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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


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 Activity

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Miracles

Miraculous interventions in war

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Monarchs 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

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00050Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397MarthinusCertain
S00183Hilarius/Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, ob. 367HelariusCertain


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