[BR] P. 99, l. 29. This omen pointed to Sigibert’s death.
[BS] P. 100, l. 20 f. The idea of conveying property by will was foreign to the Franks and was not received into their law, which regarded the family rather than the individual. On the other hand conveying property by will was a regular practice among the Gallo-Roman population. The church was often made a legatee, a practice due in part to the desire to have its interest involved in the carrying out of the will. Therefore in the conflicts that arose in regard to succession to property the interests of the church and of the state were naturally opposed.
[BT] P. 105, l. 35. Orosius, V, 8.
[BU] P. 106, l. 13. After Clothar’s death in 561 Charibert I became master of Tours. When he died in 567 Tours was allotted to Sigibert, who had however to drive Clovis, son of Chilperic, away before he took possession. In 573 Chilperic again took possession but was obliged to retire. Sigibert then held the city until his death in 575, after which Chilperic took it and held it to 584, when it passed into the hands of Gunthram and after three years, by the treaty of Andelot, into those of Childebert II.
[BV] P. 106, l. 15. Merovech’s mother was Audovera (p. [90]).
[BW] P. 108, l. 9. Theodobert, son of Chilperic and Audovera. Gregory tells us nothing of the manner of his death. Cf. pp. [90], [114-118].
[BX] P. 108, l. 21. The nails were probably large spikes. Iron was scarce and the people of Mans could make use of it in many ways, especially for making knives. It may be remembered in this connection how the barbarians tore out the clamps which the Roman masons used to hold the stones together, as in the case of the Porta Nigra at Trèves.
[BY] P. 108, l. 31. St. Martin’s church was “550 paces” from the city of Tours (p. [36]). Each of these “paces” is 4 ft. 10.248 in. and the whole distance slightly over half a mile.
[BZ] P. 108, l. 25. Regio morbo, jaundice.
[CA] P. 109, l. 3 f. Felix was bishop of Nantes from 549 to 583. He was the builder of a large church and undertook embankment improvements on the Loire in Nantes. His relations with Gregory appear to have been usually bad. Cf. pp. [76], [154-5]. For poems addressed to Felix by Fortunatus see Carmina, III, 4-10; V, 7 (edition by Leo in Mon. Germ. Hist.).