DLH VI.45

English, pp.

On 1 September a great embassy of Visigoths came to see King Chilperic. He took up residence in Paris once more. Then he ordered a great number of families of serfs to be rounded up from various royal estates and carted off in wagons. They wept bitterly and refused to go. He had them guarded closely, ready for the day when he could send them abroad with his daughter Rigunth. They say that quite a few of the serfs banged themselves in their distress, dreading to be carried off from those near and dear to them. Sons were torn from fathers, mothers were separated from daughters. They parted with groans and curses, mourning in the city of Paris could only be compared with that in Egypt. Quite a few of them were of good birth. Those who were forced to emigrate made their wills, leaving all their property to the churches and stipulating that, as soon as it was known that the Princess had reached Spain, these wills should be acted upon at once, as if they themselves were dead and buried.

Meanwhile envoys from King Childebert came to Paris, warning King Chilperic to remove nothing from the cities which he had taken from his brother's kingdom and forbidding him to dare to lay a finger on any slaves, or horses, or pairs of bulls or anything else of that sort. They say that one of these envoys was murdered in secret, but no one knows by whom, although suspicion turned on the King. Chilperic promised that he would touch none of these things. He invited the Frankish leaders and all his loyal subjects to celebrate the engagement of his daughter. Then he handed her over to the Visigothic envoys, providing her with a tremendous dowry. Her mother added a vast weight of gold and silver, and many fine clothes. When he saw this, King Chilperic thought that he had nothing left at all. Queen Fredegund realized that he was upset. She turned to the Franks and said: 'Do not imagine, men, that any of this comes from the treasures amassed by your earlier kings. Everything you see belongs to me. Your most illustrious King has been very generous to me, and I have put aside quite a bit from my own resources, from the manors granted to me, and from revenues and taxes. You, too, have often given me gifts. From such sources come all the treasures which you see in front of you. None of it has been taken from the public treasury.' The King calmed down when he heard this. There was such a vast assemblage of objects that the gold, silver and other precious things filled fifty carts. The Franks themselves all brought wedding-presents, gold, silver, horses and clothing, each giving according to his means. At length the time came for the Princess to say good-bye. The tears streamed down her face as she kissed her parents. As she drove through the city gate, one of the axles of her carriage broke. 'An unlucky omen!' people muttered, for some saw it as poor promise for the future.

As she left Paris, Rigunth ordered her tents to be pitched by the eighth milestone. That night fifty of her escort got up, stole a hundred of the best horses, with their golden bridles, and two great salvers as well, and slipped away in flight to King Cbildebert. All the way along the route anyone who saw the chance of escaping made off, taking with him whatsoever he could Jay his hands on. Vast supplies were stockpiled along the road, at the expense of the cities through which they passed. The King made no provision whatsoever from the public purse, everything being requisitioned from the poor inhabitants. Chilperic had a suspicion that his brother or his nephew might set an ambush for his daughter, so be ordered her to be escorted by a force of soldiery. Many men of great distinction went with her: Duke Bobo, the son of Mummolen, who was to give away the bride, took his wife with him; Domigisel, Ansovald and Waddo, rnajor-domo of the Princess's household and onetime Count of Saintes, also went; and there were more than four thousand ordinary folk. All the other dukes and chamberlains who had set out with Rigunth turned back at Poitiers; but those whom I have mentioned, who were to complete the journey, pressed on as best they could. As they advanced they robbed and plundered to an extent which beggars all description. They stole from the cottages of the poor, ruined the vineyards by cutting off whole branches with the grapes hanging on them, made off with the cattle and took everything they could lay their hands on, leaving desolation along the roads where they passed.

Thus was the saying of the prophet Joel fulfilled: 'That which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten; and that which the caterpillar hath left hath the blight eaten.' What actually happened at this time was as if a great storm blew down what the hoar-frost left, and a drought burned up what the great storm left and then a hostile army carried off what the drought left.

Latin, pp.

45. De nuptiis Rigunthae, filiae Chilperici.

Interim advenientibus Kalendis Septembribus, Gothorum magna legatio ad regem Chilpericum accedit. Ipse vero iam regressus Parisius, familias multas de domibus fiscalibus auferre praecepit et in plaustris conponi; multus quoque flentes et nolentes abire in custodia retrudi iussit, ut eos facilius cum filia transmittere possit. Nam ferunt, multos sibi ob hanc amaritudinem vitam laqueo extorsisse, dum de parentibus propriis auferre metuebant. Separabatur autem filius a patre, mater a filia, et cum gravi gemitu ac maledictionibus discedebant; tantusque planctus in urbe Parisiaca erat, ut plancto conpararetur Aegyptio. Multi vero meliores natu, qui vi conpellebantur abire, testamenta condiderunt, resque suas eclesiis depotantes atque petentes, ut, cum in Hispaniis puella introisset, statim testamenta illa, tamquam si iam essent sepulti, reserarentur. Interea legati regis Childeberthi Parisius advenerunt, contestantes Chilperico rege, ut nihil de civitatibus, quas de regno patris sui tenebat, auferret aut de thesauris eius in aliquo filiam muneraret ac non mancipia, non equites, non iuga bovum neque aliquid huiuscemodi de his auderet adtingere. De quibus legatis unum ferunt clam interemptum, sed nescitur a quo; suspicio tamen vertebatur ad regem. Promittens vero Chilpericus rex nihil de his contingere, convocatis melioribus Francis reliquisque fidelibus, nuptias celebravit filiae suae. Traditamque legatis Gothorum, magnus ei thesaurus dedit. Sed et mater eius inmensum pondus auri argentique sive vestimentorum protulit, ita ut videns haec rex nihil sibi remansisse potaret. Quem cernens regina commotum, conversa ad Francus, ita ait: 'Ne potitis, viri, quicquam hic de thesauris anteriorum regum habere; omnia enim quae cernetis de mea proprietate oblata sunt, quia mihi gloriosissimus rex multa largitus est, et ego nonnulla de proprio congregavi labore et de domibus mihi concessis tam de fructibus quam tributis plurima reparavi. Sed et vos plerumque me muneribus vestris ditastis, de quibus sunt ista quae nunc coram videtis; nam hic de thesauris publicis nihil habetur'. Et sic animus regis dilusus est. Nam tanta fuit multitudo rerum, ut aurum argentumque vel reliqua ornamenta quinquaginta plaustra levarent. Franci vero multa munera obtulerunt, alii aurum, alii argentum, nonnulli equites, plerique vestimenta, et unusquisque ut potuit donativum dedit. Iam vero vale faciens puella post lacrimas et oscola, cum de porta egrederetur, uno carrucae effracto axe, omnes 'Mala hora' dixerunt; quod a quibusdam pro auspicio susceptum est. Denique haec de Parisius progressa, octavo ab urbe miliario tenturia figi praecepit. Surgentes enim quinquaginta viri de nocte, adpraehensis centum equitibus optimis totidemque frenis aureis ac duobus catenis magnis, ad Childeberthum regem fuga dilapsi abierunt. Sed et per totum iter cum labi quis potuisset, effugiebat, ferens secum quae arripere potuisset. Apparatus quoque magnus expense de diversis civitatibus in itenere congregatus est; in quo nihil de fisco suo rex dare praecepit, nisi omnia de pauperum coniectures. Sed quoniam suspicio erat regi, ne frater aut nepus aliquas insidias puellae in via pararent, vallatam ab exercitu pergere iussit. Erant autem cum ea viri magnifici Bobo dux, filius Mummolini, cum uxore, quasi paranymphus, Domigysilus et Ansovaldus, maior domus autem Waddo, qui olim Sanctonicum rexerat comitatum; reliquum vero vulgus super quattuor milia erat. Ceteri autem duces et camararii, qui cum ea properaverant, de Pectavo regressi sunt; isti vero iter conficientes, pergebant ut poterant. Per quam via tanta spolia tantaequae praedae factae sunt, ut vix valeant enarrare. Nam hospiciola pauperum spoliabant, vineas devastabant, ita ut incisis codicibus cum uvis auferrent, levantes pecora vel quicquid invenire potuissent, nihil per viam quam gradiebantur relinquentes; impletumque est quod dictum est per Iohel propheta: Residuum locustae comedit erugae, et residuum erucae comedit brucus, et residuum bruci comedit rubigo. Ita et hoc actum est tempore, ut residuum proinae proteriret tempestas et residuum tempestatis exuriret siccitas et residuum siccitatis auferret hostilitas.