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E05474: Gregory of Tours, in his Life of *Nicetius (bishop of Trier, ob. c. 565, S01305), recounts how Nicetius had a vision in which angels revealed to him the fate of the current and future kings of the Franks. From Gregory's Life of the Fathers, written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 573/594.
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posted on 2018-05-20, 00:00 authored by kwojtalikGregory of Tours, Life of the Fathers 17.5
Sed nec hoc silere putavi, quod eidem de regibus Francorum a Domino sit ostensum. Vidit enim in visu noctis turrem magnam, tanta celsitudine praeditam, ut polo propinqua suspiceretur, habentem fenestras multas, Dominumque stantem super cacumen eius et angelos Dei per speculas illas positos. Unus autem ex his tenebat librum magnum in manu, dicens: 'Tantum temporis rex ille et ille victurus est in saeculo'. Nominavitque omnes viritim, vel qui eo tempore erant vel deinceps nati sunt; dixitque et qualitatem regni et quantitatem vitae eorum. Sed post uniuscuiusque nomen semper 'Amen' ceteri angeli respondebant. Sicque de his in posterum est impletum, sicut sanctus per praefatam revelationem adnuntiavit.
'I must say something of what the Lord revealed to him [Nicetius] about the kings of the Franks. He saw one night in a dream a great tower, so high that it almost reached heaven. It had a great number of windows through which angels watched, while God Himself stood at its summit. One of the angels held in his hand a great book, and he said 'This king will live so many years, and this king will live so many years', and he named one king after another, not only those who were then living but also those yet to be born, and he announced the nature of their reign, and the length of their life. When he called the name of each one the other angels replied 'Amen.' And for each king it happened just as the saint declared in his revelation.'
Text: Krusch 1969, 282. Translation: James 1991, 111-112.
Sed nec hoc silere putavi, quod eidem de regibus Francorum a Domino sit ostensum. Vidit enim in visu noctis turrem magnam, tanta celsitudine praeditam, ut polo propinqua suspiceretur, habentem fenestras multas, Dominumque stantem super cacumen eius et angelos Dei per speculas illas positos. Unus autem ex his tenebat librum magnum in manu, dicens: 'Tantum temporis rex ille et ille victurus est in saeculo'. Nominavitque omnes viritim, vel qui eo tempore erant vel deinceps nati sunt; dixitque et qualitatem regni et quantitatem vitae eorum. Sed post uniuscuiusque nomen semper 'Amen' ceteri angeli respondebant. Sicque de his in posterum est impletum, sicut sanctus per praefatam revelationem adnuntiavit.
'I must say something of what the Lord revealed to him [Nicetius] about the kings of the Franks. He saw one night in a dream a great tower, so high that it almost reached heaven. It had a great number of windows through which angels watched, while God Himself stood at its summit. One of the angels held in his hand a great book, and he said 'This king will live so many years, and this king will live so many years', and he named one king after another, not only those who were then living but also those yet to be born, and he announced the nature of their reign, and the length of their life. When he called the name of each one the other angels replied 'Amen.' And for each king it happened just as the saint declared in his revelation.'
Text: Krusch 1969, 282. Translation: James 1991, 111-112.