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E02069: Gregory of Tours, in his Histories (4.1), records the death in Tours in c. 545 of Clotild (queen and widow of Clovis, S01155), and her burial in Paris in the church of Peter (the Apostle, S00036), which she had built; Gregory mentions that *Genovefa/Geneviève (ascetic of Paris, ob. 502/512, S01156), had earlier been buried there. Written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 575/594.

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posted on 2016-12-04, 00:00 authored by robert

Gregory of Tours, Histories (Historiae) 4.1

Igitur Chrodigildis regina, plena dierum bonisque operibus praedita, apud urbem Toronicam obiit tempore Iniuriosi episcopi. Quae Parisius cum magno psallentio deportata, in sacrario basilicae sancti Petri ad latus Chlodovechi regis sepulta est a filiis suis, Childebertho atque Chlothachario regibus. Nam basilicam illam ipsa construxerat; in qua et Genuveifa beatissima est sepulta.

'Queen Clotild died, full of days and rich in good works, in the city of Tours, in the time of Bishop Injuriosus. With a great singing of psalms her body was carried to Paris and her two royal sons, Childebert and Chlothar, buried her in the sacrarium of Saint Peter's church at the side of her husband, King Clovis. She herself had this church built. The most blessed Geneviève is also buried there.'

Text: Krusch and Levison 1951, 135. Translation: Thorpe 1974, 197, lightly modified.

History

Evidence ID

E02069

Saint Name

Peter the Apostle : S00036 Clotild, queen of the Franks, ob. 545 AD : S01155 Genevieve, ascetic in Paris, ob. 502/512 AD : S01156

Saint Name in Source

Petrus Chrodigildis Genuveifa

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

575

Evidence not after

594

Activity not before

502

Activity not after

545

Place of Evidence - Region

Gaul and Frankish kingdoms

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Tours

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Tours Tours Tours Toronica urbs Prisciniacensim vicus Pressigny Turonorum civitas Ceratensis vicus Céré

Major author/Major anonymous work

Gregory of Tours

Cult activities - Liturgical Activity

Chant and religious singing

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Construction of cult buildings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Women Monarchs and their family

Cult Activities - Relics

Bodily relic - entire body

Source

Gregory of Tours wrote the Histories (Historiae) during his episcopate in Tours (573–594). They constitute the longest and most detailed historical work of the post-Roman West. Gregory's focus is Gaul under its Frankish kings, above all the territories of Tours and (to a lesser extent) Clermont, where he had been born and brought up. Much of his work tells of the years when, as bishop of an important see, he was himself centrally involved in Frankish politics. The Histories are often wrongly referred to as a History of the Franks. Although the work does contain a history of the rulers of Francia, it also includes much hagiographical material, and Gregory himself gave it the simple title the 'ten books of Histories' (decem libri historiarum), when he produced a list of his own writings (Histories 10.31). The Histories consist of ten books whose scope and contents differ considerably. Book 1 skims rapidly through world history, with biblical and secular material from the Creation to the death in AD 397 of Martin of Tours (Gregory’s hero and predecessor as bishop). It covers 5596 years. In Book 2, which covers 114 years, the focus moves firmly into Gaul, covering the years up to the death of Clovis in 511. Books 3 and 4, which cover 37 and 27 years respectively, then move fairly swiftly on, closing with the death of king Sigibert in 575. With Book 5, through to the final Book 10, the pace slows markedly, and the detail swells, with only between two and four years covered in each of the last six books, breaking off in 591. These books are organised in annual form, based on the regnal years of Childebert II (r. 575-595/6). There continues to be much discussion over when precisely Gregory wrote specific parts of the Histories, though there is general agreement that none of it was written before 575 and, of course, none of it after Gregory's death, which is believed to have occurred in 594. Essentially, scholars are divided over whether Gregory wrote the Histories sequentially as the years from 575 unfolded, with little or no revision thereafter, or whether he composed the whole work over the space of a few years shortly before his death and after 585 (see Murray 2015 for the arguments on both sides). For an understanding of the political history of the time, and Gregory's attitude to it, precisely when the various books were written is of great importance; but for what he wrote about the saints, the precise date of composition is of little significance, because Gregory's attitude to saints, their relics and their miracles did not change significantly during his writing-life. We have therefore chosen to date Gregory's writing of our entries only within the broadest possible parameters: with a terminus post quem of 575 for the early books of the Histories, and thereafter the year of the events described, and a terminus ante quem of 594, set by Gregory's death. (Bryan Ward-Perkins, David Lambert) For general discussions of the Histories see: Goffart, W., The Narrators of Barbarian History (A.D. 550–800): Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Bede, and Paul the Deacon (Princeton, 1988), 119–127. Murray, A.C., "The Composition of the Histories of Gregory of Tours and Its Bearing on the Political Narrative," in: A.C. Murray (ed.), A Companion to Gregory of Tours (Leiden and Boston, 2015), 63–101. Pizarro, J.M., "Gregory of Tours and the Literary Imagination: Genre, Narrative Style, Sources, and Models in the Histories," in: Murray, A Companion to Gregory of Tours, 337–374.

Discussion

The church of Saint Peter in Paris, in which Clotild and Clovis were buried, is earlier described by Gregory, when recounting the burial of Clovis in AD 511 (Histories 2.43, see E02031), as a church of the Apostles, not one exclusively of Peter. The church was built by Clovis and Clotild and much later (in the 9th century) became the church of *Genovefa/Geneviève (ascetic in Paris, ob. 502/512, S01156), who was buried there (E02747) (Vieillard-Troiekouroff 1976, 206-208; Duval et al. 1992, 116-119). Clotild, who was later to achieve veneration as a saint, was never presented as such by Gregory, though he was keen to stress her goodness. Here she is presented like Job, as 'full of days' (plena dierum) (cf. Job 42:17).

Bibliography

Edition: Krusch, B., and Levison, W., Gregorii episcopi Turonensis Libri historiarum X (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum I.1; 2nd ed.; Hannover, 1951). Translation: Thorpe, L., Gregory of Tours, The History of the Franks (Penguin Classics; London, 1974). Further reading: Duval, N. et al., "Paris," in: N. Gauthier and J.-Ch. Picard (eds.), Topographie chrétienne des cités de la Gaule des origines au milieu du VIIIe siècle, vol. 8: Province ecclésiastique de Sens (Lungdunensis Senonia), (Paris, 1992), 97-129. Murray, A.C., "The Composition of the Histories of Gregory of Tours and Its Bearing on the Political Narrative", in: A.C. Murray (ed.), A Companion to Gregory of Tours (Leiden-Boston 2015), 63-101. Vieillard-Troiekouroff, M., Les monuments religieux de la Gaule d'après les œuvres de Grégoire de Tours (Paris, 1976).

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Keywords

S00036 S01155 S01156 History

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