A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 4

Syagrius did not hesitate, for he was not at all afraid to risk an encounter. In the conflict which followed, however, the Roman soon saw that his army was doomed to destruction; so, turning and fleeing from the field, he made all haste to take refuge with King Alaric at Toulouse.[42] Clovis then sent word to Alaric that he must hand over the defeated king at once if he did not wish to bring on war against himself. Fearing the anger of the Franks, therefore, as the Goths continually do, Alaric bound Syagrius with chains and delivered him to the messengers of King Clovis. As soon as the latter had the prisoner in his possession he put him under safe guard and, after seizing his kingdom, had him secretly slain.[43]

[Sidenote: The story of the broken vase]

At this time the army of Clovis plundered many churches, for the king was still sunk in the errors of idolatry. Upon one occasion the soldiers carried away from a church, along with other ornaments of the sacred place, a remarkably large and beautiful vase. The bishop of that church sent messengers to the king to ask that, even if none of the other holy vessels might be restored, this precious vase at least might be sent back. To the messengers Clovis could only reply: "Come with us to Soissons, for there all the booty is to be divided. If when we cast lots the vase shall fall to me, I will return it as the bishop desires."

When they had reached Soissons and all the booty had been brought together in the midst of the army the king called attention to the vase and said, "I ask you, most valiant warriors, to allow me to have the vase in addition to my rightful share." Then even those of his men who were most self-willed answered: "O glorious king, all things before us are thine, and we ourselves are subject to thy control. Do, therefore, what pleases thee best, for no one is able to resist thee." But when they had thus spoken, one of the warriors, an impetuous, jealous, and vain man, raised his battle-ax aloft and broke the vase in pieces, crying as he did so, "Thou shalt receive no part of this booty unless it fall to you by a fair lot." And at such a rash act they were all astounded.

[Sidenote: Clovis's revenge]

The king pretended not to be angry and seemed to take no notice of the incident, and when it happened that the broken vase fell to him by lot he gave the fragments to the bishop's messengers; nevertheless he cherished a secret indignation in his heart. A year later he summoned all his soldiers to come fully armed to the Campus Martius, so that he might make an inspection of his troops.[44] After he had reviewed the whole army he finally came across the very man who had broken the vase at Soissons. "No one,"

cried out the king to him, "carries his arms so awkwardly as thou; for neither thy spear nor thy sword nor thy ax is ready for use,"

and he struck the ax out of the soldier's hands so that it fell to the ground. Then when the man bent forward to pick it up the king raised his own ax and struck him on the head, saying, "Thus thou didst to the vase at Soissons." Having slain him, he dismissed the others, filled with great fear....[45]

[Sidenote: Clovis decides to become a Christian (496)]

=30.= The queen did not cease urging the king to acknowledge the true G.o.d and forsake idols, but all her efforts failed until at length a war broke out with the Alemanni.[46] Then of necessity he was compelled to confess what hitherto he had wilfully denied. It happened that the two armies were in battle and there was great slaughter.[47] The army of Clovis seemed about to be cut in pieces.

Then the king raised his hands fervently toward the heavens and, breaking into tears, cried: "Jesus Christ, who Clotilde declares to be the son of the living G.o.d, who it is said givest help to the oppressed and victory to those who put their trust in thee, I invoke thy marvellous help. If thou wilt give me victory over my enemies and I prove that power which thy followers say they have proved concerning thee, I will believe in thee and will be baptized in thy name; for I have called upon my own G.o.ds and it is clear that they have neglected to give me aid. Therefore I am convinced that they have no power, for they do not help those who serve them.

I now call upon thee, and I wish to believe in thee, especially that I may escape from my enemies." When he had offered this prayer the Alemanni turned their backs and began to flee. And when they learned that their king had been slain, they submitted at once to Clovis, saying, "Let no more of our people perish, for we now belong to you." When he had stopped the battle and praised his soldiers for their good work, Clovis returned in peace to his kingdom and told the queen how he had won the victory by calling on the name of Christ. These events took place in the fifteenth year of his reign.[48]

=31.= Then the queen sent secretly to the blessed Remigius, bishop of Rheims, and asked him to bring to the king the gospel of salvation. The bishop came to the court where, little by little, he led Clovis to believe in the true G.o.d, maker of heaven and earth, and to forsake the idols which could help neither him nor any one else. "Willingly will I hear thee, O holy father," declared the king at last, "but the people who are under my authority are not ready to give up their G.o.ds. I will go and consult them about the religion concerning which you speak." When he had come among them, and before he had spoken a word, all the people, through the influence of the divine power, cried out with one voice: "O righteous king, we cast off our mortal G.o.ds and we are ready to serve the G.o.d who Remigius tells us is immortal."

[Sidenote: The baptism of Clovis and his warriors]

When this was reported to the bishop he was beside himself with joy, and he at once ordered the baptismal font to be prepared. The streets were shaded with embroidered hangings; the churches were adorned with white tapestries, exhaling sweet odors; perfumed tapers gleamed; and all the temple of the baptistry was filled with a heavenly odor, so that the people might well have believed that G.o.d in His graciousness showered upon them the perfumes of Paradise. Then Clovis, having confessed that the G.o.d of the Trinity was all-powerful, was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and was anointed with the holy oil with the sign of the cross. More than three thousand of his soldiers were baptized with him....

=35.= Now when Alaric, king of the Goths, saw that Clovis was conquering many nations, he sent messengers to him, saying, "If it please my brother, let us, with the favor of G.o.d, enter into an alliance." Clovis at once declared his willingness to do as Alaric suggested and the two kings met on an island in the Loire, near the town of Amboise in the vicinity of Tours.[49] There they talked, ate, and drank together, and after making mutual promises of friendship they departed in peace.

[Sidenote: Clovis resolves to take the Visigoths' lands in Gaul]

=37.= But Clovis said to his soldiers: "It is with regret that I see the Arian heretics in possession of any part of Gaul. Let us, with the help of G.o.d, march against them and, after having conquered them, bring their country under our own control." This proposal was received with favor by all the warriors and the army started on the campaign, going towards Poitiers, where Alaric was then staying. As a portion of the troops pa.s.sed through the territory about Tours, Clovis, out of respect for the holy St.

Martin, forbade his soldiers to take anything from the country except gra.s.s for the horses. One soldier, having come across some hay which belonged to a poor man said, "Has, then, the king given us permission to take only gra.s.s? O well! hay is gra.s.s. To take it would not be to violate the command." And by force he took the hay away from the poor man. When, however, the matter was brought to the king's attention he struck the offender with his sword and killed him, saying, "How, indeed, may we hope for victory if we give offense to St. Martin?" This was enough thereafter to prevent the army from plundering in that country.

[Sidenote: Miraculous incidents of the campaign]

When Clovis arrived with his forces at the banks of the Vienne he was at a loss to know where to cross, because the heavy rains had swollen the stream. During the night he prayed that the Lord would reveal to him a pa.s.sage. The following morning, under the guidance of G.o.d, a doe of wondrous size entered the river in plain sight of the army and crossed by a ford, thus pointing out the way for the soldiers to get over. When they were in the neighborhood of Poitiers the king saw at some distance from his tent a ball of fire, which proceeded from the steeple of the church of St.

Hilary[50] and seemed to him to advance in his direction, as if to show that by the aid of the light of the holy St. Hilary he would triumph the more easily over the heretics against whom the pious priest had himself often fought for the faith. Clovis then forbade his army to molest any one or to pillage any property in that part of the country.

[Sidenote: The Visigoths defeated by Clovis (507)]

Clovis at length engaged in battle with Alaric, king of the Goths, in the plain of Vouille at the tenth mile-stone from Poitiers.[51]

The Goths fought with javelins, but the Franks charged upon them with lances. Then the Goths took to flight, as is their custom,[52]

and the victory, with the aid of G.o.d, fell to Clovis. He had put the Goths to flight and killed their king, Alaric, when all at once two soldiers bore down upon him and struck him with lances on both sides at once; but, owing to the strength of his armor and the swiftness of his horse, he escaped death. After the battle Amalaric, son of Alaric, took refuge in Spain and ruled wisely over the kingdom of his father.[53] Alaric had reigned twenty-two years.

Clovis, after spending the winter at Bordeaux and carrying from Toulouse all the treasure of the king, advanced on Angouleme. There the Lord showed him such favor that at his very approach the walls of the city fell down of their own accord.[54] After driving out the Goths he brought the place under his own authority. Thus, crowned with victory, he returned to Tours and bestowed a great number of presents upon the holy church of the blessed Martin.[55]

[Sidenote: Other means by which Clovis extended his power]

=40.= Now while Clovis was living at Paris he sent secretly to the son of Sigibert,[56] saying: "Behold now your father is old and lame. If he should die his kingdom would come to you and my friendship with it." So the son of Sigibert, impelled by his ambition, planned to slay his father. And when Sigibert set out from Cologne and crossed the Rhine to go through the Buchonian forest,[57] his son had him slain by a.s.sa.s.sins while he was sleeping in his tent, in order that he might gain the kingdom for himself. But by the judgment of G.o.d he fell into the pit which he had digged for his father. He sent messengers to Clovis to announce the death of his father and to say: "My father is dead and I have his treasures, and likewise the kingdom. Now send trusted men to me, that I may give them for you whatever you would like out of his treasury." Clovis replied: "I thank you for your kindness and will ask you merely to show my messengers all your treasures, after which you may keep them yourself." And when the messengers of Clovis came, the son of Sigibert showed them the treasures which his father had collected. And while they were looking at various things, he said: "My father used to keep his gold coins in this little chest." And they said, "Put your hand down to the bottom, that you may show us everything." But when he stooped to do this, one of the messengers struck him on the head with his battle-ax, and thus he met the fate which he had visited upon his father.

Now when Clovis heard that both Sigibert and his son were dead, he came to that place and called the people together and said to them: "Hear what has happened. While I was sailing on the Scheldt River, Cloderic, son of Sigibert, my relative, attacked his father, pretending that I had wished him to slay him. And so when his father fled through the Buchonian forest, the a.s.sa.s.sins of Cloderic set upon him and slew him. But while Cloderic was opening his father's treasure chest, some man unknown to me struck him down. I am in no way guilty of these things, for I could not shed the blood of my relatives, which is very wicked. But since these things have happened, if it seems best to you, I advise you to unite with me and come under my protection." And those who heard him applauded his speech, and, raising him on a shield, acknowledged him as their king. Thus Clovis gained the kingdom of Sigibert and his treasures, and won over his subjects to his own rule. For G.o.d daily confounded his enemies and increased his kingdom, because he walked uprightly before Him and did that which was pleasing in His sight.

[Sidenote: The removal of remaining rivals]

=42.= Then Clovis made war on his relative Ragnachar.[58] And when the latter saw that his army was defeated, he attempted to flee; but his own men seized him and his brother Richar and brought them bound before Clovis. Then Clovis said: "Why have you disgraced our family by allowing yourself to be taken prisoner? It would have been better for you had you been slain." And, raising his battle-ax, he slew him. Then, turning to Richar, he said, "If you had aided your brother he would not have been taken;" and he slew him with the ax also. Thus by their death Clovis took their kingdom and treasures. And many other kings and relatives of his, who he feared might take his kingdom from him, were slain, and his dominion was extended over all Gaul.

[Sidenote: The death of Clovis (511)]

=43.= And after these things he died at Paris and was buried in the basilica of the holy saints which he and his queen, Clotilde, had built. He pa.s.sed away in the fifth year after the battle of Vouille, and all the days of his reign were thirty years.

7. The Law of the Salian Franks

When the Visigoths, Lombards, and other Germanic peoples settled within the bounds of the Roman Empire they had no such thing as written law. They had laws, and a goodly number of them, but these laws were handed down from generation to generation orally, having never been enacted by a legislative body or decreed by a monarch in the way that laws are generally made among the civilized peoples of to-day. In other words, early Germanic law consisted simply of an acc.u.mulation of the immemorial custom of the tribe. When, for example, a certain penalty had been paid on several occasions by persons who had committed a particular crime, men came naturally to regard that penalty as the one regularly to be paid by _any one_ proved guilty of the same offense; so that what was at first only habit gradually became hardened into law--unwritten indeed, but none the less binding.

The law thus made up, moreover, was personal rather than territorial like that of the Romans and like ours to-day. That is, the same laws did not apply to all the people throughout any particular country or region. If a man were born a Visigoth he would be subject to Visigothic law throughout life, no matter where he might go to live.

So the Burgundian would always have the right to be judged by Burgundian law, and the Lombard by the Lombard law. Obviously, in regions where several peoples dwelt side by side, as in large portions of Gaul, Spain, and northern Italy, there was no small amount of confusion and the courts had to be conducted in a good many different ways.

After the Germans had been for some time in contact with the Romans they began to be considerably influenced by the customs and ways of doing things which they found among the more civilized people. They tried to master the Latin language, though, on the whole, they succeeded only so well as to create the new "Romance" tongues which we know as French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. They adopted the Roman religion, i.e., Christianity. And, among the most important things of all, they took up the Roman idea of having their law written out rather than in the uncertain shape of mere tradition. In this work of putting the old customary law in written form the way was led by the Salian branch of the Franks. Just when the Salic code was drawn up is not known, but the work was certainly done at some time during the reign of Clovis, probably about the year 496. The portions of this code which are given below will serve to show the general character of all the early Germanic systems of law--Visigothic, Lombard, Burgundian, and Frisian, as well as Frankish; for among them all there was much uniformity in principles, though considerable variation in matters of detail. Like the rest, the Salic law was fragmentary. The codes were not intended to embrace the entire law of the tribe, but simply to bring together in convenient form those portions which were most difficult to remember and which were most useful for ready reference. In the Salic code, for instance, we find a large amount of criminal law and of the law of procedure, but only a few touches of the law of property, or indeed of civil law of any sort. There is practically nothing in the way of public or administrative law. Many things are not mentioned which we should expect to find treated and, on the other hand, some things are there which we should not look for ordinarily in a code of law. The greater portion is taken up with an enumeration of penalties for various crimes and wrongful acts. These are often detailed so minutely as to be rather amusing from our modern point of view. Yet every one of the sixty-five chapters of the code has its significance and from the whole law can be gleaned an immense amount of information concerning the manner of life which prevailed in early Frankish Gaul. For the Merovingian period in general the Salic law is our most valuable doc.u.mentary source of knowledge, just as for the same epoch the _Ecclesiastical History_ of Gregory of Tours is our most important narrative source.

Source--Text in Heinrich Geffcken, _Lex Salica_ ["The Salic Law"], Leipzig, 1898; also Heinrich Gottfried Gengler, _Germanische Rechtsdenkmaler_ ["Monuments of German Law"], Erlangen, 1875, pp. 267-303. Adapted from translation in Ernest F. Henderson, _Select Historical Doc.u.ments of the Middle Ages_ (London, 1896), pp. 176-189.

I.

=1.= If any one be summoned before the _mallus_[59] by the king's law, and do not come, he shall be sentenced to 600 _denarii_, which make 15 _solidi_.[60]

[Sidenote: Summonses to the meetings of the local courts]

=2.= But he who summons another, and does not come himself, if a lawful impediment have not delayed him, shall be sentenced to 15 _solidi_, to be paid to him whom he summoned.

=3.= And he who summons another shall go with witnesses to the home of that man, and, if he be not at home, shall enjoin the wife, or any one of the family, to make known to him that he has been summoned to court.

=4.= But if he be occupied in the king's service he cannot summon him.

=5.= And if he shall be inside the hundred attending to his own affairs, he can summon him in the manner just explained.

XI.

=1.= If any freeman steal, outside of a house, something worth 2 _denarii_, he shall be sentenced to 600 _denarii_, which make 15 _solidi_.

[Sidenote: Theft by a slave]

=2.= But if he steal, outside of a house, something worth 40 _denarii_, and it be proved on him, he shall be sentenced, besides the amount and the fines for delay, to 1,400 _denarii_, which make 35 _solidi_.

=3.= If a freeman break into a house and steal something worth 2 _denarii_, and it be proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 15 _solidi_.

=4.= But if he shall have stolen something worth more than 5 _denarii_, and it be proved on him, he shall be sentenced, besides the value of the object and the fines for delay, to 1,400 _denarii_, which make 35 _solidi_.

=5.= But if he shall have broken, or tampered with, the lock, and thus have entered the house and stolen anything from it, he shall be sentenced, besides the value of the object and the fines for delay, to 1,800 _denarii_, which make 45 _solidi_.

=6.= And if he shall have taken nothing, or have escaped by flight, he shall, for the housebreaking alone, be sentenced to 1,200 _denarii_, which make 30 _solidi_.