Chilperic I

“ Look, Boniface! And Pepin is a slave.{81}
Nothing remains now in the world. That treaty,
That pact!
[Chilperic is taken before Zacharias and Pepin; they appear to address him, to consult with each other: then a monk advances and cuts off Chilperic’s long hair, while he weeps bitterly. Geneviva and Marcomir re-enter hurriedly as if they had heard bad news and see Carloman bound.]
GENEVIVA.
Be true to him. ”

“ Chilperic went to Paris the day before Easter was celebrated, and to avoid the curses contained in the compact between him and his brothers [DJ] that no one of them should enter Paris without the consent of the others, the relics of many saints were carried before him as he entered the city, and he spent Easter amid great mirth, and gave his son to be baptized, and Ragnemod, bishop of the city, received him from the holy font. Chilperic directed them to call him Theodoric. ”

“ Chilperic, king at Paris, and King Gontran of Burgundy, sought alliance with Childebert, who was adopted by both in turn. But after the assassination of Chilperic in 584, and the dangers occasioned to the Frankish monarchy by the expedition of Gundobald in 585, Childebert threw himself unreservedly into the arms of Gontran. By the pact of Andelot in 587 Childebert was recognized as Gontran’s heir, and with his uncle’s help he quelled the revolts of the nobles and succeeded in seizing the castle of Woëwre. ”

“ In these days king Chilperic was very sick. When he got well his younger son, who was not yet reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, fell ill, and when they saw he was in danger they baptized him. He was doing a little better when his older brother named Clodobert was attacked by the same disease. Their mother Fredegunda saw they were in danger of death and she repented too late, and said to the king: “The divine goodness has long borne with our bad actions; it has often rebuked us with fevers and other evils but repentance did not follow and now we are losing our sons. ”

“ He was applied to learning as soon as he was capable of instruction, and sent to the court of king Clotaire I., (whose cousin he was,) being about twenty years of age. He signalized himself by his prudence and valor, both in the court and in the army, and acquitted himself of all Christian duties with extraordinary exactitude and fervor. Fasting and prayer were familiar to him, and his heart was always raised to God. King Chilperic made him count or governor of Anjou, and being overcome by the importunities of his friends, the saint consented to take a wife about the year 578. ”

“ In the days of Siegbert and Chilperic, kings of Eastern and Western France, the consuming flames of passion and greed again burst forth, this time fanned by the fierce breath of feminine rivalry. Siegbert had married Brunehaut, daughter of the Visigoth king of Spain: Chilperic had espoused her sister, Galowinthe, after repudiating his first wife, Adowere. When Galowinthe came to her throne she found herself the rival of Fredegonde, a common servant, with whom Chilperic had been living. ”

“ Death of Chilperic’s young son. 23. List of prodigies. 24. Chilperic takes Poitiers from Childebert. 25. Duke Dracolen captures the deserter Dacco and takes him to Chilperic. He commits suicide. Dracolen then meets Gunthram Boso, fights him on horseback and is killed. Violent end of Gunthram’s father-in-law. 26. Chilperic sends an [Pg 128] army including “the people of Tours” against the Bretons. Later he “orders [CR] fines to be paid by the poor and the younger clergy of the church because they had not served in the army” although “there was no custom for these to perform any state service.” ”

“ A few days afterwards Chilperic married Fredegond. This murder was the cause of long and bloody wars, interspersed with truces, between Chilperic and Sigebert. In 575 Sigebert was assassinated by Fredegond at the very moment when he had Chilperic at his mercy. Chilperic retrieved his position, took from Austrasia Tours and Poitiers and some places in Aquitaine, and fostered discord in the kingdom of the east during the minority of Childebert II. One day, however, while returning from the chase to the town of Chelles, Chilperic was stabbed to death. ”

“ And, king, if civil war gives you pleasure, govern that impulse which the apostle says is urgent within man, let the spirit struggle against the flesh and the vices fall before the virtues; and be free and serve your chief who is Christ, you who were once a fettered slave of the root of evil.
[1. Sigibert’s son, Childebert, not yet five years old, is made king. Chilperic seizes Brunhilda and keeps her in exile at Rouen.]
2. Chilperic sent his son Merovech to Poitiers with an army. [BU] But he disobeyed his father’s orders and came to Tours and spent there the holy days of Easter. ”

“ Both Chilperic and his brother Guntram, who reigned at Orleans, were without male heirs. At this juncture, the German chiefs and nobles demanded to have Childebert, the young son of Sigbert and Brunhilde, who had taken refuge among them, recognized as the heir to the Frankish throne. Chilperic consented, on condition that Childebert, with such forces as he could command, would march with him against Guntram, who had despoiled him of a great deal of his territory. ”

“ In these days Nicetius, my niece’s husband, went with our deacon to king Chilperic on business of his own, and he told the king of Merovech’s flight. On seeing them queen Fredegunda said: “They are spies and have come to learn what the king is doing, in order to know what to report to Merovech.” And she at once ordered them to be spoiled and thrust off into exile, from which they were released in the seventh month. Now Chilperic sent messengers to us saying: “Cast that apostate out of the church. If you don’t I will burn that whole country with fire.” ”

“ Siggo we find losing the benefices of Chilperic in 576, because he had forsaken his allegiance and passed over to Childebert II. The law of the Ripuarians pronounced the confiscation of the goods of every man who had been unfaithful to the king. Marculf gives the formula of the act by which a man was received into the number of the faithful. Charles Martel, in giving benefices to his soldiers, only imposed upon them the obligations that had always followed on such appointments. ”

“ Ursus fled in fear to the church of St. Julian, and after making presents to the king he received again a good title to his property.
[47. Civil war between Chilperic and Sigibert. “There was at that time a worse outcry among the churches than in the time of Diocletian’s persecution.” 48. The wickedness of the people of Gaul as compared with earlier times; the plundering of the monastery of Latta. 49. The civil war is continued. Sigibert forces Chilperic to restore his cities. 50. Chilperic shuts himself up in Tournai.] ”

“ Many of the older men who were forced to go made their wills and [Pg 164] left their property to the churches, and requested that when the girl had entered the Spains the wills should be opened at once as if they were already buried.
Meantime legates came to Paris from king Childebert and warned king Chilperic not to take anything from the cities he held that belonged to the realm of Childebert’s father, [or present his daughter with the treasures in any of them] or dare to touch the slaves or horses or yokes of oxen or anything in them. ”

“ Chilpéric renonça à la possession des territoires qui formaient le douaire de Galswinthe et les livra à Sigebert. La guerre civile fut ainsi évitée; elle n’éclatera que six années plus tard, en 573.
“Sigebert finit par être victorieux. Il entre à Paris au mépris de la convention de 567 et y fait venir sa femme Brunehaut, ses filles et son jeune fils Childebert; puis il poursuit Chilpéric jusqu’à Tournai. Chilpéric est abandonné par les grands qui proclament Sigebert leur roi et l’élèvent sur le pavois dans la villa de Vitry. ”

“ During the lifetime of his second queen, Chilperic became enamoured of Fredegund, and his passion led him to put Gailesuinth to death, and elevate her rival to the throne. This barbarous action induced Sigebert to take up arms against his brother, urged thereto by the vehement Brunhild, desirous of revenging the murder of her sister; and a destructive war ensued, in the course of which Chilperic and his guilty consort were driven from their country, and became exiles in a foreign land. ”

“ CLOTILDA, SAINT (d. 544) , daughter of the Burgundian king Chilperic, and wife of Clovis, king of the Franks. On the death of Gundioc, king of the Burgundians, in 473, his sons Gundobald, Godegesil and Chilperic divided his heritage between them; Chilperic apparently reigning at Lyons, Gundobald at Vienne and Godegesil at Geneva. According to Gregory of Tours, Chilperic was slain by Gundobald, his wife drowned, and of his two daughters, Chrona took the veil and Clotilda was exiled. ”

“ To which the legates said: “If you are so possessed with anger as not to keep your promises to your nephew, at least cease taking what is due to him from Charibert’s kingdom.” But he replied: “Here is the agreement entered into with my brothers that whoever entered Paris without his brother’s consent should lose his part, and Polioctus the martyr and Hilarius and Martin the confessors were to be his judges and punishers. After this my brother Sigibert entered, who died by the judgment of God and lost his part. So did Chilperic. ”

“ But when the king had mourned her death a few days, he married Fredegunda again. After this action his brothers thought that the queen mentioned above had been killed at his command, and they tried to expel him from the kingdom. Chilperic at that time had three sons by his former wife Audovera, namely Theodobert, whom we have mentioned above, Merovech and Clovis. But let us return to our task.
29. The Huns were again endeavoring to make an entrance into the Gauls. Sigibert marched against them with his army, leading a great number of brave men. ”

“ The king added: “It is true that his mother Brunhilda threatens my life, but I have no misgiving on this account. For the Lord who has saved me from the hands of my enemies will save me from her plots too.”
5. Then he said much against bishop Theodore, protesting that if he came to the synod he would thrust him off again into exile and saying: “I know it was for the sake of these people [62] that he caused my brother Chilperic to be killed. In fact I ought not to be called a man if I cannot avenge his death this year.” ”

“ James observes, by the deposition of Chilperic—by the grand national assemblies of the Champ de Mars—and by other great historical facts. Now, the situation of Charlemagne, successor to a throne already firmly established, and in his own person a mighty amplifier of its glories, and a leader in whom the Franks had unlimited confidence, threw into his hands an unexampled power of modifying the popular restraints upon himself in any degree he might desire. ”

“ After this king Chilperic was generous to cathedrals and churches and the poor.
35. In these days Austrechild, wife of prince Gunthram, succumbed to this disease, but before she breathed out her worthless [Pg 131] life, seeing she could not escape, she drew deep sighs and wished to have partners in her death, intending that at her funeral there should be mourning for others. It is said that she made a request of the king in Herodian fashion saying: “I would still have had hopes of life if I had not fallen into the hands of wicked physicians ”

“ He returned thence and entered Paris. And there Brunhilda came to him with her children. Then the Franks who had once looked to the older Childebert, sent an embassy to Sigibert that if he would come to them they would abandon Chilperic and make him king over them. On hearing this he sent men to besiege his brother in the city mentioned above, and he [Pg 100] himself purposed to hasten thither. And the holy bishop Germanus said to him: “If you go and do not purpose to kill your brother you shall return alive and victorious; but if you have another purpose in mind you shall die. ”

“ Sigebert was anxious to avenge his sister-in-law, but on the intervention of Guntram, he accepted the compensation offered by Chilperic, namely the cities of Bordeaux, Cahors and Limoges, with Béarn and Bigorre. ”

“ Childebert receives money from the emperor to drive the Lombards out of Italy but fails to do so. 43. Events in Spain. 44. List of prodigies.]
45. Meantime the first of September came and a great embassy of Goths came to king Chilperic. [DP] He had now returned to Paris. He ordered many households of slaves to be taken from his estates and placed on the wagons; many too who wept and refused to go he ordered to be put under guard, in order to send them more easily with his daughter. They say that many in their grief hanged themselves, fearing they would be taken from their kinsmen. ”

“ So long as her husband lived, Brunhilda played a secondary part, but having been made captive by Chilperic after her husband’s assassination (575) , she succeeded in escaping from her prison at Rouen, after a series of extraordinary adventures, by means of a marriage with Merovech, the son of her conqueror. From this time on, she took the lead; in Austrasia she engaged in a desperate struggle against the nobles, who wished to govern in the name of her son Childebert II. ”

“ In such actions Rauching showed himself very wicked, having no other aptitude except in loud laughter and trickery and every perversity. Therefore he justly met a fitting death, since he so behaved himself when he enjoyed this life; but I shall tell of this later....
4. In these days Roccolenus being sent by Chilperic came to Tours with great boasting and pitching camp beyond the Loire he sent messengers to us that we ought to drag from the holy church Gunthram, who was at that time wanted for the death of Theodobert ”