being lost, said to Clovis, "My lord King, believe only on the Lord of
heaven whom the Queen, my mistress, preacheth." Clovis cried out with
emotion: "Christ Jesus, thou whom my queen Clotilde calleth the Son of
the living God, I have invoked my own gods, and they have withdrawn from
me; I believe that they have no power, since they aid not those who call
upon them. Thee, very God and Lord, I invoke; if thou give me victory
over these foes, if I find in thee the power that the people proclaim of
thee, I will believe on thee, and will be baptized in thy name." The
tide of battle turned; the Franks recovered confidence and courage; and
the Allemannians, beaten and seeing their King slain, surrendered
themselves to Clovis, saying: "Cease, of thy grace, to cause any more of
our people to perish; for we are thine."
On the return of Clovis, Clotilde, fearing he should forget his victory
and his promise, "secretly sent," says Gregory of Tours, "to St. Remi,
bishop of Rheims, and prayed him to penetrate the King's heart with the
words of salvation." St. Remi was a fervent Christian and able bishop;
and "I will listen to thee, most holy father," said Clovis, "willingly;
but there is a difficulty. The people that follow me will not give up
their gods. But I am about to assemble them, and will speak to them
according to thy word." The King found the people more docile or better
prepared than he had represented to the bishop. Even before he opened
his mouth the greater part of those present cried out: "We abjure the
mortal gods; we are ready to follow the immortal God whom Remi
preacheth."
About three thousand Frankish warriors, however, persisted in their
intention of remaining pagans, and deserting Clovis betook themselves to
Ragnacaire, the Frankish king of Cambrai, who was destined ere long to
pay dearly for this acquisition. So soon as St. Remi was informed of
this good disposition on the part of king and people, he fixed Christmas
Day of this year, 496, for the ceremony of the baptism of these grand
neophytes. The description of it is borrowed from the historian of the
church of Rheims, Frodoard by name, born at the close of the ninth
century. He gathered together the essential points of it from the _Life
of Saint Remi_, written, shortly before that period, by the saint's
celebrated successor at Rheims, Archbishop Hincmar. "The bishop," says
he, "went in search of the King at early morn in his bed-chamber, in
order that, taking him at the moment of freedom from secular cares, he
might more freely communicate to him the mysteries of the holy word. The
King's chamber-people receive him with great respect, and the King
himself runs forward to meet him. Thereupon they pass together into an
oratory dedicated to St. Peter, chief of the apostles, and adjoining the
King's apartment.
"When the bishop, the King, and the Queen had taken their places on the
seats prepared for them, and admission had been given to some clerics
and also some friends and household servants of the King, the venerable
bishop began his instructions on the subject of salvation.
"Meanwhile preparations are being made along the road from the palace to
the baptistery; curtains and valuable stuffs are hung up; the houses on
either side of the street are dressed out; the baptistery is sprinkled
with balm and all manner of perfume. The procession moves from the
palace; the clergy lead the way with the holy gospels, the cross, and
standards, singing hymns and spiritual songs; then comes the bishop,
leading the King by the hand; after him the Queen, lastly the people. On
the road, it is said that the King asked the bishop if that were the
kingdom promised him. 'No,' answered the prelate, 'but it is the
entrance to the road that leads to it.'
"At the moment when the King bent his head over the fountain of life,
'Lower thy head with humility, Sicambrian,' cried the eloquent bishop;
'adore what thou hast burned; burn what thou hast adored.' The King's
two sisters, Alboflède and Lantéchilde, likewise received baptism; and
so at the same time did three thousand of the Frankish army, besides a
large number of women and children."
When it was known that Clovis had been baptized by St. Remi, and with
what striking circumstance, great was the satisfaction among the
Catholics. The chief Burgundian prelate, Avitus, bishop of Vienne, wrote
to the Frankish King: "Your faith is our victory; in choosing for you
and yours, you have pronounced for all; divine Providence hath given you
as arbiter to our age. Greece can boast of having a sovereign of our
persuasion; but she is no longer alone in possession of this precious
gift; the rest of the world doth share her light." Pope Anastasius
hastened to express his joy to Clovis. "The Church, our common mother,"
he wrote, "rejoiceth to have born unto God so great a king. Continue,
glorious and illustrious son, to cheer the heart of this tender mother;
be a column of iron to support her, and she in her turn will give thee
victory over all thine enemies."
Clovis was not a man to omit turning his Catholic popularity to the
account of his ambition. At the very time when he was receiving these
testimonies of good-will from the heads of the Church he learned that
Gondebaud, disquieted, no doubt, at the conversion of his powerful
neighbor, had just made a vain attempt, at a conference held at Lyons,
to reconcile in his kingdom the Catholics and the Arians. Clovis
considered the moment favorable to his projects of aggrandizement at the
expense of the Burgundian King; he fomented the dissensions which
already prevailed between Gondebaud and his brother Godegisile, assured
to himself the latter's complicity, and suddenly entered Burgundy with
his army. Gondebaud, betrayed and beaten at the first encounter at
Dijon, fled to the south of his kingdom, and went and shut himself up in
Avignon. Clovis pursued, and besieged him there. Gondebaud in great
alarm asked counsel of his Roman confidant Aridius, who had but lately
foretold to him what the marriage of his niece Clotilde would bring upon
him. "On every side," said the King, "I am encompassed by perils, and I
know not what to do. Lo! here be these barbarians come upon us to slay
us and destroy the land." "To escape death," answered Aridius, "thou
must appease the ferocity of this man. Now, if it please thee, I will
feign to fly from thee and go over to him. So soon as I shall be with
him, I will so do that he ruin neither thee nor the land. Only have thou
care to perform whatsoever I shall ask of thee, until the Lord in his
goodness deign to make thy cause triumph." "All that thou shalt bid will
I do," said Gondebaud. So Aridius left Gondebaud and went his way to
Clovis, and said: "Most pious King, I am thy humble servant; I give up
this wretched Gondebaud and come unto thy mightiness. If thy goodness
deign to cast a glance upon me, thou and thy descendants will find in me
a servant of integrity and fidelity."
Clovis received him very kindly and kept him by him, for Aridius was
agreeable in conversation, wise in counsel, just in judgment, and
faithful in whatever was committed to his care. As the siege continued
Aridius said to Clovis: "O King, if the glory of thy greatness would
suffer thee to listen to the words of my feebleness, though thou needest
not counsel, I would submit them to thee in all fidelity, and they might
be of use to thee, whether for thyself or for the towns by the which
thou dost propose to pass. Wherefore keepest thou here thine army whilst
thine enemy doth hide himself in a well-fortified place? Thou ravagest
the fields, thou pillagest the corn, thou cuttest down the vines, thou
fellest the olive-trees, thou destroyest all the produce of the land,
and yet thou succeedest not in destroying thine adversary. Rather send
thou unto him deputies, and lay on him a tribute to be paid to thee
every year. Thus the land will be preserved, and thou wilt be lord
forever over him who owes thee tribute. If he refuse, thou shalt then do
what pleaseth thee." Clovis found the counsel good, ordered his army to
return home, sent deputies to Gondebaud, and called upon him to
undertake the payment every year of a fixed tribute. Gondebaud paid for
the time, and promised to pay punctually for the future. And peace
appeared made between the two barbarians.
Pleased with his campaign against the Burgundians, Clovis kept on good
terms with Gondebaud, who was to be henceforth a simple tributary, and
transferred to the Visigoths of Aquitania and their King, Alaric II, his
views of conquest. He had there the same pretexts for attack and the
same means of success. Alaric and his Visigoths were Arians, and between
them and the bishops of Southern Gaul, nearly all orthodox Catholics,
there were permanent ill-will and distrust. Alaric attempted to
conciliate their good-will: in 506 a council met at Agde; the
thirty-four bishops of Aquitania attended in person or by delegate; the
King protested that he had no design of persecuting the Catholics; the
bishops, at the opening of the council, offered prayers for the King;
but Alaric did not forget that immediately after the conversion of
Clovis, Volusian, bishop of Tours, had conspired in favor of the
Frankish King, and the bishops of Aquitania regarded Volusian as a
martyr, for he had been deposed, without trial, from his see, and taken
as a prisoner first to Toulouse, and afterward into Spain, where in a
short time he had been put to death. In vain did the glorious chief of
the race of Goths, Theodoric the Great, king of Italy, father-in-law of
Alaric, and brother-in-law of Clovis, exert himself to prevent any
outbreak between the two kings. In 498 Alaric, no doubt at his
father-in-law's solicitation, wrote to Clovis, "If my brother consent
thereto, I would, following my desires and by the grace of God, have an
interview with him."
The interview took place at a small island in the Loire, called the Ile
d'Or or de St. Jean, near Amboise. "The two kings," says Gregory of
Tours, "conversed, ate, and drank together, and separated with mutual
promises of friendship." The positions and passions of each soon made
the promises of no effect. In 505 Clovis was seriously ill; the bishops
of Aquitania testified warm interest in him; and one of them, Quintian,
bishop of Rodez, being on this account persecuted by the Visigoths, had
to seek refuge at Clermont, in Auvergne. Clovis no longer concealed his
designs. In 507 he assembled his principal chieftains; and "It
displeaseth me greatly," said he, "that these Arians should possess a
portion of the Gauls; march we forth with the help of God, drive we them
from that land, for it is very goodly, and bring we it under our own
power."
The Franks applauded their King; and the army set out on the march in
the direction of Poitiers, where Alaric happened at that time to be. "As
a portion of the troops was crossing the territory of Tours," says
Gregory, who was shortly afterward its bishop, "Clovis forbade, out of
respect for St. Martin, anything to be taken, save grass and water. One
of the army, however, having found some hay belonging to a poor man,
said, 'This is grass; we do not break the King's commands by taking it';
and, in spite of the poor man's resistance, he robbed him of his hay.
Clovis, informed of the fact, slew the soldier on the spot with one
sweep of his sword, saying, 'What will become of our hopes of victory,
if we offend St. Martin?'" Alaric had prepared for the struggle; and the
two armies met in the plain of Vouillé, on the banks of the little river
Clain, a few leagues from Poitiers. The battle was very severe. "The
Goths," says Gregory of Tours, "fought with missiles; the Franks sword
in hand. Clovis met and with his own hand slew Alaric in the fray; at
the moment of striking his blow two Goths fell suddenly upon Clovis, and
attacked him with their pikes on either side, but he escaped death,
thanks to his cuirass and the agility of his horse."
Beaten and kingless, the Goths retreated in great disorder; and Clovis,
pursuing his march, arrived without opposition at Bordeaux, where he
settled down with his Franks for the winter. When the war season
returned he marched on Toulouse, the capital of the Visigoths, which he
likewise occupied without resistance, and where he seized a portion of
the treasure of the Visigothic kings. He quitted it to lay siege to
Carcassonne, which had been made by the Romans into the stronghold of
Septimania.
There his course of conquest was destined to end. After the battle of
Vouillé he had sent his eldest son, Theodoric, in command of a division,
with orders to cross Central Gaul from west to east, to go and join the
Burgundians of Gondebaud, who had promised his assistance, and in
conjunction with them to attack the Visigoths on the banks of the Rhone
and in Narbonensis. The young Frank boldly executed his father's orders,
but the intervention of Theodoric the Great, king of Italy, prevented
the success of the operation. He sent an army into Gaul to the aid of
his son-in-law Alaric; and the united Franks and Burgundians failed in
their attacks upon the Visigoths of the eastern provinces. Clovis had no
idea of compromising by his obstinacy the conquests already
accomplished; he therefore raised the siege of Carcassonne, returned
first to Toulouse, and then to Bordeaux, took Angoulême, the only town
of importance he did not possess in Aquitania; and feeling reasonably
sure that the Visigoths, who, even with the aid that had come from
Italy, had great difficulty in defending what remained to them of
Southern Gaul, would not come and dispute with him what he had already
conquered, he halted at Tours, and stayed there some time, to enjoy on
the very spot the fruits of his victory and to establish his power in
his new possessions.
It appears that even the Britons of Armorica tendered to him at that
time, through the interposition of Melanius, bishop of Rennes, if not
their actual submission, at any rate their subordination and homage.
Clovis at the same time had his self-respect flattered in a manner to
which barbaric conquerors always attach great importance. Anastasius,
emperor of the East, with whom he had already had some communication,
sent to him at Tours a solemn embassy, bringing him the titles and
insignia of patrician and consul. "Clovis," says Gregory of Tours, "put
on the tunic of purple and the chlamys and the diadem; then mounting his
horse, he scattered with his own hand and with much bounty gold and
silver among the people, on the road which lies between the gate of the
court belonging to the basilica of St. Martin and the church of the
city. From that day he was called consul and augustus. On leaving the
city of Tours he repaired to Paris, where he fixed the seat of his
government."
Paris was certainly the political centre of his dominions, the
intermediate point between the early settlements of his race and himself
in Gaul and his new Gallic conquests; but he lacked some of the
possessions nearest to him and most naturally, in his own opinion, his.
To the east, north, and south-west of Paris were settled some
independent Frankish tribes, governed by chieftains with the name of
kings. So soon as he had settled at Paris, it was the one fixed idea of
Clovis to reduce them all to subjection. He had conquered the
Burgundians and the Visigoths; it remained for him to conquer and unite
together all the Franks. The barbarian showed himself in his true
colors, during this new enterprise, with his violence, his craft, his
cruelty, and his perfidy. He began with the most powerful of the tribes,
the Ripuarian Franks. He sent secretly to Cloderic, son of Sigebert,
their King, saying: "Thy father hath become old, and his wound maketh
him to limp o' one foot; if he should die, his kingdom will come to thee
of right, together with our friendship." Cloderic had his father
assassinated while asleep in his tent, and sent messengers to Clovis,
saying: "My father is dead, and I have in my power his kingdom and his
treasures. Send thou unto me certain of thy people, and I will gladly
give into their hands whatsoever among these treasures shall seem like
to please thee." The envoys of Clovis came, and, as they were examining
in detail the treasures of Sigebert, Cloderic said to them, "This is the
coffer wherein my father was wont to pile up his gold pieces." "Plunge,"
said they, "thy hand right to the bottom, that none escape thee."
Cloderic bent forward, and one of the envoys lifted his battle-axe and
cleft his skull.
Clovis went to Cologne and convoked the Franks of the canton. "Learn,"
said he, "that which hath happened. As I was sailing on the river
Scheldt, Cloderic, son of my relative, did vex his father, saying I was
minded to slay him; and as Sigebert was flying across the forest of
Buchaw, his son himself sent bandits, who fell upon him and slew him.
Cloderic also is dead, smitten I know not by whom as he was opening his
father's treasures. I am altogether unconcerned in it all, and I could
not shed the blood of my relatives, for it is a crime. But since it hath
so happened, I give unto you counsel, which ye shall follow if it seem
to you good; turn ye toward me, and live under my protection." And they
who were present hoisted him on a huge buckler and hailed him king.
After Sigebert and the Ripuarian Franks came the Franks of Térouanne,
and Chararic, their King. He had refused, twenty years before, to march
with Clovis against the Roman Syagrius. Clovis, who had not forgotten
it, attacked him, took him and his son prisoners, and had them both
shorn, ordering that Chararic should be ordained priest and his son
deacon. Chararic was much grieved. Then said his son to him: "Here be
branches which were cut from a green tree, and are not yet wholly dried
up: soon they will sprout forth again. May it please God that he who
hath wrought all this shall die as quickly!" Clovis considered these
words as a menace, had both father and son beheaded, and took possession
of their dominions. Ragnacaire, king of the Franks of Cambrai, was the
third to be attacked. He had served Clovis against Syagrius, but Clovis
took no account of that. Ragnacaire, being beaten, was preparing for
flight, when he was seized by his own soldiers, who tied his hands
behind his back, and took him to Clovis along with his brother Riquier.
"Wherefore hast thou dishonored our race," said Clovis, "by letting
thyself wear bonds? 'Twere better to have died," and cleft his skull
with one stroke of his battle-axe; then turning to Riquier, "Hadst thou
succored thy brother," said he, "he had assuredly not been bound," and
felled him likewise at his feet. Rignomer, king of the Franks of Le
Mans, met the same fate, but not at the hands, only by the order, of
Clovis. So Clovis remained sole king of the Franks, for all the
independent chieftains had disappeared.
It is said that one day, after all these murders, Clovis, surrounded by
his trusted servants, cried: "Woe is me! who am left as a traveller
among strangers, and who have no longer relatives to lend me support in
the day of adversity!" Thus do the most shameless take pleasure in
exhibiting sham sorrow after crimes they cannot disavow.
It cannot be known whether Clovis ever felt in his soul any scruple or
regret for his many acts of ferocity and perfidy, or if he looked as
sufficient expiation upon the favor he had bestowed on the churches and
their bishops, upon the gifts he lavished on them, and upon the
absolutions he demanded of them. In times of mingled barbarism and faith
there are strange cases of credulity in the way of bargains made with
divine justice. We read in the life of St. Eleutherus, bishop of
Tournai, the native land of Clovis, that at one of those periods when
the conscience of the Frankish King must have been most heavily laden,
he presented himself one day at the church. "My lord King," said the
bishop, "I know wherefore thou art come to me." "I have nothing special
to say unto thee," rejoined Clovis, "Say not so, O King," replied the
bishop; "thou hast sinned, and darest not avow it." The King was moved,
and ended by confessing that he had deeply sinned and had need of large
pardon. St. Eleutherus betook himself to prayer; the King came back the
next day, and the bishop gave him a paper on which was written by a
divine hand, he said, "the pardon granted to royal offences which might
not be revealed."
Clovis accepted this absolution, and loaded the church of Tournai with
his gifts. In 511, the very year of his death, his last act in life was
the convocation at Orleans of a council, which was attended by thirty
bishops from the different parts of his kingdom, and at which were
adopted thirty-one canons that, while granting to the Church great
privileges and means of influence, in many cases favorable to humanity
and respect for the rights of individuals, bound the Church closely to
the state, and gave to royalty, even in ecclesiastical matters, great
power. The bishops, on breaking up, sent these canons to Clovis, praying
him to give them the sanction of his adhesion, which he did. A few
months afterward, on the 27th of November, 511, Clovis died at Paris,
and was buried in the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, nowadays St.
Geneviève, built by his wife, Queen Clotilde, who survived him.
It was but right to make the reader intimately acquainted with that
great barbarian who, with all his vices and all his crimes, brought
about, or rather began, two great matters which have already endured
through fourteen centuries and still endure; for he founded the French
monarchy and Christian France. Such men and such facts have a right to
be closely studied and set in a clear light by history. Nothing similar
will be seen for two centuries, under the descendants of Clovis, the
Merovingians; among them will be encountered none but those personages
whom death reduces to insignificance, whatever may have been their rank
in the world, and of whom Vergil thus speaks to Dante:
"Waste we no words on them: one glance and pass thou on."
PUBLICATION OF THE JUSTINIAN CODE
A.D. 529-534
EDWARD GIBBON
The richest legacy ever left by one civilization to another was the
Justinian Code. This compilation of the entire body of the Roman
civil law (_Corpus Juris Civilis_), as evolved during the thousand
years after the Decemvirate legislation of the Twelve Tables,
comprises perhaps the most valuable historical data preserved from
ancient times. It presents a vivid and authentic picture of the
domestic life of the Romans and the rules which governed their
relations to each other. This phase of history is considered by
modern historians as of far greater importance than the chronicles
of battles and court intrigues.
The importance of the Justinian Code, however, is not that of mere
history. Its influence as a living force is what compels the
admiration and gratitude of mankind. It forms the basis of the
systems of law in all the civilized nations of the world, with the
exception of those of the English-speaking peoples, and even in
these the principles of the civil law--as the Roman law is called
in contradistinction to the common and statute law of these
nations--form the most important part of the regulations concerning
personal property.
For this monumental work the world is indebted to Justinian I
(Flavius Anicius Justinianus), the most famous of the emperors of
the Eastern Empire since Constantine. He was born a Slavonian
peasant. Uprawda, his original name, was Latinized into Justinian
when he became an officer in the Imperial Guard. He was adopted,
educated, and trained by Justin I, whom he succeeded as emperor.
His long reign (527-565) was disturbed by the sanguinary factions
of the Circus--the Greens and the Blues, so named from the colors
of the competing charioteers in the games--the suppression of the
schools of philosophy at Athens, and by various wars. Nevertheless
it was marked by magnificent works, the administrative organization
of the empire, and the great buildings at Constantinople. The
Church of Santa-Sophia, the first great Christian church, although
used as a Mahometan mosque since 1459, still stands at
Constantinople, with its plain exterior but impressive interior, a
monument of Justinian's reign.