gaul and 2000 pounds' weight of 
 gold. The Franks were dazzled by the splendour of 
 the bribe, but Theodatus died before the bargain was 
 completed. 2 His general Vitisges, who was elected 
 to succeed him, called a council of the chiefs of the 
 Ostrogothic nation, and was strongly urged by them 
 
 1 Procop. Goth. i. 5. 13. 
 
 2 According to one account, Theodatus was put to death by 
 order of his own general and successor on the throne, Vitisges. 
 Jorn. de Regn. succ. p. 241. (ap. Murator. Ital. Rer. i.). 
 
 j 3 
 
118 TI1E FRANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 to fulfil the promises of Theodatus, and by sacri- 
 ficing a portion of the empire to secure the rest. 
 " In all other respects/' they said, " we are well 
 prepared ; but the Franks, our ancient enemies, are an 
 obstacle in our path." x The imminent peril in which 
 Vitisges stood rendered the sacrifice inevitable, and 
 the whole of the Ostrogothic possessions in Gaul 
 which lay between the Rhone, the Alps, and the 
 Mediterranean, as well as that part of Rha^tia which 
 Theoderic the Great had given to the Alemanni 
 after their defeat by Clovis, were transferred in full 
 sovereignty to the Franks. The Merovingian kings, 
 regardless of their former promises to Justinian, 
 divided the land and money among themselves and 
 promised their venal but efficient support to the 
 king of Italy. They stipulated, however, out of de- 
 licacy to the Greek Emperor, that they should not 
 march in person against Belisarius, but should be 
 allowed to send the subject Burgundians, or at all 
 events to permit them to go. 2 This seasonable rein- 
 forcement enabled the Ostrogoths to sack and plunder 
 Milan, in which exploit they received the willing assist- 
 ance of the Burgundians. In the following year, 
 a. d. 539, Theudebert himself, excited perhaps by the 
 alluring accounts he had heard of the booty taken 
 by his subjects in Italy, marched across the Alps at 
 
 1 (bpayyoi ce $]fj.~iv kinrolwv 'Itrravrai. — Procop. Goth. i. 13. 
 
 ' l Procop. Goth. ii. 12.: Ov <bpdyyu>v avruv aXXaBovpyovZiuvwy, 
 tov fj.i) coksIv ddiKetv rd fiao-iXewg 7rpdyfj.ara. 01 yap Bovpyovv£iweQ 
 edeXovaioi te teal avrcvofiu) yfxw^rj ov OEvdi&Epruj keXevovtl eVa/cou- 
 ovteq Ci$ev rw Xoytf) egteXXovto. 
 
Chap. III.] THEUDEBERT AND BELISANUS IN ITALY. 119 
 
 the head of 100,000 men. Vitisges and his Goths 
 had every reason to suppose that Theudebert came 
 to succour them, but Belisarius on his part hoped 
 much from the long feud between Goth and Frank. 
 Theudebert determined in his own way to be im- 
 partial. 1 He had promised to aid both parties, and 
 he had promised to make war on both ; and he 
 kept his word by attacking both, driving them from 
 the field of battle, and plundering their camps with 
 the greatest impartiality. A letter of remonstrance 
 from Belisarius would probably have had little 
 weight in inducing Theudebert to return, as he 
 did soon afterwards, had it not been backed by the 
 murmurs of the Franks themselves, who were suffer- 
 ing from an insufficient supply of food, and had lost 
 nearly one third of their numbers by dysentery. 2 
 
 Though our principal attention will be directed 
 to the actions of the Austrasian king, we may briefly 
 refer in this place to a hostile incursion into Spain, 
 made by Childebert and Clotaire, in A. d. 542. On 
 this occasion the town of Saragossa is represented 
 by Gregory as having been taken, not by the sword 
 and battle-axe of the Franks, but by the holy tunic 
 of St. Vincentius, borne by an army of women, clothed 
 in black mantles, with their hair dishevelled and 
 sprinkled with penitential ashes. The heretical Goths 
 no sooner caught sight of the tunic, and heard the 
 
 1 Procop. Goth. ii. 25. Procopius, in speaking of the Franks 
 on this occasion, says : "Eoti yap edvog tovto rd eg iz'lutlv o-^aXtpw- 
 rarov av6pu)7ru)y Inravru)}'. 
 
 2 Procop. Goth. ii. 25. 
 
 i 4 
 
120 THE FRANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 first notes of the holy hymns which were sung by 
 the female besiegers, than they fled in terror from 
 their city, and left it to be plundered by the ad- 
 vancing Franks. 
 
 As the object of this invasion was simply predatory, 
 the Franks soon after retired into Gaul with immense 
 booty, and the Goths resumed possession of their de- 
 vastated country. 1 
 
 While Italy was distracted by war, and with diffi- 
 culty defending itself from the attacks of Belisarius, 
 Theudebert took possession of several towns which 
 bordered upon Burgundy and Rhastia. Bucelinus, 
 the Duke of Alemannia, avIio fought in the army 
 of Theudebert, is said by Gregory to have conquered 
 " Lesser Italy," 2 by which he no doubt meant Li- 
 guria and Venetia. These provinces were added to 
 the Frankish dominions, the Ostrogoths only retain- 
 ing Brescia and Verona. 
 
 The cession of territory made to the Franks by 
 Vitisges as described above, was ratified by the 
 Emperor Justinian : and, as a further proof of the 
 growing influence of the Merovingian kings, we 
 may state, that in a. d. 540 they presided at the 
 games which were celebrated in the circus of Aries, 
 and caused coins of gold to be struck, bearing 
 their own image instead of that of the Roman em- 
 peror. 3 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 29. Ex Adonis Chron. ad an. 542 (ap. Bou- 
 quet, ii. p. 667.). 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iii. 32. Procop. Goth. iii. 33. 
 
 3 Procop. Goth. iii. 33. 
 
Chap. III.] THE BAVARIANS. 121 
 
 It is about this period that the Bavarians first 
 become known in history as tributaries of the Franks ; 
 but at what time they became so is matter of dispute. 
 From the previous silence of the annalists respecting 
 this people, we may perhaps infer that both they and 
 the Suabians remained independent until the fall of 
 the Ostrogothic Empire in Italy. The Gothic do- 
 minions were bounded on the north by Rhsetia and 
 Noricum ; and between these countries and the 
 Thuringians, who lived still further to the north, was 
 the country of the Bavarians and Suabians. Thuringia 
 had long been possessed by the Franks, Rhsetia was 
 ceded by Vitisges, King of Italy, and Venetia was 
 conquered by Theudebert. The Bavarians were 
 therefore, at this period, almost entirely surrounded 
 by the Frankish territories, in which position, con- 
 sidering the relative strength of either party, and the 
 aggressive and unscrupulous spirit of the stronger, 
 it was not possible that the weaker should preserve 
 its independence. Whenever they may have first 
 submitted to the yoke, it is certain that at the time 
 of Theudebert's death, or shortly after that event, 
 both Bavarians and Suabians (or Alemannians), had 
 become subjects of the Merovingian kings. And thus, 
 in the middle of the sixth century, and only sixty 
 years from the time when Clovis sallied forth from 
 his petty principality to attack Syagrius, the Frankish 
 kingdom attained to its utmost territorial greatness, 
 and was bounded by the Pyrenees and the Alps on 
 the southland on the north by the Saxons, more 
 impassable than either. 
 
122 THE FRANKS. [Chai>. III. 
 
 Theudebert died in A. d. 547 l , and was suc- 
 ceeded by his son Theodebald, a sickly and weak- 
 spirited boy, of whose brief and inglorious reign 
 there is little to relate. He died in a. d. 553, of 
 some disease inherent in his constitution, leaving no 
 children behind him. 2 His kingdom therefore re- 
 verted to his great uncles Childebert and Clotaire, the 
 former of whom was a feeble and childless old man, 
 while the latter, to use the language of Agathias, 
 " had only contracted his first wrinkles," 3 and was 
 blessed with four high-spirited and warlike sons. 
 Under these circumstances, Clotaire considered it safe 
 to claim the whole of his deceased nephew's kingdom; 
 and declared that it was useless to divide it with 
 Childebert, whose own possessions must shortly fall 
 to himself and his sons. To strengthen his claims 
 still further, he married Vultetrada, the widow of 
 Theodebald and daughter of Wacho, king of the 
 Longobards. For some reason or other (but hardly 
 from their objection to polygamy, since Clotaire had 
 actually had at least five wives, not all of whom could 
 be dead), the Christian bishops strongly opposed this 
 marriage. 4 It is not improbable that the fear of false 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iii. 37. Agath. i. p. 15. According to Agathias, 
 Theudebert was killed while hunting ; while in the Epitom. Hist. 
 Franc, per Fredeg. c. 46., he died vexatus afebre. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iv. 9. 
 
 Agathias, n. 51. B. : Kcu ovttu) Xlnv tyeyrjpciKEi wXijp aaov eg 
 irpu)TY]v pvrida. 
 
 4 Altogether we find mention made of seven wives of Clotaire. 
 
Chap. III.] CLOTAIRE DEFEATED BY THE SAXONS. 123 
 
 doctrine may have influenced them more than the 
 dread of immorality, and that their opposition in this 
 case, as in many subsequent ones, was founded upon 
 the fact that the new queen belonged to an Arian 
 family. 
 
 In the same year in which Theodebald died, Clo- 
 taire, King of Soissons, was involved in serious hosti- 
 lities with the Saxons, the only German tribe whom 
 the Franks could neither conquer nor overawe. In 
 a. d. 555, when forced into a battle with the Saxons 
 at Deutz, by the overweening confidence of his 
 followers, who even threatened him with death in 
 case of noncompliance, he received a decisive and 
 bloody defeat, and the Saxons freed themselves from a 
 small tribute, which they had hitherto paid to the 
 Austrasians. 1 The kindred Merovingians never lost 
 an opportunity of injuring one another, and Childebert, 
 taking advantage of his brother's distress, not only 
 urged on the Saxons to repeat their incursions, but 
 harboured and made common cause with Chramnus, 
 the rebellious and exiled son of Clotaire. The war 
 which was thus begun, continued till the death 
 of Childebert in a. d. 558 2 , when Clotaire took im- 
 mediate possession of the kingdom of Paris. 
 
 Aregundis, Chunsena (Unsina), Gundeuca, Ingundis, Radegundis, 
 Weldetada, and Ultrogotha. 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 14. The Saxons refer in this place to a 
 tribute which they had been accustomed to pay to Theoderic and 
 his successors. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. c. 51. : " Tanta 
 strages a Saxonibus de Francis facta est ut mirum fuisset." 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iv. 20. 
 
12-i THE FRANKS. [Chap. Ill- 
 
 Chramnus, having lost his powerful ally, was 
 obliged to submit, and appears to have been in some 
 sort forgiven. In a short time, however, he revolted 
 again, and fled for refuge to Chonober, Count of the 
 Britons 1 , who, since their voluntary submission to 
 Clovis, had remained in a state of semi-dependence on 
 the Franks. Chonober received him with open arms, 
 and raised an army to support his cause, forgetful, or 
 regardless, of the obedience which he nominally owed 
 to the Frankish king. Conscious of his inability to 
 meet Clotaire in the open field, he proposed to Chram- 
 nus that they should attack his father in the night. 
 To this, however, the rebellious son, half repentant 
 perhaps, " virtute Dei prceventus" would by no means 
 consent. Chonober had gone too far to recede, even 
 had he wished to do so, and on the following morning 
 the two armies engaged. 
 
 Clotaire, though cruel and licentious, even for a 
 Merovingian, was evidently a favourite of Gregory of 
 Tours, who represents him as marching to meet his son 
 like another David against another Absalom. "Look 
 down," he prayed, " Lord, from heaven, and judge 
 my cause, for I am undeservedly suffering wrong at the 
 hands of my son; pass the same judgment as of old 
 between Absalom and his father David." " Therefore" 
 continues the historian, " when the armies met, the 
 Count of the Britons turned and fled, and was killed 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv 20. : " Chramnus autempatri reprgesentatur, scd 
 postea inlidelis exstitit." 
 
Chap. III.] CHRAMNUS BURNT ALIVE BY CLOTAIRE. 125 
 
 upon the field of battle." x Chramnus had prepared 
 vessels to escape by sea ; but in the delay occasioned by 
 his desire to save his family he was overtaken by the 
 troops of Clotaire, and, by his father's orders, was 
 burned alive with wife and children. 2 
 
 The perusal of that part of Gregory's great work, from 
 which we are now quoting, affords us another curious 
 insight into the condition of the Christian Church in 
 an age which some are found to look back to as one of 
 peculiar purity and zeal. The historian has related to 
 us in full and precise terms the several enormities of 
 which Clotaire was guilty ; how he slew with his own 
 hand the children of his brother, in the presence of 
 the weeping Clothildis 3 , and under circumstances of 
 peculiar atrocity ; how he forced the wives of mur- 
 dered kings into a hateful alliance with himself; how 
 he not only put his own son to a cruel death, but ex- 
 tended his infernal malice to the latter's unoffending 
 wife and children. 4 And yet the learned, and, as we 
 have reason to believe, exemplary bishop of the 
 Christian Church, in the very same chapter in which 
 he relates the death of Chramnus, represents the mon- 
 ster as having gained a victory by the special aid of 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 20. : " Confligentibus igitar pariter Britannorum 
 Comes terga vertit, ibique et cecidit." 
 
 2 Ibid. " Jussit (Chlothacharius) eum cum uxore et filiabusigni 
 consumi; inclusique in tugurio cujusdam pauperculi, Chramnus 
 super scamnum extensus orario suggilatus est ; et sic postea super 
 eos incensa casula, cum uxore et filiabus interiit." 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. iii. 18. 4 Greg. Tur. iv. 9. 
 
126 THE FRANKS. [Chap. III. 
 
 God ! In the following chapter, he also relates to us 
 the manner in which Clotaire made his peace with 
 heaven before his death. 
 
 In the fifty-first year of his reign, he sought the 
 threshold of the blessed Martin of Tours, bringing with 
 him many gifts. Having approached the sepulchre 
 of a certain priest, he made a full confession " of the 
 acts of negligence of which he had, perhaps, been 
 guilty, and prayed with many groans that the blessed 
 confessor would procure him the mercy of the Lord, 
 and by his intercession obliterate the memory of all 
 that he had done irrationally" 1 He died of a fever 
 at Compiegne in a. d. 561. 
 
 At the death of Childebert, in a. d. 558, Clotaire had 
 become sole monarch of the Franks and Lord para- 
 mount of the several affiliated and dependent states, 
 which, though subject to his military ban, maintained 
 themselves in a great degree of independence of 
 action, and required the constant application of force 
 to keep them to their allegiance. This union of so 
 vast an empire under a single head, the result of acci- 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 21. : " Cunctas actiones quas fortasse negligenter 
 egerat replicans." The tenderness of the fortasse is inimitable. 
 We may compare with this passage the glowing accounts we read 
 in modern times of the peculiarly holy and happy death of eminent 
 murderers. " Ea quce irrationabiliter commiserate Clotaire, who 
 never seems, as was said of our Charles II., to have done a good 
 thing, is reported to have said one. In the last stage of the sick- 
 ness which deprived him of life, he cried out : " Vua ! quid putatis 
 qualis est ille Rex ccelestis, qui sic tarn magnos Reges interficit ! " 
 — Greg. Tur. i . 21. 
 
Chap. III.] CLOT AIRE SOLE MONARCH. 127 
 
 dental circumstances conspiring to favour the efforts 
 of personal ambition, was of no long continuance. Its 
 importance to the nation at large was little understood, 
 and the equal claim of all the sons in a family to suc- 
 ceed to the dignity, and share the possessions of the 
 father was, as we have said, founded on the general 
 customs of the nation. 
 
128 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF CLOTAIRE I., SOLE MONARCH OF 
 THE FRANKS^ TO THE DEATH OF BRUNHILDA. 
 
 A.D. 561—613. 
 
 At the death of Clotaire, his vast empire was di- 
 vided among his four sons in such a manner that two 
 of them inherited kingdoms in which the population 
 was chiefly German, and the other two received the 
 states in which the Romance element very greatly pre- 
 dominated. Charibert succeeded to the kingdom of 
 Paris, formerly held by Childebert ; Guntram to that 
 of Orleans with Burgundy, the former portion of 
 Chlodomir ; Chilperic, who at his father's death had 
 seized the royal treasures and endeavoured to take 
 possession of the whole empire, was compelled to rest 
 satisfied with Soissons ; and Sigebert received Aus- 
 trasia, the least attractive and civilised, but certainly 
 the soundest and most powerful division of the 
 empire. His capital was Eheims or Metz. 1 
 
 The first-mentioned of these princes (Charibert), 
 who is personally remarkable for little else than the 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 22. Conf. Gesta Reg. Franc, xxix. ap. 
 Bouquet, ii. p. 560. In Hist. Francor. Epit. per Fredeg. c. 55. we 
 have Metz. 
 
CiiAr. IV.] SIGEBERT DEFEATS THE HUNS. 129 
 
 number of his wives 1 , is interesting to us as the 
 father of Bertha or Adalberga, who married and con- 
 verted Ethelbert, the King of Kent. Charibert died 
 in a. d. 567 ; and when his dominions were parti- 
 tioned among his three brothers, Sigebert received 
 that portion which was most purely German in its 
 population, and thus united all the German provinces 
 under one head. 2 It was agreed on this occasion 
 that Paris, which was rising into great importance, 
 should be held in common by all, but visited by none 
 of the three kings without the consent of the others. 
 Almost immediately after his accession to the 
 throne of Rheims (or Metz), Sigebert, the most 
 warlike of the three brothers, was obliged to lead his 
 Franks into action with the Avars or Huns, who in 
 a. d. 562 endeavoured to force their way into Gaul. 3 
 They appear to have ascended by the Danube ; 
 but leaving that river, they marched towards the 
 Elbe, and fell with great fury upon Thuringia. 
 It was on the latter river that Sigebert engaged 
 and defeated them. In a. d. 566, they renewed their 
 attacks, and, according to Gregory, deceived the 
 Franks with magic arts and delusive appearances, by 
 
 1 Yet Fortunatus managed to write an ode in his praise, and 
 compared him to his uncle Childebert. Fortun. Carm. vi. 4. 
 (ap. Bouquet, t. ii.). 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iv. 26. 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. iv. 23. Conf. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. 55., 
 andGesta Reg. Franc. 30. (ap. Bouquet, t. ii.). Of this originally 
 Asiatic people, the ancestors of the Sclavonians in Europe, we 
 have a lively description in Ammianus Marcellinus, xxxi. 2. 
 
 K 
 
130 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 which we may be permitted to understand some kind 
 of military stratagem. 1 Whether by fair means or 
 by foul, the Franks were defeated, and their brave 
 leader fell into the hands of the enemy. He suc- 
 ceeded, however, in purchasing his own freedom and 
 a lasting peace. 
 
 Sigebert seems also to have come into conflict with 
 those universal troublers of the peace of Europe, the 
 marauding Danes and Saxons. Reference is made 
 by the poet Fortunatus to a victory gained over this 
 people by Sigebert's general Lupus, who is said to 
 have driven them from the Wupper to the Lahn. 2 
 The few records we possess of these encounters are, 
 however, far too meagre to afford us the means of 
 watching the struggle with these new and terrible 
 enemies. 
 
 Though Sigebert was an active and warlike prince, 
 his name is far less prominent in the succeeding his- 
 
 L CD 
 
 tory than that of his queen Brunhilda, — a woman re- 
 nowned for her beauty, talents, birth, and commanding 
 influence, for the long and successful struggle carried 
 on with her perfidious rival Fredegunda, and no less 
 so for her intrigues, her extraordinary adventures, 
 the cruel insults to which she was subjected at the 
 hands of her enemies, and lastly for her most horrible 
 death. Sigebert sought her hand from an honourable 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 29. : " Ut erat elegans et versutus 
 
 superavit arte donandi." 
 
 2 Foy^tunati Carm. vii. 7.: 
 
 " Quae tibi (Lupo) sit virtus cum prosperitate supernn, 
 Saxonis et Dani gens cito victa probat." 
 
Chap. IV. J SIGEBERT MARRIES BRUNHILDA. 131 
 
 motive, and there was nothing in the auspices which 
 attended her union with him which could have pre- 
 pared her for a long life of unceasing conflict and 
 suffering, and a painful and ignominious end. 
 
 The rude and violent character displayed by so 
 many successive generations of the Merovingian race, 
 the bloody feuds and unbridled licentiousness which 
 disgraced their courts, had caused their alliance to be 
 shunned by the more civilised rulers of the other 
 leading German tribes. The practice of polygamy, 
 common among the Frankish kings, also tended to 
 diminish both the honour and advantage of an alli- 
 ance with them. Charibert, as we have seen, chose 
 several wives during his brief reign, from among the 
 lowest of his people. The Franks themselves at last 
 became impatient of the disgrace which was brought 
 upon their nation by the low amours of their monarchs 
 and the vulgar brawls of their plebeian consorts. It 
 was from a desire to gratify his people, as well as his 
 own better taste, that Sigebert looked abroad among 
 the families of contemporary sovereigns for a partner 
 worthy of his throne. Having made his choice, he 
 sent ambassadors to the court of Athanagildis, King of 
 the Visigoths in Spain, and demanded his daughter 
 Br una in marriage. Athanagildis, fearing perhaps 
 the consequences of a refusal, agreed to the proposed 
 alliance, and sent back his daughter to Sigebert, with 
 the ambassadors, whom he loaded with presents 
 for his future son-in-law. The name of the bride 
 was changed to Brunhilda on the occasion of her 
 marriage. The graces of her person, the great and 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 highly cultivated powers of her mind, are celebrated 
 by all who have occasion to mention her in her 
 earlier years. 1 Gregory of Tours, in particular, 
 speaks of her in glowing terras, describing her as a 
 maiden of elegant accomplishments, of charming 
 aspect, honourable a;nd decorous in her character and 
 manners, wise in counsel, and bland in speech. 2 She 
 belonged indeed to an Arian house, but quickly 
 yielded to the preaching of the Catholic clergy, and 
 the exhortations of her royal spouse. 3 This noble 
 and beautiful woman became one of the leading 
 spirits in an age of intrigue and blood, and is charged 
 by her enemies with having instigated so many 
 murders as to have fulfilled the prophecy of Sibylla : 
 " Bruna shall come from the parts of Spain, before 
 whose face many nations shall perish. 4 " 
 
 1 For tuna t. Carm. vi. 2. : 
 
 " Clarior aetherea Bruuechildes lampade fulgens, 
 Luraina gemmarum superasti luraine vultus. 
 Altera nata Venus, regno dotata decoris. 
 
 Lactea cui facies incocta rubore coruscat 
 Lilia mixta rosis, aurura si intermicet ostro, 
 Decertata tuis nunquani se vultibus sequant." 
 
 Ibid. vi. 3. : 
 
 "Pulcbra, modesta, decens, solers, grata atque benigna ; 
 Ingenio, vultu, nobilitate potens." 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iv. 27. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. 57. 
 
 3 Fortuned. Carm. vi. 3. : " Ante (as an Arian) tamen homini, 
 nunc (after her conversion) placet ecce Deo." 
 
 4 Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. 59. : " Veniet Bruna de partibus 
 Spaniae, ante cujus conspectum m ultra gentes peribunt." 
 
Chap. IV.] CHILPEKIC SEEKS HAND OF GALSUINTHA. 133 
 
 Her equally celebrated rival Fredegunda, the wife 
 of Chilperic, rose to her lofty station from a very 
 different sphere. The great eclat which attended 
 the nuptials of Sigebert excited the emulation of 
 Chilperic, the King of Soissons, who knew his own 
 vile character so little as to suppose that he could 
 live happily with one virtuous and high-born queen. 
 He also sent ambassadors to the Visigothic court, 
 and claimed the hand of Galsuintha, the sister of 
 Brunhilda, solemnly engaging to dismiss his other 
 wives and concubines, and to treat her as became 
 her origin and character. 1 To the great grief of the 
 royal maiden and her mother (for the worthlessness 
 of Chilperic was known), his suit was successful; 
 and the unwilling bride departed, with terrible fore- 
 bodings and amid the lamentations of her family, 
 to the court of her barbarous husband. 2 
 
 The principal among the concubines of Chilperic, 
 w r as Fredegunda, a woman of the meanest birth, 
 but fair, ingenious, and skilled in meretricious arts. 3 
 For a short time she was thrown into the shade by 
 the arrival of the royal bride ; but having already 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 28. Gest. Reg. Franc. 31. Hist. Franc. Epit. 
 per Fred.: " Postea transcendens sacrament urn, quod Gothorum 
 legatis dederat ne unquani Gachilosoindam de culmine regni de- 
 gradaret," &c. 
 
 2 The distress occasioned by the bride's departure is well de- 
 scribed by Fortunatus, vi. 7. 
 
 3 " Nam ipsa Fredegundis ex familia infima fuit." — Gest. Franc. 
 Reg. SI. "Erat autern Fredegundis Regina pulchra et ingeniosa 
 nimis atque adultera." — Ibid. 35. 
 
 k 3 
 
134 THE FRANKS. [Chu>. IV. 
 
 supplanted a former queen of Chilperic's, named 
 Andovera, whose servant she had been, she did not 
 despair of making the lascivious king forget his good 
 intentions and his solemn vows. Galsuintha, who 
 had none of the terrible energy which distinguished 
 her sister, was rendered so unhappy by the persecu- 
 tion of her victorious rival and the open infidelity 
 of her husband, that she begged to be allowed to 
 return to her old home and affectionate parents, 
 offering at the same time to leave behind her the 
 treasures she had brought. 1 The king, who was not 
 prepared for so open an exposure of his perfidy, 
 temporised, and endeavoured to soothe her. What- 
 ever feeble emotions of repentance he may have felt 
 were soon effaced by the suggestion of the fiendish 
 spirit in whose power he was ; and after a few days 
 Galsuintha was strangled in her bed, by the com- 
 mand, or at least with the permission, of her husband. 
 That no circumstance of atrocity might be want- 
 ing to this transaction, Chilperic publicly married 
 Fredegunda a few days after the murder, to the 
 great scandal of his subjects. 2 This event, which 
 took place about a. d. 567, confirmed and deepened 
 the enmity which already existed between Sigebert 
 and his brother, and kindled in the bosom of 
 
 1 This was the less difficult, as the unhappy Galsuintha was not 
 (as we may fairly conclude from the silence of Gregory on this 
 point) remarkable for personal charms. All that Gregory does 
 say of her is that she was " estate senior qaam Brunehildisf — a 
 doubtful advantage. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iv. 28. : " Rex autem cum earn mortuam deflesset, 
 post paucos dies Fredegundem recepit in matrimonio." 
 
Chap. IV.] WAR BETWEEN SIGEBEBT AND CHILPERIC. 135 
 
 Brunhilda that feverish longing for revenue which 
 poisoned her naturally noble nature, and spread 
 its deadly influence over the whole of her subsequent 
 career. 
 
 At the time when Austrasia was hard pressed by 
 the invading Huns, Chilperic had embraced the 
 opportunity of seizing llheims and other towns in 
 the kingdom of Sigebert. The latter, however, no 
 sooner found his hands at liberty, than he attacked 
 and defeated the army of his brother, regained the cap- 
 tured towns, and made Chilperic' s own son a prisoner. 
 A hollow truce was then concluded, and the captive 
 prince was restored to his father, enriched with gifts 
 by his placable and generous uncle, who only stipu- 
 lated that he should not bear arms against his 
 liberator. 1 But Chilperic was one of those natures 
 which know no ties but the bonds of appetite and 
 lust, and was as incapable of acknowledging an ob- 
 ligation as of keeping an oath. 2 
 
 We are told that in consequence of the foul murder 
 of the Visigothic princess and the disgraceful union 
 with the suspected murderess, Chilperic was driven 
 from the throne of Soissons. We may infer from 
 this that the war which began between the brothers, 
 on his restoration, was the result, in part at least, 
 of the enmity of the rival queens. The immediate 
 cause of the renewal of the conflict was an attack 
 
 1 "In quadam pace manserunt." — Ex Adon. Chron. ad an. 
 567. Greg. Tur. iv. 23. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iv. 28. Gest. Reg. Franc. 30. 
 
 i, 4 
 
136 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 made by Chilperic upon Poitou and Touraine, 
 which had fallen to Sigebert on the death of Charibert. 
 It was a great object with the contending parties to 
 secure the co-operation of Guntram, King of Burgundy, 
 who, though inferior to the others in power, could 
 throw a decisive weight into either scale. The great 
 superiority of the Austrasian army lay in its ex- 
 clusively German character. Sigebert drew together 
 large forces on the right bank of the Rhine from 
 Suabia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia, and, evi- 
 dently mistrusting Guntram, marched to the Seine, 
 and threatened the Burgundians with the whole 
 weight of his resentment should they refuse him a 
 passage through their country. Chilperic on his 
 part pointed out to the King of Burgundy the danger 
 of allowing a u rude and heathen people " l to enter the 
 civilised and Christian Gaul. So marked had the 
 distinctions between the population of Austrasia 
 and that of the rest of the Frankish Empire become, 
 that they regarded each other as aliens. But if 
 external civilisation was on the side of Neustria and 
 Burgundy, the strength and marrow of the Franks 
 Avas represented by Sigebert and his Austrasians ; 
 and when the latter, more Germanorum, asked his 
 perfidious enemy to fix a time and place for the 
 battle, Chilperic sued for peace, and obtained it on 
 condition of surrendering Poitou, Touraine, Limoges, 
 and Quercy, He was also compelled to recall his son 
 Theudebert, whom, in utter disregard of the promise 
 
 1 Greer. Tur. iv. 50. 
 
Chap. IV.] SIGEBERT MADE KING OF SOISSONS. 137 
 
 made to Sigebert, he had sent with an army into 
 Aquitaine. 
 
 In a. D. 575 Chilperic, incited as is supposed by 
 the unsleeping malice of Fredegunda, and smarting 
 under his recent loss of territory, determined once 
 more to try the fortune of war against his generous 
 conqueror. On this occasion he succeeded in per- 
 suading Guntram into an alliance against Sigebert, 
 whom he called " our enemy.' 7 Theudebert was sent 
 with an army across the Loire, while Chilperic him- 
 self fell upon Champagne. The King of Burgundy 
 appears to have given little more than his sympathy 
 to the Romano-Gallic cause, and soon saw cogent 
 reasons for concluding a separate peace with the 
 Austrasians. The campaign ended as usual in the 
 entire discomfiture of Chilperic, whose Frankish 
 subjects, tired of following a treacherous and, still 
 Avorse, an unsuccessful leader, offered the kingdom 
 of Soissons to Sigebert, and actually raised him on 
 the shield, and proclaimed him king at Vitry. 1 The 
 result of this election would appear to show that it 
 was only the work of a party, perhaps the Austrasian 
 or German party, against the wishes of the great 
 mass of the nation. Chilperic in the meantime was 
 closely besieged by Sigebert's troops at Tournai, and 
 everything seemed to threaten his utter downfall, 
 when he was saved by the same bloody hand which 
 had often led him into crime and danger. Fredegunda, 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 52. Hist, Fr t anc. Epit. per Fred. 71. Gest. 
 Reg. Franc. 32. 
 
13S THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 maddened at the spectacle of her most hated foes 
 sitting on the throne of her husband, and receiving 
 the homage of those whom she herself had virtually 
 ruled, sent two hired assassins to Vitry. Under the 
 pretence of holding a secret conference with Sigebert, 
 they gained access to his person, and stabbed him in 
 the side with their knives. 1 Thus died the warlike 
 and hioh-minded Kinsr of Austrasia in a. d. 575. It 
 is evident that the Neustrians were not sincere when 
 they offered the crown to Sigebert, and that Frede- 
 gunda reckoned on the support at all events of the 
 Gallo-Romans. The daggers of her myrmidons did 
 the work of many victories. No inquiry appears to 
 have been instituted to discover the originators of 
 the crime ; and Chilperic and his queen, instead of 
 suffering in public opinion or incurring the vengeance 
 of Sigebert's former friends, appear to have been re- 
 leased by this foul deed from the most imminent peril, 
 and at once to have regained their power. 
 
 No sooner had Sigebert fallen under the knives of 
 Fredegunda's assassins than Chilperic despatched mes- 
 sengers to his friends at Paris to secure the persons 
 of Brunhilda and her son and daughter, who were 
 residing at that city. In the consternation and con- 
 fusion consequent on Sigebert's sudden and unexpected 
 death, no open resistance was offered by Brunhilda's 
 partizans, and she and her whole family were thrown 
 
 1 Greg. Ttir. iv. 52. : " Cum cultris validis quos vulgo scrama- 
 saxos vocant." Gest. Reg. Fr. 32. Adon. Cliron. ad an. 575. 
 (Bouquet, t. ii.) Conf. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. 93., where the 
 murder is ascribed to Brunhilda ! 
 
Chap. IV.] CHILDEBERT ESCAPES FROM PRISON. 139 
 
 into close confinement. Childebert, however, the heir 
 to Sigebert's crown, at this time about five years old 1 , 
 was saved by the fidelity and vigour of Gundobald, 
 Duke of Campania, who caused him to be let down 
 from the window of his prison in a sack, and escaped 
 with him to Metz, where he was immediately pro- 
 claimed king by the Austrasian seigniors. 2 Chilperic 
 himself appeared in Paris soon afterwards, and sent 
 Brunhilda to Rouen and her daughter to Meaux, and 
 kept them both under strict surveillance. 
 
 In order still further to improve the opportunity 
 afforded by the removal of Sigebert, Chilperic sent 
 part of his army under Roccolenus against Tours, 
 which was speedily taken ; and another division under 
 his son Merovaeus against Poitou. The latter expe- 
 dition terminated in a very unexpected manner. 3 
 Merovasus was little inclined to carry out any designs 
 of his stepmother, Fredegunda, whom he hated, and 
 least of all to the injury of Brunhilda, to whose extra- 
 ordinary personal charms and varied accomplishments, 
 to which even bishops were not insensible, his heart 
 had fallen a captive. Instead of executing his father's 
 orders at Poitou, he hastened to Rouen, and offered 
 his hand in marriage to Brunhilda, whose forlorn 
 condition inclined her to accept the homage and as- 
 
 1 Greg. Tar. v. 1. : " Vix lustro cetatis uno jam peracto." 
 
 2 Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fredeg. 72. : " Childebertus in pera 
 positus per fenestrarn a puero acceptus est/' Gest. Reg. Franc. 
 32. 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. v. 14. Hi.t. Franc. Epit. per Fred. 74. Gest. 
 Reg. Franc. 33- 
 
140 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 sistance thus proffered from the camp of her enemies. 1 
 This strange turn of affairs appears greatly to have 
 ularmed Fredegunda and Chilperic, who followed so 
 quickly on the steps of his rebellious son, that the 
 latter had barely time to escape into asylum in the 
 church of St. Martin at Rouen ; from which he could 
 not be persuaded to come out until security was 
 granted for his own life and that of Brunhilda. 2 
 Chilperic, it is said, received them kindly, and invited 
 them to his table. Merovseus was then transferred 
 to Soissons, and carefully guarded ; while Brunhilda, 
 whether from a passing emotion of generosity in 
 Chilperic's mind or the fear of Guntram, who had 
 espoused his nephew's cause, was set at liberty and 
 returned to Metz. 
 
 Whatever motives led to her liberation, it was not 
 likely to be accepted by Brunhilda as a compensation 
 for the murder of one husband and the imprisonment 
 of another. Her first act after joining her son at 
 Metz was to despatch an army to Soissons, which in 
 the first instance had nearly taken Fredegunda pri- 
 soner, but was afterwards defeated by the Neustrians; 
 the latter, in their turn, received a check from the 
 forces of Guntram, and retreated with a loss of 20,000 
 men. 3 
 
 Merovams, in the meantime, was shorn of his royal 
 locks and compelled to become a monk. In a. d. 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. v. 2. This marriage was " contra fas legemque 
 canon icam." 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. v. 2, 3. 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. v. 13. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fredeg. 75. 
 
Chap. IV.] DEATH OF MEROVJEUS. 141 
 
 577, he succeeded in escaping to the court of Brun- 
 hilda at Metz ; but, though the queen received him 
 gladly, he was compelled by a powerful faction of 
 the Austrasian nobility, who were in close correspon- 
 dence with Fredegunda, to quit the dominions of 
 Childebert. After various adventures, he is said to 
 have sought death at the hands of a faithful servant, to 
 avoid falling into the power of his own father. Gre- 
 gory of Tours, though he does not speak decidedly, 
 evidently believes that he was treacherously ensnared 
 by iEgidius, Bishop of Rheims 1 , Guntram-Boso, and 
 other bitter enemies of Brunhilda, and murdered at 
 the instigation of Fredegunda. 
 
 Nothing in the history of the joint reigns of Sige- 
 bert, Chilperic, and Guntram is more astonishing and 
 perplexing to the reader, than the suddenness with 
 which they form and dissolve alliances with one 
 another, — the fickleness of their mutual friendships, 
 and the placability of their enmities. Within the space 
 of ten years we find Guntram and Childebert in league 
 against Chilperic, Chilperic and Childebert against 
 Guntram, and Guntram and Chilperic against Childe- 
 bert ; and the parts were changed more than once in 
 this short period. After a bloody war with his 
 nephew Childebert, the Burgundian king adopts him 
 as heir to all his dominions. After protecting the 
 same nephew and his mother Brunhilda against Fre- 
 degunda, the same Guntram defends Fredegunda 
 against Childebert, and stands godfather to her son 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. v. 19., viii. 10. 
 
142 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 Clotaire, in utter defiance of the entreaties and threats 
 of his adopted successor. At the death of Chilperic, 
 too, no one wept more bitterly for his loss than his 
 brother Guntram *, though the greater part of their 
 active manhood had been spent in plundering and 
 laying waste each other's towns and fields. " I 
 am weary," says Gregory of Tours, when speaking of 
 the events which followed the death of Sigebert, "of 
 relating the changeful events of the civil wars that 
 wasted the Frankish nation and kingdoms, and in 
 which, we behold the time predicted by our Lord 
 as the u beginning of sorrows," when " the brother 
 shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father 
 the child," &c. 
 
 Yet it would be wrong to ascribe the internecine 
 wars by which the Frankish Empire was harassed and 
 wasted, solely or even chiefly to the covetousness, am- 
 bition, or malice of the brother kings ; they were owing 
 in a still greater degree to the intrigues of the rival 
 queens, whose hatred never changed and never slept, 
 — to the endless feuds of the factious seigniors against 
 each other, and their constant endeavours, as indivi- 
 duals and as a class, to make themselves independent 
 of the crown. Similar causes produced similar results 
 in our own history during the wars of the Roses, to 
 which, in their general characteristics, the struggles 
 of which we have now to speak bear no small 
 analogy. 
 
 One of the principal objects of Fredegunda in the 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 5. : " Comperto autem Guntchramnus Rex 
 de fratris excessu, amarissime flevit" 
 
Chai>. IV.] FREDEGUNDA's CHILDREN DIE OF PLAGUE. 143 
 
 persecution and murder of Merovseus — though his 
 love for Brunhilda was alone sufficient to rouse her 
 rival's deadliest hatred — -was to bring her own 
 children nearer to the throne. This cherished 
 purpose was signally and terribly frustrated. A 
 fatal epidemic which raged in A. d. 580 through 
 nearly the whole of Gaul, after attacking Chilperic 
 himself, carried off both the sons whom Fredegunda 
 had borne to him. The only symptoms of the 
 better feelings of our nature recorded of Fredegunda 
 were called forth, as might be expected, by this event. 
 The death of her children touched the heart and 
 stirred the conscience of this perjured, bloody-minded 
 adulteress, who through life had been steeped in 
 crime to the very lips. She called upon her husband 
 to recognise with her the chastening hand of an 
 offended God. She even sought, by burning the 
 lists of those whom she had marked out as objects 
 for an arbitrary and grinding taxation, to appease 
 the wrath of Heaven. " Often," she said to Chilperic, 
 " has God afflicted us with fevers and other mis- 
 fortunes, but no amendment on our part has followed. 
 Lo ! now we have lost our children ! The tears of 
 the poor, the lamentations of the widow, have de- 
 stroyed them." x Her repentance, however, soon gave 
 way before her more habitual feelings. Clovis, the 
 son of Chilperic's first queen or concubine, Anclovera, 
 alone remained as heir to the Neustrian throne. 
 Unable to endure the thought that others might 
 cherish hopes which she herself had lost, Frede- 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. v, 35. 
 
lAi THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 gunda accused this prince of having poisoned her 
 children ; and having induced the weak and wicked 
 Chilperic to imprison him, she soon afterwards 
 caused him to be murdered, together with Andovera 
 herself. 
 
 Guntram of Burgundy, as we have seen, aided 
 in establishing Childebert on his father's throne ; 
 and in a. d. 576 checked the victorious advance of 
 Chilperic's troops. But in a. d. 581 the party of 
 Austrasian seigniors which was favourable to the 
 Neustrian alliance, — chiefly in consequence of their 
 enmity to Brunhilda — obtained the upper hand, and 
 induced or forced their young king to ally himself 
 with Chilperic against Burgundy. As the price of 
 this alliance — and he did nothing without bein^ 
 richly paid for it — Chilperic was allowed to take 
 possession of Senlis, Poitou, and Meaux, while 
 Childebert was amused with the shadowy prospect of 
 succeeding to the kingdom of Paris. 1 At the head of 
 the faction above referred to, were Bishop iEgidius, 
 and the Dukes Ursio and Bertefried, the political and 
 personal enemies of Brunhilda. 2 The queen was ably 
 though unsuccessfully supported by Duke Lupus, 
 whose steady attachment to his royal mistress's cause, 
 even to his own destruction, inclines us to give more 
 than usual credit to the eulogies of Fortunatus. 3 
 
 The anarchy into which the state had fallen after 
 the death of Sigebert, the pride and insolence of the 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vi. 3. 11. » Greg. Tur. vi. 3, 4. 
 
 3 Fortunati Carm. vii. 7, 8, 9. 
 
Chap. IV.] OPPOSITION OF SEIGNIORS TO BRUNHILDA. 145 
 
 seigniors, and the rancorous feelings with which they 
 regarded Brunhilda are portrayed in vivid colours in 
 the pages of Gregory. " Lupus, Duke of Campania," 
 he says, " had for a long time been persecuted and 
 plundered by his adversaries, especially by the two 
 powerful dukes Ursio and Bertefried, who, determined 
 to take his life, marched against him with an armed 
 band of followers. Brunhilda, being informed of their 
 intentions, and moved with pity by the persecutions 
 to which her faithful adherent was subjected, rushed 
 forth in male attire between the ranks of the enemy, 
 crying out, " Refrain, refrain, from this evil deed, 
 and do not persecute the innocent. Do not, on ac- 
 count of one man, commence a conflict by which the 
 welfare of the country may be destroyed." Ursio inso- 
 lently answered the temperate words of the mother of 
 his king : u Depart from us, woman ! Be content to 
 have possessed the royal power under your husband. 
 Your son now reigns, and his kingdom is preserved, 
 not by your guardianship, but by ours. Retire from 
 us, lest the hoofs of our horses should trample you 
 under foot." x 
 
 In a. d. 583 Guntram found it necessary to sue for 
 peace, and was obliged, in order to gain it, to leave 
 his brother Chilperic in possession of all the territory 
 he had conquered in the course of the war. 2 In the 
 same year, however, an attempt of the Burgundians 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vi. 4» 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. vi. 22. : "Rex igitur Chilpericus pervasis civita- 
 tibus fratris sui, novos Comites ordinat, et cuncta jubet sibi urbium 
 tributa deferri." 
 
1 46 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 to recover that part of Marseilles of which the 
 Austrasians were in possession afforded JEgidius 
 an opportunity of forming a fresh alliance between 
 Childebert and Chilperic x ; and he himself headed 
 an embassy to the Neustrian court with this object. 
 Chilperic gladly accepted his nephew's overtures, 
 and prepared to attack Guntram. The fortune of 
 war, however, which had hitherto enabled him to 
 make large additions to his own territory at the 
 expense of his kinsmen, now deserted him. He 
 besieged Bourses without success. His general De- 
 siderius was beaten by the Burgundians ; and when 
 Chilperic hastened in person to meet his brother in 
 the field, he suffered a reverse which greatly cooled 
 his warlike and predatory ardour. Xor were his 
 allies at all inclined to help him out of his diffi- 
 culties. The great body of the Austrasians, and a 
 party even among the seigniors, were averse to 
 an alliance with Chilperic and Fredegunda, the real 
 object of which they believed to be the increase of 
 Neustrian — in other words Roman — influence in 
 their own government. On the news of Chilperic's 
 discomfiture a violent mutiny broke out in the army 
 of Childebert against the authors of the war, and 
 especially against iEgidius, who narrowly escaped the 
 fury of the soldiers by the fleetness of his horse, 
 leaving one of his slippers on the road in the hurry 
 of his flight. 2 
 
 Brunhilda for the time regained her ascendancy ; 
 
 1 Greg. Tm\ vi. 31. 2 j\y u \ % 
 
Chap. IV.] MURDER OF CHILPERIC AT CHELLES. 147 
 
 and Chilperic expecting, as a matter of course, to see 
 his late enemy and his late ally unite for his destruc- 
 tion, made great preparations to meet them. The 
 looked for attack was not made, but in the same year 
 Chilperic himself died, or, as Gregory has it, " poured 
 forth his wicked spirit " beneath the hand of an 
 assassin, named Falca, as he was riding through a 
 forest in the neighbourhood of Paris. 
 
 Gregory of Tours appears to be ignorant of the 
 instigators and perpetrators of this crime ; but, ac- 
 cording to a romantic story, the minuteness of which 
 is very suspicious, Chilperic fell a victim to the 
 treachery of her for whose sake he had dared and 
 sinned so much. Amon^ the numerous lovers of 
 Fredegunda was the Major-Domus Laudericus 1 , whose 
 intimate relation to his queen was accidentally dis- 
 covered by Chilperic while on a hunting expedition 
 at Chelles. Fredegunda quieted the fears of her 
 lover by promising to send murderers to attack her 
 husband as he was dismounting from his horse ; 
 which was done accordingly. 2 
 
 Brunhilda, very naturally, wished to take the 
 opportunity afforded by Chilperic's death of making 
 reprisals in the enemy's country, and of avenging 
 herself on her implacable and now widowed rival 
 Fredegunda. But Guntram, who had good reasons 
 for desiring that neither Austrasia nor Neustria 
 
 1 Gest. Reg. Frct)ic.35.: " Vir efficax atque strenuus, quern memo- 
 rata Regina diligebat multum, quia luxuria comraiscebatur cum ea." 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. vi. 46. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. 93. Gest. 
 Reg. Franc. 35. 
 
 i- 
 
 o 
 
148 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IT. 
 
 should become too powerful, came forward on this 
 occasion to protect one, whom at another time he had 
 called "the enemy of God and man." Shortly before 
 Chilperic's death (in a. d. 584) Fredegunda had borne 
 a son, whom, though the popular voice assigned him 
 another father, Chilperic appears to have acknow- 
 ledged as his heir. Her first endeavour therefore was 
 to induce her brother-in-law to act as sponsor to this 
 child, by which she thought that both his legitimacy 
 would be established and his succession to the throne 
 secured. Guntram did actually proceed, in the Christ- 
 mas of a.d. 585, from Orleans to Paris, to fulfil her 
 wishes in this respect. But, according to Gregory's 
 account, when Guntram was prepared to take part in 
 the ceremony, the child was not forthcoming. Three 
 times was the Burgundian king summoned to be pre- 
 sent at the baptism of Clotaire, and three times was 
 he obliged to leave Paris, without seeing his intended 
 godchild ; and under these circumstances he thought 
 himself justified in suspecting the infant king's legiti- 
 macy. As he uttered in the most public manner his 
 complaints of Fredegunda' s conduct, and his unfavour- 
 able impressions concerning the child, the queen, in 
 the presence of three bishops, three hundred of the 
 chief men in her kingdom, and probably of the King 
 of Burgundy himself, solemnly swore that Clotaire was 
 the son of Chilperic. 1 Yet Guntram's suspicions were 
 not altogether laid to rest 2 , nor was the child baptized 
 before a. d. 591. 3 He immediately, however, assumed 
 
 i Greg. Tur. viii. 1,9. 2 Ibkl< ix< 2 Q. 
 
 3 Ibid. x. 23. 
 
Chap. IV.] GUNTRAM PROTECTS FEEDEGUNDA. 149 
 
 the office of the young king's guardian and adminis- 
 trator of the kingdom, and occupied Paris with his 
 troops. 1 Childebert, who hastened too late in the 
 same direction, though grievously disappointed at the 
 turn which things had taken, still hoped to induce 
 his uncle to share the spoil that fortune had thrown 
 in their way, and sent an embassy to Paris, which had 
 become the Neustrian capital. He reminded Guntram 
 through these envoys how much they had both suf- 
 fered from the rapacity of Chilperic, and urged him at 
 least to lend his aid in demanding back all that had 
 been unjustly and violently taken from them. But 
 Fredegunda in the meantime had not been idle. She 
 had disclosed to Guntram the terms of a treaty which 
 had no long time before been made between the 
 seigniors of Childebert and the seigniors of Chilperic 
 for the partition of Burgundy. He knew therefore the 
 degree of confidence which could be placed in his 
 nephew's ambassadors. He was able to display be- 
 fore their astonished eyes the very document which 
 proved them to be traitors to their own master, to 
 himself, and in fact to the whole Merovingian Dy- 
 nasty. They were dismissed with a decided refusal. 
 Childebert sent the same persons back again to 
 Paris to demand that " the murderess of his father, 
 uncle, aunt," and others, should be delivered up to 
 him for punishment. To this message Guntram re- 
 plied with more respect, but still refused compliance ; 
 declaring his intention of referring the matter to a 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 5. 
 
 L 3 
 
150 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 grand council to be held at Paris. 1 In the meantime 
 Clotaire was proclaimed king, probably at Vitry. 
 
 The relations between Childebert and his uncle now 
 became unfriendly, and actual hostilities were com- 
 menced, which appear to have resulted unfavourably 
 for the former. The council which Guntram had 
 summoned for A. d. 585 was eagerly looked forward 
 to ; and when it met, iEgidius, Guntram-Boso, Sige- 
 wald and others, — who were now well known to be 
 plotting the downfall of their own sovereign and of 
 the King of Burgundy, and whose real object was to 
 separate them as widely as possible, — appeared as the 
 representatives of Childebert. They demanded, as 
 before, the restoration of the territories which had 
 belonged to Charibert, and the punishment of Frede- 
 gun da for her numerous crimes. As both parties had 
 determined on their course beforehand, the discussion 
 between Guntram and the Austrasian envoys soon 
 degenerated into altercation and abuse ; and when the 
 latter left the court with threats of vengeance, the 
 enraged king ordered them to be pelted with horse- 
 dung, musty hay, and mud. 2 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 6, 7. 
 
 2 Grreg. Tur. vii. 6, 7. 14. (The provocation given to Guntram 
 was great. The ambassadors had ridiculed him for saying that 
 the father of Gundobald was a miller and a woolcomber, and 
 warned him that the axe which had fallen on the heads of his 
 brothers was ready for him): " « Ergo duos, ut adseris, patres hie 
 homo habuit, lanarium simul molendinariumque. Absit a te, Rex, 
 ut tarn inculte loquaris !'.... Dehinc cum multi solverentur in 
 risu, respondit alius legatorum, dicens, ' Valedicimus tibi, Rex, 
 nam quia reddere noluisti civitates nepotis tui. scimus salvam 
 
Chap. IV.] SEIGNIORS UNITE AGAINST MONARCHY. 151 
 
 Fredegunda underwent a mock trial on this occa- 
 sion, and was of course acquitted. Though the suspi- 
 cions of the whole assembly rested on herself, she was 
 asked to name the person whom she believed to be 
 the murderer of her husband. She fixed on Chilperic's 
 chamberlain Eberulf, out of revenge, as Gregory tells 
 us, because he had refused to live with her. The 
 unhappy man escaped into sanctuary for a time, but 
 was subsequently seized and put to death by order of 
 Guntram. 1 
 
 It became evident at this time to the astute Bur- 
 gundian, for reasons which we shall proceed to 
 explain, that nothing but a real, hearty, and lasting 
 alliance between himself and Childebert could save 
 them from falling a prey to the machinations of the 
 turbulent and aspiring seigniors. 
 
 The period at which we have now arrived is re- 
 markable in Frankish history as that in which the 
 rising Aristocracy began to try its strength against 
 the Monarchy. The royal power of the Merovingians, 
 forced, as will be seen hereafter, into rapid growth 
 by peculiarly favourable circumstances, culminated in 
 the joint reigns of Chilperic, Guntram, and Sigebert. 
 The accumulation of property in the hands of a few, 
 as described in a subsequent chapter, and the con- 
 sequent loss of independence by the great mass of 
 the poorer freemen, were fatal to the stability of 
 the Merovingian throne. A privileged and powerful 
 
 esse securim, quas fratrum tuorum capitibus est defixa : celerius 
 tuum librabit defixa cerebrum.'" 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 21. 29. 
 
 i. 4 
 
152 THE PRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 order of nobility was in process of formation, and 
 was at this time strong enough to wage a doubtful 
 war against both king and people. 1 The latter were 
 on the side of the monarchy ; and, had the reins of 
 government remained in able and energetic hands, 
 the loyalty of the commons might have sustained the 
 throne against all the attacks to which it was sub- 
 jected. The murder of Sigebert had an extraordinary 
 effect on the position of the contending parties, and 
 did much to accelerate the downfall of the successors 
 of Clovis. 
 
 The enemies of Sigebert's infant successor were 
 those of his own household, — the great landowners, 
 the dignified clergy, the high officials of the kingdom, 
 who seized the opportunity — afforded by the minority 
 of the crown — of taking the entire administration 
 into their own hands. The chief opponent of their 
 wishes, by whose extraordinary vigour the downfall of 
 the throne was retarded, though not prevented, was 
 the widow of the murdered kino- Brunhilda. The 
 misfortunes and sufferings of her checquered life, and 
 the horrible death by which it was closed, were mainly 
 owing to the intense hatred she excited by her op- 
 position to the ambitious designs of the seigniors. 
 
 The deeply rooted attachment of the people to the 
 long-haired Salian kings rendered it dangerous for 
 any party, however powerful, to pursue openly their 
 designs against the monarchy; and we find that in 
 all the rebellions which broke out at this period, the 
 
 1 The people hated the seigniors, and frequently rebelled against 
 their tyrannical authority. Greg. Tur. vi. 31. 
 
Chap. IV.] GUNDOBALD THE PRETENDER. 153 
 
 malcontents were headed by some real or pretended 
 scion of the Merovingian stock. The plan so fre- 
 quently adopted by aristocracies in their struggle 
 with royalty, of setting up a pretender to the crown, 
 was resorted to during the minority of Sigebert's son, 
 Childebert II., and not without effect. 1 The person 
 fixed on on this occasion was generally known by the 
 name of Gundobald, though King Guntram asserted 
 that his real name was Ballomer, and that he was 
 the son of a miller or a woolcomber. 2 The account 
 which Gregory of Tours gives of him is interesting, 
 and inspires a doubt, to say the least, whether he 
 was not really, as he assumed to be 3 , the son of 
 Clotaire I. by one of his numerous mistresses. The 
 historian relates that Gundobald was born in Gaul, 
 and carefully brought up according to the customs 
 of the Merovingian family. His hair was allowed to 
 grow long, as a mark of his royal descent; and, after 
 he had received a liberal education, he was presented 
 by his mother to king Childebert I., with these words : 
 " Behold, here is your nephew, the son of King 
 Clotaire. Since he is hated by his father, do you 
 receive him, for he is your flesh and blood." Childe- 
 bert, who was childless, received him kindly; but 
 when Clotaire heard of it, he sent for the youth, and 
 declaring that he had " never begotten him," 4 ordered 
 him to be shorn. 
 
 After the death of Clotaire I., Gundobald was pa- 
 
 1 Several such pretenders occur in Frankish history. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. vii. 14. 3 Ibid. vii. 27. 4 Ibid. vi. 24. 
 
154 THE FRANKS. [Chai\ IV. 
 
 tronised by King Charibert. Sigebert, however, once 
 more cut off his hair, and sent him into custody at 
 Cologne- Escaping from that place, and allowing his 
 hair to grow long again, Gundobald took refuge with 
 the imperial general Narses, who then commanded 
 in Italy. There he married and had children, and 
 went subsequently to Constantinople, where, as it 
 would appear, he was received by the Greek Em- 
 peror with every mark of respect and friendship. 
 He was then, according to his own account, invited 
 by Guntram-Boso to come to Gaul, and, having landed 
 at Marseilles, was received by Bishop Theodore and 
 the Patrician Mummolus. 1 
 
 Such was the person fixed on by the mutinous 
 grandees of Austrasia as a tool for the furtherance 
 of their designs against the monarchy. Nor could 
 they have found one better suited to their purpose. 
 It is evident in the first place that he was himself 
 fully persuaded of the justice of his own claims; a 
 conviction which gave him a greater power of 
 inspiring faith in others than the most consummate 
 art. He was entirely dependent on the aid of the 
 rebellious nobles for his chance of success, and would 
 therefore, had he succeeded in effecting his purpose, 
 have been bound by gratitude, as well as forced by 
 circumstances, to consult the interests of those 
 who had raised him to the throne. The fact of his 
 residence at Constantinople, and the sanction of his 
 claims by the Greek Emperor, were not without their 
 
 1 Mummolus appears to have been an able and fortunate ge- 
 neral. Greg. Tur. iv. 42. 46. 
 
Chap. IV.] GUNTRAM-BOSO AND GUNDOBALD. 155 
 
 weight. The prestige of the Roman Empire, as we 
 observed above, had not yet entirely perished, nor 
 had the Franks altogether ceased to look on Rome 
 and Constantinople as the great fountains of power 
 and honour. The nobles indeed intended that no one 
 should really rule but themselves ; but as they could 
 not do so in their own names, nothing would better 
 have suited their views than to have a puppet king 
 in nominal allegiance to a weak and distant emperor. 
 Under such circumstances they alone, in the utter 
 decay of the old German freedom and the popular 
 institutions in which it lived, would have become 
 possessors of the substantial power of the empire. 
 
 The cause of Gundobald was much aided by the 
 miserable jealousies existing between the different 
 Frankish kings, who, instead of uniting their forces 
 against their common enemy — the rising aristocracy 
 — were eager to employ the pretender as a weapon 
 of annoyance against each other. 
 
 Among the chief actors in this conspiracy — though 
 a secret one — was Guntram-Boso, a man whom Gre- 
 gory quaintly describes as too much addicted to 
 perjury *; so that he never took an oath to any of his 
 friends which he did not afterwards break. " In 
 other respects," adds the historian, he was " sane 
 bonus ! " Gundobald relates, with every appearance of 
 probability, that he met with Guntram-Boso while at 
 Constantinople, — that the wily plotter informed 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. v. 14. : " Nam ad perjuria nimiura prseparatus erat, 
 verumtamcn nulli amicorum sacramintum dedit, quod non protinus 
 
 omissiset." 
 
156 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 him that the race of the Merovingians consisted of 
 only three persons, Guntram of Burgundy, and his 
 two Nephews (Childebert II., and the little son of 
 Chilperic), and invited him to Gaul with the as- 
 surance that he was eagerly expected by all the 
 Austrasian magnates. u I gave him/ 7 says Gundo- 
 bald, " magnificent presents, and he swore at twelve 
 holy places that I might safely go to Gaul." 1 
 
 On his arrival at Marseilles in a. d. 582, Gundobald 
 was received by Bishop Theodore, who furnished him 
 with horses, and by the Patrician Mummolus, whose 
 conduct in withdrawing from the Burgundian court, 
 and throwing himself with all his followers and 
 treasures into the fortress of Avignon, had excited 
 the suspicions of King Guntram. 
 
 Gundobald joined him in that place, and was there 
 besieged by the very man who had first invited him 
 to Gaul, viz. Guntram-Boso. This double traitor 
 had endeavoured to keep his treachery out of sight, 
 and to stand well with both parties, until fortune 
 should point out the stronger. His namesake Gun- 
 tram of Burgundy, however, was not deceived, and 
 took an opportunity of seizing Boso on his return 
 from a journey to the court of Childebert. The Bur- 
 gundian king openly charged him with having in- 
 vited Gundobald to Gaul, and having gone to Con- 
 stantinople for that very purpose. It now became 
 necessary for Boso to take a decided part ; and, as 
 the king would listen to no mere protestations, he 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 36. 
 
Chap. IV.] PROGRESS OF THE PRETENDER. 157 
 
 offered to leave his son as a hostage, and himself to 
 lead an army to attack Mummolus and Gundobald in 
 Avignon. The Pretender and the Patrician, however, 
 defended themselves with so much skill and courage, 
 that Guntram-Boso, with all his now sincere endea- 
 vours to storm the town, could make no progress; 
 and the siege was, singularly enough, raised by the 
 troops of king Childebert II. 1 
 
 This extraordinary interference of the youthful 
 King of Austrasia in behalf of a pretender to his own 
 crown, can hardly receive a satisfactory explanation; 
 and the historian Gregory himself throws no light 
 upon the mystery. It is not impossible that the 
 Austrasian magnates, who were almost all more or 
 less interested in the success of the conspiracy, may 
 have blinded both the king and his mother Brun- 
 hilda to the real objects of Gundobald; and we see that 
 any one of the royal kinsmen would have gladly aided 
 Gundobald, if they could have been sure that his 
 claims were confined to the throne of his neighbours. 
 The want of common action between the courts 
 became still more evident in the sequel, and, but for 
 the wisdom and vigour of Guntram, would have 
 proved the ruin of the whole royal house. 
 
 The murder of Chilperic in A. d. 584 renewed 
 the hopes of Gundobald and his friends, by inflicting 
 upon Neu stria the same evils of a minority from 
 which Austrasia had already suffered so severely. 
 
 A numerous party, including many of the ablest 
 and boldest of the Austrasian seigniors, were openly 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vi. 26. 
 
158 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 or secretly attached to the Pretender's cause. He had 
 gained possession of Angouleme, Perigord, Toulouse, 
 and Bordeaux; and at Christmas a.d. 584 he was 
 even raised on the shield at Brives (in Correze), and 
 saluted with the royal title. 1 The Burgundian king 
 now plainly saw that not only the throne of Childe- 
 bert, but the whole Merovingian Dynasty, and even 
 Monarchy itself, were at stake, and that, if the sui- 
 cidal feud between himself and his nephew continued 
 much longer, the success of the Pretender was by 
 no means an improbable result. His first object, 
 therefore, was to conciliate Childebert, and to lessen 
 the influence which Brunhilda, on the one hand, and 
 the great party of Austrasian nobles, who secretly 
 favoured Gundobald, on the other, had hitherto exer- 
 cised over his young and inexperienced mind. For- 
 tune threw in Guntram's way the means of accom- 
 plishing his purpose. Since the death of Chil- 
 peric, and the acquittal of Fredegunda which had so 
 greatly offended Brunhilda and her son, the cause 
 of the Pretender was evidently prospering, and the 
 greater part of the Austrasian seigniors were only 
 waiting for a fair assurance of success to declare 
 themselves openly in his favour. In a.d. 585 
 Gundobald was in a position to send to Guntram 
 regular ambassadors, furnished, after the Prankish 
 custom, with consecrated rods in token of inviolabi- 
 lity, to demand of him a portion of the kingdom of 
 
 1 Greg. Ti/r. vii. 10. (An unfavourable omen was taken from 
 an accident which occurred during this ceremony) : < ; Sed cum 
 tertio cum eodem gyrarent cecidisse fertur, ita ut vix manibus 
 circumstantium sustentari potuisset." 
 
Chap. IV.] GUNTRAM AND CHILDEBERT RECONCILED. 159 
 
 " their common father Clotaire." Should this be re- 
 fused, they said, " Gundobald will invade these terri- 
 tories with a large army; for all the bravest men in 
 Gaul beyond the Dordogne are in league with him." 
 " And then," added Gundobald, by the mouth of his 
 messengers, " when we meet on the field of battle, will 
 God decide whether I am Clotaire's son or not." 1 
 
 Guntram, who was no less bold than cunning, and 
 by no means scrupulous, put the envoys of Gundo- 
 bald to the torture, and made them confess in their 
 agony that all the grandees of Childebert's kingdom 
 were in secret understanding with the Pretender, and 
 that Guntram-Boso had gone to Constantinople to in- 
 vite him into Gaul. Nothing could be more oppor- 
 tune for Guntram's purposes than this confession. He 
 immediately reported it to his nephew, and begged 
 him to come and hear it repeated by the unhappy 
 envoys themselves. Childebert agreed to the pro- 
 posed meeting, and heard, to his astonishment, the 
 confirmation of his subjects' treachery. With a well- 
 timed generosity, Guntram not only gave up all the 
 points on which he and Childebert had been divided, 
 and restored important possessions to the Austrasian 
 crown, but presented his nephew to the Burgundian 
 people and army, as the future heir of his throne. 
 Placing his spear, one of the ensigns of Frankish 
 royalty, in the hand of the young king, "This," said 
 he, " is a sign that I have delivered my whole kingdom 
 into your hands. Depart hence, and bring all my do- 
 minions under your sway, as if they were your own." 2 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 32. 2 Greg. Tur. vii. .33. 
 
160 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 In a private conference he gave his nephew sound 
 advice with respect to the choice of counsellors, 
 warning him more particularly against iEgidius, the 
 traitorous bishop of Rheims, and against Brunhilda, 
 his own mother. He also begged him to hold no 
 communication of any kind with Gundobald. 
 
 This alliance was felt by the conspirators to be 
 fatal to their cause. Many immediately deserted 
 Gundobald, and those who still remained about his 
 person, the chief of whom were Bishop Sagittarius, 
 Dukes Mummolus and Bladastes, and Waddo the 
 Major-Domus, fled with him to a town called Convenae, 
 strongly situated on an isolated hill in the Pyrenees. 1 
 The army of Guntram under Leudegisil, soon attacked 
 the place with newly-constructed military engines, 
 but with so little success, that, after a siege of some 
 weeks, they found it necessary to offer terms to Mum- 
 molus and the other leaders, on condition of their 
 betraying Gundobald. 2 To this proposal no objec- 
 tion was raised by the conspirators, who thought only 
 of their own safety. They went to the unhappy 
 Pretender, and advised him to throw himself on his 
 brother's mercy, by whom they assured him he 
 would be well received. Gundobald was not de- 
 ceived by their specious representations : bursting 
 
 1 St. Bertrand de Comminges. 
 
 2 During the siege, the assailants ascended the hill on which 
 the fortress stood, and reproached Gundobald with the meanness 
 of his origin and his presumption. " Tunc es pictor ille, qui tem- 
 pore Chlotacharii Regis per oratoria, parietes, atque cameras cara- 
 xabas. Tunc es ille, quern Ballomerem nomine saipius Galliarum 
 incoLne vocitabant." — Greg. Tur. vii. 36. 
 
Chap. IV.] MURDER OF GUNDOBALD AT CONVENJE. 161 
 
 into tears, he said, " By your invitation I came into 
 Gaul ; but of my treasures, in which there is an im- 
 mense weight of silver and gold and various costly 
 rings, part is kept at Avignon and part has been 
 stolen by Guntram-Boso. Next to God, I have based, 
 all my hopes upon you, and have always expected 
 to reign by your means. If ye have spoken falsely 
 to me now, make up your account with God, for He 
 himself shall judge my cause." 1 Mummolus assured 
 him with an oath that he should take no harm, and 
 persuaded him to leave the city, at the gate of which, 
 he told him, brave men were waiting to receive 
 him. He was then handed over to Olio, Count of 
 Bourges, and Guntram-Boso, who murdered him in 
 cold blood as he descended the precipitous hill on 
 which the citj^ stood. The besieging army was soon 
 after admitted into the town, the inhabitants were 
 put to the sword, and even the priests were slain at 
 the altars. 
 
 Nor did the traitors, who sought their own safety 
 by sacrificing the victim of their arts, escape the 
 punishment they deserved. Guntram paid no atten- 
 tion to the terms of their surrender, or the promise 
 of pai'don held out to them, but ordered them all to 
 be put to death. Bishop Sagittarius and Mummolus 
 suffered at once ; the others met their fate at a later 
 period. 
 
 We have thought it worth while to give a 
 more detailed account of this conspiracy, because it 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 38. 
 M 
 
162 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 was one of the most remarkable attempts of the 
 nascent aristocracy to bring the crown into subser- 
 viency to themselves — an object in which, at a subse- 
 quent period, they fully succeeded. The account, too, 
 of these transactions, as it stands in the pages of 
 Gregory, gives us an insight into the state of so- 
 ciety in that turbulent and chaotic period, when the 
 bands of society were loosed, and treachery and vio- 
 lence were resorted to even by those who were en- 
 gaged to a certain degree on the side of iustice and 
 legal authority. The degradation of the Church and 
 its ministers is also brought painfully before us in 
 the history of these times. Priests and bishops are 
 among the conspirators, the perjurors, and the mur- 
 derers; and so completely lose their sacerdotal cha- 
 racter in the eyes both of king and people, that 
 they are condemned to death by the one, and 
 slaughtered at their altars by the other. 
 
 For the moment the cause of royalty was trium- 
 phant, and Brunhilda was enabled openly to take 
 upon herself the guardianship of her still youthful 
 son, and the administration of his kingdom. The 
 spectacle of a woman reigning — and that woman 
 Brunhilda, the energetic champion of royalty — soon 
 gave rise to a renewal of the struggle in which she 
 
 <- Co 
 
 was engaged until her death. 
 
 Xot more than two years after the death of 
 Gundobald, the Austrasian and Xeustrian nobles 
 united in a new conspiracy, the object of which was 
 to put Childebert to death, to deprive Guntram of 
 his kingdom, and to place the infant sons of the 
 
Chap. IV.] FRESH REBELLION OF SEIGNIORS. 1G3 
 
 former on the vacant thrones of Austrasia and Bur- 
 gundy. The seigniors sought in fact to hasten that 
 minority of the crown which afterwards occurred, and 
 proved so advantageous to their cause. This fresh 
 attempt was headed by Rauching, Ursio, and Berte- 
 fried (of whom we have spoken above), who intended 
 to share the chief authority among themselves, under 
 the pretence of administering the kingdom for the 
 sons of Childebert. The increasing power of Brun- 
 hilda, and her well-known desire of revenging the 
 insults she had received at their hands, served to 
 quicken their movements, and drove them prema- 
 turely into rebellion. 1 In this case, too, a pretence 
 of hereditary claims was set up, Rauching having 
 given out that he also was a son of Clotaire. But 
 the watchfulness of Guntram, who employed their 
 own treacherous arts against themselves, completely 
 frustrated their designs. 2 As soon as he had re- 
 ceived secret intelligence of the plans of the conspira- 
 tors, he sent a letter of warning to his nephew, who 
 ordered Rauching to be summoned to the court, and 
 had him killed as he left the royal chamber, where he 
 had been received with treacherous kindness. The 
 rebels appointed a new leader, but were unable to 
 make head against Childebert's army. Ursio and 
 Bertefried were defeated and slain ; Guntram-Boso 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ix. 8, 9. 
 
 2 JEgidius having been found guilty of forgery, robbery, and 
 Iccsa mcijestctSy was deprived of his bishopric and sent into exile. 
 The Synod of Bishops did all they could on this occasion to save 
 their erring brother. Greg. Tur. x. 19. 
 
 m U 
 
164 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 also, who grovelled at the feet of Brunhilda with 
 the most abject entreaties for his life, received at 
 last the reward of his crimes. The house in which 
 he had taken refuge with Magneric, Bishop of Treves, 
 as set on fire by the order of King Guntram, and 
 as he sought to escape, he was pierced by such a 
 shower of javelins that his body stood erect, sup- 
 ported by the bristling shafts. iEgidius alone con- 
 trived to buy impunity for his treason with costly 
 presents. 
 
 It was the fear of this new conspiracy of the 
 seigniors that induced Guntram to draw still closer 
 the bonds of amity and common interest which had 
 of late united him to his nephew Childebert. In 
 a. d. 587 they met again at Anlau (Andely, near 
 Chaumont), to which place the young king, who was 
 then seventeen years old, brought his mother Brun- 
 hilda, his sister Chlodosuinth, his wife Faileuba, and 
 two sons. After settling the long-pending disputes 
 respecting the territory of Charibert, and other de- 
 batable points, the two monarchs and Brunhilda en- 
 tered into a solemn compact of alliance and friendship. 1 
 
 The rebellious seigniors were for the time completely 
 tamed by these numerous defeats and losses; and both 
 Guntram and Childebert ruled their dominions, and 
 disposed of the great offices of the State, with abso- 
 
 1 Greg. Tier. ix. 20. (The treaty (pactio) is given in full, and 
 is well worthy of perusal. The preamble contains the name of 
 Brunhilda) : " Cum in Christi nomine praecellentissimi domni 
 Guntchramnus et Childebertus Reges, et gloriosissima domna 
 Brunichildis Regina," &c. 
 
Chap. IV.] CHARACTER OF CHILPERIC. 165 
 
 lute authority. Summary punishment was inflicted 
 on several of the rebellious seigniors, and especially 
 on Ursio and Bertefried, who had made themselves 
 conspicuous by their rancorous opposition to Brun- 
 hilcla. 1 
 
 We return from the foregoing digression to the 
 death of Chilperic, who fell, as we have seen, by the 
 hand of an assassin in the forest of Chelles, in a. d. 
 584. 
 
 The Prince who thus miserably ended his life, 
 though enslaved by his passions and unbridled lusts 
 to a faithless and cruel woman, was not altogether 
 wanting in qualities which, if well directed, might 
 have procured for him a more honourable memory. 
 From the ecclesiastical historians, indeed, he meets 
 with little quarter ; yet even their strongly biassed 
 account of him shows that he possessed a more ori- 
 ginal and cultivated intellect than was common among 
 the princes of his time. The bitter denunciations of 
 Gregory of Tours are evidently prompted by personal 
 feelings, which it will not be difficult in some degree 
 to account for. Mild and forgiving as we have found 
 the historian to be in his judgment of monsters like 
 Clovis and Clotaire, we cannot but read with astonish- 
 ment the unmeasured terms of invective with which 
 he speaks of Chilperic ; especially as it was open to 
 him, had he been charitably inclined, to have as- 
 cribed the majority of his evil deeds to the influence 
 
 ■ Greg. Tur. ix. 12. 
 
 M 3 
 
166 THE FKANKS. [CtfAP. IV. 
 
 of Frede^unda. 1 He calls him " the Nero and Herod 
 of our times/' and says that he devastated whole 
 regions with fire and sword, and derived the same 
 pleasure from the misery he caused as Nero from the 
 flames of Borne. 2 " He was given up to gluttony," 
 continues Gregory, " and his god was his belly; yet 
 he maintained that no one was wiser than himself, 
 and composed two books, in which he took the poet 
 Sedulius as his model. His feeble verses accorded 
 with no measure, since, from want of understanding, 
 he put shorts for longs, and longs for shorts. He 
 also wrote other works, as hymns and masses. " 3 
 
 The unpopularity of Chilperic among the ecclesias- 
 tical historians proceeded not entirely from the 
 cruelty and lasciviousness of his character, but in a 
 greater degree, perhaps, from the fact that he failed 
 in the respect which the clergy exacted from the 
 laity, and that he meddled with theological ques- 
 tions. Gregory himself came several times into 
 direct collision with Chilperic, and certainly did not 
 conceal his displeasure at the conduct and opinions 
 of the king. " Against no one," says Gregory, " did 
 he direct so much ridicule and so many jokes, in his 
 private hours, as the bishops ; one of them he called 
 proud, another frivolous, another luxurious — hating 
 nothing so much as the churches. For he frequently 
 said, c Lo ! our treasury remains empty. Lo ! our 
 
 1 " Chilpericus magis uxorius quam sasvus fuit." — Ruinart. 
 Prof at. in Greg. Tur. (ap. Bouquet, ii. p. 115.). 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. vi. 46. 
 
 3 Ibid. 
 
Chap. IV.] CIIILPEUIC'S ERUDITION. 167 
 
 wealth is transferred to the churches. None really 
 reign but the bishops.' " l 
 
 Contemptuously as the historian speaks of his 
 royal master's prosody, and his other literary labours, 
 it is evident from Gregory's own pages that Chilperic 
 was possessed of considerable erudition for the age in 
 which he lived. Amongst other things, he added four 
 new letters to the alphabet, and gave orders that 
 they should be taught to the children throughout the 
 kingdom, and that all ancient manuscripts should be 
 rewritten in accordance with the new system, When 
 Gregory himself was charged with treason, and of 
 having accused the queen of committing adultery 
 with the Archbishop of Bordeaux, the king addressed 
 the council in such a manner, " that all admired his 
 wisdom and patience." 2 
 
 Chilperic has been compared to Henry VIII. of 
 England, to whom, in many points of his character 
 and life, he certainly bore a very remarkable re- 
 semblance. Like Henry, Chilperic, notwithstanding 
 his cruelty, was evidently not unpopular with the 
 great mass of his subjects. 3 The Frankish king had 
 indeed only three wives, and was directly concerned 
 
 1 Gre£. Tur. vi. 46. Conf. Fortunati Carm. lib. ix. 1. : 
 
 " Doctrince studio vincis et omne genus, 
 Regibus cequalis, de carmine major haberis." 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. v. 45. : " Addidit autem et litteras litteris nostris, 
 id est w, sicut Grceci habent, ae, the, uui, quarum characteres sub- 
 scripsimus. Hi sunt io, \p, Z, A." He gave orders, " ut libri an- 
 tiquitus scripti, planati pumice rescriberentur." 
 
 3 Greir. Tur. v. 50. 
 
 M 4 
 
J 68 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 in the death of only one ; but, like his English bro- 
 ther, he was eminently lascivious; and j:io one in- 
 ferior in personal and mental gifts to Fredegunda, or 
 less deeply versed in meretricious arts, could have 
 retained so long a hold upon his affections. Both 
 kings were sensible to mental as well as sensual 
 pleasures, and desirous of literary fame. Though 
 they lived in the daily violation of God's law and 
 every principle of our Redeemer's religion, they 
 were both extremely concerned about the purity of 
 Christian doctrines, and wrote works in support of 
 their opinions. The theological career of our own 
 king is well known to have been a most successful 
 one. He made himself for the time the fountain 
 of pure doctrine as well as honour, and those who 
 differed from him had the fear of Smithfield before 
 their eyes. It was far otherwise with the Frankish 
 king, who lived in a very different age. Chilperic 
 wrote a work upon the Trinity, from Gregory's 
 description of. which it would seem that the king 
 was inclined to the Sabellian heresy. He denied the 
 distinction of persons in the Godhead, and declared 
 that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were the same 
 person. He was naturally desirous of having his 
 doctrines preached throughout his dominions ; and 
 after causing his dissertations to be read to Gregory 
 of Tours, he said, " Thus I wisli that you and the 
 other teachers of the Church should believe." The 
 bishop, however, on this as on many other occasions, 
 steadily resisted the king, and endeavoured to con- 
 fute him by argument. The king angrily declared 
 
Chap. IV.] FRANKS SUBSIDISED BY MAURICE. 169 
 
 that he would explain the matter to wiser men, who 
 would, no doubt, agree with him. On which the 
 bishop, with a freedom which is hardly consistent 
 with his description of Chilperic as the Nero and 
 Herod of his age, replied, "It will never be a wise 
 man, but a fool, who is willing to assent to your 
 proposition." A few days afterwards, the king ex- 
 plained his opinions to Salvius, Bishop of Alby, who, 
 so far from giving them a more favourable reception, 
 declared that if he could but lay hands on the paper 
 in which those writings were contained, he would 
 tear them in pieces. " And so," adds the historian, 
 " the kino; desisted from his intentions." l 
 
 So powerful, brave, and turbulent a nation as the 
 Franks could not remain loni>; without making their 
 influence felt beyond the limits of their own country ; 
 and the state of Italy and the Eastern Empire was 
 eminently favourable to their aggressive tendencies. 
 About three years before the Treaty of Anlau, the 
 Greek emperor, Maurice, being hard pressed in Italy 
 by the Arian Langobards, applied for aid to the 
 Franks, as the most orthodox and powerful of all the 
 German tribes. He knew them too well, however, 
 to rely solely on their theological predilections, and 
 offered them 50,000 solidi if they would cross the 
 Alps and come to his assistance, which they readily 
 promised to do. 2 
 
 There is something very exciting to the imagina- 
 tion in the account of the relation and intercourse 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. v. 45. 
 
 2 Ibid. vi. 42. Paull. Diacon. iii. 17, 21, 22. 
 
170 THE FRANKS. [Chain IV. 
 
 between the pompous, formal, verbose, and over- 
 civilised Byzantine emperors — with their high-sound- 
 ing but unmeaning titles, — and the u rough and 
 ready " kings of the Franks, whose actual power was 
 far greater than its external insignia announced. 
 Childebert addressed the gorgeous but feeble mon- 
 arch whom he is called upon to save from a kindred 
 tribe of Germans, as " Dominus gloriosus ac semper 
 Augustus." In still loftier style does the Greek 
 emperor speak of himself, in the commencement of 
 his letters, as " Imperator Ccesar Flavius Mauritius 
 Tiberius, Fidelis in Christo, Mansuetus, Maximus, 
 lieneficus, Pacificus, Allemanicus, Gothicus, Anticus, 
 Vandalicus, Erulicus, Gepidicus, Africanus, Felix, 
 Inclitus, Victor ac Triumphator semper Augustus ! " 
 while Childebert is simply addressed " Childeberto 
 viro glorioso regi Francorum." L Yet the position of 
 these sublime Greek potentates was such that they 
 were compelled to lean for support on a prop they 
 affected to despise. The policy they were pursuing, 
 in thus calling a warlike, ambitious, and unscru- 
 pulous people into Italy, was a critical one ; but they 
 had sufficient grounds for preferring the alliance of 
 the Franks to that of the Lombards, both in the 
 common Catholicity of the former, and in their dis- 
 tance from the imperial dominions, which made both 
 their friendship and their enmity less dangerous. 
 
 In a. d. 584, when he was not above fourteen 
 years of age, Childebert proceeded to perform his 
 
 1 A[>. Da Cliesne, Hist. Franc. Scrip, i. Ep. 25. 
 
CnAr. IV.] CHILDEBERT MARCHES INTO ITALY. 171 
 
 part in the contract with the Emperor Maurice, and 
 led an army across the Alps with the intention of 
 attacking the Langobards. The latter were no 
 match for the Franks ; nor did they imagine them- 
 selves to be so. They saw at once that they could 
 only avoid destruction by bending to the storm, and 
 disarming hostility by complete submission. Childe- 
 bert and his followers were plied with magnificent 
 gifts, to which the Franks, like all half-civilised 
 nations, were peculiarly susceptible ; and not only 
 refrained from doing any injury to the Langobards, 
 but contracted a friendly alliance with them. 1 The 
 Emperor Maurice heard, to his astonishment, that 
 the Franks had retired into Gaul without striking 
 a blow, enriched by presents from both parties. In- 
 censed at their treachery, he applied for restitu- 
 tion of the 50,000 solidi paid in advance for the 
 expulsion of the Langobards. To this application 
 Childebert returned no answer at all, — a course 
 which, under the circumstances, was perhaps not 
 the worst he could have taken. In the following 
 year, however, the Austrasian king, who was quite 
 impartial in his bad faith, sent word to the emperor, 
 that he was now ready to perform his promise. 
 Accordingly, after a vain attempt to induce his 
 uncle Guntram to take part in the expedition, he 
 advanced alone against his newly-made friends, the 
 Langobards, from whom he had so lately parted in 
 perfect amity. The latter, however, far from giving 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vi. 42. Hist. Franc. Epit. per Fred. 92. 
 
172 THE FRANKS- TChap. IV. 
 
 themselves up to fancied security, had spent the 
 interval in preparing for the attack of their venal 
 and fickle friends. The Franks, on the other hand, 
 had fallen into the error of despising an enemy who 
 had so unresistingly yielded to them in the former 
 year. They advanced with confidence into Italy, 
 hoping, perhaps, to return as before laden with the 
 price of their forbearance — but they were miserably 
 deceived. 
 
 On their approach, King Autharis and his Lango- 
 bards advanced to meet them in good order and with 
 great alacrity, and gave the over-confident Austrasians 
 a bloody and decisive defeat. * 
 
 A fresh invasion of Italy by the Franks took place in 
 a. d. 590, when Childebert is said to have sent twenty 
 generals at the head of as many divisions of his army. 
 Yet even this great effort, though at first apparently 
 successful, was without any lasting results. 2 After 
 the greater part of the invading force had perished 
 by famine and dysentery, a peace was made through 
 the good offices of King Guntram 3 who had wisely 
 kept himself aloof. In the same year in which this 
 peace was concluded, Autharis, King of theLangobards, 
 died, and was succeeded by Agilulf, whom the na- 
 tion placed upon the throne on his marriage with the 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ix. 2.5. Conf. Paullus Diacon. (iii. 29.), who gives a 
 somewhat different view of these occurrences. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. x. 3. Paulh Diac. iii. 31. Paullus gives along list 
 of towns in Italy which were taken and plundered by the Franks. 
 
 3 PaulL Diac. iii. 34. Guntram is described as " Rex paci- 
 ficus, ct omni bonitate con<picuus." Ibid. iv. 1. : " Quos Bruni- 
 chiklis Kcgina Fruncorum ex proprio pretio redemerat." 
 
Chap. IV.] CHILDEBERT SUCCEEDS GUNTRAM. 173 
 
 widowed Queen Theudelinda. The new king lost no 
 time in confirming the treaty which his predecessor 
 had made; and sent ambassadors for that purpose to 
 the Australian court ; directing them also to restore 
 some captives whom Brunhilda had ransomed with 
 her own money. 
 
 A considerable time elapsed before the Franks 
 were again in a condition to carry on a distant war ; 
 but their attention was never afterwards wholly 
 withdrawn from Italy — a land whose beauty has in 
 all times roused the lust of conquest. They in- 
 stinctively felt that it would not be safe to allow 
 that country to fall under the dominion of the Greek 
 emperors, whose traditions prompted them to con- 
 stant efforts to change their empty titles into the 
 realities of universal empire. 
 
 At the death of his uncle Guntram, in April a.d. 593, 
 Childebert succeeded to the kingdom of Burgundy, 
 according to the above-mentioned Treaty of Anlau. 
 This new accession of territory appears to have 
 awakened in him the desire and hope of obtaining 
 the sole sovereignty of the Frankish empire ; for we 
 find him almost immediately afterwards attacking 
 his cousin Clotaire II. 1 His attempt to seize the 
 city of Soissons was foiled by the skill and conduct 
 of Fredegunda. A bloody engagement soon after- 
 wards ensued between the two youthful kings, at the 
 head of their respective forces, in which 30,000 men 
 are said to have fallen without any decisive result. 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. xiv. (ap. Bouquet, torn, ii.) Paull. Diac. iv. 4. 
 
174 THE PRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 The last great military event of the reign of Chil- 
 debert was the defeat and almost complete destruc- 
 tion of the Varni ; who, according to some accounts, 
 lived among the Thuringians, but whom Procopius 
 represents as inhabiting the country lying between 
 the Elbe and the Rhine. In a. d. 595 they rebelled 
 against the Franks, and received so terrible a chas- 
 tisement, that from this time forward they altogether 
 disappear from history. 1 
 
 In the following 3-ear Childebert died, at the age of 
 twenty-six, by poison, together with his wife Faileuba. 
 His elder son, Theudebert, though of illegitimate 
 birth, succeeded peaceably to the kingdom of Aus- 
 trasia ; while Theoderic, the younger, who was but 
 nine years old, received Burgundy and some ter- 
 ritories hitherto attached to Austrasia, viz., Alsace, 
 the Sundgau (about the sources of the Meuse), the 
 Tulgau (about Toul and Bar le Due), and part of 
 Champagne, with Orleans as his capital. 
 
 And thus, by a singular dispensation of Providence, 
 Brunhilda, the guardian of the infant kings, became 
 once more virtual ruler of the greater part of the 
 Frankish Empire, while Neustria was still under the 
 influence of her implacable enemy and hated rival 
 Fredegunda. Brunhilda took up her residence at 
 Metz, intrusting the administration of Burgundy to 
 her friends. 
 
 Under such auspices, it was not likely that the two 
 kingdoms should remain long at peace. Both sides pre- 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. xv. Paul!. Diac. iv. 11. Fred. Chron. xvi. 
 
Chap. IV J DEATH OF FREDEGUNDA. 175 
 
 pared for war, and a great battle is said to have been 
 fought at Latofaus (Liffou), which has been variously 
 placed on the Seine in the diocese of Sens, and on 
 the Meuse at Neufchateau, in the province of Lor- 
 raine. The battle was fierce and bloody, and, though 
 not very decisive, appears to have been favourable 
 to the Neustrians. 1 But the hopes of triumph and 
 long-desired vengeance which may have been kindled 
 thereby in the bosom of Fredegunda were now chilled 
 for ever by the hand of death. In a. d. 597, her 
 envious and restless spirit, which through life had 
 been excited and tortured by every violent and 
 wicked passion, was for the first time laid to rest. 
 
 Of the beauty, talent, and extraordinary energy of 
 this remarkable woman, there can be no doubt; but if 
 we are to believe one half the stories which her con- 
 temporary, Gregory of Tours, relates of her — as it 
 were incidentally, and without any appearance of 
 antipathy or passion — we must ascribe to Fredegunda 
 a character unsurpassed by either sex in the annals 
 of the world for cruelty and baseness. 
 
 In such a character, the sins which would consign 
 the generality of women to infamy — incontinence 
 before marriage and tenfold adultery after it — appear 
 but trifling : we are astonished to find a touch even 
 of guilty tenderness in a heart so black and stony. 
 By the sacrifice of her honour to the irregular pas- 
 sions of Chilperic, she rose, if we may call it so, from 
 the obscure position in which she was born, and 
 gained an entrance into the palace. 2 Through the 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. xvii. 2 Ex Adon. Chron. ad an. 567. 
 
176 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 blood of the ill-fated Galsuintha, Brunhilda's sister, 
 she waded to the throne. Having induced Chilperic — 
 who, whatever he was to others, was certainly a 
 Gracious kin£ and loving husband to her — to murder 
 his royal bride, and publicly marry herself, she was 
 continually at his ear suggesting and urging the 
 commission of the crimes which have branded his 
 name with infamy. 
 
 Her whole life, after her elevation to the throne, 
 appears to have been passed in planning and exe- 
 cuting murder. We have seen the means by which 
 she succeeded in removing Sigebert from her path; 
 and both Brunhilda and her children were the con- 
 stant object of her secret machinations. In a. d. 
 584, when she was at the village of Rueil *, grieved 
 at the growing power of Brunhilda, " to whom she 
 considered herself superior," she sent a confidential 
 priest to her with instructions to represent himself 
 as a fugitive from the Neustrian court, and, after 
 ingratiating himself with his intended victim, to take 
 an opportunity of killing her. This artful scheme 
 was nearly successful ; but the intended assassin was 
 accidentally detected, and dismissed to his patroness 
 with no other punishment than a richly-deserved 
 flagellation. Fredeguncla, however, when she heard 
 that his mission had failed, fully made up for the 
 clemency of Brunhilda by ordering his hands and 
 feet to be cut off. 2 
 
 In the following year she renewed her attempts, and 
 
 1 Near the confluence of Seine and Eure. 2 Greg. Tur. vii. 20. 
 
Chap. IV.] CHARACTER OF FREDEGUNDA. 177 
 
 prepared two knives, which she dipped in deadly 
 poison and gave to two priests, with these instruc- 
 tions : " Take these weapons, and go with all pos- 
 sible speed to King Childebert, pretending that 
 you are mendicants : and when you have thrown 
 yourselves at his feet, as if demanding alms, stab him 
 in both his sides, that Brunhilda, whose pride is 
 founded upon him, may at length fall with him and 
 be subordinate to me ; but if there is so strong a 
 guard about the boy that you cannot approach him, 
 then kill my enemy herself." Notwithstanding the 
 great promises she made to themselves, should they 
 escape, and to their families if they died in the at- 
 tempt, the priests " began to tremble, thinking it very 
 difficult to fulfil her commands." Fredegunda then 
 primed them with an intoxicating potion, under the 
 influence of which they promised all that she desired. 
 She also gave them some of the liquor to take with 
 them, directing them to use it just before the com- 
 mission of the murder. 1 
 
 But it was not merely against what we may call 
 her natural enemies that her murderous arts were di- 
 rected. We have seen that she was charged with being 
 the murderess of her husband ; and though this may 
 be doubtful, yet she certainly compassed the murder 
 of Clovis, her stepson, by inventing the most horrible 
 calumnies against him ; and she endeavoured to kill 
 her own daughter Rigunthis, by forcing down the lid 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. viii. 29. 
 
 N 
 
178 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 of an iron chest upon her neck. 1 Her mode of 
 settling a dispute, according to Gregory's account, 
 has in it something almost comically cruel. A feud 
 having arisen between two families in Tournai, in 
 consequence of an unfortunate matrimonial alliance, 
 the contending parties were frequently admonished 
 by Fredegunda to desist from their contention and 
 live in concord. When her exhortations proved 
 fruitless, she adopted a more effectual means of pacify- 
 ing them. " Having invited a great number of persons 
 to a banquet, she caused the three who were principally 
 concerned in the feud to occupy the same couch at the 
 table. When the feast had been prolonged till night- 
 fall, the table was removed, according to the Frankish 
 custom, and the three guests reclined on the seat on 
 which they had been placed. Their servants as well 
 as themselves had drunk to excess, and were sleeping 
 wherever they happened to fall. Three men armed 
 with axes were then placed behind the couch, and 
 the three occupants struck dead by simultaneous 
 blows." 2 
 
 Her last crime appears to have been the murder of 
 Praetextatus, Bishop of Rouen, who, on one occasion, 
 sharply rebuked her for her evil life, and exhorted 
 her to repentance and amendment. The Queen 
 withdrew felle fervens, and procured his murder on 
 Easter Sunday, a.d. 590, when he was struck down 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ix. 34. The enmity between Fredegunda and 
 her daughter is said to have arisen " quia Regunthis adulteria 
 sequebatur ! '' 
 
 2 Ibid. x. 27. 
 
Chap. IV.] MURDER OF PR7ETEXTATU8. 179 
 
 by an assassin while engaged in the duties of his 
 office. No sooner had he been removed, mortally 
 wounded, to his bed, than Fredegunda came to visit 
 him with hypocritical promises to avenge his death, 
 if she could discover the murderer. But the bishop 
 was not deceived, and when the treacherous queen 
 begged permission to send a skilful physician to his 
 aid, he replied, " God hath already ordered me to be 
 summoned from the world ; but thou who art found 
 out to be the principal actor in these evil deeds wilt 
 be accused for ever, and God will visit my blood 
 upon your head." * 
 
 This daring as well as dreadful deed excited great 
 indignation among the Frankish seigniors ; and one of 
 them, who was bold enough to denounce Fredegunda 
 to her face and to threaten her with the consequences, 
 was soon afterwards taken off by poison. 
 
 To say that she committed many other murders, 
 which want of opportunity and power alone prevented 
 her from doubling ; that she brought false accusations 
 against all who displeased her ; that she ground the 
 poor with intolerable taxes ; that she attempted the 
 life of her benefactor Guntram, who foolishly and 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. viii. 31. We can now appreciate the fitness of 
 Fortunatus for the post of Poet Laureate. In the following lines 
 he is speaking of Fredegunda : — 
 
 a 
 
 Provida consiliis, sollers, cauta utilis aula3, 
 Ingenio pollens, rnunere larga placens, 
 Omnibus excellens merit is, Fredegundis opiina, 
 Atque serena suo, fulget ab ore dies." 
 
 Fortuuat ix. carni. 1. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 wickedly maintained her cause when she was most in 
 need of his assistance — will scarcely add one shade to 
 the blackness of the character we have attempted to 
 portray. A moiety of her crimes would be suffi- 
 cient to stamp her as the Messalina and the Borgia of 
 her ao;e. 
 
 The traitorous faction of Austrasian seigniors, 
 though for the time kept down by the vigour of 
 Brunhilda and the prudence of Guntram, had never 
 ceased from their intrigues, and succeeded at last, 
 in a. d. 599, in persuading the youthful Theudebert 
 to banish his grandmother from his court. The 
 persecuted queen, like another Lear, took refuge 
 with her other grandchild, Theoderic of Burgundy, 
 and was courteously received by him. It is a re- 
 markable fact, and speaks well for the young kings, 
 and still better for the aged Brunhilda, that no 
 breach of friendly intercourse between the two 
 courts took place in consequence of this event* 
 
 The unity of the Frankish kings generally showed 
 itself in joint undertakings against their neighbours. 
 Theudebert and Theoderic manifested their mutual 
 affection by attacking their cousin Clotaire, in a. d. 
 GOO, with their united forces ; and they deprived 
 him 1 of all his dominions with the exception of the 
 country which lies between the Seine, the Isere, 
 and the ocean. They also directed their arms 
 against the TTascones (or Gascons), a Spanish people 
 
 i After a bloody victory over him at Dorrneilles on the Quaine 
 ('•super fluvium Aroannam, nee procul a Doromello vico"). Fred. 
 Chron. xx. 
 
Chap. IV.] TIIEUDEBERT AND THEODERIC. 181 
 
 living in the Pyrenees, whom the nature of their 
 country and their own love of freedom had enabled 
 to remain independent of the Gothic conquerors. 
 We mention them here because we shall meet with 
 them again in the time of Charlemagne himself, 
 in whose history they play no unimportant part. 1 
 These expeditions seem to prove that the warlike 
 spirit of Clovis had not yet died out of his de- 
 scendants, though the physical deterioration of the 
 race had already proceeded to a great length. 
 
 Theuclebert, who had banished his grandmother, 
 and put his wife Bilichildis to death, that he might 
 marry another woman, is described as being na- 
 turally a cruel prince ; while the faults of Theo- 
 deric are ascribed to the evil counsels and influence 
 of Brunhilda. She is accused of having prevented 
 the young king from marrying, and of encouraging 
 him in a course of vicious indulgences, in order to 
 retain her influence at his court. Whether in con- 
 sequence of the machinations of Brunhilda, or his 
 own preference for promiscuous concubinage, it is 
 certain that an attempt which the king made to 
 live in lawful wedlock signally failed. 2 In a. d. 607 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. xxi. 
 
 2 St. Columban is said to have excited the wrath of Brunhilda 
 by endeavouring to turn the young monarch from his evil ways : 
 " Cumque jam ad viri Dei imperium Regis sermo obtemperaret, et 
 se ab omnibus illicitis segregare sponderet, mentem Brunichildis 
 avioe, secunda ut erat Jezebalis, antiquus anguis adiit, eamque 
 contra virum Dei stimulatam superbias aculeo excitat. • • - 
 
 N 3 
 
182 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 he formed an alliance with Hermenberga, daughter 
 of Viteric, king of the Spanish Visigoths, but sent 
 her back into Spain within the year of their mar- 
 riage despoiled of the treasures she had brought 
 into Gaul. The young king's conduct on this occa- 
 sion, though quite in accordance with his character 
 and habits, is ascribed to the influence of Brunhilda, 
 who is represented as having purposely rendered Her- 
 menberga odious in the eyes of her husband, that she 
 might retain the position of which a lawful and be- 
 loved wife must inevitably deprive her. Without at 
 all intending to exculpate Brunhilda from the sin of 
 ambition and the lust of power (and without power, 
 be it observed, her life would not have been safe for 
 a moment), we confess that we receive with great 
 suspicion all that the works of Fredegar and the 
 other historici contain respecting her. 1 No one 
 can read these writers without observing; the hostile 
 spirit in which they speak of her, and the satis- 
 faction they derived from minutely detailing all 
 that can redound to her disadvantage. This malevo- 
 lent spirit is the more remarkable when we compare 
 the passages in which the rival queens are spoken of; 
 for notwithstanding the extraordinary baseness of 
 Fredegunda, she appears to be viewed by the his- 
 torians with aln^st an indulgent feeling. 
 
 Verebatur eniin ne, si abjectis concubinis Reginaro aulas prsefe- 
 cisset, dignitatis atque honoris sui mod am amputasset." — Fredeg. 
 CI iron, xxxvi. 
 
 1 "We ha\ e already V-.A the aid of Gregory of Tours, wlio^e 
 work only extend* to a.l>> 591, 
 
Chap. IV.] THEODERIC DEFEATS THEUDEBERT. 183 
 
 The expulsion of Brunhilda by the King of Austrasia 
 and her favourable reception by his brother was 
 followed, as we have seen, by no immediate breach of 
 their good understanding. Yet directly differences 
 arose between them, they were ascribed to their un- 
 fortunate grandmother ! Whatever part she may have 
 played in the ensuing tragedy, it is plain that the 
 main cause of their hostility was, as usual, mutual 
 jealousy and covetousness. 1 The ceded territory 2 in 
 Alsace and Lorraine, which Theudebert now wished 
 to reunite to Austrasia, became an apple of dis- 
 cord between the brothers. 3 Theoderic was com- 
 pelled by a sudden inroad of the Austrasians to yield 
 to their demands in a.d. 610; in revenge for which he 
 spread a report that Theudebert was not the real son of 
 Childebert, but a changeling. He also bought the neu- 
 trality of Clotaire, who was not ill-pleased to see his 
 rivals exhausting themselves in their efforts to de- 
 stroy one another. He then boldly marched into 
 Austrasia, and was met by Theudebert at the head 
 of all his forces in the neighbourhood of Tull (or 
 Toul), not far from Langres in Champagne. Theu- 
 debert was defeated in a great battle which ensued, 
 and fled through the Vosges mountains to Cologne. 
 He was quickly followed by his brother, who resolving, 
 in accordance with the advice of L^nisius, Bishop of 
 Mayence, " beatus et Apostolicus" to destroy him 
 utterly, led his forces through the forest of Ardennes 
 
 1 Gesta Reg. Franc, xxxviii. 2 Vide p. 174. 
 
 3 Fredtg. Chron. xxxvii. 
 
 N 
 
184 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 and took post at Ziilpich. 1 Theudebert, meanwhile, 
 well aware that he could hope nothing even from 
 entire submission, collected his scattered powers, and, 
 having received reinforcements from the Saxon Thu- 
 ringians, determined to hazard another battle. The 
 conflict was long and doubtful, and bloody beyond 
 the measure even of Frankish contests. Yet we can 
 hardly receive literally the turgid expressions of 
 Fredegar, who relates that the slaughter was so great, 
 that the dying could not fall to the ground, but 
 were propped up in an erect position between the 
 heaps of slain. 2 Theoderic, " Domino prceeedente" 
 was again victorious ; and having taken his brother 
 captive, and stripped him of all the insignia of 
 royalty, sent him to Chalons, where he was shortly 
 afterwards put to death by the order, as some say, 
 of Brunhilda. Merovseus, the infant son of the de- 
 feated king, was at the same time dashed to pieces 
 against a rock. 3 
 
 Theoderic now took full possession of Australia, 
 and was meditating an attack, with the united forces 
 of his two kingdoms, upon Clotaire, when his fur- 
 ther progress was stayed and the aspect of affairs 
 entirely changed, by his sudden decease at Metz, in 
 a.d. 613, in the twenty-sixth year of his age. 4 
 
 1 " Diligens utilitatera Theodorici, et odiens stultitiam Theu- 
 deberti." 
 
 2 Fred. Chron. xxxviii. 
 
 3 Gesta Reg. Franc, xxxviii. Conf. Paull. Diac. an. 612. 
 Dom. Caroling. Genealog. (ap. Monuna. German, ed. Pertz, torn, 
 ii p. 310.). 
 
 4 Frcdeg. Chron. xxxix. : '• Profluvio ventris moritur." Chron. 
 
Chap. IV.] BRUNHILDA's PROLONGED REGENCY. 185 
 
 Nothing could be more unpromising for the future 
 peace and strength of the united kingdoms of Aus- 
 trasia and Burgundy than the circumstances in which 
 they were placed at the death of Theoderic. He left 
 behind him four sons ; Sigebert, Childebert, Corvus, 
 and Merovaeus, the eldest of whom was born when 
 his father was only fourteen years of age. The 
 power of the seigniors had greatly increased during 
 the late reign, and they now felt themselves strong 
 enough to come boldly forward in resistance to the 
 royal power. The extraordinary prolongation of the 
 regency of Brunhilda, who now began to act as 
 guardian of her great-grandchildren, was above all 
 things hateful to the powerful and unscrupulous 
 party, who knew her constancy and energy, and 
 were ever on the watch for an opportunity to feed 
 their vengeance on her ruin. They feared, or pre- 
 tended to fear, that the young princes were but tools 
 in the hands of the queen for the accomplishment of 
 her own will, and the gratification of her cruelty and 
 pride. They again accused her of purposely under- 
 mining the bodily and mental vigour of her youthful 
 charges by making them early acquainted with every 
 enervating vice. The state of anarchy into which 
 the kingdom had gradually been falling was the 
 
 Moissiac. ad an. 613. Dom. Carol. Geneal. (Monurn.Germ. ii. 310.): 
 * Ipse a Deo percussus.'' Adon. Chron. (ap. Bouq. ii. p. 669.). 
 The death of Theoderic is here most unreasonably ascribed to 
 the hand of Brunhilda. And, not content with charging her 
 with a murder by which she of all persons would be the greatest 
 loser, the chronicler adds : u filios ejus Brunichildis occidit" 
 
186 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 more complete at this period, because, while the power 
 of the Merovingians had been greatly weakened, that 
 of the mayors of the palace was not sufficiently 
 established to ensure the blessing; of a strong govern- 
 ment, and to make the personal character of the king 
 a matter of small importance. The people at large, 
 indeed, still clung with singular devotion to the Me- 
 rovingian dynasty; and a long succession of royal 
 weaklings and idiots, designedly paraded before them 
 in all their imbecilitv, was needed to make them 
 untrue to the house under whose earlier members 
 their vast empire had been acquired, and their mili- 
 tary glory spread throughout the world. 
 
 The wish of Brunhilda was to place the eldest of 
 Theoderic's sons upon the throne, but the party op- 
 posed to her was too strong, and too thoroughly 
 roused into action by the prospect of a continuance of 
 her regency, to allow her a chance of success. She had 
 the mortification too, while she herself was declining 
 in years and strength, of seeing her enemies united 
 under the leadership of the ablest and most in- 
 fluential men in the empire, Bishop Arnulph and 
 Pepin ; both of whom held subsequently the office of 
 major-domus. 1 The fear and hatred which Brunhilda 
 inspired among the seigniors were strong enough to 
 overcome the antipathy existing between the Aus- 
 trasians and Xeustrians ; and when the Austrasian 
 seigniors found themselves unable to meet Brunhilda 
 in the field with their own dependents alone, they did 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. xl. 
 
Chap. IV.] TRIUMPH OF SEIGNIORS OVER BRUNHILDA. 187 
 
 not scruple to call upon Clotaire II. for aid, with the 
 promise of making him monarch of the whole Frankish 
 empire. Their objects in these traitorous measures 
 are evident: they hoped, on the one hand, to weaken 
 the monarchy by arraying the different branches of 
 the royal family against each other; and, on the 
 other, to acquire for themselves, under a ruler whose 
 residence was in Neustria, the virtual possession of 
 the government of Austrasia. The strong assurances 
 of support which were made to Clotaire by Arnulph 
 and Pepin, in the name of their party, were sufficient 
 to induce him to lead his army to Andernach on the 
 Rhine ; Brunhilda and her great-grandchildren being 
 then at Worms. The aged queen was not deceived 
 as to the real state of things, and knew too well the 
 strength which the invading army derived from the 
 treachery of her own subjects. At first, therefore, 
 she made an appeal to the enemy's forbearance, and 
 sending an embassy to the king at Andernach she 
 besought him to retire from the territory which 
 Theoderic had bequeathed to his children. 1 But Clo- 
 taire was equally well informed with herself of the 
 state of the Austrasian army, and was not likely to 
 feel much compunction for the children of one who 
 had threatened to dethrone him. His answer to 
 Brunhilda's message was a significant hint at her 
 want of power to withstand him. " Whatever," he 
 sent word back, " the Franks themselves, by the 
 guidance of God, shall determine upon, I am ready to 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. xxxix. and xl. 
 
188 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 abide by." The answer was understood, and Brun- 
 liilda wasted no more time in negotiations useful 
 only to her enemies. She felt that all was lost but 
 her own indomitable spirit, which neither age, nor 
 the enmity of foes, nor the treachery of friends, were 
 able to subdue. She despatched \Yerner, the Aus- 
 tralian Major-Domus, with the young prince Sigebert, 
 across the Rhine, to bring up the Thuringian Ger- 
 mans, in whose courage and fidelity she had reason 
 to confide. But AYerner himself had been tampered 
 with, and purposely neglected to fulfil his mission. 
 As a last resource, Brunhilda fled into Burgundy ; 
 but there, too, the chief men both of the Church 
 and the laity, were banded together against her ; and 
 readily entered into a conspiracy with the traitor 
 AYerner for the destruction of the whole royal house 
 of Austrasia. 1 Sigebert, meantime, unconscious per- 
 haps of the falsehood of those in whom he trusted 
 for the protection of his helpless boyhood, advanced 
 with his army against Clotaire, and encountered him 
 between Chalons-sur-Marne and the river Aisne. Many 
 of the Austrasian seigniors were at this time actually 
 in the camp of the enemy, and of those who followed 
 Sigebert multitudes were ea^er to desert. At the 
 decisive moment, when an attempt was made to lead 
 them into action, the Austrasians turned their backs 
 without striking a blow, and, marching off the field, 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. xli. : " Burgundioe Farones, tarn Episcopi quam 
 cceteri L^u dt: s, timentes Brunichildeni, et odium in eam habentes — 
 cum Warnachario consilium inientcs tractabant, ut neque unus ex 
 fil'us Tlieuderici evaderct.*' 
 
Chap. IV.] BRUNHILDA' S HORRIBLE DEATH. 189 
 
 retreated to the Saone, closely followed by Clotaire, 
 who had good reasons for not attacking them. On 
 the river Saone the mutiny in the camp of Sigebert 
 became open and declared. The boy-king and his 
 brothers were delivered up by their own soldiers 
 into the hands of their enemies. Sigebert and Corvus 
 were immediately put to death ; Childebert escaped, 
 and disappears from the page of history; while Me- 
 rovaeus, on account of some religious scruples in the 
 mind of Clotaire, who was his godfather, was spared, 
 and educated in a manner befitting his rank. 1 
 
 Nothing, however, was eifected in the eyes of the 
 rebellious and now triumphant seigniors, while their 
 hated enemy Brunhilda remained alive. Though she 
 could not at this time have been much less than seventy 
 years old, she was an object of fear as well as hatred to 
 thousands of mail-clad warriors in the full flush of 
 victory. While the tragic fate of the young king was 
 being decided on the banks of the Saone, Brunhilda 
 was at Urba in Burgundy, with her grand-daughter 
 Theodelinda. The defection of Werner and the 
 mutiny of Sigebert's troops had left her without 
 resources, and she was delivered up by the Constable 
 Herpo into the hands of Clotaire and her numerous 
 enemies ; who, not content with simply putting her to 
 death, glutted their eyes upon her agonies during 
 three days of cruel torture. She was led round the 
 camp upon a camel, and exposed to the derision of 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. xlii. : " Arapleetens amore, quod ipsum de sancto 
 excepisset lavacro." 
 
ISO THE FRANKS. [Chai\ IV. 
 
 the multitude ; and at last being bound hand and 
 foot to a vicious horse, she was left to perish mise- 
 rably. 
 
 We have already remarked upon the extreme 
 difficulty of forming a fair judgment of the character 
 of Brunhilda, arising from the unfavourable bias 
 against her in the minds of the ecclesiastical writers 
 of her day. We must remember that she had in- 
 curred the bitter hostility of the great dignitaries of 
 the Church, no less than of the lay seigniors, by her 
 endeavours to check the growth of their inordinate 
 wealth, and to curb their rising spirit of insubordina- 
 tion. 1 The account given by Fredegar of her con- 
 flict with Saint Columban, the Irish missionary, con- 
 veys to us a very clear idea of the feelings of the 
 clergy towards her ; and to oftend the clergy, the 
 only chroniclers of that age, was to ensure historical 
 damnation and an infamous immortality. 2 But in 
 
 1 Montesquieu, Esj). des Lois, liv. xxxi. ch. i. : " II arriva que la 
 Cour voulut revoquer les dons qui avoient ete faits ; cela coit un me- 
 contentement generale dans la Nation, et Ton vit bientot naitre cette 
 Revolution fanieuse dans l'histoire de France, dont la premiere 
 epoque fut le spectacle etonnant du supplice de Brunehault." 
 Conf. Fredeo;. Chron. xxvii. 
 
 2 St. Columban refused his blessing to Brunbilda's great-grand- 
 cbildren Sigebert, Childebert, &c. : " Cui Brunichildis ait, ' Regis 
 sunt lilii, tu eos benedictione robora.' At ille ' Nequaquam,' 
 inquit, ' istos regalia sceptra suscepturos scias : de lupanaribus 
 emerserunt. Ilia furens parvulos abire jussit.' " Fred.Chron.xxxvi. 
 In the Life of Columban, by the Abbot Jonas, the saint is said 
 to have foretold the destruction of Brunhilda and her sfreat-erand- 
 children, and the acee^ion of Clotaire to both the Frankish kine- 
 doins. After hit, banishment by Theoderic and Brunhilda, he is 
 said to have been well received by Theudcbert, who bid him 
 
Chap. IV. J CHARACTER OF BRUNHILDA. 191 
 
 Brunhilda's case, the zeal of her enemies outruns 
 their discretion, and the very extravagance of their 
 charges both excites suspicion and furnishes mate- 
 rials for their refutation. Fredegar, in his chronicle, 
 calls her " another Jezebel," and says that Clotaire's 
 inordinate hatred of her arose from her having killed 
 ten Frankish kings and princes. Fortunately for the 
 reputation of the accused, Fredegar has mentioned 
 the names of these ten royal victims; bat of these 
 there is not one whose murder has not been ascribed 
 to some other and far more probable agent, by better 
 authorities than Fredegar. " Clotaire," says Mon- 
 tesquieu, " reproached her with the death of ten 
 kings, two of whom he had put to death himself; 
 the death of some others must be charged upon the 
 fate or wickedness of another queen ; and the nation 
 which had allowed Fredeguncla to die in her bed, and 
 
 choose a suitable place for a monastery. Columban fixed on 
 Bregentz, which was at that time inhabited by a Suabian people. 
 Soon after his arrival, while exploring the country, he came upon 
 some of the inhabitants while they were in the act of performing 
 a heathen sacrifice. They had a large vessel which they called 
 cupa (kufe) which held about twenty pailsfull, filled with beer, 
 standing in the midst of them. In reply to Columban's question 
 what they going to do with it, they replied that they were going to 
 sacrifice to Wodan (whom some call Mercury). When the Saint 
 heard of this horrible work he blew on the cask, and, lo ! it was 
 loosed, and flew into pieces with a loud noise, so that all the beer 
 ran out. This made it evident that the Devil was in the cask, 
 who wished to ensnare the souls of the sacrificers by earthly 
 drinks. When the heathens saw this they were astonished, and 
 said that Columban had a strong breath to burst a strongly bound 
 cask. But he rebuked them in the words of the Gospel, and bid 
 them go home. 
 
192 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 opposed the punishment of her flagrant crimes, should 
 have beheld with the greatest calmness the sijis of a 
 Brunhilda." l 
 
 Amidst such palpable misrepresentations, it is dif- 
 ficult to know what to believe, and hazardous to fix 
 upon her any of the specific crimes with which she has 
 been charged, To say that she was guilty of intrigue 
 and violence is to say that she lived and struggled in 
 an age and in a court where these were the only 
 means of self-preservation. We see that she was 
 ambitious, and crime was at that period more pecu- 
 liarly the companion and assessor of power. Her 
 desire of vengeance was roused at the very com- 
 mencement of her career by injuries which only a 
 saint could have forgiven. She had to struggle 
 through her whole life with antagonists who beset 
 her path with the dagger and the poison cup, and 
 against whom she could not possibly have held her 
 ground without sometimes turning their own detes- 
 table weapons against themselves. That she com- 
 mitted many crimes, therefore, which nothing can 
 justify, though the circumstances of her life may in 
 some degree palliate them, we cannot reasonably 
 doubt. Yet even through the dark veil which hos- 
 tile chroniclers have thrown over the character of 
 Brunhilda, many traces may be discerned of what 
 is noble, generous, and even tender, in her dispo- 
 sition. Nor can we, while we read her history, 
 suppress the thought, that she who died a death 
 
 1 Montesq. Esp. des Lois, xxxi. 1. 
 
Chap. IV.] GREGORY THE GREAT AND BRUNHILDA. 19 
 
 9 
 
 of torture amidst exulting foes, had that within her 
 which in better times would have made her the 
 ornament and the blessing of the country over which 
 she ruled, and ensured her a niclie in the vast cata- 
 combs of history among the wise, the great, and 
 good. 1 
 
 It is evident from the fact that the greatest pos- 
 sible publicity was given to the horrid spectacle of 
 Brunhilda's execution, that the hatred against her 
 was not only intense but general ; for otherwise her 
 enemies would not have run the risk of exciting the 
 sympathy of the multitude in her nameless sufferings. 
 And yet she would seem to have had all the 
 qualities calculated to excite the enthusiastic par- 
 tiality of subjects towards their rulers. She was the 
 daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and great- 
 grandmother of kings ; and had, moreover, beauty 
 and intellect enough to raise a peasant to a throne. 
 Her indomitable courage, her ceaseless activity, and 
 extraordinary skill in the conduct of affairs, enabled 
 her to carry on with wonderful success a conflict 
 with the powerful seigniors, and to postpone for many 
 years the downfall of the monarchy. Her mental 
 and personal graces attracted the attention and ad- 
 miration of Pope Gregory the Great, who praises her 
 for her Christian devotion, uprightness of heart, 
 
 1 Fredeg, Chron. xlii. : "Per triduum earn diversis tormentis 
 adfectam, jubet prius camelo per ornnem exercitum sedentem per- 
 ducere ; posthaec coma capitis, uno pede et brachio ad vitiocissimi 
 cqui caudam ligare ; ibique calcibus et velocitate cursus menibratim 
 disrumpitur." Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois, iii. p. 302. 
 
 
 
194 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IV. 
 
 skill in government, and the careful education she 
 bestowed upon her children. 1 That the unhappy 
 circumstances in which her life was passed had not 
 
 1 Greg. Mag. (Op. oro. Paris, 1705), vi. ep. 5. : " Excellentice 
 vestrse prasdieandani et Deo placitam bonitatem, et gubernacula 
 testantur, et educatio lilii manifestat. Cui non solum incolumem 
 rerum temporaliura gloriam provida sollicitudine conservastis, 
 verum etiain aeternae vitas praginia providistis, dum mentem ipsius 
 in radice verce fidei, materna, ut decuit, et laudabili institutione 
 plantastis." 
 
 Conf. vi. 50. and 59., in which latter Gregory commends Au- 
 gustine, then on his way to England, to the notice of Brunhilda. 
 Also ix. epist. 11. 109. 117.: "Dum turbas gentium laudabiliter 
 gubernatis." And xi. 62., in which he says : " Gratias omnipo- 
 tent! Deo referimus qui * * * ita vos amore Christianas Religionis 
 implevit, ut quidquid ad animarum lucrum, quidquid ad propaga- 
 tionem fidei pertinere cognoscitis, devota mente et pio operari 
 studio non cessetis. Quanto autem favore, quantaque opitulatione 
 exc^llentia vestra reverendissimum fratrem et Coepiscopum nos- 
 trum Augustinum pruficiscentem ad Anglorum gentem adjuverit, 
 nee ante silentio fama conticuit, et postea quidam ab eo ad nos 
 Monachi redeuntes subtiliter retulerunt. Et quidem base de 
 Christianitate vestra mirentur alii, quibus adhuc beneficia vestra 
 minus sunt cognita ; nam nobis, quibus experimentis jam nota 
 sunt, non mirandum est, sed gaudendum, &c." Conf. ix. ep. 11. 
 
 Ibid, epist. xi. 63.: " Illud etiam cunctis patenter insinuat, 
 quia et effera corda gentilium providi gubernatis arte con- 
 silii, et regiam quod majoris adhuc laudis est, ornatis sapientia 
 potestatem." 
 
 Ibid, epist. xiii. 6. : "Inter alia bona hoc apud vos prse coeteris 
 tenet principatum, quod in mediis hujus mundi fluctibus, qui 
 regentis animos turbulenta solent vexatione confundere, ita 
 cor ad divini cultus amorem et venerabilium locorum disponen- 
 dam qnietem reducitis, ac si nulla vos alia cura sollicitet. Unde 
 . . . pros ali is gentibus gentem Francorum asserimus felicem, 
 quce sic bonis omnibus praBditam meruit habere Reginam." Ger- 
 mani Parisiorum Episc. Epist. ad Brunecliildem R. Du Chesne, 
 i. p. 855. 
 
Chap. IV.] REDEEMING QUALITIES OF BRUNHILDA. 195 
 
 excluded the feeling of mercy from her heart she 
 proved by ransoming at her own expense some 
 Longobardian prisoners, and still more by dismiss- 
 ing unhurt the wretched priest who was sent to 
 betray and murder her. At a time when intrigue 
 and plunder occupied the thoughts of all around her, 
 she turned her attention to the erection of public 
 works, wdiich have been pronounced worthy of a 
 Roman edile or proconsul ; and yet thousands of her 
 own countrymen rejoiced to see her torn limb from 
 limb, and could not satisfy their rage until they had 
 burned her lacerated body, and scattered her ashes 
 to the dust ! 
 
 o 2 
 
196 THE FliANKS. [Chap. Y. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OP BRUNHILDA TO THE DEATH OF 
 
 CARL MARTEL. 
 
 A.D. 613—741. 
 
 And thus, after a long series of rebellions, the 
 rising aristocracy gained their first great victory 
 over the monarchy ; we say the monarchy, for in the 
 battle which made him king of the whole Frankish 
 empire no one was more truly defeated than the 
 nominal victor, Clotaire II. himself. He was, in 
 fact, an instrument in the hands of the seigniors for 
 the humiliation of the royal power. It was not 
 because Xeustria was stronger than Austrasia and 
 Burgundy, that the Neustrian king obtained a triple 
 crown ; but because the power of the seigniors was 
 greater than that of the infant kings and their female 
 guardian. 
 
 The chief advantage of every victory naturally 
 falls to the leaders of the victorious party ; and 
 we find that on this occasion the mayors of the 
 palace were the principal gainers by the change 
 which had taken place. Clotaire II. soon learned that 
 
Ciiap. V.] CLOTAIRE II* SOLE KING OP THE FRANKS. 197 
 
 the support he had received was sold, not given ; 
 and that, though he was the ruler of the united 
 Frankish empire, his position differed from, and 
 was far less commanding than, that of Clovis or 
 the first Clotaire. No sooner was the kingdom of 
 Burgundy transferred to him, than Werner, the 
 major-domus of that country, demanded, as the price 
 of his treachery, that he should be confirmed in his 
 mayoralty, and that Clotaire should bind himself by 
 oath never to degrade him from that office. 1 Ar- 
 nulph and Pepin 2 , the leaders of the revolution in 
 Austrasia, were rewarded in a similar manner, and 
 exercised all the substantial power of kings under 
 the humble names of mayors of the palace. It was 
 fortunate for the latter country, and indeed for the 
 whole empire, that at such a crisis the reins of 
 government had fallen into such able hands. The 
 singular concord which existed between Arnulph and 
 Pepin, — who are peculiarly interesting to us as the 
 progenitors of the Carlovingian race, — affords us evi- 
 dence that they were actuated by patriotism as well 
 as ambition. Yet they felt their power, and both 
 used and endeavoured to increase it. Anxious for 
 the substance rather than the external trappings of 
 authority, they wisely sought a nominal head, under 
 the shadow of whose name they might be less ex- 
 posed to the shafts of envy. It was with this view 
 that they advised Clotaire to grant the greater 
 
 1 Frerleg. Chron. xliii. 
 
 2 Called Pepin of Landen (Landres). 
 
 o 3 
 
198 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 portion of Austrasia during his own lifetime to 
 Dagobert, his son by Queen Beretrudis, with the un- 
 derstanding that they should administer the kingdom 
 for him. 1 
 
 If we could feel any doubts as to the nature and 
 objects of the revolution effected at this period, the 
 edicts published by Clotaire would be sufficient to 
 dispel them. In many respects the provisions con- 
 tained in these documents resemble those of our own 
 Magna Charta. 2 Their principal object is to protect 
 the rich and powerful seigniors, both lay and clerical, 
 from the arbitrary power of the king, and to es- 
 tablish them in the full possession of all the rights 
 they had usurped, during the dark and troubled 
 period of which we have been speaking. It is in 
 such periods that a few grow great by the depression 
 of the many, and it was from the union of the few, 
 for mutual protection, that those formidable aristo- 
 cracies of Europe arose which often proved strong 
 enough to control in turn both king and people. 
 
 The Frankish empire, though at this time nomi- 
 nally reunited under one head, was in reality 
 governed by four virtually independent rulers, of 
 whom Clotaire himself was not the most important. 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. xlvii.: " Dagobertum .... super Austrasios 
 regem instituit, retinens sibi quod Ardenna et Vosagus versus 
 Neuster et Burgundiam excludebant." Erchanberti Fragm. ad an. 
 622. (ap. Bouquet, ii. p. 690.), where Pepin is said to have been 
 appointed Major-Domus et Pcedagogus. 
 
 2 Baluz. Capit. Reg. Franc. (Paris, 1677. fol.), for Laws of 
 Clotaire II. 
 
Chap. V.] DAGOBERT KING OF AUSTRASIA. 199 
 
 Werner, as we have seen, was made Major-Domus of 
 Burgundy for life ; and as such was both adminis- 
 trator of the royal fiscus and generalissimo of the 
 army. Austrasia was governed by Arnulph and 
 Pepin in the name of Dagobert ; and even in 
 Neustria, the original portion of Clotaire, and that 
 in which he had the greatest personal influence, 
 there was a major-domus, on whom the weight of 
 government principally rested. 
 
 During the minority of Dagobert, Austrasia flou- 
 rished under the Avise administration of his two 
 guardians, who pursued the same object — the wel- 
 fare of the country — with a wonderful unanimity. 
 " Even the nations,' 7 says Fredegar, " on the bor- 
 ders of the Avars (Huns) and the Slaves " sought the 
 aid of the Austrasian mayors against their savage 
 neighbours. 1 It is not wonderful, therefore, that Da- 
 gobert, or rather his advisers, should wish to extend 
 their rule, and to recover that portion of Austrasia 
 which Clotaire had retained, when, by the advice of 
 the great seigniors, he had set apart a kingdom 
 for his son. Dagobert, when summoned by his 
 father to Clichy 2 to marry Gomatrudis, the sister of 
 Clotaire's second queen Sichildis, took the opportunity 
 of claiming those provinces which had belonged to 
 the Austrasian kingdom. On his father's refusal, a 
 
 1 Fredeg.Chron. lviii. : u . , . consilio primitus beatissimi Arnulfi, 
 Mettensis urbis Pontificis, et Pippini, Majoris Domus, usus, tanta 
 prosperitate regale regimen in Auster regebat (Dagobertus) ut a 
 cunctis gen tibus immense ordine laudem haberet." 
 
 2 A roy.al residence near Paris. 
 
 o 4 
 
200 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 violent dispute arose between them, and the manner 
 in which it was decided is another proof of the extra- 
 ordinaiy power to which the new aristocracy had 
 attained. The question was referred to twelve of 
 the Frankish seigniors, among whom was Arnulph 
 himself, the Bishop of Metz. 1 The decision, as might 
 have been foreseen, was in favour of Dagobert, who 
 regained the Yosges and Ardennes in the Nether- 
 lands ; nor did Clotaire consider it prudent to 
 oppose the change. The additional strength thus 
 given to the German portion of the empire was in 
 some degree counterbalanced by the stricter union 
 of Burgundy and Xeustria, (in both of which the 
 Romance element predominated,) consequent upon 
 the death of Werner. By some temporary change 
 in favour of the monarchy, the exact nature of 
 which it is difficult to ascertain, but which may have 
 been the result of Werner's government, the Bur- 
 gundian people, or rather the seigniors, consented to 
 forego the right they had usurped, of choosing 
 another mayor, and remained for a time more 
 immediately under the government of the king. 2 
 
 In a.d. 628, about two years after the rear- 
 rangement of territory by the twelve umpires, as 
 above described, Clotaire II. died, having reigned 
 for nearly half a century. He left behind him 
 another son, Charibert 3 , by an unknown mother; 
 
 1 Fred. Cbron. liii. 
 
 2 Fred. Chron. liv. : " Omnes unanimiter denegantes se nequa- 
 quaro velle Majorem Domus eligere." 
 
 3 According to the Gesta Dagoberti, c. v. (ap. Bouq. ii. p. 
 
Chap. V.] DAGOBERT AND CHARIBERT. 201 
 
 but Dagobert aspired to reign alone, and summoned 
 his warlike Austrasians to the field. The Burgun- 
 dians, without a head, had little motive to resistance; 
 nor do the Neustrians seem to have interested them- 
 selves in favour of Charibert, for they quickly paid 
 their homage to King Dagobert at Soissons. The 
 unfortunate Charibert, however, found a friend in his 
 uncle Brodulf, who endeavoured to influence the king 
 in favour of his brother \ and Dagobert, having ob- 
 tained all that he aimed at without resistance, was 
 induced to resign a portion of his vast dominions. 
 " Moved with pity," says the chronicler, " and fol- 
 lowing the counsel of the wise, he gave up to Chari- 
 bert the territory which lies between the boundaries 
 of the Visigoths and the river Loire (or Garonne ?)." l 
 Nor had Dagobert any occasion to repent his gene- 
 rosity ; Charibert, after extending his boundaries 
 to the south at the expense of the Gascons, died 
 in a.d. 631, leaving his brother in undisputed pos- 
 session of the whole empire. 
 
 The influences to which Dagobert had hitherto been 
 subjected were favourable both to virtue and good 
 government. He had lived chiefly among the Ger- 
 man Franks, whose habits and manners, though 
 rough and even coarse, were far less corrupt than 
 
 581.), Charibert was the son of Sichildis, Clotaire's second wife, 
 in which case he could not have been more than nine years old 
 when his father died (a.d. 628). But Charibert died three years 
 after his father (a.d. 631), leaving one, or, as some say, three sons ! 
 
 Fred. Chron. lvi. 
 
 1 Fred, Chron. lvii. : " Citra Ligerem et limitem Spanise.' 
 
202 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 those of the Gallo-Romans of Neustria and Bur- 
 gundy. He had enjoyed the society and counsel of 
 the two wisest, most energetic, and honourable men 
 of the day, Arnulph x and Pepin ; by whose skilful 
 measures, and commanding influence in Church and 
 State, he w r as firmly supported on the throne. If 
 we may trust to the panegyrics of the chroniclers, 
 respecting one who was " dilator supra modum lai y - 
 gissimas " of the churches, the clergy, and the poor, 
 Dagobert was not unworthy of the care bestowed 
 upon him. He is represented as unwearied in his 
 efforts for the happiness of his subjects, who were 
 prosperous and grateful. Unfortunately, however, he 
 was one of those whose character is at the mercy of 
 immediately surrounding influences. From the wise 
 and good he readily imbibed sentiments of honour 
 and wisdom, but he was no less sensibly alive to the 
 attractions of evil example and the allurements of 
 vicious pleasure. On the death of Clotaire he re- 
 moved the seat of his government to Paris, a city 
 which, in a greater degree than any other, bore the 
 distinguishing marks of a bastard Roman civilisation. 
 The Neustrians, jealous of the Austrasians, whom 
 they regarded as barbarians with mingled contempt 
 and fear, exerted all their arts to captivate the affec- 
 tions of the young monarch, and to eradicate his 
 German nationality. 2 The first sign of their suc- 
 cess was the dismissal, or rather abandonment, by 
 
 1 Vid. Paull. Diacon. cle Gest. Langob. vi. c. 16. 
 
 2 Fredeg, Chron. lx. Gesta Dagoberti, xxii. 
 
Chai\ v.] profligacy of dagobert. 203 
 
 the king of his queen Gomatrudis, whom he left 
 at Reuilly x in the neighbourhood of Paris, and 
 raised her servant Nanthildis to the throne. And 
 now the artificial calmness of the royal mind, which 
 had but reflected the purity and wisdom of noble 
 associates, was quickly ruffled by a storm of un- 
 governable desires and passions. Nanthildis did 
 not long maintain herself in the elevation from which 
 she had thrust another. " Abandoned,' 7 says Fre- 
 degar, " to immoderate luxury, like Solomon, Dago- 
 bert had three wives at one time, and a very great 
 number of concubines." The names of the contem- 
 porary queens were Nanthildis, Wulfegandis, and 
 Berchildis ; the concubines were so numerous that 
 the chronicler declines to name them. The extra- 
 vagant expenditure, rendered necessary by his new 
 mode of life, was supplied by arbitrary exactions and 
 imposts, which alienated the affections both of those 
 who suffered, and those who feared to suffer. Pepin, 
 a man " prudent in all things, full of good counsel 
 and honour, and esteemed by all for the love of justice 
 which he had instilled into the mind of Dagobert," 
 saw and deplored, but could not prevent, the change. 2 
 His very virtues, for which his royal pupil had once 
 valued and loved him, were now regarded with 
 dislike, as a tacit reproof on the immoderate self- 
 indulgence of the king. Dagobert sought and found in 
 iEga a minister better suited to his altered heart and 
 
 1 Now the Faubourg St. Antoine in Paris. 
 
 2 Fredeg. Chron. lxi. 
 
204 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 life ; and Pepin, who had first placed Dagobert on the 
 throne, was for a time in personal danger from those 
 who hated his virtues, and feared his ability and 
 influence. " But the love of justice, and the fear of 
 God, to whom he cleaved with steadfast heart, deli- 
 vered him from all his troubles." 
 
 It was in this adverse position of affairs, when the 
 king was sunk in sensual luxury, and the people were 
 murmuring at the ever increasino; burdens which his 
 folly and extravagance laid upon them, that the 
 Franks became involved in a war with the Slavonic 
 tribes on the eastern boundaries of the empire. The 
 exact limits which divided the rude nations of an- 
 tiquity (whose treaties, where they existed, were 
 expressed in the most vague and general terms) 
 can never be defined with any great degree of cer- 
 tainty. After the fall of the Thuringian kingdom, 
 which had formed a barrier to their progress west- 
 ward, the Slaves, formerly known by the name of 
 Sarmatians, commenced a migration across the Elbe, 
 and gradually spread themselves as far as the river 
 Saale in Thuringia. In the beginning of the sixth 
 century Bohemia was in possession of a tribe of 
 Slaves called Czechs, who by the middle of the 
 seventh century had occupied the country between 
 the Culpa and the Mur, and extended themselves 
 westward beyond the river Salza. A portion of 
 these, under the name of Wends, who lived on the 
 Baltic, retained their independence until a later 
 period ; those who occupied central Germany, be- 
 tween the Elbe and Saale, and were called Sorbs, 
 
Chai\ V.] THE SLAVES OPPRESSED BY THE IIUKS. 205 
 
 were tributary to the Franks ; while the Slaves (in 
 the narrower sense of the word) of Bohemia, and on 
 the north-west boundary of the Frankish empire, 
 groaned beneath the intolerable tyranny of the Avars 
 or Huns. This latter people lived among their more 
 industrious and civilised subjects like freebooters ; 
 never fixing their residence in any one place, but 
 roving to and fro, and compelling those among whom 
 they happened to be to support them in idleness, and 
 even to place their wives and daughters at their 
 absolute disposal. In war the Slaves are said to have 
 been placed in the van of the battle, while their 
 masters abstained from fighting until they saw their 
 subjects defeated. 1 Such intolerable oppression 
 would have roused resistance even from the most 
 timid ; the subject Slaves continually rebelled, and 
 their independent kinsmen, the Baltic Wends, were 
 obliged to wage incessant wars for the maintenance 
 of their freedom. The efforts of the former had 
 been hitherto entirely unavailing, and had had no 
 other result than that of fixing the yoke more firmly 
 on their necks. But the time of their deliverance 
 came at last. During the reigns of Clotaire and 
 Dagobert a revolution took place among the Sla- 
 vonian tribes, the exact nature of which cannot be 
 ascertained from the confused and meagre accounts 
 of the chroniclers. All that we can gather with any 
 degree of certainty is, that the Slaves and Wends 
 succeeded in freeing themselves from their rapacious 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. xlviii. 
 
206 THE FRANKS. [Chaf. V. 
 
 and insolent lords, and in establishing an independent 
 kingdom ; and that they came at this period into 
 collision with the Franks on their respective borders. 
 According to Fredegar, the Slavonic peoples owed 
 their deliverance chiefly to a Frank of obscure origin, 
 named Samo, who, when travelling (about a.d. 624) 
 amonof the Slaves or Wends for the sake of commerce, 
 found this people, and more especially the sons of 
 the Huns by the Wendish women, in a state of open 
 rebellion. Like our own glorious Clive in later 
 times, he abandoned his commercial career for the 
 more congenial pursuits of war and conquest ; and 
 having joined the Slaves, he soon enabled them by 
 his skill and valour to defeat the Avars or Huns 
 in a bloody and decisive battle. So sensible were 
 the liberated Slaves of what they owed to Samo, and 
 so grateful for his timely and voluntary service, that 
 they unanimously elected him as their king, and re- 
 mained faithful in their allegiance to him for a space 
 of six and thirty years. 
 
 In a. d. 631, as Fredegar and others relate, some 
 Frankish merchants were plundered and killed in the 
 territory of Samo by some of his subjects. Dagobert 
 immediately sent an ambassador, named Sicharius. to 
 demand reparation; but Samo appears never to have 
 admitted him to an audience. At last, however, Sicha- 
 rius managed to get into the royal presence, by dis- 
 guising himself and his attendants in the Slavonic dress, 
 and he then delivered the message entrusted to him. 
 Samo replied, and no doubt with truth, that injuries 
 had been inflicted by both parties, and that many cases 
 
Chap. V.] DAGOBERT's AMBASSADORS OUTWITTED. 207 
 
 of the same kind must be inquired into, that mutual 
 satisfaction might be given. This answer, though 
 dignified and fair, was not what Sicharius expected to 
 hear, and, losing the command of his temper, he began, 
 " like a foolish ambassador, to utter words which were 
 not contained in his instructions." Amongst other 
 things he said that both Samo and his subjects owed 
 allegiance and service to the Frankish monarch ; to 
 which the King of the Slaves replied with calmness, 
 " And the territory which we possess shall be Dago- 
 bert's, and we will be his people, if he is disposed to 
 be at peace with us." This soft answer did not turn 
 away the wrath of the emissary, who was very pro- 
 bably directed to promote the misunderstanding ; and 
 he insultingly replied that it was not possible for 
 Christians, the servants of God, to contract an alliance 
 with dogs. "If," said Samo, with dignified sarcasm, 
 u ye are the servants of God, and we his dogs, so long 
 as ye act against Him we have received permission to 
 tear you." l 
 
 On the return of his ambassadors, who had suffered 
 so palpable a defeat in the preliminary war of words, 
 Dagobert summoned his Austrasian troops and sent 
 them against the Slaves in full assurance of success. 
 Ariwald, King of the Longobards, sent an auxiliary 
 force from Italy to serve with the Franks, who were 
 also joined by the Alemannian or Swabian contingent, 
 and were at first successful. But when the Aus- 
 trasians were led up to attack a strong place called 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. lxviii. 
 
208 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 Wogatisburc 1 , where a large army of Wends had been 
 drawn together, they were miserably defeated and put 
 to flight. This unexpected issue of the contest, is 
 attributed by the chroniclers to the ill-will of the Aus- 
 trasians, who went into the fight without any hearty 
 zeal, on account of their dislike of Dagobert, and 
 their jealousy of the Neustrians, with whom the 
 king had so much identified himself. That the vic- 
 tory, however gained, was real and substantial, is 
 evident from the fact that Derwan, Prince of the 
 Sorbs, who had been in some degree subject to the 
 Franks, transferred his homage to Kins; Samo. 
 
 In the following year, a. d. 632, Dagobert again 
 led an army from Metz to Mayence on the Rhine, with 
 the intention of attacking the Wendish Slaves, but 
 this expedition was abandoned without any apparent 
 cause ; unless we can believe that Dagobert, at the 
 head of a formidable army, retired from the country 
 without striking a blow, because ambassadors from 
 the Saxons came to offer their assistance on condition 
 of being excused from paying their yearly tribute of 
 five hundred cows ! 2 
 
 The true reason of these repeated failures is to be 
 sought in the disaffection of the Austrasian seigniors, 
 who were not inclined to shed their blood in company 
 with Neustrians, for one whom they now regarded 
 exclusively in the light of a Neustrian King. The 
 change from the dignified and advantageous position 
 
 1 Which most writers have sought among the Alps, while 
 others consider it to be Voitsberg in Steiermark. 
 
 2 Fred. Cliron. lxxiv. 
 
Cuap. V.] S1GEBERT III. KING OF AUSTRASIA. 209 
 
 which they had occupied under the able administra- 
 tion of the chiefs of their own order, Pepin and Ar- 
 nulph, to that of distant and little regarded subjects 
 of a monarch who spent his life at Paris, was more 
 than their proud and ambitious spirits could endure. 
 They obeyed the royal ban unwillingly, when sum- 
 moned to the field ; they defended even their own 
 territory in Thuringia with sullen feebleness ; and the 
 Slaves made continual accessions to their territory at 
 the expense of the Frankish empire. The eyes of 
 Dagobert or his advisers were at last forced open to 
 the real condition of affairs, and to the danger which 
 threatened them from the east. They saw that the 
 Austrasian seigniors were determined to be ruled by 
 their own order, though they still preferred to do so 
 in the name of a Merovingian king. To disregard 
 their wishes was to risk, not only the loss of Thu- 
 ringia, but the dismemberment of the empire. In 
 a.d. 632 therefore, just after the lesson he had re- 
 ceived in the abortive expedition above described, 
 Dagobert summoned the grandees of his empire both 
 temporal and spiritual to Metz ; and there, with the 
 general consent of his council, appointed the infant 
 Sigebert III. — his son by Ragnetruda — King of 
 Austrasia. By this act, the nryal authority was once 
 more transferred to the hands of the seigniors, and 
 the Merovingian dynasty tottered to its fall. 
 
 The natural and proper arrangement would have 
 been to make Pepin the guardian of the infant king 
 and administrator of the kingdom ; but the jealousy 
 
 p 
 
210 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 of the Parisian court was too strong to allow of this 
 concession. While therefore Cunibert, Bishop of 
 Cologne, was sent with Sigebert into Austrasia, Pepin 
 was detained at the court of Dagobert, as a sort of 
 hostage. From this time the Austrasians appear to 
 have defended their borders against the Wends with 
 energy and success. 1 
 
 This arrangement was unwillingly made by the 
 Neustrian court, under a sense of the necessity of 
 conciliating the German subjects of the empire. It 
 had become evident that, of the Prankish kingdoms, 
 Austrasia was by far the strongest ; while the Neus- 
 trians therefore yielded on this occasion from ne- 
 cessity and fear, they were anxious to provide a coun- 
 terpoise to the Germanism of Austrasia, by more 
 closely and permanently uniting the countries in 
 which Gallo-Romanism was predominant. The birth 
 of Clovis (the second son of Dagobert by Nan- 
 thildis) appeared to afford the means of carrying out 
 their views ; in which Dagobert himself, from his pre- 
 dilection for Neustrian luxury and refinement, was 
 inclined to sympathise. " By the counsel and advice 
 of the Neustrian s," as the chronicler expressly re- 
 lates, and the consent of the Austrasians (who had 
 so lately carried their own point), Clovis II. was de- 
 clared heir of the united kingdoms of Neustria and 
 Burgundy, while Sigebert III. was confirmed, in the 
 possession of all that the former Kings of Austrasia 
 had held, with one small exception. " This arrange- 
 
 Fred. Chron. lxxv. 
 
Chap. V.] THE MAJORES-DOMUS. 211 
 
 merit," we are told, " the Austrasians were com- 
 pelled by their fear of Dagobert to sanction, whether 
 they would or no." Nevertheless, it was strictly 
 observed on the death of Dagobert, which took 
 place in a. d. 638. * 
 
 The Mayors of the Palace. 
 
 We may almost consider Dagobert as the last of the 
 Merovingian monarchs, since he is the last who really 
 exercised anything like independent royal authority. 
 The name of king, indeed, was retained by his long- 
 haired descendants for several generations, but the 
 bearers of it were either children in years, or so 
 weak in intellect from early debauchery and a neg- 
 lected education, as to be the mere tools and puppets 
 of their own servants. These shadowy forms, which 
 excite in our minds both pity and contempt, are 
 known in history as the Rois faineans, a title which 
 well expresses their inactivity and insignificance, and 
 the merely nominal nature of their rule. While the 
 storms of action rage around them, they are hidden 
 from our gaze in the recesses of a court, half nursery, 
 half harem. 
 
 The iron sceptre of the first Clovis, which his de- 
 generate successors had dropped from their listless 
 hands to raise the wine-cup or caress the harlot, was 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron, lxxvi. and lxxix. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 seized with a vigorous grasp by men who exercised the 
 loftiest functions under an almost menial name. At 
 this period the real direction of affairs was left 
 to the Majores-Domus, or Mayors of the Palace, 
 whose power is seen continually to increase, till, in 
 the hands of the Carlovingians, it becomes imperial; 
 while that of the Salian monarchs, already greatly 
 "weakened, declines from year to year, till they become 
 the mere puppets of an annual show. 
 
 We shall therefore take this opportunity of giving 
 a short account of the origin and nature of the office of 
 Major-Domus — the parasitical growth which sapped 
 the strength of the Merovingian throne. And in 
 the subsequent portion of this preliminary history 
 we shall transfer our chief attention from the no- 
 minal to the actual rulers, and endeavour to relate, 
 with all possible conciseness, the civil and military 
 transactions of the mayors; and more particularly of 
 those among them who, great in themselves, enjoy 
 additional fame as progenitors of Charlemagne. 
 
 That the successful Imperator of an army should 
 grow into an Emperor, or ruler of the nation, — that a 
 Ccesar should become a Kaisar, — seems natural enough: 
 but the humble and peaceful office originally de- 
 signated by the words Major-Domus seems capable of 
 no such development. The ideas connected with it 
 are little suited to the proud and powerful Frankish 
 warriors, who, under that simple title, performed the 
 highest functions of government, achieved great con- 
 quests at the head of powerful armies, dethroned an 
 ancient dynasty of kings, and in their posterity gave 
 
Chap. V.] INCREASED WEALTH OF THE KINGS. 21 
 
 Q 
 
 successors to the Emperors of the West. This dis- 
 crepancy between the name and the thing it denotes 
 has excited general remark, and given rise to many 
 learned and ingenious theories. 1 
 
 In a former part of this work we have endeavoured 
 to trace the gradual progress of the royal power 
 among the Franks, and the simultaneous decline of 
 those popular institutions by which liberty is sus- 
 tained ; and which, at an earlier period, existed among 
 the Franks in common with other German peoples. 
 It is important to keep this development in view 
 during the present inquiry, because, as we shall see, 
 the power of the mayors first rose icith that of the 
 kings, and then upon it. 
 
 The domestic condition of the Franks was greatly 
 changed by their conquests in Gaul during the sixth 
 century. As the result of a few fortunate battles, 
 they found themselves in possession of well-stocked 
 houses and fertile lands ; and though they were too 
 warlike themselves to settle down as cultivators of 
 the soil, they contrived, by means of others, to derive 
 considerable wealth from their estates. The same 
 conquests which brought rich booty to all the Franks, 
 secured, as we have seen, to the kings an enormous 
 increase both of wealth and power. They still, indeed, 
 in times of peace, continued to lead the life of great 
 landed proprietors, passing in their rude carriages 
 
 1 Sismondi derives Major-Domus from the words Mord-Dom, 
 Judge of Murderers. 
 
 v 3 
 
214 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 drawn by oxen from one of their estates to another, 
 and consuming in tarn the fruits of each ; but the 
 sudden and enormous addition to their means na- 
 turally led to an increase in the number of their 
 dependents and a greater degree of external splendour 
 in their mode of life. Even in their simplest state, 
 as described by Tacitus, they must, like other wealthy 
 men, have had not only numerous menials and slaves, 
 domestic and agricultural, but overseers of the various 
 departments of their household to provide them with 
 all things necessary for their dignity, convenience, 
 and pleasure. At the head of these, occupying the 
 exact position of a house-steward in a nobleman's 
 family, was the major-domus, whose purely domestic 
 character is proved by the fact that he is ranked 
 after the (founts and the Domestici. The nature of 
 the count's office will be explained elsewhere; and 
 the domestici, according to Loebell, were the more dis- 
 tinguished of the Comitatus, who fought about the 
 person of the king. Besides the major-domiis x , we 
 find mentioned as members of the royal household, 
 the Eeferendarius (Chancellor), the Comes Pcdatii 
 (Judge at the Royal Tribunal), Cubicidarius and 
 Camerarii (Chamberlain and Overseers of the Trea- 
 sury), and the Comes Stabidi (Master of the Horse). 
 These officials, some of whom appear to have been 
 appointed in imitation of the practice of the Byzan- 
 tine court, were originally mere personal attendants 
 
 1 Loebell's Gregor von Tours, p. 183. Greg. Turon. ix. 36.. 
 "Cui Comitibus, Domesticis, Majoribus atque nutritiis et omni- 
 bus qui ad exercemlutn servlfiinn regale erant necessarii . . ." 
 
Chap. V.] GROWING POWER OF THE MAJOR-DOMUS. 215 
 
 on the king, who could dismiss them at pleasure. 
 He was not even bound to select them from the 
 free men, but could raise at will a freedman or a 
 slave. It is an important consideration in this place 
 that there was no class of hereditary nobility to limit 
 the royal choice of servants. All history teaches us 
 that the most sudden changes of fortune take place, 
 not under a republic, or constitutional monarchy, but 
 under arbitrary rulers, where the royal favour is the 
 only recognised distinction — where a single word can 
 shorten the long and toilsome path by which, under 
 freer governments, merit seeks its appropriate re- 
 ward. 
 
 The fact that the majors of the jDalace are men- 
 tioned only three times by Gregory of Tours is a 
 proof that in his age they had not acquired political 
 importance. 1 Yet when w r e come to inquire more 
 particularly into their position and functions, we 
 shall find in their lowly office a germ of power, 
 which favourable circumstances might easily foster 
 into luxuriant growth. As stewards of the king's 
 estates, and overseers of his personal attendants and 
 servants, the dignity of their office would be in 
 proportion to the extent of the former and the 
 number of the latter. The conquest of Gaul, which 
 did so much for royalty, must have raised the major- 
 domus from a rich man's house-steward to a kind of 
 chancellor of the exchequer ; whose actual power 
 was considerable, and whose indirect influence, as 
 
 1 Badegisil, Waddo, and Florentianus. Greg. Tur. vi. 9. 45., 
 ix. 30. 
 
 p i 
 
216 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 the immediate agent in the distribution of royal 
 favours, was only limited by his ability to take 
 advantage of his position. It was through him that 
 money, lands, and offices were distributed among 
 the numerous warriors, who in those unsettled times 
 assembled round a rich and warlike king. To the 
 provincials, more particularly, who had been accus- 
 tomed to the low intrigues of a Roman court, and 
 had learned to seek the favour of those who in any 
 relation stood near the throne, the major-domus 
 would appear a man of great importance. His 
 means of influence would be further increased by 
 the selfish liberality of those who sought his aid, or 
 received advantages through his hands. 
 
 And thus, as the royal power increased, the posi- 
 tion of the mayors continued to improve. As the 
 popular assemblies on the Campus Martius declined 
 in importance, no small share of the power they had 
 once possessed was transferred to the attendants of 
 the king. Energetic rulers needed not, and greatly 
 disliked, the free discussions of the assembled people; 
 and weak and bad ones naturally feared them. 
 Yet all men shrink from the sole responsibility of 
 important decisions ; even a Xerxes summons his 
 noble slaves and asks their counsel, though he lets 
 them know that he is free to act against it. And 
 the Frankish king was glad at times to consult the 
 more dignified of his servants, his greatest captains, 
 and his most holy and learned priests. From such 
 elements a royal council was gradually formed, 
 which soon obtained a kind of prescriptive right 
 
Chap. V.] FORMATION OF THE ROYAL COUNCIL. 217 
 
 to be heard on great occasions, and played an im- 
 portant part in Frankish history. In this assembly 
 the major-domus, as being nearest to the king's per- 
 son, and always on the spot, naturally took a leading 
 part, when his character and abilities enabled him to 
 do so. The importance of this royal council may be 
 better estimated when we consider of whom it was 
 composed. There were, in the first place, the 
 Courtiers, i. e., the holders of offices about the king, 
 of whom the major-domus was the first. Secondly, 
 the Antrustiones, whose character and j^sition we 
 have elsewhere defined. Thirdly, «6S3r number 
 of dependent rulers, as the hereditarr^Uiikes of Ba- 
 varia and Alemannia, who were allowed to retain 
 their power under the protection of the Frankish 
 monarchs. Fourthly, the Patricii of Burgundy, Mas- 
 silia, and Ripuaria. Fifthly, the Dukes, Counts, Thun- 
 gini, &c. ; of whom the last-mentioned were appointed 
 by the king as governors of provinces and gaus. 1 
 And, in the last place, the great dignitaries of the 
 Church ; who, in proportion as they became more 
 and more secularised by their wealth, went more 
 frequently to court, and made themselves welcome 
 and influential there, by their superior learning, 
 splendour, and refinement. 
 
 In this great assembly of dependent governors, 
 antrustiones, and bishops, which soon became a 
 regularly constituted council, the major-domus pre- 
 sided as the representative, though a humble one, 
 
 1 Vicl. Pertz, Friinkische Ilausmeier. 
 
218 THE FRANKS. [Cdap. V. 
 
 of the king. x As such, a portion of the executive 
 power fell at all times into his hands ; and during a 
 minority of the crown his influence was in exact 
 proportion to his tact in making use of his favourable 
 position, and his ability to maintain his ground amid 
 the intrigues and struggles of opposing factions. 
 
 We need not be surprised to find that, to the civil 
 duties of the major-domus, was added the command 
 of the royal retinue. In the times of which we 
 speak there were no civilians except ecclesiastics 
 (and even these, as we know, were not entirely 
 destitute of that military spirit which was a necessity 
 and a characteristic of the age) 2 ; and the mayors 
 of the palace would have had but little chance of 
 improving or even maintaining their position, of 
 satisfying their royal master, or controlling his 
 household, had they not been both able and willing 
 to play a prominent part upon the battle-field. 
 
 The military duties of the mayoralty naturally 
 became more arduous and important when the mon- 
 arch s themselves were deficient in warlike qualities ; 
 and hence the office was generally bestowed upon 
 some distinguished warrior. This was the case even 
 while the mayors continued to be the nominees and 
 servants of the king; for it was to their major-domus, 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 13, 14. 23., viii. 21. 
 
 2 The servants of the crown in this age seem to have held 
 themselves ready for any kind of service and promotion. Bade- 
 gisil, Regicc Domus Major, was suddenly made a bishop. Greg. 
 Tur. vi. 9. Another major-domus was employed in making a 
 census. Greg. Tur. ix. 30. 
 
Chai*. V.] THE MAYORALTY BECOMES ELECTIVE. 219 
 
 and the more immediate dependents of the crown 
 whom he commanded, that the monarch looked for 
 support in his contests with the rising aristocracy. 
 While the monarchy was strong, we find the mayors 
 the steady upholders of the royal power. But in the 
 anarchic period which followed the death of Sige- 
 bert L, the office of mayor, like every other honour- j 
 able post, became the subject of a scramble, and fell 
 into the hands of those great proprietors, whose 
 encroachments on the royal prerogative it was de- I 
 signed to repel. The importance of the position oc- 
 cupied by the mayor, and the great advantages he was 
 able to bring to whatever side he espoused, were too 
 evident to be overlooked by the enemies of the 
 monarchy; and accordingly we find that one of 
 the first uses made by the Austrasian seigniors of 
 their victory over Brunhilda, was to make the 
 mayoralty elective, and independent of the crown. 
 This important change took place in both the great 
 divisions of the Frankish empire, but many circum- 
 stances tended to render the development of the 
 power of the mayors far more rapid and complete 
 in Austrasia than in Neustria. In the latter, king- 
 dom the resistance which the seigniors could offer 
 to the crown, was weaker, both because they were 
 themselves in a less degree homogeneous than in 
 the German portion of the empire, and because 
 they could not reckon upon the sympathy and aid 
 of the Romano-Gallic population. In Austrasia the 
 case was different. Even there indeed, though the 
 nation was mainly German, the tendencies of the 
 
220 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 court were decidedly Romance ; and not unnaturally 
 so, for among the Roman provincials was found 
 the external civilisation — the grace of manner, the 
 decorative arts of life, the skill in the refined in- 
 dulgence of the passions, which throw a brilliant 
 light around a throne, and are calculated to engage 
 the affections of its occupants. But the Romanising 
 leanings of the court were not shared in by the 
 Austrasian seigniors, or the people at large ; and 
 the struggle between the monarchy and the nascent 
 aristocracy in Austrasia was embittered by national 
 antipathies. We have already seen the issue of 
 the contest in favour of the seigniors, and their 
 victory must be regarded as another triumph of 
 the Germans over the Gallo-Romans. The mayors 
 of the palace, whose consequence had been greatly 
 increased during frequent and long minorities, under- 
 stood the crisis ; and, placing themselves at the head 
 of the great landed proprietors of Austrasia, suc- 
 ceeded in depriving the Merovingian kings of the 
 realities of power, while they left them its external 
 shows. 
 
 Yet, favourable as had hitherto been the circum- 
 stances of the times to the rising power of the mayors, 
 it needed another remarkable coincidence to raise 
 them to royal and imperial thrones. Notwith- 
 standing the influence they had acquired at the 
 end of the sixth century, and the powerful support 
 they received from the great proprietors, banded toge- 
 ther in resistance to the crown, the struggle was a 
 
 ' CO 
 
 long and doubtful one ; though the champion of mon- 
 
Chap, V.] THE MAYORS ABSOLUTE RULERS. 221 
 
 archy was a woman. Fear is the mother of cruelty ; 
 and bloody as were the dreadful times in which 
 Brunhilda lived, her enemies would never have taken 
 such a fiendish delight in her sufferings, had not 
 their hatred been rendered more intense by previous 
 doubts and fears — had they not been rendered de- 
 lirious with the joy of an unlooked-for success. Had 
 the Merovingian stock continued to produce a suc- 
 cession of able men — had it even sent forth one in 
 whom the fire of Clovis burned — the steady though 
 slumbering loyalty of the people might have been 
 roused, the factious seigniors destroyed in detail, and 
 the career of the king-making mayors brought to a 
 bloody termination at another Barnet. 
 
 The actual state of things was, as we have seen, 
 the very reverse of all this. Instead of a vigorous 
 young warrior like our own Edward IV., the Frankish 
 nobles had boys and women to contend with. For a 
 long period the sceptre was in the hands of a suc- 
 cession of minors, who met with the foulest play 
 from those who should have been their guardians. 
 Precocious by nature, and exposed to the allurements 
 of every enfeebling indulgence and hurtful vice, they 
 gladly yielded up the all too heavy sceptre to the 
 rude hands of their warlike keepers, and received in 
 exchange the cap and bells of the jester and the fool. 
 
 And while the Merovingian race in its decline is 
 notorious in history as having produced an unex- 
 ampled number of imbecile monarchs, the family 
 which was destined to supplant them was no less 
 wonderfully prolific in warriors and statesmen of the 
 
222 THE FKANKS. [Chap* V. 
 
 highest class, It is not often that great endowments 
 are transmitted even from father to son, but the line 
 from which Charlemagne sprang presents to our 
 admiring gaze an almost uninterrupted succession 
 of five remarkable men, within little more than a 
 single century. Of these the first three held the 
 mayoralty of Austrasia ; and it was they who pre- 
 vented the permanent establishment of absolute power 
 on the Roman model, and secured to the German 
 population of Austrasia an abiding victory over that 
 amalgam of degraded Romans and corrupted Gauls, 
 which threatened to leaven the European world. To 
 them, under Providence, we owe it that the centre 
 of Europe is at this day German, and not Gallo- 
 Latin. 
 
 From this brief sketch of the origin and progress 
 of the mayors of the palace, who play so important a 
 part in the succeeding age, we return to the point in 
 the general history from which the digression was 
 made. 
 
 On the death of Dagobert, a.d. 638, his son, 
 Clovis II., a child of six j^ears old, succeeded him. 
 During his minority the government of Neustria and 
 Burgundy was carried on by his mother Nanthildis, 
 and the Major-Domus iEga, while Pepin and others 
 shared the supreme power in Austrasia. Pepin died 
 a.d. 639 or 640 \ and a long and ferocious contest 
 ensued for the vacant mayoralty, which was finally 
 taken possession of by Pepin's own son Grimoald. 
 
 1 "Nee parvum dolorem ejusdem transitus cunctis generavit in 
 Auster." — Fred. Chron. lxxxv. 
 
Chap. V.] DARING CONDUCT OF GRIMOALD. 223 
 
 So low had the power of the nominal monarchs al- 
 ready sunk, that, on the death of Sigebert III., in A. d. 
 656, Grimoald ventured to shear the locks of the 
 rightful heir, Dagobert II., and, giving out that he 
 was dead, sent him to Ireland ; he then proposed his 
 own son for the vacant throne, under the pretence that 
 Sigebert had adopted him. 1 But the time was not 
 yet ripe for so daring an usurpation, nor does Grimoald 
 appear to have been the man to take the lead in a 
 revolution. Both the attempt itself, and its mise- 
 rable issue, go to prove that the son of Pepin did not 
 inherit the wisdom and energy of the illustrious 
 stock to which he belonged. The King of Burgundy 
 and Neu stria, pretending to acquiesce in the accession 
 of Grimoald's son, summoned the father to Paris, and 
 caused him to be seized during his journey by some 
 Franks — who are represented as being highly in- 
 dignant at his presumption — and put to death. 2 
 
 The whole Frankish empire was thus once more 
 united, at least in name, under Clovis II. (who also 
 died in A. d. 656), and under his son and successor, 
 Clotaire III., whose mother, Balthildis,an Anglo-Saxon 
 by birth, administered the kingdom with great ability 
 and success. But the interests and feelings of the 
 German provinces were too distinct from those of 
 Burgundy and Neustria to allow of their long 
 remaining even nominally under one head. The 
 
 1 Sigeberti Vita, cap. v. s. 15. (ap. Bouquet, ii. p. 602.). 
 
 2 GestaRegum Francoruru, xliii. (Bouq. ii. p. 568.). "In Scotiam 
 majorem Hibernianive, Scottorum insularu . , . ."— Had. ValesiiEp. 
 (Bouq. ii. p. 727.). 
 
224 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 Austrasians were eager to have a king of their own, 
 and accordingly another son of Clovis was raised to 
 the throne of Austrasia under the title of Childe- 
 ric II., with Wulfoald as his major-domus. 
 
 At the death of Clotaire III. in Neustria (in a. d. 
 670), the whole empire was thrown into confusion by 
 the ambitious projects of Ebroin, his major-domus, 
 who sought to place Theoderic III., Clotaire's youngest 
 brother, who was still a mere child, on the throne, that 
 he might continue to reign in his name. Ebroin ap- 
 pears to have proceeded towards his object with too 
 little regard for the opinions and feelings of the other 
 seigniors, who rose against him and his puppet 
 king, and drove them from the seat of power. The 
 successful conspirators then offered the crown of 
 Neustria to Childeric II., King of Austrasia, who 
 immediately proceeded to take possession, while 
 Ebroin sought refuge in a monastery. l Childeric 
 ascended the Neustrian throne without opposition; 
 but his attempts to control the seigniors, one of 
 whom, named Badilo, he is said to have scourged, 
 gave rise to a formidable conspiracy ; and he was 
 soon afterwards assassinated, together with his 
 queen and son at Chelles. Wulfoald escaped with 
 difficulty, and returned to Austrasia. Another son 
 of Childeric, Childebert III., was then raised upon 
 the shield by the seigniors, while the royal party 
 brought forward Theoderic III. from the monas- 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. Contin. xciv., xcv. (ap. Bouquet, ii. p. 450.). 
 Gesta Reg. Franc, xlv. Vita S. Leodegarii, c. iv. (^ap. Bou* 
 quet, ii. p. 629.). 
 
Chap. V.] EBROIJSt's REBELLIONS. 225 
 
 tery to which he had retired, and succeeded in making 
 good his claim. The turbulent and unscrupulous 
 but able Ebroin ventured once more to leave his 
 place of refuge, and by a long series of the most 
 treacherous murders, and by setting up a pretender 
 
 — as Clovis, a son of Clotaire III he succeeded 
 
 (in a. d. 673 or 674) in forcing himself upon Theo- 
 deric as Major-Domus of Neustria. 1 
 
 In the meantime Dagobert II., whom Grimoald 
 had sent as a child to Ireland, and who had sub- 
 sequently found a faithful friend in the well-known 
 St. Wilfrid, Bishop of York, was recalled and placed 
 on the Austrasian throne. But the restored prince 
 soon (in a. d. 678) fell a victim to the intrigues of 
 Ebroin, and theNeustrian faction among the seigniors, 
 who aimed at bringing the whole empire under their 
 own arbitrary power. 2 Nor does it seem at all im- 
 probable that the ability and audacity of Ebroin 
 might have enabled them to carry out their designs, 
 had not Australia possessed a leader fully equal to 
 the emergency. Pepin, surnamed of Heristal from a 
 castle belonging to his family in the neighbourhood 
 of Liege, was the son of Ansegisus by Begga, the 
 illustrious daughter of Pepin of Landen. This great 
 man, who proved himself worthy of his grandsire and 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. Cc-nt. xcvi. Vita S. Leodegarii, c. viii. : " Ut Leo 
 rugiens .... resonuit rugitus ejus per terras Francorum." 
 
 2 Had. Yalesii Ep. de Dagoberto (ap. Bouquet, ii. p. 727.). 
 Vita S. Wilfrid, per Edd. Stepban. c. xxvii. (in Act. S. S. Ord. 
 S. Bened. s. iv. pt. i. p. 670. Paris, 1677). Gesla Reg. Franc, 
 xlvi. 
 
 Q 
 
226 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 his mother, was at this time associated with Duke 
 Martin in the government of Austrasia, which up 
 to a. d. 630 had been administered by Wulfoald. 1 
 Martin and Pepin summoned their followers to arms 
 to meet the expected attack of the Neustrians. In 
 the first instance, however, the Austrasians were sur- 
 prised by the activity of Ebroin, who fell upon them 
 before they had completed their preparations, and 
 totally defeated them in the neighbourhood of Luco- 
 faus. 2 Martin fled to the town of Laon ; and the 
 artifices by which his enemies lured him from this 
 retreat to his destruction are worthy of notice, as 
 giving us a remarkable picture of the manners of the 
 period in general, and of the sad state of the Church in 
 particular. Ebroin, hearing that his intended victim 
 had reached a place of safety, despatched Agilbert, 
 Bishop of Paris, and Probus, Bishop of Rheims, to 
 persuade Martin to repair to the Neustrian camp. 
 In order to dispel the apprehensions with which he 
 listened to them, these holy men went through the 
 not unusual ceremony of swearing upon a receptacle 
 containing sacred relics, that he should suffer no 
 injury by following their advice. The bishops, how- 
 ever, to save themselves from the guilt of perjury, 
 had taken care that the vessels, which were covered, 
 
 1 Begga is spoken of in the highest terms by the annalists : 
 "Soror ejus Beggha nupta Ansigiso, S. Arnulphi Metensis Epis- 
 copi filio, regia? dignitatis decus, quocfpenitus deperierat per'Regum 
 Francoruni inauditam desidiam per suam reparavit prosapiam." 
 Vita S. Sigeberti, c. 10. (ap. Bouquet, ii. p. 600.). 
 
 2 Gesta Reg. Franc, xlvi. Lufao or Lifou (Loixi near Laon?). 
 Conf. Fred. Chron. Cont. xcvii. 
 
Chap. V.] TREACHEROUS MURDER OF DUKE MARTIN. 227 
 
 should be left empty. 1 Martin, whom they omitted 
 to inform of this important fact, was satisfied with 
 their oaths, and accompanied them to Ecri, where 
 he and his followers were immediately assassinated, 
 without, as was thought, any detriment to the faith of 
 the envoys ! Pepin, however, was neither to be ca- 
 joled nor frightened into submission, and soon found 
 himself at the head of a powerful force, consisting 
 in part of Neustrian exiles, whom the tyranny of 
 Ebroin had ruined or offended. A collision seemed 
 inevitable, when the position of affairs was suddenly 
 changed by the death of Ebroin, who was assassinated 
 in a. d. 681 by Hermenfried, a distinguished Neus- 
 trian Frank. Waratto followed him in the mayoralty 
 of Neustria, and seemed inclined to live on friendly 
 terms with Pepin ; but Gislemar, his son, who headed 
 the party most hostile to Pepin, succeeded in getting 
 possession of the government for a time, and renewed 
 the war against the Austrasians. Gislemar's death 
 (in a. d. 684), which the annalists attribute to the 
 Divine anger 2 , restored Waratto to his former power; 
 and hostilities ceased for a time. When Waratto 
 also died, about two years after his undutiful son, 
 he was succeeded by Berchar, his son-in-law, whom 
 the annalist pithily describes as " statura parvus, in- 
 tellectu modicus." 
 
 The insolent disregard which this man showed to 
 
 1 Fredeg, Chron. Cont. xcvii. : " Super vacuas capsas." Chron. 
 Moissiac. an. 680 (ap. Mon. Germ. ed. Pertz, i. p. 288.). Adonis 
 Chron. an. 680 (Bouq. ii. p. 670.). 
 
 2 " A Deo percussus." — Fredeg. Chron. Cont. xcviii. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 THE FRANKS. [Chai\ V. 
 
 the feelings and wishes of the most powerful Neus- 
 trians, induced many of them to make common cause 
 with Pepin, to whom they are said to have bound 
 themselves by hostages. In a.d. 687 Pepin was 
 strong enough to assume the offensive ; and, jnelding 
 to the entreaties of the Neustrian refugees, he sent an 
 embassy to Theoderic III. to demand the restoration 
 of the exiles to their confiscated lands. 1 The Kin<x 
 of Neustria, prompted by Berchar, his major-domus, 
 haughtily replied that he would come himself and 
 fetch his runaway slaves. Pepin then prepared for 
 war, with the unanimous consent of the Austrasian 
 seigniors, whose wishes he scrupulously consulted. 
 Marching through the Silva Carbonaria (in Belgium), 
 he entered the Neustrian territory, and took post at 
 Testri on the river Somme. 2 Theoderic and Berchar 
 also collected a large army and marched to meet the 
 invaders. The two armies encamped in sight of each 
 other near the village of Testri, on opposite sides of 
 the little river Daumignon, the Neustrians on the 
 southern and the Austrasians on the northern bank. 
 Whether from policy or a higher motive, Pepin dis- 
 played great unwillingness, even then, to bring the 
 matter to extremities ; and, sending emissaries into 
 the camp of Theoderic, he once more endeavoured to 
 negotiate ; demanding, amongst other things, that the 
 property of which the churches had been " despoiled 
 by wicked tyrants " should be restored to them. He 
 promised that, if his conditions of peace were accepted 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. xcix. Vita Pippini Ducis, an. 687. 
 (Bouq. ii. p. 608.). Gesta Keg. Franc xlviii. 
 - Near St. Quentin. 
 
Chap. V.] BATTLE OF TESTRI. 229 
 
 and the effusion of kindred blood prevented, he would 
 give the king a large amount of silver and gold. 
 The wise and humane reluctance of Pepin was na- 
 turally construed by Theoderic and his u little- 
 minded " mayor into fear, and distrust of his army, 
 which was inferior to their own in numbers : a haughty 
 answer was returned, and all negotiations broken off. 
 Both sides then prepared for the morrow's battle. 
 Pepin, having passed the night in forming his plans, 
 crossed the river before daybreak and drew up his 
 army to the east of Theoderic's position, that the 
 rising sun might blind the enemy. The spies of 
 Theoderic reported that the Austrasian camp was 
 deserted, on which the Neustrians were led out to 
 pursue the flying foe. 1 The mistake of the scouts 
 was soon made clear by the vigorous onset of Pepin ; 
 and after a fierce but brief combat the Neustrians 
 were totally defeated, and Theoderic and Berchar 
 tied from the field. 2 The latter was slain by his 
 own followers : the king was taken prisoner, but his 
 life was mercifully spared. 
 
 The battle of Testri is notable in Frankish history 
 as that in which the death-stroke was given to the 
 
 1 Annal. Mett. (Mon. Germ. i. p. 316.), an. 687—690. Fred. 
 Chron. Cont. c. 
 
 2 Pepin was even more remarkable for personal courage than 
 for his generalship. Paullus Diaconus, vi. 37. : " Fuit autem vir 
 mirse audacise, qui hostes suos aggrediendo statim conterebat." He 
 relates that on one occasion he rushed on the camp of his enemies 
 with only one follower, and cut their general and his attendants to 
 pieces in his tent. 
 
 Q 3 
 
230 THE FRANKS. [Chai\ V. 
 
 Merovingian dynasty, by an ancestor of a far more 
 glorious race of monarchs. " From this time for- 
 ward," says the chronicler Erchambertus, " the kings 
 began to have only the royal name, and not the 
 royal dignity." A very striking picture of the Rois 
 Fain^ans has been handed down to us by Ein- 
 hard, the friend and secretary of Charlemagne, 
 in his famous life of his royal master. " The race 
 of the Merovingians," he says, " from which the 
 Franks were formerly accustomed to choose their 
 kings, is generally considered to have ended with 
 Chilperic ; who, at the command of the Roman Pon- 
 tiff Stephen, was deposed, shorn of his locks, and 
 sent into a monastery. But although the stock died 
 out with him, it had long been entirely without 
 life and vigour, and had no distinction beyond the 
 empty title of king ; for the authority and govern- 
 ment were in the hands of the highest officers of the 
 palace, who were called majores-domus, and had the 
 entire administration of affairs. Nothing was left 
 to the king, except that, contenting himself with the 
 mere royal name, he was allowed to sit on the throne 
 with long hair and unshorn beard, to play the part 
 of a ruler, to hear the ambassadors from whatever 
 part they might come, and at their departure to 
 communicate to them the answers which he had 
 been taught or even commanded to make, as if by 
 his own authority. Besides the worthless title of 
 king, and a scanty maintenance, which the major- 
 domus meted out according to his pleasure, the king 
 possessed only one farm, and that by no means a 
 
Chap. V.] PEPIN OF IIERISTAL SOLE MAYOR. 231 
 
 lucrative one, on which he had a dwelling-house and 
 a few servants, just sufficient to supply his most 
 urgent necessities. Wherever he had to go, he tra- 
 velled in a carriage drawn by a yoke of oxen and 
 driven by a cowherd in rustic fashion. It was 
 thus that he went to the palace, to the public as- 
 sembly of the people, which met every year for the 
 good of the kingdom ; after which he returned 
 home. But the whole administration of the state, 
 and everything which had to be regulated or exe- 
 cuted, either at home or abroad, was carried on by 
 the mayors." l 
 
 The whole power of the three kingdoms was thus 
 suddenly thrown into the hands of Pepin, who 
 showed in his subsequent career that he was equal 
 to the far more difficult task of keeping, by his 
 wisdom and moderation, what he had gained by the 
 vigour of his intellect and his undaunted valour. 
 He, too, was happily free from the little vanity which 
 takes more delight in the pomp than in the realities 
 of power, and, provided he possessed the substantial 
 authority, was contented to leave the royal name to 
 others. 2 He must have felt himself strong enough 
 to do what his uncle Grimoald had vainly attempted, 
 and his grandson happily accomplished ; but he saw 
 that by grasping at the shadow he might lose the 
 substance. He was surrounded by proud and sus- 
 
 1 Einkard. Vit. Carol, c. 1. 
 
 2 Vita Pippini Ducts (Bouq. ii. p. 603.): " Dux et major- 
 domus ' ■ • qua dignitate modice differente sublimitate regia 
 prseditus." 
 
 U4 
 
232 THE FRANKS. [Chai>. V. 
 
 picious seigniors, whose jealousy would have been 
 more excited by his taking the title, than by his 
 exercising the powers of a king ; and, strange though 
 it may seem, the reverence for the ancient race, and 
 the notion of their exclusive and inalienable rights, 
 were far from being extinguished in the breasts of 
 the common people. 1 By keeping Theoderic upon 
 the throne and ruling in his name, he united both 
 reason and prejudice in support of his government. 
 Yet some approach was made — though probably not 
 by his own desire — towards acknowledged sovereignty 
 in the case of Pepin. He was called Dux et Princeps 
 Francorum, and the years of his office were reckoned, 
 as well as those of the king, in all public documents. 
 Having fixed the seat of his government in 
 Austrasia, as the more German and warlike portion 
 of his dominions, he named dependents of his own, 
 and subsequently his two sons, Drogo and Grimoald, 
 to rule as mayors in the two other divisions of the 
 empire. He gave the greatest proof of his power and 
 joopularity by restoring the assemblies of the Campus 
 Martius, a purely German institution, which under 
 the Romanising Merovingian monarchs had gradually 
 declined. At these annual meetings, which were held 
 on the 1st of March, the whole nation assembled for 
 the purpose of discussing measures for the ensuing 
 year. None but a ruler who was conscious of his 
 own strength, and of an honest desire for the welfare 
 
 1 Vita Pipp. Due. (ibid.) : " Erat erga Eegem fidei servan- 
 tissimus * * Nee munera Populi ad subvertendum jus regiuru 
 respiciebat." 
 
CnAr. V.J PEPIN RESOLVES TO EXTEND THE EMPIRE. 233 
 
 of his people, would have voluntarily submitted him- 
 self and his actions to the chances of such an ordeal. 1 
 As soon as he had firmly fixed himself in his seat, 
 and secured the submission of the envious seigniors, 
 and the love of the people, who looked to him as 
 the only man who could save them from the evils of 
 anarchy, he turned his attention to the re-establish- 
 ment of the Frankish empire in its full extent. The 
 neighbouring tribes, which had with difficulty, and 
 for the most part imperfectly, been subdued by 
 Clovis and his successors, were ready to seize upon 
 everv favourable occasion of ridding themselves of 
 the hated yoke. 2 Nor were the poor imbecile boys 
 
 1 Annal. Mett. an. 692 (Mon. Germ. i. p. 320.) : " Singulis vero 
 annisin Kalendis Martii generate cum omnibus Francis, secundum 
 priscorum consuetudinem, Concilium agebat; in quo ob regii nomi- 
 nis reverentiam eum quern sibi ipse propter huniilitatis et mansue- 
 tudinis magnitudinem prasfecerat prassidere jubebat; donee ab omni- 
 bus Optimatibus Francorum donariis acceptis,verboque pro pace etde- 
 fensione ecclesiarum Dei et pupillorum et viduarum facto, raptuque 
 foeminarum et incendio solide decreto interdicto, exercitui quoque 
 pragcepto dato ut quacumque die illis denunciaretur, parati essentin 
 partem quam ipse disponeret proficisci." Conf.Vit. Car. Einhard. s. i. 
 
 2 Aimed. Mettens. an. 687 . : " Hac etenim gentes olim, et aliae plu- 
 rimsemultis sudoribus adquisitaa Francorum summo obtemperabant 
 imperio. Sed propter desidiam Regum, et domesticus dissensiones, 
 et bella civilia * * singuli in proprio solo armis libertatem molieban- 
 tur defendere/' Erchanberti Fragm. (written in the time of Carl 
 Martel) : " Illis namque temporibus ac deinceps Gotefredus, Dux 
 Alamannorum, caeterique circumquaque Duces noluerunt obtempe- 
 rare Ducibus Francorum eo quod non potuerunt regibus Merovseis 
 servire sicut antea soliti fuerant. Ideo se unusquisque secam tenxtit 
 donee tandem aliquando post mortem Gotefridi Ducis Carlus, ca> 
 terique Principes Francorum paulatim ad se revocare illos arte 
 qua poterant studuere." 
 
234 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 who bore the name of kings, or the turbulent mayors 
 and seigniors, who were wholly occupied with plotting 
 and counterplotting, railing and fighting, against one 
 another, at all in a position to call the subject states 
 to account, or to excite in them the desire of being 
 incorporated with an empire harassed and torn by 
 intestine dissensions. The Frankish empire was in 
 process of dissolution, and all the more distant tribes, 
 as the Bavarians, the Alemannians, Frisians, Bretons, 
 and Gascons, had virtually recovered their inde- 
 pendence. But this partial decline of the Frankish 
 power was simply the result of misgovernment, and 
 the domestic feuds which absorbed the martial vi- 
 gour of the nation ; and by no means indicated the 
 decline of a military spirit in the Frankish people. 
 They only needed a centre of union and a leader 
 worthy of them, both of which they found in Pepin, 
 to give them once more the hegemony over all the 
 German tribes, and prepare them for the conquest of 
 Europe. 1 The Frisians were subdued, or rather 
 repressed for a time, in a. d. 697, after a gallant 
 resistance under their king Ratbod; and about 
 twelve years afterwards we find the son of Pepin, 
 Grimoald, forming a matrimonial alliance with Theu- 
 delinda, daughter of the Frisian monarch ; a fact which 
 plainly implies that Pepin desired to cultivate the 
 friendship of his warlike neighbours. 2 The Suabians, 
 
 1 AnnaLMett, an. 690— 695. : "Confluebant autem ad eumcir- 
 cumsitarum gentium legationes, Graecorum scilicet Romanorum, Lan- 
 gobardorum, Hunorum, quoque et Sclavorum atque Saracenorum." 
 
 2 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. cii., civ. 
 
CiiAr. V.] PEPIN PK0TECTS THE MISSIONARIES. 235 
 
 or Alemanni, were also attacked and defeated by 
 Pepin on their own territories ; but their final sub- 
 jection was completed by his son Carl Martel. 
 
 The wars carried on by Pepin with the above-men- 
 tioned nations, to which in this place we can only 
 briefly allude, occupied him nearly twenty years ; and 
 were greatly instrumental in preserving peace at 
 home, and consolidating the foundations of the Car- 
 lovingian throne. The stubborn resistance he met 
 with from the still heathen Germans, was animated 
 with something of that zeal, against which his great 
 descendant Charlemagne had to contend in his inter- 
 minable Saxon wars ; for the adoption of Christianity, 
 which was hated, not only as being hostile to the 
 superstitions of their forefathers, but on account of 
 the heavy taxes by which it was accompanied, was 
 always made by Pepin the indispensable condition of 
 mercy and peace. But, happily for the cause of Gos- 
 pel truth, other means were used for the spread of 
 Christianity than the sword and the scourge; and the 
 labours of many a zealous and self-sacrificing mis- 
 sionary from Ireland and England, served to convince 
 the rude German tribes, that the warrior-priests 
 Avhom they had met on the battle-field, and the greedy 
 tax-gatherers who infested their homes, were not the 
 true ambassadors of the Prince of Peace. And Pepin, 
 who was by no means a mere warrior, was well aware 
 of the value of these peaceful efforts ; and afforded 
 zealous aid to all who ventured their lives in the holy 
 cause of human improvement and salvation. The 
 civil governors whom he established in the conquered 
 
236 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 provinces were directed to do all in their power to 
 promote the spread of Christianity by peaceful means; 
 and, to give effect to his instructions, Pepin warned 
 them that he should hold them responsible for the 
 lives of his pious missionaries. 
 
 During these same twenty years, in which Pepin 
 was playing the important and brilliant part assigned 
 to him by Providence, the pale and bloodless shadows 
 of four Merovingian kings flit gloomily across the 
 scene. We know little or nothing of them except 
 their names, and the order in which they followed 
 each other. Theoderic III. died a. d. 691, and was 
 succeeded by Clovis III., who reigned till a. d. 695 
 and was followed by Childebert III. On the death of 
 Childebert in a. d. 711, Pepin raised Dagobert III. to 
 the nominal throne, where he left him when he him- 
 self departed from the scene of his labours and 
 triumphs ; and this is really all that we feel called 
 upon to say of the descendants of the conquerors of 
 Gaul and founders of the Western Empire ; " inclitum 
 et notum olim, nunc tantum auditur ! " l 
 
 The extraordinary power which Pepin exercised at 
 a period when law was weak, and authority extended 
 no further than the sword could reach; when the 
 struggles of the rising feudal aristocracy for inde- 
 pendence had convulsed the empire and brought it 
 to the verge of anarchy, sufficiently attests the ability 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xli. Annal. Francor. ad an. 714. : " Pippinus 
 Dux Francorum • • obtinuit regnum Francorum per annos 
 xxvn, cum Regibus sibi subjectis, Hluduwigo, Hildiberto, et Dago- 
 berto." 
 
Chap. V.] PEPIN MAKES HIS SONS MAYORS. 237 
 
 and courage, the wisdom and moderation, with which 
 he ruled. His triumphs over the ancient dynasty, and 
 the Neustrian faction, were far from being the most 
 difficult of his achievements. He had to control the 
 very class to which he himself belonged ; to curb the 
 turbulent spirits of the very men who had raised him 
 to his proud pre-eminence ; and to establish regal au- 
 thority over those by whose aid he had humbled the 
 ancient kings : and all this he succeeded in doing by 
 the extraordinary influence of his personal character. 
 So firmly indeed had he established his government, 
 and subdued the wills of the envious seigniors 
 by whom he was surrounded, that even when he 
 showed his intention of making his power hereditary in 
 his family, they dared not, at the time, oppose his will. 1 
 On the death of Norbert, major-domus at the court 
 of Childebert III., Pepin — in all probability without 
 even consulting the seigniors, in whom the right of 
 election rested — appointed his second son Grimoald 
 to the vacant office. To his eldest son Dro&x) he had 
 already given the Mayoralty of Burgundy, with the 
 title of Duke of Campania. But though they dared 
 not make any opposition at the time, it is evident from 
 what followed that the fear of Pepin alone restrained 
 the rage they felt at this open usurpation. In a. d. 
 714, when Pepin's life was drawing to a close, and 
 he lay at Jopil near Liege upon a bed of sickness, 
 awaiting patiently his approaching end, the great 
 vassals took heart, and conspired to deprive his de- 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. ci. 
 
238 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 scendants of the mayoralty. They employed the 
 usual means for effecting their purpose — treachery 
 and murder. 1 Grimoald was assassinated, while 
 praying in the Church of St. Lambert at Jopil, by a 
 Frisian of the name of Eantgar, who relied, no doubt, 
 on the complicity of the seigniors and the weak- 
 ness of Pepin for impunity. But the conspirators 
 had miscalculated the waning sands of the old war- 
 rior's life, and little knew the effect which the sight 
 of his son's blood would have upon him. He sud- 
 denly recovered from the sickness to which he seemed 
 to be succumbing. Like another Priam, he once 
 more seized his unaccustomed arms, though, unlike 
 the royal Trojan, he used them with terrible effect. 
 After taking an ample revenge upon the murderers 
 of his son, and quenching the spirit of resistance in 
 the blood of the conspirators, he was so far from 
 giving up his purpose, or manifesting any conscious- 
 ness of weakness, that he nominated the infant and 
 illegitimate son of Grimoald, as if by hereditary right, 
 to the joint mayoralty of Burgundy and Neustria — an 
 office which the highest persons in the land would 
 have been proud to exercise. 2 By his very last act, 
 therefore, he showed the absolute mastery he had ob- 
 tained, not only over the " do-nothing " kings, but 
 
 1 Annal. Melt, ad an. 714.: Cum " diutius (Grimoaldus) in 
 oratione pronus persisteret, a nequissimo viro nomine Rantgario, 
 gladio percussus, occubuit." 
 
 2 Ibid. : " Pippinus vero Princeps de infirmitate convalescens, 
 omnes qui in illo consilio fuerant justa ultione interemit." Fred. 
 Chron. Cont. c, cii. Annal Mett. : " Ex Concubina Natum (Theu- 
 doaldum)." 
 
Chal\ v.] death of tepin. 239 
 
 over the factious seigniors, who shrank in terror 
 before the wrath of one who had, as it were, repassed 
 the gates of death, to hurl destruction on their heads. 
 His actual demise took place in the same year, on the 
 16th of December, a. d. 714. 
 
 Pepin had two wives, the first of whom, Plectrude, 
 bore him two sons, Drogo and Grimoald, neither of 
 whom survived their father. In A. r>. 688 he married 
 a second wife, the " noble and elegant " Alpais, though 
 Plectrudis was still alive. 1 From this second marriage 
 sprang the real successor of the Pepins, whom his 
 father named in his own language Carl, and who is 
 renowned in history as Carl Martel, the bulwark of 
 Christendom, the father of kings and emperors. 
 
 Our estimate of the personal greatness of the Car- 
 lovingian mayors is greatly raised when we observe 
 that each of them in turn, instead of taking quiet 
 possession of what his predecessors had won, has to 
 reconquer his position in the face of numerous, power- 
 ful and exasperated enemies. It was so with Pepin 
 of Landen, with Pepin of Heristal, and most of all in 
 the case of Carl Martel. 2 
 
 At the death of Pepin the storm which had long 
 been gathering, and of which many forebodings had 
 appeared in his lifetime, broke forth with tremendous 
 
 1 Fred, Chron.Cont. ciii. : " Uxorem . . . nomine Alpheidaro." 
 Ex. Chron. Moiss. ad an. 708 (Monum. Germ. torn, i., p. 289.), 
 where she is called Alpaigde (Alpagede). 
 
 2 " Qui Tudetes, i.e. Martellus est agnominatus." — Vita S. 
 Sigebertiy c. x. Fred. Chron. civ. : " Magna et valida pertur- 
 batio et persecutio exstitit apud gentem Francorum." Conf. Ann. 
 Mett. 
 
240 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 fury. The bands of government were suddenly 
 loosened, and the powers which Pepin had wielded 
 with such strength and dexterity became the objects 
 of a ferocious struggle. Plectrudis, his first wife, an 
 ambitious and daring woman, had resolved to reign 
 as the guardian of her grandchild, Theudoald, with 
 whom she was at that time residing at Cologne. 1 
 Theudoald had at least the advantage of being the 
 only candidate for power installed by Pepin himself, 
 and it was no doubt upon his quasi-hereditary claims 
 that Plectrudis based her hopes. She manifested her 
 foresight, discrimination, and energy, at the com- 
 mencement of the contest which ensued by seizing 
 the person of Carl, her stepson, and most formidable 
 rival. 2 But Carl and his party were not her only 
 opponents. The Neustrians and Burgundians, whom 
 their recollections of Brunhilcla and Fredegunda by 
 no means inclined to acquiesce in another female 
 regency, refused obedience to her commands; and 
 endeavoured to excite the puppet-monarch Dagobert 
 to an independent exercise of his authority. 3 Their 
 zeal as Neustrians too was quickened by the desire 
 of throwing off the Austrasian or German yoke, 
 which they considered to have been fixed upon them 
 by the victories and energetic rule of Pepin. It was 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. civ. Chron. Moiss. an. 715. 
 
 2 Annah Mett. an. 715.: "Incomparabili odio contra Carolum 
 
 incensa." 
 
 3 Ann. Mett. an. 715.: " Quod (regnum) dum crudelius quam 
 oporteret astu fernineo disponere decrevisset, iram Niustrium 
 Francorum in nepotis sui interitum et Principum qui cum eo 
 erant celeriter convertit." 
 
Chap. V.] NEUSTRIANS DEVASTATE AUSTRASIA. 241 
 
 owing to this hostile feeling between the Romance 
 and the German portions of the empire that many 
 even of Pepin's partizans 1 took side with Theudoald 
 and Plectrudis, although the latter held their chief 
 incarcerated. The revolted Neustrians and the army 
 of Plectrudis encountered each other in the forest of 
 Guise, near Compiegne ; and, as far as one can con- 
 jecture from the confused and contradictory accounts 
 of the annalists, Plectrudis and Theudoald suffered 
 a defeat. The Neustrians having obtained the mas- 
 tery over the hated Germans in their own country, 
 prepared to extend their authority to Austrasia 
 itself. Having chosen Raginfried as their inajor- 
 domus, they suddenly marched into the Austrasian 
 territory, and laid it waste with fire and sword as 
 far as the river Meuse. In spite of their Christian pro- 
 fession they sought further to strengthen themselves 
 by an alliance \vith Ratbod, the heathen King of the 
 Frisians, who at the death of Pepin had recovered 
 his independence, and the greater portion of his ter- 
 ritory. 2 
 
 In the meantime, the whole aspect of affairs was 
 
 1 The author of the Annal. Mett. an. 715., charges them with 
 ungratefully forgetting all the benefits conferred on them by Pepin : 
 *' Tunc gens ilia omnium beneficiorum invicti Principis par iter 
 oblita? The expression in Fredegar (Chron. Cont. civ.) is 
 " Leudes Pippini," which is very obscure in this place. 
 
 2 Frcdeg. Chron, Cont. civ. (We gather this from the flight of 
 Theudoald) : " Corruit ibi immodicus exercitus, Theudoaldus 
 itaque a sodalibus suis per fugam lapsus evasit." Annal. Mett. : 
 " Theodaldus cum paucis vix evasit, qui non multo post tempore 
 vitam innocentem finivit." 
 
 R 
 
242 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 suddenly changed by the escape of Carl from cus- 
 tody. 1 The defeated army of Plectrudis, and many 
 of the Austrasian seigniors, who were unwilling to 
 support her cause even against the Neustrians, now 
 rallied with the greatest alacrity round the youthful 
 hero, and proclaimed him Dux Francorum by the 
 title of his glorious father. In a very short time 
 after the recovery of his freedom, Carl found him- 
 self at the head of a very efficient, though not 
 numerous army. He was still, however, surrounded 
 by dangers and difficulties, under which a man of 
 less extraordinary powers must inevitably have 
 sunk. 
 
 Daefobert III. died soon after the battle of Com- 
 piegne; and the Neustrians, who had felt the dis- 
 advantage of his imbecility, neglected the claims of 
 his son, and raised a priest called Daniel, a reputed 
 son of Childeric, to the throne, with the title of 
 Chilperic II. 2 This monarch, who appears to have 
 had a greater degree of energy than his immediate 
 predecessors, formed a plan with the Frisian king for 
 a combined attack upon Cologne, by which he hoped 
 at once to bring the Avar to a successful issue. Rat- 
 bod, true to his engagements, advanced with a 
 numerous fleet of vessels up the Rhine, while Chil- 
 peric and Raginfricd were marching towards Cologne 
 through the forest of Ardennes. To prevent this 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. Cont. cv. Ckron. Moissiac. Paullus Diac. 
 vi. 42. 
 
 2 Fred. Chron. Cont. cvi.: " Danihelem quondam Clericum 
 cnesarie capitis crcscente in Regnum stabiliunt " 
 
Chap. V.] DEFEAT OF NEUSTRIANS AT AMBLEVE. 243 
 
 well-planned junction, Carl determined to fall upon 
 the Frisians before they reached Cologne. His 
 position must have been rendered still more critical 
 by the failure . of this attack. We read that after 
 both parties had suffered considerable loss in a hard- 
 fought battle, they retreated on equal terms. 1 
 
 The short time which elapsed before the arrival of 
 the Neustrians was spent by Carl in summoning his 
 friends from every quarter, to assist him in the 
 desperate struggle in which he was engaged. In the 
 meantime Chilperic came up, and, encamping in the 
 neighbourhood of Cologne, effected a junction with 
 the Frisians. Contrary to expectation, however, no 
 attack was made upon Plectrudis, who is said to have 
 bribed the Frisians to retire. A better reason for 
 the precipitate retreat of the Neustrians and Frisians 
 (which now took place) was the clanger which the 
 former ran of having their retreat cut off by Carl, who 
 had taken up a strong position in their rear, with con- 
 tinually increasing forces ; as it was, they were not 
 permitted to retire in safety. Carl attacked them 
 at Ambleve, near Stablo, in the Ardennes, and gave 
 them a total defeat. This victory put him in posses- 
 sion of Cologne, and the person of Plectrudis, who 
 restored to him his father's treasures. 
 
 In the following year, a.d. 717, Carl assumed the 
 offensive, and, marching through the Silva Carbona- 
 via, began to lay waste the Neustrian territory. Chil- 
 peric and Raginfried advanced to meet him, doubtless 
 
 1 Annal. Mett. an. 716. 
 r 2 
 
244 THE FRANKS, [Chap. V. 
 
 with far less confidence than before ; and both armies 
 encamped at Vinci, in the territory of Cambrai. Carl, 
 with an hereditary moderation peculiarly admirable 
 in a man of his warlike spirit, sent .envoys to the 
 Neustrian camp to offer conditions of peace ; and to 
 induce Chilperic to acknowledge his claim to the 
 office of major-domus in Austrasia, " that the blood 
 of so many noble Franks might not be shed." l Carl 
 himself can have expected no other fruit from these 
 overtures than the convincing of his own followers of 
 the unreasonableness of their enemies. The Neus- 
 trian king and his evil adviser rejected the proferred 
 terms with indignation, and declared their intention 
 of taking from Carl even that portion of his inheri- 
 tance which had already fallen into his hands. Both 
 sides then prepared for battle ; Carl, as we are ex- 
 pressly told, having first communicated to the chief 
 men in his camp the haughty and threatening answer 
 of the king. Chilperic relied on his great superiority 
 in numbers, though his army was drawn, for the most 
 part, from the dregs of the people : Carl prepared to 
 meet him with a small but highly-disciplined force of 
 well-armed and skilful warriors. In the battle which 
 ensued on the 21st of March, the Neustrians were 
 routed with tremendous loss, and pursued by the 
 victors to the very gates of Paris. But Carl was 
 not yet in a condition to keep possession of j\ T eustria, 
 and he therefore led his army back to Cologne, and 
 ascended the " throne of his kingdom," as the an- 
 
 1 Annal. Mett. an. 717, 
 
Chap. V.J AQUITA1NE. 245 
 
 nalist already calls it, the dignissimus hcvres of his 
 mighty father. 1 
 
 The unfortunate Chilperic, unequal as he must 
 have felt himself to cope with a warrior like Carl, 
 was once more induced by evil counsellors to renew 
 the war. With this view he sought the alliance 
 of the imperfectly subjected neighbouring states, 
 whom the death of Pepin had awakened to dreams 
 of independence. Of these the foremost was Aqui- 
 taine, which had completely emancipated itself from 
 Frankish rule. The Aquitania of the Roman empire 
 extended, as is well known, from the Pyrenees to the 
 river Loire. This country, at the dissolution of the 
 Western Empire, had fallen into the hands of the 
 Visigoths, and was subsequently conquered, and to 
 a certain extent subjugated, by the earlier Mero- 
 vingians. But, though nominally part of the Frank- 
 ish empire, it continued to enjoy a semi-independence 
 under its native dukes, and remained for many ages 
 a stone of offence to the Frankish rulers. Its popu- 
 lation, notwithstanding the admixture of German 
 blood consequent on the Gothic conquest, had re- 
 mained pre-eminently Roman in its character, and 
 had attained in the seventh century to an unusual 
 degree of wealth and civilisation. The southern part 
 of Aquitaine had been occupied by a people called 
 Vascones or Gascons, who extended themselves as far 
 as the Garonne, and had also submitted to the Frank- 
 ish rule during the better clays of the elder dynasty. 
 
 1 Annal. Mett. 
 r 3 
 
216 THE FRANKS. [CuAr. V. 
 
 The temporary collapse of the Frankish power 
 consequent upon the bloody feuds of the royal house, 
 and the struggle between the seigniors and the crown, 
 enabled Eudo, the Duke of Aquitaine, to establish 
 himself as a perfectly independent Prince ; and he 
 and his sons ruled in full sovereignty over both 
 Aquitaine and Gascony, and were called indifferently 
 Aquitanice or Vasconice duces. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it is not to be won- 
 dered at that Eudo should gladly receive the presents 
 and overtures made to him by Chilperic ; who agreed 
 to leave him in quiet possession of the independence 
 he had contumaciously asserted, on condition of his 
 making cause against the Austrasian mayor. 1 He 
 lost no time in leading an army of Gascons to Paris, 
 where he joined his forces to those of Chilperic, and 
 prepared to meet the terrible foe. Carl advanced 
 with his usual rapidity, and having laid waste a por- 
 tion of Neustria, came upon the enemy in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Soissons. The new allies, who had 
 scarcely had time to consolidate their union and 
 mature their plans, appear to have made but a feeble 
 resistance ; and Chilperic, not considering himself 
 safe even in Paris, fled with his treasures, in com- 
 pany with Eudo, into Aquitaine. 2 Ragin fried, the 
 Neustrian major-domus, who with a division of the 
 combined army had also made an attempt to check 
 Carl's progress, was likewise defeated and compelled 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. Cont. cvii. 
 
 2 Chron. Moissiac. an. 717. Reginonis Chron. (Monum. Germ. 
 torn, i.) 
 
Chap. V.] SUCCESSES AND CLEMENCY OF CARL. 247 
 
 to resign his mayoralty ; as a compensation for which 
 he received from the placable conqueror the count- 
 ship of Anjou. 
 
 The victorious Austrasians pursued the fugitives 
 as far as the river Loire and Orleans, from which 
 place Carl sent an embassy to Euclo, and offered him 
 terms of peace, on condition of his delivering up 
 Chilperic and his treasures. It is difficult to say 
 what answer Eudo, hemmed in as he was on all sides 
 (for the Saracens were in his rear), might have given 
 to this demand, — whether he would have consulted 
 his own interests, or his duty to his ally and guest. 
 But the opportune death of Clotaire, whom Carl had 
 made king of Austrasia after the battle of Ambleve, 
 relieved him from his dilemma. Carl, who was 
 remarkably free from the evil spirit of revenge, de- 
 clared his readiness to acknowledge Chilperic II. as 
 king, on condition of being himself appointed major- 
 domus of the united kingdoms of Austrasia, Neustria, 
 and Burgundy. These terms, offered by the victor 
 to one whose very life was at his mercy, could not 
 but be eagerly accepted 1 ; and thus, in a.d. 719, 
 Carl became nominally Mayor of the Palace to King 
 Chilperic II., but, in fact, undisputed master of the 
 king himself and the whole Frankish empire. 
 
 The temperate course pursued by Carl in these 
 transactions, proceeded in a great measure from the 
 natural moderation of his character; but it was a 
 
 1 Fred. Cliron. Cont. an. 720. Annal. Mett. 
 
 it 4 
 
248 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 course which the coolest calculation would suggest. 
 He was indeed victorious, but he was still sur- 
 rounded by enemies who were rather beaten than 
 subdued, and many of them were those of his own 
 household. 
 
 After the death of Ratbod, the " cruel and pagan " 
 king of the Frisians, in a.d. 719, Carl recovered the 
 western portion of Friesland, and reduced the Frisians 
 to their former state of uncertain subjection. 1 About 
 the same time he repelled the Saxons, those un- 
 wearied and implacable enemies of the Frankish 
 name, who had broken into the Frankish gaus on 
 the right bank of the Rhine. We know little of the 
 particulars of these campaigns, since the chroniclers 
 content themselves with recording in general terms 
 that the " invincible Carl " was always victorious, 
 and his enemies utterly destroyed ; a statement which 
 is rendered suspicious by the fact that their annihila- 
 tion has to be repeated frequently, and at no long 
 intervals. 
 
 In the year after the Saxon campaign (the date of 
 which is rather uncertain), Carl crossed the Rhine, 
 and attacked the Alemanni (in Wirtemberg) in their 
 own country, which he devastated without any serious 
 opposition. Subsequently, about a. d. 725, he crossed 
 the Danube, and entered the country of the Ba- 
 varians; and after two successful campaigns obliged 
 that nation also to acknowledge their allegiance to the 
 Franks, From this expedition, says the chronicler, 
 
 1 Annal. Mett. 
 
Chap. Y.J IMPORTANT POSITION OF CAPvL. 249 
 
 " he returned by the Lord's assistance to his own 
 dominions with great treasures and a certain matron, 
 by name Plectrude, and her niece Sonihilde." l This 
 latter, who is called by Einhard " Swanahilde, the 
 niece of Odilo," subsequently became one of CaiTs 
 wives, and the mother of the unfortunate Gripho. 
 
 It seems natural to conjecture, that Carl had an 
 important ulterior object before his mind in these ex- 
 traordinary and sustained exertions. They were but 
 the prelude to the grand spectacle soon to be pre- 
 sented to an admiring world, in which this mighty 
 monarch with the humble name was to play a con- 
 spicuous and glorious part. A contest awaited him, 
 which he must Ions: have foreseen with mingled feel- 
 ings of eagerness and apprehension, and into which he 
 dared not go unprepared ; a contest which required 
 the highest exercise of his own active genius, and the 
 uncontrolled disposal of all the material resources of 
 his empire. He had hitherto contended for his here- 
 ditary honours against his personal enemies — for the 
 supremacy of the Germans over the Gallo Romans, 
 of his own tribe over kindred German tribes — and 
 finally, for order and good government against anarchy 
 and faction. Hereafter he was to renew the old 
 struggle between the West and East — to be the cham- 
 pion of Christianity and German Institutions, against 
 the false and degrading faith of Mohammed, and all 
 the corrupting and enervating habits of the oriental 
 world. 
 
 1 Annal. Mutt. Fred. Chron. Cont. cviii. "Bilitrude.*' 
 
250 THE FRANKS. [CflAr. V. 
 
 The most sober history of the rise and progress of 
 Islamism, and the Arabian empire, which was founded 
 on it, has all the characteristics of an eastern fable. 
 In the beginning of the seventh century, an Arabian 
 of the priestly house of Haschem retired into a cave 
 at Mecca, to brood over the visions of a powerful but 
 morbid imagination. The suggestions of his own 
 distempered mind, and the impulses of his own strong 
 will, were mistaken for the inspiration and the com- 
 mands of the Almighty, concerning whom his notions 
 were in part adopted from the Jewish and Christian 
 Scriptures. He learned to regard himself as the 
 chosen instrument of God, for the introduction of a 
 new faith and the establishment of a power, before 
 which all the nations of the earth should bow. When 
 his meditations had assumed consistency, he shaped 
 them into a system of faith and practice, which he 
 confidently proposed for the acceptance of mankind, 
 as the most perfect and glorious expression of the di- 
 vine mind and will. His belief in himself, in his own 
 infallibility, and the perfection of his system, was so 
 absolute, that he regarded all other men in the light 
 of children, who, if they cannot be persuaded, must 
 be forced, into the right path. The sword was the 
 only logic he considered suitable to the case ; and death 
 or the Koran was the sole alternative which his fol- 
 lowers thought fit to offer. 
 
 For a time the lofty pretensions of the prophet 
 were acknowledged only by a few, and those few 
 belonged to his own family. But his system, spring- 
 ing as it did from an eminently oriental mind, 
 
CiiAr. V.] MOHAMMEDANISM. 251 
 
 was wonderfully adapted to the wants and tastes of 
 oriental nations. The only true and valuable parts of 
 it, indeed, are mutilated shreds from the covenants of 
 Abraham and Moses and the Revelation of our blessed 
 Saviour; but while the sublimity of these* afforded 
 suitable objects of contemplation to the nobler fa- 
 culties of the soul, the strongest passions of fallen 
 human nature, pride, revenge, and lust, were not 
 denied their appropriate gratification. ! What could 
 be more acceptable to the natural man than a system 
 which quiets the conscience amidst the excesses of 
 sensual love, which takes away the necessity for self- 
 discipline by the doctrine of fatalism, which teaches 
 men to look down with a lofty contempt upon all 
 who think differently from themselves, and, lastly, 
 holds out as a reward for the coercion and destruction 
 of opponents an eternity of voluptuous enjoyment in 
 the society of celestial courtezans? Much no doubt 
 was done by the sword of the hardy and impetuous 
 sons of Ishmael, but this could not alone have spread 
 the Koran over half the world ; the very faults which 
 make it odious in Christian eyes, gave wings to its 
 progress, and excited in its favour a deep and frenzied 
 devotion. 
 
 In a. d. 622, Mohammed was obliged to flee to 
 Medina, from the virulent opposition of the members 
 of his own tribe. Within ninety years from that time 
 his successors and disciples had conquered and con- 
 verted, not Arabia alone, but Syria, Persia, Palestine, 
 Phoenicia, Egypt, Asia Minor, Armenia, the country 
 between iho Black Sea and the Caspian, a portion of 
 
252 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 India, and the whole of the North of Africa from 
 the Nile to the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 The year A. d. 710 found them gazing with long- 
 ing eyes across the straits of Gibraltar, eager for the 
 time when they might plant upon the rock of Calpe 
 the meteor standard of their prophet; and thence 
 survey the beautiful and fertile country which was 
 soon to be their own. Nor were their hopes deferred : 
 their entrance into Spain, which might have proved 
 difficult if not impossible to effect in the face of a 
 brave and united people, was rendered safe and easy 
 by treachery, cowardice, and theological dissensions. 
 
 The first collision, indeed, of the Arabian con- 
 querors with the warriors of the West was rather 
 calculated to damp their hopes of European conquest. 
 The Yisigothic kings of Spain possessed the town of 
 Ceuta on the African coast, of which Count Julian, 
 at the time of which we speak, was military governor. 
 The skill and courage of this great warrior and his 
 garrison, had hitherto frustrated all the attempts of 
 Musa, the general of the Caliph Walid, to make 
 himself master of the place. The Saracens were 
 already beginning to despair of success, when they 
 suddenly received overtures from Count Julian him- 
 self, who now offered, not merely to open the gates 
 of Ceuta, but to procure for the Saracens a ready 
 admittance into Spain. The grounds of this sudden 
 treachery on the part of one who had risked his life 
 at the post of honour, cannot be stated with any 
 degree of certainty. By some it was ascribed to the 
 desire of avenging himself upon Roderic, his king, 
 
Chap. V.J FIRST SARACEN ARMY IN EUROPE. 25 
 
 9 
 
 who is said to have abused his daughter l ; and by 
 others to the fact that he had espoused the cause of 
 Witiza's sons, at that time pretenders to the Spanish 
 throne. The Saracen general Musa, delighted to 
 have found the Achilles-heel of Europe, immediately 
 despatched a few hundred Moslems across the strait, 
 under the command of Tarik ; from whom the modern 
 Gibraltar (Gebel-al-Tarik) derives its name. These 
 adventurers were well received in the town and castle 
 of Count Julian at Algesiras, and soon returned to 
 their expectant comrades, with rich booty and ex- 
 citing tales of the fertility of the country, and the 
 effeminacy of the degenerate Goths. 
 
 In the April of the following year, a. p. 711, a 
 body of 5000 Saracens effected a landing on the 
 coast of Spain, and entrenched themselves strongly 
 near the Rock of Gibraltar. These were soon fol- 
 lowed by other troops, until a considerable Moslem 
 army was collected on the Spanish shores. The 
 feeble resistance made to this descent was a fatal 
 omen for the empire of the Visigoths. This once 
 brave and hardy tribe of Germans had lost, during a 
 long peace, the valour and endurance to which they 
 
 1 Roderici Ximenes Navarri, Arch. Tolet. Res. Hispan. lib. iii. 
 c. 19. Jo/tan. Mariana Res. Htsp. lib. vi. 21, 22. (Moguntiaa, 
 160o) : "In bis Juliani Comitis filia, Cava nomine, in obsequiis 
 Reginoe Egilonoe, erat excellenti formag dignitate. Hasc aliquando 
 cum gequalibus luden?, corpus cum magna ex parte nudasset, Regis 
 animura forte fortuna clam ex fenestra prospicientis vebementer 
 perculit .... Ita opportunitatem nactus, quam neque gratia 
 flectere, neque nimis et metu frangere potuit, invitam atque reluc- 
 tantem virginem vitiavit." 
 
254 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 owed the rich provinces of Spain ; and, amidst the 
 pleasures of that luxurious country, had grown so 
 unaccustomed to the use of arms, that it was long 
 before they could be roused to meet the foe. At 
 length, however, the unwarlike Roderic, having col- 
 lected an army four times as great as that of the 
 enemy, but without confidence either in their leader 
 or themselves, encamped at Xeres de la Frontera, in 
 the neighbourhood of Cadiz. 1 While aAvaiting at this 
 place the approach of the enemy, the Gothic king is 
 represented as sitting in an ivory chariot, arrayed in 
 silken garments unworthy of a man even in time of 
 peace, and wearing a golden crown upon his head. 
 The battle which quickly followed was fought on the 
 26th of July, A. d. 731. It was of short duration 
 and of no doubtful issue. The timid herd of Goths, 
 scarcely awaiting the wild charge of the Saracens, 
 turned and fled in irretrievable confusion. Roderic 
 himself, fit leader of such an army, was among the 
 first to leave the field on the back of a fleet racer, 
 which had been placed, at his desire, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of his tent, as if his trembling heart had 
 foreseen the issue. 
 
 The Visigothic empire in Spain fell by a single 
 blow. Tarik advanced with his victorious army 
 as far as Cordova, which immediately yielded at his 
 summons ; and he would, without doubt, have over- 
 run the whole of Spain, had he not been recalled by 
 the jealousy of Musa, who reserved for himself the 
 glory of completing the splendid conquest. 
 
 1 Chron. Moissiac. 
 
Chap. V.J CONQUEST OF SPAIN BY MOSLEMS. 255 
 
 Of all the Spanish towns which were captured on 
 this occasion, Seville and Mericla alone appear to 
 have upheld the ancient glories of the Gothic name ; 
 but even these were finally reduced, and the last 
 remnants of the Visigoths were driven from the rich 
 plains they had so long possessed into the mountains 
 of Asturias. It was in these rugged solitudes, and 
 amidst the hardships and privations which they there 
 endured, that they regained their ancient vigour, and 
 preserved their Christian faith. It was thence that 
 at a later period they descended upon their Moorish 
 foes, and in many a hard-fought battle, the frequent 
 theme of ballad and romaunt, recovered, step by 
 step, the fair possessions which their ancestors had 
 won and lost. 
 
 And thus by a single victory Spain was added to 
 the vast dominions of the Caliph, and the Cross once 
 more retired before the Crescent. Nor did it seem 
 that the Pyrenees, any more than the rock of 
 Gibraltar, were to prove a barrier to the devastating 
 flood of Islamism. About A. d. 718, Zama, the 
 Arabian Viceroy of Spain, made himself master of 
 that portion of Gaul, on the slopes of the Eastern 
 Pyrenees, of which the Goths had hitherto retained 
 possession. In A. d. 731 he stormed Narbonne, the 
 capital of the province, and having put all the male 
 inhabitants capable of bearing arms to the sword, he 
 sent away the women and children into captivity. 
 He then pushed forward into Aquitaine, and laid 
 siege to Toulouse, which proved the limit of his 
 progress; for it was there that he was defeated by 
 
256 THE FRANKS. [Ciiap. V. 
 
 EudOj the duke of the country, who was roused to a 
 desperate effort by the danger of his capital. 1 The 
 check thus given to the onward march of the 
 Moslems was of short duration. Ambiza, the suc- 
 cessor of Zama, about four years afterwards once 
 more made a movement in advance. Taking a more 
 easterly direction, he stormed and plundered Car- 
 cassonne and Nismes ; and having devastated the 
 country as far as the Rhone, returned laden with 
 booty across the Pyrenees. 2 
 
 Duke Eudo of Aquitaine, deprived of the fruits of 
 his single victory, resigned all hopes of successfully 
 resisting the invaders, and endeavoured to preserve 
 himself from utter ruin by an alliance with his 
 formidable foes. He is even said to have so far 
 belied his character of Christian prince as to give 
 his own daughter in marriage, or concubinage, to 
 Munuz, the governor of the newly-made Gallic 
 conquests. 3 
 
 It appears that the expeditions of the Saracens 
 into Gaul had been hitherto made by individual 
 generals on a comparatively small scale, and on 
 their own responsibility. The unusually slow pro- 
 gress of their arms at this period, is to be ascribed 
 less to any fear of opposition, than to inward dis- 
 sensions in the Arabian empire, and a rapid suc- 
 cession of caliphs singularly unlike in their characters 
 and views. Nine short years (a. d. 715 — 724,) had 
 
 1 Roderic. Hist. Arab. c. 11. 
 
 2 Chron. Moissiac. an. 725. 
 
 3 Marca de Marc. Hispan. ii. c. 3. 
 
Chap. V.] HEAD OF MUNUZ SENT TO THE CALIPH. 257 
 
 seen the cruel Soliman succeeded by the severe, yet 
 just and upright Omar, the luxurious Epicurean 
 Yesicl, and the little-minded, calculating Hescham. 
 
 It is probable, therefore, that, amid more pressing 
 anxieties and interests, the distant conquest of Spain 
 was forgotten or neglected by the court at Da- 
 mascus ; and that the generals, who commanded in 
 that country, were apt to indulge in ideas inconsistent 
 with their real position as satraps and slaves of an 
 imperial master. But a change was at hand, and the 
 new actor Abderrahman, who suddenly appeared upon 
 the scene with an army of 400,000 men, was charged 
 with a twofold commission, — to chastise the pre- 
 sumption of Munuz, whose alliance with Eudo was 
 regarded with suspicion, — and to bring the whole of 
 Gaul under the sceptre of the Caliph and the law of 
 Mohammed. Regarding Munuz as a rebel and a 
 semi-apostate, Abderrahman besieged him in the town 
 of Cerdagne 1 , to which he fled for refuge, and, having 
 driven him to commit suicide, sent his head, together 
 with his wife, the daughter of Eudo, as a welcome 
 present to the Caliph Hescham. 2 
 
 The victorious Saracens then marched on past 
 Pampeluna, and, making their way through the 
 narrow defiles on the western side of the Pyrenean 
 
 1 " Cerritanense oppidum?' — Chron, Isidor. (Bouq. ii. p. 720.) 
 
 2 Roderic. Hist. Arab. c. 13. Ex Chron. Isidor i, an. 731. 
 (Bouquet, ii.) : " Rebellem inimisericorditer insequitur." Munuz 
 meets with no pity from the Episcopal Chronicler. His fate 
 befell him, " judicio Deo," because he was " drunk with the blood 
 of Christians," and was already " satis damnatus ab hoc " that he 
 had burnt Bishop Anambadus. Annal. Mett. ad an. 732. 
 
 S 
 
258 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 chain, poured down upon the plains with their in- 
 numerable hosts as far as the river Garonne. The 
 city of Bordeaux was taken and sacked, and still they 
 pressed on impetuously and without opposition, until 
 they reached the river Dordogne, where Eudo, burn- 
 ing with rage at the treatment which his daughter 
 had received, made a fruitless attempt to stop them. 
 Irritated rather than checked by his feeble efforts, 
 the overwhelming tide poured on. The standard of 
 the Prophet soon floated from the towers of Poitiers, 
 and even Tours, the city of the holy St. Martin, was 
 in danger of being polluted by the presence of in- 
 sulting infidels, when, in the hour of Europe's greatest 
 dread and danger, the champion of Christendom 
 appeared at last, to do battle with the hitherto 
 triumphant enemies of the Cross. 1 
 
 It seems strange at first sight that the danger, 
 which had so long been threatening Europe from the 
 side of Spain, should not have called forth an earlier 
 and more effectual resistance from those whose na- 
 tional and religious existence was at stake. Abder- 
 rahman had now made his way into the very centre 
 of modern France ; had taken and plundered some of 
 the wealthiest towns in the Frankish empire ; and, 
 after burning or desecrating every Christian church 
 he met with, was marching on the hallowed sanctuary 
 of the patron saint, enriched by the offerings of ages ; 
 without encountering a single foe who could even 
 hope to stay his progress. Where was the 4; invincible " 
 
 1 Fred. Cbron. Cont. cviii. Ex Chron. Isidori. 
 
Chap. V.] CARL'S EXTRAORDINARY DIFFICULTIES. 259 
 
 and ubiquitous Carl, who was wont to fall like a 
 thunderbolt upon his enemies ? We might indeed 
 be surprised at his seeming tardiness, did we not 
 know the extraordinary difficulties with which he 
 had to struggle, and the seemingly impossible task he 
 had to perform. It was not with the modern super- 
 stition of Mohammed alone that he had to contend, 
 but with the hoary heathenism of the North ; not 
 with the Saracens alone, but with his barbarous 
 kinsmen — with nations as hardy and warlike as his 
 own Austrasian warriors, and animated no less than 
 the followers of Mohammed with an indomitable 
 hatred of the Christian name. Enemies were ready 
 to pour upon him from every side, from the green 
 slopes of the Pyrenees and over the broad waters of 
 the Rhine ; nor could he reckon upon the fidelity of 
 all who lay within these boundaries. 
 
 During the whole of the ten years in which the 
 Saracens were crossing the Pyrenees and establishing 
 themselves in Gaul, Carl was constantly engaged in 
 wars with his German neighbours. In that short 
 period he made campaigns against the Frisians, the 
 Swabians, and the Bavarians, the last of whom (as 
 we have seen) he even crossed the Danube to attack 
 in their own country. As late as a. d. 728, when 
 Abderrahman must have been already meditating 
 his desolating march, Carl had to turn his arms once 
 more against the Saxons; and in A. d. 731, the very 
 year before he met the Saracens at Poitiers, he 
 marched an army into Aquitaine to quell the rebellion 
 of Duke Euclo. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE FRANKS. tCHAP. V. 
 
 Such were some of the adverse circumstances under 
 which Carl had to make his preparations, and under 
 which he encamped with his veterans in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Poitiers, where, for the first time in his 
 life, he beheld the white tents of the Moslem invaders, 
 covering the land as far as the eye could reach. 
 
 We cannot doubt that he had long been looking 
 forward to this hour with an anxious though intrepid 
 heart, for all depended upon him; and that the wars 
 in which he had lately been engaged, were the more 
 important in his eyes, because their successful termi- 
 nation was necessary to secure his rear, and increase 
 the limits of his war-ban when the time for action 
 should arrive. 
 
 The hitherto unconquered Saracens, who had carried 
 the banner of their Prophet in almost uninterrupted 
 triumph from the deserts of Arabia to the banks of 
 the Loire, were destined to find at last an insuper- 
 able barrier in the brave hearts of Carl and his Aus- 
 trasian followers. 
 
 On a Sunday, in the month of October, A. d. 732, 
 after trying each other's strength in skirmishes of 
 small importance during the whole of the previous 
 week, the two armies, invoking respectively the aid 
 of Christ and Mohammed, came to a general engage- 
 ment on the plains between Poitiers and Tours. The 
 rapid onslaught of the Ishmaelites, by which they 
 were accustomed to bear everything before them, 
 recoiled from the steady valour and iron front of the 
 Franks, whose heavy swords made dreadful havoc 
 among their lightly clad opponents. Repulsed, but 
 
Chap. V.] BATTLE OF POITIERS. 261 
 
 unbroken in courage and determination, resolved to 
 force their way through that wall of steel or to dash 
 themselves to death against it, the gallant Moslems 
 repeated their wild charges until sunset. At every 
 repulse their blood flowed in torrents, and at the 
 end of the day they found themselves farther than 
 ever from the goal, and gazed upon far more dead 
 upon the slippery field than remained alive in their 
 ranks. Hopeless of being able to renew the contest, 
 they retreated in the night, and, for the first time, 
 fled before an enemy. On the following morning, 
 when the Franks again drew up in battle-array, the 
 camp of the foe was discovered to be empty, so 
 that, instead of awaiting the attack, they had the 
 more agreeable task of plundering the tents and 
 pursuing the fugitives. Abderrahman himself was 
 found among the dead, and around him, according 
 to the not very credible account of the chroniclers, 
 lay 300,000 of his soldiers ; while the Franks lost only 
 1500 men. 1 
 
 Eudo, who, after his defeat on the Dorclogne, had 
 taken refuge with his more merciful enemy Carl, was 
 present in the battle and took part in the pursuit and 
 plunder. It was after this glorious triumph over the 
 most formidable enemies of his country and religion 
 that Carl received the surname of Martel (the 
 
 1 " Ut in Epistola ab Eudone missa Gregorio Papa? de eadem 
 victoria continetur." — Beginon. Chron. Conf. Frecleg. Chron. 
 Cont. cviii. Chron. Moissiac. an. 732. Annal. Mett. an. 732. 
 Ex Chron. Isiclor. an. 732. Paull. Diacon. vi. 46. This writer 
 says that the Saracens lost 375,000 ! 
 
 5 3 
 
262 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 hammer), by which he has since been known in 
 history. 1 
 
 The importance of this victory to all succeeding 
 ages has often been enlarged upon, and can hardly be 
 exaggerated. The fate of Europe, humanly speaking, 
 hung upon the sword of the Frankish mayor ; and 
 but for Carl, and the bold German warriors who had 
 learned the art and practice of war under him and 
 his glorious father, the heart of Europe might even 
 now be in the possession of the Moslem; and the 
 Mosque and the Harem might stand where now we 
 see the spire of the Christian church, and the borne 
 of the Christian family. 
 
 Though an effective check had been given to the 
 progress of the Saracen arms, and they themselves 
 had been deprived of that chief support of fanatic 
 valour, — the belief in their own invincibility, — yet 
 their power was by no means broken, nor was Carl 
 in a condition to improve his victory. The Neustrians 
 and Bur^undians were far from being reconciled to 
 the supremacy which the German Franks had acquired 
 over themselves under the mighty Carlovingian 
 mayors. Their jealousy of Carl Martel's success 
 and their hatred of his person, were so much stronger 
 than their zeal in the cause of Christendom, that even 
 while he was engaged in his desperate conflict with 
 the Saracens, they were raising a rebellion in his rear. 
 But the indefatigable warrior was not sleeping on 
 the fresh laurels he had won. No sooner had he 
 
 1 Vita S. Sigebert. c. iv. Ex Ademari Cbron. an. 732. (Bouquet, 
 ii. pp. 641, 642.) 
 
Chap. V.] CHRISTIANITY FORCED UPON THE FRISIANS. 263 
 
 received intelligence of their treacherous designs, 
 than he led his troops, fresh from the slaughter of 
 the Infidels, into the very heart of Burgundy, and 
 inflicted a terrible retribution on his domestic foes. 
 He then removed all whom he had reason to suspect 
 from their posts of emolument and honour, and be- 
 stowed them upon men on whom he could depend 
 in the hour of danger. 1 
 
 In the following year, a. d. 734, he made consi- 
 derable progress in the subjugation and, what was 
 even more difficult, the conversion of the Frisians, 
 who hated Christianity the more because it was con- 
 nected in their minds with a foreign yoke. The 
 preaching of Boniface was powerfully seconded by 
 the sword of Carl, who attacked them by land and 
 sea, defeated their Duke, Poppo, destroyed their hea- 
 then altars, and, like our own Alfred in the case of 
 the Danes, gave them the alternative of Christianity 
 or death. 2 
 
 After the victory of Poitiers, Carl had entrusted 
 the defence of the Pyrenean borders to Duke Eudo, 
 whom he left in peaceable though dependent posses- 
 sion of his territories. Eudo had received a rough 
 lesson from his former misfortunes, and passed the 
 remainder of his life in friendly relations with his 
 
 1 Fredeg. Cbron. Cont. cix. Anna!. Mett. an. 734. 
 
 2 Epist. S. Bonifacii, xii., ad Daniel. Episc. : " Sine patrocinio 
 Principis Francorum nee Populum regere, nee Presbyterc-s vel 
 Diaconos, Monachos, vel ancillas Dei defendere possum, nee ipsos 
 paganorum ritus et sacrilegia idolorum in Germania sine illius 
 mandate- et timore prohibere valeo." 
 
 s 4 
 
264 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 Frankish liege lord. At the death of Eudo, in A. D. 
 735, a dispute arose between his sons, Hunold and 
 Hatto, respecting the succession ; and it seems that in 
 the course of their contest they had forgotten their 
 common dependence upon Carl Martel. A feud of 
 this nature at such a period, and in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the Saracens, was highly dangerous 
 to Aquitaine and the whole Frankish empire. Carl 
 therefore lost no time in leading an army into the 
 distracted province, to settle the disputes of the con- 
 tending parties, and bring the population into a more 
 complete state of subjection. Having advanced to 
 the Garonne and taken the city of Bordeaux, he 
 entered into negotiations with Hunold ; and, " with 
 his accustomed piety," conferred the duchy upon him, 
 on condition of his renewing his father's oath of fealty 
 to himself and his two sons, whom he thus dis- 
 tinctly pointed out to the Franks as their hereditary 
 rulers. 1 
 
 In a. d. 737, the infidels were once more intro- 
 duced into the south of Gaul by the treachery of 
 Christians. A man of influence in Provence, called 
 Maurontus, who probably aimed at an independent 
 dukedom, formed a strong party among the Neus- 
 trian seigniors against the detested German mayor. 2 
 As the Arabian alliance was the only one which could 
 sustain them in a conflict with Carl, they made no 
 scruple of inviting Ibn Jussuf, the new viceroy of 
 
 1 Annal. Mett. an. 735. 
 
 2 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. cix. an. 737. Annal. Mett. an. 737 
 and 739. Vales. Franc, xxiv. p. 500. 
 
Chap. V.] AVIGNON TAKEN FROM THE SARACENS. 265 
 
 Septimania(Languedoc), into their country and giving 
 him the city of Avignon as a pledge of their sincerity. 
 The Saracens, instructed by their strange allies, passed 
 into Burgundy, where the party opposed to Carl was 
 strongest: having taken Vienne, they covered the 
 country as far as Lyons with their wild and rapid 
 cavalry, which everywhere left its traces of fire and 
 blood. 
 
 The advance of the Saracens was so sudden, and 
 their progress so rapid, that Carl Martel was not 
 immediately prepared to meet them. He therefore 
 despatched his brother Childebrand and his principal 
 seigniors, with such forces as were ready, to keep the 
 enemy in check ; determining himself to follow with a 
 numerous and well appointed army. When the ad- 
 vanced guard of the Franks arrived near Avignon, the 
 Saracens retreated into that place, and prepared to 
 stand a siege. On the arrival of Carl the town, which 
 had resisted Childebrand, was taken by storm, and the 
 Arabian garrison put to the sword. The Franks then 
 crossed the Rhone, and marched through Septimania to 
 Xarbonne — a place of great importance to the Saracens, 
 who had made it a magazine for their arms. It was 
 defended at this time by Athima, viceroy of the Caliph 
 in Septimania, with a considerable force. The Sara- 
 cens of Spain, fearing that the garrison might be in- 
 sufficient to withstand the assault of the Franks (who 
 had invested the town on every side), fitted out a fleet, 
 and transported a body of troops to the mouth of the 
 river Berre (near Narbonne), in hopes of raising the 
 siege. This movement did not escape the quick eye of 
 
266 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 Carl ; who, leaving his brother with a division of the 
 besiegers, fell with the remainder on the newly landed 
 force of the enemy, and routed them with dreadful 
 slaughter. He failed, however, in his attempts upon 
 Narbonne, which remained in the hands of the Sara- 
 cens ; while Bezieres, Agde, Megalone, and Xismes, 
 together with all the territory on the north side of 
 the river Aude (subsequently known as Languedoc), 
 were reunited to the Frankish Empire. 
 
 According to Paullus Diaconus, Carl Martel was 
 assisted on this occasion by Luitprand, King of the 
 Langobards in Italy, with whom he had formed a 
 close alliance and friendship. 1 We have hardly suffi- 
 cient grounds for believing; that the Langobards 
 took an active part in this war, but the mere ex- 
 pectation of their approach may have exercised 
 some influence in bringing about the results above 
 described. 
 
 The activity of his enemies in the north again 
 prevented Carl from pursuing his advantages against 
 the Moslems, w T ho might perhaps, had German Europe 
 been united, have even then been driven back to the 
 shores of Africa. In a. d. 737 we find the indefati- 
 gable warrior employed in repelling and avenging a 
 fresh inroad of the Saxons, whom he defeated w T ith 
 great slaughter and drove along the river Lippe. In 
 a. d. 739 he again appeared in Burgundy, where his 
 
 1 Paull. Diac. Gest. Longob. vi. c. 53. Carl sent his son Pepin 
 to Luitprand at Pavia ; that the Lombard king, " juxta morem," 
 might cut off his first hair, — an especial mark of friendship and 
 honour. Conf. Juvenal. Sat. iii. 186. 
 
Chap. V.] STATE OF ITALY. 267 
 
 presence had become necessary to stamp out the 
 smouldering embers of the old conspiracy. 1 
 
 In the meantime a new theatre was preparing for 
 the Franks, on which they were destined by Provi- 
 dence to play a very conspicuous and important part. 
 The exertions and influence of Boniface the great 
 apostle of Germany, and the intimate religious union 
 he had effected between the Frankish Church and 
 the Bishops of Rome, were to produce for both 
 parties still richer fruits than had yet appeared. 
 To understand the circumstances which brought 
 them into closer external relations, corresponding 
 to the increased intimacy of their spiritual union, 
 it will be necessary to make ourselves acquainted 
 with the state of Italy at this period ; and more 
 especially with the very singular and anomalous 
 position of the Bishops of Rome. 
 
 That devoted land, as if in penance for the long 
 and selfish tyranny it had exercised over the world, 
 had become the prej^, in turn, of almost every 
 barbarous tribe of Europe ; but was at this period 
 nominally subject to the Emperors of the East. The 
 victories of N arses, in a. d. 534, had destroyed the 
 power of the Ostrogoths, which, under the great and 
 good Theoderic, had seemed so firmly established ; 
 and Italy was now a province of the Roman Empire, 
 instead of being, as formerly, its centre and head. 
 It was governed for the Byzantine court by a viceroy 
 styled Exarch, whose residence was at Ravenna, on 
 the eastern coast. The court and people of Con- 
 
 1 Annal. Metten. an. 739. 
 
268 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 stantinople, however, were too feeble to retain for 
 any length of time a conquest, which they owed 
 solely to the genius of a fortunate general. About 
 thirty years after the defeat of the Goths, when the 
 valiant eunuch had ceased to defend what he had 
 won, the Langobards and 20,000 Saxons, descending 
 upon Italy from the Julian Alps, expelled the Ro- 
 mans from the greater portion of their recent con- 
 quests, and confined them to the narrow limits of 
 the Exarchate. The empire which the Langobards 
 at this time established was greatly weakened by its 
 division into several Duchies, the rulers of which 
 were in constant strife with one another and with 
 the central government. V\ r e may judge of the extent 
 and consequences of these internal dissensions from 
 the fact that, after the assassination of King Kleph 
 (a.d. 574), the Langobards in Italy remained without 
 a king for ten years, and were subject to thirty-six 
 dukes, each of whom " reigned in his own city." 
 The most powerful of these were the Dukes of 
 Benevento, Friuli, and Spoleto. 1 At the end of 
 this period the royalist party — favoured, no doubt, 
 by the great mass of the people, to whom nothing is 
 so hateful as a petty tyrant — once more obtained the 
 ascendancy, and compelled the revolted dukes to 
 swear fealty to Authari, surnamed Flavius, son of 
 the murdered Kleph. 2 The reunion of the Lango- 
 bards under one head was naturally followed by a 
 further extension of their borders at the expense of 
 the Roman empire ; and this extension was the im- 
 
 1 Paull. Diacon. ii. 31, 32. 2 Ibid> iiit 16< 
 
Chap. V.] POSITION OF BISHOPS OF ROME. 269 
 
 mediate cause of a collision between the kings of the 
 Langobards and the successors of St. Peter, which 
 gave rise to the most important and lasting results. 
 
 The Bishops of Rome had, in the meantime, been 
 adding to the spiritual influence they owed to their 
 position as heads of the Church in the great capital 
 of the West, the material resources of extensive 
 possessions, and numerous and devoted vassals. 
 Like all other dignified ecclesiastics within the im- 
 perial dominions, the Bishops of Rome were subject 
 to the Greek Emperor 1 ; but, as it was mainly by their 
 influence and exertions that the city and duchy of 
 Rome were kept in allegiance to the Greek Emperor, 
 the balance of obligation was generally in favour of 
 the Pontiffs, who, on that account, were treated 
 by the court at Constantinople in a far less arrogant 
 manner than would have been congenial to the 
 pompous sovereigns of the East. 
 
 The aggressive attitude of the Langobards, which 
 threatened the Greek Emperors with the loss of the 
 small remnant of their Italian possessions, was cal- 
 culated to excite no less the apprehensions of the 
 Roman Bishops. It was open to them, indeed, to 
 throw themselves at once into the arms of the 
 Lanafobardian monarchs, from whose reverence and 
 gratitude they might, no doubt, have acquired a 
 commanding position in Church and State; and it 
 was this ever-present alternative which rendered 
 
 1 Gregory the Great (Opera ora. vi. ep. 52.) concludes an epistle 
 " ad Fratres in Angliam euntes " thus : " Data die decima Kal. Au£. 
 imper ante Domino nostro Mauricio Tiberio piissimo Augxisto" &c. 
 
270 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V* 
 
 them virtually independent of their nominal sove- 
 reigns. Many reasons, however, inclined them to 
 preserve their allegiance to the Byzantine court, or 
 at least to refrain from transferring it to any other 
 potentate. Old associations, and the fear of change, 
 would have their weight in determining the course 
 pursued; but the circumstances which chiefly in- 
 fluenced the Popes in their decision were, in the first 
 place, the distance of Constantinople from Rome, 
 which was favourable to their independence ; and, 
 in the next, the declining power and feeble character 
 of the Emperors, which rendered them convenient 
 masters to aspiring vassals. 
 
 The evident intention of the Bishops of Rome, to 
 play off the Langobards and the Byzantine court 
 against each other, and to make their own career the 
 resultant of these two opposing forces, seemed, for 
 some time, likely to be entirely frustrated. The 
 iconoclastic controversy, with all its horrible and 
 ridiculous consequences, now began to agitate the 
 Christian world, and gave rise to the bitterest 
 hostility between the great capitals of the East and 
 West, and their respective rulers. The Emperor 
 Leo III., surnamed the Isaurian, disgusted at the 
 idolatrous worship paid by his subjects to the images 
 which filled the churches, issued, in a. d. 726, his 
 famous decree for their destruction. It was then 
 that the independence of thought and action to 
 which the Roman bishops had accustomed themselves 
 was clearly manifested. The Emperor communicated 
 his pleasure respecting the destruction of the images 
 
Chap. V.] GREGORY II. AND THE GREEK EMPEROR. 271 
 
 to the Pope, and claimed from him the same un- 
 answering obedience which he was accustomed to meet 
 with from the Patriarch of Constantinople. 1 But 
 Gregory II. , encouraged by the unanimous support of 
 the Italians, who looked to him as the champion of 
 their beloved idols, not only refused, in a letter full 
 of personal abuse, to carry out the wishes of the 
 Emperor, but fulminated a threat of excommunication 
 against all who should dare to lay violent hands 
 upon the images. 
 
 After so public a renunciation of his allegiance, 
 we might expect to see the Bishop of Eome avowedly 
 siding with the Langobards, especially as they had 
 forsaken the Arian heresy, and their King Luitprand 
 himself had manifested a very high degree of venera- 
 tion for St. Peter's chair. But the motives suggested 
 above retained their force, and no such change 
 took place ; on the contrary, we are told that when 
 the Italians, " on hearing the wickedness of Leo, 
 formed a plan of electing a new emperor and con- 
 ducting him to Constantinople," the Pope induced 
 them to forego their purpose and adhere to their 
 former allegiance. 2 Nor is his policy on this occasion 
 
 1 Paull. Diacon. vi. 49. 
 
 2 Epist. Gregor. ii. ad Leon. (ap. Barron. Annal. Ecc. torn. ix. 
 p. 70. Colon. Ag. 1609.) The two letters addressed by Gre- 
 gory II. to the Emperor were written after 730 A. d. Vid. 
 Gieseler's Kirchengesch. ii. 1 Abth. p. 3. Among other things 
 he tells the emperor : Kcu to. jj.iKpa 7rctidia Karairai^ovm aov * 
 
 yvp(i)(TOV £l£ TCIQ dtaTpi&ClQ TU)V (TTOl-^eiOJV KCU £17T£ * OTL tJO) StflL 
 
 b Kara\vri]Q kcu dioj^rrjc tHju elkoviov ko.\ evOvq rag irivaKidag avr&v 
 
 elg r)]v KE(j)a\iii> aov pi^ovai, &c. " Even the little children mock 
 
272 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 difficult to understand. The Langobards were too 
 near, and the absorption of Rome into their empire 
 would have been too complete to allow the Bishops 
 of Rome free scope for their lofty schemes of ambition. 
 As subjects of King Luitprand, they would have run 
 the risk of sinking from the rank of virtual rulers 
 of the Roman duchy, to that of mere metropolitan 
 bishops. And the danger of this degradation grew 
 every day more urgent. Gregory II. died in the 
 midst of the perplexities arising from his critical 
 position. But the same policy was pursued by his 
 successor Gregory III. with so much determination, 
 that Luitprand, who — whatever may have been his 
 reverence for the spiritual character of his opponent, 
 and liberal as he was towards the Holy See — could 
 
 thee ! Wander through the elementary schools, and say ' I am 
 the destroyer and the persecutor of the images/ and they will 
 immediately throw their slates at thy head ! . . . Thou hast written, 
 ' Hosiah, King of the Jews (the holy Father means Hezekiah : 
 2 Kings, xviii. 4.), after 800 years, brought the brazen ser- 
 pent out of the Temple ; and I, after 800 years, have brought 
 the images out of the Churches/ Truly Hosiah was thy brother, 
 and had the same faith, and tyrannised over the priests of that 
 time as thou dost now." (2 Chron. xxvi. 16—18.). Conf. Anasta- 
 sius, de Vit. Rom. Pontiff. (Romas, 1718). Vit. XC. Gregorii II: 
 " Cognita vero Impcratoris nequitia, omnis Italia consilium iniit, 
 ut sibi eligerent Imperatorem, et Constantinopolim ducerent Sed 
 compescuit tale consilium Pontifex, sperans conversionem Prin- 
 cipis. • Sed ne desisterent ab amore vel fide Romani 
 
 Imperii, admonebat." The ultramontane writers have cited this 
 as an example in which an heretical emperor was deprived of a 
 part of his dominions by the fiat of the Papal Chair. Thus Ba- 
 ronius, ad an. 730, sec. 5. : " Sic dignum posteris idem Gregorius 
 reliquit exemplum ne in Ecclesia Christi regnare sinerentur hae- 
 retici Principes," &c. 
 
Chap. V.] LUITPRAND MARCHES UPON ROME. 273 
 
 not overlook his intrigues, and was determined to be 
 sole master in Italy, found it necessary to advance 
 upon Rome with a hostile army. The scruples which 
 the pious Langobard may have felt in violating 
 St. Peter's patrimony, must have been greatly relieved 
 by the very secular conduct of Gregory in respect 
 to the king's rebellious vassals. Thrasamund, Duke 
 of Spoleto, having incurred the displeasure of his 
 sovereign, took refuge in Rome ; and when Luit- 
 prand demanded that he should be given up, the 
 Pope and the Patricians of the Romans united in 
 giving a decided refusal. 1 The opposition to Luit- 
 prand was further strengthened by the adhesion of 
 Gottschalk, Duke of Benevento, who took up arms 
 against his suzerain ; and in an engagement which 
 took place soon after, between the king and his muti- 
 nous vassals, Roman troops were seen fighting on the 
 side of the rebels. 
 
 Contrary to the hopes and expectations of Gregory, 
 Luitprand was completely victorious ; and, justly 
 irritated by the conduct of the Romans, to whom he 
 had shown so much forbearance, immediately led 
 his forces to the very gates of Rome, with the full 
 intention of incorporating it with the rest of his 
 Italian dominions 2 ; and thus, with all his foresight, 
 Gregory had brought the rising structure of the 
 papacy into the greatest danger, and appeared to be 
 himself at the mercy of his enemies. 
 
 1 Paull. Diac. vi. 65. 
 
 2 Vit. Zacharire (Amistas. Vit. Pontif. torn. i. Vit. xcii.). 
 
 T 
 
274 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 In this extremity the holy father bethought him- 
 self of the powerful and orthodox nation which had 
 for so many ages been the faithful ally of the Catholic 
 Church, and had lately been united in still closer 
 bonds of reverence and amity to St. Peter's chair. 
 In a.d. 739, Pope Gregory III. applied for aid against 
 the Langobards "to his most excellent son, the Sub- 
 king Carl." l 
 
 That this application was made unwillingly, and 
 with considerable misgivings about the consequences, 
 may be inferred from the extremities to which Gregory 
 submitted before he made it. 
 
 His hesitation was owing, no doubt, in part to his 
 instinctive dread of giving the papal chair a too 
 powerful protector, who might easily become a 
 master ; and partly to his knowledge of the sincere 
 friendship which existed between his opponent Luit- 
 prand and his desired ally. 2 Of all the circumstances 
 which threatened to prevent the realisation of the 
 papal dreams of temporal independence and spiritual 
 domination, none were so greatly and so justly dreaded 
 as an alliance between the Franks and Langobards; 
 and we shall see that Gregory III. and his successors 
 spared no pains, and shrunk from no means however 
 questionable, to excite jealousy and hatred between 
 the Franks and their Lombard kinsmen. 
 
 TVhile the Pvomans were trembling within their 
 
 1 Frecleg. Chron. Cont. ex. Annal. Mett. an. 741. "Domino 
 excellentissimo filio Carolo sub regulo, Gregorins Papa." — Cod. 
 Carol, i. fap. Du Chesne, Hist. Fr. Sc. torn. iii. p. 703.). 
 
 2 De Vit. Gregor. III. (Anastasii Vit. Rom. Pontif., ed. Blan- 
 cbini, Rom. 1718, torn, i.) 
 
CnAr. V.] GREGORY SEEKS AID FROM CARL. 275 
 
 hastily-repaired walls, and awaiting the decisive as- 
 sault of the Langobards, Carl Martel was resting 
 from the fatigues of his late campaigns in Burgundy; 
 and he was still in that country when the papal 
 envoys reached him. They brought with them a 
 piteous epistle from Gregory, in which he complains 
 with bitterness of the persecutions of his enemies, who, 
 he says, had robbed the very church of St. Peter 
 (which stood without the walls) of its candlesticks ; 
 and taken away the pious offerings of the Frankish 
 princes. 1 Carl received the communication of the 
 afflicted Pontiff with the greatest reverence. The 
 interests of the empire, and more especially of his 
 own family, Avere too intimately connected with the 
 existence and honour of the Bishops of Rome, to 
 allow of his feeling indifferent to what was passing 
 in Italy; and there is no reason to doubt that he 
 entertained the highest veneration for the Head of 
 the Church. Yet this first embassy seems to have 
 justified the fears rather than the hopes of Gregory. 2 
 The incessant exertions which Carl's enemies com- 
 pelled him to make for the maintenance of his 
 authority would long ago have destroyed a man 
 of ordinary energy and endurance, and were begin- 
 ning to tell even upon his iron frame. He was 
 aware that the new order of things, of which he was 
 the principal author, depended for its continuance 
 
 1 Cod. Carol. Ep. i. 
 
 2 "0 qaam insanabilis dolor pro his exprobrationibus in nostro 
 retinetur pectore dum tales et tantifilii saam spiritualem matiem, 
 sanctum Dei Ecclesiam . . non conantur defcndere /" 
 
 t 2 
 
276 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 and consolidation solely upon his presence and watch- 
 fulness. So far from being in a condition to lead his 
 forces to a distant country, and to make enemies of 
 brave and powerful friends, it was not long since he 
 had sought the assistance of the Langobards them- 
 selves ; and he knew not how soon he might stand 
 in need of it again. He therefore contented himself 
 with opening friendly negotiations with Luitprand, 
 who excused himself to Carl, and agreed to spare the 
 Papal territory on condition that the Romans should 
 cease to interfere between himself and his rebellious 
 subjects. The exact terms of the agreement made 
 between Gregory and Luitprand, by the mediation of 
 Carl Martel, are of the less moment, as they were 
 observed by neither part} 7 . In a. d. 740 the Lango- 
 bards again appeared in arms before the gates of 
 Rome ; and the Pope was once more a suppliant at the 
 Frankish court. In the letter which Carl Martel re- 
 ceived on this occasion, Gregory bitterly complains 
 that no effectual aid had been as yet afforded him ; that 
 more attention had been paid to the " lying " reports of 
 the Lombard king than to his own statements, and he 
 earnestly implores his " most Christian son " not to 
 prefer the friendship of Luitprand to the love of the 
 Prince of the Apostles. 1 It is evident from the whole 
 
 1 Cod. Carol. Epist. i., ii. It seems but fair to the memory of 
 Luitprand to quote the words of the historian of the Langobards 
 respecting him. " (Luitprand) was a man of great wisdom, wise 
 in council, God-fearing, and a friend of peace. He was powerful 
 in battle, merciful towards sinners, chaste and temperate, watchful 
 in prayer, generous to the poor, unacquainted indeed with the 
 
Chap. V.] HONOURS OFFERED TO CARL BY THE POPE. 277 
 
 tenor of this second epistle, that the Frankish mayor 
 had not altered his conduct towards the King of the 
 Lombards, in consequence of Gregory's charges and 
 complaints ; but had trusted rather to his own know- 
 ledge of his friend than to the invectives of the ter- 
 rified and angry Pope. 
 
 To <nve additional weight to his written remon- 
 strances and entreaties, Gregory sent the bishop 
 Anastasius and the presbyter Sergius to Carl Martel, 
 charged with more secret and important instructions, 
 which he scrupled to commit to writing. The nature 
 of their communications may be gathered from the 
 symbolical actions by which they were accompanied. 
 The envoys brought with them the keys of St. Peter's 
 sepulchre, which they offered to Carl, on whom they 
 were also empowered to confer the title and dignity 
 of Roman Patricius. 1 By the former step — the offer 
 of the keys (an honour never before conferred upon 
 a Frankish ruler) — Gregory expressed his desire to 
 constitute the powerful mayor Protector of the Holy 
 See ; and by conferring the rank of Roman Patricius 
 without, as seems probable, the sanction of the Greek 
 Emperor, he in effect withdrew his allegiance from 
 the latter, and acknowledged Carl Martel as liege 
 lord of the Roman duchy and people. It was in this 
 lioht that the whole transaction was regarded at the 
 
 sciences, but worthy of being considered equal to the philosophers, 
 
 a father of his people and a reformer^of the laws.' 7 — Paull. Diacon. 
 
 Hist. Langob. lib. vi. cap. 58. 
 
 1 Fred^g. Chron. Cont. ex. (Bouq. torn. ii.). Annal. Mett. an. 
 
 741. also mention St. Peter's chains (" preciosa vincula") among 
 
 the offerings. 
 
 t 3 
 
278 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V 
 
 time, for we read in the chronicle of Moissiac, 
 written in the beginning of the ninth century, that 
 the letter of the Pope was accompanied by " a de- 
 cree of the Roman Principes ;" and that the Roman 
 people, having thrown off the rule of the Greek 
 Emperor, desired to place themselves under the pro- 
 tection of the aforesaid prince, and his invincible 
 clemency." 1 
 
 Carl Martel received the ambassadors with the 
 distinguished honour due to the dignity of the sender, 
 and the importance of their mission ; and willingly 
 accepted at their hands the significant offerings 
 they brought. When they were prepared to return, 
 he loaded them with costly presents, and ordered 
 Grimo, the Abbot of Corbey, and Sigebert, a monk 
 of St. Denis, to accompany them to Rome, and bear 
 his answer to Pope Gregory. Rome was once more 
 delivered from destruction by the intervention of 
 Carl, and his influence with Luitprand. 
 
 And thus were the last days of the great Prankish 
 hero and Gregory III. employed in marking out a 
 line of policy respecting each other, and the great 
 temporal and spiritual interests committed to them, 
 which, being zealously followed up by their succes- 
 sors, led in the sequel to the most important and 
 brilliant results. They both died nearly at the same 
 time, in the same year (a.d. 741) in which the events 
 above described took place. The restless activity of 
 Carl Martel had prematurely worn him out. Conscious 
 
 1 Chron. Moissiac. an. 741 (ap. Germ. Mon. i. p. 292.). 
 
Chap. V.] DEATH OF CARL MARTEL. 279 
 
 of the rapid decline of his powers, he began to set 
 his house in order ; and he had scarcely time to por- 
 tion out his vast empire among his sons, and to make 
 his peace with heaven in the church of the patron 
 saint, when he was seized by a fever in his palace at 
 Chiersy, on the Oise ; where he died on the 15th (or 
 21st) of October, a.d. 741, at the early age of fifty. 
 He was buried in the church of St. Denis. 1 
 
 Carl Martel may be reckoned in the number of 
 those great men who have been deprived of more 
 than half the glory due to them, " because they want 
 the sacred poet." Deeds which, in the full light of 
 history, would have appeared sufficient to make a 
 dozen warriors immortal, are despatched by the 
 Frankish chroniclers in a few dry words. His great- 
 ness, indeed, shines forth even from their meagre 
 notices ; but we feel, as we read them, that had a Caesar 
 or a Livy unfolded his character and described his 
 exploits, — instead of a poor pedantic monk like Frede- 
 gar, — a rival might be found for the Ccesars, the 
 Scipios, and the Hannibals. 
 
 We have seen that he inherited little from his 
 father but the hereditary vigour of his race. He 
 began life as the prisoner of an envious stepmother. 
 When he escaped from his prison at Cologne, he was 
 surrounded by powerful enemies ; nor could he con- 
 sider himself safe until, with a force which voluntarily 
 joined his standard, he had defeated three armies 
 larger than his own. His subsequent career was in 
 
 1 Frecleu. Chron. Cunt. ex. 
 
 T 4 
 
280 THE FRANKS. [Chai*. V. 
 
 accordance with the deeds of his early life. Every 
 step in his onward progress was the result of a con- 
 test. He fought his way to the seat of his mighty 
 father. He defeated the Neustrians, and compelled 
 them to receive a sovereign at his hands. He at- 
 tacked and defeated, in rapid succession, the warlike 
 nations of the Frisians and the Saxons ; he refixed 
 the Frankish yoke more firmly upon the necks of the 
 Swabians, the Bavarians, the Aquitanians, and Gas- 
 cons ; and, above all, he stemmed the mighty tide of 
 Moslemism which threatened to engulf the world. 
 
 Nor was it with external enemies alone that he 
 had to contend. To the last days of his active life 
 he was engaged in quelling the endless seditions of 
 the great seigniors, who were as impatient of con- 
 trol from above as of opposition from below. 
 
 His mighty deeds are recorded ; but of the manner 
 in which he set about them; of the resources, internal 
 and external, mental and physical, by which he was 
 enabled to perforin them ; of his personal character 
 and habits ; of his usual dwelling-place ; of his friends 
 and servants, his occupations, tastes, and habits, we 
 are left in the profoundest ignorance. 
 
 The great and important results of his activity 
 were the predominance of the German element in the 
 Frankish empire, the preservation of Europe from 
 Mohammedanism, and the union of the principal 
 German tribes into one powerful State. And all 
 these mighty objects he effected, as far as we are 
 able to judge, chiefly, though not entirely, by the 
 sword. lie beat down everything which barred his 
 
Chap. V.] CARL'S CHARACTER AND ACTIONS. 281 
 
 course ; lie crushed all those who dared to oppose 
 him; he coerced the stubbornness of the indepen- 
 dent German tribes, and welded them together by 
 terrific and repeated blows. Our prevailing idea of 
 him, therefore, is that of force — irresistible energy ; 
 and his popular surname of Martel, or the Hammer, 
 appears a particularly happy one. 1 
 
 The task which he performed was in many respects 
 similar to that of Clovis at an earlier period ; but 
 it is not difficult to see that it was performed in a 
 very different spirit. " He is not," says Guizot, " an 
 ordinary usurper. He is the chief of a new people* 
 which has not renounced its ancient manners, and 
 which holds more closely to Germany than to Gaul.'' 2 
 Though superior to Clovis, even as a warrior, we have 
 no sufficient reason to accuse Carl Martel of being 
 either treacherous or cruel. The incessant wars in 
 which he was unavoidably engaged, necessarily imply 
 a great amount of confusion in the State, and of sacri- 
 fice and suffering on the part of the people. And we 
 have sufficient evidence of a direct nature, to show 
 that the usual effects of long-continued wars were 
 severely felt in the Frankish empire. The great mass 
 of the people is seldom honoured by the notice of the 
 Chroniclers, and never except in their relation to those 
 
 1 Ajmcd. Xantenses (Monum. Germ., ii. p. 221.): " Vir bel- 
 licosus, dux invictus, iramo victoriosissimus, qui patrios limites 
 transiliens paternasque victorias suis nobiliter exaugens, liones- 
 tissimos triumphos de ducibus ac regibus, de populis ac barbaris 
 nationibus reportavit.' 7 
 
 2 Guizot, Essais, ii. 
 
282 THE FRANKS. [Chap. V. 
 
 for whom they toil and bleed ; and we might have 
 been left in blissful ignorance of the cost of Carl 
 Martel's brilliant deeds, had not the coffers of the 
 Church been heavily mulcted to defray it. 
 
 Ecclesiastical property, which, at the time we 
 speak of, comprised a large proportion of the land, 
 was exempted, by various immunities and privileges, 
 from bearing its due share of the public burdens. 
 Carl Martel, therefore, to whom a large and con- 
 stant supply of money was indispensable, was ac- 
 customed to make a portion of the wealth of the 
 Church available to the wants of the State. This 
 he effected by bestowing bishoprics and rich bene- 
 fices on his personal friends and trustiest followers, 
 without much regard to their fitness for the clerical 
 office. 1 It was for this offence that, notwith- 
 standing the support he gave to Boniface and his 
 brother missionaries, and the number of churches 
 which he founded and endowed, he was held up by 
 ecclesiastical writers of a later age as a destroyer of 
 monasteries, " who converted the property of the 
 Church to his own use," and on that account died 
 "a fearful death." 2 More than a hundred years 
 
 1 Ex Vita S. Rigoberti (Bouquet, iii. p. 658.) : "Et quidem 
 aliis similiter fecit (Carl had deprived Rigobert of bis bishopric for 
 opposing him) et eis qui suis partibus faverunt, dedit. De hoc 
 etenim non Rege sed Tyranno, ita legitur ad locum in Annal. Di- 
 versorum Regum: ' Iste Carlus omnibus audacior Episcopatus 
 Regni Francorum laicis hominibus et Comitibus primus dedit, ita 
 ut Episcopis nihil potestatis in rebus Ecclesiarum permitteret? " 
 
 2 This passage (which is without doubt an interpolation) is 
 found in the Epistola Bonifacii, 72 ad Ethelbaldum Regem 
 
Chap. V.] VISION OF ST. EUCHERIUS. 283 
 
 after Carl's decease (in a. d. 858) Louis, the Ger- 
 man, was reminded, by a synod held at Chiersy, 
 of the sins committed by his great ancestor against 
 the Church. " Prince Carl," said the assembled 
 fathers to the king, " the father of Pepin, who was 
 the first among the Frankish kings and princes to 
 alienate and distribute the goods of the Church, was 
 solely on that account eternally damned. " They 
 then proceeded to relate the well-known " Visio 
 S. Eucherii," a forgery of Archbishop Hincmar, 
 according to which, Eucherius, bishop of Orleans, 
 having been transported to the other Avorld in a 
 trance, beheld Carl Martel suffering the pains of 
 hell. 1 On his inquiring, of the angel who accom- 
 panied him, the reason of what he saw, he was told 
 that the mighty major-domus was suffering the 
 penalty of having seized and distributed the property 
 of the Church. The astonished bishop related what 
 had befallen him to Boniface, and Fulrad the abbot 
 of St. Denis, and repaired in their company to the 
 sepulchre of Carl Martel. On opening the coffin, 
 which was charred on the inside and contained no 
 corpse, a dragon rushed out and made its escape. 2 
 
 (ed. Wurdtwein, Mayence, 1789, p. 189-, in which Ethelbald is 
 reminded of the melancholy fate of the Kings Ceolred and 
 Osred, who died an early death for having destroyed monasteries. 
 William of Malmesbury has adopted the interpolation of which 
 neither of the above-mentioned editors could find a trace in the 
 most ancient MSS. Vid. Roth, Beneficialwesen, p. 467. 
 
 1 This story is given at full length in the Einhardi Fuldenses 
 Annal. ad an. 738. (Monumenta Germanic, torn. i.). 
 
 2 Vita Eucherii. (Bouq. iii. p. 656.). Unfortunately for the ere- 
 
2S4 THE FRANKS. [Cuap. V. 
 
 Against these and other harsh judgments of the 
 great hero's character (none of which are earlier than 
 the ninth century), the acrimonious nature of which 
 betrays their source, we may set the respect of his 
 contemporaries, the friendship of Boniface 1 and Pope 
 Gregory, and the fact that he endowed and en- 
 riched a great number of religious houses, and was 
 frequently applied to by the Pope to defend St. Peter's 
 chair. That his own necessities, and the excessive 
 wealth and troublesome privileges of the Church, 
 induced him to take measures which operated in- 
 juriously on the character of the clergy, cannot be 
 denied ; but he proved in many ways that he acted in 
 no hostile spirit to religion or its ministers, but under 
 the pressure of circumstances which he could not 
 control. If he used a portion of the revenues of the 
 Church to pay and equip his soldiers, he led those 
 soldiers against the bitterest enemies of Christendom, 
 the heathen and the Moslem. His lot was cast in 
 the battle-field, but the part which he there per- 
 formed was useful as well as brilliant. Though 
 evidently a warrior of the highest class — great in the 
 council as in the field — he was not that degraded 
 being, a mere warrior. He never seems to have 
 sought war for its own sake, or to have delighted in 
 
 dibility of the romantic story, the Vit. Euchar. shows that the 
 dreaming prelate died three years before Carl Martel, as is proved 
 by Roth (Btmeficialwesen, p. 327.). 
 
 1 Ex Vita Bonijacii ab Othlone 3Ionac/w. (Bouq. iii. p. 667.) : 
 " Hunc (Carlomannum) sanctus Bonif. adieus . . . poposcit ut 
 Ch. Religionis culturam quam pater ejus in pro??iptissi?no animo 
 eepit et excoluit" et seq. 
 
Chap. V.] MARTEL'S SERVICES TO RELIGION. 285 
 
 bloodshed. He was willing to negotiate with an 
 enemy, even when he felt himself the stronger ; and 
 was placable and generous to his bitterest foes. The 
 aid he afforded to Boniface and others in their efforts 
 to convert the heathen, and the sympathy he showed 
 in their success, sufficiently prove that he was not 
 indifferent to religion ; and that he could appreciate, 
 not only the brave exploits of the gallant soldier, but 
 the self-sacrificing labours of the zealous missionary. 
 
286 THE PRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 CARLOMAN AND PEPIN THE SHORT. 
 A.D. 741 — 768. 
 
 Carl Martel left two sons, Carloman and Pepin, by 
 his first wife of whom nothing is known, and a third, 
 Gripho, by the captive Bavarian princess Sunehild, 
 who is sometimes called his second wife and some- 
 times his concubine. In the first partition of his 
 dominions, which was made known before his death, 
 he apportioned Austrasia, Suabia (Alemannia), and 
 Thuringia, the German provinces, to his eldest son, 
 Carloman ; Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence, to 
 Pepin, the chief inheritor of his glory. In this 
 arrangement the son of Sunehild was wisely passed 
 over; but the entreaties of his beautiful spouse in- 
 duced Carl, at the very end of his life, to set apart a 
 portion from each of the two kingdoms above men- 
 tioned for Gripho ; an unfortunate step, which only 
 brought destruction on him w r ho received the fatal 
 
 gift- 
 
 The mischievous effects of the new partition 
 
Chap. VI.] SUNEIIILD AND GRIPIIO. 287 
 
 showed themselves immediately. The subjects of 
 Gripho, among whom alone he could look for sym- 
 pathy and support, were discontented at being 
 arbitrarily separated from the rest of the empire ; 
 and the ill-feeling of the seigniors and people in all 
 parts of the country appears to have been enhanced 
 by the prejudice existing against Sunehild, both as 
 a foreigner and on account of the ^reat influence she 
 exercised over the heart of Carl. So strong, indeed, 
 was the feeling of the Franks upon the subject, that 
 we may fairly doubt whether Carloman and Pepin 
 themselves, had they been so inclined, would have 
 been able to secure to their brother the possession of 
 the territory allotted to him. 
 
 Whatever sentiments the two eldest brothers pre- 
 viously entertained towards Gripho, they were soon 
 rendered openly hostile by the flight of their sister Hil- 
 trude to the court of Bavaria, and her unauthorised 
 marriage with Odilo, the duke of that country. 1 Sune- 
 hild and Gripho, who were naturally looked upon as 
 the instigators of this unwelcome alliance, shut them- 
 selves up in the fortress of Laon ; but being entirely 
 without resources, they yielded up the place and 
 themselves as soon as Carloman and Pepin appeared 
 with an army before its walls. The favourite wife of 
 the mighty Carl Martel was sent into a nunnery at 
 Chelles, and Gripho was imprisoned in the castle of 
 Neufchateau, in the forest of Ardennes. 2 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. cxi. ad an. 742. 
 
 2 Eginhard. Annal. an. 741. 
 
2S8 THE FRANKS. [Ciiap. VL 
 
 The great importance which the youthful rulers 
 attached to the flight of Gripho and his mother, and 
 the clandestine marriage of Hiltrude, was owing to 
 their knowledge of the troubled state of Bavaria, 
 where a rebellion broke out soon afterwards. Carlo- 
 man and Pepin, like their forefathers, were called 
 upon, at the very commencement of their reign, to show 
 themselves worthy of the sceptre they had inherited. 
 No sooner was the heavy hand of Carl Martel with- 
 drawn from their necks, than Suabians, Bavarians, 
 and Aquitanians once more flew to arms for the 
 recovery of their independence. Nor can we con- 
 demn the proceedings of these warlike tribes as un- 
 seasonable, or altogether rash and hopeless. They 
 had no reason to suppose that, contrary to the usual 
 course of nature, the Carlovingian race would go on 
 for ever producing giants like the two first Pepins 
 and Carl Martel ; and they knew that it needed a 
 giant's grasp to hold the mighty empire of the Franks 
 together. But the spirit of their father lived in both 
 his sons, as their enemies had soon good reason to 
 know ; and any natural hopes the revolted nations 
 may have founded on family dissensions were dispelled 
 by the captivity of Gripho, and the lasting harmony 
 which existed between Carloman and Pepin. 
 
 Having placed a Merovingian named Childeric on 
 the throne — which their father for some time before 
 his death had left unoccupied, — the young princes 
 marched an army towards Aquitaine ; for Hunold the 
 son of Eudo,the sworn vassal of Carl Martel, had mani- 
 fested his rebellious intentions by throwing Lantfred, 
 
Chap. VI.] THE FRANKS AND BAVARIANS. 289 
 
 the Frankish ambassador, into prison. Crossing the 
 Loire, they devastated Aquitania as far as Bourges ; 
 and were on the point of overrunning the whole 
 country, when the intelligence of the still more 
 serious rebellion of the Suabians compelled them sud- 
 denly to break off their campaign in the south, and 
 return to the heart of their dominions. 1 Preparations 
 of unusual magnitude had been made for the war 
 by the Dukes of Suabia and Bavaria, who had 
 invited the Saxon and Sclavonian tribes to make com- 
 mon cause against the Franks. The sudden return 
 of the Frankish army, however, frustrated their half- 
 completed plans. In the autumn of the same year, 
 Carloman crossed the Rhine, fell upon the Suabian 
 Duke Theobald before his Bavarian allies were ready 
 to take the field, and compelled him to renew his 
 oath of allegiance, and to give hostages for its 
 observance. 
 
 In the meantime, Odilo, Duke of Bavaria, the hus- 
 band of the fugitive Princess Hiltrude, was doing all 
 in his power to strengthen himself against the ex- 
 pected attack of the Franks 2 , and was evidently acting 
 in concert with Duke Hunold of Aquitaine. The 
 defeat of the Suabians was a heavy blow to his hopes ; 
 but he had gone too far to recede, and having united 
 a body of Saxons and Sclavonian mercenaries with 
 his own subjects, he took up a position on the farther 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. cxi., cxii. 
 
 2 Annal. Metten. an. 743. 
 
 U 
 
290 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 side of the river Lech, and stockaded the banks to 
 prevent the enemy from crossing. The Franks came 
 up soon afterwards, but found the Bavarians so 
 strongly entrenched, that they lay fifteen days on the 
 opposite bank without attempting anything. After 
 a diligent search, however, they discovered a ford by 
 which they crossed the river during the night, and, 
 falling on the unsuspecting enemy, put them to 
 flight, and drove them with great slaughter across 
 the river Inn. 
 
 The Frankish princes are said to have remained 
 for fifty-two days in the enemies' country ; but their 
 expedition partook more of the nature of a foray than 
 a conquest, and left the Bavarians in nearly the same 
 condition of semi-independence in which it had found 
 them. The activity of the revolted tribes rendered 
 it dangerous for Carloman and Pepin to lead their 
 forces too far in any one direction. As Hunold had 
 been saved by the revolt of the Suabians, so Odilo 
 was now relieved from the presence of the Franks by 
 diversions made in his favour in two other quarters; 
 by the Saxons, who had fallen upon Thuringia; and 
 by Hunold, who, emboldened by impunity and the 
 absence of the Franks, had crossed the Loire and 
 was devastating the land as far as Chartres. The 
 Saxons claimed the first attention of the Frankish 
 leaders, since the latter dared not march towards the 
 south with so dangerous an enemy in their rear. Carlo- 
 man is said to have defeated the Saxon army, which 
 consisted in all probability of undisciplined marauders, 
 in two great battles, and to have carried off one of 
 
Chap. VI.] CARLOMAN AND PEPIN DEFEAT BAVARIANS. 291 
 
 their leaders, named Theoderic, into Australia. 1 Pepin 
 was, in the meantime, engaged with the Suabians un- 
 der Theobald, whom he soon reduced to obedience. 
 Having thus, for the time, secured their rear, the 
 brother- warriors marched (in a.d. 745), with united 
 forces, against Hunold, who, conscious of his utter 
 inability to resist their undivided power, laid down 
 his arms without a contest, consented to give hos- 
 tages, and to renew his brittle oaths of fealty. Dis- 
 gusted with his ill success, he soon afterwards re- 
 signed the government in favour of his son Waifar, 
 and retired into the monastery of St. Philibert, in 
 the island of Rhe, on the coast of Aquitaine. 
 
 We cannot fairly number Hunold among the 
 princes of Europe who have resigned their crowns 
 from a real and settled conviction of the worth- 
 lessness of all but spiritual goods and honours. 
 The precise motives which actuated him can only be 
 guessed at ; but the very last explanation of his con- 
 duct to which we should have recourse is that he 
 sought in retirement a more undisturbed communion 
 with God. The same chronicles which record his 
 abdication inform us, that in order to secure the 
 undisputed succession of the vacant throne to his 
 son, he lured his own brother " by false oaths" from 
 Poitiers, and, after putting out his eyes, kept him in 
 strict confinement. Such was his preparation for the 
 monastic life ! 2 
 
 1 Annal. Metten. an. 743. Annal. Tilian. an. 743. Reginon. 
 Chron. 
 
 2 Fred. Chron. Cont. cxiv. Annal. Mett. an. 744. 
 
 u 2 
 
292 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 Though it is not easy to discover in what respect 
 the Suabians were more in fault in the war just men- 
 tioned than the other revolted nations, it is evident 
 that they incurred the special resentment of their 
 Frankish conquerors. All had broken their alle- 
 giance, and had sought to regain by force the inde- 
 pendence of which they had been forcibly deprived. 
 Yet while the Bavarians and Aquitanians were 
 merely compelled to renew their engagements on 
 honourable terms, the treatment of the Suabians has 
 left an indelible blot on the character of Carloman. 
 
 This brave and once powerful people had retired, 
 after their defeat by Pepin, into the fastnesses of the 
 Alps, but were soon compelled to make their sub- 
 mission, and to resume their former allegiance. In 
 a. d. 746, however, they appear to have meditated a 
 new revolt, and were accused of having incited the 
 Bavarians to try once more the fortune of war. 
 Rendered furious by the seemingly interminable 
 nature of the contest, Carloman appears to have 
 thought himself justified in repaying faithlessness 
 by treachery of a far more heinous nature l ; and 
 this is the only shadow of an excuse which can be 
 offered for his conduct. Having led his army to 
 Cannstadt in a. d. 746, he ordered Theobald, the 
 Suabian duke, to join him with all his forces, in 
 obedience to the military ban. Theobald obeyed 
 
 without suspicion, supposing that he should be em- 
 ployed, in conjunction with the rest of Carloman's 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. Cont. cxv. 
 
Chap. VL] CARLOMAN's TREACHERY TO SUABIANS. 293 
 
 forces, against some common enemy. "And there," 
 says the chronicler of Metz, " a great prodigy took 
 place, that one army seized and bound another 
 without any of the perils of war ! " l No sooner 
 had the two armies met together in an apparently 
 friendly manner, than Carloman ordered his Franks 
 to surround the Alemannians (Suabians), and to 
 disarm and bind them. He then instituted an 
 inquiry respecting the aid afforded the Bavarians ; 
 and, having seized those chiefs who had assisted 
 Odilo " against the invincible princes, Carloman and 
 Pepin, he mercifully corrected each according to his 
 deserts." 2 Lanfried II. received the vacant throne 
 of Theobald, who, in all probability, was one of those 
 Avho lost their lives by Carloman's merciful correction. 
 In the following year, the connection between the 
 Carlovingian family and the Roman Church, which 
 had grown continually closer, w r as still farther 
 strengthened by the voluntary abdication of Carlo- 
 man, and his admission into the monastic order. 
 The reasons which induced this mighty prince and 
 successful warrior to take so singular a step are 
 quite unknown. 3 Remorse for his recent treachery, 
 
 1 Annal. Metten. an. 746. : " Fuitque ibi magnum miraculunv 
 quod unus exercitus alium comprehendit atque ligavit absque ullo 
 discrimine belli." 
 
 2 " Misericord iter correxit." 
 
 3 Vit. S. Zacharise. (Vit. xciii. Anastasius, torn, i.) Ein- 
 hardi Vit. Carol. Mag. cap. ii. : " Incertum quibus de causis, 
 tamen videtur quod amore conversationis contemplative succen- 
 
 sus " Fredeg. Chron. Cont. cxvi. Citron. Moissiac. : 
 
 "Divino amore et desiderio caslestis patriae compunctus sponte 
 
 u 3 
 
294 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 — disgust at the bloodshed he had caused and wit- 
 nessed, — the sense of inferiority to his brother Pe- 
 pin, and doubts as to the continuance of fraternal har- 
 mony, — a natural tendency to religious contemplation 
 increased by the influence of Boniface, whose earnest 
 faith and spotless life could not but make a deep 
 impression upon all who knew him ; — these and other 
 causes will occur to the mind of every one as being, 
 singly or in different combinations, adequate to the 
 result. Yet we can but guess at motives which were 
 unknown to the generations immediately succeeding 
 him, and which he himself perhaps would have found 
 it difficult to define. 
 
 With the full concurrence of his brother Pepin, 
 whose appetite for worldly honours was by no means 
 sated, Carloman set out for Pome with a numerous 
 retinue of the chief men in his kingdom, taking 
 with him magnificent presents for the Pope. He 
 was received by Zachary with great distinction ; and 
 by his advice Carloman vowed obedience to the rules 
 of St. Benedict before Optatus, the Abbot of Monte 
 Casino, and founded a monastery to St. Sylvester on 
 the classic heights of Mount Soracte. But he was 
 far too much in earnest in his desire of solitude to 
 find the neighbourhood of Rome a suitable or agree- 
 able residence. The newly founded monastery was 
 soon thronged with curious visitors, eager to behold 
 the princely monk who had given up all to follow 
 
 regnum reliquit.'' Annal. Metten. an. 747. contain a strange 
 story of Carloman's humility and penitence. Pie calls himself 
 " peccatorem et homicidam." 
 
Chap. VI.] PEPIN BECOMES SOLE RULER. 295 
 
 Christ. He therefore abandoned Mount Soracte, and, 
 concealing as far as possible his name and rank, 
 enrolled himself among the Benedictine monks of 
 Monte Casino. 
 
 As no stipulation had been made in favour of Carlo- 
 man's son Drogo, Pepin now became sole ruler of 
 the whole Frankish empire. It is a no less singular 
 than pleasing fact — that one of the very first uses 
 which Pepin made of his undivided authority was to 
 release his brother Gripho from his long imprison- 
 ment ; singular, because it seems to imply that Carlo- 
 man, whose susceptibility to religious influences 
 cannot be doubted, was the only obstacle to this act 
 of generosity and mercy. It is indeed open to us 
 to suppose that Carloman foresaw more clearly than 
 his brother the injurious consequences of Gripho's 
 restoration to freedom; for the policy of this step was 
 certainly more questionable than its generosit}^. The 
 liberated prince thought more of what was withheld 
 than of what was granted, and had never ceased to 
 consider himself entitled to an equal share of the 
 dominions of his father. In A. d. 748, not long after 
 his release, while Pepin was holding a council of the 
 bishops and seigniors at Diiren, Gripho was forming 
 a party among the younger men to support his pre- 
 tensions to the throne. In company of some of these 
 he tied to the Saxons, who were always ready to make 
 common cause against the hated Franks. 1 Pepin, well 
 
 1 Annal. Metten. an. 748. Annal. Nazar. eod. an. Annal. 
 Petav. eod. an. Fred. Chron. Cont. cxvii. 
 
 u 4 
 
296 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 aware of the extremely inflammable materials by 
 which his frontiers were surrounded, and dreading 
 a renewal of the conflagration he had so lately 
 quenched in blood, immediately took the field ; 
 march in 2: through Thurinsna, he attacked and defeated 
 the Nordosquavi, a Saxon tribe who lived on the 
 river Wipper, between the Bode and Saale. The 
 Saxon leader Theoderic was taken prisoner for the 
 third time, and a considerable number of the cap- 
 tives taken on this occasion were compelled to receive 
 Christian baptism, according to the usual policy of 
 
 that age. 
 
 After fruitless negotiations between the brothers, 
 Gripho endeavoured to make a stand at the river 
 Oker 1 ; failing in this, he fled to the Bavarians, among 
 whom an enemy of Pepin was sure to find a welcome. 
 After devastating the Saxon territory for forty days, 
 and reimposing the tribute formerly exacted by 
 Clotaire, Pepin directed his march towards Bavaria, 
 in pursuit of his brother. Odilo, the former duke 
 of this country, was now dead, and had been 
 succeeded by his son Tassilo, who ruled under 
 the influence of the Frankish Princess Hiltrude. 
 These inveterate enemies of Pepin were also joined 
 by a mighty Bavarian chief, called Suitger, and 
 the Suabian duke, Lanfried II. If we understand 
 rightly a passage in the annals of Metz, Gripho 
 succeeded in depriving Tassilo and his mother of 
 the reins of Government and making himself master 
 
 In Brunswick. 
 
Chap. VI.] GETPHO FORMS ALLIANCES AGAINST PEPIN. 297 
 
 of Bavaria. Gripho 1 , Suitger, and Lanfried united 
 their forces, but not venturing to await the at- 
 tack of the Franks upon the Lech, as Odilo had 
 done on a former occasion, they retreated at once 
 behind the Inn, which had already proved so ef- 
 fectual a bulwark. Pepin, however, no longer em- 
 barrassed by a variety of enemies, determined to 
 bring the matter to a final decision, and was already 
 making preparations to cross the Inn, when the 
 leaders of the allied army, convinced of the futility 
 of braving the superior force of the Franks, volun- 
 tarily surrendered themselves prisoners of war. The 
 leniency with which the Bavarians were treated 
 seems to imply that favourable terms of surrender 
 had been granted, at any rate, to them. Tassilo 
 received back his duchy, for which he had to swear 
 fealty to the Frankish ruler ; while Alemannia was 
 finally incorporated with the Frankish dominions. 
 The fate of Lanfried II. , the last of the Suabian 
 dukes, is not known ; but the character and general 
 policy of Pepin are a guarantee that he was not 
 treated with unnecessary harshness. Gripho was once 
 more indebted to his brother for life and liberty, and 
 not only received a full pardon, but was endowed 
 with twelve counties and the town of Mans — a 
 fortune splendid enough to have satisfied the desires 
 of any one who had not dreamed too much of 
 independence and royal authority. 2 
 
 The ill success which attended the efforts of Gripho, 
 
 1 Annal. Metten. : " Quern (Tassilonem) de principatu Grippo 
 abegit, et sibi ipse Baioarios subjugavit." 
 
 2 Annal. Metten. ?n 749. Annal. Einhard. an. 7-18. 
 
298 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 — whose claims but a few years before would have 
 rallied thousands of malcontents round his standard, — 
 and the rapid and easy suppression of the Suabian 
 and Bavarian revolts, afford us evidence that the 
 once bitter opposition of the seigniors, both lay and 
 clerical, to the establishment of the Carlovingian 
 throne, was finally overcome ; and that Pepin pos- 
 sessed a degree of settled authority which neither 
 his father nor his grandfather had enjoyed. Many 
 circumstances contributed to this superiority in the 
 position of Pepin, even as compared with his im- 
 mediate predecessor. He had, in the first place, the 
 great advantage of a quiet and undisputed succession 
 to his father's dignities. His authority could not be 
 regarded merely as that of a great officer of the crown 
 or a successful warrior, but had already acquired an 
 hereditary character, as founded on the mighty deeds 
 of a series of noble ancestors : in the second place, 
 the military constitution of the country had acquired 
 consistency in the long and successful wars of Carl 
 Martel. This constitution, as we shall show, was 
 intimately connected with the seignior ship ^ now fully 
 developed, and the system of beneftcia, or non- 
 hereditary grants, by which the Frankish rulers 
 endeavoured to secure the services of the powerful 
 chieftains and their dependent followers ; and lastly, 
 we must attribute much of the tranquillity enjoyed 
 by Pepin to the vigour with which Carl Martel chas- 
 tised his unruly subjects, and forced the boldest to suc- 
 cumb to the valour and fortune of his glorious race. 
 And hence it was that Pepin found both strength 
 
Chap. VI.] ACT OF " SECULARISATION " TAKES PLACE. 299 
 
 and leisure to regulate by wise laws, the dominions 
 which his father had only been able to overawe by 
 his upraised sword. In this work he was ably 
 seconded by Boniface, whose counsel he sought on 
 all important occasions, and to whom, in turn, he 
 gave material aid in the grand objects of the noble 
 martyr's life — the extension of the Christian faith, 
 and the regulation of the visible Church according to 
 the Roman ritual. 
 
 It was during the mayoralty of Pepin, and not, 
 as is generally assumed, in that of Carl Martel, that 
 the famous and important act of " Secularisation " 
 took place, which will again be spoken of in the 
 chapter on the Church. 1 The practice into which 
 Carl Martel had been driven by his necessities, of 
 bestowing ecclesiastical benefices on laymen who 
 assumed the priesthood with purely secular views, 
 was inconsistent with the peace and good order, and 
 inimical to all the higher interests, of the Christian 
 Church. As an exceptional state of things, however, 
 even rigid disciplinarians and pious churchmen like 
 Boniface had thought it expedient to yield a tacit 
 assent to the employment of Church revenues for 
 military purposes. But when, on the one hand, the 
 consequences of these irregular and violent expedients 
 had become, with the lapse of time, more clearly 
 evident ; and, on the other, a stricter discipline, and 
 a more religious and ecclesiastical spirit had been 
 diffused through the great body of the clergy by the 
 
 1 Roth's Beneficialvvesen, p. 336. 
 
300 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 labours of Boniface and his school, it became more 
 and more repugnant to the feelings of all true friends 
 of the Church to see its highest offices filled by 
 masquerading laymen, who had nothing of the priest 
 about them but the name and dress. In this re- 
 pugnance we have every reason to believe that both 
 Carloman and Pepin largely shared ; and yet, though 
 not engaged in an internecine struggle like their 
 father, they carried on expensive wars, and needed 
 large supplies of land and money. It was not 
 therefore to be expected that they should ease the 
 Church from all participation in the public burdens, 
 especially at a time when it had absorbed a very 
 large proportion of the national wealth. Under 
 these circumstances, a compromise was effected by 
 the influence of Boniface at the Synod of Lestines. 1 
 In this important council the assembled bishops 
 consented, in consideration of the urgent necessities 
 of the State, to make a voluntary surrender of a 
 portion of the funds of the Church ; with the stipu- 
 lation that the civil rulers should, on their part, 
 abstain for the future from all arbitrary interference 
 with its discipline and property. 
 
 Preparatory to the meeting of the Synod at 
 Lestines, Carloman and Pepin summoned, on the 21st 
 of April, a. d. 742 (at Saltz ?), a council of the great 
 seigniors, temporal and spiritual, to consider how 
 the laws of God and of the Church, which had fallen 
 
 1 Lestines, in the neighbourhood of Cambrai ; or, as some writers 
 think, Et tines, near Binche, in Hainault. 
 
Chap. VI.] COUNCIL OF THE SEIGNIORS SUMMONED. 301 
 
 into confusion and ruin under former rulers, might 
 be best restored. " For more than eighty years," 
 says Boniface, in his epistle to the Pope on this 
 occasion 1 , " the Franks have neither held a synod, nor 
 appointed an archbishop, nor enacted or renewed 
 their canons ; but most of the bishoprics are given to 
 rapacious laymen or dissolute and avaricious priests 
 for their own use ; and though some of these profess 
 to be chaste, yet they are either drunkards or fol- 
 lowers of the chase ; or they go armed into battle, 
 and shed with their own hands the blood of Christians 
 as well as heathens ! " Before this first assembly? 
 which was a council of state, and not an ecclesiastical 
 synod, Boniface as papal legate brought forward his 
 measures for the reform of the Church and the settle- 
 ment of its relations to the State. Through the 
 influence of Carloman many of these propositions 
 received the sanction of the council, and they must 
 be regarded as concessions made by the State to the 
 Church. It was enacted that annual synods should 
 be held ; that the property of which the churches 
 and monasteries had been violently deprived should 
 be restored ; that the counts and bishops in their 
 respective jurisdictions should be directed to put 
 down all heathen practices (to which the people in 
 some parts of the country were still addicted); that 
 the rules of St. Benedict should be re-introduced 
 into the monasteries ; and that the clergy should be 
 
 1 Bonifac. Epist. 132. (ed. Wiirdtwein, ep. 51.) ad Zach?,r. (an. 
 742.). 
 
302 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 prohibited from war and the chase, from sexual 
 intercourse, and the use of military accoutrements. 
 
 In the following year(743), the Synod of Lestines 
 itself was summoned for the final settlement of the 
 points just mentioned ; and it was here that the terms 
 on which the consent of Carloman and Pepin to the 
 proposition of Boniface had been given, were made 
 public. " We also enact," runs the decree of these 
 princes, " by the counsel of God's servants, and of 
 the Christian people, that, in consideration of impend- 
 ing wars and the persecutions to which we are sub- 
 ject from surrounding nations, Ave be allowed, by the 
 indulgence of God, to retain for some time sub pre- 
 cario et censu a portion of the Church's property, for 
 the support of our army; on these conditions, that a 
 solidus (gold piece of 12 denarii) should be paid 
 annually to the church or monastery for every 
 estate, and that the church be re-invested with its 
 property at the death of the present holder. Should, 
 however, necessity compel, or the prince ordain it, 
 the precarium (or life-interest) must be renewed 
 and a new document drawn up; and, in every case, 
 care must be taken that the churches and monasteries, 
 of which the property is in precario (granted for a 
 single life), suffer no want or poverty. But if po- 
 verty renders it necessary, the whole property must 
 be restored to the church or house of God." l 
 
 It is not surprising that the remarkable document 
 before us has been quoted, on the one 'hand, in evi- 
 
 1 Sirmondi, Concil. Gall. (Paris, 1629.), torn. i. p. 540. 
 
Chap. VI.] SYNOD OF LESTINES. 303 
 
 dence of the absolute power which the Carlovingian 
 mayors assumed over the Church ; and, on the other, 
 of the inviolability of Church property, and the dis- 
 approbation with which the conduct of Carl Martel 
 was regarded even by his own sons. Our first im- 
 pression, on reading this decree, is that the clergy 
 had little reason to rejoice in the results of Boniface's 
 mediation between themselves and the civil power. 
 Not only are the grants of ecclesiastical property, 
 made to laymen for secular and warlike purposes, re- 
 tained during the lives of the occupants, but express 
 provision is made for the renewal of similar grants, 
 " when necessity compels or the prince commands it." 
 The powers here given of employing the superfluous 
 wealth of the Church for secular purposes could hardly 
 be greater; yet such a relation between Church and 
 State is quite consistent with the circumstances of the 
 times. 1 
 
 Humanly speaking, the Frankish Church, sur- 
 rounded as it was on either side by the still heathen 
 Germans and the Mohammedan conquerors, owed its 
 preservation to the sword of Carl Martel. Boniface 
 himself emphatically declares that the success of his 
 missionary efforts was to be ascribed in a great mea- 
 sure to the same potent instrument. The influence 
 which the great ecclesiastical dignitaries derived from 
 their sacred calling — the great extent and valuable 
 
 1 Pagi (Crit. in Annal. Baron, an. 743, torn, iii.) says on this 
 subject : " Uno verbo Pippinus quidem edictis suis bona Ecclesias- 
 ticorum reddi precepit, sed interim eorura laicis hoininibus 
 reliquit.' 7 
 
304: THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 immunities of their lands, and their skill in forming and 
 leading parties in the State — had been greatly lessened 
 by the bold inroads of the same vigorous prince upon 
 their exclusive privileges, and his triumph over the 
 factious nobles. The irresponsible power, too, of the 
 bishops within the Church itself was also curtailed 
 by the successful efforts of Boniface to restore the 
 chain of subordination among the clergy, and to bring 
 the whole body under the absolute supremacy of the 
 Bishop of Rome. The important results of this change 
 are sufficiently evident ; for this head of the Western 
 Church was himself an unwilling tributary to the 
 Langobards, and a suppliant to the Frankish mayors 
 for deliverance from triumphant enemies. 
 
 We cannot, then, be surprised that the ecclesiastical 
 synods should submit to any terms which promised a 
 settled state of things for the future. And on close 
 examination of the acts of the Synod of Lestines, we 
 shall find that, though much is conceded under the 
 pressure of the moment, the future is carefully pro- 
 vided for. The State acknowledges, in the first place, 
 that certain lands now held by laymen had belonged, 
 and did still essentially belong, to the Church ; and its 
 claim, though held in abeyance, is effectually kept alive 
 by the payment of a small fixed rent to the original 
 owners ; and, secondly, ecclesiastical property is 
 spoken of as a whole ; a point of very great import- 
 ance — since the possessions of every religious body, 
 however weak in itself, were thus placed under the 
 protection of the universal Church. 
 
 The vast funds which the " Secularisation " placed 
 
Chap. VI.] EFFECTS OF " SECULARISATION." 305 
 
 at the disposal of the Frankish princes contributed in 
 no small degree to establish the Carlovingian throne ; 
 for it enabled them to carry out to its full extent the 
 system of beneficial (or non-hereditary) grants, and 
 to secure the services of the powerful seigniors, who 
 were bound to the Sovereign, not only by a sense of 
 gratitude, but by the hope of future favours and the 
 fear of deprivation. 
 
 A change took place at the period at which we have 
 now arrived, which, though easily and noiselessly made, 
 and apparently but nominal, forms an important era 
 in Frankish history. It costs us an effort to remem- 
 ber that Carl Martel, Carloman and Pepin, were not 
 kings, but officers of another, who still bore the royal 
 title, and occasionally and exclusively wore the crown 
 and sat upon the throne. Carloman and Pepin, when 
 they were heading great armies, receiving oaths of 
 allegiance from conquered princes, and giving away 
 duchies, were mayors of the palace to Childeric III., 
 a Merovingian king. Even they had thought the 
 time not yet come for calling themselves by their 
 proper name, and had placed Childeric on the throne. 
 The king's name was a tower of strength, which they 
 who had met and defeated eveiy other enemy seemed 
 to shrink from attacking. 
 
 The foundations of the Merovingian throne, indeed, 
 had been thoroughly, perhaps systematically, sapped. 
 The king-making mayors had set up monarchs and 
 deposed them at their pleasure ; they had even left 
 the throne vacant for a time, as if to prove whether 
 the nation was yet cured of its inveterate notion that 
 
 x 
 
306 THE FKANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 none but a Merovingian could wear a Prankish crown. 
 This last experiment resulted, as we have said, in the 
 placing of Childeric III. upon the throne ; an act by 
 which Carloman and Pepin must have thought that 
 some advantage would be gained, or some danger be 
 avoided. At the commencement of their reign power- 
 ful tribes were in rebellion, and semi-dependent princes 
 might think themselves absolved by a change of 
 dynasty from their oaths and engagements, and re- 
 gard revolt as a duty as well as a pleasure. The 
 Franks themselves had not yet received sufficient 
 proof that the sons were worthy of their sire ; and 
 the heathen among them naturally clung to the pri- 
 meval race. 
 
 But circumstances changed. The mayors became 
 more and more the heads of a great semi-feudal 
 system, to the members of which they were the sole 
 source of wealth, authority and honour. The intes- 
 tine troubles of the kingdom had in great measure 
 been healed ; the revolted tribes were reduced to more 
 complete obedience ; Pepin himself acquired great 
 military renown, and the limits of the empire were 
 extended to the furthest point which they had ever 
 reached. Pepin was already king indeed ; and even 
 towards the adoption of the royal name and style 
 some gradual progress had been made. It had be- 
 come customary to reckon in dates by the years of 
 the mayor's office as well as the king's reign. The 
 title of princeps and dux is freely given in the chro- 
 nicles to Carl Martel and his sons, who regarded the 
 royal palaces as their property, and conferred both 
 
Chap. VI.] PEPIN USURPS THE CROWN. 307 
 
 lands and dignities in their own name. There was but 
 one step more to the throne, and that step was taken 
 at last, when there was scarcely a man in the empire 
 who had either the power or the wish to prevent it. 1 
 
 In A. d. 750 Pepin assumed the name of king, 
 with the full consent of the nation and the sanction 
 of the Pope ; and the last of the Merovingians was 
 shorn of his royal locks, the emblems of his power, 
 and sent to end his days in the monastery of St. 
 Bertin, at Sithiu 2 (St. Omer in Artois). 
 
 The immediate motive for the change is not appa- 
 rent ; and the remarkable absence of all impatience on 
 the part of Pepin to assume the royal name seems 
 to justify the notion that the coup-de-grace was given 
 to the Merovingian dynasty by another hand than his. 
 It might perhaps have been still deferred, but for the 
 growing intimacy of the relations between the Carlo- 
 vingians and the Pope. 
 
 The Bishops of Rome had by no means surmounted 
 the difficulties and dangers by which they had been 
 long surrounded. The Greek emperors, to whom 
 they were nominally subject, were too weak either to 
 afford them the necessary protection against their 
 enemies, or to enforce obedience to themselves ; and, 
 in addition to this, the Eastern and Western Churches 
 were continually diverging from each other, both in 
 their theological views and secular objects. 
 
 1 Erchamberti Breviarium (Mon. German, ii. p. 328.). 
 
 2 Annal. Metten. an. 750. : " Ex consultu beati Zackarire." 
 
 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. cxvii. 
 
 x 2 
 
308 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 The Langobards hung over the eternal city like a 
 cloud which might at any moment send forth the 
 destructive flash. Its only chance of safety for the 
 moment, its only hope of independence and spiritual 
 dominion in the nearer and more distant future, were 
 founded upon a close alliance with the Carlovingian 
 dynasty. It was a cherished object, therefore, with 
 the Popes to bind this illustrious family to themselves 
 by the strongest of ties, — the sense of common in- 
 terest and mutual indispensability. It was probable 
 that Pepin would one day ascend the Frankish throne, 
 and it was of the highest moment to the Bishops of 
 Pome to assume the initiative in this inevitable dy- 
 nastic revolution ; for thus they would acquire a title 
 to the gratitude of the new king, and give him an in- 
 terest in the preservation of the source from which 
 his royal title seemed to spring. The part which 
 Boniface took in this transaction is unknown ; but his 
 position as the most zealous supporter of the papacy, 
 and the intimate friend and counsellor of Pepin, leads 
 to the conjecture that a change so much in accordance 
 with his known views was not made without his co- 
 operation. All that has been transmitted to us is 
 the fact that, in a. d. 750 (or 751), an embassy, com- 
 posed of Burchard Bishop of Wiirzburg, Fulrad 
 Abbot of St. Denys, and Pepin's own chaplain, ap- 
 peared at Rome at the Papal Court, and laid the fol- 
 lowing question before Pope Zachary for his decision : 
 " Whether it was expedient that one who was pos- 
 sessed of no authority in the land should continue 
 to retain the name of king, or whether it should be 
 
Chap. VI.] REASONS FOR ACQUIESCENCE OF TOPE. 309 
 
 transferred to him who really exercised the royal 
 power." 
 
 It is not to be imagined for a moment that Zachary 
 was unprepared with his reply to this momentous 
 question, which would certainly not have been pro- 
 posed had there been any doubt respecting the 
 answer. The Pope replied, that "he who really 
 governed should also bear the royal name ;" and the 
 embassy returned to Pepin with this message, or, as 
 some writers take a pleasure in calling it, this com- 
 mand. A grand council of the nation was assembled 
 at Soissons in the same year, and the major-domus was 
 unanimously elected sole king of the Franks, and soon 
 afterwards anointed and crowned, with his wife Ber- 
 trada, by his old and faithful friend Boniface. 1 
 
 This solemn consecration by the use of holy oil, 
 and other ceremonies, observed for the first time at 
 the coronation of the Carlovingian kins;, were not 
 without their important significance. The senti- 
 ment of legitimacy was very strongly seated in the 
 hearts of the Frankish people. The dethroned family 
 had exclusively supplied the nation with their ru- 
 lers from all time ; no one could trace their origin, 
 or point to a Merovingian who was not either a 
 king, or the kinsman of a king. It was far other- 
 
 1 Einhard. Vit. Carol. M. c. i. Gesta Reg. Francor. an. 752. 
 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. cxvii. Annal. Laurissenses Minor, an. 753 
 (Monum. Germ, i.) : " Zacharias igitur papa secundum auctor'Ua- 
 tcm apostolicam ad interrogationeni eoruin respondit, melius atque 
 utilius sibi videri ut ille Rex nominaretur et esset, qui potestatetn 
 in regno kubebat, quam ille qui falso Rex appellabatur." Annal. 
 Laurissenses et Einliardi, an. 750 (Monum. German, torn. i.). 
 
 x 3 
 
310 THE FRANKS. [Ciiap. VI. 
 
 wise with Pepin. He was the first of his race 
 who had not fought for the office of major-domus 
 with competitors as noble as himself. It was little 
 more than a century since his namesake of Landen 
 had been dismissed from his office by the arbitrary 
 will of Dagobert. The extraordinary fertility of 
 the Carlovingian family in warriors and statesmen 
 had hitherto enabled them to hold their own against 
 all gainsayers. But if the new dynasty was to rest 
 on something;; more certain and durable than the un- 
 interrupted transmission of great bodily and mental 
 powers in a single family, it was of vital importance 
 to the Carlovingians to rear their throne upon foun- 
 dations the depth of which was beyond the ken of 
 vulgar eyes. Such a foundation could be nothing else 
 than the sanction of heaven, and was to be sought in 
 the Christian Church, in the fiat of God's representa- 
 tive on earth, who could set apart the Carlovingians 
 as a chosen race, and bestow upon them a heavenly 
 claim to the obedience of their countrymen. 
 
 We have already referred to the successful efforts 
 of Boniface and his followers in the cause of Roman 
 supremacy. The belief in the power of the Bishops 
 of Rome, as successors of St. Peter, to bind and 
 to loose, to set up and to set down, had already taken 
 root in the popular mind, and rendered the sanction 
 of the popes as efficacious a legitimiser as the cloud 
 of mystery and fable which enveloped the origin of 
 the fallen Merovingians. 
 
 So gradually was this change of dynasty effected, 
 so skilfully was the new throne founded on well- con- 
 
Chap. VI.] PEPIN'S DIFFICULTIES. 311 
 
 solidated authority, warlike renown, good govern- 
 ment, and religious faith, that as far as we can learn 
 from history, not a single voice was raised against the 
 aspiring mayor, when his warriors, more majorum, 
 raised him on the shield, and bore him thrice through 
 the joyful throng; and when Boniface anointed him 
 with holy oil, as King of the Franks " by the grace of 
 God," not a single champion was found throughout 
 that mighty empire, to draw his sword in the cause 
 of the last monarch of the house of Clovis. 1 
 
 Pepin was not long allowed to enjoy his new dig- 
 nity in peace, but was quickly called upon to ex- 
 change the amenities of the royal palace for the toils 
 and dangers of the battle-field. 
 
 The Saxons had already recovered from, and were 
 desirous of avenging, the chastisement inflicted upon 
 them; and having rebelled "in their way," 2 were 
 now marching upon the Rhine. But Pepin, who had 
 not ceased to be a general when he became a king, 
 collected a large army, with which he crossed the 
 Rhine, and entering the territory of the Saxons, 
 wasted it with fire and sword, and carried back a 
 large number of captives into his own dominions. 
 " When the Saxons saw this," says the chronicler, 
 " they were moved by penitence ; and, with their usual 
 fear, begged for the king's mercy, declaring that they 
 
 1 " Pippinus gratia Dei Rex Francorum." — Baluz. Capit. Reg, 
 Francor. torn. i. p. 185. 
 
 2 Fredeg. Cliron. Cont. pars iv. c. cxviii. an. 753. (ap. Bouq. 
 torn. v. p. 1.). 
 
 x 4 
 
312 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 would take an oath of fidelity, and pay more tribute 
 than they had ever paid before, and never revolt 
 again. King Pepin returned, by the aid of Christ, in 
 great triumph to Bonn." 
 
 It was on his return from this campaign that he 
 received the news of his brother Gripho's death. This 
 restless and unhappy prince — whom the indelible no- 
 tion of his right to a throne rendered incapable of 
 enjoying the noble fortune allotted to him by his 
 brother — had fled to Waifar, Duke of Gascony, in the 
 hope of inducing him to take up arms. But Waifar 
 was not in a condition to protect him ; and when 
 the ambassadors of Pepin demanded that he should 
 be given up, Gripho was obliged to seek another asy- 
 lum. The fugitive then directed his course to King 
 Haistulph, foreseeing, probably, that Pepin would be 
 drawn into the feud between the Pope and the Lango- 
 barcls, the subjects of Haistulph, and therefore think- 
 ing that he might already regard the latter as the 
 enemy of his brother. As he was passing the Alps, 
 however, with a small retinue, he was set upon, in 
 the valley of St. Jean de Maurienne, by Count Theodo 
 of Vienne and the Trans-juran Count Friedrich. 
 Gripho was slain, but not until after a desperate 
 struo-ole, in which both the counts above mentioned 
 also lost their lives. 1 
 
 Pepin now retired to his royal residence at Dieten- 
 hoven, on the Moselle, and spent the few months of 
 peace that followed the Saxon war in ordering the 
 
 1 Frede£. Chron. Cont. pars iv. ; cxviii. 
 
CnAr. VI.] THE LANGOBAEDS. 313 
 
 affairs of the Church ; which he effected chiefly 
 through the instrumentality of ecclesiastical synods. 
 The influence of these assemblies had very much in- 
 creased since Boniface first summoned them, and 
 their jurisdiction extended itself beyond the sphere 
 of merely ecclesiastical matters into the wide and 
 undefined field of public morals. 
 
 King Pepin was now called upon to repay the 
 obligations conferred upon him by the Papacy when 
 it hallowed his usurpation of the Frankish crown. 
 The influence of Carl Martel with his ally and friend 
 Luitprand, and the reverence which the latter enter- 
 tained for the Popes in their spiritual character, had 
 caused a temporary lull in the affairs of Italy. But 
 Luitprand died about two years after the accession of 
 Pepin, and was succeeded, first by his grandson Hil- 
 debrand, who reigned seven months, and then by 
 Ratchis Duke of Friuli, under whom the Langobards 
 renewed the war against Rome. In this emergency, 
 Zachary, who, like many other popes, trusted greatly 
 and with good reason to his personal influence over 
 the rude kings and warriors of the age, went him- 
 self to Perusia to beg a peace from Ratchis. The 
 result was favourable to a degree beyond his highest 
 expectations. The Lombard monarch not only re- 
 called his troops — which were already besieging 
 the towns of the Pentapolis — and granted a peace 
 of forty years, but was so deeply affected by the dig- 
 nified demeanour and eloquent exhortations of the 
 holy father, that, like another Carloman, he renounced 
 his earthly crown, and sought a refuge from the 
 
314 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 cares of government in the quiet cloisters of Monte 
 Casino. 1 
 
 Ratchis was succeeded in a. d. 749 by his brother 
 Haistulph, a man by no means so sensible to spiritual 
 influences, and remarkable for his energy and strength 
 of purpose. 2 In three years from his accession to the 
 Lombard throne, he succeeded in driving out Euty- 
 chius, the last exarch of the Greek emperors, from the 
 Exarchate of Ravenna, and made himself master of the 
 city. Having thus secured the possession of the south- 
 ern portion of the Roman territory, he marched upon 
 Rome itself; and when Pope Zachary died, 15th March, 
 in the year a.d. 752, it must have been with the melan- 
 choly conviction that all his efforts to preserve the in- 
 dependence of Rome, and to further the lofty claims 
 of the Papacy, were about to prove fruitless. Once 
 more was Hannibal at the gates ; but, fortunately for 
 the interest of the threatened city, the successor of 
 Zachary, Stephen II., was a man in every way equal 
 to the situation. By a well-timed embassy and costly 
 presents, he stayed the uplifted arm of the Lombard 
 for the moment, and, as often happens in human 
 affairs, by gaining time he gained everything. 3 
 
 After remaining quiet for a few months, Haistulph 
 
 1 Vita S. Zacharire, vit. xciii. 
 
 2 We know nothing of him but what his enemies say of him. 
 According to them he was " Protervus, iniquus, impius, nefarius, 
 malignus, atrocissimus, blasphemus, cliabolicus ! " 
 
 3 Ex Yit. S. Stephan. II. (ap. Anastas. i. p. 196.). On this mis- 
 sion he sent his brother Paullus Diaconus and Ambrosius the 
 Primiccrins, who was the chief of the seven Palatine judges. 
 These last were the chief judges and executive of Rome, who 
 
Chap. VI.] IIAISTULril THREATENS ROME. 315 
 
 again resumed his threatening attitude towards the 
 Romans, and demanded a palpable proof of their sub- 
 jection to himself, in the shape of a poll-tax of a gold 
 solidus 1 per head. A fresh embassy from the Pope, 
 which the Lombard king received at Nepe (near Su- 
 tri, N. of Rome), met with no success, and the holy 
 Abbots of St. Vincent and St. Benedict, who composed 
 it, returned to their monasteries in despair. Nor was 
 any greater effect produced by the arrival of John, the 
 imperial Silentiarius, who was sent by the Greek em- 
 peror from Constantinople. 2 This pompous messenger 
 brought letters for the Pope and King Haistulph, in 
 which the latter was called upon to desist from his pre- 
 sent undertaking and to restore the whole of the terri- 
 tory of which he had unjustly robbed the Grecian 
 empire. The high-sounding language and haughty re- 
 quirements of the Ityzantians, unsupported as they 
 were by any material power, could make no impres- 
 sion upon such a man as Haistulph, and he dismissed 
 the imperial envoy with an unmeaning answer. 
 
 The danger of Rome had now reached its highest 
 point, and no deliverance seemed nigh. " King Hais- 
 tulph," in the language of the chronicler, " was in- 
 flamed with rage, and, like a roaring lion, never 
 ceased to utter the most dreadful threats against the 
 Romans, declaring that he would slay them all with 
 the sword, if they did not submit themselves to his 
 
 chose the Pope, and appear to have been prototypes of the seven 
 Electors of the Empire. 
 
 1 About seven shillings and sixpence. 
 
 2 Vit. S. Stephan. II. (Anastas. torn, i.). 
 
316 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 rule." An appeal which the Pope had made to the 
 Byzantine emperors for protection was entirely fruit- 
 less, and the Romans were utterly unequal to sustain 
 unaided a contest with the warlike Langobards. It was 
 in this extremity that Stephen determined to test once 
 more the value of that close relation which it had been 
 the object of so many popes to form with the Frank- 
 isli people, and more especially with the Carlovingian 
 family. 1 He knew that it would be no easy matter 
 to induce King Pepin or his Franks to undertake an 
 expedition into Italy with a force sufficient for the 
 object in view. He felt, too, that a mere letter from 
 Pepin, such as Carl Mart el had sent to his good 
 friend Luitprand, would be of no avail to turn the 
 ambitious Haistulph from his purpose. Fie therefore 
 adopted the singular resolution of crossing the Alps, 
 throwing himself at the feet of the Frankish monarch 
 and thus giving him a convincing and affecting proof 
 that the very existence of the Papacy was at stake. 
 
 With this view the holy father, seeing that all his 
 entreaties "for the fold which had been entrusted to him 
 (Rome), and the lost sheep" (Istria and the Exar- 
 chate of Ravenna), were fruitless, started from Rome 
 on the 14th of October, a. d. 753 2 , in company with 
 the Abbot Rotdigang and Duke Autchar, whom Pepin 
 
 1 Vit. S. Stephan. II. 
 
 2 Ibid. : " Itaque dum isdem sanctissimus vir, jam fatum pestife- 
 rum Longobardorum Regem immensis vicibus innumerabilia tribu- 
 eusmunera deprecaretur pro gregibus sibi a Deo commissis et per- 
 ditis ovibus scilicet pro universe* exercitu Ravennae, atque cuncto 
 istius Italia? provincial populo, quos diabolica fraude ipse impiu 
 deceperat Rex, et possidebat." 
 
Chap. VI.] THE POPE AND THE LOMBARD KING. 317 
 
 had previously sent to Stephen with general promises 
 of support. He was also followed by a considerable 
 number of the Roman clergy and nobility. 1 On his 
 journey northwards he passed through the city of 
 Pavia 2 , where Haistulph then was; and though the 
 latter had forbidden him to say a word about re- 
 storation of territory, he once more endeavoured, by 
 rich presents and earnest entreaties, to induce the 
 king to give up his conquests and forego his hostile 
 purposes. He was warmly seconded by Pepin's en- 
 voys, and another epistle from the Greek emperor ; 
 but the mind of the fierce Langobard remained un- 
 changed. It is evident, indeed, that he would have 
 prevented Stephen by force from continuing his jour- 
 ney but for the threats of the Frankish ambassadors. 
 As it was he endeavoured to intimidate the Pope in 
 the presence of Rotdigang into a denial of his wish 
 to proceed to the court of Pepin ; and only then dis- 
 missed him when he saw that Stephen would yield to 
 nothing but actual violence. 
 
 Pepin was still at his palace at Dietenhofen, 
 when the intelligence reached him that the Pope, 
 with a splendid retinue, had passed the Great St. 
 Bernard 3 , and was hastening, according to agreement, 
 
 1 Vii, S. Stephan. II. : " Christo praevio — magnam illi cceli 
 serenitatem Domino in ipso itinere tribuente." Yet a little further 
 on we read : "Papa prre nimio labore itincris atque temporis in- 
 ccqualitate fortiter infirmatus est." 
 
 2 Fred. Chron. Cont. pars iv., cxix. Pope Stephen arrived at 
 Pavia Nov. loth, a. d. 753. 
 
 3 Fred. Chron. Cont. exix. " Monte Jovis transmeato '' (Great 
 St. Bernard). Vit. S. Stephan. IT. 
 
318 THE PRANKS. [Chai\ VI. 
 
 to the monastery of St. Maurice at Agaunum. 1 It had 
 been expected that the king himself would be there 
 to receive the illustrious fugitive ; but Stephen on his 
 arrival found in his stead the Abbot Fulrad and 
 Duke Rothard, who received the holy father with 
 every mark of joy and reverence, and conducted him 
 to the palace of Pontyon, near Chalons, where he 
 arrived on the 6th of January, a.d. 754. As a still 
 further mark of veneration, the young prince Carl was 
 sent forward to welcome Stephen at a distance of 
 about seventy miles from Pontyon ; and Pepin him- 
 self is said to have gone out three miles on foot to 
 meet him, and to have acted as his marshal, walking 
 by the side of his palfrey. 2 The extraordinary ho- 
 nours paid by Pepin to the aged exile proceeded 
 partly, no doubt, from the reverence and sympathy 
 which his character and circumstances called forth. 
 But his conduct might also result from a wise regard 
 to his own interests, and a desire of inspiring his sub- 
 jects with a mysterious awe for the spiritual poten- 
 tate at whose behest he had himself assumed the 
 crown. 
 
 The decisive conference between Pepin and Stephen 
 took place at Pontyon on the 16th January. The 
 Pope appeared before the Frankish monarch in the 
 garb and posture of a suppliant 3 , and received a pro- 
 
 1 In the Swiss Canton of Valais. 
 
 2 " Descendens (Pipinus) de eqno suo, cum magna humilitate 
 terras prostratus, una cum sua conjuge filiis et optimatibus eundem 
 sanctissimum Papain suscepit." — Jit. S. Stephan. II. 
 
 3 Chron. Moissiac. " Ortus Pippini" (Mon. German, torn. i. 
 
CiiAr. VI.] CORONATION OF PEPIN AND BERTKADA. 319 
 
 mise of protection, and the restoration of all the 
 territority of which the Langobards had deprived 
 him. 
 
 The winter, during which no military operations 
 could be undertaken, was spent by Stephen at the 
 monastery of Saint Denis at Paris. The spectacle of 
 the harmony and friendship subsisting between the 
 Roman Pontiff and King Pepin was calculated to pro- 
 duce a good effect on the Romance subjects of the 
 latter ; who, on account of his German origin and ten- 
 dencies, was regarded with less attachment in Neustria 
 and Burgundy than in his Austrasian dominions. 
 This effect was increased by Stephen's celebrating in 
 person that solemn act of consecration which he had 
 already performed by proxy. At the second corona- 
 tion of Pepin, which took place with great solemnity 
 and pomp in the church of St. Denis on the 28th 
 July, a. d. 754, his Queen, Bertrada, and her two sons 
 Carl and Carloman, were also anointed 1 with the holy 
 oil, and the two last were declared the rightful heirs 
 of their father's empire. That nothing might be 
 
 p. 293.) : (i Sequente die una cum clero suo aspersus cinere, et indu- 
 tus cilicio in terrain prostratus. . . ." 
 
 1 Vit. S. Stephan. II.: " Quinto Kal. Aug. . . . unxit (Steph- 
 
 anus P.) in reges Francorum florentissinium Regem Pippinum et 
 
 duos filios ejus Carolum et Carolomannum, sed et Bertradam ipsius 
 
 inclyti Regis P. conjugem, cycladibus regiis gratia septiforinis spi- 
 
 ritus sancti ... in Dei nomine consecravit, atque Francorum 
 
 Proceres Apostolica benedictione sanctificans, auctoritate beati 
 
 Petri . . . obligavit et obtestatus est ut nunquam de altera stirpe 
 
 per succedentium temporum curricida, ipsi vel qaique ex eorum 
 
 progenie orti, Regem super se prcesumant aliquo modo constituereS* 
 
 Chron. Moissiac. Ortus Pippini. 
 
320 THE FRANKS. [CiiAr. VI. 
 
 wanting on the part of the Church to set apart the 
 Carlovingian family as the chosen of God, Stephen 
 laid a solemn obligation on the Franks, that " through- 
 out all future ages neither they nor their prosterity 
 should ever presume to appoint a king over them- 
 selves from any other family." The title of Patricias, 
 which had first been worn by Clovis, was bestowed 
 by the Pope upon the king and his sons. It is diffi- 
 cult to understand how this dignity could at this 
 period be imparted to any one without the authority 
 of the Byzantine emperor. Constantine (nicknamed 
 Copronymus) may indeed have taken the opportunity 
 of the Pope's journey to offer the patriciate to Pepin ; 
 but it is more consistent with the circumstances we 
 have described to suppose that Stephen was acting 
 irregularly and without authority in conferring a 
 Roman title on the Frankish king; and that he in- 
 tended at the same time to give a palpable proof of his 
 independence of the Emperor who had neglected to 
 aid him, and to point out Pepin as his future ally and 
 protector. 
 
 The task which Pepin had undertaken to perform 
 was by no means an easy one, nor did the execution 
 of it depend solely on himself. The empire indeed 
 was enjoying an unwonted freedom from foreign wars 
 and domestic broils ; but the great vassals of the 
 crown were averse to distant campaigns, both from the 
 length of time they consumed, and the ruinous ex- 
 pense of maintaining followers far from home. 1 
 
 On the 1st of March, a. d. 755, however, he sum- 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. cxx. 
 
Chap. VI. ] REAPPEARANCE OF CARLOMAN. 321 
 
 moiled his council of state at Bernacum (Braine) 1 , 
 where the war against the Langobards was agreed to, 
 provided no other means could be found to reinstate 
 the Pope. In the meantime ambassadors were de- 
 spatched to Haistulph, with terms which show that 
 the Franks were by no means eager for the expedition. 2 
 King Pepin on this occasion styles himself " Defender 
 of the holy Roman Church by Divine appointment" 
 and demands that the " territories and towns should 
 be restored" — not to the Byzantine emperor, to whom 
 they at any rate nominally belonged, but " to the 
 blessed St. Peter and the Church and commonwealth 
 of the Romans." It is at this crisis of affairs that 
 Carloman, the brother of Pepin, once more appears 
 upon the stage, and in a singular character — viz. as 
 opponent of the Pope. Haistulph, by what influence 
 we are not informed, prevailed upon him to make a 
 journey to the Frankish court, for the purpose of 
 counteracting the effect of Stephen's representations. 
 He met of course with no success, and was sent by 
 
 1 Between Soissons and Cambrai. 
 
 2 Vita S. Steph. II. : " Plena ei pollicitus est munera." Annal. 
 Melt. : " xii niillia solidorum." Chron. Moissiac. : " Ut Sanctam 
 Rom. Eccles. cujus ille defensor per ordinationem divinam fuerat 
 
 non amiereret, sed omnem iustitiam de rebus ablatis faceret 
 
 Haistulfus autem requisivit qure ilia justitia esset ; cui legati re- 
 sponderunt, ut ei reddas Pentapolim, Narnias et Cecanum .... 
 et hoc tibi mandat Pippinus, quod si justitiam sancto Petro 
 reddere vis dabit tibi xii niillia solidorum." Codex Carol. Ep. 7. : 
 . . . reddere civltates et loca B. Petro sanctceque Dei ecclesice — 
 et Tteipubliccp Romanorum" 
 
 Y 
 
322 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 Pepin and Stephen into a monastery at Vienne, 
 where he died in the same year. 1 
 
 Haistulph on his part was equally determined, and 
 war became inevitable. He would make no promise 
 concerning the conquered territory, but would grant 
 a safe conduct to Stephen back to his own diocese. 
 The lateness of the season allowed of no lengthened 
 negotiations. Immediately after the receipt of Hais- 
 tulph's answer Pepin began his march towards Italy, 
 accompanied by Stephen ; and having sent forward a 
 detachment to occupy the passes of the Alps, he fol- 
 lowed it with the whole force of the empire. Passing 
 through Lyons and Vienne, he made his way to 
 Mauri enne, with the intention of crossing the Alps by 
 the valley of Susa, at the foot of Mont Cenis. This 
 important pass, however, had been occupied by Hais- 
 tulph, who had pitched his camp there and was pre- 
 pared to dispute the passage. According to the 
 chroniclers, he endeavoured to strengthen his posi- 
 tion by the same warlike machines which he had 
 " wickedly designed for the destruction of the Roman 
 state and the Apostolic Chair." 2 The onward march 
 of the Franks was effectually checked for the moment, 
 and Pepin pitched his camp on the river Arc. In a 
 short time, however, a few of the more adventurous 
 of his soldiers made their way through the moun- 
 tains into the valley of Susa, where Haistulph lay. 
 Their inferior numbers emboldened the Langobards, 
 who immediately attacked them. " The Franks," says 
 the chronicler, " seeing that their own strength and 
 
 1 Vita S. Stephan. II. 2 Ibid. 
 
Ceiap. VI. ] HUMILIATION OF THE LANGOBARDS. 323 
 
 resources could not save them, invoked the aid of God 
 and the holy Apostle Peter ; whereupon the engage- 
 ment began, and both sides fought bravely. But when 
 King Haistulph beheld the loss which his men were 
 suffering, he betook himself to flight, after having 
 lost nearly the whole of his army, with the dukes, 
 counts and chief men of the Langobards." 1 The 
 main body of Pepin's army then passed the Alps 
 without resistance, and spread themselves over the 
 plains of Italy as far as Pavia, in which the Lombard 
 king had taken refuge. The terrible ravages of the 
 invaders, who plundered and burnt all the towns and 
 villages which lay along their route, and the imminent 
 danger which threatened himself and his royal city, 
 subdued for the moment the stubborn spirit of 
 Haistulph, and he earnestly besought the Frankish 
 prelates and nobles to intercede for him with their 
 ''merciful" sovereign. He promised to restore Ra- 
 venna and all the other towns which he had taken 
 "from the holy see" to keep faithfully to his allegiance 
 to Pepin, and never again to inflict any injury on the 
 Apostolic Chair or the Roman state. The Pope him- 
 self, who had no desire to see the Franks too power- 
 ful in Italy, earnestly begged his mighty protector 
 " to shed no more Christian blood, but to put an end 
 to the strife by peaceful means." 2 Pepin was by no 
 means sorry to be spared the siege of Pavia, and 
 having received forty hostages and caused Haistulph 
 
 1 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. pars iv. c cxx. 
 
 2 Vit. S. Stepli. II. 
 
 y 2 
 
324 THE FRANKS. [CHAr. VI. 
 
 to ratify his promises by the most solemn oaths, he 
 sent the Pope with a splendid retinue to Rome, and 
 led his army homewards laden with booty. 
 
 But Haistulph was not the man to sit down quietly 
 under a defeat, or to forego a long cherished purpose. 
 In the following year he renewed the attack upon the 
 Roman territory with a fury heightened by the desire 
 of vengeance. 1 Rome itself was besieged, and the 
 church of St. Peter on the Vatican sacrilegiously 
 defiled. Pope Stephen II., from whose life and letters 
 we gain our knowledge of these circumstances, re- 
 peatedly wrote to Pepin and his sons for aid, in the 
 most urgent, and at times indignant terms. In one 
 of his epistles, St. Peter himself is made to address 
 them as " his adopted sons," and to chide the delay 
 and indecision of the king. After assuring them that 
 not he (the Apostle) only, but " the Mother of God, 
 the ever- Virgin Mary," and u thrones and dominions, 
 and the whole army of Heaven, and the martyrs and 
 confessors of Christ, and all who are pleasing to God," 
 earnestly sought and conjured them to save the holy 
 see, the Apostle promises, in case of their compliance, 
 that he will prepare for them " the highest and most 
 glorious tabernacles" and bestow on them " the re- 
 wards of eternal recompense and the infinite joys of 
 paradise." " But if," he adds, " which we do not ex- 
 pect, you should make any delay, .... know that, for 
 your neglect of my exhortation, you are alienated from 
 the kingdom of God and from eternal life." When 
 speaking in his own person Stephen says, " Know that 
 
 * Fred. Chron. Cent, pars iv. c. exxi. Vit. S. Steph.II. c. 41. 
 
Chap. VI. j POPE STEPHEN'S LETTERS TO PEPIN. 325 
 
 the Apostle Peter holds firmly in his hand the deed of 
 gift which was granted by your hand's." Nor does 
 he neglect to remind the Frankish princes of their 
 obligation to the Papacy and the return that they 
 were expected to make. " Therefore" he says, "has 
 the Lord, at the intercession of the Apostle Peter and 
 by means of our lowliness, consecrated you as kings, 
 that through you the holy Church might be exalted 
 and the prince of the Apostles regain his lawful pos- 
 sessions." 1 
 
 The boundless promises and awful denunciations 
 of the Pope might have been alike unavailing, had 
 not other and stronger motives inclined the king to 
 make a second expedition into Italy. The interests 
 of his d} T nasty were so closely connected with those 
 of the Roman Church, that he could not desert the 
 Pope in this imminent peril without weakening the 
 foundations of his throne ; and his honour as a war- 
 rior and a king seemed to require that the Lombards 
 should be punished for their breach of faith. The 
 influence of Boniface, too (who w r as still alive, though 
 he died before the end of the campaign ), was no doubt 
 exerted in behalf of the Papacy which he had done 
 so much to raise. Pepin determined to save the Pope, 
 but he did so at the imminent risk of causing a revolt 
 
 1 Codex Carol. No. III. : "... ideoque ego Petrus Apostolus 
 — qui vos adoptivos habeo filios. . . . Sed et Domina nostra, Dei 
 Gcnitrix, semper Virgo Maria, nobiscuin vos magnis obligationi- 
 
 bus adjurans protestatur, &c sciatis vos ex auctoritalo 
 
 eanctce et unicze Trinitatis per gratiam apostoiatus, qua? data est 
 mi hi a Christo Domino, vos tdienari p/o Iransgi essione nostra ad 
 hortationis a ivy no Del et vita eclcrna" 
 
 v 3 
 
326 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 among his own vassals, who openly and loudly ex- 
 pressed their disapproval of the war. "This war" 
 (against the Langobards), says Einhard 1 , "was un- 
 dertaken with the greatest difficulty, for some of the 
 chief men of the Franks with whom he (Pepin) was 
 accustomed to take counsel were so strongly opposed 
 to his wishes that they openly declared that they would 
 desert the king and return home." Pepin found 
 means to pacify or overawe these turbulent dis- 
 sentients, and persisted in his determination once 
 more to save the head of the Church from the hands 
 of his enemies. In this second expedition Pepin 
 was accompanied by his nephew Tassilo, who, in obe- 
 dience to the war-ban of his liege lord, joined him 
 with the Bavarian troops. 2 The Frankish army 
 marched through Chalons and Geneva to the same 
 valley of Maurienne and to the passes of Mont 
 Cenis, which, as in the former year, were occupied by 
 the troops of Haistulph. The Franks, however, in spite 
 of all resistance, made their way into Italy, and took 
 a fearful vengeance for the broken treaty, destroying 
 and burning everything within their reach, and giv- 
 ing no quarter to their perfidious enemies. They 
 then closely invested Pavia ; and Haistulph, convinced 
 
 1 Eitthardi, Vit. Carol. 31. : " Quod (belluni contra Lango- 
 bardos) prius quideru et a patre ejus, Stephano Papa supplicante, 
 cum magna difficultate susceptum est, quia quidam e primoribus 
 Francorum cum quibus consultare solebat, adeo voluntate ejus 
 renisi sunt, ut se regem deserturos domumque redituros libera 
 voce proclamarent." 
 
 2 Fredeg. Chron. Cont. pars iv. c. cxxi. an. 7o5. Annal. Lauriss. 
 ut Einhardi, an. 756. (Monuni. Germ, i.) Vita P. Stephan. II. 
 
Chap. VI.] DEATH OF HAISTULPH. 327 
 
 of his utter inability to cope with Pepin, again em- 
 ployed the willing services of the Frankish seigniors 
 to negotiate a peace. Pepin on his side accepted the 
 overtures made to him with singular facility, but 
 obliged Haistulph to give fresh hostages, to renew 
 his oaths, and, what was more to the purpose, to de- 
 liver up a third of the royal treasure in the city of 
 Pavia. Haistulph also agreed to renew an annual 
 tribute, which is said to have been paid for a long 
 time previously to the Frankish monarchs. 
 
 And thus a second time was the Papacy delivered 
 from a danger which went nigh to nip its budding- 
 greatness, and reduce it to the rank of a Lombard 
 bishopric. 
 
 Haistulph died while hunting in a forest, before he 
 had had time to forget the rough lessons he had re- 
 ceived and to recover from his losses in blood and 
 treasure. The fact that his life was preserved while 
 he was besieging Rome and desecrating St. Peter's 
 church, and the consideration that good men too are 
 sometimes killed while hunting, did not prevent the 
 chroniclers from giving an unanimous verdict of 
 " struck by Divine vengeance." * We know but little 
 of him beyond this, that he was an ambitious man 
 with a strong will, and not more scrupulous in keeping 
 oaths than the other princes of his age. Unfortunately 
 we cannot use the letters of the Roman pontiffs as 
 sources for the biography of their opponents, on ac- 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. Cont. pars iv. c. cxxii. Doc. 756. Vita P. !Su> 
 phan. II. Annul. Melt. an. 7o(5. : tL Diviim ultionc pcrcufcirfus." 
 
 y 4 
 
( 
 
 328 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 count of the exceeding vigour of their style. " The 
 tyrant Haistulph" says Stephen II., " the child of the 
 devil, who thirsted for the blood of Christians and 
 destroyed churches, has been struck by the hand of 
 God, and thrust into the abyss of hell in the same 
 days in which a year before he had marched out to 
 lestroy Borne," 1 cj*c. cj'C. 
 
 A danger from another quarter, which threatened 
 the development of the papal power, was also warded 
 off by the power and steadfastness of Pepin. When 
 the Exarchate of Ravenna was overrun by the Lango- 
 bards, it was taken, not from the Pope, but from the 
 Greek Emperor ; and even the towns and territories 
 which were virtually under the sway of the papal 
 chair, were, nominally at least, portions of the 
 Eastern Roman Empire. As Stephen had never for- 
 mally renounced his allegiance to the Emperor, he 
 could receive even the Roman duchy only as a repre- 
 sentative of his sovereign, and to the other remains 
 of the Roman Empire in Italy he had no claim what- 
 ever. The Langobards had dispossessed the Greeks, 
 and the Franks had expelled the Langobards. It 
 was therefore open to the conqueror to bestow his 
 new acquisition where he pleased ; but, at all events, 
 the claim of the Greek Emperor was stronger than 
 that of his vassal the Bishop of Rome. We cannot 
 wonder, then, when we read, that ambassadors 2 from 
 Constantinople came to meet Pepin in the neighbour- 
 
 i Cod. Carol. No. VIII. 
 
 - The Protonsecretu Geor^iu^ and the Sileiitiarius Johannes. 
 
Chap. VI.] TEMPORAL TOWER OF THE TOPE. 329 
 
 hood of Pavia, and begged him to restore Ravenna 
 and the other towns of the exarchate to the Roman 
 Emperor. u But they did not succeed," says the 
 chronicler, " in moving the steadfast heart of the 
 king; on the contrary, he declared that he would by 
 no means allow these towns to be alienated from the 
 rule of the Roman chair, and that nothing should 
 turn him from his resolution." 1 Accordingly, he 
 despatched the Abbot Fulrad, with the plenipoten- 
 tiary of King Haistulph, to receive possession of the 
 towns and strong places which the Lombard had 
 agreed to resign. 2 The abbot was further instructed 
 to take with him a deputation of the most respectable 
 inhabitants from these towns, and in their company 
 to carry the keys of their gates to Rome, and lay them 
 in St. Peter's grave, together with a regular deed of 
 gift to the Pope and his successors. 
 
 The independence of the holy see, as far as re- 
 garded the Greek Empire, was thus secured, and a 
 solid foundation laid for the temporal power of the 
 Popes, who may now be said to have taken their place 
 for the first time among the sovereigns of Europe. 
 
 The rising fortunes of the Roman pontiffs were 
 still further favoured by a disputed succession to the 
 Lombard throne. On the death of Haistulph, his 
 
 1 Vita Stephan. II. Cod. Carol. No. VIII. 
 
 2 These were Ravenna, Ariminum ( Rimini), Pisaurum (Pesaro), 
 Conca, Fanuro, Cesina, Senogallia (Sinigaglia), JEiiio (Jcsi), Fo- 
 rum Populi, Forum Livii (Forli), Sassubium, Mons Feltri, Acerres, 
 Agiomons, Mons Lueati, S<rra, the Castle of S. Marini, Bobium, 
 Urbinum, Callis, Luciolis, Eugubium (Gubbio)j and Coiniaelum. 
 Vit. Steph. II. 
 
330 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 brother Ratchis, who had formerly changed a crown 
 for a cowl, was desirous of returning to his previous 
 dignity, and appears to have been the popular can- 
 didate. Desiderius 1 , Duke of Tuscia, Constable of 
 Haistulph, obtained the support of the Pope. In 
 order to secure this valuable alliance, he had pro- 
 mised u to comply with all the holy father's wishes," 
 to deliver up other towns in Italy besides those men- 
 tioned in Pepin's deed of gift, and to make him many 
 other rich presents. " Upon this," says the chronicle, 
 " the Arch-shepherd took counsel with the venerable 
 Abbot Fulrad, and sent his brothers, Diaconus Paulus 
 and Primicerius Christopher, in company with Abbot 
 Fulrad, to Desiderius, in Tuscia, who immediately 
 confirmed his former promises with a deed and a 
 most fearful oath." 2 
 
 After this prudent precaution, it was agreed at 
 Rome that the cause of Desiderius should be sup- 
 ported, even by force of arms if necessary, against 
 Ratchis. " But Almighty God ordered matters in 
 such a manner that Desiderius, with the aid of the 
 Pope, ascended the throne without any further con- 
 test. The promised towns, Faventia (Faenza), with 
 the fortresses Tiberiacum, Cavellum, and the whole 
 duchy of Ferrara, were claimed, and, according to 
 some accounts, received, by the papal envoys ; though 
 
 * "Desiderius vir mitissimus." — Cod, Carol. No. VIII. 
 
 2 Vit. Steph. II. Fred. Chron. Cont. pars iv. e. cxxii. The 
 promises of Desiderius were indeed magnificent. Vit. Cod. Carol. 
 No. VIII. Annul. Mett. an. 7o8. 
 
Chap. VI.] AQUITANIANS AND FRANKS. 331 
 
 the next Pope complains that Desiderius had not 
 kept his promises. 1 Stephen II. ended his eventful 
 life on the 24th of April, a.d. 757. 
 
 With the exception of an unimportant expedition 
 against the Saxons, in which Pepin gained a victory 
 on the river Lippe, and again at Sithiu, near Diilmen 
 on the Stever (in Westphalia), nothing of importance, 
 in a military point of view, appears to have been 
 undertaken before a.d. 760 ; when, according to some 
 authors, Narbonne was taken from the Saracens, who 
 were now driven from all their possessions on the 
 Gallic side of the Pyrenees. 2 
 
 In a.d. 760, began a long series of annual expe- 
 ditions against Aquitaine, a country which had as- 
 serted a degree of independence highly offensive to 
 the Franks. The Aquitanian princes, too, are sup- 
 posed to have been peculiarly odious to Pepin, as off- 
 shoots from the Merovingian stock. 3 Waifar, the 
 reigning duke, the son of that Hunolcl who had re- 
 tired from the world in disgust after his defeat by 
 
 1 Epist. Paulli ad Pippin. Cod. Carol. No. XV. 
 
 2 Annal. Mett. an. 752, represent Pepin as marching against 
 Narbonne in 752, and leaving a force before that town, by which 
 it was taken after a three years' siege, i.e. in 755, when he was 
 himself engaged in Italy, in the war with the Langobards. 
 
 3 Clotaire II., son of Chilperic and Fredegunda. 
 
 Cbaribert II. 
 
 Boggis. 
 
 Eudcs. 
 
 ii 
 
 Ilunold. 
 
332 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 the Franks, inherited the restless and haughty spirit 
 of his father, and was ready to renew the contest 
 which Hunold had abandoned in despair. The ambitious 
 desires of Pepin, quickened by a personal dislike of 
 Waifar, were seconded by a strong mutual antipathy 
 existing between his own subjects and the Aquita- 
 nians. German blood did not enter largely into the 
 composition of the population of Aquitaine, and that 
 small portion which did flow in their veins was sup- 
 plied by the Ostrogoths, a German tribe, indeed, but 
 one which differed very widely from their Frankish 
 kinsmen. The Aquitanians appear at this time to 
 have possessed a degree of civilisation unknown to 
 the Franks, whom they regarded as semi-barbarians ; 
 while the Franks, in turn, despised the delicacy and 
 refinement of their weaker neighbours. Their mu- 
 tual dislikes and jealousies were kept alive by a per- 
 petual border warfare, which was carried on (as for- 
 merly between England and her neighbours on the 
 north and w r est) by powerful individuals in either 
 country, without regard to the relations existing be- 
 tween their respective rulers. It was from these 
 causes that Pepin came to look upon the Aquitanians 
 and their duke in the same light as the AVelsh were 
 regarded by our own Edward I. The affected inde- 
 pendence of Waifar, and the continual inroads made 
 by the Aquitanians into his dominions, exasperated 
 his feelings in the highest degree; and he evidently 
 sought the quarrel which occupied him for the re- 
 mainder of his life. 
 
 In a.d. 760, Pepin sent an embassy to Waifar, with 
 
Chap. VI.] FRANKS MARCH AGAINST AQUITANIANS. 333 
 
 demands which betrayed his hostile intentions against 
 that unfortunate prince. On this occasion, too, the 
 Frankish monarch came forward as a protector of the 
 Church. He demanded of Waifar that he should give 
 up all the ecclesiastical property in his dominions 
 which had been in any way alienated from the Church ; 
 restore the immunities which the lands of the clergy 
 had formerly enjoyed ; and cease for the future from 
 sending into them his officers and tax-gatherers. 
 Furthermore, he demanded that Waifar should pay 
 a weregeld " for all the Goths whom he had lately put 
 to death contrary to law ;" and, lastly, that he should 
 deliver up all fugitives from the dominions of Pepin 
 who had sought refuge in Aquitaine. 1 
 
 Waifar had thus the option given him of sub- 
 mitting to become a mere lieutenant of Pepin, or of 
 having the whole force of the Frankish empire em- 
 ployed for his destruction. He chose the latter 
 alternative, as every high-spirited prince must have 
 done under the circumstances ; and the war began at 
 once. " All this," says the chronicler, " Waifar re- 
 fused to do ; and therefore Pepin collected an army 
 from all quarters, although unwillingly, and, as it were, 
 under compulsion! 12 The Frankish army marched 
 through Troyes and Auxerre, and, crossing the Loire 
 at the village of Masua 3 , and passing through Berri 
 and Auvergne, devastated the greater part of Aqui- 
 
 1 Annal. Einhard. an. 760. Annal. Lauriss. an. 760. Fred. 
 Chron. Cont. pars iv. c. exxiv. 
 
 2 Ibid. : " Invitus et co-artatus." 
 
 3 Mesves, in the Department Nievre. 
 
334 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 taine with fire and sword. Waifar, who was not 
 sufficiently prepared for the attack, made an insincere 
 profession of penitence which deceived no one ; and, 
 after taking the necessary oaths of fidelity and 
 Giving hostages, was relieved from his unwelcome 
 visitors. That this was a mere marauding ex- 
 pedition, to which Waifar offered no serious re- 
 sistance, is proved by the fact that " Pepin returned 
 back without having suffered the slightest loss." 1 
 
 In the following year Waifar, who had formed 
 an alliance with Humbert, Count of Bourges, and 
 Blandin, Count of Auvergne, considered himself 
 strong enough to venture upon an inroad into the 
 Frankish territory; and, in company with these allies, 
 he led his army, plundering and burning, as far as 
 Chalons on the Saone. Pepin's rage at hearing that 
 the Aquitanians had dared to take the initiative, and 
 had ravaged a large portion of Neustria, and even 
 burned his own palace at Melciacum, was further 
 increased by the knowledge that some of his own 
 counts were aiding the invaders. Hastily collecting 
 his troops, he took a terrible revenge, and showed 
 the unusual exasperation of his feelings by putting 
 his prisoners to death, and allowing a great number 
 of men, women, and children to perish in the flames 
 of the conquered towns. As Waifar still continued 
 contumacious, a similar expedition was undertaken 
 by the Franks in the following year, and Bourges 
 and Thouars were stormed and taken. Pepin, ac- 
 
 ] Fred. Chron. pars iv. c. 125. 
 
Chap. VI. ] PEPIN DEVASTATES AQUITAINE. 335 
 
 cording to the chronicles, invariably returned from 
 these campaigns victorious " by the aid of God," 
 or "under the guidance of Christ," "laden with 
 booty, and without the slightest loss." 
 
 At the return of spring, in a. d. 763, Pepin held 
 the Campus Mains at Nevers l . at which it was 
 resolved once more to carry fire and sword into the 
 devoted land of Aquitaine, the inhabitants of which 
 had already lost almost everything but their stubborn 
 hatred of their Frankish oppressors. It is curious, 
 when Ave consider that this war was undertaken by 
 Pepin on behalf of the Church (which Waifar was 
 accused of despoiling), to read the account of the 
 destructive march of the Franks. " After desolating" 
 nearly the whole of the country about Limoges," says 
 the chronicler, " and plundering many monasteries, he 
 marched to Issandon (near Limoges), and laid waste 
 a great part of Aquitaine, which was chiefly covered 
 with vineyards ; for, in nearly the whole of Aqui- 
 tania, the churches and monasteries, the rich and the 
 poor, cultivated the vine, but he destroyed everything :" 2 
 
 The campaign of this year is remarkable for the 
 sudden defection of Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria and 
 nephew of Pepin, who, during the march towards 
 Aquitaine, suddenly withdrew with his troops under 
 
 1 In the Dep. Nievre. According to the Annal. Petav., the Cam- 
 pus Maius (or May Field) was introduced a.d. 755. Annal. 
 Mett. an. 762 et 763. 
 
 2 Fred. Chron. Cont. pars iv. c. cxxx. There is a difference of 
 two or three years in the chronology of Fredegar and that of the 
 Annal. Lauriss. et Einhardi. Annal. Lariss. et Einhardi, an. 763, 
 where these events are placed a.d. 763. 
 
336 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 pretence of illness, with the firm resolve " never 
 to see his uncle's face again. " When about twenty- 
 one years of age, Tassilo had been compelled to swear 
 fealty to Pepin at the Campus Maius held at Com- 
 piegne in A. d. 757. Since that period he had been 
 kept continually near his uncle's person, as if the 
 latter was not satisfied with the sincerity of his 
 subservience. The defection of Tassilo, at a time 
 when the Frankish power was engaged in this 
 desperate and bitter contest with the Aquitanians, 
 caused great anxiety to Pepin ; and though the march 
 was continued as far as Cahors (Dep. Lot.), little of 
 importance was effected. 
 
 The diet was held in the following vear, a. d. 764, 
 at Worms, where it was discussed whether the 
 war should be proceeded with or the revolt of 
 the Bavarians be first suppressed. It would ap- 
 pear, however, that Pepin found it impossible to 
 induce his vassals to march in either direction, 
 for we are told that he passed the whole year at 
 home, and spent the winter at his palace at Chiersy. 1 
 He endeavoured, indeed, to plant a thorn in the side 
 of Waifar by bestowing the lately conquered town of 
 Argenton and the province of Berri on Eemistan, 
 the uncle of Waifar, who had voluntarily sworn 
 allegiance to him. But this hope, too, failed ; for 
 Eemistan was false to his own treachery, and soon 
 reconciled himself to his nephew, and took up the 
 national cause. To show his sincerity in this second 
 
 1 According to the Annal. Lauriss. et Einhardi, a.d. 764. 
 
Chap. VI. ] PEPIX DEVASTATES AQUITAINE. 337 
 
 change, Remistan devastated the territory of Bourges 
 and Limoges in so terrible a manner that " not a 
 farmer dared to till his fields or vineyards." * 
 
 The effect of the perpetual and harassing inroads 
 of the Aquitanians upon the Franks was such as 
 Pepin most desired. It exasperated them to such a 
 degree that they were ready to make any sacrifice to 
 destroy their troublesome enemy. In the campus 
 Maius, therefore, which Pepin held at Orleans in a. p. 
 766, he found his vassals fully prepared to second his 
 designs, and determined, at any cost, to finish the 
 war. Considerable progress was made towards the 
 subjugation of Waifar's territory during this year, but 
 still more in the two following ; in the former of which 
 the city of Toulouse 2 and the fortresses Scoraillc, 
 Turenne, and Peiruce were taken, and in the latter 
 the Frankish army pressed on as far as the Garonne, 
 Perigueux, and Saintes. 
 
 Waifar and his people were by this time utterly 
 exhausted by their exertions and calamities, and, 
 beinsr without the means of continuing the war, lay 
 at the mercy of the conquerors. Embittered by the 
 opposition he had met with, Pepin acted with unusual 
 harshness. Taking his family with him to Saintes, 
 and leaving them there, " he turned his whole mind 
 to the destruction of Waifar, and determined never 
 
 1 Fred. Chron. Cont. pars iv. c. cxxxiii. 
 
 2 Annal. Lauriss. et Einhard. an. 767. ; Conf. Ann. Einb. ad 
 an. eund. ,In this same year he also held a synod at Sol money 
 (near Laon), de Sancta Trinitate vel de Sanctorum imaginibus inter 
 orientalem et occidentalem Eceles., id est, Romanos et Grrecos. . . ." 
 
 Z 
 
338 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 to rest till he had captured or killed the rebel." x 
 Remistan was soon afterwards taken prisoner and 
 hung as a traitor. 2 The mother, sister, and niece of 
 Waifar fell into the hands of the Franks, and were 
 sent off into the interior of the kingdom. 3 That un- 
 happy prince himself, deprived of every hope, and 
 every consolation in disaster, deserted by the great 
 mass of the Gascons, and hunted from hiding-place to 
 hiding-place like a wild beast, met with the common 
 fate of unfortunate monarchs ; he was betrayed and 
 murdered by his own followers in the forest of Edobold 
 in Perigord. 4 The independence of Aquitaine fell 
 with him, and the country was subsequently governed 
 by Frankish counts like the rest of Pepin's empire. 
 
 The victor returned in triumph to his queen Ber- 
 trada (who was awaiting him at Saintes), rejoicing, 
 doubtless, in having at last attained the object of so 
 many toilsome years. His implacable and hated foe 
 was no more ; the stiff-necked Aquitanians were at 
 his feet ; his southern border was secure ; and the 
 whole empire was in an unwonted state of peace. 
 He had every reason to look forward with confidence 
 
 1 Annal. Einhardi^ an. 768. 
 
 2 Fred. Citron. Cont. pars iv. c. exxxiv. : " In patibulo sus- 
 pendi jussit.'' Conf. Tacit. Germ. xii. . " Proditores et trans- 
 fugas arboribus suspend unt." 
 
 3 " Quas cum pie susceptas servari jussisset." — Einhard. Annal. 
 an. 768. 
 
 4 " Dolo warratonis." — Annal. Lauriss. Min. an. 768. Fred. 
 Chron. Cont. pars iv. e. exxxv. : " Dum hcec agerentur, ut asse- 
 runt, consilio Regis factum, Waifarius Princeps Aquitanias a suis 
 interfectus est." 
 
Chap. VI.] PEPIN'S SICKNESS AND DEATH. 339 
 
 to an interval at least of quiet, which he might spend 
 in domestic pleasures and in the regulation of the 
 internal affairs of the vast empire over which he 
 ruled. 
 
 But where he had looked for repose and safety an 
 enemy awaited him more terrible than any whom he 
 had encountered in the field. A short time after he 
 arrived at Saintes, he was attacked by a disease which 
 is variously described as fever and dropsy. Con- 
 vinced that his case was beyond all human aid, he 
 set out with his wife and children to Tours, and, 
 entering the church of St. Martin, earnestly prayed 
 for the intercession of that patron saint of the 
 Frankish kings. From thence he proceeded to Paris, 
 and passed some time in the monastery of St. Denis, 
 invoking the aid of God through his chosen servants. 
 But when he saw that it was the will of heaven that he 
 should die, lie provided for the future welfare of his 
 subjects ; summoning the dukes and counts, the bishops 
 and clergy of his Frankish dominions, he divided the 
 whole empire, with their concurrence, between his 
 two sons, Carl and Carloman. He died a few days 
 after the settlement of the succession, on the 24th of 
 September, A. d. 768, in the twenty-fifth year of his 
 prosperous reign, and was buried by his sons, with 
 great pomp, in the church of St. Denis, at Paris. 1 
 
 Pepin was described by Alcuin, in the following 
 generation, as an " energetic and honourable" prince, 
 " distinguished alike by his victories and his vir- 
 
 1 Fred. Cliron. Cont. pars iv. c cxxxvi. Annal. Mett. an. 768. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 tues ;" and although such epithets were used, more es- 
 pecially in that age, without sufficient discrimination, 
 there is every reason in the present case to adopt them 
 in their full significance. In the field, indeed, he had 
 fewer difficulties to deal with than his warlike father. 
 In all his military undertakings the odds were 
 greatly in his favour ; and he had not the same 
 opportunities as Carl Martel of showing what he 
 could effect by the mere force of superior genius. 
 Yet, whatever he was called upon to do, he did with 
 energy and success. He quickly brought the re- 
 volted German nations, the Bavarians and Suabians, 
 to the obedience to which the hammering of his 
 predecessor had reduced them ; and he drove back 
 the restless Saxons to their wild retreats. Twice he 
 led an army across the Alps against a brave and 
 active enemy, and twice returned victorious, after 
 saving the distant city of Rome from imminent 
 destruction and securing the independence of the 
 Pope. 
 
 As a civil ruler he showed himself temperate and 
 wise. Though greatly superior in every respect to 
 his brother, he took no unfair advantage of him, but 
 lived and acted with him in uninterrupted harmony. 
 Though his ambition induced him to assume the 
 name of king, he did so without haste or rashness, 
 at a time and under circumstances in which the 
 change of dynasty was likely to cause the least 
 amount of ill-feeling or disturbance. 
 
 In his relations to the Church he displayed both 
 reverence and self-respect. From conviction as well 
 
Chap. VI.] CHARACTER OF PEPIN. 341 
 
 as policy, he was a staunch supporter of Christianity 
 and the Roman Church : but he was no weak fa- 
 natic ; he cherished and advanced the clergy, and 
 availed himself of their superior learning in the 
 conduct of his affairs ; but he was by no means 
 inclined to give way to immoderate pretensions 
 on their part. He always remained their master, 
 though a kind and considerate one ; nor did he 
 scruple to make use of their over-flowing coffers for 
 the general purposes of the State. 
 
 Of his private life we know scarcely anything at 
 all; but we have no reason to suppose that it was 
 inconsistent with that respect for religion, that love 
 of order, justice, and moderation which he generally 
 manifested in his public acts. In his last campaigns 
 against Waifar and the Aquitanians alone does he 
 seem to have been betrayed into a cruel and vin- 
 dictive line of conduct ; and from them, as we have 
 seen, he received the greatest provocation. 
 
 With such high qualities, important transactions, 
 and glorious deeds, connected with his name, we 
 might wonder that the fame of Pepin is not greater, 
 did we not know the diminishing force of unfavour- 
 able contrast. Unfortunately, for his renown at least, 
 he had a father and a son still greater than himself. 
 Such a man would have risen like an alp from the level 
 plain of ordinary kings : as it is, he forms but a link 
 in a long chain of eminences, of which he is not the 
 highest ; and thus it has come to pass that the tomb 
 of one who ruled a mighty empire for twenty-five 
 
 z 3 
 
342 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 years with invariable success, who founded a new 
 dynasty of kings, and established the Popes on their 
 earthly throne, is inscribed with the name of his still 
 more glorious successor ; and all his high qualities 
 and glorious deeds appear to be forgotten in the fact 
 that he was "Pater Caroli Magni!" 
 
S43 
 
 CHAR VII. 
 
 POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, LAWS, CUSTOMS, ETC. 
 
 The political institutions, laws, and customs car- 
 ried by the Franks into Gaul, which, in a form deve- 
 loped by time and modified by foreign influence, were 
 subsequently established by Charlemagne throughout 
 the greater part of Europe, are the groundwork of 
 modern civilisation. They possess, therefore, the 
 strongest claims to the interest of all who would 
 study the Carlovingian period of Frankish history, 
 or trace to their origin the various, and often incon- 
 gruous, phenomena of European life. 
 
 But the investigation of this subject is rendered 
 difficult and disappointing by the fragmentary nature 
 of the accounts which have come down to us re- 
 specting the political state of Europe in the sixth and 
 seventh centuries. And if the poverty of the sources 
 of our knowledge were all we had to regret, — if they 
 were but clearer, less adulterated with fable, more in 
 harmony with each other, — our task would be less ar- 
 duous than it is. Yet the deficiencv of materials for a 
 constitutional history of this period is not accidental— 
 not the consequence of Alexandrian fires or monkish 
 
 z 4 
 
344 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 want of taste or parchment, but of the circumstances 
 of the times themselves. The different substances of 
 which society is composed lie before us now in distinct 
 and regular strata ; then they were in a state of fusion. 
 And who, when looking into that boiling mass, could 
 undertake to describe each evanescent bubble, as it 
 rose to the troubled surface, or prophesy what en- 
 during shapes would one day issue from it ? 
 
 The literary monuments from which we derive our 
 limited knowledge of the middle ages are indeed con- 
 fused, but not more so than the then existing state of 
 things. They are inconsistent and irreconcilable be- 
 yond all parallel, but so were the phenomena them- 
 selves. The Gallo-Roman and the German differed 
 so widely from each other in their national charac- 
 teristics, as to render their union difficult under 
 any circumstances ; but their original disparity was 
 greatly increased by the different degrees of civilisa- 
 tion to which they had attained when they first came 
 into collision with each other, and by the opposing 
 nature of their religion, laws, and civil polity. In 
 that strange period, forms of government fresh from 
 the forests of Germany were seen side by side with 
 the latest rescripts of imperial tyranny ; and laws 
 " dictated by necessity and written down by free- 
 dom " with the subtlest refinements of the Roman 
 jurists. The votaries of the rude and cruel super- 
 stitions of the Northern Mythology became daily 
 witnesses of the rites and ceremonies of the Chris- 
 tian Church. Fearless independence and rude poverty 
 were brought into the closest contact with mean ser- 
 
Chap. VII.] DIFFICULTY OF THE SUBJECT. 345 
 
 vility and enervating luxury. On the one side was 
 ignorance, on the other learning : here bodily strength 
 and martial prowess; there mental subtlety and vi- 
 gour: here rudeness of manners, bordering on bru- 
 tality ; and there refinement, carried to an effeminate 
 excess. No wonder, then, that the succeeding" ae:c 
 was one in which history was silent, or gave but an 
 uncertain sound, — that men of the clearest intellect 
 should be able to see but little in that chaotic dark- 
 ness, — that after many a long and anxious gaze they 
 should so widely differ from one another, in their 
 reports of what they see. " Such, in fact," says M. 
 Guizot, " is the character of the barbarian epoch ; it 
 is the chaos of all elements, the infancy of all sj^stems, 
 a universal pell-mell, in which even the struggle itself 
 is neither permanent nor systematic." And again : 
 " After examining in all its phases the social state of 
 this period, I could show you that it is impossible to 
 discover anywhere a principle at all general, or at all 
 established." 
 
 Nor does the difficulty which history finds in 
 making her way through this intricate region arise 
 solely from the confusion caused by the mingling of 
 dissimilar races under very peculiar circumstances. 
 Much of this disorder would have arisen had the 
 Franks found Gaul altogether uninhabited ; for they 
 were not at one among themselves. The govern- 
 ment and religion of the ancient Germans were very 
 local in their character, not easily transplanted to 
 another region. The exercise of their political rights 
 and the performance of their religious ceremonies 
 
346 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 were bound up with certain family and communal 
 arrangements, and associated with certain holy places, 
 and when these were disorganised or left behind, it 
 was not an easy matter to reconstruct them under 
 novel circumstances and on foreign ground. During 
 their long wanderings in search of their promised 
 land, the citizen became a soldier, the people an 
 army ; and they were subjected for an unusually long 
 period to a control of a much stricter kind than any 
 in which they would have acquiesced at home. And 
 when at length they ceased to move, and settled 
 down in the lands which their swords had won, the 
 more arbitrary authority which had grown up during 
 the period of transition was too firmly established to 
 be immediately shaken off. Yet those who, for a 
 definite object, submitted themselves to military rule, 
 could not forget their rights, or easily consent to be 
 permanently degraded in the social scale. And 
 hence arose fresh struggles between existing powers 
 and ancient traditions, between claims of authority 
 which were not allowed, and inalienable rights which 
 could not be exercised. 
 
 The difficulty of this transition from a fluid to a 
 solid state, from the habits and arrangements of 
 soldiers and wanderers, to the manners and laws of a 
 settled community, were greatly increased by the 
 most striking national characteristics of the Teuton. 
 He is by no means social or plastic in his nature ; he 
 is a stubborn, angular, and impracticable unit, which 
 loves to develope itself on all sides in its own way, 
 and hates above all things to be fitted into a system, 
 
Chai\ VII.] PUREST GERMAN BLOOD IN ENGLAND. 347 
 
 or to become part of a machine. This peculiarity 
 would display itself most strongly in such a scene as 
 we have endeavoured to describe ; where the state, 
 which is generally strong enough to coerce the most 
 unruly individual, was disorganised and weak. Hav- 
 ing no longer before him the beaten road which his 
 ancestors had trodden for ages, every man " fol- 
 lowed after that which was good in his own eyes,' 7 
 crossing his neighbour's path, thwarting his neigh- 
 bour's plans, with all the ineradicable idiosyncrasy of 
 his race. 
 
 The influence of this strong leaven in the Teutonic 
 nature is still observable, and particularly so in the 
 nation whose German blood is least " contaminated " 
 by foreign admixture 1 , and in the land where German 
 institutions have had the best opportunities of fully 
 developing themselves. We mean of course England 
 and the English. Where are there found so many 
 incongruous materials in one structure as go to form 
 the English constitution ? Where greater incon- 
 sistency and confusion than in the English law ? 
 Where greater irregularity of action than in English 
 legislation and English justice ? 
 
 The individual is not absorbed into the mass in the 
 same degree among us as in other nations. Nowhere 
 
 1 Tac. Germ., c. iv. : ". . . nullis aliis aliarum nationum connu- 
 biis infectos. . . ." The Anglo-Saxons drove out the Britons ; and 
 both Danes and Normans were Germans. Conf. Roth, Beneficial- 
 wesen, p. 33. : " It was not its insular position, but the exclusion 
 of all Celtic and Romance elements which kept England, compara- 
 tively speaking, free and happy." 
 
348 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 else do you hear so much of vested rights, or so often 
 see a single arm thrust into the great wheel of state, 
 whether to check its beneficial progress or to stay the 
 perilous rapidity of its course. It is difficult enough 
 to induce Englishmen to combine, even for the at- 
 tainment of really great and worthy objects ; but 
 happily still more so to unite them in the pursuit of 
 the phantoms of the political empiric's phrenzied brain. 
 Our course is circuitous, and our motions irregular 
 and slow, but they are nearly always in the right 
 direction. 
 
 It is this Teutonic peculiarity which makes our 
 institutions so clumsy, but so massive and impreg- 
 nable. It is this which makes our people at the same 
 time the most liberal and the most conservative, the 
 freest and the most loyal in the world, the greatest 
 lovers of what is old, and the first to reap the real 
 advantage of what is good in the new. 
 
 The object we propose to ourselves, of gaining as 
 correct a view as is practicable of the institutions of 
 the Franks in Gaul, will be best promoted by first 
 considering the principles and forms of government 
 which prevailed among them previous to their migra- 
 tions. And here if we could adopt the opinion of M. 
 Lehuerou, that our German forefathers were mere 
 bands of marauders, with robber chieftains at their 
 head ; or that of M. Guizot, who says, that they had 
 no public power, no government, and no state, then 
 our trouble would be small. But as all ancient au- 
 thorities agree in attributing to the early Germans a 
 sense of justice and order remarkable in barbarians; 
 
Chap. VII.] INSTITUTIONS OF EARLY GERMANS. 349 
 
 as their institutions still form an important part of 
 the strongest form of government in the old world, 
 and reign triumphant in the new, it seems both in- 
 teresting in itself, and indispensable to our purpose, 
 to give a brief outline of their principal features. 
 
 The German state owed its origin to the union of 
 families into separate but politically connected com- 
 munities. The freeman chose his place of abode ac- 
 cording to his own wants and tastes, without much 
 deference to the wishes of others. There he fixed 
 himself, and established, reared, and ruled his family. 
 But though he thus gratified his individuality, — to 
 him the first necessity, — he stood in close relation 
 to others, as a member of different communities of 
 smaller and greater extent. Those families in whom 
 the principle of association was strongest chose a 
 place for a villa (village, in which, however, each house 
 must stand by itself), and common land, to be divided 
 among the occupants according to their wants. 
 Others, living at a greater distance from one another 
 in the midst of their own land (Mansus), formed a 
 Mark; and these too had, besides their mansi, lands 
 and woods in common. In the earliest times of Ger- 
 man history, the family had great significance and 
 importance ; its rights were respected even in the 
 battle field. 1 On this subject we shall have an oppor- 
 tunity of saying more in a chapter on the Salic Law, 
 in which the family is often referred to, and the 
 village appears as a close corporation. 
 
 1 Tjic. Germ. vii. 
 
350 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 The free possessors of land and heads of families, 
 whether living in the stricter union of the villa, or 
 spread through the mark in distant mansi, were 
 members of the political division called the Hundred ; 
 a term of which the origin can only be guessed at. It 
 has been supposed by some, with a great degree of 
 probability, that it was originally composed of a 
 hundred estates ; others have tried to connect the 
 word with a passage of Tacitus x ; and others again 
 look upon it as a military division. However this 
 may be, it is certain that the numerical meaning of 
 the word was soon as entirely lost as in England at 
 this day. The hundred was a political and probably 
 a territorial division ; and itself formed part of the 
 Gau (or Canton), the limits of which were not arbi- 
 trarily fixed, but varied with the extension of the 
 tribe. Before those great confederations were formed, 
 of which the Franks were one, the gau was a country 
 in itself. 2 Thus, the Sicambri, Bructeri, Ansibarii, 
 &c, each inhabited a gau ; in their union, those 
 petty principalities became integral portions of a 
 kingdom. 
 
 The state was thus formed by the union of equal 
 and independent freemen, whose rights as citizens 
 were bound up with the possession of land and mem- 
 bership of certain corporate bodies. Freedom and 
 land were the necessary conditions of political ex- 
 istence. We shall see hereafter that there were other 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xii. 
 
 2 The origin of the Gau is seen in Cresar, Bell. Gall. vi. 22., 
 and Tac. Germ. xxvi. 
 
Chap. VII.] INSTITUTIONS OF EARLY GERMANS. 351 
 
 inhabitants who were not free, and who stood in no 
 direct relation to the State. 
 
 Throughout the whole system, the principle of self- 
 government prevailed in its greatest purity. As the 
 freeman ruled his family, so the villa, the mark, the 
 hundred, the gau, governed itself by means of elected 
 magistrates and popular assemblies, to which every 
 freeman had access. 1 Each of the divisions above 
 mentioned had its Parliament (Mallus, Thing, &c), 
 which either managed local affairs, as in the hundred, 
 or exercised supreme authority over the whole tribe, 
 as in the gau. These assemblies of the whole body 
 of freemen had a triple capacity, — the local or political 
 one just mentioned, that of a court of justice, and 
 that of a council of war. Where the gaus or coun- 
 ties were united into a larger country, this too had 
 its council, in which all rights were represented, all au- 
 thorities combined, and all the links of the long chain 
 of government united and firmly joined together. 
 To this assembl} 7 , however, came not the whole mass 
 of freemen, as to the others, but Deputies (Legationes) 
 from every gau or hundred. 
 
 The assembly of which Tacitus has given us a 
 graphic description was the sovereign assembly of the 
 gau. 
 
 " They meet," he says, — "unless something for- 
 tuitous or unexpected intervenes — on certain fixed 
 days, either at the new or full moon." 2 They come to 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xii. " EUguntur in iisdem conciliis ct priucipes, 
 qui jura per pagos vicosque reddant." 
 
 2 Tac, Germ. xi. 
 
Q 
 
 52 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 the place of assembly in arms, as befits their freedom, 
 and slowly and irregularly, to show their indepen- 
 dence. The transaction of business was preceded by a 
 feast 1 which, according to him, seems to have been 
 necessary to dissolve the natural reserve of their 
 character. Whether they have to consult on the 
 reconciliation of enemies, or the formation of new 
 alliances, or to determine the questions of peace or 
 war, they generally deliberate during a banquet; 
 thinking that at no other time is the mind so ac- 
 cessible to sincere thoughts, or so capable of being 
 warmed to great ones. The nation, neither astute nor 
 crafty, reveal the secrets of their breasts in the 
 license of joviality. The opinions thus unreservedly 
 revealed are reconsidered on the following day. . . . 
 u They deliberate when they cannot feign, they make 
 their decision when they cannot err." 
 
 When they are all assembled at the appointed place, 
 the chief priest of the nation comes forward, com- 
 mands silence, and begins to take the auspices in the 
 manner described above. 2 If the lots were favourable, 
 the meeting was constituted and the proceedings com- 
 menced ; if otherwise, no consultation could be held 
 on that day. u On minor matters," continues Tacitus, 
 " the Principes (the magistrates of the gaus or hun- 
 dreds) consult — on the more important, all," 3 but in 
 such amanner that the magistrates first considered the 
 matter thoroughly, and then laid it before thepeople 
 for their decision. The absolute authority of the 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xxii. 2 P. 29. 3 Tac. Germ. xi. 
 
Chap. VII.] GERMAN MONARCHY. 353 
 
 popular will, and the limited nature of the power 
 which the chiefs and even the kings themselves 
 (where such existed) can have exercised, is deducible 
 from another part of the same chapter. " The as- 
 sembly is addressed," he says, "now by the king, 
 now by a magistrate (princeps), and now by other 
 persons, according as they are distinguished by age, 
 nobility, military glory, or eloquence ; and they in- 
 fluence their hearers rather by the power of persuasion 
 than the right of command." 
 
 We learn from the writings of Caesar and Tacitus 
 that the form of government varied in different Ger- 
 man states, some of which were pure democracies 1 , 
 while others were ruled by a petty king — elected, but 
 elected for life, Tacitus also mentions states where 
 pure monarchy prevailed ; but these were exceptional, 
 and entirely out of the visual German norm. We 
 have preferred to describe the constitution of the de- 
 mocratic states, because by doing so we give the best 
 idea of the characteristic German polity; and because 
 the magistrate kings of the Germans were something 
 superadded to the social structure, and did not mate- 
 rially affect the general principle of self-government 
 by popular assemblies. The very limited nature of the 
 power of the kings is a proof that that power was not 
 gained through any violent political convulsion. 2 Ger- 
 
 1 Ccesar. Bell. Gall. vi. 23. : " In pace nullus est communis 
 niagistratus, sed principes regionum atque pagorum inter suos jus 
 dicunt, controversiasque minuunt." 
 
 2 Tac. Germ. viii. : " Nee Regibus infinitce aut libera potestas ; 
 et Duces exemplo potius quam imperio proesunt." 
 
 A A 
 
354 THE FRANKS. [Chai>. VII. 
 
 man royalty was of native growth, and differed essen- 
 tially from any other type of kingship. 1 Its origin 
 may have been different in different tribes. In some 
 the Dux who was chosen in war established himself 
 so firmly in his seat as to receive the obedience of 
 the Principes in time of peace. The leaders of the 
 Frankish tribes were originally called Dukes, and 
 ruled their gaus with monarchical, but evidently 
 very limited powers. The principal difference, as we 
 have said, between the kings in the monarchical, and 
 the Principes or magistrates in the democratic states, 
 was, that the former were elected for life, and that 
 the office was confined to certain families. The length 
 of time for which the mere magistrate of the gau was 
 chosen is uncertain, but we know that he was re- 
 sponsible to those who chose him : the office was open 
 to every freeman, without distinction of birth. Where 
 the royal power was extended over an union of gaus, 
 it is probable that the king had the right of nomi- 
 nating the magistrates (principes). 
 
 We have hitherto confined our attention to those 
 orders of men who alone enjoyed political exist- 
 ence and constituted the state, — the kings — and 
 the freemen or Ingenui. Below these, last in the 
 social scale, and only connected with the body politic 
 through them, were the Liberti or freedmen, the Liti 
 or hereditary bondsmen of the soil, and the Servi or 
 proper slaves. Of the Liberti, Tacitus remarks that 
 their condition was not far removed from that of the 
 
 1 Tac. AnnaL xiii. 54. : " Auctore Verrito ct Malorige qui na- 
 tionem earn regebant, in quantum Germani regnantur" 
 
Chap. VIL] INGENDI. — LIBERTI. — LITI. — SERVI. 355 
 
 slave, — that they seldom, except in countries where 
 royal power prevailed, attained to any influence in 
 the family, and never in the state. 1 In the Salic law 
 we find them under the protection or mundium of a 
 master. 
 
 The Liti, though not free, formed a distinct order, 
 and probably differed from the Servi both in the 
 manner in which they fell into the servile condition, 
 and in the services required of them. When a country 
 was conquered and taken permanent possession of by 
 German settlers, the former owners of the land were 
 in some cases compelled to cultivate it for the profit 
 of their new lords. They answered therefore to the 
 Coloni of the Romans. Like these, they paid a fixed 
 rent in kind to their masters, who allowed them to live 
 in a house of their own, and to enjoy with some degree 
 of security whatever was left to them after fulfilling 
 the imposed conditions. Such were the Liti, who, 
 although they too were the absolute property of 
 others, enjoyed, on sufferance and by custom, — which 
 often gives a sort of right to those who have no rights? 
 — a certain modicum of independence. 2 
 
 But the class of Servi was formed from the pri- 
 soners taken with arms in their hands, who were 
 considered as a saleable part of the victors booty. 
 On the same footing were those who forfeited their 
 liberty in gaming, when the frenzied player staked 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xxv. 
 
 2 Tac. Germ, xxv.: " Suam quisque sedern, suos penates regit. 
 Frumentimodum dominus aut pecoris autvestis, ut colono,injungit." 
 
 A A 2 
 
9. 
 
 56 THE FRANKS. [Chai>. VII. 
 
 himself and lost. l To the services required from 
 this class there was no limit. Like beasts of the 
 field, they received as much as Avas necessary to 
 enable them to serve their masters, and no more. 
 Without rights, without protection from the law, 
 they were regarded as the mere chattels of their 
 owner, to be scourged, or broken on the wheel, or 
 slaughtered at his pleasure. 
 
 We have purposely deferred the consideration of 
 the disputed question, as to the existence or non- 
 existence of an order of nobility among the Franks, 
 on account of its close connection with their military 
 constitution — the subject of the next-following pages. 
 The generally received opinion is that of Eichhorn 
 and Savigny ; who infer, from some passages in 
 Tacitus, that the Franks had an hereditary class 
 of nobles, with exclusive political, military, and even 
 priestly rights and privileges. 2 According to these 
 writers, the " Principes " of Tacitus are the pre- 
 decessors and ancestors of the Antrustiones and the 
 feudal chiefs of still later times. The controversy 
 turns upon the interpretation of the word prin- 
 ceps, and a few passages which speak of the for- 
 mation of a military retinue. It must be confessed 
 that the language of Tacitus is very obscure on this 
 subject ; and that it is impossible to find a sense for 
 some of his terms, which is equally suitable to every 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xxiv. 
 
 2 Eichhorn, Deutsche Staats- und Rechts-Geschichte. Gottingen 
 1843. Savigny, Rechtsgeschichte des Adels. 
 
Chap. VII.] GERMAN NOBILITY. 357 
 
 passage in which they occur. l He certainly seems to 
 speak of a class superior to the " Ingenui" 2 though he 
 assigns them no place in the state above the simple 
 freeman. Nor are traces of the early existence of a 
 German nobility altogether wanting in documents of 
 later times. 3 In the laws of the Bavarians mention 
 is made of five noble families, whose weregeld was 
 fixed at double that of an ordinary freeman. In the 
 Salic law, however, there is no allusion to such an 
 order. If it ever existed among the Salians, it must 
 either have died out, or have been so utterly desti- 
 tute of privileges of any kind as to leave no trace 
 in a code of laws in which all the different orders 
 of men are very accurately distinguished. Even in 
 those tribes in which the existence of nobles can 
 hardly be doubted, their numbers appear to have 
 been very small. We have seen above that the 
 
 1 E. g. compare the use of the word Princeps in Tac. Germ. 
 x., xii., and xiii. 
 
 2 Tac. Annal. xi. 17.. " Quando nobilitate ceteros anteiret. 
 Tac. Hist. iv. 15. : "Brinno claritate natalium insigni." Id. 
 iv. 5,5. : " Classicus nobilitate opibusque ante alios." Conf. Tac. 
 Germ, viii. : " Puelke nobiles. 17 Ibid. xiii. Velleius Paterc. 108. : 
 Ci Maroboduus juvenis genere nobilis." Strabo says that Marobod 
 rose !£ Iolojtov. 
 
 3 Grimm (Deutsche Reichsalterthiimer, p. 269.) says: "Da der 
 Aclel iiberhaupt angesehen werden muss, nicht ah ein ur sprung- 
 lick von dem Stande der Freien verscJiiede?i vielruehr als ein cms 
 ihm durch die nahere Beziehung auf die Wiirde des Herrschers 
 and Konigs hervorgegangen? &c. Waitz, Verfassung's-Gesch. 
 i. p. 81.: "IVorin der Adel bcstand? Ich weiss es mit Restimmt- 
 heit nicht zu sagen, unci cdle Zevgnisse geben keine Antioort" 
 Barth, Urgesch. ii. p. 415. 
 
 a a 3 
 
Q 
 
 58 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 Bavarians had onty Jive such families. Of the 
 Cherusci, Tacitus informs us that the whole of their 
 nobility had been destroyed in civil discord, so that 
 they were obliged to send to Rome for the sole 
 remaining scion of the royal stock. These facts have 
 suggested the idea that the old nobility of the Franks 
 had disappeared in the course of time, with the sole 
 exception of the Merovingian family, to whom was 
 left the exclusive privilege of furnishing kings to the 
 several Frankish tribes. 
 
 The inquiry is, however, of less importance, be- 
 cause, even if such a class existed among the Franks 
 at an earlier period, it had wholly disappeared before 
 their history commences ; and all the attempts that 
 have been made to connect it with the newly-formed 
 nobility of a subsequent age have been entirely 
 fruitless. At the time when the Salic law was 
 composed, the Ingenui had no superiors but their 
 king, and such of their own class as derived from 
 royal favour or popular election the temporary and 
 responsible authority of office. 
 
 In a nation like the Franks, whose favourite pur- 
 suit and most important business were war and 
 conquest, the constitution of the army is a subject 
 of the greatest interest. The foundation of their 
 military system was the obligation of every freeman 
 to serve the king in his own wars, on conditions 
 determined rather by custom and precedent than by 
 any legislative enactment. 
 
 The migrations and conquests of the Germans 
 were, for the most part, made by whole tribes or 
 
Chai>. VII.] THE GERMAN AND GALLIC COMITATUS. 359 
 
 nations; moving in obedience to a decree of their 
 central government, under regularly constituted 
 leaders. The ban, which summoned the nation to 
 war, was published by the king or temporary dux. 
 The freemen of the various divisions of the country 
 assembled under their respective leaders, and set 
 forward to the general rendezvous of the entire army. 
 When they had new settlements in view, they were 
 accompanied on their march by their children and 
 wives, who, on many occasions, appear to have played 
 no mean or unimportant part. 
 
 But, besides the wars and conquests in which the 
 whole nation took part, we have accounts of expe- 
 ditions undertaken by enterprising leaders at the 
 head of volunteers, with a view to plunder and 
 adventure. The passages of Caesar and Tacitus, 
 where they speak of the mode in which the Comi- 
 tatus was formed, are very differently interpreted 
 by different writers, and have never yet received an 
 entirely satisfactory explanation. 
 
 It is clear, however, that the Comitatus was strictly 
 subordinate to the authorities of the state in which it 
 was formed. It had, in fact, the character of a corps 
 of volunteers, which sometimes acted in concert with 
 the regular army, and sometimes engaged alone in 
 freebooting expeditions against the public enemy. 
 " In the council," says Caesar, " when one of the 
 chiefs declares that he will be the leader of such an 
 expedition, and calls on those who are willing to 
 follow him to come forward, — all who approve of 
 
 A A 4 
 
8G0 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 the cause and the man rise up and promise their 
 assistance." 1 
 
 The transaction is here described as taking place 
 in the great council of the nation ; in the presence, 
 therefore, of the regularly constituted authorities of 
 the country. " If," says Tacitus, " the State in which 
 the Comitatus has been formed grows torpid in the 
 idleness of a lengthened peace, most of the noble 
 youths voluntarily go to those nations which are 
 carrying on war, both because repose is disagreeable 
 to the German nation, and because a great Comitatus 
 can only be maintained by war and rapine." 2 We 
 have here an unmistakable recognition of the fact 
 that the Comitatus was subject to the control of 
 the regular government, and could only carry on its 
 operations against the declared enemies of the state. 
 
 The next point in connection with this inquiry 
 concerns the leaders of these voluntary corps. Who 
 had the right of forming a Comitatus ? According 
 to Eichhorn and Savigny, it was the exclusive privi- 
 lege of the hereditary nobles ; others confine it to the 
 magistrates of the gaus. The former of these sup- 
 positions is entirely inconsistent with the general 
 views we have taken of the political system of the 
 Germans. Nor can we agree with Waitz and Roth, 
 in confining the privilege to the chiefs of the gau. 
 The language of Tacitus does not warrant such a 
 limitation. 3 No doubt the right of keeping a mili- 
 
 1 Caes. Bell. Gall. vi. 23. 2 Tac. Germ. xiv. 
 
 3 Tac. AnnaL xi. 16, 17. : " Nee patrem (Flaviurn) rubori, 
 quod ficlem adversus Romanos volentibus Germanis sumptam, 
 
Chap. VIL] OPINIONS OF EICHHORN AND SAVIGNY. 36 L 
 
 tary retinue was most frequently exercised by them, 
 but there is no need to restrict it to any single class. 
 Where a nobility existed, the Comitatus might be 
 formed by an eminent member of that order. Nor 
 would the privilege be denied to any freeman dis- 
 tinguished for his military talents, and possessed of 
 sufficient means to undertake so heavy a responsibility. 
 But by whomsoever these military retinues were 
 formed, they could only act under the authority of 
 the general government. 
 
 A right understanding of the passages above quoted 
 is of the greatest importance, because their misinter- 
 pretation by some of the most eminent of modern 
 historians has been the means of introducing con- 
 siderable difficulty and confusion into the history of 
 the middle ages. It is on the supposed authority of 
 these passages and one of the formulae of Marculf, that 
 the feudal system, which was the gradual growth of 
 ages, and was not completely established before the 8th 
 or 9th century, has been introduced full-blown into the 
 5th and 6th. 1 Eichhorn and Savigny suppose that 
 the greater number of the conquests made by the Ger- 
 mans were not affairs of the community at all, but 
 made by the nobles at the head of their free com- 
 panies. In their opinion, those who bound themselves 
 
 nunquam omisisset." Italicus had been objected to by some Ger- 
 mans, on the ground that his father had fought on the side of 
 the Romans: "contra patriam ac Deos penates." It would ap- 
 pear, from this passage, that even individual chiefs had to obtain 
 leave before they could enter a foreign service. 
 
 1 Marculfi Formulae (ap. Baluz. Capit. Reg. Franc, torn. ii.). 
 
362 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 to a particular leader in the manner before described 
 were relieved from the military obligations to the 
 state ; nor was the leader himself in any way respon- 
 sible to the government for the service on which he 
 employed his free-company. " Many German nations," 
 says Eichhorn, " owe their very origin to a body of 
 this kind, which had followed its noble leader in some 
 adventurous campaign." * The nobles in their turn 
 he represents as forming the Comitatus of the king ; 
 and thus it needed but the possession of land, which 
 was soon supplied by the conquest of Gaul, to make 
 the feudal system as complete under Clovis, as under 
 William the Norman after the conquest of England. 
 
 The impossibility of reconciling such a theory with 
 the political institutions of the Franks at that early 
 period, will become more and more evident as we pro- 
 ceed ; the perception of the difficulties to which it 
 has given rise has been the principal incitement 
 to several modern writers to reconsider the whole 
 subject. The theory of Eichhorn has been abun- 
 dantly proved to run counter to the whole tenour of 
 history. Neither Gregory of Tours nor the com- 
 pilers of the Salic law knew anything of a Frankish 
 nobility at all, nor of any class of men possessing 
 such extraordinary powers as have been by some as- 
 cribed to them — powers which, if exercised in the 
 unshackled manner supposed, would render almost 
 every form of government impossible. The effect of 
 
 1 Eichhorn, Rechtsgesch. des Adels, sec. 14. p. 62. — sec. 16. 
 p. 75. 
 
Chap. VII.] THE LEUDES. 363 
 
 such anomalous authority, where it did exist, is strik- 
 ingly set forth in Caesar's Gallic War. 1 
 
 There were, as we have said, two kinds of military 
 expeditions: that in which the whole nation moved un- 
 der its regularly appointed leaders for the acquisition 
 of booty or territory; and that in which the magistrate 
 of the gau or other distinguished personage collected 
 a free company or small army under his command, 
 and led it against the enemies of his country. The 
 operations of the Comitatus were, generally speak- 
 ing, of no great moment, and had plunder for their 
 principal object ; while all the more important mili- 
 tary movements, such as retreat before a superior 
 enemy, or the conquest of new settlements, were 
 undertaken by the whole people in arms, of which 
 the Comitatus formed but an integral part. 
 
 No point in the history of the Frankish settlement 
 in Gaul has been more frequently discussed without 
 any satisfactory result than the meaning of the word 
 Leudes, which is applied to a portion of the Frankish 
 army. The theory respecting the Leudes hitherto 
 almost universally received is that of Montesquieu and 
 Eichhorn. 2 These writers place the chief difference 
 between the position of the Franks in Gaul before 
 and after the conquests of Clovis in this, that in the 
 former period the Frankish settlers took possession of 
 the land by lot and in their own right ; while in the 
 latter, all land not occupied by the Romance popula- 
 
 i Bell. Gall. i. 17, 18. 
 
 2 Montesquieu, Esp. des Lois, ch. xvi. 
 
364 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 tion became crown property, and was arbitrarily 
 apportioned to his followers by the king. By receiv- 
 ing property of this nature, a person entered, as they 
 suppose, into a new and specific relation to the 
 sovereign, essentially differing from that in which all 
 freemen stood to the head of the state. This rela- 
 tion was formed by receiving a grant of land, taking 
 an oath of fealty to the king, and contracting a spe- 
 cial obligation to serve him in his wars. Thus in 
 Neustria, Aquitaine, and Burgundy, according to this 
 theory, where all that was taken from the provincial 
 inhabitants became crown property, the greater por- 
 tion of the Frankish settlers were Leudes : while in 
 Austrasia, in which lay the earlier acquisitions of the 
 Franks, the number of this class was very limited. 
 Of the Leudes, again, there was a select number called 
 Antrustiones, distinguished probably by the larger 
 amount of land they had received, and a closer per- 
 sonal relation to the king. These are regarded by 
 Eichhorn and Savigny as the successors of the ancient 
 nobility, from whom they inherited the sole right of 
 leading a Comitatus l (Arimannia), exemption from 
 
 1 The well-rounded theory of the Arimannia (comitatus) of 
 the Antrustiones is deduced from a single and doubtful passage 
 in the Formul. of Marculf, which relates to the oath of fealty 
 taken by the Antrustio : " De Regis Antrustione. Rectum est ut 
 qui nobis fidem pollicentur inlcesam, nostro tueantur auxilio, 
 Et quia ille fldelis, Deo propitio, noster veniens ibi in palatio 
 nostro una cum Arimannia sua in manu nostra trustem et fideli- 
 tatem nobis visus est conjurasse," &c. In the first place we 
 must mention that the reading of the MSS. is arma, which 
 Pithon, taking umbrnge at the grammatical error, changed to 
 
Chap. VII] THE LEUDES AND ANTRUSTIONES. 365 
 
 taxes, and a general superiority in personal dignity 
 and influence over the simple freeman. The difficulty 
 of reconciling the exclusive rights and duties of the 
 Leudes with the state of things which existed in the 
 subsequent Carlovingian period, is evaded by an 
 alleged extension by Charlemagne of the oath of fealty 
 — originally taken by the Leudes alone — to the 
 entire population of the empire. 
 
 The very slight historical foundation on which this 
 theory rests, its incompatibility with innumerable pas- 
 sages in history of an opposite tendency, have led the 
 acute and learned M. Roth and others to deny alto- 
 gether the existence of the Leudes as a peculiar class. 1 
 According to Roth, the liability to serve the king in 
 war, which has been attributed exclusively to them, 
 was common to all freemen from the very beginning of 
 the monarchy. The word Leudes, in his opinion, is 
 strictly synonymous with "Fideles" and is used sim- 
 ply of all subjects in their military relation to the king. 
 It gives no slight countenance to this novel view of the 
 matter, that the word Leudes, the name of a class by 
 which, in the commonly received theory, almost all 
 wars were carried on, and all the more important con- 
 
 Arimannia, — a mere conjecture — " too iceak a peg" says Loebell, 
 11 to hang a whole theory upon." Marculf, i. 18. Vid. Loebell, 
 
 p. 161. 
 
 1 The word Leudes is used in very different senses. Fredegar 
 uses it for laymen, in contrast with Ecclesiastici ; and when the 
 author of the Gesta Fran cor. has to translate it, he does so by 
 Duces and Principes. Conf. Roth, Gesch. des Beneficialwesens. 
 Erlangen, 1850. 
 
366 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 quests made, occurs only three times in the History 
 of Gregory of Tours. The peculiar obligations, too, 
 erroneously attributed to the Leudes exclusively, — 
 viz., the oath of fealty, and liability to serve the 
 king in Avar, — may be clearly proved to have been 
 universal. 
 
 The position and privileges of the Antrustiones are 
 better established ; they answer on the one side to 
 the Comites of Tacitus, and on the other to the Vassi 
 of the Carlovingian period. They were the constant 
 attendants of the monarch, and derived from this 
 close relation a high degree of personal consideration. 
 We find their lives protected in the Salic law by a 
 triple weregeld ; and though in the earlier part of the 
 Merovingian period they were distinguished from 
 other freemen only by their relation to the king (a 
 relation into which any man might hope to enter), 
 yet it is from them that the great feudal and 
 territorial aristocracy was gradually developed. 
 
 According to the view now given of the con- 
 stitution of the Frankish army, we must regard the 
 conquest of Gaul as having been made, not by bands 
 of freebooters under robber chieftains, nor even by 
 the king at the head of a particular class of his sub- 
 jects, called Leudes, but by the whole Sa.lian tribe 
 under their hereditary monarch, who marched at 
 their head, surrounded by a devoted train of warlike 
 Antrustiones. 
 
 Each division of the army was led by a gau 
 magistrate, who arranged his men according to their 
 families, that the presence of those whom they held 
 
Cuap. VII.] THE FRANKISH ARMY. 367 
 
 clearest might nerve their arm and sustain their 
 courage in the hour of danger. And here and there 
 was seen a company of eager and impetuous warriors, 
 formed with the consent of the nation, but marching 
 under a chosen leader of their own, to whom they 
 had in a more special manner devoted their services 
 and lives. 
 
308 THE FRANKS. [CHAr. VIII. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 STATE OF GAUL AT THE TIME OF THE FRANKISH 
 
 CONQUEST. 
 
 u The fall of the Western Roman Empire," says 
 M. Guizot, " presents a most singular phenomenon. 
 Not only does the nation fail to support the govern- 
 ment in its struggle with the barbarians, but the 
 nation, when left to itself, makes no attempt at 
 resistance on its own account ; nay more, there is 
 nothing in this long struggle which reveals to us that 
 any nation exists." 
 
 Almost the sole exception to this remark is found 
 in the famous " Complaint of the Britons," recorded 
 by the venerable Bede, in which they lament that 
 " the barbarians drove them into the sea, and the sea 
 drove them back again upon the barbarians." 
 
 M. Guizot attributes this extraordinary absence of 
 that national spirit — which has often enabled a na- 
 tion weak in numbers and resources to withstand the 
 most powerful conquerors — to the destruction of 
 the middle classes in the Municipia, by the ruinous 
 exactions made from them to supply the necessities 
 of the sinking empire. In the better days of Rome 
 
Chap. VIII. ] RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CURIiE. 3G9 
 
 the office of Decurion in the municipal towns of Italy 
 and Gaul was coveted as an honourable distinction, 
 and the community was only taxed for its own ad- 
 vantage. Under Diocletian, however, a system of 
 taxation was introduced, the sole object of which was 
 to procure money for the emperor, an object which 
 was pursued with an utter disregard of consequences. 
 
 When an impoverished municipium was unable 
 to furnish the appointed sum, the Curice, which in- 
 cluded all the middle classes and their decurion, were 
 made answerable for the deficit with their private 
 fortunes. Nor was there any escape from this crush- 
 ing responsibility. Every man whose estate exceeded 
 twenty-five arpents was a member of the Curia ; and 
 what rendered the weight of the obligation heavier 
 and more vexatious by placing it on fewer shoulders, 
 was, that all the clergy and the civil and military 
 functionaries were exempt. The miserable victims of 
 imperial avarice sought refuge by thousands in the 
 Church ; and it was found necessary to exclude the 
 possessors of property from every office which brought 
 exemption with it. 
 
 The fearful condition into which the middle classes 
 were brought, by this selfish and cruel policy, is set 
 forth in vivid but not exaggerated colours by Sal- 
 vianus. " Robbed and tormented by bad and cruel 
 judges, they are compelled to become bagaadce (bri- 
 gands), and thus their own misery is charged upon 
 themselves ; we impute to them what we ourselves 
 have done. We call those rebels and abandoned 
 men whom we have driven into crime ; . . . . but 
 
 BB 
 
370 THE FKANKS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 what else could those unhappy people do who suffer 
 under the frequent, nay unceasing, exactions of 
 the state ? over whom a terrible and interminable 
 proscription is ever impending, — who desert their 
 dwellings that they may not be tortured in their 
 own homes, — who seek exile that they may avoid 
 punishment ?" 
 
 Besides the very influential cause of apathy above 
 described, on the part of the provincial inhabitants of 
 Gaul, we must not forget the emasculating effect of 
 Roman rule on all the nations subject to it. This 
 effect was produced partly by the systematic efforts 
 of the Romans to depress, and, as far as possible, to 
 root out the national feelings of those whom they sub- 
 dued ; and partly, also, by the inveterate habit the 
 provincials had acquired of looking for protection to 
 the Roman legions, rather than to themselves. The 
 same phenomena occur in Gaul as in Britain : and 
 the Gauls were as little able to resist the incursions 
 of the Franks, as the Britons those of the Scots or 
 Saxons. Long dependence — the habit of unmurmur- 
 ing or at least unresisting, submission to the most 
 odious tyranny — the natural aptitude of their race 
 for vicious and enervating refinements x (the effects of 
 which are always worse in proportion as those who 
 adopt them are less civilised), all these causes com- 
 bined to bring the Gauls into that despicable condi- 
 
 1 Tacitus (Agricolre Vita, c. xxi.), speaking of the Britons, 
 says: " Paullatimqne discessum ad delinirnenta vitiorum, por- 
 ticus et balnea, et conviviorum elegantiam : idque apud imperitos 
 i humanitas % vocabatur, cum pars servitutis esset." 
 
Chap. VIII.] INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 371 
 
 tion in which independence is an intolerable burden. 
 The Franks, in the fresh energy of their nascent power, 
 were scarcely more in want of subjects to command, 
 than the Gallo-Romans of masters to obey. 
 
 What has been said, may perhaps suffice to account 
 for the uncomplaining submissiveness with which the 
 Frankish conquerors were received in Gaul ; though 
 there are many other causes of the same tendency, 
 which will be considered in another chapter. We 
 have now to account for a phenomenon of an opposite 
 kind, viz., the influence and power which the con- 
 quered Romans acquired over, or rather among, the 
 conquerors. In considering this point, we must not 
 forget the effect of mere numbers, in which the 
 Romance inhabitants had the advantage throughout 
 the whole of Western Gaul. They had, moreover, 
 what was of far greater importance, the traditions of 
 Roman glory, settled institutions, habits of business, a 
 well developed language, and, above all, they had the 
 Christian religion. Against the contempt with which 
 the Franks regarded them as conquered, and easily 
 conquered dependants, as weak and unwarlike slaves of 
 luxury, their minds were sustained by the conscious 
 superiority of civilised men over barbarians, of the 
 learned over the ignorant, of Christians over heathens. 
 As long as it was a question of martial spirit and bodily 
 strength, so long the Frank was the superior; but as 
 soon as a more settled state of things succeeded, and 
 the provinces which had been conquered had to be 
 governed, and the wealth which had been acquired to 
 be enjoyed ; then, the mental power, the extended 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 THE FRANKS. [CHAr VIII. 
 
 views, the knowledge of affairs, and the thousand 
 trifling arts of cheering and adorning life, which the 
 Romans possessed, asserted their value and found a 
 field for their display. 
 
 In the collision of minds which followed the conflict 
 of arms, the weaker and less disciplined were obliged 
 to yield ; and here the advantage was all on the side of 
 the Romans. Nor could the issue of the struggle be- 
 tween Christianity and heathenism, — between a form 
 (though an imperfectly developed and corrupted one) 
 of Divine truth and human error, remain for any long 
 time doubtful. Clovis had little difficulty in defeating 
 the Gallo-Roman armies, but he had no force to bring 
 against the Christian priesthood and the strongholds 
 of the Christian Church. The high social position, 
 the learning and personal dignity of its ministers, 
 its magnificent temples and splendid ritual, were not 
 opposed by any equivalent forces on the other side. 
 The vantage ground which the Roman soldier had 
 lost in the battle-field, was in some degree recovered 
 by the Roman priest, when he brought the conqueror 
 into the pale of a Church to whose highest offices the 
 lowest of the conquered might aspire. Nor was the 
 victory of Clovis over Syagrius at Soissons more 
 complete or more lasting in its effects, than that of 
 the Romans over Clovis at his baptism — a victory 
 proclaimed by St. Remi at the font in the well- 
 known words, "bow the neck, Sicambrian." 1 
 
 This brief outline of the state of Gaul at the period 
 
 1 " Mitis depone colla Sicamber ! " 
 
Chap. Vin.J PREVAILING VIEWS. 373 
 
 of the Frankish conquest may assist us to understand 
 the mode in which the settlement of the Franks was 
 made ; and how the political institutions which have 
 had so great an effect in determining the character 
 and fate of Europe were gradually developed by the 
 joint efforts and under the mutual influences of the 
 two races. 
 
 The prevailing views on these subjects are in ac- 
 cordance with the error already mentioned, of refer- 
 ring to the fifth century a state of things known 
 under the name of feudalism which did not exist 
 before the eighth and ninth. 
 
 According to those writers who consider the con- 
 quest of Gaul to have been made by Clovis, not at 
 the head of the Salian nation at large, but of a class 
 of military dependants called Leudes, the conquered 
 territory was taken possession of without the slightest 
 regard to the rights of the previous owners ; and that 
 too, not in the name, or for the benefit, of the whole 
 nation, but as private booty of the royal vassals. 
 The Romans, they suppose, were indeed allowed, 
 or rather compelled, to remain in their own dwell- 
 ings, and to continue the cultivation of the fields ; 
 but no longer for their own advantage. They were, 
 in short, according to this view of the matter, de- 
 prived of all civil rights, and degraded almost to the 
 condition of serfs. 
 
 The widely different account which we have given 
 of the military and social constitution of the Franks 
 in their original seats, justifies and indeed necessitates 
 a different view of their settlement in Gaul. 
 
374 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 "It is not true," says Montesquieu, "that the 
 Franks, on their entrance into Gaul, occupied all 
 the landed estates in the country, to make fiefs of 
 them. Some writers have thought so, because towards 
 the end of the second dynasty they see that all the 
 land had become fiefs." l And again he says : " The 
 conclusion which it has been attempted to draw, that 
 the barbarians made a general regulation to establish 
 everywhere the feudal tenure of land, is no less false 
 than the premises. If, at a time when the fiefs were 
 amovible, all the land had consisted of fiefs, and all 
 the men in the kingdom of vassals, or their dependent 
 serfs ; then, since he who has the property has the 
 power, the king, who from time to time disposed of 
 the fiefs (i. e. of the only existing property), would 
 have possessed an authority as great as that of the 
 Sultan of Turkey, — a supposition which overthrows 
 all history." 
 
 The gist of the matter is admirably set forth in 
 the foregoing passage. The upholders of the hypo- 
 thesis of which Montesquieu attempts to show the 
 vanity, are unable to prove what is sufficient for 
 their purpose without proving a great deal too much; 
 viz., the establishment of the feudal system in its 
 full integrity before the end of the fifth century, — 
 a conclusion which cannot be maintained. 
 
 Yet so general is the belief in the Vandalic cruelty 
 of the conquerors of Gaul, and the degraded position 
 in which the provincial population stood to their bar- 
 barian masters, that while nobles of France have 
 
 1 Montesquieu, Esp. des Lois, lib. xxx. c. v. 
 
Chap. VIIL] TREATMENT OF GAULS BY FRANKS. 375 
 
 been proud to trace their descent from Frankish 
 warriors, the democratic writers of the same country 
 have represented the French revolution as an at- 
 tempt on the part of the Celts to regain the freedom 
 of which Clovis and his German followers once de- 
 prived them ! x 
 
 This generally received opinion respecting the 
 Frankish settlement in Gaul seems to be chiefly 
 founded on arguments derived — 
 
 1st. From the arbitrary treatment which the pro- 
 vincial population in other parts of the dismembered 
 Roman empire received at the hands of their German 
 invaders. 
 
 2nd. From the manner in which the Franks them- 
 selves appear to have acted in their first settlement 
 in Gaul (before the age of Clovis), in the ancient Salic 
 land. 
 
 3rd. From the Salic law, in which the life of a 
 Roman is protected by a lower weregeld than that 
 of a Frankish freeman. 
 
 With respect to the analogy drawn from the practice 
 of the Vandals and the Ostrogoths in Italy, there is 
 no lack of reasons for rejecting it as quite inapplicable 
 to the conquest of Gaul by Clovis. Apt and eager as 
 were the Gauls, when once their fitful ferocity had been 
 tamed by the blows of Caesar, to ape the manners and 
 vices of their Roman models, they neither had had 
 time nor means to reach that fearful depth of corrup- 
 tion and degradation in which the Italians had been 
 
 1 Thierry, Eugene Sue, and others. 
 
 b d 4 
 
376 THE FKANKS. [Chap. VIIL 
 
 sunk for ages ; and in so far they merited and ex- 
 perienced a less degree of contempt at the hands of 
 their conquerors. Again, the national antipathy 
 between Goths or Tandals and Romans was exagge- 
 rated by the theological odium of Catholics and 
 Arians ; while a common creed, of which the con- 
 quered were the interpreters and priests, became a 
 powerful bond of union between Clovis, " the eldest 
 son of the Church," and his provincial subjects. 
 
 Nor can we, in the next place, safely draw con- 
 clusions as to the fate of the Gallic provinces sub- 
 dued by Clovis, from the cruel oppression to which 
 the original inhabitants of the old Salian lands in 
 the Delta of the Rhine were subjected. 
 
 The conquest of Gaul by the Franks was not made 
 all at once, as we have seen, but by successive stages; 
 and different portions of the country were taken 
 possession of on different terms. In the Batavian 
 Islands, the Salians do appear indeed to have paid 
 very little regard to " vested interests." The harsh 
 treatment which the provincial population met with 
 in this country is abundantly proved by the fact 
 that heathenism not only existed in Toxandria and 
 Brabant l as late as the sixth century, but was actu- 
 
 1 BotJis Benejicialw. p. 66.: " Eleutherii I. 20- Feb. 3. 187. 
 Congregates Senioribus populi tribunus Scandiniensis cum omni 
 multitudine paganorum decrevit ut ornnes tam nobiles quatn 
 ignobiles Christianas religionis cultores Tornacensi urbe ejiceren- 
 tur, et de suis possessionibus omnino privarentur." In Toxandria 
 and Brabant the traces of heathenism were found as late as the 
 middle of the eighth century, when many inhabitants of the Ar* 
 dennes were converted to Christianity. 
 
Chap. VIIL] TREATMENT OF GAULS BY FRANKS. 377 
 
 ally predominant, a fact which implies the utter 
 degradation of the Christian inhabitants. 
 
 But during the period between the earliest and 
 latest conquest of the Franks in Gaul, many circum- 
 stances combined to lessen the animosity between the 
 two nations, and to bring them nearer to one another. 
 When Clovis became chief of his tribe, the Salians 
 and Gallo-Romans were no longer strangers ; they 
 had lived in near neighbourhood, though in mutual 
 independence, for a long series of years, and had 
 doubtless exercised a mutual influence. We find 
 them fighting on the same side against the Huns, at 
 the great battle of Chalons. Childeric, the father of 
 Clovis, served many campaigns under the Romans, 
 and when he was expelled for his vices by his 
 Salian subjects, the latter did not disdain to transfer 
 their allegiance to the Roman Syagrius ; a fact which 
 speaks very strongly in favour of the existence of a 
 good understanding between the two peoples. 
 
 The very character of the crafty and politic Clovis, 
 — his conversion to Catholic Christianity, — the de- 
 voted respect he paid to the Roman priesthood, and 
 his joyful acceptance of Roman titles and insignia, — 
 seem to point the same way, and to prove that he, 
 at least, felt no hatred against the provincials, and 
 was far from wishing to alienate their affections, or 
 to render them comparatively useless to himself by 
 despoiling them of their property. It was not his 
 object to destroy them, but to rule over them as the 
 successor of their Roman lords. Nor did any neces- 
 sity exist to compel him to the impolicy of general 
 
378 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 confiscation or forced partition of the land ; measures 
 which would have rendered his conquest far more 
 difficult, less secure, and less advantageous. A suffi- 
 cient quantity of land for his own wants, and for the 
 liberal reward of his followers, accrued to him from 
 other sources. 
 
 In the first place, he became possessed of all the 
 confiscated lands of those who had resisted him, 
 whether they survived or not. He may also have 
 received portions of land from the wealthier Romans, 
 as a sort of peace offering ; which they could well 
 afford to pay, since they were relieved from the enor- 
 mous exactions of imperial tyranny. 
 
 Secondly, he had an undisputed claim to all lands 
 not actually in private possession x ; and lastly, to 
 the revenues, the tolls, the patronage in Church and 
 State, the rights, claims, and privileges, in short, of 
 whatever kind, which had belonged to the former 
 government. 
 
 The land which fell in this manner to the royal 
 fiscus, was taken possession of in the name of the 
 king ; and not, like the Batavian Islands, by the com- 
 munity at large, with a view to equal partition. The 
 settlement was made by royal decree or permission ; 
 and the grants of land with which the king endowed 
 such as he deemed worthy were made, in Merovingian 
 times at least, in full and free possession. 
 
 In this important respect, therefore, the free and 
 unconditional gifts of Clovis and his race differed 
 
 i Roth's Beneficiahv. pp. 68. 70. 73. The Formulas Mareulfi 
 (of the year 660 a.d.) relate only to hereditary grants. 
 
Chap. VIIL] TREATMENT OF GAULS BY FRANKS. 379 
 
 materially from the Bencficia of Carlovingian times, 
 with which they have been so generally confounded. 
 The estate which had been originally granted to a 
 warrior, as a reward for his services, or as his share 
 in the booty, was allowed to pass to a woman or a 
 monk, from whom no military service could possibly 
 be exacted. 1 The Salian Frank of Picardy and Flan- 
 ders — which countries were taken possession of by the 
 people at large, without the intervention of the king 
 — stood in exactly the same relation to the monarch 
 as the Salian in Aquitaine or on the Seine — where, 
 according to some writers, all the grants were made 
 on strictly feudal conditions. 
 
 But of all the arguments brought forward to prove 
 the degradation of the Romans, the weightiest are 
 derived from the fact that, in the Salic law, a lower 
 weregeld is set upon the lives and limbs of a pro- 
 vincial than upon those of the Frankish ingenitus. 
 
 The origin of this marked distinction has been 
 sought in various directions. To some writers the 
 lower weregeld is a sign of positive loss of freedom, 
 and of the right of holding landed property. Others 
 see in it chiefly the pride of the conquerors and 
 the humiliation of the vanquished, whose noblest 
 freeman was degraded to the level of the Frankish 
 litus, by having his person and life valued at the 
 same price. None of these views are satisfactory, or 
 even free from insurmountable objections. The very 
 fact that the Roman had a weregeld set upon him at 
 
 1 Roth's Beneficialw. b. iii. p. 203. 
 
380 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 all is a proof of freedom; because it was a composition 
 for his right of seeking vengeance when injured in 
 his person and family ; a right which, according to 
 the German notions of honour, none but the free- 
 born man could possess. It is true that the litus 
 and the slave had a weregeld too, the former as high 
 as that of the free Roman, but in this case the fine 
 was paid to the master, and not to the actual suf- 
 ferers ; and was nothing more than a compensation 
 for injured property} The practice of claiming com- 
 pensation for every resignation of the sacred right to 
 vengeance was peculiar to the Germans, and was not 
 only adhered to by thein in their new settlements, 
 but communicated to the Romans. The latter, we 
 know, were governed by their own code of laws in all 
 matters where only Romans were concerned ; but as 
 one of the parties in a dispute must often have 
 been a Frank, it was absolutely necessary that they 
 should meet on some common ground, — that com- 
 mon ground was the weregeld, which made the pro- 
 vincial master of his own life and limb, and gave him 
 the choice of vengeance or compensation, whenever 
 his rights were invaded. 
 
 That the sum by which his right of revenge was 
 bought off was less in the case of a Roman than of a 
 Frank, is hardly to be wondered at. It would have 
 denoted a degree of humility which few men under 
 such circumstances (and certainly not the Franks) 
 
 1 Lex Sal. Pact. x. 1. : et Si quis servum \ut cavallum veljumen- 
 tum furaverit," &c. This passnge reminds one of many a trans- 
 atlantic advertisement* 
 
Chai\ VIII.] WEEEGELD OF THE ROMANS. 38 L 
 
 would possess, to think no more highly of themselves 
 than of the people in whose land they had settled 
 down by force of arms. They did not, and could not, 
 think the life of any Roman of equal value with that 
 of a Frankish ingenuus. Without therefore depriving 
 the Roman of his freedom, they expressed their sense 
 of the inferiority of his origin by giving him a lower 
 weregeld. An analogous case may be seen in the 
 laws of the Burgundians, who had a nobility above 
 the freeman, where the weregeld of the noble is half 
 as large again as that of the mediocris or ordinary 
 ingenims. In the Ripuarian laws the weregeld of a 
 free Burgundian or other German was lower than 
 that of a Frank 1 ; by which nothing more could be 
 expressed than national self-consciousness and pride. 
 The very variety of the hypotheses which have 
 been formed, regarding the relative position of the 
 two races to one another in Gaul, is a proof how sin- 
 gular and anomalous the state of that country was 
 after the settlement of the Franks. The institutions 
 and laws which the Germans had brought with them, 
 and to which they were strongly attached, came into 
 close contact with those of the Romans, by which 
 alone the provincial population could be governed. 
 The two systems existed side by side, and could hardly 
 avoid interfering with each other's action and causing 
 conflict and disorder. We must, however, take care 
 
 1 Roth's Beneficialw. pp. 94, 95. Waitz (das alte Salische Recht, 
 p. 102.) lays great stress on the fact that the Salic Laws were pub- 
 lished before the time of Clovis ; otherwise he thinks they would 
 have been different as regards the position of the provincials. 
 
382 THE PRANKS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 not to mistake the practice of individuals for insti- 
 tutions of the state, or breaches of the law for 
 the law itself. It is doubtless true that the Ro- 
 mance population did suffer deeply in their property, 
 their rights, and even their persons, from the law- 
 less encroachments of the barbarians, flushed as 
 they were with victory, and conscious of superior 
 strength and courage. It could not be otherwise, 
 and especially in those parts of the country which, 
 from their remoteness, were in a great measure 
 withdrawn from the surveillance of the central 
 government. The poorer and weaker classes, who 
 have in all ages had so much to endure from those 
 on whom they depend, were almost exclusively com- 
 posed of Gallo-Romans. Those therefore who know 
 how difficult it is, for the strongest government, and 
 the most equal laws, to protect the weak and timid 
 from the strong and proud, will readily imagine what 
 must have taken place in an era such as that of 
 Clovis, and in a country on whose vitals a Chilperic 
 and a Fredegunda, with all the ruthless agents of their 
 avarice and cruelty, were allowed to prey. Many a 
 provincial doubtless was despoiled of his property, 
 denied his rights, injured in his person and his 
 honour by the Franks ; but it was done, not according 
 to the law, but in spite of it, when the law was weak 
 and retribution lame. 
 
 We should never gain much knowledge of con- 
 stitutional or personal law in England or Scotland, 
 from a history of the border forays ; nor must we 
 form our theories, respecting the settlement in Gaul, 
 
Chap, VIII.] TREATMENT OF GAULS BY FRANKS. 383 
 
 from the numerous instances of lawless oppression 
 which we meet with in the Frankish annals. 
 
 So far, indeed, were the Gallo-Romans from being 
 reduced in the mass to an almost servile condition, 
 that we find them retaining their property, their 
 peculiar laws, customs, language, and dress. The 
 municipal constitutions of their towns also remained 
 in most respects as they had been under the empire, 
 and gave the inhabitants a very considerable degree 
 of self-government. The independence of feeling and 
 action prevalent in the municipia is attested by the 
 fact that one of them made a successful resistance to 
 Clovis ; and that, when at a later period their fears 
 had subsided and their spirit returned, they even 
 ventured to make war upon one another on their own 
 account, as in the case of Blois and Orleans, which 
 joined in an attack upon Dunois. 1 
 
 "Whatever the Romance population may have suf- 
 fered immediately after the conquest, their lot was 
 gradually improved in succeeding times. We have 
 already pointed out the many advantages which 
 the provincials enjoyed in their struggle with the 
 less cultivated Franks, and the means they possessed 
 of mingling respect with the contempt with which 
 their conquerors were apt to regard them. And 
 the involuntary feeling of respect was more real 
 and more enduring of the two; and enabled the 
 Romans after no long time to raise themselves in the 
 social scale. Accordingly we find them not only 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 2. Loebell's Gregor. von Tours, p. 139> 
 
384 THE FRANKS. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 occupying the most important offices in the State as 
 well as in the Church, — which was exclusively their 
 own, — but acting as intimate friends and counsellors 
 of the king, and making themselves notorious for 
 their vast possessions ; as, for example, in the case of 
 Gregory of Tours himself, Desiderius of Auxerre, and 
 Duke Lupus of Champagne. 1 
 
 But what speaks more strongly than anything else 
 for the belief in a gradual approach to equality in the 
 position of Franks and Gallo-Romans is the indispu- 
 table fact that the office of count of a gau, and general 
 of an army, was frequently held by a Roman. In 
 Auvergne and Tours, indeed, the majority of the 
 counts were provincials. This circumstance is at the 
 same time an additional argument against the com- 
 mon hypothesis that the army of Clovis and his suc- 
 cessors was composed, like that of the Vandals and 
 Goths, exclusively of Germans. For we can hardly 
 bring ourselves to believe that a Roman — and that 
 too not in one instance, but frequently — would be 
 placed in the position of commander of an army, from 
 which his countrymen were excluded as a degraded 
 and inferior class. 2 
 
 And if we can find no sufficient reason for taking 
 the common view of the treatment which the Gauls 
 received, even with respect to those parts of Gaul 
 where the Frankish settlers were most numerous, 
 
 1 Roth, p. 81. Bishop Desiderius of Auxerre manumitted 
 2000 serfs, and gave them the land which they had previously oc- 
 cupied as his bondsmen. Other Eoman bishops left whole counties 
 in their wills. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur.iv. 13. 42., v. 37. 48., viii. 18. 30. 
 
Chap. VIII.] TREATMENT OF GAULS BY FRANKS. 385 
 
 such a theory must be still less tenable in districts 
 such as Auvergne and Tours, where the conquerors 
 were few in number and scattered through the coun- 
 try. And we have no indication that the provincial 
 in these places stood in any different relation to the 
 general government than the provincial of Metz or 
 Paris. 
 
 Had the fate of the Roman inhabitant indeed 
 been so hard, or nearly so hard, as is generally sup- 
 posed, it would be most remarkable that in the long 
 history of Gregory of Tours, himself a Roman, there 
 should not be the slightest complaint or hint of the in- 
 justice to which his countrymen were subject ; that his 
 pages should not bear a single trace of a struggle 
 between the hostile nationalities. We know that 
 Gregory and others of his class were bold enough in 
 the defence of their rights, even in the presence of 
 the Merovingian kings ; and can we believe that they 
 would pass over the spoliation and degradation of 
 their beloved countrymen without one word of pro- 
 test or even of record ? 
 
 oc 
 
386 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Period of Transition from Merovingian to 
 Carlovingian Institutions. 
 
 In a former chapter we endeavoured to describe 
 the national character and institutions of the Franks 
 before their entrance into Gaul, while they were as 
 yet uninfluenced by the original peculiarities and the 
 superinduced Koman civilisation of the conquered 
 people. 
 
 We saw reason to regard the Franks as a German 
 tribe of freemen possessing equal rights, and, as far 
 as may be, equal property. We found them governing 
 and judging themselves in the various divisions and 
 subdivisions of their nation by free assemblies, but 
 differing from some other German tribes in this, 
 that they entrusted the executive authority to a king 
 (elected from one family) of limited but considerable 
 power. We considered it probable that the king, had 
 the privilege of appointing counts for the government 
 of the gaus or cantons ; and he claimed from his sub- 
 jects an universal oath of allegiance and gratuitous 
 service in time of war. We saw that the Frankish 
 system both civil and military was founded on the 
 
Chap. IX.] GENERAL VIEWS. 387 
 
 equal rights and common duties of all freemen; and 
 that these privileges and obligations were essentially 
 personal, and not, as in a subsequent period, attached 
 to the possession of property. In disagreement with 
 writers of very high authority, we expressed our 
 belief that no order of nobility or any privileged 
 class of soldiers under the name of Leudes existed 
 among the Franks, and that freemen were only distin- 
 guished from one another by the authority of office — 
 as in the case of the count, or, by the especial favour 
 and protection of the king, in the case of the An- 
 trustio — to which latter distinction not only every 
 freeman, but even bondsmen might aspire. 
 
 It will be our object in the present chapter to 
 show whence the widely differing institutions took 
 their rise which we find existing in Carlovingian 
 times, and which, though in process of formation 
 under the Merovingian Dynasty, first make their ap- 
 pearance in a compact and established form in the 
 time of Carl Martel and his great successor. How is 
 it that when the political institutions of the Franks 
 appear again through the retreating mists of historical 
 oblivion, their shape and character are so materially 
 changed ? Where are the small but free and inde- 
 pendent landholders who once formed the strength 
 marrow of the State ? How is it that every man 
 seems to hold all that he has — to live and breathe, 
 as it were, at the will of another? Whence come 
 these mighty seigniors or feudal lords — these proud 
 and princely churchmen — these turbulent and mu- 
 tinous counts, who with their dependent vassals 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX* 
 
 destroyed the old German freedom, and shook into 
 ruins the throne of the feeble posterity of Clovis? 
 Those who think they see strong germs of the bene- 
 ficial and feudal systems in the Germania of Tacitus, 
 and their complete establishment by Clovis, when he 
 conquered Gaul and divided it into military fiefs, 
 will find an easy answer to these and similar ques- 
 tions. To this unnaturally simple mode of solving 
 so difficult a question, a careful study of the sources 
 and the ablest commentators upon them have pre- 
 vented our assenting, and have at the same time 
 given us the means of tracing the gradual transition 
 from the early German to the Merovingian and from 
 the Merovingian to the Carlovingian constitutions; 
 in which last the system of Beneficia and the Seig- 
 niorship played so prominent a part. 
 
 This transition is nowhere sudden or violent. 
 Different as they are, the complicated system of the 
 later Carlovingians was developed by a slow and 
 regular process from the institutions which the 
 Franks brought with them into Gaul. The extent 
 and importance, however, of the changes which took 
 place — more particularly in the gradation of social 
 rank and the tenure of landed property — imply the 
 long continued operation of very powerful agents. 
 Among these we may reckon : — 
 
 1st. The wealth and eternal civilisation of the 
 Romanized population of Gaul. 
 
 2nd. The influence of the Catholic Church and its 
 ministers. 
 
 3rd. Some very ancient peculiarities in the po- 
 litical and social system of the Gauls themselves. 
 
Chap. IX.] INCREASE OF ROYAL TOWER. 389 
 
 One of the most immediate and striking changes 
 produced by Roman influence was a rapid increase in 
 the power of the Prankish king. It would have been 
 easy to foresee how greatly his position must be af- 
 fected by the conquest of Gaul. The nature of the 
 German monarchy has already been explained. The 
 very mode in which the elevation of the Salian mo- 
 narch was announced, by placing him on a shield, 
 and exposing him to the gaze of the joyful and 
 applauding multitude who had elected him, is sig- 
 nificant of his true position as the leader, not the 
 master, of his people. 1 He had no u libera potestas ; " 
 he ruled by persuasion rather than by force 2 ; he 
 carried out the laws which the people had enacted, 
 and led his subjects in the wars which they themselves 
 proclaimed. 
 
 But the freer the State, in which royalty exists, 
 the less necessity is there that its prerogatives should 
 be accurately ascertained and circumscribed. The 
 encroachments of the German king were warded off, 
 not by the written clauses of a paper constitution, 
 but by the free institutions by which royalty was 
 surrounded, and by the national spirit which kept 
 those institutions in healthy and powerful action. 
 And hence arises the great difficulty we find in de- 
 termining the exact position of the Merovingian 
 monarchs. In the Salic law, in which the life of 
 
 1 Tac. Hist. iv. 15. : " . . . iropositusque scuto more gent is et 
 sustinentium humeris vibratus, Dux deligitur.'' 
 
 2 Tac. Germ. vii. xi. : " Auctoritate suaclendi magis quam ju- 
 bendi potentate." 
 
 c c 3 
 
390 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 almost every creature, from an ingenuus to a bee, is pro- 
 tected by a fine, no penalty of any kind is denounced 
 for slaying the king ; nor is any reference made to 
 the limits of the royal prerogative. Yet there is 
 no doubt that the penalty of regicide was death, since 
 even the smaller offence of infidelitas or Icesa Ma- 
 jestas was thus punished in Merovingian times. 
 
 This uncertainty with respect to the limits of the 
 royal authority, which was harmless and even sa- 
 lutary in a state of liberty, proved to be greatly in 
 favour of the unchecked growth of arbitrary power, 
 when the natural checks upon it were weakened or 
 withdrawn. The position of Clovis too, as the leader 
 of a victorious army and the founder of a new 
 empire, was eminently favourable to an increase of 
 his prerogative. Royalty was almost the only poli- 
 tical institution which was not disturbed in its action 
 by the rapid change of fortunes through which the 
 Frankish nations passed. The rights and powers 
 which the deliberative assemblies used to exercise, 
 during a period of migration and conquest, naturally 
 fell to the executive authority, the vigour of which 
 was rather increased than diminished by the change 
 of circumstances. Yet, amidst a purely German 
 nation, the boldest monarch would soon have learned 
 to restrict himself to his legitimate sphere. Even a 
 Clovis was king rather in the German than in the 
 Roman sense. Even he does not venture to claim 
 more than his own share of the common booty 1 , and 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ii. 27. 
 
Chap. IX.] RISE OF ROYAL POWER. 391 
 
 dreads the displeasure of his people when he is urged 
 to abandon the superstitions of his forefathers. 
 
 How different Avas the light in which a monarch 
 was regarded by the Gauls, who had learned to bow 
 with slavish fear and blasphemous adulation, not only 
 before emperors unworthy of the human form, but 
 before their deputies and the tools and slaves of their 
 deputies ! What a contrast must the Eomance pro- 
 vincials have presented, when they came, with their 
 studied humility and plausible falsehood, into the 
 presence of their new master, to the bold bearing of 
 the Frankish freeman in the presence of his chief! 
 The conquest of Gaul gave to the rude Salian mo- 
 narchs a new and very numerous class of subjects, 
 whose servile but graceful homage and unreserved 
 submission not only flattered the self-love of the 
 king and widened the foundations of his throne, but 
 led the Franks themselves, by the force of example, 
 to regard the royal dignity in a different light. To 
 these influences may be added the no slight ones of 
 increased wealth and of that external splendour with 
 which the Romance population well knew how to 
 invest the throne. 
 
 But of all the new allies which aided the Frankish 
 kings to exchange the sword of a general and the 
 seat of a judge, for a sceptre and a throne, none was 
 so omnipresent, so active, or so constant and power- 
 ful in its operations as the Roman Church. The 
 natural tendency of this institution has, in all ages, 
 been towards royal and even despotic authority, both 
 on account of the analogy with its own hierarchy, 
 
 c c 4 
 
392 THE FKANKS. [Chap. IX 
 
 and because the free discussion inseparable from 
 popular governments, and the turbulence of party- 
 strife, are unfavourable to its secret influence and its 
 regular and systematic action. On several occasions 
 in the early Frankish history we find the bishops of 
 the Church animating the kings to the exercise of 
 unusual power. 1 
 
 Under such circumstances, the royal power of the 
 Merovingians could not fail to undergo a very rapid 
 development after the conquest of Gaul. Gregory of 
 Tours represents many of the kings, and especially 
 Clotaire and Chilperic, as assuming almost unlimited 
 powers, and indulging in the most cruel and arbi- 
 trary acts of tyranny. 
 
 So remarkable are many of the cases with which 
 he furnishes us, that it seems as if the prceceptib of 
 the king could overrule both public law and the most 
 sacred private rights. Thus when Andarchius wishes 
 to marry the daughter of Ursus, a citizen of Aver- 
 num, for her money, and is refused by her father, 
 he procures a praeceptio from the king, lays it before 
 the judge of the place where the maiden resided, and 
 demands that she be immediately given to him in 
 marriage. So Pappolenus, after causing the niece of 
 Bishop Felix to be dragged from a monastery, in 
 
 1 Greg. Tu?\ ii. 34. : Avitus, Bishop of Vienne, when urging 
 the Burgundian king, Gundobald, publicly to renounce the Arian 
 heresy, uses the following language : " Tu vero cum sis Rex, et 
 a nullo adprehendi formides, seditionem pavescis populi ne Crea- 
 torem omnium in publico confitearis. Relinque hanc stultitiam 
 
 . , Tu enim es caput populi, non populus caput tuum." 
 
Chap. IX.] TAXATION. — TREASON. 393 
 
 which she had taken refuge, marries her against the 
 will of her relations by virtue of a royal praBceptio. 1 
 
 In the matter of taxation also, a point in which we 
 learn from history that nations have at all times been 
 peculiarly sensitive, the actual if not the theoretical 
 power of the kings appears to have been very great. 
 Chilperic and his detestable wife afflicted their people 
 by arbitrary exactions to such a degree as to reduce 
 them to starvation and drive them to rebellion. 
 Fredegunda herself, when her cruel heart had been 
 touched for the moment by the death of her children, 
 feels some remorse for the widely-spread misery she 
 had caused, and burns the tax register in which the 
 victims of her rapacity were noted down. 
 
 The very wide interpretation which was given to 
 the word treason (tesa majestas, crimen majestatis, 
 infidelitas patriae, infidelitas regni Francorum), and 
 the extreme severity with which this offence was 
 punished, are trustworthy indications of the height 
 to which the royal power had risen. Insults offered 
 to the king or his family might be punished with 
 death. We read in Gregory of Tours 2 , that the 
 Abbot Lupentius was accused by Count Innocentius 
 of having uttered " profanum aliquid " against Brun- 
 hilda ; and one of the counts in the charge against 
 iEoidius of Rheims, is that his letters contained 
 several things " de improperiis Brunichildis." 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 47. Ibid. vi. 16. Ibid. viii. 11.: "Regalibus- 
 que inunitus praeceptionibus timere parentum distulit minas." 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. v. 26. Ibid. vi. 37. Ibid. x. 19. 
 
394 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 Another form of treason, which was punished with 
 confiscation and death, was that of entering into cor- 
 respondence with a foreign enemy. So strict was 
 the bond of allegiance which united subjects to their 
 king, that not only was it treason to leave the do- 
 minions of one Frankish king to settle in those of 
 another, but the mere quitting the country without 
 permission was a treasonable act, and might be 
 punished by confiscation. 1 
 
 Such facts as these and many others that might 
 be adduced, such as the violent interference of the 
 kings in the course of justice, and the dispensing 
 power which they appear on some occasions to have 
 exercised, are calculated to inspire the belief that 
 their power had become almost despotic. Yet we 
 should be wrong in drawing the full conclusion which 
 they at first sight seem to warrant. We are consi- 
 dering a very anomalous period, in which different 
 principles, institutions, and nationalities, were strug- 
 gling for existence and mastery, unguided or unre- 
 strained by written laws or even by experience and 
 usage. 
 
 The royal power, says Guizot, was " variable et 
 dereglee: aujourd'hui immense, demain nulle; souve- 
 raine ici, ignoree ailleurs." 2 The juncture, as we 
 have seen, was peculiarly favourable to the preten- 
 sions of royalty, and the more so because at that time 
 no powerful aristocracy existed to resist its encroach- 
 ments. 
 
 i Roth, p. 135. 2 Guizot, Hist. Generate, p. 304. 
 
Chap. IX,] PECULIAR GALLIC INSTITUTIONS. 395 
 
 We proceed to trace the gradual rise of a class 
 unknown to the Franks in the earliest centuries of 
 their history, and to which the Salic law contains 
 not the slightest reference. We mean the seigniors, 
 whose existence and privileges were not fully recog- 
 nised or legally guaranteed before the time of the 
 Carlovingian mayors. 
 
 And here we are inclined, with Roth, to attribute 
 great influence to the Roman civilisation with which 
 the Gauls were so thoroughly imbued, and to the 
 Catholic Church ; but most of all to certain pecu- 
 liarities in the civil institutions of the ancient Gauls 
 themselves. 
 
 The warriors of Clovis, under which designation I 
 include all free subjects capable of bearing arms (and 
 not Leudes only), entered Gaul as freemen, on a foot- 
 ing of political equality, bound together by their 
 common allegiance to the king, and the necessary 
 subordination to the merely official authority of their 
 civil governors and military leaders. Very different 
 was the state of things which they found in Gaul. 
 There existed in that country in the time of Crcsar, 
 and no doubt much earlier, a kind of clanship, and a re- 
 lation between lord and vassal, unlike anything which 
 is spoken of by Tacitus in his Germania. The great 
 conqueror of Gaul, who had excellent opportunities 
 of becoming acquainted with the constitution of the 
 country in which so large a portion of his military 
 life was passed, has left us a clear though brief ac- 
 count of the Gallic Comitatus. He speaks in more 
 than one place of chiefs and generals who, in addition 
 
396 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 to their regular forces, had followers called devoti or 
 soldarii, a body of men devoted by the most solemn 
 and irrevocable engagements to the service of their 
 leader. " Their condition of life is this, that they 
 share all the goods of life with those to whom they 
 have devoted themselves. Should any calamity befal 
 their chiefs, they either share the same fate, or seek 
 a voluntary death ; nor was it ever known in the 
 memory of man that one of them had refused to die 
 when his patron had been killed." l In another place 
 he says, " Throughout the whole of Gaul there are 
 only two classes of persons who enjoy any degree of 
 rank or distinction ; for the plebs are regarded almost 
 in the light of slaves, undertaking nothing of them- 
 selves, and sharing in no counsels. Most of them, 
 when oppressed by debt, or by heavy taxes, or the 
 wrongs inflicted on them by the more powerful, enter 
 into a condition of servitude to the nobles, who exer- 
 cise the same authority over them as masters over 
 their slaves." 2 Cassar is informed by the Gauls, on one 
 occasion, that there were private persons in their state 
 who exercised great influence over the common people, 
 and who, though private persons, had more power 
 than the magistrates themselves. 3 One of these was 
 Dumnorix, who maintained a large Comitatus at his 
 own expense. Orgetorix is represented as having 
 
 1 Ccbs. Bell. Gall. iii. 22. } vii. 40. : " Litavicus cum suis clien- 
 tibus, quibus more Gallorum nefas est etiam in extrema fortuna 
 deserere patronos, Gergoviam profugit. 
 
 2 Ca3s. B. G. vi. 13. 
 
 3 Cres. B. G. i. 17. Loebell's Gregor von Tours, pp. 83 — 88. 
 
Chap. IX.] GALLIC CLANSHIP. 397 
 
 escaped the punishment of death, which had been 
 awarded against him, by bringing his whole clan 
 (familiam), to the number of 10,000 men, and all his 
 clients and debtors, to the place of trial. These and 
 similar passages have been most erroneously consi- 
 dered as parallel to the 13th chapter of Tacitus' Ger- 
 mania and some passages in the work of Ammianus 
 Marcellinus. 1 For where has Tacitus ever hinted at 
 the servitude of the German plebs to any class of 
 nobles ? or of individuals setting at nought the au- 
 thority of the magistrates with an army of dependent 
 clients ? The honourable devotion of freemen to a 
 king, or a chosen leader, as good subjects or brave 
 companions, has nothing in common with the com- 
 pelled devotion of the miserable serfs and bankrupts 
 of whom Caesar speaks. The similarity between the 
 passages thus compared is entirely superficial ; their 
 essential difference may be seen on a first perusal. 
 
 The interval between class and class thus early 
 existing among the Gauls was rather increased than 
 diminished during their long servitude to the Romans. 
 The Frankish conquerors saw the wealth of the coun- 
 try accumulated in the hands of a few, in contrast 
 with general poverty and dependence. And, though 
 the presence of the Franks in Gaul could not but 
 make some difference to both extremes, yet as the 
 Roman proprietors kept the greater part of their pos- 
 
 1 Ammian. Marcellin. xvi. 12. : " Chrodomanus rex Alemman- 
 norum — se dedit, comitesque ejus ducenti numero . . . . 
 flagitium avbitrati post regem vivere, vel pro rege non niori, si ita 
 tulerit casus tradidere se vinciendos." 
 
398 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 sessions, and continued to rule over their dependants, 
 they presented to the eyes of the invaders a spectacle 
 of splendour and authority which could not fail to 
 awaken a feeling of rivalry. The rich and fortunate 
 freeman learned to regard himself as the natural 
 superior of his poorer fellow ; while the latter, in his 
 turn, became accustomed to the idea of purchasing 
 security and sustenance by the sacrifice of indepen- 
 dence. The opposing principles which regulated the 
 ownership and employment of German and Gallic 
 Roman property came into collision, and, as might be 
 expected under the circumstances, the worse pre- 
 vailed. It became a great object of ambition to 
 amass property in land ; and, as it was not easy at 
 that period to convert agricultural produce into 
 money, this accumulation inevitably led to the main- 
 tenance of numerous dependants. The active and 
 fortunate became continually richer and more power- 
 ful; while the unfortunate, the weak, and foolish, 
 grew poorer and feebler : and losing their rights with 
 their property, sank into a state of hereditary and 
 hopeless dependence. And thus, in the time of Carl 
 Martel, we find a state of things formally acknow- 
 ledged and established, in which one class of freemen 
 are gradually pressed down into the condition of serfs. 
 An oligarchy of wealth and office arises, which, in 
 still later times, is developed into a nobility of birth ; 
 and a graduated scale of authority is formed, ex- 
 tending from the monarch to the slave. 
 
 But though the foundations of that semi-feudalism, 
 which comes so prominently forward under the 
 
Chap. IX.] RISE OF FEUDAL NOBILITY. 399 
 
 government of Carl Martel, were laid in the earlier 
 part of the Merovingian period, the structure itself 
 did not rise so rapidly as is commonly supposed. A 
 very convincing argument in favour of this statement 
 has been derived from the original meaning of certain 
 words which, in later times, denoted the mutual re- 
 lation of lordship and dependence. The Vassus or 
 Vassallus, which in Carlovingian times signifies ex- 
 clusively a freeman in the military retinue of the 
 king or other seignior, is used in the Salic and 
 Alemannic laws for persons in a state of servitude ; 
 and in the former code the Weregeld of the Vassus 
 is only thirty solidi. l 
 
 The latter meaning of the term generally prevailed 
 in Merovingian times, although two or three isolated 
 and doubtful passages have been brought forward in 
 which it seems to be used of a dependent freeman. 2 
 As soon, of course, as it came into frequent use to 
 denote the more honourable relation, the original 
 meaning became obsolete. 
 
 A corresponding change may be observed in the ac- 
 ceptation of the word seignior (senior), which is used by 
 Gregory of Tours to denote any superior in his relation 
 to those under his authority. Thus the king is called 
 
 1 Vassus and Vassallus are synonymes (from the diminutive 
 Vasaletus is derived the French word Valet). Lex Salica, pact. 
 xxxv. (ed. Johan. Merkel ; Berlin, 1850) : " Si quis Vassum 
 ad ministerium (quod est horogauo, puella ad ministerium) 
 . . . . furaverit aut occiderit cui fuerit adprobatum 1200 
 denarios, qui faciunt solidos 30, culpabilis judicetur." Roth, 
 p. 368. Lex Aleman. 79. 3. Mon. Germ. 
 
 2 Roth, p. 369. 
 
400 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 the Senior of his subjects, the count of his pagenses, 
 the bishop and abbot of their inferior clergy; and 
 even the chief of a band of murderers receives the 
 same name. But in the eighth century it begins to 
 be used of the king and other powerful men solely in 
 their relation to their dependent homines. 1 
 
 A model was presented to the Franks, as we have 
 seen, for the formation of private retinues, by the 
 great landed proprietors of Gaul, in which country, 
 as well as in Korth Britain and other Celtic lands, 
 the institutions of clans had long existed. A natural 
 impulse was also given to the development of the 
 seigniorship by the insecurity of life and property in 
 those unsettled times, when the rich were continually 
 called upon to retain by force what they had un- 
 lawfully acquired, and the poor to seek refuge in 
 servitude from the perpetual injuries to which their 
 weakness was exposed. The right of collecting 
 homines or dependent vassals was not confined to 
 any order of nobility, since no such order existed, nor 
 to any other privileged class of men. But though 
 the right in this case was only limited by the power, 
 the number of seigniors was restricted by the very 
 great expense which necessarily attended the main- 
 tenance of homines. The greatest seignior was of 
 course the king himself, who had large territorial 
 possessions in every part of the kingdom. The 
 Vassi Dominici, as his dependants were called in 
 
 1 Marculf. i. 7., ii. 1. Greg. Tur. vi. 21., viii. 21., iv., 27., 
 v. 49., vi. 11, 24. Vid. Roth, p. 371. 
 
Chai\ IX.] THE SEIGNIORS AND VASSI DOMINICI. 401 
 
 Carlovingian times, answered to the Anstrustiones 
 mentioned in the Salic law, as these to the Comites 
 " in pace decns in bello presidium " of still earlier 
 times. They stood in the closest personal relation to 
 the king, to whom they resigned for ever all their 
 rights as freemen and citizens, in return for free 
 maintenance, the royal favour and protection, and 
 the numerous advantages which their position na- 
 turally brought with it. The oath by which they 
 bound themselves, on entering into this relation, was 
 either different in kind to that which every subject 
 was called upon to take, or if the same, acquired 
 additional solemnity by being made to the king 
 in person, between whose hands the royal vassal 
 placed his own. 
 
 The connexion between other seigniors and their 
 vassals was precisely of the same nature. Every 
 dependent freeman swore allegiance and fidelity to 
 his superior, and bound himself to a life-long service, 
 from which there were no means of escaping after- 
 wards. So strict was the bond thus formed, and so 
 effectually did the seigniors of Carlovingian times 
 assist each other in maintaining their authority, 
 that to receive or harbour a fugitive vassal was 
 forbidden by the law — which even required that he 
 should be sent back to his seignior for punishment. 
 
 But besides the Vassi, whose relation to their 
 seignior was simply a personal one, there was another 
 class, which in Carlovingian times had also fallen 
 into a state of hereditary servitude. These were 
 originally free settlers, who, having no property of 
 
 D D 
 
402 THE FKANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 their own, occupied the lands of others on certain 
 conditions. As soon as the land began to accu- 
 mulate in the hands of a few, it became customary 
 for the poorer freemen to settle on the royal domains, 
 the territory of the Church, and of the great lay pro- 
 prietors, where they received portions called Mansi, 
 on condition of paying a fixed rent in kind. 1 This 
 natural relation between landlord and tenant existed 
 early in the sixth and seventh centuries, but was at 
 that time free from the servile character into which 
 it subsequently degenerated. Such settlers were 
 originally at liberty to put an end to the connexion 
 that had been formed by simply giving up the land; 
 they contracted no personal or perpetual obligations 
 like the A 7 assus, but retained all their inherent rights 
 as citizens and freemen. Mansi, or farms of this kind, 
 were also held by Liti and Servi on a very different 
 tenure, and we find different properties distinguished 
 as Mansi ingeniales, Mansi lidiles, Mansi serviles. 
 And though in later times these terms were used 
 quite irrespectively of the rank of the holder, yet they 
 imply that such a distinction had existed. The ad- 
 vantage on the side of the free tenant or ingenuus 
 consisted, not only in the limitation of his rent, and 
 in the less irksome nature of the aids and services 
 required of him, but more particularly in the ter- 
 minable nature of his agreement, and his right of 
 free migration from place to place. In the eighth 
 century, however, we see that in his case also the 
 personal relation of life-long dependence has grown 
 
 1 Rotlt, p. 375. et seq. 
 
Chap. IX.] THE VASST. 403 
 
 up, and that lie has been pressed down almost to a 
 level with the litus. He has lost the power of mi- 
 gration, and has begun to perform services for his 
 landlord which had formerly been considered incom- 
 patible with freedom. At a still later period, when 
 the number of independent freemen had become very 
 small, the last privilege which they possessed, of 
 having their rent in kind fixed at a maximum, was 
 extended both to liti and servi ; and thus almost all 
 distinction between these three classes was lost, and 
 the free settlers were absorbed into the class of serfs. 
 
 In the time of Carl Martel then, the retinue of the 
 seigniors was composed of the vassals whose character 
 we have explained, and the freemen who held por- 
 tions of their land at a rent in kind. They were 
 both comprehended under the general term homines, 
 of whom the vassi came to be considered the superior 
 class. The duties of the vassi are not easily de- 
 finable, but they were chiefly military in their nature, 
 and such as were not deemed unbecoming; of freemen ; 
 while the military services which all freemen owed 
 the king were rarely claimed more than once a year, 
 when the vassals were required to be in readiness to 
 march at any time and in any direction. 
 
 The very principle of the seigniorship is incom- 
 patible, not only with public freedom, but with order 
 and good government. When any considerable por- 
 tion of the inhabitants of a country owe a closer 
 allegiance to some other human authority, whether 
 spiritual or temporal, than to the national govern- 
 ment, the workings of the machine of state must 
 
 p p 2 
 
404 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 be impeded and irregular. Every seigniorship, 
 every ecclesiastical immunity throughout the land, 
 was a stumbling-block in the path of law and justice, 
 a stronghold for all those who desired to evade their 
 duties to their country. They were fraught with 
 the greatest dangers to the power of the crown, the 
 administration of justice, and the constitution of 
 the army. 
 
 The military system of the Franks, as we have 
 seen, was founded on the oath of fidelity to the king, 
 the universal obligation of the freeman to serve him 
 gratuitously in war, at the summons and generally 
 und$r the command of the court of the gau or pagus* 
 The working of this system was first seriously im- 
 peded by the immense accumulation of land in the 
 hands of the clergy, to whom, in very many cases, 
 immunities (exemptions from the usual burdens and 
 obligations attaching to landed property) had been 
 granted by pious but short-sighted donors. 
 
 The immunities of the Church were in a great 
 measure closed against the military ban of the count 
 and the sentence of the judge, who could only act 
 indirectly and imperfectly through the advocate of 
 the bishop or abbot. 1 While the property of the 
 Church had been of moderate extent, the incon- 
 venience felt was comparatively slight ; but the ex- 
 cessive liberality of the Merovingians not unfre- 
 quently excluded the count and his authority from 
 nearly half his gau. 
 
 The same inconveuience was felt, though in a less 
 
 1 Rotli, p. 351. 
 
CnAr. IX.] THE SEIGNIORSIIIP. 40 
 
 J 
 
 degree, in the case of lay proprietors, who gathered 
 large numbers of homines about them. The very 
 liability to gratuitous military service which had once 
 been their pride and pleasure, drove the impoverished 
 freemen into a state of vassalage : both because they 
 found it easier and safer to neglect the ban, when 
 under the protection of a powerful chief; and because, 
 if compelled to serve, the expense of their equipment 
 and maintenance fell in part upon the seignior. The 
 terrible results of the development of these imperia 
 in imperio, favoured as it was by the imbecility of 
 the later Merovingians, are witnessed in every page 
 of contemporary annals. The civil and military con- 
 stitution of the country was destroyed, and general 
 government existed but in name. The country was 
 filled with a crowd of petty tyrants, ecclesiastical and 
 temporal, who, while they oppressed their vassals, set 
 them an example of disobedience to the law, and trea- 
 son to the king. Acknowledging no right but that 
 of the stronger, they carried on perpetual feuds with 
 one another ; or, if they united for a time, it was 
 generally in opposition to the liberties of the people, 
 or the authority of the government. In the period 
 which immediately preceded the rise of Carl Martel 
 to supreme authority, we find the prototype of that 
 state of things which existed in England, under 
 Stephen and Matilda, when the law, if it interfered 
 at all, had to appear as one among a thousand strug- 
 gling powers. Happily for the Frankish empire, 
 when it seemed on the point of dissolution, there were 
 giants in the land, powerful enough to curb for a time 
 
 D L> 3 
 
406 THE FRANKS. [CiiAr. IX. 
 
 this Itydralieaded tyranny, and sufficiently free from 
 superstition not to shrink from mulcting the Church 
 of a portion of its corrupting wealth. The transition 
 from the confusion and anarchy of the latter part of 
 the seventh century, to something like law and order, 
 and a central government capable of defending both, 
 was made by Carl Xtartel, one of the greatest heroes 
 of the middle ages. His indomitable energy and mili- 
 tary genius enabled him to subdue all who opposed 
 him in arms ; and he then applied himself to the task 
 of reconstructing the shattered fabric of the state, 
 from such materials as he found at hand. 
 
 To a warrior and a conqueror as he was, and was 
 obliged to be, it was a matter of necessity to have a 
 good supply of soldiers ; his first object, therefore, was 
 to get at those who had hitherto in various ways evaded 
 their military duties. The seigniorship and the immu- 
 nities were facts with which the old military constitu- 
 tion was incompatible. They could not be destroyed, 
 for they had already taken deep root in the social 
 system ; they must therefore be acknowledged and 
 legalised, but placed under superintendence and 
 brought into subservience to the wants and purposes 
 of the state. From the beginning of the eighth century, 
 the obligation to perform military service was extended 
 to bishops and abbots, who were expected to appear in 
 the field at the head of all those of their homines 
 who were amenable to the general war-ban ; that is, of 
 course, all the freemen who lived upon their territory, 
 or attached themselves to their person. The lay 
 seigniors too, since they had in a great measure 
 
Chap. IX.] THE SE1GNI0RSHIP. 407 
 
 usurped the functions of the counts, were compelled 
 to undertake his responsibilities together with his 
 rights and powers, and to answer for the appearance 
 of all the freemen among their vassals. 
 
 Like the counts, they were subjected to penalties 
 for leaving any of their homines behind, and made 
 responsible for the state of their equipments, and for 
 their behaviour in the field. The homines of the 
 seigniors had many advantages over the free pagenses, 
 which continually tended to swell the ranks of the 
 former. The seignior was bound by custom, as well 
 as interest and inclination, to pay a part of the ex- 
 penses of his followers, who derived besides much 
 mutual aid from this close connexion with one 
 another. 1 
 
 A right understanding of the manner in which the 
 seigniorship attained its vast importance will enable 
 us to gain a correct view of the nature and object of 
 the benejicia, with which it afterwards became in- 
 separably connected. The form which society had 
 assumed during the seventh century was briefly this : 
 Throughout the length and breadth of the land, the 
 seigniors or liege lords had gathered round them the 
 strength and resources of the whole nation, and had 
 attained to a state of semi-independence. They stood 
 
 1 The duty of Wacha, or keeping guard, and of defending the 
 borders of the empire, was also gratuitous ; but borderers, in consi- 
 deration of the more frequent calls upon them, were exempted from 
 the general ban. The publicm functiojies, as the building of 
 bridges, roads, palaces, &c, were also gratuitously performed ; nor 
 were the free homines of a seignior in any way exempted by law 
 from these general services. 
 
 d d 4 
 
408 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 on the once level plain of German freedom like the 
 massive but isolated pillars of a rained temple, sup- 
 porting nothing but themselves, and unconnected with 
 each other. They were too strong to be thrown down, 
 but they might perhaps be brought into harmonious 
 relation, and be made to sustain the vast fabric of the 
 state. It needed all the energy and all the wisdom 
 of a Carl Mart el to effect this object. He performed 
 by no means the most difficult part of his task, when 
 he struck down the rebellious and tamed the haughty 
 into submission. He knew that no strong govern- 
 ment can be founded on force alone. It was necessary 
 to bind the seigniors to the throne by their own in- 
 terests ; to devise some plan by which zeal and devo- 
 tion might be rewarded without too great a sacrifice ; 
 by which disloyalty, and even a want of ready obe- 
 dience, might be punished without a continual recourse 
 to arms. To supply this desideratum was the main 
 object of the beneficia or non-hereditary grants of 
 land. 
 
 The common opinion respecting these is well known, 
 and has already been referred to. According to Eich- 
 horn, Savigny, and others, the whole of Gaul was di- 
 vided into military fiefs on its subjugation by Clovis, 
 and the beneficial, we might almost say the feudal 
 system, appeared in its full development in the sixth 
 century. 1 Others derive the beneficia of Carlovin- 
 
 1 Eichhorn thinks by the wars of Carl Martel and Pepin, the 
 Mannitio or summoning of volunteers was changed into Bannitio, 
 a compulsory levy. In the Eipuarian laws, the power of the ban 
 was given to the king in the 7th century. Vid. Roth, pp. 199., 
 
Chap. IX.] NON-HEREDITARY GRANTS. 409 
 
 gian times from the beneficia militaria of the Romans, 
 and suppose that the lands which were first held at 
 will, were subsequently granted for life, and ultimately 
 in hereditary possession. Guizot thinks that all three 
 tenures existed together. 
 
 The Frankish kings from Clovis downwards pos- 
 sessed large landed estates in every part of the em- 
 pire which bore the name of Jiscus, and from which 
 they were accustomed to reward their followers. Un- 
 der the Merovingians the grants of fiscal land appear 
 to have been almost exclusively free and unconditional 
 gifts 1 , nor is there any mention of beneficia, in the 
 Carlovingian sense of the word, in the whole history 
 of Gregory. But when, as we have shown, it became 
 a question of existence to the government to secure 
 the dependence of the seigniors, the end in view 
 could not be answered by hereditary grants. To 
 have enriched the seigniors in this manner from the 
 fiscus, would but have weakened the crown at the ex- 
 pense of its unruly subjects, and added fuel to the 
 fire which was preying on the vitals of the state. 
 Recourse was therefore had to a new species of en- 
 dowment by non-hereditary grants, not, as some sup- 
 pose, revocable at will, but subject to forfeiture for 
 
 "Montesquieu regards the beneficia as crown lands (granted to the 
 Leudes), which were originally held at will, but through various 
 abuses had become hereditary ; so that Carl Martel was obliged to 
 found a new set of bcnelicia — the Carlovingian." 
 
 1 Whether single cases occur of such temporary and revocable 
 grants, analogous to the precarice and similar properties held of 
 the Church, we cannot stop to inquire. 
 
410 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 treason or disloyalty, and in all cases terminable at the 
 death of the grantor. 
 
 These were the beneficia of the Carlovinstfans, 
 which naturally became a great object of rivalry and 
 ambition to the seigniors, as affording the means of 
 increasing the number of their homines. The bene- 
 ficia attached some by their hopes, and others by their 
 fears, and taught all to look at the crown as the 
 fountain of profit as well as honour. The holders of 
 beneficia from the crown were not identical with the 
 royal vassals, or vassi dominici, though the same 
 persons frequently stood in both relations to the 
 king, and the two classes were gradually merged in 
 one another. The relation of vassal to his lord was 
 entirely personal, and there were vassi who had no 
 beneficia, just as there were beneficiaries who were 
 not vassals. 1 Yet it was natural that the king should 
 seek those as vassals whose aid he could depend upon 
 in war, and that he should wish to strengthen their 
 bands and increase their personal dignity, by bestow- 
 ing beneficia upon them. And thus the vassi domi- 
 nici became in the course of time the largest holders 
 of beneficia. The beneficiaries, on the other han^p 
 though they were not necessarily vassals, were obliged 
 to seek in person the renewal of their grants from 
 every fresh successor to the crown. The opportunity 
 therefore was presented, and eagerly seized, of gradu- 
 ally bringing the holders of beneficia into a peculiarly 
 close relation of dependence and allegiance to the 
 sovereign. And thus these different classes ap- 
 
 1 Roth, p. 429. 
 
Chap. IX.] INTRIGUES OF THE PRELATES. 411 
 
 proached each other so nearly that the distinction 
 was eventually lost sight of. 
 
 Though it is evident that the funds employed by 
 Government to conciliate and reward devotion 
 would go much further on the system of beneficia 
 than of hereditary grants, yet they did in fact fall 
 short of the exigencies of the state ; and it was this 
 deficiency of means which impelled Carl Martel and 
 his son Pepin to take extraordinary measures in 
 regard to the Church. The object and effect of the 
 most famous of these — the Secularisation — have 
 been spoken of above (p. 302.); but its great import- 
 ance will perhaps excuse a further mention of it, in 
 this connexion. 
 
 We have seen how the matchless vigour, wise coun- 
 sels, and good fortune of the Carlovingians, enabled 
 them to tame the unruly spirit of the great lay 
 seigniors, and to yoke them to the car of state. They 
 had a still more difficult task before them, to diminish 
 the wealth, to curb the excesses, and humble the 
 pride of the ecclesiastical dignitaries of the empire. 
 In reading the history of the later Merovingians, we 
 are struck with astonishment at seeing how promi- 
 nent a part is taken by prelates of the Church, in the 
 most disgraceful intrigues and murderous feuds of 
 that blood-stained age. When not restrained by 
 religious considerations, a simple priest could be 
 factious, licentious, and cruel, with far greater safety 
 than the mightiest layman. Even in the age of Chil- 
 peric and Fredegunda, the rights and privileges of 
 the Church were generally respected, and the sacred 
 
412 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 office and separate jurisdiction of its ministers too 
 often procured for them impunity in crime. The 
 bishops and abbots therefore, whose splendid reve- 
 nues and numerous vassals placed them on a level 
 with the proudest seigniors, were far more difficult to 
 deal with than the most wealthy and turbulent of the 
 laity. To this was added that the discipline of the 
 Gallican clergy had fallen into complete disorder. 
 Their distance from the seat of the Roman pontiff, 
 and the absence of all common action and ready com- 
 munication among themselves, rendered them inde- 
 pendent of all spiritual authority, and even of that 
 mutual surveillance which sometimes supplies its 
 place. Both history and experience have taught us 
 that no religious community, however favourable the 
 circumstances of the age in which it exists, can be 
 long preserved from corruption without the constant 
 watchfulness and interference of some strong; autho- 
 rity. It can cause us little surprise therefore, in a 
 period so full of influences hostile to the development 
 of the Christian life, to find that many of the prelates 
 of the Church had nothing of the priest or the Chris- 
 tian about them, but the name; and were guilty of 
 the most terrible and shameful crimes which disgrace 
 humanity. 
 
 To restore the internal discipline and morality of 
 the Frankish Church was the object of Wilfrid (Boni- 
 face) the Englishman's glorious mission. The ruder 
 task of bringing it into some degree of subservience 
 to the state was performed by Carl Martel and King 
 Pepin. Besides the expedient already mentioned of 
 
Chap. IX.] MILITARY CONSTITUTION. 413 
 
 placing the bishops and abbots on the footing of lay 
 seigniors, and requiring them to bring their homines 
 into the field, these rulers took advantage of the disor- 
 ganised state of the hierarchy, to bestow the great 
 prizes in the Church on the most faithful of their ser- 
 vants, without much regard to mental or spiritual fit- 
 ness. This had been done before the time of Carl 
 Martel, but with him it became the rule to give away 
 sees and benefices to those who would turn them to 
 secular and military purposes. What was attempted 
 by our Henries, in the case of Thomas- a- Becket and 
 Wolsey, was here carried out on a more extensive 
 scale. The nephew of Carl Martel, Hugo, held at 
 the same time the bishoprics of Paris, Rouen, and 
 Bayeux. Pope Gregory II. complains, in a letter to 
 Vigilius of Aries 1 , that laymen, solely with a view to 
 temporal honours, assumed the tonsure on the death 
 of bishops, and suddenly became priests. " In the time 
 of Prince Carl (Martel)," says Hincman, " in the Ger- 
 man, Belgian, and Gallic provinces, the Christian re- 
 ligion was almost entirely abolished, so that bishops 
 being left only in a few places, the bishoprics were 
 granted to laymen." He then goes on to speak of 
 " a certain Milo, a priest by his tonsure, but in his 
 morals, habits, and actions an irreligious layman, who 
 occupied the sees of Rheims and Treves at the same 
 time, and destroyed them for the space of many years, 
 so that many of the Eastern Franks worshipped idols 
 and remained unbaptized." 2 The influence of Carl 
 
 1 Bouquet, iv. p. 13. 
 
 2 Hincmari Opera ii. p. 731. (ad Episcop. tie jure Metropolitan, 
 
414 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 Martel upon the Church was only external and poli- 
 tical. He was no religious reformer, and though he 
 aided Boniface in his efforts to bring the Frankish 
 clergy under the stricter discipline at Rome, his objects 
 were chiefly secular ; he was not without reverence for 
 religion and its ministers, but he regarded the Church 
 chiefly as a great military chest, from which his wars 
 might be most readily supplied. 1 
 
 The famous Act of the Secularisation, however, is 
 erroneously attributed to Carl Martel, though no 
 doubt the arbitrary manner in which he infringed 
 upon the privileges of the Church, and perverted its 
 revenues, prepared the way for a more wholesale 
 spoliation. That important event in the history of 
 the Frankish Church took place in the middle of the 
 eighth century, and under the auspices of Carloman 
 and Pepin. It stands in close connexion with the 
 revival of discipline and organisation among the 
 clergy which those princes aided Boniface to bring 
 about. The pressing wants which Carl Martel had 
 supplied, in a manner so injurious to the best in- 
 terests of the Church, were experienced in a still 
 greater degree by Carloman and Pepin, and it was 
 
 xliv. c. xx.). Conf. Chron. Viridunense (written 1115 A.D.), ap. 
 Bong. iii. p. 364. ; and Epist. Greg. II. ad Episcop. (ap. Sirmond. 
 Concil. Gall. torn. i. p. 513.) Bonif. Epist. 51. (ad Zacbar.): 
 " Modo autem maxima ex parte per civitates episcopales sedes 
 tradita3 sunt laicis cupidis ad possidendum vel adulteratis Clericis, 
 scortatoribus, et publicanis seculariter ad perfruendum." 
 
 1 Gieseler, i. 746. De majoribus domus regice (ap. Du Chesne, 
 Hist. Franc. Script, torn. ii. p. 2.): "Carolus . . . res Ecclesiarum 
 propter assiduitatem bellorum laicis tradidit." 
 
Chap. IX. J THE SECULARISATION. 415 
 
 equally necessary for them to employ the wealth of 
 the Church in propping the fabric of the State. But 
 the influence of Boniface and the Bishop of Eome 
 induced them to seek their ends in a less rude 
 and violent though equally effective manner. They 
 could no longer suddenly change a warlike layman 
 into a priest, by shaving the top of his head and 
 investing him with wealthy benefices, and they there- 
 fore used the influence and mediation of Boniface to 
 obtain from the clergy a voluntary resignation of a 
 large portion of their revenues. The matter was 
 brought before the Council of Lestines (a. d. 743), 
 and it was then that the Secularisation may be said 
 to have been consummated. In appearance it was 
 a still greater inroad upon the ecclesiastical rights 
 than any which even Carl Martel had allowed him- 
 self; but in fact it was a change for the better, since 
 it tended to rid the Church of a class of ignorant and 
 licentious bishops, who had hitherto corrupted and 
 disgraced it. The terms in which this voluntary 
 surrender was made are as follows: — " Statuimus 
 quoque, cum consilio servorum Dei et populi Christiani, 
 propter imminentia bella et persecutiones casterarum 
 gentium, qua3 in circuitu nostro sunt, ut sub precario 
 et censu aliquam partem ecclesialis pecuniaB (i. e. pro- 
 perty) in adjutorum exercitus nostri, cum indulgentia 
 Dei aliquanto tempore retineamus ea conditione ut 
 annis singulis de unaquaque casata solidus, i. e. xn. 
 denarii ad ecclesiarn vel monasterium reddantur ; eo 
 modo ut si moriatur ille cui pecunia commodata 
 fuit, Ecclesia cum propria pecunia revestita sit. 
 
416 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 Et iterum, si necessitas cogat, aut Princeps jubeat 
 precarium renovetur et rescribatur novum." x 
 
 And thus were both lay and clerical seigniors 
 brought into subjection for a time by the vigour 
 of the extraordinary men who founded the second 
 Frankish dynasty. Yet this policy only aimed afc 
 the control and guidance of the irregular and im- 
 petuous forces which existed around them, and not 
 at their annihilation. The Carlovingians decidedly 
 favoured the seigniorship, and themselves created the 
 beneficial system; and they used them both to carry 
 out their schemes of conquest and empire. But a 
 machine which proved so powerful in the hands of 
 Carl Martel and his successors, could only be worked 
 by hands like theirs, as was clearly seen when the 
 sword of these mighty warriors passed into the hands 
 of the feeble son of Charlemagne. 
 
 The difficulty with which even these three heroes 
 maintained the supremacy of the crown, is clearly 
 seen in the annals of their reigns. The vassi 
 dominici, though curbed for thfc time, continually 
 increased in strength, and gradually developed into 
 a feudal aristocracy of birth. That such a class of 
 hereditary nobility had not hitherto existed, as is 
 generally maintained, might be satisfactorily proved 
 from the Salic law alone. But the arguments de- 
 rived from it are confirmed by the History of Gregory 
 of Tours, which contains no trace of a Frankish 
 nobility. When a long-haired Merovingian is shorn 
 
 1 Sirmond. Cone. Gall. i. p. 540. 
 
Cuap. IX.] MILITARY CONSTITUTION. 417 
 
 of his royal locks, lie is said to have been reduced to 
 the rank of a plebeian. 1 When the royal murderers, 
 Childebert I. and Clotaire, are consulting upon the fate 
 of their nephews, they debate whether " they should 
 cut their hair and cause them to be regarded like the 
 rest of the plebs." (Utrum incisa ca3sarie ut reliqva 
 Plcbs habeantur.) When the historian is speaking 
 of a powerful or distinguished Frank, it is always 
 as a wealthy man, or as filling an important office ; 
 never as a man of noble lineage or hereditary ho- 
 nours. 2 That the omission of all reference to a 
 nobility of birth among the Franks is not accidental, 
 is evident from the fact that where hereditary dis- 
 tinctions did exist, as among the Gallo-Komans, they 
 are always noticed. 3 
 
 Yet though we conceive that nothing in mediaaval 
 history is more certain than that the seigniors, under 
 the Carlovingian mayors, were not an order of nobility 
 in the proper sense, yet it recpnred but a few changes 
 and a little time, to make them the most powerful 
 hereditary aristocracy that the world ever saw. The 
 very means which Carl Martel took to subject them, 
 served in the sequel to increase their power, and to 
 insure them a victory over the first ordinary occu- 
 pant of the throne. There is a natural tendency — 
 scarcely to be overcome even in the freest states — in 
 wealth and honours to become hereditary. And 
 
 1 Greg. iii. 18. 
 
 2 Greg. viii. 29. et passim. 
 
 3 In the Formula of Marculf, it is admission into the king's 
 retinue which is made the ground of increased weregeld. 
 
 E E 
 
418 THE FRANKS. [Chap. IX. 
 
 whatever the theory, and even the practice of such a 
 man as Carl Martel might be, respecting the bene- 
 ficia, it was inevitable that the grants of land which 
 had been made to the father would in ordinary times, 
 in the great majority of cases, be renewed in favour 
 of the son. This would happen even under fearless 
 and powerful monarchs ; but how much more so 
 under those whose chief object was to avoid giving 
 oftence ; and who knew that by depriving a single 
 vassal of his benefice, or even disappointing the hopes 
 of an expectant heir, they would draw upon themselves 
 the wrath and enmity of all in a like position ! The 
 process by which the beneficia, and even the office of 
 count, became hereditary was so gradual, that it is 
 impossible to assign any particular date to this im- 
 portant change ; but it was not until after this change 
 had been completed that the new and mighty order of 
 nobility took its rise, which has played so conspicuous, 
 so brilliant, and, in some countries, so glorious a part 
 in the succeeding history of Europe. 
 
419 
 
 CHAR X. 
 
 SALIC LAW, 1 
 
 All the information which Tacitus has given us 
 concerning the laws of the ancient Germans is con- 
 tained in a few short sentences ; but brief as they 
 are, we find in them the fundamental principles of 
 their subsequent legislation, and the broad and un- 
 mistakable characteristics of the whole Teutonic race. 
 If we compare the scanty notices of the great his- 
 torian with the later codes of different tribes, and 
 more particularly with those of the Salian and Ripu- 
 arian Franks, we find so great a similarity between 
 them, not only in their general spirit, but in some of 
 the most striking of their provisions, that they serve 
 to verify and illustrate each other. 
 
 The well known Salic law — one of the most re- 
 markable monuments of antiquity — has been handed 
 down to us in a barbarous and corrupted latinity; 
 but whether it was originally composed in the Latin 
 lan^uaffe is still a subject of debate among antiqua- 
 rians. The controversy has originated in the very 
 
 1 We have made use of the excellent edition of Joh. Merkel, 
 Lex Salica; Berlin, 1850. 
 
 E E ti 
 
420 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 singular fact that the oldest editions of the code 
 contain a considerable number of words of unknown 
 import, interspersed through the Latin text, but 
 having no apparent connexion with the sense. 1 
 These words, known under the name of the Malberg 
 Glossy are considered by some writers to belong to 
 the ancient Celtic language 2 ; while Jacob Grimm 
 declares them to be remnants of the German dialect 
 in which the laws were originally composed, and 
 which gradually made way for the bastard Latin of 
 Merovingian times. In his eyes they are the only 
 u planks " and " splinters " that have been washed 
 on shore from the shipwreck of the old Frankish 
 tongue, and on that account worthy of the notice 
 both of the lawyer and the philologian. 3 
 
 Without entering any further into this question, 
 on which Leo on the one side, and Grimm on the 
 other, have argued with almost equal learning and ve- 
 hemence, we may remark upon the antecedent impro- 
 bability of a theory which maintains that German 
 laws brought by Germans from the German forests 
 should contain the remnants of a Celtic dialect. The 
 theory of Grimm, on the other hand, has the merit 
 of being in harmony with the Frankish history ; and 
 is further recommended by the striking results of his 
 later researches. 
 
 1 The first edition of this ancient code is that of Herold, who 
 procured it from the library of Fulda, and caused it to be printed 
 with the so-called Malberg Gloss. 
 
 2 Leo "Die Malb. Glosse." (Halle, 1842.) 
 
 3 Grimm's Vorrecle liber die Malbergische Glosse, in Johannes 
 Merkel's Lex Salica. 
 
Chap. X.] ORIGIN OF SALIC LAW. 421 
 
 The exact date of the composition and promulga- 
 tion of the Salic law is very uncertain, but the great 
 antiquity of the oldest part of it is abundantly at- 
 tested both by external and internal evidence. The 
 foundation of the whole code is found in the first 
 sixty-five chapters. From the sixty-sixth to the 
 seventy-sixth we have the additions made by Clovis 
 in the beginning of the sixth century, which are also 
 accompanied by the Malberg Gloss. The chapters 
 from the seventy- seventh to the hundred and fifth, 
 are the work of Chilperic II., Clotaire II., and other 
 Merovingian kings, and are without the gloss, Be- 
 sides the code itself we have 357 fragments, collected 
 under the head of Novellce, which consist almost en- 
 tirely of additions and modifications of the above 
 mentioned laws ; forty of the other Novellas are taken 
 from Alaric's Breviarium, and are therefore later 
 than the year 506 a.d., and 146 contain a reference 
 to the Christian Church and the holy reliques. At- 
 tached to some of the older MSS., are several longer 
 and shorter Epilogues in which some account of the 
 collection and promulgation of the laws is attempted 
 to be °iven. One of these is as follows : " Hoc sunt 
 qui lege Salica tractaverunt Wisogast, Widegast, Aro- 
 gast, Bodegast, Salegast, Wisoicando, in Bodachcem 
 et in Salachce. The Prologues of other MSS. men- 
 tion the same persons and the same places of abode. 
 " Exiiterunt igitur inter eos electi de phiribus viri qua- 
 tuor his nominibus IVisogastus, Arogastus, Salegasius, 
 et Widogastus que {ultra Benum) sunt in Bodochem et 
 
 E E 3 
 
422 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 Salachem, et Widochem" l The localities here men- 
 tioned as the birthplaces of the Salic code are un- 
 known, but we find in the laws themselves some slight 
 indications of the geographical position of the Franks 
 at the period referred to. In pact, xlvii. of the law, the 
 Sylva Carbonaria 2 and the Ligere (the Ley or Ly), a 
 small river in Belgium, which empties itself into the 
 Scheldt, near Ghent, are spoken of as the proper 
 boundaries of the Salic land. As, however, it seems 
 to be implied in the same chapter that the Salic law 
 was in force in the country on the other side of these 
 boundaries, we are inclined to think that a period is 
 here referred to when Cambrai, and the country as 
 far as the Somme, had been conquered, but not 
 thoroughly incorporated with the ancient Salian 
 lands. These later conquests, as we have seen, were 
 made by Clodio. It is probable, therefore, that the 
 villages from which the above-named lawgivers were 
 chosen, lay within the narrow territory above de- 
 fined. And this supposition agrees particularly well 
 with the nature of the laws themselves, adapted, as 
 they are, for the use of a small community. Every- 
 thing which we read in the original code is in har- 
 mony with the state of things existing in the earlier 
 
 1 At the end of the Leyden Codex there is a similar notice : 
 u Ha3C sunt nomina eorum qui fecerunt legem Salicae, Visuast, 
 Saleanats, Vicats ; qui vero manserunt in lege in budice do micio 
 fristratio." 
 
 2 Waitz (D. alte R. d. Sal. Frank, p. 59.) supposes this forest 
 (Kohlenwald) to have extended from the R. Sambre, near Thuin, 
 inaNW. direction towards the Scheldt. 
 
Chap. X] TACITUS AND SALIC LAW. 423 
 
 part of the fifth century (422 a.d.), when the Frank- 
 ish territory was small, and its inhabitants compa- 
 ratively few and poor; and when, too, though they 
 had already come into contact with the Romans, 
 they had adopted nothing of their religion, laws, or 
 manners. The singular agreement between the Salic 
 code and some passages in the Germania of Tacitus, 
 tends to confirm us in this opinion, and renders it 
 extremely improbable that so vast a change in the 
 circumstances of the Frankish people as was brought 
 about by the subjugation of Gaul should have inter- 
 vened between the time of which Tacitus speaks and 
 that of the Salian legislation. We plainly perceive 
 that the interval, whether shorter or longer, had 
 effected but little change in the condition and rela- 
 tions of the people. Nor is the agreement above 
 referred to more remarkable for what is said, than for 
 what is omitted. Neither the treatise of Tacitus nor 
 the Salian code contain much constitutional law, nor 
 in fact anything which indicates close political rela- 
 tions, or an organised system of government. Their 
 main and almost sole object appears to be, to deter- 
 mine and uphold the 'personal rights of the freebom 
 inhabitants of the country. Protection for the life 
 and limbs, the property and honour of the ingenuus, 
 is sum and substance of the whole. 
 
 But though there is but little in the ancient Ger- 
 man laws of what we call the State, or even of ex- 
 tended social life, there are perpetual references to 
 the existence of a very close relation between the 
 
 E E 4 
 
424 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 members of a domus, or, in the widest sense, family 1 ; 
 which corresponded in a great measure to the gens of 
 the early Romans. Originally, no doubt, the members 
 of these houses were all connected, though distantly, 
 by blood or marriage ; but in later times actual 
 blood-relationship was not an indispensable prerequi- 
 site for admission. Into such a family every free- 
 man entered at his birth as a partner in its privi- 
 leges and responsibilities. The looser their connexion, 
 — the less frequent their intercourse with the rest of 
 the world, — the closer were the ties which bound the 
 members of these clans together. And hence it is that 
 some of the provisions of the Salic code, even where they 
 only regard single persons, bear rather the character 
 of international than of private law. Xo man could 
 either sin or suffer as an individual; by every of- 
 fence which he committed, he rendered himself and 
 his gentiles responsible to all the members of another 
 similar corporation. The union of several of these 
 houses or families (which held a certain portion 
 of land in common) formed the larger commu- 
 nity to whose settlements Tacitus gives the name 
 of pagus 2 (in the more confined sense of the word), 
 and the Salic law that of villa. In the fifth century, 
 owiii£ to the increasing value of land, the houses had 
 become exclusive corporations, into which admission 
 could not be gained if a single member of them ob- 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xxi. : "Luitur enira etiam homicidium certo ar- 
 mentorum ac pecoruni nmnero, recipitque satisfactionem universal 
 donuts" 
 
 2 Pagus is also used by Latin writers for gau or canton. 
 
Chap. X.] THE DOMUS OR TARENTILLA. 425 
 
 jected. Yet the Praeceptuin of the king, or undis- 
 turbed possession of a portion of the common land 
 for twelve months, appears to have been sufficient to 
 establish the rioht. 1 
 
 The obligations which rested upon a member of 
 these corporations, seem at times to have outweighed 
 the advantages to be derived from them, and to have 
 become so onerous that it was necessary to provide 
 a means of escaping from them. The Salic law 
 actually contains a formula by which any man might 
 free himself from all connexion with his parentilla? 
 
 The social distinctions indicated in this code 
 have been noticed in another portion of this work ; 
 but for the sake of perspicuity it will be necessary 
 briefly to refer to them again. The high honour 
 paid to the king, even in the very ancient period 
 which gave birth to these laws, appears from the fact 
 that all who stood in any near relation to him were 
 under the peculiar protection of the law. 
 
 Without the intervention of any order of nobility, 
 of which there is not a single trace throughout the code, 
 we descend at once from the king to the freeman 
 (Francus ingenuus, homo ingennus, baro ingenuus), 
 placed on an equality with whom we find "the 
 German who lived according to the Salic law." {Bar- 
 bams qui lege Salica vivit.) Next in order to the 
 in^enuus is the Vitus, who was no doubt identical 
 with the serf whom Tacitus represents as cultivating 
 
 1 Vid. Lex Sal. xlv. De raigrantibus. 
 
 2 Lex Sal. lx. De cum qui se de parentilla tollere vult. 
 
426 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 the soil, and paying a rent in kind to his lord. 1 That 
 the litus was not free is evident from the mention of 
 his master and the fact that he could be sold 2 ; 
 though we find a weregeld set upon his life equal to 
 that of the free Roman, it was probably paid to the 
 person whose property he was. We see, however, 
 that the Liti had somewhat improved their condition 
 in the interval between the first and fifth centuries ; 
 for by the laws of the Franks they were allowed to 
 enter into binding legal engagements, and to appear 
 before the public tribunals. On the same footing 
 with resj)ect to weregeld were the Pueri Regis 3 , 
 whose position was certainly one of servitude, but 
 cannot be accurately defined ; and the liberti or freed- 
 men, whose condition in the time of Tacitus was 
 very little raised above that of the slave. 4 
 
 In the Romance population the Salic law distin- 
 guishes two classes — the Possessor Romanics, and the 
 Tributaries Romanas. The meaning of these terms 
 is very uncertain ; the former is generally supposed 
 to denote one of the higher class of landed proprietors, 
 who retained their possessions after the Frankish con- 
 quest ; and the latter, one of the great mass of com- 
 mon freemen, who were liable to a poll tax. 5 Roth 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xxvi. Waitz differs from this view. Waitz, 
 Das alte Recht der Salischen Franken. 
 
 2 Lex. vSal. xxxv. Litum alienum. Ibid. xxvi. 1., xxxv. 4. 
 
 3 They may have been slaves whose position was raised by 
 their being about the court, and in personal attendance on the 
 king. Vid. L. Sal. lxxviii. 
 
 4 Tac. Germ. xxv. 
 
 5 Rotb, 83, 84. 
 
Chap. X.J HEREDITARY DISTINCTIONS OF RANK. 427 
 
 endeavours with considerable success to show that 
 the term possessor was used of every Roman who 
 had the right to possess land ; while the tributarius 
 was identical with the Roman colonus, and held a 
 sort of middle place between the freeman and slave. 
 
 Such are the only hereditary distinctions of which 
 the Salic law takes cognisance. We meet, however, 
 with several titles denoting temporary rank, derived 
 from offices political and judicial, or from a position 
 about the person of the king. 
 
 Anions these the Antrustiones, who were in con- 
 stant attendance upon the king, and formed his court, 
 played a conspicuous part. In the oldest portion of 
 the Salic law the word Antrustio does not occur, but 
 the same persons are designated by the words qui in 
 truste dominica. Romans who held the same posi- 
 tion were called Convives Regis. The Antrustiones 
 and Convive Regis are the predecessors of the Vassi 
 Dominici of later times, and like these were bound 
 to the king by an especial oath of personal and 
 perpetual service. They formed part, as it were, 
 of the king's family, and were expected to reside in 
 the palace, where they superintended the various 
 departments of the royal household. 1 
 
 Though generally employed in some particular 
 office at court, the nature of their relation to the 
 king rendered it incumbent upon them to hold them- 
 selves in readiness for any task which their royal 
 master might please to impose upon them. So far 
 
 1 Waitz, Verfass. Gescli. ii. 394. 396. No. i. Roth, p. 125. 127. 
 
428 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 from their forming a separate hereditary order of 
 Frankish nobles, however, as Savigny and others 
 have supposed, it is more than probable that they 
 were sometimes chosen, not only from the Roman 
 Possessores, but even from the Liti and Pueri Regis. 1 
 The higher weregeld (or leodis) which was set upon 
 their lives, was not a mark of higher birth, but arose 
 simply from the general principle that every person 
 or thing, in the service or possession of the king, 
 was to be placed under the more especial protection 
 of the law. If the Antrustio were a Frankish in- 
 genuus, his leodis was triple that of the other 
 Frankish freemen ; if a possessor, a litus, or a 
 puer regis, then triple that of any other member of 
 the class from which he was chosen. 
 
 The highest official dignitary of which the Salic 
 law makes mention, is the Grafio (Graf, Count), 
 who was appointed by the king, and therefore pro- 
 tected by a triple leodis. His authority and juris- 
 diction extended over a district answering to the 
 gau (canton) of later times, in which he acted as 
 the representative of the king, and was civil and 
 military governor of the people. The chief person 
 in the Centence (hundreds) into which we have sup- 
 posed the gau to be divided, is called by the twofold 
 name of Thunginus and Centenarius. 2 This magis- 
 
 > Roth, p. 119, 120. 
 
 2 Lex Aleman. tit. 36. : " Conventus autem secundum con- 
 snetudinem anti<"[itam fiat in orani centena coram comite aut suo 
 misso et coram centenario ipsum placitum fiat." 
 
Chap. X.] THE MALLUS. — RACHINEBURGII. 429 
 
 trate appears to have been elected by the community 
 at large, and presided over the Mallus (court of law), 
 which was held in the open air at certain stated 
 periods for the administration of justice. 1 The place 
 of meeting was called the Malloberg. On such oc 
 casions, the grafio does not appear to have taken any 
 part in the proceedings, but to have held a position ana- 
 logous to our county sheriffs in the Courts of Assizes, 
 and simply to have carried out the judgment of the 
 court. 2 The actual judges were a certain number of 
 freemen 3 chosen from the people, and called for the 
 time being Rachmeburgii^ who, under the presidency 
 of the Thunginas, acted the part of a college of judges 
 or jury. A regular summons preceded every trial, 
 which when made by the plaintiff is called matmire, 
 and when made by the grafio, bannire. " He who 
 summons another/' runs the law, " should go to his 
 house with his witnesses ; and if he be not at home, 
 then he (the plaintiff) may call his (defendant's) 
 wife or one of his family, and make known to them 
 that he is summoned." 4 In other cases the grafio 
 himself went with seven Rachineburgii to the house 
 of the defendant, to demand restitution or satisfac- 
 tion, or to comply in some way or other with the 
 decree of the court. 5 
 
 1 Lex Sal. lx. In mallo ante Thunginum. 
 
 2 Lex Sal. li. De ando meto. 
 
 3 Perhaps seven. Lex Sal. I. De fides factas : " Tunc G ratio 
 collegat septeni Rachineburgius [idoneos] et sic cum ipsis ad casa 
 illius qui fidein fecit," etc. 
 
 4 Lex Sal. i. De in an ni re. r > Lex Sal. 1. 
 
430 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 The penalty for non-appearance, on receiving a 
 summons, was very severe ; and he who contuma- 
 ciously neglected to fulfil the verdict of the Rachine- 
 burgii was summoned to appear before the king 
 within fourteen nights. 1 If he still failed to appear, 
 the fact was attested by a certain number of 
 witnesses ; this formality having been repeated with- 
 out effect several times, the delinquent lost the king's 
 protection, his property was confiscated, and all 
 persons, including his own wife (uxor sua proxirna), 
 were forbidden to feed him or receive him into their 
 house, under a penalty of fifteen solidi. 2 Besides the 
 Rachineburgii we find another class of persons taking 
 part in the administration of justice, whose character 
 and functions it is almost impossible to define. 
 These are the Sacebarone. Their triple leodis, 
 and the fact that they might be chosen either from 
 the Pueri Regis as well as the Ingenui, seem to show 
 that they were appointed by the king ; nor is it less 
 evident that their office was one of honour and im- 
 portance. Waitz appears to think that they were 
 persons learned in the law, who were summoned to 
 assist the deliberations of the Rachineburgii by 
 their superior knowledge. 3 This hypothesis is too 
 vague to be satisfactory ; and we are inclined to con- 
 jecture, from the fact that the number of Sacebarone 
 present at a Mallum was limited to three, and that 
 
 1 They reckoned nights like all the Germanic tribes. Tac. 
 Germ. xi. 
 
 2 Lex Sal. lvi. 
 
 s Waitz, Das al. R. d. S. Fr. p. 132. 
 
Chap. X.] THE SACEBARONE (OBGK AEIONES.) * 431 
 
 they are also called Obgrafiones 1 (vice-comites or de- 
 puty counts), that they were representatives of the 
 graf or count at those tribunals at which he was un- 
 able to attend in person. 
 
 When we come to examine the penal portion of 
 the Salic code, we find its main feature, in agreement 
 with all ancient German-legislation, to be the practice 
 of atoning for every crime, even that of murder, by 
 a fine in money or money's worth. This peculiar 
 sanction of the law was evidently founded on the 
 right of revenge awarded by the German, in common 
 with the Oriental races, to the nearest relative of a 
 murdered man. It was this right which was bought 
 off and satisfied by the leodis or weregeld. What 
 Tacitus says on this point is in strict accordance with 
 the spirit of the Salian code. " The Germans are 
 bound," he says, " to take up the feuds as well as 
 the friendships of their fathers and kindred; but 
 their hostility is not implacable, for even homicide 
 may be atoned for by a certain number of cattle or 
 sheep, and the whole family receives satisfaction." l 
 And elsewhere he says, " Those who are convicted of 
 a crime are mulcted of a number of horses or cattle ; 
 part of the fine is paid to the king or the State, and 
 part to the injured party, or to his relations. 3 
 
 The whole penal code of the Salian Franks is 
 founded upon the principles here laid down. In 
 this too the right and duty of revenge may be com- 
 
 1 Lex Sal. liv. De grafione occisum. 
 
 2 Tac. Gorm. xxi. 3 Tac. Germ. xii. 
 
432 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 muted for a sum of money, varying according to the 
 injury inflicted and the social rank of the sufferer. 
 
 The intimacy of the bond by which every man 
 was united to his family (domus in the sense already 
 explained), rendered the members of it, associates 
 both in his guilt, where he was the aggressor, 
 and in his claim to compensation, where he was ag- 
 grieved. But it was not compulsory on any one to 
 accept the compensation offered by the law. Every 
 freeman could refuse it, and trust to his own re- 
 sources to procure for himself a retribution more 
 suited to his taste. 1 In the majority of cases, how- 
 ever, a man would be inclined, or, if not, would be 
 compelled by public opinion, to accept the atonement 
 offered by the law; which was moreover sufficient to 
 satisfy the most vindictive heart. The nominal 
 punishment, indeed, in the case of a freeman was only 
 a fine in money, but the consequences of inability 
 to pay were slavery and even death. The punish- 
 ment of death was denounced directly only against 
 slaves, but the immense amount of the fines in- 
 flicted in certain cases must have made it by no 
 means uncommon even among freemen. Where the 
 murderer was an ingenuus, and his whole property 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. vii. 21. King Guntram swears in presence of the 
 Optbnates to avenge the murder of his brother Chiperic on Ebe- 
 rulf to the ninth generation. '* Tunc Rex juravit omnibus opti- 
 matibus, quod non modo ipsum (Eberulfum) verum etiam proge- 
 niem ejus in nonam generationem deleret." Greg. Tur. vii. 47. 
 Chramnisindus refuses to accept a composition for the murder of 
 his father, Austrigisel, and sought a bloody revenge. Vid. Waitz, 
 Das alte R. der Sal. Fiauken, p. 186. 
 
Chap. X.] THE LEODIS OR WEREGELD. 433 
 
 was insufficient to pay the fine, lie had to declare 
 in the presence of twelve jurors that he had nothing 
 either above or below the earth. He then left his 
 house naked and with nothing but a staff in his hand, 
 and his relations became responsible for him. If any 
 of them could not bear his part, they had to go 
 through the same ceremony as the culprit. Where 
 the latter had no relations he was put up for sale at 
 four successive Malbergs. If the sum offered for him 
 was not sufficient to pay the fine, he was put to 
 death. It seems, however, that in this case his enemy 
 had to play the part of executioner. 1 
 
 Now, when we consider that the leodis of a simple 
 freeman was 200 solidi (which sum was tripled when 
 he was serving in war or was in truste dominica), and 
 that the value of a cow (as we learn from a state- 
 ment in the Ripuarian code, and from the fine exacted 
 for killing that animal) was only one sol, we may 
 easily imagine that the cases of non-payment were 
 anything but rare. 
 
 When we come to examine the provisions of the 
 laws themselves, we find them such as might be 
 expected from the place and time of their composition. 
 " Necessity," as has well been said, " dictated them, 
 and freedom wrote them down." They bear the stamp 
 of a rude and free people, living by agriculture and 
 the pasturage of cattle ; ignorant of the complicated 
 relations of civilised life, and prone to crimes of vio- 
 lence rather than of licentiousness or chicanery. The 
 
 1 Lex Sal. Tit. lviii. : " De Chrene cruda." 
 
 E E 
 
434 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 crimes referred to may be characterised as those 
 which are generally prevalent among the lower 
 classes of an agricultural population. Of the sixty-five 
 chapters of the original Salic laws, nearly a fourth 
 part relates to robbery and theft, including poaching; 
 and a large proportion of the rest to murder, rape, 
 arson, cutting-and-maiming, destruction of property, 
 &c. Besides these we find laws of inheritance and 
 several enactments respecting the commerce of the 
 sexes; with particular reference to unions, illicit or 
 otherwise, between the Ingenui and the Liti and 
 Servi. Not merely the lives, limbs, and goods of the 
 freemen were protected by a fine, but their good 
 name; and the law denounces a heavy punishment 
 against those who should either slander, or in other 
 ways insult, their neighbours. 
 
 The leodis for all free Germans, who lived accord- 
 ing to the Salic law, was 800 dinarii, or 200 solicli. 
 This was increased to 600 when the murdered person 
 was a puer crinitus (a boy under twelve years of age J, 
 or a free woman capable of bearing children. The 
 leodis of the latter was increased to 700 in case of 
 actual pregnancy. The unborn child was protected 
 by a leodis of 100 sols. Where a woman was killed 
 together with the unborn child, and the latter 
 happened to be a girl, the fine was 2400 sols ! l The 
 fine for killing a freeman, when he was in mill- 
 tary service, or when he had entered into a near 
 and permanent relation to the king, was tripled. 
 Thus the antrustio, the grafio, the sacebarone, if they 
 
 1 Sal. Leg. Tit. lxxw 
 
Cuap. X.] THE LEODIS OR WEUEGELD. 435 
 
 were Ingenui, had a permanent leodis of 600 sols; 
 which was also the fine for killing any freeman who 
 was serving in war. If the antrustio, &c., were in 
 military service the fine rose to 1800 sols. The same 
 enormous penalty was enacted when the murderer of 
 an ingenuus had endeavoured to conceal the body by 
 throwing it into a well, or in any other way ; or 
 when several persons in company {in contubemio 
 facto) fell upon a man in his own house and killed 
 him. 1 When a man was killed by an animal be- 
 longing to another person, the owner of the 
 beast was obliged to pay half the legal leodis of the 
 deceased. The penalty for beating a freeborn boy, 
 without the consent of his parents, was 45 sols, for 
 beating a girl, 100 sols. 2 
 
 Kidnapping and selling in the case of a freeman 
 was punished equally with murder. 3 
 
 The leodis of the Frankish letus was 100 sols, or 
 half that of the ingenuus, and there is good reason 
 for supposing that it was paid not to himself but to 
 his master. 4 
 
 The fine for killing another person's slave was 
 thirty sols 5 , and exactly the same punishment was 
 inflicted for stealing him, because he was regarded 
 simply in the light of property. 6 On the same 
 
 1 Lex. Sal. xxxix. 2 Lex. Sal. xlii. 3 Lex Sal. lxviii. 
 
 4 xxvi. "De libertis demissis. Si quis alienurn letum extra 
 consilium domini." Vid. xxxv. 3. xxvi. relates to setting free the 
 Letus. 
 
 5 Lex Sal. xxxv. 
 
 6 Lex. Sal. x. " Si quis servura aut cavallum vel gumentuin 
 furaverit . . . sol. 30 cul. pabilis judicetur." 
 
 f f 2 
 
436 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 principle the leodis of the slave was greater if he 
 were skilled in any art, because it made him of 
 greater value to his master. 1 
 
 The leodis of the higher class of Romans, the 
 Possessores, was 100 sols ; and that of the Pueri 
 Regis, in consequences of their relation to the king, 
 was the same. The fine for slaying the Roman 
 tributarius was only seventy-five sols. 2 
 
 The leodis, as we have said before, was tripled 
 during the time of military service, or the administra- 
 tion of any office under the king. 
 
 Other crimes, where the perpetrator was an inge- 
 nuus, might also be atoned for by money, and we 
 find in the Salic law a nicely-graduated scale of fines 
 for wounds and other personal injuries. One hundred 
 solidi, a moiety of the weregeld, was paid for de- 
 priving a man of an eye, hand, or foot. 3 The thumb 
 and great toe were valued at fifty sols; the second 
 finger, with which they drew the bow, at thirty-five 
 sols. With respect to other acts of violence, the 
 fine varied accordino; to several minute circumstances; 
 as, whether the blow was given with a stick or 
 with closed fist ; whether the brain was laid bare ; 
 whether certain bones obtruded, and how much ; 
 whether blood flowed from the wound on to the 
 ground, &c. &c. The punishment inflicted varied, of 
 course, with the rank of the offender as well as that 
 
 1 Lex. Sal. Novell, 306. 
 
 2 Lex Sal. xli. This seems to have been raised to 100 sols. 
 Vil x Sal. cap. lxxviii. 
 
 3 The mutilation of a freedman was held equivalent to murder 
 and punished by a fine of 200 solidi. Lex. Sal. xcv. 
 
CiiAr. X.] PUNISHMENT OF LETI AND SERVI. 437 
 
 of the injured party. If a letus or a slave killed an 
 ingenuus, the homicide himself was given over to the 
 friends of the murdered man as a moiety of the 
 leodis, and the master of the criminal was obliged 
 to pay the other half. 1 If the slave of one man 
 killed the slave of another, the survivor was divided 
 between the two owners. The ingenuus, as we have 
 seen, was not subject to capital or corporal punish- 
 ment, until every source from which he might claim 
 assistance had been exhausted ; he was then put to 
 death, or thrust down into a servile condition. But 
 the law was by no means so considerate towards 
 slaves. Death under various forms, torture, muti- 
 lations, and stripes are denounced against them for 
 comparatively light offences. If a slave robbed a 
 freeman to the amount of forty-five sols, he was put 
 to death. 2 If he stole two denarii, he had to pay 
 120 denarii (three sols) or receive 120 lashes. Where 
 the ingenuus would have been fined fifteen sols, the 
 slave was stretched over a bench (super scammun 
 tensus) and received 120 lashes. If he pleaded not 
 guilty, his master had to produce him on a certain 
 day, and the plaintiff might put him to the torture 
 until he confessed. Even the female slave was sub- 
 jected to corporal punishment, and in cases where 
 a male slave would have been mutilated, the female 
 must either pay six sols or receive 240 lashes. 3 
 
 1 Lex Sal. tit. xxxv. 2 Lex Sal. xl. 
 
 3 Tacitus says that Germans were mild to slaves. Roman in- 
 fluence already at work. Tac. Germ. xxv. : " Verberare servum 
 
 F P 3 
 
438 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 The penalties for theft are generally very high, 
 and bespeak a strong Germanic respect for the rights 
 of property. The fine for stealing a goose was three 
 sols, the price of three cows ; and for stealing a single 
 bee from under lock and key, was punished by the in- 
 credible sum of forty-five sols ! * He who stole fuel 
 from another's wood was fined three sols ; he who 
 stole a net from a river, forty-five sols ; and other 
 thefts were punished in proportion. 
 
 The love of the Germans for field sports, to which 
 Tacitus refers, is clearly evinced in the Salic law, by 
 the severity of some of its provisions. 
 
 The poacher was liable to a fine of forty-five sols 
 for killing a single stag. To steal a hawk from a tree 
 was punished by a fine of three sols, from its perch 
 by fifteen sols ; and from under lock and key forty- 
 five sols. 
 
 Even the honour and self-respect of the ingenuus 
 were protected in the same manner. No man could 
 insult another by word or act without exposing him- 
 self to the penalties of the law. To throw a stone 
 over another man's house for the purpose of insulting 
 him, cost seven and, afterwards fifteen sols. 2 To call 
 
 ac vincules et opere coercere, rarum. Occidere solent non disci- 
 plina et screritate sed impetu et ira ut inimicum,, nisi quod in- 
 punc." Lex Sal. xl. The master, runs this clause, "virgas pa- 
 ratas habere debet, quas ad magnitudinem minoris digiti sint, et 
 scamnum pronto ubi servo ipso tendere debeat.'' This reminds us 
 of the popular error that a man might beat his wife with a stick 
 as biff as his littly fincrer. 
 
 1 Lex Sal. -\iii., de furtis apium. 
 
 2 Lex Sal. xcix. 
 
CiiAr. X.] RELATION BETWEEN THE SEXES. 439 
 
 an Ingenuus a fox, a hare, or a dirty fellow ; or to say- 
 that he had thrown away his shield, cost three sols ; 
 to call a man a cheat cost fifteen sols ; to call him a 
 wizard sixty-two and a half sols. To call a woman a 
 harlot without being able to prove it, fifteen sols ; 
 while to call her a witch (stria) rendered a man liable 
 to the enormous penalty of 187 sols! l or very nearly 
 as much as if he had taken the life of a Frankish 
 ino'enuus. 
 
 We gain a good deal of interesting information 
 from the Salic law, respecting the all important rela- 
 tion between the sexes, from which the peculiarity 
 and superiority of modern civilisation, as compared 
 with that of the ancient world, mainly proceeds. 2 
 And here too Tacitus and the Salic code are in the 
 strictest unison with each other ; and those who know 
 nothing of the latter, except that it excludes females 
 from the throne, will be surprised at the tenderness it 
 displays for the rights of women. " The wife," saj 7 s 
 Tacitus, " does not bring a dowry to the husband, 
 but the husband to the wife," 3 and the same custom 
 is constantly referred to in the latter. This may ap- 
 pear singular to us in an age when the increased 
 demands of luxury, and still more the prevalence of 
 concubinage and prostitution, have rendered marriage 
 comparatively rare, and placed the weaker sex at an 
 unnatural and cruel disadvantage. But apart from 
 conventional usages, we are inclined to sympathise 
 
 1 Lex Sal. lxiv. 2 Lex Sal. xxiii. 
 
 3 Tac. Germ, xviii. Lex Sal. Ixxi.. lxxii. 
 
 f f 4 
 
440 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 with Chremes 1 , in the play, when he complains that 
 he has to leave his business, in order to find some one 
 on whom he may bestow his daughter and his hardly 
 earned wealth ! Yet we are not to suppose that there 
 was any idea of purchase connected with the payment 
 of the sponsalia (the " settlements " in modern phrase) 
 which the bridegroom presented to his bride. The 
 Salic law does not speak of the marriage solido et 
 denario, although we find elsewhere the expression de 
 solido et denario secundum legem Scdicam sponsare 2 ; but 
 even where this ceremony was observed, it was simply 
 symbolical, and was not in any way intended to repre- 
 sent the price paid for the bride. A betrothal appears 
 to have preceded the marriage, and as the domus, or 
 family in the wider sense, was increased by the new 
 connexion, it was customary, though not legally 
 necessary, to ask the consent of the kindred of both 
 parties. The engagement to marry took place in the 
 presence of the parents, on either side. 3 Later texts 
 of the Salic code speak of formally conducting the 
 bride in a procession to the house of her husband. 
 
 Besides the dowry which was given before the 
 marriage ceremony had been performed, it was 
 customary for the husband to make his wife a 
 
 1 Terentii Heauton-timorownenos, act iv. sc. vii. : 
 
 " Quam multa justa injusta fiunt moribus! 
 Milii nunc, relictis rebus, inveniendus est 
 Aliquis, labore inventa mea cui dem bona!' 
 
 2 Vid. Da Cange, Glossar Scrip, mediae et infim. Latin, sub 
 voce Solid us. 
 
 3 Lex Sal. Novella?, 357. 
 
Chap.X.] MORGANEGIBA AND MORGANATIC MARRIAGE. 441 
 
 present on the morning after the first night, 1 This 
 was called the morgengabe, or morning gift, the 
 presenting of which, where no previous ceremony 
 had been observed, constituted a particular kind of 
 connexion called matrimonium morganaticam, or 
 morganatic marriage. As the liberality of the hus- 
 band was apt to be excessive, we find the amount 
 limited by the Langobardian laws to one fourth of 
 the bridegroom's substance. 
 
 The marriage of widows, which in earlier times 
 was actually illegal among some of the German tribes 2 , 
 was evidently still looked upon with disfavour in the 
 fifth century. According to the 44th pact of the 
 Salic code " de Reipus" he who wished to marry a 
 widow could only do so by publicly declaring his in- 
 tention before the Thunginus at a public Mallus, by 
 making compensation to her relations, and going 
 through a number of formalities calculated to cool the 
 ardor of the suitor. The widow too had to consult 
 her own children by her former husband, and to pay 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. ix. 20.: " De civitatibus vero . . . quas 
 Gailesuindam, germanara Dormioe Brunichildis, tam in dote quam 
 Morganegiba, hoc est, matutinali dono in Franciam venientem 
 certum est adquisisse." Compare the At«7rapfoVta of the Greeks. 
 Du Cange, sub voce Morgengabe : " Notandum vero donum istud 
 voluntarium omnino fuisse, adeo ut raodo majus modo minus pro 
 mariti erga conjugem suam majori vel minore amore et caritate, 
 
 exstiteret." 
 
 2 Tac. Germ. xix. : (t Melius quidem adhuc ea3 civitates, in 
 quibus tantum virgines nubunt, et cum spe votoque uxoris semel 
 transigitur. Sic ununi accipiunt maritum. . . ." 
 
442 THE FRANKS. [CaAr. X. 
 
 back a portion of the dowry she had received from 
 him, to his relations. 1 
 
 The fine for adultery with a free woman was the 
 same as for murder, 200 sols. Yet singularly enough, 
 the rape of an ingenua puella was only sixty-two and a 
 half sols, and where the connexion was formed spon- 
 tanea voluntate, ambis convenientibus, it was reduced 
 to forty-five sols. The same fine was levied where 
 any one took away and married the betrothed of 
 another man. 
 
 All unions of this nature (whether by marriage 
 or otherwise) between free and bond are prohibited 
 by the severest penalties ; and, as might be expected, 
 a marriage contracted with a slave was a far more 
 heinous offence than a more temporary connexion. 
 The ingenuus who publicly married a slave fell ipso 
 facto into slavery himself. 2 If a free woman married a 
 slave all her property fell to the royal fiscus, and any 
 of her relations might kill her with impunity. If 
 any person gave her bread or shelter, he was fined 
 fifteen sols. The slave was broken on the wheel 
 pessima cruciatu. 2 
 
 If a puer regis or letus committed a rape upon 
 an ingenua he was put to death. 
 
 Smaller offences against the modesty of an in- 
 genua were also severely punished. To stroke her hand 
 or finger, in an amorous manner, was a crime to be 
 atoned for by a fine of fifteen sols. If it was the 
 arm, thirty sols, and if the bosom, thirty-five sols ; 
 
 1 Lex Sal. xliv. et lxxi. 2 Lex Sal. xxv. 2. 
 
 3 Lex Sal. Ixix. 
 
Chap. X.] FAVOUR SHOWN TO WOMEN. 443 
 
 offences against the chastity of a female slave were 
 considered chiefly in the light of an attack upon 
 another man's property, and punished accordingly. 
 
 The laws of inheritance which obtained among: the 
 Franks were simple, but in some respects very peculiar. 
 Neither Tacitus nor the Salic laws know anything of 
 the practice of making wills ; the former indeed says 
 expressly that they were not in use among the Ger- 
 mans. The order of succession was for the most 
 part the natural one, the children succeeded their 
 parents *, with a preference in favour of the sons. 
 Yet in some particulars a remarkable degree of favour 
 is shown to the female sex. The old Germans re- 
 garded the relation of a nephew to his uncle on the 
 mother's side as a peculiarly close and almost sacred 
 tie ; and traces of this sentiment are found in the 
 Salic law. 2 In the chapter of de Alodis it is enacted 
 that " if a man die and leave no children, if his mother 
 be still living she shall succeed to the inheritance." 3 
 
 1 Tac. Germ. xx. : " Heredes tamen successoresque sui cuique 
 liberi ; et nullum testamentum." Leg. Sal. lix. : " De Alodis." 
 
 2 Tac. Germ. xx. : " Sororuin filiis idem apud avunculus, qui 
 apud patrem honor. Quidam sanctiorem arctioremque hunc 
 nexuni sanguinis arbitrantur, et in accipiendis obsidibus magis 
 exigunt," &c. Conf. Lex. Sal. lviii. 
 
 3 Lex Sal. lix. . " De Alodis. I. Si quis mortuus fuerit et 
 filios non diiniserit si mater sua superfuerit, ipsa in hereditatem 
 succedat. II. Si mater non fuerit et fratrem aut sororem dimi- 
 serit, ipsi in hereditatem succedant. III. Si isti non fuerint 
 tunc soror matris in hereditatem succedat, et inde de illis genera- 
 cionibus quicumque proximior fuerit ille in hereditatem succedat. 
 IV. De terra vero nulla in muliere keredlttts est, seil ad virilem 
 sexum qui fratres fuerint tota terra perteneat." 
 
414 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 " If the mother of the deceased be dead, then Lis 
 father or sister shall succeed. 
 
 " If the deceased leave neither father nor sister, then 
 the sister of the mother shall succeed, or those who 
 claim through her. But no woman could inherit land, 
 by the Salic law ; although the enactments of Chilperic, 
 which are incorporated with it, appear to have intro- 
 duced certain alterations with regard to females." 1 
 
 AVe have chiefly confined ourselves in the foregoing 
 account, to the most ancient and important part of 
 the Salic law. The introduction of Christianity ne- 
 cessarily caused modifications, which do not, however, 
 alter its general character. In the later additions to 
 the code we find references to the Christian priesthood, 
 the members of which are protected by very high 
 leodis. 
 
 That of a subdeacon was 300 sols ; of a deacon or 
 monk 400 ; of a presbyter GOO ; and of a bishop 900. 
 The immunities of the Church, and more particularly 
 its right of affording sanctuary to fugitive criminals, 
 are recognised, and heavy penalties are denounced 
 against those who should disregard them. 
 
 Want of space has obliged us to forego the consi- 
 
 1 Lex Sal. lxxvii. 3. : Edictus domni Hilperichi regis pro 
 tenore pacis. <c Simili modo placuit ac convenit, ut si cumque 
 vicinos habens aut filios aut filias post obituru suum superstitutus 
 fuerit quaincliu filii advixerint terra habeant, sicut et Lex Salica 
 habet. Et si subito filios defuncti fuerint, Jilia simili modo acci- 
 piant terras ipsas, sicut et filii si vivi fuissent aut babuisseut . . 
 Et subito frater moriens frater non derelinquerit superstitem, tunc 
 soror ad terra ipsa accedat possidenda" 
 
Cjtap. X.] LANGUAGE OF THE SALIC CODE. 445 
 
 deration of many points in these first efforts of the 
 German race to constitute civil society, which in 
 themselves are far from being without interest even to 
 the general reader. Among the customs referred to in 
 the laws, which we have not noticed, is the ordeal by 
 red-hot ploughshares. 
 
 Allusions are also made to the crimes of poisoning, 
 procuring abortion by drugs (in both of which arts 
 the barbarians would find the Romans excellent in- 
 structors), bribery, perjury, arson, and breach of pro- 
 mise of marriage ; for all which offences very heavy 
 fines were inflicted. 
 
 The necessarily brief and superficial view which 
 we have now taken of this remarkable code, may at 
 least suffice to show how essentially German it is in 
 all its leading characteristics, and how strong a family 
 likeness it bears, not only to what we know of the 
 laws and customs of other German tribes, — as the 
 Saxons, Goths, and Allemani, but also to much that 
 still exists among ourselves ; whose happiness it is to 
 be more purely German in our institutions than any 
 other nation. This being the case, it is a matter of 
 surprise as well as regret that laws so essentially 
 German should have been either originally composed 
 in Latin, as some suppose, or at any rate very early 
 deprived of their national dress. And this regret has 
 a deeper source than a mere preference for the national 
 lansrua^e, rude as it might be, over the mongrel and 
 decrepid latinity of a corrupted and declining race. 
 The change of language took away the law from the 
 hands and hearts of the people lor whom it was origi- 
 
446 THE FRANKS. [Chap. X. 
 
 nail} 7 composed, and who had themselves administered 
 it, and transferred it to the keeping of mere professional 
 lawyers, who perverted it to their own selfish pur* 
 poses. It facilitated the introduction of the Roman 
 law, with all its servility, chicanery, and finesse. It 
 quickened the Roman element in the Frankish empire, 
 and thereby aided in bringing down the curse of 
 Roman despotism upon mediaeval and modern 
 Europe. The terrible consequences to the Germans 
 of taking the laws out of the hands of the people 
 themselves, and placing it, as a powerful instrument of 
 oppression and self-aggrandisement, in the hands of 
 an almost irresponsible few, had been already expe- 
 rienced in the reim of Augustus ; when the Cherusci 
 under Arminius, driven into rebellion chiefly by the 
 t} T ranny of the Roman law, destroyed three imperial 
 legions in the Teutoburgian forest. " Germany," says 
 Florus 1 , " might have been reduced, if the barbarians 
 could have borne our vices as well as our commands. . 
 For the Germans, beaten rather than subdued, looked 
 with more suspicion on our morals than our arms." 
 
 And again he says, " Varus dared to call a public 
 assembly, and to try causes in the camp, as if he could 
 restrain the violence of the barbarians by the rods of 
 the lictors and the voice of the herald (crier) ! But 
 they who had been long mourning over their rusty 
 swords and their inactive horses, as soon as they beheld 
 the toga, and the laws more cruel than the sword, 
 took up arms under the command of Arminius." 
 
 1 Fieri Hist. iv. 12. 
 
Chap. X.] HATRED OF ROMAN LAW. 447 
 
 And afterwards, when speaking of the destruction 
 of Varus, the same historian reports, " that nothing 
 in that terrible defeat was more cruel, nothing more 
 intolerable than the insults of the barbarians, which 
 were more especially directed against the lawyers. They 
 tore out the eyes of some and cut off the hands of 
 others. They sewed up the mouth of one, after tear- 
 ing out his tongue, which a barbarian holding in his 
 hand, said, < Cease at length to hiss, viper ! ' " 
 
448 THE PRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 THE CHURCH. 
 
 Our knowledge of the history of a nation remains 
 very incomplete until we have learned the nature and 
 forms of its religion. If we would really know the 
 character of a people, we must acquaint ourselves 
 with the subjects which occupied the gravest and 
 deepest thoughts of the wise among them, with the 
 faith which awakened the fancy, touched the con- 
 science, and moved the will of the general mass. 
 
 The influence exercised by the Christian religion 
 and the Roman Catholic Church in the reconstruction 
 of society out of the ruins of the Roman world, was so 
 predominant, that ecclesiastical history can alone lay 
 open to us the foundations of some of the most 
 remarkable institutions of the Middle Ages. The 
 Franks in particular, who occupy so large a space in 
 mediaeval history, were early brought into close con- 
 nexion with the Church, and were more deeply con- 
 cerned in its development, more directly influenced 
 by its forms and spirit, than any contemporary 
 nation. The grasping ambition, the great military 
 talents, the craft and cruelty of Clovis, would not have 
 
Chap. XL] FRANKS AND ROMAN CHURCH ALLIED. 449 
 
 sufficed to make him master of the vast empire he 
 bequeathed to his successors had he not linked his 
 fortunes to those of the Catholics, whose indomitable 
 spirit, and fervent zeal (which outweighed all per- 
 sonal and even national considerations), served his 
 views as essentially as the most powerful armies. 
 And, on the other hand, it was Clovis, humanly speak- 
 ing, who decided the question of predominance be- 
 tween the rival theological parties which divided the 
 Christian world. Orthodoxy and Frankish domina- 
 tion advanced, side by side, to victory over kindred, 
 but not the less hostile, tribes and creeds. When the 
 former made a convert, the latter gained a subject ; 
 and when a neighbouring nation yielded to the 
 Frankish arms, the landmarks of Catholic Christen- 
 dom were extended at the expense of Arians or 
 heathens. " Your good fortune," says B. Avitus of 
 Vienna, in a letter to Clovis, " nearly concerns us ; 
 as often as you fight, we conquer." x " If," says 
 Clovis, " we acquire the friendship of the servants of 
 God, and exalt them with honours, and show our 
 veneration for them by obedience, we trust that we 
 shall continually improve the condition of our king- 
 dom, and obtain both temporal glory, and a country 
 in the kingdom of heaven." 2 
 
 This close alliance, resulting from a clear percep- 
 tion of common interests and mutual advantages, 
 was maintained for ages, and crowned with signal 
 and glorious success. If Clovis rose to dominion with 
 
 o 
 
 1 Vid. Ep. Aviti Ep. Yienn. ad Chlodov. Bouquet iv. p. 49. 
 
 2 Precept. Chlod. pio monast. Reora. (ap. Bouq. iv. p. 615.) 
 
 G G 
 
450 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XT. 
 
 the rising fortunes of the Catholics, Pepin and Charle- 
 magne received no slight assistance in their brilliant 
 career, from that central and despotic power in the 
 Church, which they were chiefly instrumental in 
 bestowing on the Bishop of Rome. 
 
 The suddenness with which the Salian Franks, 
 after their settlement in Gaul, appear to have de- 
 serted the time-honoured superstitions of their fore- 
 fathers, and adopted the creed of a race whom they 
 despised, has already been remarked upon. Our 
 surprise at this phenomenon will decrease as our 
 knowledge of the circumstances attending their con- 
 version to Christianity is enlarged, A deeper con- 
 sideration of the matter too, while, on the one hand, 
 it furnishes us with adequate reasons for the ra- 
 pidity of the change, will convince us, on the other, 
 that the transition from heathenism to Christianity 
 was by no means so rapid in reality as in appearance. 
 We shall not, indeed, endeavour to explain the con- 
 version of the Franks, or any other nation, by mere 
 human agency. All such attempts must fail, as they 
 deserve to do ; yet it is always interesting to observe 
 how the diffusion of that holy faith, which shall one 
 day cover the earth, has been bound up by its Al- 
 mighty Author with the fate of individuals and the 
 progress of nations. 
 
 When the Franks entered Gaul, their ancestral faith, 
 which was peculiarly local in its character, had been 
 greatly weakened by time and distance. They found a 
 religion established there not only nobler and better 
 in itself. — offering infinitely more to the intellect, 
 
Chap. XI.] AUGUSTINE ON PERSECUTION. 451 
 
 the heart, and the soul, — but administered by able 
 men, and decked with everything which could excite 
 the fancy and captivate the sense. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, it needed but the example of the king to 
 lead thousands to genuine, and far more, of course, to 
 nominal profession of the faith of Christ. 
 
 To support the Catholic Church and to favour its 
 ministers became a prominent feature in the policy of 
 Clovis and his successors ; and all the rising power 
 of the monarchy was exerted in its behalf. Clovis 
 founded his hope of success in a great measure on 
 the good will of the saints and priests, and punished 
 with death a soldier who had taken a little hay from 
 the territory of St. Martin of Tours. 
 
 Heathenism was now subjected to the same perse- 
 cution which it had formerly inflicted, to the sorrow 
 of the enlightened and truly pious 1 , and to the infinite 
 detriment of Christianity itself. Even under the Ro- 
 man emperors, the right and duty of bringing men 
 by force into the Church of Christ had been main- 
 tained by many of the most distinguished theologians 
 of the day. Thus Augustine, who had once thought 
 it wrong to force men into Christianity, acknowledged 
 himself convinced of the necessity of persecution. 
 
 1 Hilarii Pictav. con. Auxentium Mediol liber init. Gieseler 
 Kircheng. i. p. 596. : " At nuDC proh dolor ! divinam fidem 
 suffragia terrena commendant. . . . Terret exiliis et carceribus 
 Ecclesia, credique sibi cogit qua? exiliis et carceribus est credita." 
 As early as the reign of the Roman Emperor Theodosius severe 
 penalties were inflicted on those who apostatised from the Chris- 
 tain faith. Vid. Cod. Theodos. lib. xvi. tit. vii. 1. 1. "His, qui 
 ex Christianis Pagani facti sunt eripiatur facultas jusque test and i." 
 
 a g 2 
 
452 THE FRANKS. TChap. XI. 
 
 " The Lord himself," he says, " first orders that men 
 should be bidden to his supper 1 , but afterwards com- 
 pelled to come" " It is better," he says, in a former 
 part of the same Epistle, " that men should be drawn 
 by instruction to the worship of God, rather than 
 driven by pain and the fear of punishment. But 
 though the former " (those who are convinced), " are 
 to be preferred, yet the latter are not to be neglected. 
 For it has been profitable to many (as we have learned 
 by experience), to be first coerced by fear and pain, 
 that they might afterwards be instructed." 2 Leo the 
 Great went still farther, and justified even the exe- 
 cution of heretics and unbelievers. 
 
 The same spirit animated the Frankish kings, from 
 Clovis to Charlemagne. Childebert, as early as a.d. 
 551, published a severe decree against those who 
 should refuse to destroy their idols ; and the great 
 apostle of Germany, Boniface, confesses that his mis- 
 sionary efforts would have been of little avail had he 
 not been backed by the sword of Carl Martel and 
 Kino- Pepin. Nor was fear the only motive by which 
 heathens were induced to assume the Christian name. 
 We learn from ecclesiastical writers themselves, that 
 
 1 Luke xiv. 23. Epist. Augustin. 185. ad Bonifac. sec. 21. 
 
 2 With what relentless severity these dangerous and unchristian 
 principles were carried out may be learned from another of Au- 
 gustine's epistles. Epist. ad Donatum. Procons. African. " Unum 
 solum est quod in tua justitia perti mescimus, ne forte — pro im- 
 manitate facinorum, ac non potius pro lenitatis Christianas consi- 
 deratione censeas coercendum. . . . Ex occasione terribilium 
 judicum ac legam, ne in asterni judicii pcenas incidant corrigi eos 
 cupitnus non necari^ 
 
Chap. XL] POLICY OF ADAPTATION. 453 
 
 bribery, both direct and indirect, was employed to 
 influence the minds of the unbelieving. Both Euse- 
 bius and Augustine bitterly complained of the multi- 
 tudes who feigned to be converted solely from worldly 
 motives. " How many," says the latter, " only seek 
 Jesus that he may be of service to them in this life ! 
 One man has some business on hand, he seeks the 
 intercession of the clergy ; another is oppressed by a 
 more powerful man than himself, he flies for refuge 
 to the Church. . . . One man has one reason, 
 another another. The Church is daily filled with 
 such persons." The Emperor Constantine more es- 
 pecially made frequent use of worldly advantage as 
 a bait to induce the heathen to enter the pale of the 
 Church ; and even gives directions to the bishops in 
 what manner they may best employ such doubtful 
 means of making; converts. 1 
 
 No earthly power, however, would have succeeded 
 in compelling men to turn at the word of command 
 from heathenism to Christianity, had the change been 
 really so great as the terms would seem to imply. 
 The most blindly zealous must have soon discovered 
 that religious convictions are not to be changed by 
 threats of punishment, and that the civil power could 
 at the most only compel men to listen to the instruc- 
 tions, and to place themselves and their children under 
 the influence of the priesthood. The conversion in 
 the real sense of the word, took place, as it must ever 
 
 1 Euseb. Vit. Constantini iii. c. 21. iv. 38, 39. 
 
 r, c, 3 
 
454 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 do, slowly and gradually, after the merely formal ad- 
 mission into the pale of the Church. It became an 
 object, therefore, to make the first step as slight and 
 easy as possible, — to cheat men, as it were, into their 
 own advantage, by investing Christian truths with a 
 heathen dress, and thus making them more attractive 
 to the idolatrous convert. That this was the con- 
 scious policy of some of the most eminent Churchmen 
 of the age, is sufficiently proved by the epistle of 
 St. Gregory the Great to the Abbot Mellitus, (by 
 whom he sent instructions to Augustine, in Britain,) 
 concerning the conduct to be observed in the conver- 
 sion of the Saxons. In this epistle he strongly con- 
 demns the practice of destroying the heathen tem- 
 ples, and directs that they should be purified and 
 " converted from the worship of demons to that of 
 the true God," because, he urges, " the people will 
 come more familiarly to places to which they are 
 accustomed. " And since, he continues, " many oxen 
 are wont to be offered up to the demons, some 
 solemnity should be substituted for these sacrifices. 
 As, for instance, on the day of the dedication of the 
 church, or on the birthday of the holy martyr whose 
 relics are placed in it, let tents be formed of boughs 
 round those churches which were formerly heathen 
 temples, and let the people celebrate a festival with 
 religious banquets. The animals are then no longer 
 sacrificed to the devil, but are killed for the wor- 
 shippers' own food, to the praise of God." " For," 
 he concludes, "it is without doubt impossible to 
 deprive their rude minds of everything at once ; as 
 
Chap. XL] SUPERSTITIONS IN CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 455 
 
 he who endeavours to ascend some lofty place, must 
 rise by gradual steps and not by leaps." x 
 
 And thus were great numbers of persons brought 
 into the Christian fold, unprepared and unconverted, 
 — idolators in everything but name. The injurious 
 consequences of this rash policy is observable through- 
 out the whole history of the Frankish Church. When 
 its zeal was relaxed by wealth and luxury, polytheism 
 once more openly raised its head in many parts of 
 the empire ; and, what was still more injurious to the 
 best interests of religion, Christianity itself was de- 
 based to the grovelling notions of the heathen, whose 
 baneful superstitions were engrafted on the tree of 
 life. 
 
 Many writers have attempted to show much of 
 the spirit of Greek and Roman mythology was 
 brought at various periods into the Church, by the 
 policy of adaptation consciously or unconsciously 
 followed ; and how many of the corruptions which 
 still deform the Roman Catholic Church may be 
 clearly traced to this polluted source. We shall con- 
 fine ourselves at present to pointing out a few re- 
 markable passages in the Frankish history of Gregory, 
 which clearly indicate the prevalence of unchristian 
 superstitions, not only among the vulgar, but among 
 the most learned and enlightened men of his age. 
 
 It is evident from the history just referred to, from 
 the Epistles of St. Gregory, and many other ecclesias- 
 tical records, that the existence of the heathen gods 
 
 1 Gre< y . M. lib. xi. Ep. 76. ad Mellitum Abbatem. 
 
 g g 4 
 
456 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 was not always denied by Christian believers, but that 
 they were regarded as evil demons who imposed on the 
 credulous to the destruction of their souls. Gregory 
 of Tours makes no secret of his belief in all kinds of 
 auspices, omens, and prodigies, and betrays through- 
 out his history a degree of simple and thoughtless 
 credulity equalling anything to be met with in 
 Herodotus or Livy. Among other methods of pene- 
 trating into futurity, which he describes and made 
 use of himself, were the Sortes Sanctorum, in which 
 three of the sacred books, — the Prophets, the Gos- 
 pels, and the Epistles, — were placed upon the altar, 
 and an omen taken from the sense of the passages 
 which first met the eye when the volumes were 
 opened. 1 
 
 In another place he mentions a certain Claudius, 
 who practised auspices, ut u mos barbarorum est," 
 which last words may seem perhaps to imply a want 
 of belief in their efficacy. Yet he relates, with the 
 greatest nicety and the fullest faith, prodigies of 
 exactly the same kind as terrified the Roman city 
 in the Second Punic War. 2 On one occasion he 
 tells us a shining star appeared in the middle of 
 the moon ; but what this magnum prodigium por- 
 tended he confesses his inability to say. The 
 plagues which desolated the country in the sixth 
 century are all announced beforehand by preter- 
 natural appearances. 3 These phenomena are of 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 16. 
 
 2 Ibid. iv. 3]., iv. 31., v. 34., vi. 14., vii. 11. 
 
 3 Ibid. v. 24. 
 
Chap. XL] STRUGGLE FOR ST. MARTIN'S BONES. 457 
 
 various kinds. Sometimes the household vessels of 
 different persons are found to be marked with 
 mysterious characters, which cannot by any means 
 be effaced. Kays of light are seen in the north, — 
 three suns appear in the heavens, — the mountains 
 send forth a mysterious bellowing, — the lights in a 
 church are extinguished by birds, — the trees bear 
 leaves and fruit unseasonably, — serpents of immense 
 size fall from the sky; "and among other signs," he 
 adds, " appeared some which are wont to foreshadow 
 either the death of the king or the destruction 
 of the country." 1 
 
 We are less inclined, perhaps, to be astonished at 
 the extraordinary miracles related to have been per- 
 formed by saints 2 , or the relics of holy martyrs, and 
 even by those Avho had no claim to be considered 
 either saints or martyrs. 3 But some of these imply 
 a grossness of superstition which appears inconsistent 
 with the very lowest views of Christianity. The 
 people of Tours and Poitiers almost came to blows 
 for the possession of the corpse of St. Martin, and 
 among the arguments brought forward by the former 
 in favour of their claim was this ; that while the saint 
 had lived in Poitou he had raised two dead men, 
 while since he had been Bishop of Tours he had only 
 raised one. " What, therefore," they added, " he did 
 not fulfil while alive, he must make up when he is 
 dead." 4 So strong was the belief in the miraculous 
 
 1 De mirac. S. Martin. (Bouquet, ii. p. 469.) 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. ix. 5. v. 24. vol. 8. 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. iv. 34. 4 Greg. i. 43. 
 
458 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 powers of relics, even when obtained in an unlawful 
 manner, that Mummolus and Guntram-Boso actually 
 stole a finger of the martyr Sergius. 1 
 
 The same Guntram-Boso consults an old woman 
 " habentem spiritum phytonis " ; and Queen Frede- 
 gunda, who does not scruple to hire priests as mur- 
 derers and to put bishops to death, imputes the 
 sickness of her children to the incantations of a 
 sorceress. 2 
 
 The gravest questions were decided in this age by 
 the test of various ordeals. A Catholic deacon and 
 an Arian priest, who could agree in nothing else, 
 agreed at last to decide their controversy by throwing 
 a ring into boiling water, to see who could fetch 
 it out with the least injury to himself. We need 
 hardly say that the spiritual wager was won by the 
 champion of orthodoxy, who groped in the scalding 
 water for an hour without experiencing the slightest 
 inconvenience. 3 
 
 Yet even in these dark times, when the good seed 
 which had been sown in the hearts of men seemed 
 choked by the rank growth of superstition, the hea- 
 venly nature of Christianity was clearly manifested, 
 and " wisdom was justified of her children." The poor 
 and the sick, the prisoner and the slave, the widow 
 
 1 Greg. vii. 31. 
 
 2 On another occasion, when Bishop Briccius of Tours, a man re- 
 nowned for the purity of his life, was suspected by his flock of 
 being the father of his laundress's new-born child ; the Bishop 
 sent for the child, then thirty days old, and questioned it publicly. 
 The child replied, " non es tu pater metes" Greg. Tur. xi. 1. 
 
 3 De Gloria Marfyruru, i. p. 81. 
 
Chap. XT.] HOLY INFLUENCE OF THE CHURCH. 459 
 
 and the orphan obtained a claim upon the sympathy 
 and support of their more fortunate fellow-men,— a 
 claim which heathenism, with its characteristic heart- 
 lessness, had always rejected and despised. The 
 gracious invitation of the Saviour to the weary and 
 heavy-laden of every class was still heard in the 
 worst of times, and embodied in many a law which 
 loosened the fetters of the captive, and cheered the 
 slave with a returning sense of common humanity. 
 The very superstitions we deplore were some of 
 them signs of misdirected grace, — of a striving 
 in the hearts of men towards God, " If haply 
 they might feel after him and find Him." If the 
 priests were regarded with a superstitious and often 
 undeserved reverence, it was because they were sup- 
 posed to hold near communion with the unseen world, 
 and to be the mediators betAveen man and his Saviour. 
 If martyrs and saints were worshipped, it was because 
 they were martyrs, because they were saints; because 
 they were looked upon as men who had sacrificed the 
 ease and pleasure of their lives, and even life itself, to 
 benefit the poor, to preach the Gospel, and to bear 
 witness to the truth. No man expected to see the 
 laws of nature suspended by a miracle in favour of a 
 powerful king or a wealthy noble, or sought to possess 
 himself of the relics of a mighty warrior; it was the 
 prayer of the righteous man alone which could avail 
 them ; and the bones of the undefiled in his way, 
 that brought blessing and protection to the house 
 or church in which they rested. A new and benign 
 influence was felt throughout society ; a prospect of 
 
460 THE FRANKS. TChap. XI. 
 
 future dignity and happiness was opened to all, 
 before the glory of which the renown of the warrior 
 and the majesty of the king grew pale and dim; as 
 co-heirs of which the monarch and the slave might 
 easily forget the distance which separates them here. 
 To the power of the sword, to the power of intellect 
 and wealth, the power of holiness was added ; the 
 pre-eminently good and holy man became a great and 
 powerful man, and however low his origin, however 
 mean his bodily endowments, he took an equal place 
 before the world with the warrior and the noble. 
 
 The exaggerated asceticism of which we find so 
 many instances in the history of Gregory — the desire 
 of seeking seclusion and solitude in the cloister or the 
 desert, of withdrawing from all the endearments and 
 pleasures of family and social life, of foregoing the com- 
 mon bodily comforts which nature herself demands — 
 proceeded from earnest though erroneous views of 
 God and duty. And there was much in the circum- 
 stances of the times, if not to justify, at least to pal- 
 liate the conduct of the Christian who fled from this 
 present world, instead of striving to live piously and 
 godly in it. The frequency of crime — the universality 
 of strife, oppression, sensuality and bloodshed — ren- 
 dered it next to impossible for one who lived in the 
 world to cherish the spirit, or conform to the precepts, 
 of the Christian religion. Asceticism was the solemn 
 practical protest against the vices of the age, and drew 
 the attention of men to nobler principles and loftier 
 hopes than those which prevailed in the world around 
 them. It is no doubt true, and much to be deplored, 
 
Chap. XI.] ROYAL RECLUSES. 461 
 
 that the reverence and love which followed the 
 genuine recluse for conscience sake into his solitary 
 cell, excited the vanity and ambition of a host of 
 miserable imitators, who wooed the world by pretend- 
 ing to contemn it ; but we are not to judge of the 
 worth of what is genuine by the vileness of what is 
 counterfeit ; nor ought we to deny our own loving 
 admiration to those mistaken, perhaps, but earnest 
 and truthful souls, who sought by meditation and 
 prayer to prepare themselves for Heaven, and in some 
 degree to anticipate its joys. 
 
 Among the more noted of those who retired from 
 the enjoyment of all that the world can afford to the 
 seclusion of a religious life, was Clotilda, the widow of 
 Clovis, and mother of three of his successors. How 
 far, in her case, the retirement was the result or the 
 cause of religious feelings, the history of Gregory 
 leaves us, to say the least, to feel uncertain. 1 
 
 Eadegundio also, the Thuringian princess, whom 
 Clotaire had taken prisoner, and compelled to become 
 his wife, was doubtless glad to escape from the bloody 
 splendour of her husband's court, to the quiet of a con- 
 vent which she reared at her own expense in Poitou; 
 "and so adorned," says the historian, " by prayer and 
 abstinence, by vigils and alms, that she was held in 
 the highest estimation by the people." 2 Still more 
 remarkable is the well-known case of Carloman, the 
 son of Carl Martel, and brother of Pepin, who, as we 
 cannot doubt, from the purest motives, resigned the 
 
 i Greg. Tur. iii. 18. 2 Greg. Tur. iii. 7. 
 
462 THE FRANKS. [Chat. XI. 
 
 purple for the cowl, and sought by fasting, prayer, 
 and alms to atone for his many evil deeds. Many 
 other interesting examples of genuine and lively faith, 
 manifested in a steadfast abstinence even from the 
 most lawful worldly pleasures, may be gleaned from 
 the curious and interesting pages of Gregory of 
 Tours. 1 
 
 Nor amidst all the errors and superstitions in which 
 the work of this writer abounds, can we fail to ob- 
 serve the indications of a better knowledge of the real 
 nature of the Christian religion. A sharp distinction 
 is frequently made by him between the true holiness 
 which seeks no eye but that of God and the vain self- 
 seeking asceticism of the pretender. 2 
 
 Xowhere do we find more pleasing pictures of a 
 faithful bishop, or more hearty condemnations of 
 those who disgraced the sacred office. Avitus, Bishop 
 of Auvergne, is described as one " who dispensed 
 justice to the people, relief to the poor, comfort to the 
 widow, and £he greatest support and help to his 
 pupils." 3 Nicetius, Bishop of Lyons, " lived, like the 
 apostle, as far as possible, in charity with all men ; so 
 that the Lord, who is charity itself, might be dis- 
 cerned in his bosom. For though he were moved to 
 indignation against any one for his negligence, yet if 
 he amended his ways, Nicetius received the penitent 
 ao;ain, as if he had never offended. For he chastened 
 the wrong-doers, and forgave the repentant sinner. He 
 was bountiful in almsgiving and diligent in labour ; he 
 
 i Greg. Tur. i. 39. i. 42. 2 Q reg< iv# H 
 
 3 Gre^. Tur. iv. 35. 
 
Chap. XL] QUI BENE LATUIT, BENE VIXIT. 463 
 
 was active and busy in building churches and houses, 
 in tilling the fields and planting vineyards, and yet in 
 all these employments he never neglected the duty of 
 prayer." 1 
 
 We have the greater satisfaction in referring to 
 these examples of the good and faithful men who 
 adorned the Church in this dark age, because in the 
 brief account which we now proceed to give of the 
 rise of the secular power of the clergy, and the decline 
 of discipline and morals among them consequent 
 upon the growing wealth of the Church, we shall have 
 to speak of a very different kind of bishop. The 
 pain, however, which we feel at the contemplation of 
 pride, licentiousness, and cruelty, in the ministers of 
 Christ's religion, is relieved by the thought that it was 
 just the least worthy portion of the priesthood, — those 
 who were tempted by their wealth and power, to con- 
 tract the vices, and embroil themselves in the feuds of 
 the laity, — which is brought most prominently forward 
 into the light of history. Qui bene latuit, bene vixit ; 
 and of those who in a humbler sphere endeavoured 
 simply to do their duty in that spiritual office to 
 which it had pleased God to call them, little or no- 
 thing found its way into the annals of their country ; 
 and we have good reason to believe that amidst the 
 too general corruption of these times, there were 
 always some in whose hearts the life blood of the 
 Church was treasured and preserved. 
 
 The Church and its ministers played, as we have 
 already said, so prominent a part even in the secular 
 
 1 Gre<r. Tur. iv, 36. 
 
464 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 and political history of Charlemagne and his pre- 
 decessors, that it will be necessary to trace the exter- 
 nal progress of this mighty institution. When Clovis 
 and his heathen followers had achieved the conquest 
 of Gaul, they found the Christian Church the most, 
 we may say the only, powerful and flourishing insti- 
 tution in the country. The days of persecution were 
 long passed away, and the disciples of that holy 
 faith of which the great Roman historian had so 
 lately spoken, as " exitiabilis superstitio" l already sat 
 on the throne of the Csesars. The dangers of the 
 Church were now of a different — though not less for- 
 midable — kind than those which had threatened it in 
 the days of Nero and Diocletian. The Christian em- 
 perors, not knowing what spirit they were of, had 
 used the law and the sword against those who dared 
 to remain in their heathen errors ; and had cor- 
 rupted the Church by the admixture of insincere 
 and interested converts. The external well-being: of 
 the Church and its ministers had been also sedu- 
 lously cared for ; and the perils of luxury had suc- 
 ceeded to the privations of those who had left all 
 to follow Christ. The lands bestowed upon the 
 Church, either by the emperors themselves or by 
 
 i 
 
 1 Tac. Hist. xv. 44. : " Ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos, 
 et qucesitissimis poenis adfecit, quos, per flagitia invisos, vulgus 
 Christianos adpellabat. Auctor nominis ejus Cbristus, Tiberio 
 imperitante, per Procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus 
 erat : repressaque in praesens, exitiabilis superstitio rursus erum- 
 pebat, non niodo per Judaeam, originem ejus mali, sed per urbem 
 etiam, quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt cele- 
 branturque." 
 
Chap. XL] ADVANTAGES OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 465 
 
 private persons, were exempted from many of the 
 usual imposts ; while the clergy were freed from 
 almost all those services to the state which pressed 
 with such crushing weight upon their fellow-subjects. 1 
 From having been the victims, they became the fa- 
 vourites of power ; and everything was done which 
 could render their position safe and honourable. 
 The sanctity of their persons protected them in 
 scenes of the greatest violence ; and they were raised 
 above the persecution of their enemies, and too often 
 above the reach of legitimate authority, by the erec- 
 tion of distinct tribunals for the trial of ecclesiastics. 
 As the universally acknowledged censors of the morals 
 of both high and low, they exercised an influence, 
 we might say a power, of almost unlimited extent. 
 No wonder then that the priestly office became the 
 object of desire to thousands of eager candidates. The 
 Church, in fact, was, even in a worldly sense, the 
 only secure retreat from the misery and ruin in 
 which the falling empire was involving the whole 
 Roman world ; and so preponderating were the ad- 
 vantages enjoyed by its ministers, and so great the 
 number of those who needed the shelter it afforded, 
 that even before the year 320 a.d. the Emperor 
 Constantine was compelled to prohibit by enact- 
 ments the greater portion of his subjects from 
 taking holy orders. 2 At the time of the Frankish 
 
 1 The "munera curialia " spoken of above, p. 369. 
 
 2 He enacted that " no Decurion or son of a Decurion, nor 
 even any one possessed of private property, and therefore well 
 suited for the discharge of public offices, should take refuge in the 
 
 II H 
 
466 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 conquest of Gaul, the Gallican Church had not only 
 great privileges and extensive influence, bat consider- 
 able landed possessions. Yet these could not at that 
 time have been immoderately great, as they after- 
 wards became, for the Arian faith prevailed through 
 more than half Gaul; and in the old Salian and 
 Ripuarian lands Christianity, under any name, had 
 been almost entirely extirpated. 1 Whatever the 
 extent of the Church lands may have been, they 
 were probably respected by the invaders ; or, if the 
 rights of the clergy suffered any diminution in the 
 first confusion, the speedy conversion of Clovis and 
 his warriors soon brought them ample reparation. 
 Converts are proverbially liberal in support of their 
 new opinions ; and it was in the reign of Clovis 
 that the great tide of prosperity began to set in 
 towards the Church. The kings of the Franks, both 
 good and bad, and especially Clovis and his sons, 
 Guntram and Da Robert, did much to enrich the 
 
 name and obedience of the priesthood." Cod. Theod. xvi. 2, 3. : 
 " Nullum deinceps Decurionem, vel ex Decurione progenitum, vel 
 etiam instructum idoneis facultatibus, atque obeundis publicis 
 muneribus opportunism, ad clericorum nomen obsequiumque con- 
 fugere : sed eos de cetero in defunctorum duntaxat clericorum loca 
 subrogari, qui for tuna tenues neque muneribus civilibus teneantur 
 obstricti" 
 
 1 Kilian, the Irish missionary, preached the gospel near "Wiirz- 
 burg (in Bavaria), the inhabitants of which were in his time 
 worshippers of Diana, and his endeavours to convert them cost 
 him his life in a.d. 689. Vid. Acta S. S. ad. d. 8 Jul. The in- 
 habitants of the Ardennes were converted to Christianity by 
 Bishop Hubert, in the middle of the eighth century after Christ. 
 Eleutherii, i. 20. Feb. 3. 187. Roth, p. 66. 
 
Chap. XL] TRAFFIC IN RELICS DENOUNCED. 467 
 
 clergy ; but infinitely more was bestowed by private 
 persons, who were excited to an almost wanton 
 liberality by the hopes and fears of superstition. 1 
 Nor were the priests contented with the purely spon- 
 taneous offerings of their barbarian converts. The 
 strongest stimulants were employed to quicken their 
 pious generosity ; and Charlemagne himself complains 
 that his bishops and abbots allured and frightened 
 foolish people into giving up their goods, by glowing 
 descriptions of the joys of heaven, and the pangs of 
 hell. The regular trade which had long been carried 
 on in relics is also denounced, and the base motives 
 and unwarrantable ends of those who engaged in it, 
 are exposed in the Capitularies of the same great 
 monarch. 2 
 
 1 The maxim was constantly repeated, " Sicut aqua extinguit 
 ignem, ita eleemosyna extinguit peccatum." Muratori Ant. Ital. 
 
 v. 628. 
 
 2 Capit duplex Aquisgranense anno 811. (Mon. Germ. iii. 
 167. c. v.) : " Inquirendum, — si ille seculum dimissum habeat, qui 
 quotidie possessiones suas augere quolibet modo qualibet arte 
 non cessat, suadendo de coelestis regni beatitudine, comminando 
 de a±terno supplicio inferni, et sub nomine Dei aut cujuslibet 
 sancti tarn divitem quam pauperem, qui simplicioris naturae sunt, 
 et minus docti atque cauti inveniuntur, si rebus suis exspoliant, et 
 legitimos heredes eorum exheredant, ac per hoc plerosque ad fla- 
 gitia et scelera, propter inopiam — compellunt, ut quasi necessario 
 furta et latrocinia exerceant. C. vi. : Iterum inquirendum quo 
 modo seculum reliquisset, qui cupiditate ductus propter adipiscen- 
 das res, quas alium videt possidentem, homines ad perjuria et falsa 
 testimonia precio conducit. C. vii. : Quid de his dicendum, qui 
 quasi ad amorem Dei et sanctorum — ossa et reliquias sanctorum 
 corporum de loco ad locum transferunt, ibique novas basilicas con- 
 struunt, et quoscunque potuerint, ut res suas illuc tradant instan- 
 tissime adhortantur." 
 
 n h - 
 
468 THE FKANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Yet we are not to impute this eagerness on the 
 part of the clergy to accumulate landed property 
 entirely to the lust of wealth, and the carnal pleasures 
 it bestows. There were other and more legitimate 
 motives, inherent in the times and circumstances, 
 which greatly quickened the natural cupidity of the 
 human heart. We have seen that the accumulation 
 of land in a few hands had commenced in Gaul pre- 
 viously to the Frankish conquest. Nor did the pro- 
 cess cease when that event had taken place ; on the 
 contrary, the Germans soon began to rival the Gauls in 
 adding field to field ; and lost, in consequence, much 
 of their old love for liberty and equality. In such a 
 race the clergy could not without danger be alto- 
 gether left behind. The instinct of self preservation, 
 as well as the dictates of ambition, prompted them to 
 strive after the possession of land, as the only anchor 
 of safety in those troubled times ; as the necessary 
 condition of the external stability, influence, and pro- 
 gress of the Christian Church. No one can read the 
 annals of that troubled period without the reflection 
 that the Church, without land or money, unwarlike 
 in its very nature, and unable to command or buy 
 protection, would soon have been despised and 
 trodden under foot. 
 
 The clergy, therefore, had every motive to accumu- 
 late wealth, which could act upon their minds, whe- 
 ther as individuals or as members of an order. And 
 under such a stimulus they not only used, but shame- 
 fully abused, the advantages they derived from their 
 own superiority and the gross ignorance and super- 
 
Chap. XL] GROWING WEALTH OF THE CHURCH. 469 
 
 stition of the laity. At the end of the seventh cen- 
 tury, it is calculated that at least one third of the 
 soil of Gaul was the property of the Church. 1 The 
 modes in which these enormous acquisitions had been 
 made were very various, but seldom very honourable. 
 The greater part was derived from the testamentary 
 dispositions of those who purchased eternal happi- 
 ness at the expense of their heirs. Many gave up 
 their estates during their life-time, either in full 
 and immediate possession, or on condition of enjoy- 
 ing the use. The motive of the latter kind of grant 
 was not always a religious one. Many sought to 
 secure from rapacious neighbours what they felt 
 their own inability to defend, by making it a part 
 of the inviolable property of some guardian saint. 
 Vast sums were collected from the superstitious by 
 the exhibition and sale of the bones and relics of de- 
 parted saints. Nor were the darker means of forgery 
 and perjury left unemployed. So common indeed ap- 
 pears to have been the practice of forging testaments 
 and deeds of gift, that the notaries were compelled to 
 take an oath that they would not assist in the prepa- 
 ration of false documents. 2 
 
 The disappointed and defrauded heirs made all the 
 resistance in thdr power, and the civil authority was 
 continually enacting laws to check the alarming flow 
 
 1 Montesquieu, Esp. des Loix, xxxi. 10. : " Le clerge recevoit 
 tant, qu'il taut que dans les trois Races on lui ait donne plusieurs 
 fois tous les biens du royaume." 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. x. 19. Of the 360 Merovingian Diplomata given 
 in Brequigny (Dipl. ad Res Franc, spect., Paris, 1791), about 130 
 are considered false. Vid. Roth, p. 2o7. 
 
 h n 3 
 
470 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 of wealth into the coffers of the Church — but in vain. 
 The threat of excommunication was sufficient to 
 strike terror into the boldest heart. And this ter- 
 rible engine was used not only against those who 
 really encroached upon the acknowledged rights of 
 the Church, but against every one, without distinc- 
 tion, who attempted to recover property which had 
 once passed into the hands of the clergy. The sepa- 
 rate jurisdiction for spiritual persons rendered it 
 extremely difficult to bring their mal -practices to 
 light ; but even when the clearest proofs were given 
 that documents had been forged, or obtained by 
 improper means, it was still regarded as a heinous 
 offence to seek for restitution. 1 
 
 Nor was it only the pious believer, or the conscience- 
 stricken sinner who dreaded the denunciations of the 
 Church ; the most irreligious could not be indifferent 
 to excommunication, to which the civil power had 
 attached the heaviest temporal penalties. " Let him," 
 runs the decree of Childebert, " who refuses to obey 
 his bishop, and has been excommunicated, endure 
 the eternal condemnation of God, and moreover let 
 him be excluded for ever from our palace ; and let 
 him who is unwilling to bear the chastenings (medica- 
 nienta) of his bishop be deprived of all his property 
 
 1 Concil. Lugdun. ii. can. 2. (an. 567. Sirmond. i. p. 326.) : " Id 
 specialiter statuentes, ut etiamsi quorumcumque religiosorum 
 voluntas, aut necessitate, aut simulicitate aliquid a legum scecu- 
 larium ordine visa fuerit discrepare, voluntas tamen defunctorum 
 debent inconcussa manere, et in omnibus Deo propitio, custodiri." 
 Conf. Cone. Aurel. iii. can. 22 . at Cone. Vasense i. c. 4. 
 
Cuap.XLJ WEALTH OF THE CHURCH. 471 
 
 in favour of his lawful heirs." x Thus destitution and 
 disgrace in this world were added to eternal damnation 
 in the next. 
 
 The increase of ecclesiastical wealth was moreover 
 greatly accelerated by the celibacy of the priesthood, 
 which prevented the returns of property once pos- 
 sessed by ecclesiastics into its natural channels. 
 
 Even the private property of the clergy generally, 
 though not necessarily, went to enrich the religious 
 institutions to which they had more particularly be- 
 longed. It was not, indeed, legally incumbent upon a 
 bishop or abbot to bequeath his wealth to his cathe- 
 dral or his abbey, but it was very much at variance 
 with the general custom to dispose of it in any other 
 way. 2 And thus the Church, continually making 
 fresh acquisitions, and resigning little or nothing, 
 attained to wonderful results in a comparatively short 
 space of time. 
 
 The danger arising to the State from this per- 
 petual drain upon the resources of the country was 
 clearly seen long before any attempt was made to pro- 
 vide a remedy. Chilperic, on whom, as we have seen 
 above, the annalists have bestowed the epithets of 
 " tyrant " and " second Nero" (which many a monarch 
 
 1 Decretio Childeberti Regis, an. 595. ii. : " Qui vero Episco- 
 pum suura noluerit audire, et excommunicatus fuerit perennem 
 condemnationem apud Deum sustineat (this many would have 
 braved), et insuper de palatio nostro sit omnino extra?ieus y et 
 omnes facilitates suas parentibus legitimes amittat, qui noluit 
 sacerdotis sui medicamenta sustinere." It might be disputed 
 whether this decree was intended to contain a climax or a bathos. 
 
 2 Cone. Agathens. can, 33. (an. 506). Sirmond. i. p. 167. 
 
 ir n i 
 
472 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 who deserved them more has escaped), complains that 
 the royal treasury was empty, and that all its riches 
 had passed into the hands of the Church. " None/ 7 
 he says, " truly reign but the bishops ; our dignity 
 has departed and is transferred to them." 
 
 Gregory of Tours 1 accuses this monarch of destroy- 
 ing the wills which were made in favour of the Church, 
 and adds that he constantly blasphemed the bishops, 
 and turned them into ridicule in his private hours. But 
 that it was not only men of depraved character and 
 enemies of religion, like Chilperic, who brought such 
 charges against the clergy, may be gathered from the 
 language of Charlemagne himself, at a later period, 
 even after the discipline of the Church had been 
 greatly improved by Boniface. " Do you call that 
 serving God," — he says to the bishops and abbots, 
 in the capitulary to which we have just referred, 
 — " when you do not even scruple to seduce the 
 people into perjury and falsehood in order to in- 
 crease your riches ? " Such language from the lips 
 of a pious and orthodox monarch like Charlemagne 
 reveals to us the real state of the case, and leads us to 
 attribute some degree of truth even to the angry and 
 envious words of Chilperic. 
 
 The increased dignity and influence, which accrued 
 to the whole ecclesiastical body from the accumu- 
 lation of wealth, were chiefly centred in the per- 
 sons of the bishops and abbots. Throughout the 
 entire history of the Merovingian and Carlovingian 
 
 1 Grog. Tur. vi. 46 
 
Chap. XL] HIGH POSITION OF BISHOPS. 473 
 
 dynasties, the Catholic bishops stand forth in bold re- 
 lief as the most wealthy and influential personages in 
 the state. They are constantly brought under our 
 notice as the counsellors and, not unfrequently, as the 
 censors of kings ; as the companions, on a footing of 
 superiority, of the haughtiest and most powerful seig- 
 niors ; as leaders in every important political move- 
 ment. Like the rich and great among the laity, they 
 appeared surrounded by vassals to whom their will was 
 law, and numerous dependants lived upon their lands 
 in a state of hereditary servitude. Within the limits 
 of the Church itself, they were irresponsible masters 
 of the inferior clergy, through whom they exercised a 
 wide and irresistible influence over the people. And 
 to all the other advantages, temporal and spiritual, 
 which they enjoyed in so remarkable a combination 
 was added the enormous power of superior mental 
 cultivation. No wonder then that the prelates were 
 objects of envy even to a king, and that a bishop's see 
 was a mark of ambition to the highest and noblest in 
 the land. 
 
 We shall endeavour as briefly as possible to trace 
 the steps by which the dignitaries of the Frankish 
 Church attained to the proud position in which we 
 find them even under the Merovingian kings. 
 
 At the time of the Frankish conquest the Gallican 
 bishops were possessed of considerable influence, but 
 their power was principally a moral power : and for 
 this reason perhaps it alone suffered neither overthrow 
 nor diminution from the barbarian invaders. The rela- 
 tive position of the bishops both to conquerors and 
 
474 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 conquered was a singularly favourable one. The 
 Romance population, who had always respected them 
 as overseers and rulers of the Church, could not but 
 regard them with increased reverence, after seeing 
 that theirs was the only power which the invaders did 
 not and could not overcome. To the Franks, on the 
 other hand, they appeared as the principal representa- 
 tives of Roman civilisation — which, even in its ruins, 
 they could not but respect — and as the possessors in an 
 eminent degree of the power which knowledge gives, 
 — a power which is all the more formidable to the 
 vulgar, because its nature and extent are hidden from 
 their sight. 
 
 After no long time, as we have seen, the bishops 
 took a still more advantageous position with regard to 
 the new inhabitants, in consequence of the conversion 
 of Clovis to the Christian faith. Their influence with 
 the Gallic population rendered their willing co-ope- 
 ration in the task of governing his newly acquired 
 territories of the highest importance to the king; 
 while their superior abilities and greater knowledge of 
 affairs made them by far the most useful counsellors 
 to whom he could apply in all the weightier matters 
 of religion, law, and policy. 
 
 The earlier Merovingians had no occasion to feel 
 either suspicion or jealousy of the rising power of the 
 Catholic clergy, who needed the friendly support of the 
 civil power in their struggle with their Arian rivals. 
 The Church and the State had in fact the greatest 
 interest in raising and strengthening each other ; and 
 as long as the former abstained from all pretensions of 
 
Chap. XL] SOURCES OF THEIR WEALTH. 475 
 
 independence, the haughty Merovingians did not 
 scruple to manifest the utmost reverence towards the 
 dignified clergy. 1 
 
 To this, which we may call the legitimate influence 
 of the episcopal office, was added the material strength 
 which the bishop acquired as the administrator of the 
 ever increasing wealth of the Church. In his hands 
 was the exclusive management of all Church lands 
 within his diocese ; and though he was bound in the 
 performance of his functions to adhere to established 
 rules and customs, and to apply a certain portion of 
 the funds to certain purposes, he had still a very wide 
 field for the exercise of an almost arbitrary power. 
 He could not of course, alienate the landed property 
 of the Church, or burden it with lasting liabilities. 
 It was incumbent upon him to provide for the neces- 
 sary repairs of ecclesiastical buildings, the mainte- 
 nance of the inferior clergy, the relief of the poor, 
 and the decent celebration of religious services. But 
 neither the salaries of his subalterns nor the services 
 of the churches, increased in amount and splendour in 
 proportion with the rapidly increasing means which 
 were placed in the bishop's hands. His acknowledged 
 share of the entire income of his diocese was a lion's 
 one : and of the surplus which remained after defray- 
 
 1 Vita Severini Agaun. c. 6. Mabill. i. 569. (ap. Roth. p. 265.). 
 When Severin approached Clovis, for the purpose of healing him, 
 the king worshipped him. " Et adoravit earn rex" When Ger- 
 manus, Bishop of Paris, had one day been made to wait too long 
 in the antechamber of King Childebert, the latter was (naturally) 
 taken ill in the night. The bishop was sent for ; and when he 
 came, " Rex adlambit Sanrti palliohun" 
 
476 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 ing the regular expenses he was irresponsible master. 
 Was he a pious and self-denying shepherd of the flock 
 of Christ, he spent it in works of charity, in in- 
 structing the ignorant, in relieving the condition of 
 the wretched serfs and slaves who groaned under 
 the tyranny of brutal owners. But if otherwise, 
 he might use it, as we see that the majority did, in 
 adding external splendour to the episcopal office, in 
 gathering around him military vassals and servile de- 
 pendents, and in vying in luxury and pride with the 
 gayest and proudest of the laity. 
 
 The humble subordination of the inferior clergy 
 to their spiritual head was secured by their absolute 
 dependence upon him not only for their advancement 
 in the Church, but even for present comfort and well 
 being. A life interest, indeed, in a portion of land 
 was generally allotted to them ; but this afforded little 
 protection against a tyrannical bishop, who could sus- 
 pend them from their office, take away their land for 
 disobedience, and even subject them to imprisonment 
 and flogging. 1 
 
 As we may suppose, however, the almost arbitrary 
 
 1 Vid. Cone. Narbon. an. 589. can. 5, 6. 10. 13. (Sirmond. i. 
 399.). According to Concil. Matisc. i. an. 581, c. viii. (Sirmond. 
 i. 372.), and Greg. v. 51., and viii. 22., the bishop could inflict 
 punishment, and a certain number of lashes (Cone. Matisc. says 
 thirty-nine). Bishop Joseph, of Le Mans, caused several of his 
 clergy, who had complained of him to the king, to be whipped, 
 blinded, and mutilated. " Prrecepit ipsos sacerdotes .... fla- 
 gellar, atque (quod pejus est dicere) eaecare et castrare." — Episcop. 
 Cenonu c. xx. Mabillon, Analectu, p. 291. Conf. Greg. Tur. 
 iv. 36. 
 
Chap. XI.] THEIR POWER OVER INFERIOR CLERGY. 47 7 
 
 power thus exercised, and too often abused, by the 
 bishops and abbots was not established without violent 
 opposition on the part of the sufferers. And since 
 the latter had no legal grounds on which to base 
 their opposition, their resistance naturally took the 
 form of sudden and violent rebellion, Avhich was fre- 
 quently accompanied by bloodshed, and even murder. 1 
 In the main, however, the bishops triumphed, and the 
 presbyters and deacons were gradually compelled to 
 submit to an authority from which appeal was ex- 
 tremely difficult, and resistance, however successful 
 for the moment, certain to bring ruin on the heads of 
 those who offered it. 2 
 
 As the bishops and abbots rose in the social scale, 
 the rest of the priesthood seemed to fall ; and it is a 
 singular proof of pride and love of power in the 
 former, and of degradation in the latter, that many 
 bishops preferred to consecrate persons of servile con- 
 dition for the sacred office, that they might hear no 
 complaints of unworthy treatment, and meet with no 
 resistance in the exercise of an arbitrary rule. 3 
 
 1 For rebellions of this sort, vid. Greg. Tur. vi. 11. 36., x. 15. 
 
 2 Concil. AureL iii. c. 21. (Sirmond. i. 254.) : " Si quis clericoruni 
 tit nuper multis locis diabolo instigante actum fuisse perpatuit rebelli 
 auctoritate se in unum conjuratione intercedente collegerint," &c. 
 The rights of the clergy against the bishop were few enough. One 
 by which the rebellious clergy of -ZEtherius, Bishop of Lisieux, jus- 
 tified their opposition is singular. Concil. Turon. ii. c. xiii. gave 
 them the right of driving strange women from the household of a 
 bishop who had no episcopa Ucentiam extraneas mulieres de fre- 
 quentia habitationis ejicere." Conf. Greg. Tur. v. 51. 
 
 3 The abbots of those monasteries which were independent 
 of the bishop, acquired the same power over the monks of their 
 
478 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 There was then everything in the position of the 
 bishop to excite desire and gratify ambition. Equal 
 in wealth and station to the richest seigniors and most 
 favoured courtiers, and in his priestly character supe- 
 rior to the king himself, he was at the same time the 
 companion of the rich and great, and the guardian 
 and friend of the poor and lowly. In every contest 
 with the secular power, the popular feeling, which ex- 
 tended even to the hearts of his opponents, was in his 
 favour. Nor could such collisions be avoided. The 
 privileges granted to the Church, in the earlier days of 
 its comparative poverty, proved extremely embarrass- 
 ing to the State, when the clergy became the greatest 
 proprietors of land in the kingdom. A large portion 
 of every gau (or canton) belonged to the Church ; 
 and being exempted from the usual burdens, and 
 possessing a jurisdiction of its own, it was, as it were, 
 withdrawn from the cognizance of the civil power. 
 
 house, as the bishops over their inferior clergy, and rose to 
 wealth by nearly the same means. Their tyranny, when they 
 were inclined to exercise it, was even worse than that of the 
 bishops, because they were enabled to watch all the proceedings 
 of the inmates of their house. We meet with the most extraor- 
 dinary instances of cruelty on the part of the abbots, and of turbu- 
 lent opposition on that of the monks. The second Abbot of Aindre, 
 Adalfred, who succeeded Ermeland, who became a hermit, starved 
 his monks, that he might save money to build with, and had them 
 most cruelly flogged. (Roth, p. 264.) Ratgar, Bishop of Fulda, was 
 deprived of his see, in the time of Charlemagne, on the petition 
 of his clergy, who say, in their Melius supplex, that Ratgar starved 
 old weak monks, forbade them to use a stick in walking, and 
 that he compelled or enticed many to become monks for their 
 money. Mabillon, Acta Sanctor. iv. i. 261. 
 
Chap. XL] CORRUPTION IN HIERARCHY. 479 
 
 Nor was it easy or safe to infringe upon the immuni- 
 ties of the Church, which — besides being guaranteed 
 by the law 1 , and defended with the greatest pertinacity 
 by the clergy themselves — were supposed to be under 
 the especial protection of some patron saint, the right- 
 ful owner of the land. 
 
 The conflicting claims of the civil and ecclesiastical 
 powers threw the count and the bishop, the represen- 
 tatives of either, into an almost constant attitude of 
 rivalry and contest. The advantage was here again 
 almost invariably on the side of the bishop, who, with 
 equal wealth, had means, as a priest and a ruler of 
 priests, of acting upon the popular mind, which were 
 entirely wanting to his opponent. 
 
 We cannot wonder, under these circumstances, 
 that the office of bishop was filled by persons utterly 
 unfit in character and habits to minister to the re- 
 ligious wants of the community. As early as the 
 seventh century, in fact, the Franco- Gallican Church, 
 if we are to judge of it from its highest dignitaries, 
 would seem to have almost entirely lost the character 
 of a religious institution ; and to have existed chiefly 
 to enable a few great spiritual lords to live in the 
 greatest splendour and to engage, with vast influence 
 and almost boundless means, in the political feuds by 
 which the country was distracted. 
 
 Many circumstances combined at that period to 
 bring about this lamentable perversion. At a time 
 
 1 Capit Interrogationis de iis quae Carolus M. pro cominuni 
 omnium utilitate intorroganda constituit. Aquisgrani, 81 1. (Mo- 
 num. Germ. (Hist.) iii. p. 106.)- 
 
480 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 when its rapidly increasing wealth, and the rising 
 ambition of the prelates, called for the soundest ad- 
 ministration, the internal discipline of the Church had 
 become lax ; and the metropolitan constitution, which 
 might have done something towards keeping the 
 bishops in check, had almost entirely disappeared. 
 Nor did the safeguard of a popular election any 
 longer exist. The bishops had been originally 
 chosen, a clero et populo, and in the earlier ages of 
 the Church, while their office retained its merely 
 spiritual value and dignity, the civil authority was 
 not much tempted to interfere. But the predominant 
 power of the Frankish kings, and the mighty in- 
 fluence they acquired after the conversion of Clovis, 
 enabled them to usurp, from the very first, the right 
 of nomination to the vacant sees. 1 The clergy, in- 
 deed, struggled manfully at times for the recovery 
 of their natural rights ; but in the main the jwceceptio 
 of the king could dispense with the consensus of the 
 clergy and the people, and create a bishop out of the 
 merest layman and the greatest profligate. 2 
 
 We have a letter of St. Remigius (Remi), the con- 
 verter of Clovis, in which he replies to a violent 
 protest of the bishops against the nomination of one 
 Claudius, an unworthy person, as presbyter ; and in 
 which he excuses himself, not by defending the man's 
 character, but by saying that Clovis, " who was not 
 only the preacher but the defender of the Catholic 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. iv. 26. Conf. Capitula Imp. Caroli que in Lege 
 Sal. mittenda sunt, c. ii. (Merkel, Lex. Sal. p. 47.). 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iv. 18., v. 37. 
 
Chap. XI.] BISHOPS AMENABLE TO KING ALONE. 481 
 
 faith, the ruler of kingdoms, the guardian of his 
 country, the victor of nations, had enjoined it." x 
 
 The clergy of Tours expressly declare to Cato, the 
 presbyter, to whom they came to offer the bishopric 
 on the death of Guntar, " Non nostra te voluntate 
 expetivimuS) sed regis prceceptione" 2 
 
 Almost the only person, therefore, from whom the 
 higher clergy had anything to hope or fear was the 
 king ; who regarded the great ecclesiastical offices as 
 so much patronage, or even property, which he might 
 
 bestow upon his favourites, or sell to the highest 
 bidder. 3 
 
 Even the assemblies of the clergy were dependent 
 upon the king, both for permission to meet, and for 
 the confirmation of their decrees. 4 
 
 1 Epist. S. Remigii ad Heraclium et alios (Bouquet, iv. p. 52.) : 
 " Scribitis Canonicuni non fuisse quod (rex) jussit. Suramo funga- 
 mini Sacerdotio. Regionum Praesul, custos patriae, gentium 
 triumphator injunxit." 
 
 2 Vid. Greg. Tur. iv. 11. In the same chapter we have an 
 indication that bishops were deposed by the king, without any 
 cause but the desire of bestowing their sees elsewhere. 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. iv. 35., v. 47. 
 
 4 See a letter from a Synod, in a.d. 511, to Clovis (Lcebell, 
 324.): " Ita ut si ea quae nos statuimus etiam vestro recta esse 
 judicio comprobantur, tanti consensus Regis ac Domini majori 
 auctoritate servandam tantorum firmet sententiam Sacerdotum." 
 We have an account in Greg. iv. 26. of something like a collision on 
 this point between the clergy and the king. A Synod at Saintes 
 ii#A.D. 562, deposed a bishop, who had been appointed, by Clo- 
 taire without the consensus of the metropolitan bishops. Clotuire 
 was already dead, but his son Charibert not only reversed their 
 decree of deposition, but severely punished all those who took any 
 part in the opposition to the royal will. Concil. Aurel. v. can. 10. 
 (Sirmond. i. p. 280.) ; vid. Lcebeli's Gregor von Tours, p. 341. 
 
 I I 
 
482 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 The corrupting effect of this, the sole control, to 
 which the bishops were subject, was increased in its 
 hurtful operation by the character of the majority of 
 the Merovingian kings. Those who were set in high 
 places, and should have been an example to the 
 flock of Christ, were the courtiers and companions 
 of the crafty and bloody Clovis, and the long line of 
 his wicked or imbecile successors, who form the most 
 detestable dynasty that ever filled a Western throne. 
 Clovis, Chilperic, Clotaire, and Fredegunda, were the 
 virtual heads of the Frankish Church ; their favour 
 was the only path to ecclesiastical distinction ; and 
 their tribunal was the only one to which the bishops 
 were amenable. That this was the real state of the 
 case, is proved by numberless passages in Gregory of 
 Tours, and especially by the language which that 
 prelate and historian himself makes use of to Chil- 
 peric. " If any of us, king/' he says, " should 
 venture to transgress the bounds of justice, he can 
 be corrected by thee ; but if thou shouldest trans- 
 gress, who will call thee to account ? For we speak 
 to thee, and if thou choosest thou hearest ; but if 
 thou art unwilling, who shall condemn thee, except 
 Him who has declared that He is justice itself?" l 
 
 The sad results of the many evil influences to 
 which we have referred, and many more which we 
 are compelled to pass over, are clearly seen in every 
 page of this period. The corruption displays itself 
 more prominently in the bishops themselves, but no 
 doubt their evil example loosened the bands of mo- 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. v. 19. 
 
Chap. XL] EVIL INFLUENCE OF ROYAL PATRONAGE. 483 
 
 rality and discipline throughout the whole fabric of 
 the Church. Gregory is evidently restrained on 
 many occasions from setting forth all the enormities 
 committed by his episcopal brethren, " lest he should 
 seem to be a detractor fratrum ; " yet his history con- 
 tains enough to fill us with disgust and sorrow at the 
 corruptions into which the foremost ministers of reli- 
 gion had fallen. 1 Simony of the most unscrupulous 
 and open kind was almost universal. 2 
 
 In a.d. 591, Eusebius, " a Syrian merchant," pur- 
 chased the bishopric of Paris ; and, as soon as he was 
 installed, discharged all those who held offices under 
 his predecessor, and supplied their place exclusively 
 with Syrians. 3 King Guntram, who seems to have 
 had scruples on the subject, and condemned simony 
 in the strongest terms, not only received bribes from 
 clerical candidates for the episcopal office, but ap- 
 pointed Desiclerius, a layman, from the same corrupt 
 motives. And this he did, " though he had promised 
 with an oath never to ordain a bishop from the laity. 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. v. 4. 
 
 2 « 
 
 " Already (a. d. 527) at that time,'' we read, in the Vita S. 
 Galli, " that evil germ had begun to bear fruit, viz., that the priestly 
 office was sold by the kings,' 7 &c. Bouquet, iii. p. 410. : " Averni 
 vero Clerici cum consensu insipientiuin facto, et multis muneribus 
 ad Regent venerunt. Jam tunc germen illud iniquum coeperat 
 frutificare, ut sacerdotium venderetur a regibus aut compara- 
 retur a clericis . . . . " The king ordered a banquet to 
 be given in honour of Gallus's elevation to the episcopal chair, 
 at the public expense. " Nam referre erat solitus (Gallus) 
 non amplius donasse se pro episcopatu quam unum triantem coquo 
 qui servivit ad prandium.'' Conf. Greg. Tur. iii. 2., viii. 20. 39. 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. x. 26. 
 
 ii 2 
 
484 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 But to what," adds the historian, " will not the aari 
 sacra fames compel the human heart ?" x 
 
 The conduct of those who were thus admitted 
 into the episcopal sees, was generally in accordance 
 with the auspices under which they entered upon 
 their office. The prevalence among them of crimes, 
 not only disgraceful to their sacred character, but 
 to humanity itself, may be proved from the writ- 
 ings of one of themselves, who confessedly deals 
 tenderly with his brethren. 
 
 Cautinus who, about the year a.d. 553, was made 
 Bishop of Tours, is described as " having acted in 
 such a manner as to be execrated by all men ; ex- 
 cessively addicted to ivine, and generally so drenched 
 in liquor, that he could scarcely be carried from a 
 banquet by four men. For which reason he became 
 epileptic, as was often clearly made manifest to the 
 people. He was so inclined to avarice, that he re- 
 garded it as destruction to himself, if he could not 
 take away something from the hands of those whose 
 possessions bordered on his own. The more powerful 
 he deprived of their property by quarrels and abuse ; 
 the inferior classes he plundered with open violence." 2 
 Nor were these the most serious of his offences. 
 He also buried a presbyter alive in the crypt of his 
 church for refusing to surrender something which 
 the bishop had demanded of him. 
 
 Eonius, in the year a.d. 580, fell down in a drunken 
 
 1 In Acts of Simony by Guntram. Greg. Tur. vi. 7. 39., 
 viii. 22. 
 
 2 Greg. Tur. iv. 12. 
 
Chap. XI.] EPISCOPAL MONSTERS. 485 
 
 fit when performing mass at the altar in Paris ; and 
 " was generally so disgustingly (deformiter) drunk, 
 that he could not walk." l The bishops Palladius and 
 Bertchramnus having quarrelled at the table of King 
 Guntram, accused each other of " adultery and per- 
 jury;" at which, says Gregory, " many laughed, but 
 some who were possessed of greater wisdom grieved." 2 
 The deeds of Pappolus, Bishop of Langres, were of 
 such a character that the historian thinks it better to 
 pass over them without notice. 3 
 
 Badegisil, Bishop of Mans in a.d. 586, was a mon- 
 ster in human form, and had a wife even worse than 
 himself. He was " very cruel to the people, and was 
 continually robbing different persons of their pro- 
 perty. His wife increased the savage ferocity of his 
 heart, and urged him on by the stimulants of her most 
 wicked counsels. Not a day, not a moment, passed, 
 in which he did not wallow in the spoils of his fellow- 
 citizens, or engage in various altercations. He daily 
 argued causes with the judge, carried on secular war- 
 fare, and even went so far as to beat men with his 
 own hand, saying, ' What ! because I am a priest, 
 shall I not avenge my wrongs? ' " The historian pro- 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. v. 41. 2 Ibid. viii. 7. 
 
 3 The Abbot Dagulfus (a. d. 583) frequently committed theft and 
 homicide, et " in adulteriis nimiurn dissolutus erat." He was at 
 last killed, while in a drunken fit, by an injured husband. " Ideo- 
 que,'' adds Gregory, " documentum sit ha3C causa clericis, ne 
 contra Canonurn statuta extranearum mulierum consortio potian- 
 tur : cum haec et ipsa lex canonica et omnes Scriptural Sanctoe 
 prohibeant, praster has feminas de quibus crimen non potest 
 sestimari." — Greg, Ttir. viii. 19. 
 
 i i 3 
 
486 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 ceeds to relate the deeds of this bishop's wife, who 
 was possessed of " ineffable malice ;" and after relating 
 things too horrible to be repeated here, he adds, " and 
 many other wicked deeds she committed, about which 
 I have thought it better to be silent ! " x 
 
 We are confirmed in our opinion of the prevalence 
 of corrupt morals among the clergy of this period, by 
 the great lenity with which their crimes are treated 
 by others of their own order. 2 
 
 Sagittarius and Salonius, bishops of Gap and Em- 
 brun in Dauphine, lived in perpetual bloodshed and 
 lasciviousness, and though twice deposed for their 
 crimes, they were twice restored again to their epis- 
 copal chairs, and king Gantram believed that his son's 
 death teas the consequence of his having put these wretches 
 in prison! In the year A. d. 579, they were again ac- 
 cused before a synod assembled at Ghalons-sur-Saone 
 under the auspices of King Guntram. " They were 
 accused," says Gregory, " not only of adultery, but 
 of murder. 3 
 
 1 Greg. Tur. viii. 39. 
 
 2 Gregory gives us an account of a certain priest (of Mans), 
 who was " luxuriosus nimis, amatorque mulierum et gulos ac 
 fornicationis, omnique immunditiae valde deditus." This man 
 took about with him a woman of good family in male attire, and 
 having been discovered by her relation*, was given into custody, 
 while the unfortunate woman was burned. The priest himself was 
 put up for sale,, with the understanding that if no offer was made 
 for him he should be put to death. Bishop JEtherius of Lisieux 
 redeemed ( ff castigatum verbis lenibus") him by paying twenty 
 gold pieces, and afterwards intrusted him ivith the instruction of 
 the boys of his diocese. Greg. vi. 36. 
 
 3 Greg. Tur. v. 21. 
 
Chap. XI.] TYRANNY OF KINGS TOWARDS CLERGY. 487 
 
 The council of bishops decided that these offences 
 might be atoned for by penitence (a sentence equiva- 
 lent to an acquittal) ; but, unluckily for the culprits, 
 they were also charged with treason to king and 
 country, and for this offence were stripped of their 
 episcopal robes. 
 
 While the episcopal order was in this deplorable 
 state, the discipline and dignity of the Church, as we 
 might naturally suppose, were almost entirely lost. So 
 many of the bishops and abbots lived mere laymen, 
 that their sacred character was often forgotten by 
 others as well as themselves ; and notwithstanding 
 the laws by which their separate jurisdiction was de- 
 fended 1 they were often called to a severe account by 
 the civil power, and even subjected to capital punish- 
 ment. It was in fact the crimes of the bishops 
 and their consequent loss of influence among the 
 people, which emboldened the kings to treat them in 
 such an arbitrary manner as they frequently did. 
 Clotaire I. drove Bishop Nicetius from his diocese, 
 for daring to rebuke and excommunicate him for 
 his crimes. And so far were the bishops from ven- 
 turing to resist this attack upon one of the noblest 
 of their order, that Nicetius was deserted by all his 
 
 1 The council held by Guntram at Macon, in a.d. 581, laid the 
 ban on all judges who should punish the clergy absque causa 
 crirninalis. Cone. Matisc. i. can. 7. (Sirmond. i. p. 371.) Ibid. can. 
 43. : " Quicunque Judex, aut secularis Presbytero, aut Diacono, 
 ut cuilibet de Clero, aut de junioribus absque voluntate Episcopi 
 aut Archidiaconi, vel Archipresbyteri, injuriam inferre praesump- 
 serit anno ab omnium Christianorum consortio habeatur extraneus." 
 
 i i 4 
 
488 THE ERANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 brethren of the priesthood with the exception of one 
 deacon. 1 
 
 Theodoras, afterwards bishop of Tours, was thrown 
 into prison by Guntram in a.d. 582, though no evi- 
 dence of guilt was brought against him, and Epi- 
 phanius, another bishop who was incarcerated on 
 the same occasion, died in confinement post multa 
 supplicia. 2 
 
 Into so deplorable a state had the Frankish 
 Church fallen, towards the end of the seventh cen- 
 tury, that instead of being able to spread the light 
 of Christianity over surrounding nations, she seemed 
 more likely to be herself overwhelmed by the re- 
 turning tide of heathenism. The missionary spirit 
 had apparently died out of the Franco-Gallic clergy, 
 who, engaged as they were, in the unscrupulous 
 acquisition, and too often in the brutal enjoyment 
 of wealth, cared little that the people of many a 
 diocese were still (locking to their heathen temples, 
 and their sacred groves. The power of self-rege- 
 neration seemed completely wanting to the Frankish 
 Church, and had there not existed in the old British 
 and Irish Churches a purer spirit and a quicker 
 zeal for the conversion of the nations, many parts 
 of Germany must have remained for a considerable 
 period in a state of heathen darkness. 
 
 The first efforts to restore some degree of order 
 
 1 Vita S. Nicetii (Bouquet, iii. p. 419.) : " Ab Episcopis reliquis, 
 qui adulatores Regis effect! fuerant atque a suis omnibus dere- 
 lictus. . ." (a.d. 582.) Greg. Tur. vi. 24 
 
 - Greg. Tur. vi. 24. 
 
Chap. XI.] WINFRIED OE KYRTON. 4S9 
 
 and morality to the Gallic Church were made by 
 St. Columban, St. Gall, and St. Killian, all of whom 
 belonged to the British Church, the records of 
 which were carefully destroyed by the Romish hier- 
 archy. Their labours, however, appear to have had 
 no perceptible results. The more successful and 
 more celebrated Winfried, who well deserved the 
 name of the Apostle of Germany, was of the same 
 nation as his forerunners, but differed from them in 
 being a zealous adherent of the Romish ritual. Win- 
 fried, better known under the name of Boniface, was 
 of Anglo-Saxon origin, and was born at Kyrton, in 
 Devonshire, about a.d. 684. Very early in life he 
 became a monk, and was renowned in his own coun- 
 try for that purity of manners and earnest zeal for 
 the interests of religion, of which neither the severe 
 trials, nor even the brilliant successes of his suc- 
 ceeding life could ever deprive him. The missionary 
 spirit, by which he was more strongly possessed than 
 almost any man of whom we read in history, im- 
 pelled him to quit the seclusion of the cloister, and 
 to undertake the conversion of Friesland, to which 
 country he went in a.d. 716. The time of his ap- 
 pearance there was peculiarly unfortunate, as being 
 immediately after the temporary expulsion of the 
 Franks by Ratbod ; and he was obliged to return to 
 England without accomplishing his purpose. It is 
 worthy of notice that these first unavailing efforts 
 to convert the heathen were made without any 
 previous application for the sanction of the Pope. 
 It was therefore in all probability after his return 
 
490 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 from Friesland that Winfried formed those decided 
 opinions respecting the outward unity of the Church, 
 and the divine, absolute, and universal authority of 
 the successors of St. Peter, for which he subsequently 
 became so remarkable. 
 
 In a.d. 718, having obtained letters of recom- 
 mendation from Daniel, Bishop of Winchester, to the 
 Pope, he made his first journey to Rome. A man 
 who united so much undoubted piety with so much 
 devotedness to the papal chair, could not but meet 
 with the best reception. He received a commission 
 from Gregory II. to covert the heathen, and to bring 
 all such as were already Christians into the Romish 
 communion. The first success he met with was 
 among the Hessians at Amoneburg in a.d. 722. 
 He had previously preached without effect among 
 the Thuringians, who, though they were nominally 
 Christians, had corrupted the doctrines and practice 
 of Christianity with a large admixture of Paganism. 
 
 On his second visit to Rome, in a. d. 723, Winfried 
 was consecrated bishop by Gregory II. , who gave 
 him the name of Boniface, by which he is most 
 familiarly known in history. It was on this occasion 
 that the Pope, foreseeing, with that skill in the choice 
 and use of instruments which is characteristic of the 
 papacy, how greatly such a man might serve the 
 interests which were nearest to the papal heart, en- 
 deavoured to bind the future apostle of Germany still 
 more firmly to St. Peter's chair. 
 
 Boniface was induced to swear by the body of 
 St. Peter, that he would never separate himself from 
 
Chap. XI.] BONIFACE'S OATH OF FEALTY TO ROME. 491 
 
 the Church of Rome, and would resist, to the utmost 
 of his power, all those who swerved from the In- 
 stitutions of the Father of the Church. 1 " I, Boni- 
 face," runs the oath, " bishop, by the grace of God, 
 promise to thee, blessed St. Peter, chief of the 
 Apostles, and to thy blessed representative, Pope 
 Gregory, and to his successors, in the name of the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the undivided Trinity, 
 and by this thy most sacred body, .... never to do 
 anything in any way against the unity of the general 
 and universal Church, .... and to observe fidelity, 
 and purity, and fellowship in the interests of thy 
 Church, and towards thee, to whom the Lord God 
 hath given the power of binding and of loosing, and 
 to thy aforesaid representative (vicar) and to his 
 successors. And if I shall see any priests altering 
 anything contrary to the institutions of the Holy 
 Fathers, I will hold no communion or fellowship 
 with them, but will rather, if possible, prevent them ; 
 but if not, I will faithfully and immediately report 
 such persons to my apostolical lord." He further 
 invokes upon himself the fate of Ananias and 
 Sapphira should he prove unfaithful to his vows. 
 
 The importance of the bent thus given to the 
 thoughts and actions of Boniface can hardly be over- 
 rated. The great object of the papal policy at this 
 period was to find a counterpoise to the power of the 
 
 1 Indiculus Sacramenti (ap. Sirmond. i. p. 512.). Boniface 
 humbly styles himself exiguus Episcopus. It is worthy of notice, 
 in passing, that even this instrument is dated by the year of the 
 Greek Emperor Leo's reign. 
 
492 THE FRANKS. [Chat. XI. 
 
 Langobards, by whom the Romish Church was hard 
 pressed in Italy ; and with this view, the alliance 
 of the Franks, and more particularly of the Carlo- 
 vingian maj'ors and sovereigns, was sought with the 
 greatest eagerness by several successive popes. These 
 important objects Boniface was selected to serve, and 
 it was mainly by his means, by his unswerving fidelity 
 to Rome, and the influence he gained over Carl Mar- 
 tel and King Pepin, that the strict alliance between 
 the Carlovingian dynasty and the papal chair was 
 brought to pass. The results of this alliance may be 
 found in every page of subsequent European history, 
 even down to the present day : it laid the foundation 
 of Church and State in Europe ; it placed Charlemagne 
 on the imperial throne, and enabled the Popes to 
 establish in reality, that universal power which had 
 already been the subject of their waking dreams. 
 
 The missionary efforts of Boniface had not hitherto 
 been attended with all the success which they deserved : 
 and the reason is evident ; — his impatient zeal, unsup- 
 ported by the civil authority, had aroused an angry 
 opposition, which he had not the material power to 
 overcome. He had not learned from St. Augustine 
 and others the policy of a temporising adaptation ; 
 when he saw a heathen temple, or a sacred oak, he was 
 not satisfied till he had utterly destroyed them. The 
 conquests of the Franks, however, supplied him with 
 the external means of success which had hitherto been 
 wanting. After his consecration as bishop, the Pope 
 gave him letters of recommendation to Carl Martel, 
 in whose interest also it lay that discipline and subor- 
 
Chap. XL] BONIFACE'S CONVERSION OF HESSIANS. 493 
 
 dination should take the place of the license and 
 anarchy which had hitherto disgraced the Church. 1 
 Carl Martel not only received him with the greatest 
 reverence, but zealously seconded his efforts, and gave 
 him a "general epistle" to all bishops, dukes, counts, 
 and in short to all office-bearers throughout the 
 empire, to give countenance and aid to Boniface, in 
 the prosecution of his purposes. 2 The advantage, and 
 indeed necessity, of the assistance thus afforded is fre- 
 quently acknowledged by Boniface himself, who, where 
 the power of reason proved insufficient, was not slow 
 in using the weighty arguments with which he had 
 been furnished by his zealous patron. 
 
 With the countenance and protection of the Pope 
 and Carl Martel, he proceeded to complete the con- 
 version of the Hessians, and subsequently went a 
 second time on a mission to the Thuringians, on whom 
 he had hitherto produced little or no impression. This 
 nation, like the Saxons in the time of Charlemagne, 
 was prejudiced against Christianity and its priests, in 
 whom they only saw the agents of the Frankish 
 domination. Among them, therefore, Boniface ap- 
 peared armed with all the terrors of the civil power. 
 He everywhere cut down their sacred groves, hoping by 
 
 1 Greg. P., Epist. ad Carol. Ducem (Sirmond. i. p. 512.). 
 
 2 Carol. Maj. Dom. Epist. Generalis : " Dominis Sanctis ct Apo- 
 stolicis in Christo patribus," Episcopis, Ducibus, Comitibus, Vi- 
 cariis, Domesticis, sen omnibus agentibus, Junioribus nostris seu 
 Missis decurrentibus, et amicis nostris. Cognoscatis qnaliter Apo- 
 stolicus vir .... Bonifacius Ep. ad nos venit et nobis suggessit, 
 quod sub nostro mundeburdo recipere debereraus." 
 
494 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 this means to prove to the people, the nullity of those 
 heathen gods who neglected to avenge an insult of- 
 fered to their deity; and when resistance was made by 
 the unconverted, they were put down by force of arms. 
 After the death of Gregory II., in a.d. 731, Boni- 
 face reported the results of his labours to his suc- 
 cessor Gregory III. The new Pope expressed his 
 sense of the great services rendered to Christendom, 
 by bestowing upon Boniface the pallium of arch- 
 bishop, and by naming him vicar apostolic, with 
 power to settle the ecclesiastical affairs of the Frankish 
 empire. 1 It is evident throughout the history of this 
 remarkable man, that while the impulses of his own 
 heart would have led him into the yet untrodden 
 wilderness of heathenism, his patrons at Rome were 
 anxious to employ him in the important task of re- 
 organising on purely Romish principles the hitherto 
 too independent Frankish Church. After his return, 
 therefore, from his third journey to Rome, we find 
 him exclusively engaged in settling the external affairs 
 of the Church, in which the commission of the Pope, 
 and the friendship of Carl Martel, and subsequently 
 of Pepin and Carloman, gave him almost unlimited 
 authority. In a.d. 739, he divided Bavaria into the 
 four dioceses of Salzburg, Freisingen, Ratisbon, and 
 Passau. In Austrasia and among the newly converted 
 Hessians and Thuringians, he established bishoprics 
 at AYiirtzburg, Eichstadt, Buraburg and Erfurt. He 
 also founded several monasteries, one of which, at 
 
 1 Greg. III. P., Ep. i. ad Bonifac. (Sirmoud. i. p. 521.). 
 
Chap. XL] FIRST GERMAN COUNCIL SUMMONED. 495 
 
 Fluda, a.d. 744, obtained a very high reputation for 
 the learning and piety of its inmates. 1 
 
 The success of Boniface in his endeavours to pro- 
 mote the unity of the Catholic Church was so rapid 
 and complete, that he was able, as early as a.d. 743, 
 to summon the first German Council, which was held 
 at some place unknown, on the right bank of the 
 Rhine. At this synod, the proceedings of which 
 have come down to us, the influence of Boniface was 
 completely predominant ; and the newly organised 
 German Church acknowledged the most complete 
 subjection to the Holy See. 
 
 "We have decreed," say the assembled bishops, "in 
 our synodal assembly, and declared, that we wish to 
 adhere to the Catholic faith and unity, and to sub- 
 jection to the Roman Church until the end of our 
 lives ; that we wish to submit ourselves to St. Peter 
 and his representative 2 ; that a synod shall be held 
 every year ; that metropolitans shall fetch their 
 pallia from Rome ; that we desire in all things to 
 follow the precepts of St. Peter, according to the 
 canons, that we may be numbered among his sheep." 3 
 
 It was also enacted that bishops should abstain 
 from war and the chase, and the use of secular gar- 
 ments, and take measures for the extirpation of 
 idolatry in their several provinces. The monasteries 
 
 1 Greg. III. P., Ep. vii. ad Bonifac. Conf. Ep. Bonif. ad Zachar. 
 P. (Sirraond. i. pp. 727. 729.). 
 
 2 Bonif. Episc. ad Cudberthum (ed. Wtirdfwein, p. 73.). 
 
 3 This took place not without some scruples. Zachar. P., Ep. v. 
 ad Bonif. (Sirmond. i. p. 547.). 
 
496 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 and nunneries, which had fallen, like the rest of the 
 Church, into a state of dissolution, were brought 
 under the stricter rule of St. Benedict, and subjected 
 to regular surveillance. 1 
 
 Had wealth and honours been his object, Boniface 
 might now have rested in the full enjoyment of them. 
 He had formed the strictest and most friendly al- 
 liance with Carloman and Pepin ; he was honoured 
 and valued at Rome as the greatest and most suc- 
 cessful champion of St. Peter's claims, and he was 
 reverenced by his countrymen at home as little less 
 than an apostle. In a.d. 744 he was appointed to 
 the see of Cologne, as his archiepiscopal residence, 
 and, in the following year, to that of Mayence, with 
 a general superintendence and authority over the 
 whole Frankish Church. He had also the satisfac- 
 tion of seeing his patron and friend, Pepin, assume 
 the title of king ; and though we are not expressty 
 informed what part he took in the famous embassy 
 from Pepin to the Pope, respecting the deposition of 
 the Merovingians, yet we can scarcely doubt that it 
 was sent at his suggestion. What, in fact, could be 
 more in accordance with his principles, more gratify- 
 ing to him, as a si<m of the brilliant success of his 
 efforts to unite and strengthen the Romish Church, 
 
 1 Ep. Zacbar. ad Bonif. (Simond. i. pp. 558. 570.). T\ r e may 
 judge of the state of the Church at this period from the corre- 
 spondence between Boniface and the Popes. Vid. Zach. P. ad 
 Bonif. (Sirmond. i. p. 533.): "Si Episcopi, &c v in adulterio 
 vel fornicatione inventi fuerint, vel si plures uxores habuerint, 
 aut si sanguinem Christianorum, sive Paganorum efFuderint. . ." 
 Conf. Zachar. P., Epist. xi. ad Bonif. (Sirmond. i. p. 572.). 
 
Chap. XL] BONIFACE'S MISSIONARY ZEAL. 497 
 
 than that the most powerful prince in Europe should 
 ask the sanction of the Bishop of Rome, before he 
 ventured to ascend a throne, the power of which he 
 had long possessed ? 
 
 But neither the favour and friendship of his sove- 
 reign, on whose head he had helped to place a diadem, 
 nor the still more precious approbation of his spiritual 
 master, the foundation of whose power he had laid 
 deep and strong in the very centre of Europe, could 
 satisfy the earnest soul of Boniface. In his eyes even 
 kings and popes were but instruments for the pro- 
 motion of the glory of God. Neither age, nor the 
 honours and pleasures of the world, which were now 
 within his reach, could relax or cool the fervent zeal 
 which burnt within his breast. The quiet and dig- 
 nified routine of a prelate's duties were far less suited 
 to his nature than the struggles and dangers of the 
 missionary's life. When he had passed the age of 
 seventy, he resigned his well-earned dignities to those 
 smaller souls who could find an end in them, and went 
 forth again to bring the light of the Gospel to the 
 barbarous Frisians, who were still sitting in the dark- 
 ness of heathenism. His death was worthy of his 
 life ; and no doubt such as he himself would have 
 most desired. His efforts among the Frisians were 
 crowned with great success ; but his zeal in de- 
 stroying their temples excited a bitter opposition 
 among those who still clung to the superstitions of 
 their fathers. He had appointed the fifth of July, 
 A.r>. 755, as the day on which he would meet the 
 newly baptized converts at a place in the neigh- 
 
 K K 
 
498 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XL 
 
 bourhood of Utrecht, and encourage them by his 
 exhortations to continue in the faith. Instead of 
 these, however, there appeared an armed and furious 
 crowd of heathens, who fell upon Boniface and his 
 companions in the huts which they had thrown up 
 for their temporary residence. Boniface, on this oc- 
 casion, forbade his followers to resist, and marching 
 forth in peaceful array at the head of his brother 
 missionaries, he found with them the martyr's death, 
 which had long been the object of his wishes. Thus 
 died St. Boniface, and it were well if every saint in 
 the Calendar could show as good a title to that lofty 
 appellation. 1 
 
 Yet he was far from being free from the errors of 
 the age in which he lived, and the usual weaknesses 
 of his own peculiar temperament. Very earnest and 
 zealous men are for the most part to a certain degree 
 one-sided, and very honest men are apt to be rough 
 in the modus operandi, 
 
 1 If anything could make us unjust to the memory of Boniface, 
 it would be the absurd exaggeration of his merits in which some 
 zealots of the present day indulge. Bishop Ketteler of Mayence, 
 in his pastoral letter (1855), declares, that without his influence 
 the Carlovingians would never have entertained the idea of esta- 
 blishing a Christian State ; nay, that without these, there would 
 probably have never been a German people at all, perhaps not 
 even a common German language. " When, therefore," he con- 
 tinues, " this spiritual foundation was subsequently destroyed, and 
 the spiritual bands by which St. Boniface had united the Ger- 
 man nations were torn asunder, it was all over with the unity 
 and the greatness of the German people. As the Jews lost their 
 mission upon earth when they crucified the Messiah, so the Ger- 
 man people gave up its lofty calling in the kingdom of God, 
 when it rent the uniformity of faith which Boniface established." 
 
Chap. XL] HIS SEVERITY TOWARDS HERETICS. 449 
 
 We have seen that he went forth among the hea- 
 thens with the spirit of the ancient Jews, to destroy 
 the evil thing from the face of the earth. He was 
 scarcely more gentle in his dealings with those whom 
 he considered heretics, and he denounces in the 
 strongest terms all his brother priests who deviated 
 one jot or tittle from what he held up as the canons 
 of the fathers. In a letter to Pope Zachary, he prays 
 for his aid against two " wicked and blasphemous 
 heretics, who differed in the nature of their error, 
 but were equal in the weight of their sins." He calls 
 upon the Pope to use his apostolical authority "to 
 cast these two heretics into prison, and to prevent 
 any one from speaking to them, or holding any com- 
 munion with them." x He applies to married priests 
 the epithet fornicatores. He is extremely angry 
 with an Irish priest named Virgilius, who lived in 
 Bavaria, for maintaining that the earth was round, 
 and that the antipodes were inhabited, which seemed 
 to him and Pope Zachary a highly heretical and dan- 
 gerous doctrine ; since the ancient fathers, Lactantius, 
 Hieronymus, and Augustine, had all held that the 
 earth was a level plain. In answer to Boniface's 
 complaints, Zachary directs him to call a council, and 
 expel from the priesthood and the Church the man 
 who, "against God and his own soul," professed that 
 " perverse and wicked doctrine " that there was " an- 
 other world, and other men beneath the earth." 2 
 
 1 Bonifac. Ep. ad Zachar. P. (Sirmond. i. p. 552.). Conf. Cone. 
 Roman. (Ibid. i. p. 551.). 
 
 2 Ep. Bonifac. 140.(ed. Wurdtwein) : " De perversa autem et 
 
 k k 2 
 
500 THE FRANKS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 His views respecting the unity of the Church led 
 him to give an excessive and dangerous importance 
 to the minutest external observances. In him, no 
 doubt, this narrow ritualism proceeded from the 
 desire " whether he eat or drank, or whatever he did, 
 to do all things to the glory of God ; " but his example 
 fostered in others the spirit of the Pharisee. In all 
 doubtful matters he applied to the Pope for his judg- 
 ment, which he considered final, and binding upon 
 every Christian. Zachary replied with the utmost ■ 
 readiness to all his inquiries, and warns him against 
 eating crows or storks, and still more strongly against 
 allowing beavers, hares, and wild horses to be used as 
 the food of Christians. He then proceeds to answer 
 Boniface's question as to the proper time of eating 
 ham, respecting which, he says, no directions had been 
 given by the fathers ; but he advises, on his own au- 
 thority, that it should not be eaten until it had been 
 cooked, or smoked, and, that if it must be eaten raw, 
 it should be eaten after the festival of Easter. 1 
 
 The practice common among the Germans of eating 
 horseflesh, more particularly excited the indignation 
 of Boniface and Pope Gregory III. " You add," says 
 the latter, in an epistle to Boniface, " that some eat 
 wild horses, and very many tame ones. By no means, 
 
 iniqua doctrina quarn contra Deum et aniinam suam locutus est 
 clarificatum fuerit ; ita eum confiteri quod alius mundus et alii 
 homines sub terra sunt, hunc accito concilio, ab eeclesia pelle, 
 sacerdotii privatum." 
 
 1 Zachar. P., Ep. ad Bonif. (Wurdtwein, p. 87.) : " Et hoc 
 inquisiti, post quantum temporis debet lardum comedi. Nobis a 
 patribus institulum pro hoc non est." 
 
Chap. XL] EFFECTS OF BONIFACE'S MISSION. 501 
 
 holy father, allow this to be done in future, but, as 
 far as you can, with the aid of Christ, restrain the 
 people and bring them to a becoming repentance ; for 
 it is an unclean and execrable thing." l 
 
 The vigour of Boniface, and the zealous co-opera- 
 tion of his Anglo-Saxon followers, to many of whom 
 he gave bishoprics in Germany, arrested the fall of 
 the Franco-Gallic Church. The immediate effect of 
 his mission was no doubt to make the clergy less 
 troublesome to the State than they had previously 
 been, by bringing the turbulent ecclesiastical seigniors 
 into subordination to a spiritual head. Bat the ulti- 
 mate tendency of his labours in the cause of Catholic 
 unity and Roman supremacy was to make the Church 
 more powerful, and less dependent on the civil au- 
 thority than before, and to enable the bishops of 
 Rome to advance, with a greater prospect of having 
 them allowed their haughty claims to universal do- 
 minion. 
 
 1 Gieseler, ii. 22. 
 
 k k 3 
 
INDE X. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abderrahman, 257. 
 Adelung, 12. 32. 4 3 
 jEga, 203. 222. 
 yEgidius, 66. 68. 146. 150. 
 Aetius, 65. 
 Agathias, 122. 
 Agilbert, (Bp.) 226. 
 Agilulf, 172. 
 Alani, 59. 
 Alaric, 59. 
 Alci (the), 19. 
 Alemanni, 41. 
 Allfadir, 22. 
 Alodis, de, 443. 
 Alrunae, 26. 
 Amalaberg, 10S. 
 Amalafrida, 1 1 5. 
 Amalaric, 113. 
 Amalasuintha, 114, 115. 
 Ambiza, 256. 
 Amboise, 84. 
 Amiens, 56. 
 Ambneburg, 490. 
 Anastasius, 88. 
 Andernach, 56. 
 Andovera, 134. 
 Ansegisus, 225. 
 Ansibarii, 43. 
 Antrustiones, 356. 
 Arbogastes, 58. 
 Ardennes, 56. 73. 
 Argentaria, 57. 
 Ariwald (K.), 207. 
 Arminius 43. 446. 
 Armorial bearings, 28. 
 Armorica, 71. 
 Arnulph (Bp.), 186. 
 Arras, 56. 64. 
 Arverni, 1 12. 
 Ascaricus, 51. 
 
 Asceticism, 460. 
 Astingians, 59. 
 Athalaric, 1 15. 
 Athanagildis, 131. 
 Athima, 265. 
 Attila, 64. 
 
 Augustine, 451. 499. 
 Aurelian, 39, 48. 
 Aurinia, 27. 
 Austrasia, 99. 
 Autchar, 316. 
 Autharis, 172. 
 Auxerre, 66. 
 Avitus, 106. 449. 462. 
 
 B. 
 
 Badegisil, 485. 
 
 Baderic, 108. 
 
 Badilo, 224. 
 
 Balthildis, 223. 
 
 Barditus, 29. 
 
 Basina, 68. 
 
 Batavia, 50. 58. 
 
 Beer, 10. 
 
 Begga, 225. 
 
 Belgica, 63. 
 
 Belisarius, 117. 
 
 Beneficia, 388. 
 
 Benevento, 268. 
 
 Berchildis, 203. 
 
 Bertet'ried, 144. 
 
 Bertbar, 108, 109. 
 
 Bertrada, 319. 
 
 Bezieres, 266. 
 
 Bladastes, 160. 
 
 Boniface, 299, 452, 489— 5(»l, 
 
 Bonn, 44. 
 
 Boso, 150. 154. 458. 
 
 Bourges (Count of), 334. 
 
 Bretagne, 71. 
 
 Briccius, 458. 
 
504 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 319. 
 
 342. 
 
 Brodulph, 201. 
 Bructeri, 26. 35. 43. 
 Brunhilda, 130. 158. 
 Bucelinus, 120. 
 Buchonian Forest, 92. 
 Burgundians, 59. 70. 82. 
 Burchard (Bp.), 308. 
 
 Cadiz, 254. 
 
 Cassar, 12, 13. 18. 27. 
 
 Cambrai, 62. 
 
 Camerarii, 214. 
 
 Campus Martins, 216 
 
 Cannstadt, 292. 
 
 Carausius, 49. 
 
 Carbonaria, Silva, 56. 
 
 Carcassonne, 256. 
 
 Carl (Martel), 240 
 
 Carloman, 288. 294. 
 
 Catalaunian Fields, 65. 
 
 Catti, 1 3. 47. 
 
 Cavellum, 330. 
 
 Centena?, Centenarius, 428. 
 
 Cerdagne, 257. 
 
 Ceuta, 252. 
 
 Chamavi, 43. 
 
 Chararich, 73. 85. 91. 94. 
 
 Charlemagne, 5. 464. 472. 
 
 Chastity (German), 15. 
 
 Chasuarii, 43. 
 
 Cherusci, 43. 47. 446. 
 
 Childebert, I., 98. 112 
 
 Childebert, II., 149. 
 
 185. 
 Childebert, III., 236. 
 Childebrand, 265. 
 Childeric, I., 66. 377. 
 Childeric, II., 224. 
 Childeric, III., 288. 306. 
 Chilperic I., 137. 147. 166. 
 Chilperic II., 242. 247. 
 Chonober, 124. 
 Chramnus, 1 24. 
 Church, 78. 448. 
 Clodion, 62. 65. 421. 
 Clotaire (Ripuarian), 92. 
 Clotaire, I., 98. 110. 114. 124. 126. 
 Clotaire II., 148. 173. 183-4. 
 Clotaire III., 223. 
 
 Clothildis or Clotilda, 75. 1 04. 112. 461 
 Clovis I., 55. 97. 
 ClovisII., 210.222. 
 Clovis III., 236. 
 Coblentz, 39. 
 Cologne, 55. 210. 
 Columban (Saint), 489. 
 Columna, 106. 
 
 114. 122. 126. 
 150. 170. 174. 
 
 Comes Palatii, 214. 
 
 Comes Stabuli, 214. 
 
 Comitatus, 214. 359. 364. 395. 
 
 Compiegne, 241. 336. 
 
 Convenas, 160. 
 
 Conviva- Regis, 427. 
 
 Constantine, 50. 453. 
 
 Constantius Chlorus, 50. 
 
 Cordova, 254. 
 
 Corvus, 185. 
 
 Cubicularius, 214. 
 
 Culpa, 204. 
 
 Cunibert, B. of Cologne, 210. 
 
 Czechs, 204. 
 
 D. 
 
 Danes, 27. 
 
 Dagobert I., 198. 211. 222. 
 
 Dagobert II., 223. 
 
 Dagobert III., 236. 240. 243. 
 
 De solido et denario sponsare, 440. 
 
 Dfcurion, 369. 465. 
 
 Derwan (Prince of the Sorbs), 208. 
 
 Desiderius, 330. 
 
 Deutz, 123. 
 
 Devoti, 396. 
 
 Dietrich (of Berne), 1 14. 
 
 Diocletian, 50. 
 
 Domestici, 214. 
 
 Domitian, 27. 
 
 Domus, 424. 
 
 Dordogne, 258. 
 
 Drogo (Son of Pepin of Heristal), 232. 
 
 237. 
 Drogo (Son of Carloman), 295. 
 Drusus, 44. 
 Dysborch (Dispargum), 63. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eberulf, 151. 
 Ebroin, 224. 
 Eburones, 74. 
 Edda (the), 21. 
 Edobold, 338. 
 Eichstadt, 494. 
 Einhard, 230. 
 Eonius, 484. 
 Epiphanius (Bp. ), 488. 
 Erchambertus, 230. 
 Erfurt, 494. 
 Eucherius, 283. 
 Eudo, 246. 256. 
 Eumenius, 51. 
 Euric, 83. 
 Eusebius, 453. 483. 
 Eutharic, 115. 
 Eva, 90. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 505 
 
 Faileuba, 164. 
 Faventia, 330. 
 Ferrara, 330. 
 Fortunatus, 129. 
 Fredegunda, 137. 175. 
 Freia,"30. 
 Frisians, 234. 
 Fulrad, 308. 329. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gallienus, 49. 
 Gallus, 483. 
 Galsuintha, 133. 176. 
 
 Gauna, 27. 
 
 Genobaudes, 58. 
 
 Germania, 56. 
 
 Germania, the (of Tacitus), 32. 423. 
 
 Gibbon, 12. 15. 32. 
 
 Gislemar, 227. 
 
 Godomar, 103. 
 
 Gomatrudis, 1 99. 
 
 Gordian III., 39. 
 
 Gottschalk, 273. 
 
 Grafio (Graf.) 428. 
 
 Gregory the Great, 454. 
 
 Gregory, Popes, II and III., 272. 
 
 Grimm, 30. 42. 
 
 Grimo (Abbot), 278. 
 
 Grimoald (Pepin of Landen's son), 
 
 ******* 
 
 Grimoald (Pepin of Heristal's son), 
 
 232. 238. 
 Gripho, 286. 295. 
 Guizot, 16. 32. 
 
 Gundobald, 82. 103. 139. 153. 
 Guntram (King of Burgundy), 136. 
 
 141. 144. 179. 486. 
 
 H. 
 
 Haistulph, 314. 323. 
 Hebba, 90. 
 Hercules, 19. 
 Hermenbtrga, 182. 
 Hermenfried, 108. 
 Hermiones, 25. 
 Hescham, 255. 
 Hildebrand, 313. 
 Hiltrude, 289. 
 Horses (sacred), 29. 
 Huns, 64. 129 
 
 I. 
 
 Tbn Jussuf, 264. 
 Immunities of Church, 4-14. 
 Ingenuus, 423. 
 Ingo, 25. 
 
 Irmino, 25. 
 Isco, 25. 
 Isis, 19. 
 
 Jopil, 237. 
 
 Joseph (Bishop of Le Mans), 476. 
 
 Julian (Count), 255. 
 
 Julian (Emperor), 55. 
 
 Justinian, 1 16. 
 
 K. 
 
 Ketteler (Bp.), 498. 
 Kohlenwald, 56. 
 Kb'ppen, 21. 
 Kyrton (Winfried of), 489. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lactantius, 500. 
 
 Lanfried II., 296, 297. 
 
 Laudericus, 147. 
 
 Lech (River), 290. 
 
 Lehuerou, 348. 
 
 Leo (the Great), 452. 
 
 Leo (the Isaurian), 270. 
 
 Leodis, 428. 431. 
 
 Leonisius (Bp.), 183. 
 
 Leudegisil, 160. 
 
 Leudes, 363. 
 
 Lestines, or Leptines (Synod of), 300. 
 
 Leti, 65. 
 
 Libanius, 53. 
 
 Liberty, 17. 
 
 Litus, 425. 
 
 Lucan (Poet), 16. 
 
 Luden, 31. 36. 100. 
 
 Ludi Francici, 51. 
 
 Lupentius (Abbot), 392. 
 
 Lupus, 130. 145. 
 
 M. 
 
 Magnentius (Emperor), 54. 
 Magneric, 164. 
 Maine, 71. 
 Major- Domus, 214. 
 Majorian, 61. 66. 
 Mai berg Gloss, 420. 
 Mallobaudes, 57. 
 Mallus, Malloberg, 429. 
 Mannire, 429. 
 Mann us, 25. 
 Marcomeres, 58. 
 Marculf, 361. 
 Mars, 19. 
 Marsi, 43. 
 Martin (St.), 79. 
 Matresfamilia?, 27. 
 
506 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Maurice (Emperor), 169. 
 Maurontus, 264. 
 Maximian (Emperor), 50. 
 Maximus (Emperor), 57. 
 Mayence, 49. 
 Mecklenburg, 24. 
 Medina, 251. 
 Melciacum, 334. 
 Mellitus (Abbot), 454. 
 Mercury, 19. 23. 
 Merida, 255. 
 Merovseus, 62. 184. 
 Meuse (R.), 56. 
 Morganatic Marriage, 441. 
 Morgengabe, 441. 
 Moselle, 56. 
 Mummolus, 154. 458. 
 Mundium, 355. 
 Municipia, 368. 
 Munuz, 257. 
 Mur (R.), 204. 
 
 N. 
 Naharvali, 1 9. 
 Nanthildis, 203, 210. 
 Napoleon, 5. 
 Nazarius, 51. 
 Nerthus (Hertha), 24. 
 Neus, 58. 
 Neustria, 100. 
 Nicetius (Bp.), 487. 
 Nonnius, 57. 
 Norbert, 237. 
 Normans, 27. 
 Novella;, 421. 
 
 O. 
 
 Oath (of Boniface), 490. 
 Obgrafiones, 431. 
 Odhinn, 23. 
 Odilo, 289. 297. 
 Olio, 161. 
 Omar, 257. 
 Optatus, 294. 
 
 P. 
 
 Palladius, 485. 
 
 Pampeluna, 257. 
 
 Pappolus, 4 85. 
 
 Parentilla (the), 425. 
 
 Passau, 494. 
 
 Paterfamilias, 29. 
 
 Pavia, 329. 
 
 Peiruce, 337. 
 
 Pepin (of Heristal), 225. 231, 232. 288. 
 
 Pepin (King), 286, et seq. 
 
 Pepin (of Landen), 204. 223. 
 
 Perigord, 338. 
 
 Perigueux, 337. 
 
 Peutingeria (Charta), 39. 
 
 Pharamond, 60. 
 
 Plectrude, 239. 
 
 Poitiers, 87. 
 
 Pomerania, 24. 
 
 Pontyon, 318. 
 
 Poppo (Duke), 263. 
 
 Possessor (Romanus), 426. 
 
 Pra;ceptum (of the king), 425 
 
 Pretextatus (Bp.), 178. 
 
 Priam, 58. 
 
 Priests, 29. 
 
 Principes, 356. 
 
 Probus (Bp.), 226. 
 
 Probus (Emp.), 49. 
 
 Procopius, 174. 
 
 Proculus, 49. 
 
 Puer crinitus, 434. 
 
 Puer Regis, 426. 
 
 Quintinus, 57. 
 
 Q. 
 
 R. 
 
 Radegundis, 461. 
 
 Raginfried, 241. 
 
 Ragnachar, 91. 94. 
 
 Rantgar, 238. 
 
 Ratbod, 234. 248. 4S9. 
 
 Uatcbis, 313. 330. 
 
 Ratisbon, 494. 
 
 Ravenna, 329. 
 
 Referendarius, 214. 
 
 Regaisus, 51. 
 
 Reipus, de, 441. 
 
 Remigius (Remi), St., 77. 480. 
 
 Rigunthis, 177. 
 
 Ripuarians, 48. 65. 70. 433. 
 
 Roccolenus, 139. 
 
 Rotdigang, 316. 
 
 Rothard (Duke), 318. 
 
 Rovergne, 87. 
 
 Rugen (Island), 24. 
 
 S. 
 Sacebarone, 430. 
 Sacrificial animals, 28. 
 Sagittarius (Bp. ), 486. 
 Saintes, 337. 
 Salians, 43. 47. 70. 
 Salic Laws, 60. 421. 
 Saionius (Bp.), 486. 
 Salvius (Bp.), 169. 
 Salza (R.), 204. 
 Salzburg, 494. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 507 
 
 Samo, 206. 
 
 Saracens, 259. 
 
 Saragossa, 119. 
 
 Sarmatians, 8. 
 
 Savigny, 361. 
 
 Saxons, 7. 41. 46. 123. 
 
 Scalda (the), 21. 
 
 Scoraille, 337. 
 
 Secularisation (the), 299. 
 
 Sedulius (Poet), 166. 
 
 Seigniorship (the), 388. 
 
 Sem nones, 22. 
 
 Servi, 355. 
 
 Seville, 255. 
 
 Sicambri, 44. 
 
 Sicharhis, 206. 
 
 Sigebert (Monk of St. Denis), 278. 
 
 Sigebert (of Cologne), 85. 91. 
 
 Sigebert I., 128. 137. 
 
 Sigebert II., 185—189. 
 
 Sigebert III., 209. 
 
 Sigeric, 103. 
 
 Sigewald, 150. 
 
 Sigismund, 103. 
 
 Silvanus, 54. 
 
 Simony, 483. 
 
 Simrock, 21. 30. 
 
 Sithiu, 331. 
 
 Slavonians, 199. 
 
 Soldarii, 396. 
 
 Soliman, 257. 
 
 Sorbs, 204. 
 
 Sortes Sanctorum, 456. 
 
 Steuben II. (Pope;, 314. 
 
 Stilicho, 58. 
 
 Strasburg, 54. 
 
 Suevi, 7. 19. 22. 59. 
 
 Suitger, 296. 
 
 Sunehild, 286. 
 
 Sunno, 58. 
 
 Susa (Valley of), 322. 
 
 St. Jean de Maurienne, 312. 
 
 Swanahild, 249. 
 
 Syagrius, 66. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tacitus, 12 — 35. 
 
 Tarik, 253. 254. 
 
 Tassilo, 326. 
 
 Teutoburgian Forest, 43. 446. 
 
 Theobald, 291, 292. 
 
 Theodatus, 1 15. 
 
 Theodelinda, 189. 
 
 Theuderic (K. of Ostrogoths), 84. 
 
 Theoderic I., 99. 109—114. 
 
 Theoderic II., 174. 
 
 Theoderic III., 224. 236. 
 
 Theodo (Count), 312. 
 
 Theodorus, 488. 
 
 Theodosius, 58. 
 
 Theudebert, 110. 137. 181. 
 
 Theudis, 113. 
 
 Theudoald, 240. 
 
 Thor, 24 
 
 Thouars, 334. 
 
 Tbunginus, 429. 
 
 Thuringia, 67. 1 10. 
 
 Tiberiacum, 330. 
 
 Tiberius, 44. 
 
 Tongres, 56. 
 
 Tongrians, 74. 
 
 Toul, 183. 
 
 Tournai, 56. 
 
 Toxandria, 55. 
 
 Treves, 50. 57. 
 
 Tribocci, 46. 
 
 Tributarius Romanus, 426. 
 
 Troyes, 66. 
 
 Tubantes, 43. 
 
 Tuisco, 25. 
 
 U. 
 
 Ubii, 46. 
 
 Unstrut (R.), 67. 
 Ursio (Duke), 144. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vangiones, 46. 
 
 Varni, 109. 174. 
 
 Varus, 446. 
 
 Vassi, Vasalli, Vaseletus, Valet, 427. 
 
 Veferonce, 106. 
 
 Veleda, 26. 
 
 Vienne, 83. 106. 
 
 Vienne, ( R. ), 86. 
 
 Villa, 424. 
 
 Virgilius, 499. 
 
 Visigoths, 70. 113. 
 
 Vitisges, 117. 120. 
 
 Vougle, 87. 
 
 Vultetrada, 122. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wacho, 122. 
 
 Waddo, 160. 
 
 Waifar, 291. 312. 333, 334. 
 
 Waitz, 360. 
 
 Walhalla, 30. 
 
 Waratto, 227. 
 
 Warni, 109. 174. 
 
 Wascones, 180. 
 
 Wends, 204. 
 
 Weregeld, 431. 
 
 Werner ( Major- Domus), 187. 
 
508 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Winfried (of Kyrton), 489. 
 Wise Women, 26. 
 Wogatisburc, 208. 
 Wulfoald, 224. 
 V/uotan, 23. 
 
 X. 
 
 Xeres de la Frontera, 254. 
 
 Yssel, 48. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zachary (Pope), 294. 499. 
 Zama, 255. 
 Zio, 24. 
 Ziilpich, 75. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 London : 
 
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