Records of Civilization
SOURCES AND STUDIES
EDITED BY
JAMES T. SHOTWELL, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
IN COLLABORATION WITH
FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS, PH.D., LL.D.
PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AND THE HISTORY OF
CIVILIZATION IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
MUNROE SMITH, J.U.D., LL.D.
PROFESSOR OF ROMAN LAW AND COMPARATIVE
JURISPRUDENCE IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
WILLIAM R. SHEPHERD, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA
UNIVERSITY
GEORGE W. BOTSFORD, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA
UNIVERSITY
JULIUS A. BEWER, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT EXEGESIS IN
UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
CARLTON H. HAYES, PH.D.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY
IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
ELLERY C. STOWELL, PH.D.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL
LAW IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
HAROLD H. TRYON, M.A., B.D.
INSTRUCTOR IN NEW TESTAMENT AND CHURCH
HISTORY IN UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
[Illustration]
New York
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
1916
_All rights reserved_
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| RECORDS OF CIVILIZATION |
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| _SOURCES AND STUDIES_ |
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| EDITED BY |
| |
| JAMES T. SHOTWELL |
| |
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| A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES CONSISTING OF |
| |
| DOCUMENTS IN TRANSLATION |
| COMMENTARIES AND INTERPRETATIONS |
| BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDES |
| |
| _For titles of volumes, see list at end |
| of this volume._ |
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Records of Civilisation: Sources and Studies
HISTORY OF THE FRANKS
BY
GREGORY BISHOP OF TOURS
SELECTIONS, TRANSLATED WITH NOTES
ERNEST BREHAUT, PH.D.
[Illustration: colophon]
New York
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
1916
_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT, 1916,
BY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS.
Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1916.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
PREFACE
Among the narrative records of civilization inaccessible to those
whose reading is confined to English texts, few are of greater
historical interest than the _History of the Franks_ by Gregory
of Tours. The reason that it has remained so long untranslated
into English is clear, however, to any one who has ever seriously
considered the problem of which at least a partial solution is
offered here. In the first place, although part of Gregory’s
narrative deals with events and men of great importance, there are
long sections dealing with happenings which in themselves are not
worth our remembering. Yet, if one views the work as a source for the
history of society rather than merely as a narrative of the acts of
kings, queens, or saints, it is often these relatively unimportant
events which are most instructive and interesting; for Gregory’s
picture of manners and customs is given by way of a story of what
real people actually did and said. It follows from this, that, if
our main interest in the _History of the Franks_ is in its picture
of the life and customs of the times, we must find that picture in
what is often but a repetition of royal murders, social disorder,
and turmoil, lightened only by the equally persistent repetition of
saintly virtue. The editorial problem of how much or how little of
such data to include is naturally one of considerable difficulty. In
the next place, the historical value of the text varies, according as
Gregory dealt with past or present; so that, viewed as a narrative of
fact, the later portions have a much greater claim for preservation
than the earlier. If one were attempting to show what Gregory
contributed to our knowledge, one would be obliged to concentrate,
therefore, upon these later sections, and even there the value
varies. But, viewing the _History of the Franks_ as itself an exhibit
of the age which it records, we find ourselves often more interested
in what Gregory does not know of the past than in what he does know
of the present. In the very limitation of outlook, in the choice of
incident and arrangement of perspective, the narrative of distant
events reveals the state of culture of Merovingian Gaul in Gregory’s
day. Hence, for the history of thought and society, the poorest part
of Gregory’s work ranks in importance with the best.
It might be urged that the one solution for these editorial problems
would be to offer a translation of the whole of Gregory’s work. But
this, aside from the cost of publication, seems too great a bulk
of text for all but special students of the period, who should in
any case go to the original. The student of European history in its
larger aspects, to whom one Childebert is like another, demands an
anthology; for he finds the text so crowded with similar incidents
that he is likely not only to lose the thread of the narrative but
also to fail to appreciate the sections most significant for his
own purpose. In the circumstances, a middle course has been taken.
The chapters omitted are summarized and in cases where they contain
any items of special interest sections of them have been quoted in
the summary. This work of excision and condensation has been made
with the ever-present sense of the protest sure to come from the
medievalist when he sees the work of desecration at last accomplished
which Gregory himself so sadly feared, and upon the authors of which
he called down the wrath of Heaven throughout all eternity, in the
forceful words on page 247 of this translation. It is only to be
hoped that a new social value--which anthropologists tell us is the
basis of the sacred--may justify the sacrilege.
With reference to the text itself, the translator has attempted
to follow the original as faithfully as possible. It is difficult
to render into another language Gregory’s combination of literary
qualities, the chief of which are vigor, crudity, and a frequent
affectation of literary style; but this, we believe, Dr. Brehaut has
succeeded in accomplishing in a marked degree. There are chapters
which have the charm of Froissart, swift in motion and tinged with
romance; but the most romantic figure of all is the bishop of Tours
himself, whose quaint but shrewd outlook penetrates the whole; and
this impression of subjectivity the present version seeks to convey.
In addition to the text of the _History of the Franks_, the volume
contains some extracts from Gregory’s _Eight Books of Miracles_ and a
short apparatus of notes and aids for further study.
J. T. S.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix
HISTORY OF THE FRANKS--Selections:
Book I 1