[3. The alliance between Chilperic and Childebert is confirmed and they agree to take Gunthram’s kingdom away from him.]

4. Now Lupus, duke of Champagne, had long been continually harassed and plundered by his enemies and especially by Ursio and Bertefred. And at length they made an agreement to kill him and they marched against him. But queen Brunhilda heard of it, and grieving at the unjust attacks on her loyal supporter she armed herself like a man and rushed into the midst of the opposing forces and cried: “Do not, O warriors, do not do this evil; do not attack the innocent; do not for one man engage in a battle which will destroy the welfare of the district.” Ursio answered her: “Leave us, woman; let it suffice for you to have ruled under your husband; but now your son rules and his kingdom will be maintained not by your support but by ours. Leave us or our horses’ hooves will trample you to the earth.” When they had continued such talk as this a long time the queen’s determination that they should not fight prevailed. However, on leaving that locality they burst into Lupus’s houses, seized all his property and took it home, pretending they were going to place it in the king’s treasury, and they threatened Lupus and said: “He will never escape alive from our hands.” Lupus saw he was in danger and, placing his wife in safety within the walls of the city of Laon, he fled to king Gunthram, and being welcomed by him he remained in hiding, waiting till Childebert should come of age.

5. While king Chilperic was still at the villa mentioned above, he directed his baggage to be moved and made arrangements to go to Paris. And when I went to see him to say good-by, a certain Jew named Priscus came in who was on friendly terms with him and helped him buy costly articles. The king took him by the hair in a gentle way and said to me: “Come, bishop of God, and lay your hands on him.” But he struggled and the king said to him: “O obstinate-minded and ever disbelieving race, which does not recognize the Son of God promised to it by the voices of its prophets and does not recognize the mysteries of the church prefigured in its own sacrifices.” To these words the Jew replied: “God never married nor was blessed with offspring nor allowed any one to share his power, but he said by the mouth of Moses: ‘See, see that I am the Lord and except me there is no God. I shall kill and I shall make alive; I shall wound and I shall heal.’”[59] … Although I said this and more, the wretched man felt no remorse and refused to believe. Then when he was silent and the king saw that he was not conscience stricken because of my words, he turned to me and asked to receive my blessing that he might depart. He said: “I will say to you, bishop, what Jacob said to the angel, for he said to him, ‘I will not let you go until you bless me.’” So saying he ordered water brought for our hands. After washing them we prayed, and taking bread I thanked God and took it myself and offered it to the king, and after a draught of wine I said farewell and left. And the king mounted his horse and returned to Paris with his wife and daughter and all his household.

6. There was at this time in the city of Nice a recluse Hospicius who was very abstemious. He wore iron chains next his body and over these a hair shirt and ate nothing but plain bread with a few dates. And during Lent he lived on roots of Egyptian herbs such as the hermits use, which were brought to him by traders. First he would drink the soup in which they were cooked and eat the roots next day. The Lord did not disdain to work great miracles through him. For at one time the Holy Spirit revealed to him the coming of the Lombards into the Gauls and he foretold it as follows: “The Lombards,” said he, “will come into the Gauls and will lay waste seven cities because their wickedness has grown in the sight of God, since no one understands, no one seeks God, no one does good to appease the anger of God. For all the people are unfaithful, given up to perjury, addicted to thievery, ready to kill, and from them comes no fruit of justice at all. Tithes are not paid, the poor are not fed, the naked are not clothed, strangers are not received with hospitality or satisfied with food. Therefore this affliction has come. And now I say to you: ‘Gather all your substance within the inclosure of the walls that the Lombards may not take it, and fortify yourselves in the strongest places.’” At these words all stood gaping and they said good-by and returned home with great admiration. He also said to the monks: “You, too, depart from the place and take with you what you have. For behold, the people I have named draw near.” But when they replied: “We will not leave you, most holy father,” he said to them: “Don’t fear for me; for they will offer me insults but they will not harm me unto death.” The monks went away and that people came and laying waste all they found, they came to the place where the holy recluse of God was. And he showed himself to them at the window of the tower. They went all round the tower but could find no entrance by which they could come to him.[DD] Then two climbed up and pulled the roof off, and seeing him bound with chains and clad in a hair shirt they said: “Here is a malefactor who has killed a man and therefore is kept bound in these fetters.” They called an interpreter and asked him what crime he had committed to be so confined in punishment. And he confessed that he was a homicide and guilty of all crime. Then one of them drew his sword to strike at his head, but his lifted right arm stiffened in the very act of striking and he could not draw it back to him. He let go the sword and let it fall on the ground. Seeing this, his comrades raised a shout to heaven begging the saint to declare to them kindly what they were to do. And he made the sign of salvation and restored the arm to health. The man was converted on the spot and received the tonsure and is now reckoned a most faithful monk. And two dukes who listened to him returned safe to their native place but those who despised his command perished wretchedly in the province. Many of them were seized with demons and cried: “Why, holy and blessed one, do you so torture and burn us?” And he laid his hand on them and cured them. After this there was a man of Angers who in a severe fever had lost both speech and hearing, and when he got better of the fever he continued deaf and dumb. Now a deacon was sent from that province to Rome to obtain relics of the blessed apostles and other saints who protect that city. And when he came to this infirm person’s relatives they begged him to take him as a companion on the journey, believing that if he reached the tombs of the blessed apostles he would forthwith be cured. They went on their way and came to the place where the blessed Hospicius lived. After greeting and kissing him, the deacon told the purpose of his journey and said he was starting for Rome and asked the holy man to recommend him to ship-captains who were friends of his. And while he was still staying there the blessed man felt that power was in him through the spirit of the Lord. And he said to the deacon: “I beg you to bring to my sight the infirm person who is the companion of your journey.” The deacon made no delay but went swiftly to his lodging and found the infirm person full of fever, and he indicated by signs that there was a humming in his ears. The deacon seized him and led him to the saint of God. The holy man took hold of his hair and drew his head into the window, and taking oil that had been blessed, he took hold of his tongue with his left hand and poured the oil in his mouth and on the top of his head, saying: “In the name of my lord Jesus Christ let your ears be opened and let that power which once drove a wicked demon from a deaf and dumb man open your lips.” Having said this, he asked him his name, and he answered in a clear voice: “I am called so-and-so.” When the deacon saw this he said: “I give thee endless thanks, Jesus Christ, who deignest to work such miracles by thy servant. I was seeking Peter, I was seeking Paul and Laurence and the others who made Rome glorious with their blood; here I have found them all, I have discovered every one.” As he was saying this with loud weeping and great admiration the man of God, wholly intent on avoiding vanity, said: “Be silent, beloved brother, it is not I who do this, but he who created the universe out of nothing, who took on man for our sake, and gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb; who bestowed on lepers the skin they had before, on the dead life, and on all the infirm abundant healing.” Then the deacon said farewell and departed rejoicing with his comrades. When they had gone a certain Dominic—​this was the man’s name—​who had been blind from birth, came to prove his miraculous power, and when he had dwelt in the monastery two or three months praying and fasting, at length the man of God called him to him and said: “Do you wish to recover your sight?” And he replied: “I wish to know a thing unknown. For I do not know what the light is. Only one thing I know, that it is praised by men. But I have not deserved to see from the beginning of my life until now.” Then he made the holy cross over his eyes with oil that had been blessed and said: “In the name of Jesus Christ our redeemer let your eyes be opened.” And at once his eyes were opened and he wondered and contemplated the great works of God which he saw in this world. Then a certain woman who, as she herself asserted, had three demons, was brought to him. And he blessed her with a sacred touch and made the cross in holy oil on her forehead and the demons were driven out and she departed cleansed. Moreover he cured by his blessing a girl who was vexed with an unclean spirit. And when the day of his death was drawing nigh he summoned the prior of the monastery and said: “Bring iron tools to open the wall and send messengers to the bishop of the city to come and bury me. For on the third day I shall depart from this world and go to the appointed rest which the Lord has promised me.” Upon this the prior sent messengers to the bishop of Nice to carry this word. After this one Crescens went to his window and seeing him bound with chains and full of worms[DE] he said: “O my master, how can you bear such tortures so bravely?” And he replied: “He comforts me in whose name I suffer this. For I tell you that I am now freed from these bonds and am going to my rest.” When the third day came he laid aside the chains by which he was bound and prostrated himself in prayer, and after he had prayed and wept a long time he lay down on a bench and stretched out his feet and raised his hands to heaven and thanked God and died. And immediately all the worms that were boring through his holy limbs disappeared. And bishop Austadius came and most carefully placed the blessed body in the grave. All these things I learned from the lips of the very deaf and dumb man who as I related above was healed by him. He told me many other miracles of his but I have been kept from describing them by the fact that I have been told that his life has been written by many persons.

[7. The bishops of Uzès.]

8. Ebarchius died also, a recluse of Angoulême, a man of great holiness through whom God did many miracles, and leaving out most of them I will tell briefly of a few. He was a native of Perigueux, but after his conversion he entered the clergy and went to Angoulême and built a cell for himself. There he gathered a few monks and prayed continually, and if any gold or silver was offered to him he would pay it out for the necessities of the poor or to ransom captives. No bread was baked in that cell while he lived but was brought in by the devout when it was needed. He ransomed a great number of people from the offerings of the devout. He often cured the poison of malignant pimples by the sign of the cross and by prayer drove demons out from the bodies that they possessed and with his charming manner often rather ordered than requested judges to spare the guilty. For he was so attractive in his address that they could not deny him when he asked a favor. On one occasion a prisoner who was vehemently accused by the inhabitants of many crimes, both thefts and homicides, was to be hanged for theft, and when this was reported to Ebarchius he sent his monk to entreat the judge to grant life to the guilty man. But since the throng insulted the judge and cried loudly that if he were let go it would be good neither for the country nor the judge, the prisoner could not be let go. Meanwhile he was stretched on the wheel, beaten with rods and clubs and condemned to the gallows. And when the monk sadly brought the news to the abbot he said: “Go, wait at a distance, for, be assured, the Lord will grant us of his own gift what man has refused. When you see him fall, take him and bring him at once to the monastery.” The monk went about his bidding and Ebarchius threw himself down in prayer and wept and poured forth prayers to God until, the bar and chains being broken, the hanged man should be placed on the ground. Then the monk took him and brought him safe and well to the abbot. And he thanked God and ordered the count summoned and said to him: “You were always used to hear me kindly, beloved son, and why did you harden yourself to-day and refuse to let the man go whose life I asked for?” He replied: “I would willingly heed you, sacred priest, but the people rose and I could do nothing else for fear of a rebellion.” The recluse answered: “You did not heed me, but God deigned to heed me, and he restored to life the one whom you gave to death. Behold,” said he, “he stands alive before you.” As he said this the man threw himself at the feet of the count who was astonished that he saw living one whom he left dead. This I heard from the lips of the count himself. Moreover he did many other miracles which I have thought it tedious to relate. After forty-four years as a recluse he contracted a fever and died. He was taken forth from his cell and buried. And a great assembly of those he had ransomed, as we have said, followed his funeral.

9. Domnolos, bishop of Mans, began to sicken. In the time of king Clothar he had been in charge of the monks at the church of St. Laurence in Paris. But as he had always been faithful to king Clothar while the older Childebert was still living and often concealed his messengers when sent to spy, the king was awaiting an opportunity to make him bishop. When the bishop of Avignon passed away he had purposed to appoint him there. But the blessed Domnolus heard of this and came to the church of St. Martin where king Clothar had then come for prayer, and after spending a whole night in watching, he sent a hint to the king through the leading men who were there not to remove him far from the king’s sight like a captive and not to permit a man of his straightforward character to be worn out among sophistical senators and philosophizing judges,[DF] saying this was a place of humiliation for him rather than of honor. To this the king assented, and when Innocentius bishop of Mans died he appointed him as bishop of that church. When he had reached this honor he conducted himself so that he rose to the summit of holiness and restored the power of walking to a lame man and sight to one who was blind. After twenty-two years in his episcopate he perceived that he was greatly worn out with the king’s evil and gout and he selected the abbot Theodulf for his place. The king assented to his desire but not long after changed his mind, and the election was given to Batechisil the king’s major domo.[DG] He received the tonsure, went through the grades of the clergy in forty days, and when the bishop passed away he succeeded him.

10. In these days thieves broke into St. Martin’s church. They placed a railing which was on the tomb of a dead man at a window of the apse and climbing up by it they broke the glass and entered; and taking a great quantity of gold and silver and silken cloths they went off, not fearing to set foot on the holy tomb where we scarcely dare to touch our lips. But the saint’s power made this foolhardy deed known by a terrible judgment. For after committing the crime they went to the city of Bordeaux and a quarrel arose and one killed the other; and thus their deed was found out and their theft was revealed, and the broken silver and the cloths were taken from their lodging. When this was reported to king Chilperic he ordered them to be bound and brought into his presence. Then I was afraid that men would die because of him who in his lifetime in the body often prayed for the lives of the lost, and sent the king a letter of entreaty not to put these men to death since we to whom prosecution belonged did not accuse them. And he received my request with kindness and restored them to life. And the valuable articles which had been scattered he collected very carefully and ordered them sent back to the holy place.

[11. Dinamius, governor of Provence, and Theodore, bishop of Marseilles, quarrel. Childebert supports Theodore and Gunthram Dinamius. 12. Chilperic takes advantage of the quarrel and seizes Perigueux, Agen, and a number of other cities belonging to Gunthram.]

13. Lupus, a citizen of Tours, having lost wife and children, desired to enter the clergy but was prevented by his brother Ambrose who was afraid that he would leave his property to the church of God if he were joined to it. Ambrose, persuading him to his harm, provided him with another wife and appointed the day to meet to give the betrothal gifts. Then they went together to the town of Chinon where they had a dwelling. But Ambrose’s wife being an adulteress and loving another with the love of a lewd woman and hating her husband, made a plot for him. And when these brothers had feasted together and had drunk wine in the night until they were intoxicated, they lay down on the same bed. Then the adulterer came in the night when all were sleeping heavily because of the wine and setting fire to the straw in order to see what he was doing, he drew his sword and struck Ambrose on the head so that the sword went in at his eyes and cut the pillow in two beneath his head. Lupus was aroused by the blow and finding himself wallowing in blood, he called in a loud voice saying: “Alas, alas! Help; my brother is killed.” But the adulterer who had committed the deed and was now going off, heard this and returned to the bed and attacked Lupus. Although he resisted he was wounded many times, and overwhelmed and given a mortal stroke and left half dead. But no one of the household knew of it. In the morning all were amazed at such a crime. Lupus however was found to be still alive and after telling the story as it occurred, he died. But the harlot did not take a long time to mourn. In a few days she joined her adulterer and departed.