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E02106: Gregory of Tours, in his Histories (4.46), tells the story of a dispute in Clermont in the early 570s, during which an oath is taken on relics of unnamed martyrs; much later, one of the parties seeks asylum in the church of *Julian (martyr of Brioude, S00035), in Brioude; all in central Gaul. Written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 575/594.

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posted on 2016-12-12, 00:00 authored by kwojtalik

Gregory of Tours, Histories (Historiae) 4.46

The whole chapter is dedicated to the career, nefarious dealings, and eventual death of a royal official Andarchius.

Andarchius seeks to trick a rich citizen of Clermont, Ursus, out of his property. In the course of this, he produces an impostor who pretends to be Ursus, in order to swear an oath in Andarchius' favour:

Cumque venisset apud villam Brinnacum, requiret hominem alium Ursum nomen, quem ad altarium clam adductum iurare fecit ac dicere: 'Per hoc locum sanctum et reliquias martyrum beatorum, quia, si filiam meam tibi in matrimonium non tradidero, sidecem milia soledorum tibi satisfacere non morabor'.

'Andarchius went to the royal villa at Berny, where he produced another man also called Ursus. He brought him secretly before an altar and made him swear the following oath: 'By this holy place and on the relics of the blessed martyrs, I swear that if I do not give you [Andarchius] my daughter in marriage I will immediatley repay you sixteen thousand pieces of gold.'

Eventually, having been tricked out of his property, Ursus gets his revenge on Andarchius by setting fire to the house where he was staying, burning him alive, along with the seven servants accompanying him. After this:

Ursus vero metuens basilicam sancti Iuliani expetiit; datisque rege muneribus, res suas in soliditate recipit.

'Ursus was terrified by what had happened and fled for sanctuary to the church of Saint Julian. In the end he received all his goods back, but only after giving the King a bribe.''

Text: Krusch and Levison 1951, 183. Translation: Thorpe 1974, 242-243, lightly modified.

History

Evidence ID

E02106

Saint Name

Julian, martyr of Brioude (Gaul), ob. late 3rd/early 4th c. : S00035

Saint Name in Source

Iulianus

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Julian_martyr_of_Brioude/13729192

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

575

Evidence not after

594

Activity not before

565

Activity not after

575

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 - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Seeking asylum at church/shrine

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people

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

This story, which must have occurred in the early 570s, will have been well known to Gregory, who was a young adult in Clermont at the time (before becoming bishop of Tours in 573).

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: 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).