Record | The Cult of Saints

Gregory of Tours, Histories (Historiae) 10.19

Adfuit et abba Epifanius basilicae sancti Remegii, dicens, quod duo milia aureorum speciesque multas pro conservanda regis Chilperici amicitia accepisset.

'Then Epiphanius, the Abbot of the church of Saint Remigius, appeared and gave evidence that Egidius had received two thousand pieces of gold and many other sums of money to encourage him to maintain friendship with King Chilperic.'

Gregory later states that when Egidius was convicted, Epiphanius was deposed from his position as abbot.

Text: Krusch and Levison 1951, 512.
Translation: Thorpe 1974, 578-579, lightly modified.

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - abbots

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

Bishop Egidius of Reims (PCBE 4, 'Egidius 2') was suspected of being implicated in a plot to overthrow and kill King Childebert. As a result, he was eventually deposed from his see, put on trial, and exiled (Gregory, Histories 10.19). The incident with Epiphanius takes place during his trial. For another reference to the church of Remigius at Reims in relation to Egidius, see E02335.

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.

Vieillard-Troiekouroff, M., Les monuments religieux de la Gaule d'après les œuvres de Grégoire de Tours (Paris, 1976).

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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

E07786

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Gregory of Tours

Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic

Ecclesiastics - abbots

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

David Lambert

24/10/2019

E07786

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Gregory of Tours

Cult building - independent (church) Cult building - monastic

Ecclesiastics - abbots

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

David Lambert

24/10/2019

Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - monastic