Gregory of Tours, in his Histories (5.5), describes how *Tetricus (bishop of Langres, ob. 568/573, S00044), appeared in a dream-vison to Pappolus, his unworthy successor as bishop of Langres, and struck him, leading to his death; AD 579/581. Written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 579/594.
E07758
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours, Histories (Historiae) 5.5
Anno octavo episcopatus sui, dum dioceses ac villas ecclesiae circuiret, quadam nocte dormienti apparuit beatus Tetricus vultu minaci. Cui ita: 'Quid tu', inquit, 'hic Pappole? Ut quid sedem meam polluis? Ut quid ecclesiam pervadis? Ut quid oves mihi creditas sic dispergis? Cede loco, relinque sedem, abscede longius a regione'. Et haec dicens, virgam quam habebat in manu pectori eius cum ictu valido inpulit. In quo ille evigilans, dum cogitat, quid hoc esset, ficta in loco illo defigitur ac dolore maximo cruciatur. Abhorret cibum potumque et mortem iam sibi proximam praestolatur. Quid plura? Tertia die, cum sanguinem ore proicerit, exspiravit; exinde elatus, Lingonas est sepultus.
'In the eighth year of his [Pappolus'] episcopate, when he was carrying out a visitation of his parishes and the villas belonging to his see, Saint Tetricus appeared before him one night as he slept. The Saint’s face was threatening and he said: "What are you doing here, Pappolus? Why do you befoul my diocese? Why do you rob the Church? Why do you scatter the flock which was entrusted to my care? Off with you, resign from your bishopric, leave this neighbourhood and go somewhere else far away!" As Tetricus said this he struck Pappolus a mighty blow on the chest with a staff which he held in his hand. Pappolus woke up. While he was wondering what all this meant, he had the impression that his chest had been pierced and he suffered excruciating pain. He could not bear the sight of food and drink, and he made ready for the death which he felt to be near. What more can I say? On the third day he vomited blood and died. He was carried to Langres and buried there.'
Text: Krusch and Levison 1951, 202.
Translation: Thorpe 1974, 262.
Miracle after death
Punishing miracle
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
Gregory of Tours wrote the Histories (Historiae) during his episcopate in Tours (573–594). They constitute the longest and most detailed historical work of the post-Roman West. Gregory's focus is Gaul under its Frankish kings, above all the territories of Tours and (to a lesser extent) Clermont, where he had been born and brought up. Much of his work tells of the years when, as bishop of an important see, he was himself centrally involved in Frankish politics. The Histories are often wrongly referred to as a History of the Franks. Although the work does contain a history of the rulers of Francia, it also includes much hagiographical material, and Gregory himself gave it the simple title the 'ten books of Histories' (decem libri historiarum), when he produced a list of his own writings (Histories 10.31).The Histories consist of ten books whose scope and contents differ considerably. Book 1 skims rapidly through world history, with biblical and secular material from the Creation to the death in AD 397 of Martin of Tours (Gregory’s hero and predecessor as bishop). It covers 5596 years. In Book 2, which covers 114 years, the focus moves firmly into Gaul, covering the years up to the death of Clovis in 511. Books 3 and 4, which cover 37 and 27 years respectively, then move fairly swiftly on, closing with the death of king Sigibert in 575. With Book 5, through to the final Book 10, the pace slows markedly, and the detail swells, with only between two and four years covered in each of the last six books, breaking off in 591. These books are organised in annual form, based on the regnal years of Childebert II (r. 575-595/6).
There continues to be much discussion over when precisely Gregory wrote specific parts of the Histories, though there is general agreement that none of it was written before 575 and, of course, none of it after Gregory's death, which is believed to have occurred in 594. Essentially, scholars are divided over whether Gregory wrote the Histories sequentially as the years from 575 unfolded, with little or no revision thereafter, or whether he composed the whole work over the space of a few years shortly before his death and after 585 (see Murray 2015 for the arguments on both sides). For an understanding of the political history of the time, and Gregory's attitude to it, precisely when the various books were written is of great importance; but for what he wrote about the saints, the precise date of composition is of little significance, because Gregory's attitude to saints, their relics and their miracles did not change significantly during his writing-life. We have therefore chosen to date Gregory's writing of our entries only within the broadest possible parameters: with a terminus post quem of 575 for the early books of the Histories, and thereafter the year of the events described, and a terminus ante quem of 594, set by Gregory's death.
(Bryan Ward-Perkins, David Lambert)
For general discussions of the Histories see:
Goffart, W., The Narrators of Barbarian History (A.D. 550–800): Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Bede, and Paul the Deacon (Princeton, 1988), 119–127.
Murray, A.C., "The Composition of the Histories of Gregory of Tours and Its Bearing on the Political Narrative," in: A.C. Murray (ed.), A Companion to Gregory of Tours (Leiden and Boston, 2015), 63–101.
Pizarro, J.M., "Gregory of Tours and the Literary Imagination: Genre, Narrative Style, Sources, and Models in the Histories," in: Murray, A Companion to Gregory of Tours, 337–374.
Discussion
The chronological evidence for the episcopates of Tetricus, Pappolus, and Pappolus' successor Mummolus, indicates that Pappolus died in the period 579/581 (Pietri and Heijmans 2013, 1419-1420, 'Pappolus 6').For another moment when Tetricus appeared in a dream-vision see E07780.
Bibliography
Edition:Krusch, B., and Levison, W., Gregorii episcopi Turonensis Libri historiarum X (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum I.1; 2nd ed.; Hannover, 1951).
Translation:
Thorpe, L., Gregory of Tours, The History of the Franks (Penguin Classics; London, 1974).
Further reading:
Murray, A.C., "The Composition of the Histories of Gregory of Tours and Its Bearing on the Political Narrative", in: A.C. Murray (ed.), A Companion to Gregory of Tours (Leiden-Boston 2015), 63-101.
Pietri, L. and Heijmans, M., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4 Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614), 2 vols. (Paris 2013).
David Lambert
24/10/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00044 | Tetricus, bishop of Langres, ob. 568/573 | Tetricus | Certain |
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