The Chronicle of Fredegar (3.24) describes how King Clovis gave gifts to the churches of *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050) and *Hilary (bishop of Poitiers, ob. 367, S00183) after his victory over the Visigoths at the battle of Vouillé in 507. This part of Fredegar's text is based on Gregory of Tours' Histories, but includes material not in Gregory. Written in Latin in Gaul/Francia, 659/700.
Evidence ID
E05955
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Chronicle of Fredegar 3.24
Multis muneribus ecclesia sancti Marthini et sancti Helariae ditavit, quorum fultus auxilio haec cernitur implisse.
'He [Clovis] enriched the churches of St Martin and St Hilary with many gifts, because he seemed to have relied on their aid to achieve these things.'
Text: Krusch 1888, 102.
Translation: David Lambert.
Cult Places
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
MiraclesMiraculous interventions in war
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Source
The work known as the Chronicle of Fredegar dates from the second half of the 7th century. There is a long history of controversy over the questions of how many authors were involved in its compilation and precisely when they worked, but the current consensus is that it was produced by a single author working in one of the Frankish kingdoms at some point after 659 (Collins 1996, 83, 91-96).Book 3 consists of an epitomised version of the first six books of Gregory of Tours' Histories, but with interpolated material that is not in Gregory.
Discussion
This sentence in the Chronicle of Fredegar corresponds to a sentence in Gregory, Histories 2.37 (E02032), but Gregory refers only to Clovis giving gifts to the church of St Martin, not also to that of St Hilary. The explicit observation that Clovis seemed to have achieved his victory through the saints' aid is also an addition by Fredegar, though the same message is implicit in Gregory's account.Bibliography
Edition:Krusch, B., Chronicarum quae dicuntur Fredegarii Scholastici libri IV cum continutationibus, in: Fredegarii et aliorum chronica. Vitae sanctorum (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 2; Hannover 1888), 18-193.
Further reading:
Collins, R., "Fredegar," in: P.J. Geary (ed.), Authors of the Middle Ages: Historical and Religious Writers of the Latin West, vol. 4, nos. 12-13 (Aldershot, 1996), 73-138.
Record Created By
David Lambert
Date of Entry
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00050 | Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397 | Marthinus | Certain | S00183 | Hilarius/Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, ob. 367 | Helarius | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E05955 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05955