History of the Franks, Bk. III

"Clovis, who believed in the Trinity, crushed the heretics with divine help and enlarged his kingdom to include all of Gaul; but Alaric, who refused to accept the Trinity, was therefore deprived of his kingship." (III) St. Gregory certainly was not shy of inserting polemic into his work, and here he attributes all of Clovis's successes to his Triune orthodox belief over that of the Arians he conquered. As we learned in the last chapter, Clovis could not tolerate the presence of the Arians any more and used that to justify his war of liberation against the Arian kings that had taken over Spain and Germany and to unite all of Gaul under his domain. The two things most feared then about Clovis should be his God and his axe. A cult developed in Medieval France for Clovis though the cult has never received Papal approval, it still flourishes amongst French Christian nationalists to this day. Based on St. Gregory's account, it certainly doesn't seem as if there would be a reason to oppose such a cultus for Clovis.

After the death of Clovis, his four sons, Theuderic (from a mistress whom he had prior to meeting Clotilda), Chlodomer, Childebert, and Lothar, split the kingdom amongst themselves (II.1). Saint Quintianus succeeded Licinius to the episcopal throne in Clermont-Ferrand (III.2), and the Danes attempted to seize part of northern Gaul under their King Chlochilaich but were driven out by Theuderic and their king was killed (III.3). In Thuringia, there ruled three brothers, Baderic, Hermanfrid, and Berthar. "Hermanfrid beat his brother Berthar in battle and killed him" (III.4). Hermanfrid's wife Amalaberg "sowed the seeds of civil war" between the brothers. Theuderic aligned with Hermanfrid to defeat Baderic and they killed him but Hermanfrid failed to keep his word in allowing Theuderic to share the kingdom equally with him. This earned enmity between the two.

Sigismund was the son of Gundobad and he ruled Burgundy after his father's death. A Catholic, he contributed to many monasteries and built the monastery of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune. His first wife had died but he had a son to her named Sigeric. This step-mother was cruel to her step-son and once, when wearing the clothes of Sigismund's first wife, the daughter of Theodoric, her step-son saw her and rebuked her for this. This drove her to great ire and led her to the greatest treachery. She tricked Sigismund into believing that Sigeric wanted to overthrow him. Sigismund had word with his son immediately, sent him to sleep, and in while Sigeric lay asleep, Sigismund murdered his own son. It wasn't long after that Sigismund realized what a mistake he had made. He wept bitterly over this. "An old man who was present is said to have remarked: 'Weep for yourself, Sigismund, for, on your wife's evil advice, you have murdered your own son in this barbarous fashion. There is no point weeping for your boy, who has been strangled in his innocence." (III.5) Sigismund would remain in the monastery of Agaune for the remainder of his life.

Queen Clotilda called Chlodomer and her other sons together and said to them, "My dear children...do not give me cause to regret the fact that I have brought you up with such care. You must surely resent the wrong which has been done to me. You must do all in your power to avenge the death of my mother and father." (III.6) This account seems dubious in accordance with what we later hear of Clotilda in praying for an end to fratricide. Also, it must be considered the events of her parent's deaths are in question too. Further, what she meant by avenging her parents is ambiguous. It is more likely she never intended Sigismund to be slaughtered. Nevertheless, Chlodomer and his brothers fought against Sigismund and his brother Godomar and the Burgundian army was beaten. Sigismund tried to escape to the monastery but was captured with his wife and sons. Chlodomer decided to have Sigismund killed but Saint Avitus warned him, "If you change your plans and respect God by refusing to have these men killed, the Lord will be with you and you will go forth to victory. On the other hand, if you do kill them, you will fall into the hands of your enemies and you will suffer a fate similar to theirs. Whatever you do to Sigismund and his wife and children, the same will be done to your children and your wife and yourself." But Chlodomer didn't listen and he had Sigismund and his wife and his children thrown down a well in Saint-Péravy-la-Colombe. Chlodomer rushed into battle with the Burgundes and heard him mimicking the Frankish troops. He "rushed headlong into the middle of his enemies" and they hacked off his head. His brother Lothar married his widow Guntheuc and after her mourning period was over, Clotilda would take his three sons, Theudovald, Gunthar, and Chlodovald, into her own household.

Theuderic wanted to punish Hermanfrid and called upon his brother Lothar for help. They pushed back the Thuringians and Lothar would take Radegund as his wife. Theuderic remained in Thuringia for a while and Hermanfrid would fall to his death. The exact cause of the fall was unknown but Theuderic is said to have soething to do with it (III.7-8). Theuderic was presumed dead while in Thuringia and his brother assumed control of Clermont-Ferrand but Theuderic returned (III.9). Childebert had heard his sister Clotilda was suffering for her Catholic faith from her Arian husband Amalaric and when she sent a towel with her own blood on it from the abuse, he took up arms against the Gothic King. Amalaric attempted to flee but was struck by a spear and killed. Clotilda did not survive the journey and was buried beside her father Clovis (III.10). Theuderic was encouraged by his brothers to fight against the Burgundes but he desired to punish the people of Clermont-Ferrand. His soldiers pillaged and looted the city, destroying the entire region. Some desecrated the church of St. Julian ad were possessed by an evil spirit which caused them to eat themselves. St. Quintianus was bishop and St. Gregory argues the reason that this was done was on account of the crimes of the priest Proculus committed against his bishop (III.11-13). During the rebellion of the people of Clermont-Ferrand, many were taken hostages by Childebert and Theuderic and many were reduced to slave labor. St. Gregory describes the escape of Attalus from slavery during this time as Attalus was a kinsman of his (III.14-15).

Bishop Dinifius died in Tours and was succeeded by Ommatius who held this throne for three years. After he died, Leo was bishop for seven months. After he died, Bishops Theodorus and Proculus succeeded him at the wish of Clotilda. Then Francilio, a senator, replaced them. He is said to have been poisoned, dying after a drink on Christmas Day. He was replaced by St. Injuriosus (III.17). When Clotilda was in Paris, Childebert began to fear that the affection she was lavishing on the children of Chlodomer would cause a threat to his kingdom. He and Lothar plotted their removal by either cutting their hair or through their deaths. Hair was a signification of social class for the Franks. They deceived Clotilda by informing her they would place them on the throne once held by their father. "Once I see you succeed him on the throne, I shall forget that I have lost my son" (III.18). But their plan was revealed and Clotilda, realizing this said, "If they are not to ascend the throne, I would rather see them dead than with their hair cut short." Chlodovald could not be caught but his brothers were slain. He cut his hair and devoted himself to monasticism serving as a priest until his repose. He is venerated as St. Cloud.

Theuderic sent his son Theudebert with Lothar to reclaim the territory the Goths had taken from their father's kingdom. Theudebert marched to Cabrières and had intercourse with a married woman named Deuteria while his father killed his relative Sigivald (III.21-23). He was ordered to do away with Sigivald's son but instead warned him of what Theuderic had commanded instead. When his father died, he was able to buy off an alliance with his uncles and married Deuteria (III.23). "Once he was firmly on the throne, Theudebert proved himself to be a great king, distinguished by every virtue. He ruled his kingdom justly, respected his bishops, was liberal to the churches, relieved the wants of the poor and distributed many benefits with piety and friendly goodwill." (III.25) Childebert and Theudebert formed an alliance against Lothar. Lothat was not strong enough to resist and hid himself in the forest, trusting in the mercy of God. "Queen Clotild learned what had happened. She went to the tomb of St. Martin, where she knelt in supplication the whole night praying that civil war might not break out between her sons." (III.28) A storm broke out and the troops of Childebert and Theudebert were pelted with hailstones. They withdrew and Lothar was unharmed. Childebert and Lothar set off for Spain but upon seeing a procession for St. Vincent, they became fearful and avoided the city of Saragossa though they did seize much of the Gothic lands. (III.29)

Theodoric, the King of Italy, had married Audofleda, the sister of Clovis. He died leaving her a widow. Her daughter Amalasuntha, also a widow, became regent for her son. Audofleda wanted her to marry a king's son but Amalasuntha preferred one of her slaves, Traguilla and eloped with him. Both of these queens were Arians and the Arians had a practice of distributing communion in different cups preserved for those of royal blood and for those of lesser mortal blood. Amalasuntha placed poison in her mother's cup and upon drinking it, Audofleda died. "What can these miserable Arian heretics say, when the Devil is present even at the altar? We Catholics, on the contrary, believe the Trinity, co-equal and all-powerful, would come to no harm even if we were to drink poison in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, one true Godhead." (III.31) The Italians were furious with Amalasuntha and replaced her with Theudat who murdered her. Then Childebert, Lothar, and Theudebert upbraided him for having killed their cousin. He sent them fifty thousand pieces of gold but Childebert horded it to himself. Next, Theudebert marched into Italy going all the way up to Pavia. He sent Buccelin back there. Buccelin conquered upper Italy and subjected it to Thedebert. Buccelin then campaigned into lower Italy and defeated Belisarius in a series of campaigns. Justinian would demote Belisarius for his losses and had him replaced with Narses. Narses also lost a series of campaigns against Buccelin (III.32). Theudebert made reconciliations with his fiancée Wisigard, marrying her, recompensing the Bishop Desideratus whom he had wronged, and was summoned by God after an illness which he died from in A.D. 548 (III.33-36). His son Theudebald reigned in his place (III.37).