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).

History of the Franks, Book II

It is book II where St. Gregory will begin going into the details of the Merovingian dynasty, the first dynasty to govern the Franks. He continues with background information. His book is very much, up until the time period he lives, a work in hagiography as much as it is in history. He writes of saints along with their persecutors and he isn't shy to praise the victories of saints when God gives this to them. "It will not, I am sure, be held unreasonable of me if I describe the blessed lives of the Saints together with the disasters of the unfortunate: for it is the course of events which demands this and not my own fantasy as a writer." (II) In the context of the Frankish Kingdom, this is important to take note of, especially when it comes to Clovis I's conquests, as St. Gregory uses the horrific deeds of the persecutions of the Arian Vandals and Goths to lavish praise on this King of the Franks and show how Clovis's Trinitarian faith was what led to his victories (III). The Arian controversy broke out in the fourth century of the Church in which the heretic Arius rejected the divinity of Christ and considered him to be a creature instead of Creator, equal to the Father, which is the orthodox opinion. The Goths, when they accepted Christianity, were evangelized by the missionaries sent by the Arian Emperor Valens. Thus, they accepted Arianism and held that as "orthodoxy" not knowing of its deficiencies. For this reason, they persecuted orthodox Christians severely, believing they held to the true faith when it was indeed a counterfeit faith.

St. Gregory begins this book where the previous book left off. The death of St. Martin of Tours led to an episcopal vacancy. There was a deacon who would later be a priest who served the Bishop of Tours during his lifetime. This priest was named Brycius and Brycius was always skeptical of the miracles of St. Martin calling into question both the legitimacy of these miracles and even the intelligence of St. Martin. St. Martin had overheard this Brycius call him a "half-wit" behind his back and Brycius vigorously denied this. But there was no hiding the truth from St. Martin who declared to Brycius that after he died, Brycius would succeed him to the episcopal throne but his episcopacy would be filled with various troubles. Soon after St. Martin reposed, Brycius succeeded him to the episcopal throne, and although arrogant, was known for chastity in body. He would be accused by a woman considering a religious vocation of violating her. When the baby came, he called on the baby to answer whether or not he was the baby's father. The baby declared that Brycius was not the father and the people accused him of witchery. "To justify himself to the people, he placed burning coals in his cassock and pressed them against his body and went in procession with the whole mob to the tomb of Saint Martin. When he reached the tomb of he dropped the coals on the ground, but his cassock had no marks of burning on it." (II.1) The people would eventually expel Brycius and after he spent seven years in Rome, he would return to his episcopal see and lived in Tours for another seven years, expiring in the forty-seventh year of his episcopacy. The troubles he received as a bishop were enough to justify him and he is venerated on November 13.

St. Gregory begins to describe the persecution of the Vandals in the next book. "The Christians were persecuted more cruelly in the tie of the Vandals" (II.3) informs the Bishop. And he resists not to censor the persecutions done by the Vandals either as in the prior chapter, he describes the suffering of one Catholic who was coerced into being re-baptized into the Arian "faith" by these same Vandals. She had her menstruation just at the moment she was forced into the water, contaminating the water so that the Arians could not subject her to this re-baptism. They went on to behead her (II.2). The girl is left unnamed. He vividly describes the encounter between Cyrola and Eugenius, the former attempted a miracle in which he had his servant press his hands to his eyes and call out to Cyrola to open them. However, as the servant continued to press his hand to his eyes, it came to such an extent that he could not move his hand but it would press harder. The orthodox bishops Eugenius, Vindimialis, and Longinus anointed him upon the repentance of his heresy and confession to orthodoxy. King Huneric of the Vandals had Vindimialis and Longinus executed but refused to give the award of martyrdom to Eugenius and had him exiled (II.3). Because of heresies which ravaged the churches in Gaul, the barbarians were sent to bring judgment upon it. Bishop Aravatius, despite much fastings and prayers to the Apostle Peter, was powerless to stop the divine judgment, though St. Stephen's oratory was preserved. Gaul was ravaged by the Athanaric of the Goths and Attila of the Huns. (II.4-6) Attila was stopped by Aetius with the aid of St. Peter the Apostle at the city of Metz. (II.7)

It is after the defeat of Attila that St. Gregory goes into deal about the race of the Franks. He hypothesizes that they were once a group of individual tribes with different warlords. The name of their first king is unknown and the texts given seem to be ambiguous for though regales is used to describe their leaders by the differing authors he cites, specifically Sulpicius Alexander, it is not clear what their function was. (II.9) At some point, the governing authority of the Franks was eventually consolidated into a monarchy. One thing that we can be certain about with respect to the Franks is that they seem "always to have followed idolatrous practices" (II.10). St. Gregory, a Catholic, makes this point the only negative element about the Franks. After Gregory describes the extravagances of their idolatrous practices, he goes on to give a history of the succeeding bishops of various French cities.

The Senator Avitus first succeeded in becoming Emperor but was deposed for his libidinous way of life. Somehow, he then became the Bishop of Piacenza but the Senate was still hostile to him and he fled to the church of St. Julian, reposing on the journey and was buried at the foot of the martyr (II.11). Childeric King of the Franks began to seduce the daughters of many of his subjects and there was an assassination plot that rose against him as a result. He entrusted a friend of his with half of a coin and said that when the coin was to be made whole again, he would know it would be safe to return. This was when the Roman Commander Aegidius made Soissons a rump state of the Roman Empire. (II.12) Childeric fled to the King Bisinus and his wife Basina where he seduced Basina after finding her loyal to him and she bore Clovis and deserted her husband. The succeeding bishops of Clermont-Ferrand are Arthemius, Venerandus, and Rusticus. Eustochius was succeeded by Perpetuus in Tours. Eufronius would be made a bishop in Autun. Namatius succeeded Rusticus (II.13-16). During this time, Childeric made alliance with Odovacer and laid waste to the Saxons, subduing the Alamanni to his rule (II.18-19). Duke Victorius was put in charge of the seven cities by Euric, King of the Goths, and he built many underground chapels, erected columns in the church of St. Julian, built the church of St. Lawrence and the church of St. Germanus in Saint-Germain-Lanbron (II.20).

After Namatius, Eparchius succeeded the episcopal throne in Clermont-Ferrand. Sidonius Apollinaris succeeded Eparchius (II.21). After Victorius was stoned to death for creating scandalous rumors about Senator Eucherius and was given over to irregular affairs with women (II.20), King Euric of the Goths started a violent persecution of the Christians in Gaul (II.25). "He ordered the doorways to churches be blocked with briers so that the very difficulty of finding one's way in might encourage men to forget their Christian faith." After the death of Perpetuus, Voluousianus became Bishop of Tours, Verus succeeded him in turn, and it was at this time that Clovis succeeded Childeric and waged battle against Syagrius, the son of Aegidius in Soissons (II.26-27). Syagrius was not afraid to fight Clovis but "the army of Syagrius was annihilated" and he fled to Alaric II in Toulose who handed the refugee over out of fear of the Franks. "At that time many churches were plundered by the troops of Clovis, for he still held fast to his pagan idolatries" (II.27).

This persecution was soon about to change for Clovis was about to meet Clotilda. According to Gregory, she was the daughter of Chilperic, the son of Athanaric, who was killed by his brother Gundobad along with his wife (II.28). Clotilda was taken in with Gundobad and her sister Chroma became a religious. This account is disputed by the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.

"The popular poems substituted for King Godegisil, uncle and protector of Clotilda, his brother Gondebad, who was represented as the persecutor of the young princess. Gondebad is supposed to have slain Chilperic, thrown his wife into a well, with a stone tied around her neck, and exiled her two daughters. Clovis, on hearing of the beauty of Clotilda, sent his friend Aurelian, disguised as a beggar, to visit her secretly, and give her a gold ring from his master; he then asked Gondebad for the hand of the young princess. Gondebad, fearing the powerful King of the Franks, dared not refuse, and Clotilda accompanied Aurelian and his escort on their return journey. They hastened to reach Frankish territory, as Clotilda feared that Aredius, the faithful counsellor of Gondebad, on his return from Constantinople whither he had been sent on a mission, would influence his master to retract his promise. Her fears were justified. Shortly after the departure of the princess, Aredius returned and caused Gondebad to repent to the marriage. Troops were despatched to bring Clotilda back, but it was too late, as she was safe on Frankish soil. The details of this recital are purely legendary. It is historically established that Chilperic's death was lamented by Gondebad, and that Cartena lived until 506: she died "full of days", says her epitaph, having had the joy of seeing her children brought up in catholic religion. Aurelian and Aredius are historical personages, though little is known of them in the legend is highly improbable." (New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia: Clotilda)

Regardless, Clovis would become attracted to this saintly woman and would ask for her hand in marriage which led to a religious disputation between the two shortly after the birth of their son Ingomer. Clotilda called on Clovis to forsake his pagan gods. "The gods whom you worship are no good...They are carved out of stone or wood or some old piece of metal...Jupiter, that obscene perpetrator of all sorts of mucky deeds, who couldn't keep his hands off other men, who had fun with all his female relatives...Mars and Mercury...were certainly not worthy of being called divine" (II.29). "[N]o sooner had [the child] received baptism than he he died in his white robes." Clovis became angry but Clotilda rendered her thanks to God. "I am not at all cast down in my mind because of what has happened, for I know that my child, who was called away from this world in his white baptismal robes, will be nurtured in the sight of God." Chlodomer was born, was baptized, and became sick which caused Clovis more anger. Clotilda prayed for the healing of her son Chlodomer and he recovered from the illness. It was in fighting with the Alamanni that Clovis saw his life threatened, he called out to the God of Clotilda at that point, "Jesus Christ, you who Cotild maintains to be the Son of the living God, you who deign to give help to those in travail and victory to those who trust in you, in faith I beg the glory of your help. If you will give me victory over my enemies, and if I may have evidence of that miraculous power which the people dedicated to your name say that say they have experienced, then I will believe in you and I will be baptized in your name. I have called upon my own gods, but, as I see only too clearly, the have no intention of helping me. I therefore cannot believe that they possess any power, for they do not come to the assistance of those who trust in them. I now call upon you. I want to believe in you, but I must first be saved from my enemies." (II.30) After this, the battle turned in Clovis's favor and the Alamanni were routed. He told Clotilda what had happened and she called for the Bishop Remigius and Clovis was baptized as the first convert to the Christian religion from the Franks (II.31).

Clovis would defeat Gundobad with the assistance of Godigisel. Upon seeing Gundobad flee, Clovis sent an ultimatum that Gundobad would offer an annual tribute or Clovis would do whatever he wanted to Gundobad (II.32). This subjected Gundobad to Clovis. Gundobad would then convert to Catholicism after seeing his brother Godigisel defeated by Clovis and his Arian bishop killed (II.33-34). St. Avitus would be the one to receive Gundobad into the faith and St. Gregory lavishes praise on the works of this bishop. "I find it hard to go on seeing these Arians occupy a part of Gaul" (II.37), Clovis declared and he invaded them and drove them out with the help of God. While marching through Poitiers, he ordered that nothing be taken from the land except food and water. One of his men took hay from a poor man. When Clovis found out about the theft, he took his axe and he split the soldier's head open with it. Clovis defeated Alaric II on the battlefield of Vouillé. The Emperor Anastasius would grant Clovis a consulship (II.38). Clovis came to Tours when Licinius succeeded Eustochius (II.39) When Clovis was in Paris, he reached out to Chloderic, the son of Sigibert in the East Frankish region, saying that if his father died, he would have his alliance. Chloderic had his father assassinated. Clovis came to Cologne to show that Chloderic had misinterpreted his words and punished Chloderic for his treacheries, splitting his head open with an axe. The people subjected themselves to Clovis afterward.  "God submitted the enemies of Clovis to his dominion and increased his power, for he walked before him with an upright heart and did what was pleasing in his sight." (II.40) Clovis also defeated Chararic and subdued the rebellion of his relatives Ragnachar and Ricchar, killing both of them with his axe. (II.41-42) Clovis died on November 27, 511 A.D. and was buried in the church of the Holy Apostles (now St. Genievieve) in Paris. Clotilda had built this church. She served as a religios at the church of St. Martin of Tours the rest of her life, occasionally visiting Paris (II.43). "She was remarkable for her great modesty and loving kindness."

History of the Franks, Book I

Here begins St. Gregory of Tours's Historiae Francorum. This is the earliest written source on the Merovingian dynasty that exists today. Gregory introduces himself and provides the reasons he writes the work. He introduces himself as a Catholic, makes his creed known, renounces the Arians, and explains his purpose in writing is to show how many  years have passed since the creation of the world. "[O]f that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the Father. ... They should understand that by this Son is meant the Christian people." (I) The coming of Christ will not occur unless the Antichrist shows up first introducing circumcision in the Temple of God. This is what St. Gregory understands Antichrist will do. It is certainly not an infallible position but we ought to consider this when we think on coming Antichrist. St. Gregory is living in a time period in which people have been ravaged by plague, persecution of the True Faith, and apostasy. Many people thought the world was ending in his day just as many people believe the world to be ending now. His intention is to show that the world has existed much long this far, and there have been much worse days leading up to the current day.

St. Gregory begins his history by going through the Scriptures, all the way through the Roman Empire and Gaul as it existed under the Roman Empire. We see in St. Gregory a Christocentric hermeneutic throughout his coverage of the Scriptures. In fact, this is how St. Gregory goes through his entire history. This shows for a Christian, not just sacred history, but also secular history, is Christ-centered, looking toward the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection, and having this focal point of the telos of history. This Christocentric hermeneutic permeates his introduction and his entire coverage of the Old Testament. Christocentric hermeneutics are a hermeneutical method that understands Sacred Scriptures in light of what is revealed in the revelation of Christ in the New Testament. This seems only one-sided in that it focuses only on the incarnation but a proper sense of Christocentric hermeneutics is all-encompassing. While for Evangelical Protestants, the Christocentric hermeneutic is limited to the life of Christ and after the Resurrection and for liberal Protestants, it is limited to the words of Christ only, for a Catholic, Christocentric hermeneutics point us toward the Divine Liturgy, the sacrifice of the Eucharist, the Church, and the ultimate eschatological goal for all humanity.

God's wrath is conceived of in the writings of Scriptures but it is something understood much differently in the Traditional theology of the Church. The Lord has anger but it is not to be thought of as a man. How could God wipe out all of humanity in anger as He did in Genesis 6. As an Anglican, this text always confused me. In fact, this text confused me until I read the narrative of St. Gregory of Tours on the Old Testament's Sacred History. "[God] is moved to anger so that He may fill us with awe, He drives us forth so that He may call us back. He is enraged that He may reform us. ... [T]he shape of the Ark represented the concept of the mother Church, which moves forward between the rocks of life here below, protecting us from the evils which threaten us, and defending us in her loving embrace and guardianship." (I.4) St. Gregory sees the Church at the center of the narrative of the Deluge for it is in the Church where men are saved. Outside the Church, the men drown in the deluge of evils, pestilences, heresies, idolatries, and various immoralities. God's wrath is not directed at people but is directed at actions. It is directed in order to reform. It is directed at the oppressors, whether they be the chains of sin and corruption or the demonic forces that seek to pursue us and hold us captive.

The flight from Egypt through the parting of the Red Sea is seen with the New Testament revelation of baptism in mind (I.10). "Some pass through in the first hour: these are they who are reborn by baptism. ... Those who are converted later in life pass through at the third hour. Those who control the lust of the flesh pass through at the last hour." St. Gregory also sees Zerubbabel as a Christ-like figure in the Old Testament. The captivity that the Israelites were under "is a symbol of the enslavement that the soul of a sinner is led...unless some Zerubbabel, that is Christ Himself, can rescue it" (I.15). St. Gregory's Christocentric reading of the New Testament is nothing new. This is a common theme in the Church today as we look to baptism as being what frees us from the captivity to the Devil and sin. We are led into the Ark of the Church. The very area where the Faithful stand during the Liturgy is called the "nave" a word which comes from the Latin for "ship" or "ark". Just as Zerubbabel rebuilt the physical Temple, so does Christ build the spiritual Temple.

On events concerning ancient history, St. Gregory understands Chus, the son of Ham, as the founder of the Zoroastrian religion (I.5). The Pharaoh who perished during the pursuit of Moses and the Israelites he states was Cenchris (I.17). Controversially, he calls Julius Caesar the first Emperor of the Romans (I.18). This is also where he first describes the founding of Lyons in Gaul. The forty-fourth year of the reign of Octavian Augustus from whom the name of the month of August is derived, is the year in which Christ was born (I.19). St. Gregory describes the persecution of Christians in Gaul specifically but also throughout the Roman Empire. Beginning with the Emperor Nero and going through to Diocletian in chapters 25-35. St. Gregory's view is consistent with what the classicists conclude of today's repertoire though these same classicists refuse to consider it an actual persecution. The persecutions against orthodox Christians were from the inside as Christians contended against heresies and from the outside as they contended against the Pagan Romans and the Pagan Alemanni who would take over the Gallic region.

Nero launched the first campaign against Christianity in the Roman Empire (1.25). After him, Domitian. It was under Domitian that John the Apostle would be exiled. After Domitian, the persecution temporarily ended yet again and "climbed into the tomb while still alive. It is said that John will not experience death until our Lord shall come again at Judgment Day, for he himself said in his Gospel: 'I will that he tarry till I come.'" (I.26) Under Trajan, Clement, the Bishop of Rome suffered (I.27) and under Antoninus, Justin and Polycarp suffered (I.28). Photinus, the Bishop of Lyons was martyred and St. Irenaeus who was sent by Polycarp converted the whole city of Lyons to Christianity. There, the Devil resumed his tyranny and began a persecution so fierce that "rivers of Christian blood ran through the streets" (I.29).

He describes several martyrs, including the Bishop Dionysius of Paris, under the brutal persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius. Saturninus of Toulose, when he was put to death, exclaimed to two of his priests, "Now I am about to be sacrificed and the moment of my immolation is at hand. Stand by me, I beg you, until I meet my end." (I.30). Valerianus and Gallienus were twenty-seventh in the succession of Roman Imperial rule and they would begin a fierce persecution of Christians. I was here that King Chroc of the Alemanni moved in and subdued Gaul but as when Satan casts out Satan, another demon moves and brings friends with him. Chroc "destroyed down to its very foundations every single building which had been put up in ancient times" (I.32). Privatus refused to sacrifice to the devils of the Alemanni and Chroc had him beaten to death with sticks, after which, Chroc was captured in Arles, "submitted to various tortures and then died by a blow from the sword, paying the penalty for which he deserved for the sufferings which he had inflicted on God's people." (I.34) Under Diocletian, Quirinus had a millstone tied to his neck and was thrown into a river yet remained afloat for no sin weighed him down. Quirinus yielded himself up to God saying, "Lord Jesus, You who sit in glory on the right hand of the Father, do not allow me to be taken from my course, but receive my soul and deign to add me to Your martyrs in eternal rest." (I.35)

Here is a difference between humanistic "pro-life" doctrine and the Christian's outlook on life. The Christian views life with a teleological goal of eternity. Thus, repentance is what is most important, not a consistent position to extend life as long as possible. We see this reflected later in St. Gregory the Great's response to the pandemic breaking out in his own time frame. The response from the Pope was not to quarantine everyone but to call Christians to repentance, to reflect on the life they've been given, and to gather all the Christians together in prayer of repentance together. Much different than today's world in which the solution is to isolate all men from each other in order to hopefully tack on a couple extra days to one's life which is mortal at any rate and assume we hold control over all events in the course of history. The former is truly a commitment to the beauty of life and the beauty of living. The latter is narcissism.

Under Constantine, Christianity was legalized but struggles would ensue amongst his successors, some of them being Arians. It is after Constantine II that St. Gregory seems more observant to the Western half of the Empire. In fact, he skirts over many Eastern Emperors but begins a focus on Gaul. St. Martin comes to Gaul during the reign of Constantius, performs many miracles, destroys pagan temples, raises the dead, converts men to Christianity and reposes in Tours. St. Hilary went to Heaven in the town of Poitiers under the fourth year of Emperors Valentianus and Valens (I.39). Rome was a diarchy after Diocletian, reverted back to a monarchy under Constantine and after Constantine went back to a diarchy. Valens attempted to conscript monks into his military and perished in battle from the Goths (I.41). Gratianus succeeded Valens as the sole monarch and made Theodosius his colleague in the East (I.42). The Roman commander Maximus made a coup against Gratianus after conquering the Britons through his tyranny. His soldiers viewed him as Emperor. He captured Gratianus and put him to death. Theodosius, a God-fearing man and devoted to God, with the help of God, stripped Maximus of his imperial authority and had Maximus put to death. Rome was once again a monarchy. (I.43) St. Gregory then describes Bishop Urbicus's fall into temptation, and then the successors Legonus, Illidius, and Nepotianus (I.44-46).

St. Gregory concludes this chapter with the feud that broke out between the monks of Poitiers and the people of Tours over the burial of the body of St. Martin. The monks of Poitiers argued that St. Martin should be buried in their city since he had received his clerical orders from Poitiers and the people of Tours had his miracles. The people of Tours argued that he should be buried in their city since he was their shepherd and that he performed more miracles while in Poitiers than he did while in Tours. During the night, the Poitiers party supposed to be guarding the body fell asleep and the Tours party was able to seize the body and by the will of God allowing this to happen, the body of St. Martin now sleeps in the city of Tours. (I.48)