THE EARLY FRANKS
6. The Deeds of Clovis as Related by Gregory of Tours
The most important historical writer among the early Franks was a
bishop whose full name was Georgius Florentius Gregorius, but who has
commonly been known ever since his day as Gregory of Tours. The date
of his birth is uncertain, but it was probably either 539 or 540. He
was not a Frank, but a man of mixed Roman and Gallic descent, his
parentage being such as to rank him among the nobility of his native
district, Auvergne. At the age of thirty-four he was elected bishop of
Tours, and this important office he held until his death in 594.
During this long period of service he won distinction as an able
church official, as an alert man of affairs, and as a prolific writer
on ecclesiastical subjects. Among his writings, some of which have
been lost, were a book on the Christian martyrs, biographies of
several holy men of the Church, a commentary on the Psalms, and a
treatise on the officers of the Church and their duties.
But by far his largest and most important work was his _Ecclesiastical
History of the Franks_, in ten books, written well toward the end of
his life. It is indeed to be regarded as one of the most interesting
pieces of literature produced in any country during the Middle Ages.
For his starting point Gregory went back to the Garden of Eden, and
what he gives us in his first book is only an amusing but practically
worthless account of the history of the world from Adam to St. Martin
of Tours, who died probably in 397. In the second book, however, he
comes more within the range of reasonable tradition, if not of actual
information, and brings the story down to the death of Clovis in 511.
In the succeeding eight books he reaches the year 591, though it is
thought by some that the last four were put together after the
author's death by some of his associates. However that may be, we may
rest assured that the history grows in accuracy as it approaches the
period in which it was written. Naturally it is at its best in the
later books, where events are described that happened within the
writer's lifetime, and with many of which he had a close connection.
Gregory was a man of unusual activity and of wide acquaintance among
the influential people of his day. He served as a counselor of several
Frankish kings and was a prominent figure at their courts. The shrine
of St. Martin of Tours[39] was visited by pilgrims from all parts of
the Christian world and by conversation with them Gregory had an
excellent opportunity to keep informed as to what was going on among
the Franks, and among more distant peoples as well. He was thus
fortunately situated for one who proposed to write the history of his
times. As a bishop of the orthodox Church he had small regard for
Arians and other heretics, and so was in some ways less broad-minded
than we could wish; and of course he shared the superstition and
ignorance of his age, as will appear in some of the selections below.
Still, without his extensive history we should know far less than we
now do concerning the Frankish people before the seventh century. He
mixes legend with fact in a most confusing manner, but with no
intention whatever to deceive. The men of the earlier Middle Ages knew
no other way of writing history and their readers were not critical as
we are to-day. The passages quoted below from Gregory's history give
some interesting information concerning the Frankish conquerors of
Gaul, and at the same time show something of the spirit of Gregory
himself and of the people of his times.
Particularly interesting is the account of the conversion of Clovis
and of the Franks to Christianity. When the Visigoths, Ostrogoths,
Vandals, Lombards, and Burgundians crossed the Roman frontiers and
settled within the bounds of the old Empire they were all Christians
in name, however much their conduct might be at variance with their
profession. The Franks, on the other hand, established themselves in
northern Gaul, as did the Saxons in Britain, while they were yet
pagans, worshipping Woden and Thor and the other strange deities of
the Germans. It was about the middle of the reign of King Clovis, or,
more definitely, in the year 496, that the change came. In his
_Ecclesiastical History_ Gregory tells us how up to this time all the
influence of the Christian queen, Clotilde, had been exerted in vain
to bring her husband to the point of renouncing his old gods. In his
wars and conquests the king had been very successful and apparently he
was pretty well satisfied with the favors these old gods had showered
upon him and was unwilling to turn his back upon such generous
patrons. But there came a time, in 496, in the course of the war with
the Alemanni, when the tide of fortune seemed to be turning against
the Frankish king. In the great battle of Strassburg the Franks were
on the point of being beaten by their foe, and Clovis in desperation
made a vow, as the story goes, that if Clotilde's God would grant him
a victory he would immediately become a Christian. Whatever may have
been the reason, the victory was won and the king, with characteristic
German fidelity to his word, proceeded to fulfill his pledge. Amid
great ceremony he was baptized, and with him three thousand of his
soldiers the same day. The great majority of Franks lost little time
in following the royal example.
Two important facts should be emphasized in connection with this
famous incident. The first is the peculiar character of the so-called
"conversion" of Clovis and his Franks. We to-day look upon religious
conversion as an inner experience of the individual, apt to be brought
about by personal contact between a Christian and the person who is
converted. It was in no such sense as this, however, that the
Franks--or any of the early Germans, for that matter--were made
Christian. They looked upon Christianity as a mere portion of Roman
civilization to be adopted or let alone as seemed best; but if it were
adopted, it must be by the whole tribe or nation, not by individuals
here and there. In general, the German peoples took up Christianity,
not because they became convinced that their old religions were false,
but simply because they were led to believe that the Christian faith
was in some ways better than their own and so might profitably be
taken advantage of by them. Clovis believed he had won the battle of
Strassburg with the aid of the Christian God when Woden and Thor were
about to fail him; therefore he reasoned that it would be a good thing
in the future to make sure that the God of Clotilde should always be
on his side, and obviously the way to do this was to become himself a
Christian. He did not wholly abandon the old gods, but merely
considered that he had found a new one of superior power. Hence he
enjoined on all his people that they become Christians; and for the
most part they did so, though of course we are not to suppose that
there was any very noticeable change in their actual conduct and mode
of life, at least for several generations.
The second important point to observe is that, whereas all of the
other Germanic peoples on the continent had become Christians of the
Arian type, the Franks accepted Christianity in its orthodox form such
as was adhered to by the papacy. This was sheer accident. The Franks
took the orthodox rather than the heretical religion simply because it
was the kind that was carried to them by the missionaries, not at all
because they were able, or had the desire, to weigh the two creeds and
choose the one they liked the better. But though they became orthodox
Christians by accident, the fact that they became such is of the
utmost importance in mediaeval history, for by being what the papacy
regarded as true Christians rather than heretics they began from the
start to be looked to by the popes for support. Their kings in time
became the greatest secular champions of papal interests, though
relations were sometimes far from harmonious. This virtual alliance of
the popes and the Frankish kings is a subject which will repay careful
study.
Source--Gregorius Episcopus Turonensis, _Historia
Ecclesiastica Francorum_ [Gregory of Tours, "Ecclesiastical
History of the Franks"], Bk. II., Chaps. 27-43 _passim_. Text
in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores Rerum
Merovingicarum_, Vol. I., Part 1, pp. 88-89, 90-95, 98-100,
158-159.
[Sidenote: The battle of Soissons (486)]
=27.= After all these things Childeric[40] died and his son Clovis
ruled in his stead. In the fifth year of the new reign Syagrius,
son of Aegidius, was governing as king of the Romans in the town of
Soissons, where his father had held sway before him.[41] Clovis now
advanced against him with his kinsman Ragnachar, who also held a
kingdom, and gave him an opportunity to select a field of battle.
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 God 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 God, 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 gods 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 God, 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 gods. 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 gods and we are ready to
serve the God 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
God in His graciousness showered upon them the perfumes of
Paradise. Then Clovis, having confessed that the God 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 God, 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 God, 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 passed through the
territory about Tours, Clovis, out of respect for the holy St.
Martin, forbade his soldiers to take anything from the country
except grass 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 grass? O well! hay is grass. 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 passage. The following morning, under the guidance
of God, 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 God, 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 assassins while he was
sleeping in his tent, in order that he might gain the kingdom for
himself. But by the judgment of God 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 assassins 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 God 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 passed 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
accumulation 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 documentary 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 Rechtsdenkmaeler_ ["Monuments of German Law"],
Erlangen, 1875, pp. 267-303. Adapted from translation in
Ernest F. Henderson, _Select Historical Documents 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_.
XII.
[Sidenote: Theft by a freeman]
=1.= If a slave steal, outside of a house, something worth 2
_denarii_, besides paying the value of the object and the fines for
delay, he shall be stretched out and receive 120 blows.
=2.= But if he steal something worth 40 _denarii_, he shall pay 6
_solidi_. The lord of the slave who committed the theft shall
restore to the plaintiff the value of the object and the fines for
delay.
XIV.
[Sidenote: Robbery with assault]
=1.= If any one shall have assaulted and robbed a freeman, and it
be proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 2,500 _denarii_, which
make 63 _solidi_.
=2.= If a Roman shall have robbed a Salian Frank, the above law
shall be observed.
=3.= But if a Frank shall have robbed a Roman, he shall be
sentenced to 35 _solidi_.
XV.
[Sidenote: The crime of incendiarism]
=1.= If any one shall set fire to a house in which people were
sleeping, as many freemen as were in it can make complaint before
the _mallus_; and if any one shall have been burned in it, the
incendiary shall be sentenced to 2,500 _denarii_, which make 63
_solidi_.[61]
XVII.
=1.= If any one shall have sought to kill another person, and the
blow shall have missed, he on whom it was proved shall be sentenced
to 2,500 _denarii_, which make 63 _solidi_.
[Sidenote: Various deeds of violence]
=2.= If any person shall have sought to shoot another with a
poisoned arrow, and the arrow has glanced aside, and it shall be
proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 2,500 _denarii_, which make
63 _solidi_.
5. If any one shall have struck a man so that blood falls to the
floor, and it be proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 600
_denarii_, which make 15 _solidi_.
=6.= But if a freeman strike a freeman with his fist so that blood
does not flow, he shall be sentenced for each blow--up to 3
blows--to 120 _denarii_, which make 3 _solidi_.[62]
XIX.
[Sidenote: Use of poison or witchcraft]
=1.= If any one shall have given herbs to another, so that he die,
he shall be sentenced to 200 _solidi_, or shall surely be given
over to fire.
=2.= If any person shall have bewitched another, and he who was
thus treated shall escape, the author of the crime, having been
proved guilty of it, shall be sentenced to 2,500 _denarii_, which
make 63 _solidi_.
XXX.
[Sidenote: Punishment for slander]
=6.= If any man shall have brought it up against another that he
has thrown away his shield, and shall not have been able to prove
it, he shall be sentenced to 120 _denarii_, which make 3
_solidi_.[63]
=7.= If any man shall have called another "gossip" or "perjurer,"
and shall not have been able to prove it, he shall be sentenced to
600 _denarii_, which make 15 _solidi_.
XXXIV.
=1.= If any man shall have cut 3 staves by which a fence is bound
or held together, or shall have stolen or cut the heads of 3
stakes, he shall be sentenced to 600 _denarii_, which make 15
_solidi_.
[Sidenote: The offense of trespass]
=2.= If any one shall have drawn a harrow through another's field
of grain after the seed has sprouted, or shall have gone through it
with a wagon where there was no road, he shall be sentenced to 120
_denarii_, which make 3 _solidi_.
=3.= If any one shall have gone, where there is no road or path,
through another's field after the grain has grown tall, he shall be
sentenced to 600 _denarii_, which make 15 _solidi_.
XLI.
=1.= If any one shall have killed a free Frank, or a barbarian
living under the Salic law, and it shall have been proved on him,
he shall be sentenced to 8,000 _denarii_.
[Sidenote: Punishments for homicide]
=2.= But if he shall have thrown him into a well or into the water,
or shall have covered him with branches or anything else, to
conceal him, he shall be sentenced to 24,000 _denarii_, which make
600 _solidi_.
=3.= If any one shall have slain a man who is in the service of the
king, he shall be sentenced to 24,000 _denarii_, which make 600
_solidi_.[64]
=4.= But if he shall have put him in the water, or in a well, and
covered him with anything to conceal him, he shall be sentenced to
72,000 _denarii_, which make 1,000 _solidi_.
=5.= If any one shall have slain a Roman who eats in the king's
palace, and it shall have been proved on him, he shall be sentenced
to 12,000 _denarii_, which make 300 _solidi_.[65]
=6.= But if the Roman shall not have been a landed proprietor and
table companion of the king, he who killed him shall be sentenced
to 4,000 _denarii_, which make 100 _solidi_.
=7.= If he shall have killed a Roman who was obliged to pay
tribute, he shall be sentenced to 63 _solidi_.
=9.= If any one shall have thrown a freeman into a well, and he has
escaped alive, he [the criminal] shall be sentenced to 4,000
_denarii_, which make 100 _solidi_.
XLV.
[Sidenote: Right of migration]
=1.= If any one desires to migrate to another village, and if one
or more who live in that village do not wish to receive him--even
if there be only one who objects--he shall not have the right to
move there.
=3.= But if any one shall have moved there, and within 12 months no
one has given him warning, he shall remain as secure as the other
neighbors.
L.
[Sidenote: Enforcement of debt]
1. If any freeman or leet[66] shall have made to another a promise
to pay, then he to whom the promise was made shall, within 40 days,
or within such time as was agreed upon when he made the promise, go
to the house of that man with witnesses, or with appraisers. And if
he [the debtor] be unwilling to make the promised payment, he shall
be sentenced to 15 _solidi_ above the debt which he had promised.
LIX.
=1.= If any man die and leave no sons, the father and mother shall
inherit, if they survive.
[Sidenote: Rights of inheritance]
=2.= If the father and mother do not survive, and he leave brothers
or sisters, they shall inherit.
=3.= But if there are none, the sisters of the father shall
inherit.
=4.= But if there are no sisters of the father, the sisters of the
mother shall claim the inheritance.
=5.= If there are none of these, the nearest relatives on the
father's side shall succeed to the inheritance.
=6.= Of Salic land no portion of the inheritance shall go to a
woman; but the whole inheritance of the land shall belong to the
male sex.[67]
LXII.
[Sidenote: Payment of wergeld]
=1.= If any one's father shall have been slain, the sons shall have
half the compounding money [wergeld]; and the other half, the
nearest relatives, as well on the mother's as on the father's side,
shall divide among themselves.[68]
=2.= But if there are no relatives, paternal or maternal, that
portion shall go to the fisc.[69]
FOOTNOTES:
[39] St. Martin was born in Pannonia somewhat before the middle of the
fourth century. For a time he followed his father's profession as a
soldier in the service of the Roman emperor, but later he went to Gaul
with the purpose of aiding in the establishment of the Christian
Church in that quarter. In 372 he was elected bishop of Tours and
shortly afterwards he founded the monastery with which his name was
destined to be associated throughout the Middle Ages. This monastery,
which was one of the earliest in western Europe, became a very
important factor in the prolonged combat with Gallic paganism, and
subsequently a leading center of ecclesiastical learning.
[40] Childeric I., son of the more or less mythical Merovius, was king
from 457 to 481. Clovis became ruler of the Salian branch of the
Franks in this latter year. The tomb of Childeric was discovered at
Tournai in 1653.
[41] Aegidius and his son Syagrius were the last official
representatives of the Roman imperial power in Gaul; and since the
fall of the Empire in the West even they had taken the title of "king
of the Romans" and had been practically independent sovereigns in the
territory between the Somme and the Loire, with their capital at
Soissons, northeast of Paris.
[42] Alaric II., king of the Visigoths, 485-507.
[43] The battle of Soissons in 486, with the defeat and death of
Syagrius, insured for the Franks undisputed possession southward to
the Loire, which was the northern frontier of the Visigothic kingdom.
[44] The Campus Martius was the "March-field," i.e., the assembling
place of the Frankish army. It was not regularly in any one locality
but wherever the king might call the soldiers together, as he did
every spring for purposes of review. In the eighth century the month
of May was substituted for March as the time for the meeting.
[45] In the words of Hodgkin (_Charles the Great_, p. 12), "the
well-known story of the vase of Soissons illustrates at once the
German memories of freedom and the Merovingian mode of establishing a
despotism. As a battle comrade the Frankish warrior protests against
Clovis receiving an ounce beyond his due share of the spoils. As a
battle leader Clovis rebukes his henchman for the dirtiness of his
accoutrements, and cleaves his skull to punish him for his
independence."
[46] The Alemanni were a German people occupying a vast region about
the upper waters of the Rhine and Danube. They had been making
repeated efforts to acquire territory west of the Rhine--an
encroachment which Clovis resolved not to tolerate.
[47] The battle was fought near Strassburg, in the upper Rhine valley.
[48] The ultimate result of the defeat of the Alemanni was that the
Frankish kingdom was enlarged by the annexation of the great region
known in the later Middle Ages as Suabia, comprising modern Alsace,
Baden, Wuertemberg, the western part of Bavaria, and the northern part
of Switzerland. The Alemanni as a people disappeared speedily from
history, being absorbed by their more powerful neighbors. Their only
monument to-day is the name by which the French have always known the
people of Germany--_Allemands_.
[49] The Loire was the boundary between the dominions of the two
kings. There have been many famous instances in history of two
sovereigns coming together to confer at some point on the common
border of the territories controlled by them, notably the interview of
Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I. on the Niemen River in 1807. The Franks
and the Visigoths had been enemies ever since by Clovis's defeat of
Syagrius their dominions had been brought into contact (486), and the
present jovial interview of the two kings did not long keep them at
peace with each other.
[50] St. Hilary was bishop of Poitiers in the later fourth century. He
was a contemporary of St. Martin of Tours and a co-worker with him in
the organization of Gallic Christianity.
[51] The plain of Vouille was ten miles west of Poitiers.
[52] This amusing comment of Gregory was due largely to his prejudice
in favor of the Franks and against the heretical Visigoths.
[53] The Visigothic kingdom in Spain, with its capital at Toledo,
endured until the Saracen conquest of that country in 711 and the
years immediately following, but it did not give evidence of much
strength. It stood so long only because the Pyrenees made a natural
boundary against the Franks and because, after Clovis, for two hundred
years the Franks produced no great conqueror who cared to crowd the
Visigoths into still closer quarters.
[54] Clovis, particularly after his conversion to Christianity in 496,
was the hero of Gregory's history and apparently the enthusiastic old
bishop did not lose an opportunity to glorify his career. At any rate
it would certainly be difficult to relate anything more remarkable
about him than this legend of the walls of Angouleme falling down
before him at his mere approach.
[55] This notable campaign had advanced Frankish territory to the
Pyrenees, except for the strip between these mountains and the Rhone,
known as Septimania, which the Visigoths were able to retain by the
aid of the Ostrogoths from Italy. No great number of Franks settled in
this broad territory south of the Loire, and to this day the
inhabitants of south France show a much larger measure of Roman
descent than do those of the north. It may be added that Septimania
was conquered by Clovis's son Childebert in 531, and thus the last bit
of old Gaul--practically modern France--was brought under Frankish
control.
[56] This was Cloderic, son of Sigibert the Lame, king of a tribe of
Franks living along the middle Rhine. Sigibert was one of the numerous
independent and rival princes whom Clovis used every expedient to put
out of the way.
[57] Along the Upper Weser, near the monastery of Fulda.
[58] Ragnachar's kingdom was in the region about Cambrai.
[59] The _mallus_ was the local court held about every six weeks in
each community or hundred. In early German law the state has small
place and the principle of self-help by the individual is very
prominent. To bring a suit one summons his opponent himself and gets
him to appear at court if he can. Ordinarily the court merely
determines the method by which the guilt or innocence of the accused
may be tested. Execution of the sentence rests again with the
plaintiff, or with his family or clan group.
[60] "The monetary system of the Salic law was taken from the Romans.
The basis was the gold _solidus_ of Constantine, 1/72 of a pound of
gold. The small coin was the silver _denarius_, forty of which made a
_solidus_. This system was adopted as a monetary reform by Clovis, and
the statement of the sum in terms of both coins is probably due to the
newness of the system at the time of the appearance of the
law."--Thatcher and McNeal, _Source Book for Mediaeval History_, p. 17.
The gold _solidus_ was worth somewhere from two and a half to three
dollars, but its purchasing power was perhaps equal to that of twenty
dollars to-day, because gold and silver were then so much scarcer and
more valuable. Such estimates of purchasing power, however, involve so
great uncertainty as to be practically worthless.
[61] The Burgundian law (Chap. 41) contained a provision that if a man
made a fire on his own premises and it spread to fences or crops
belonging to another person, and did damage, the man who made the fire
should recompense his neighbor for his loss, provided it could be
shown that there was no wind to drive the fire beyond control. If
there was such a wind, no penalty was to be exacted.
[62] The law of the Lombards had a more elaborate system of fines for
wounds than did the Salic code. For example, knocking out a man's
front teeth was to be paid for at the rate of sixteen _solidi_ per
tooth; knocking out back teeth at the rate of eight _solidi_ per
tooth; fracturing an arm, sixteen _solidi_; cutting off a second
finger, seventeen _solidi_; cutting off a great toe, six _solidi_;
cutting off a little toe, two _solidi_; giving a blow with the fist,
three _solidi_; with the palm of the hand, six _solidi_; and striking
a person on the head so as to break bones, twelve _solidi_ per bone.
In the latter case the broken bones were to be counted "on this
principle, that one bone shall be found large enough to make an
audible sound when thrown against a shield at twelve feet distance on
the road; the said feet to be measured from the foot of a man of
moderate stature."
[63] The man who had "thrown away his shield" was the coward who had
fled from the field of battle. How the Germans universally regarded
such a person appears in the _Germania_ of Tacitus, Chap. 6 (see p.
25). To impute this ignominy to a man was a serious matter.
[64] This was the so-called "triple wergeld." That is, the lives of
men in the service of the king were rated three times as high as those
of ordinary free persons.
[65] Here is an illustration of the personal character of Germanic
law. There is one law for the Frank and another for the Roman, though
both peoples were now living side by side in Gaul. The price put upon
the life of the Frankish noble who was in the king's service was 600
_solidi_ (Sec. 3), but that on the life of the Roman noble in the same
service was but half that amount. The same proportion held for the
ordinary freemen, as will be seen by comparing Secs. 1 and 6.
[66] A leet was such a person as we in modern times commonly designate
as a serf--a man only partially free.
[67] This has been alleged to be the basis of the misnamed "Salic Law"
by virtue of which no woman, in the days of the French monarchy, was
permitted to inherit the throne. As a matter of fact, however, the
exclusion of women from the French throne was due, not to this or to
any other early Frankish principle, but to later circumstances which
called for stronger monarchs in France than women have ordinarily been
expected to be. The history of the modern "Salic Law" does not go back
of the resolution of the French nobles in 1317 against the general
political expediency of female sovereigns [see p. 420].
[68] The wergeld was the value put by the law upon every man's life.
Its amount varied according to the rank of the person in question. The
present section specifies how the wergeld paid by a murderer should be
divided among the relatives of the slain man.
[69] That is, to the king's treasury.