CHAPTER VI

THE EMPIRE AND THE FRANKS

 

We have become acquainted with the internal decline of the Empire from the death of Justinian to the fall of Maurice, we have followed the course of the wars with Persia and witnessed the depredations of the Avars and Slaves in the Balkan peninsula, and we have seen how the Lombards wrested half of the Italian peninsula from its Roman lords. We must now learn the little that is to be known of the relations of the Empire to the Merovingian kings of Gaul; and our evidence, although fragmentary, is quite sufficient to show not only that the Roman Empire still maintained its position as the first state in Europe, and that New Rome was regarded as the centre of civilization, but that the Merovingians still acknowledged a sort of theoretical relation of dependence on the Emperors.

Chlotar, son of Chlodwig, survived his brothers, and was sole king of Gaul for a short time before his death. He died in 561, and his four sons, Sigibert, Chilperic, Charibert, and Gunthramn, divided Gaul into four kingdoms, even as their father and uncles had divided it fifty years before after the death of Chlodwig. In 574 Sigibert, who ruled in Austrasia (formerly the kingdom of Theoderic), sent an embassy to Justin. The two envoys, Warmar a Frank and Firminus a Gallo-Roman of Auvergne, sailed to Constantinople, and were successful in obtaining from Justin what their master sought; what this was we are not informed. In the following year they returned to Gaul.

Some years later, probably at the end of 578 after the death of Justin, Chilperic sent ambassadors to New Rome. The object of this embassy was, I conjecture, to congratulate the new Emperor Tiberius on his accession. The ambassadors did not return to the court of Chilperic until the year 581; the delay seems to have been partly due to a shipwreck which they suffered near Agatha, on the coast of Spain. They brought back gold coins, each weighing no less than a pound, sent by the munificent Tiberius as a present to Chilperic. On the obverse was an image of the Emperor with the legend, round the edge, tiberii constantini perpetui avgusti, while on the reverse were represented a chariot and charioteer, with gloria romanorum. These coins and many other ornaments, which the envoys had brought, were shown by Chilperic to the historian Gregory of Tours.

It is remarkable that, while Chilperic and Sigibert thus maintained friendly relations with the Empire, we never hear of Gunthramn sending embassies to Constantinople. Now, the interests of Gunthramn and the interests of the lords of Austrasia collided. When Sigibert died, his son Childebert was a mere child, and his widow Brunhilda carried on the government. Brunhilda was a Visigothic princess, and had received a Roman education; she had, therefore, a leaning towards the Roman Empire, and maintained a friendly intercourse both with New Rome and with Old Rome. Gunthramn was not on good terms with his sister-in-law; presuming on the youth of his nephew and the rule of a woman, he had seized cities which had belonged to Sigibert, and was determined to retain them.

This then is the situation at the accession of Maurice. Brunhilda, the queen of Austrasia, is friendly to the Empire and at enmity with Gunthramn, the king of Burgundia, who maintains apparently no relations with the Empire. It is plain that it would be advantageous for Maurice to have a friend or a vassal in the south of Gaul instead of Gunthramn, and that such a change would also please Brunhilda. Accordingly, we are not surprised to find that both Maurice and Brunhilda support the enterprise of a pretender to wrest Burgundy from Gunthramn.

This pretender was named Gundovald, and he fancied himself, whether truly or not, to be the son of Chlotar I. He had been born in Gaul, carefully nurtured, and received a liberal education; his hair fell in tresses down his back, as it was worn by sons of kings; and he was presented by his mother to Childebert as the son of Chlotar, and therefore Childebert's nephew; "His father hates him", she said, "so do you take him, because he is your flesh". Then Chlotar sent a message to his brother demanding the boy, and Childebert did not refuse to send him. Gundovald's hair was shorn by the order of his reputed father, who repudiated the relationship. From this time until the death of Chlotar he supported himself by painting the walls and domes of sacred buildings. After the death of Chlotar he found a refuge with Charibert, whom he regarded as his brother. His hair grew long again, but, probably after Charibert's death, Sigibert summoned him to his court, and having caused him to be tonsured, sent him to Koln. Gundovald fled from Koln to Italy, where he was received by the exarch Narses, and married a wife, by whom he had two sons. From Italy he proceeded to Constantinople, where the Emperors Justin and Tiberius accorded him a kind welcome, and he abode there for several years, treated as a royal refugee.

Gunthramn Boso, a general of Gunthramn, king of Burgundy, arrived at Constantinople and informed Gundovald of the situation in Gaul. The only representatives of the house of Chlodwig were the childless Gunthramn, the child Childebert, and Chilperic, whose family was dying out. It seemed an excellent opportunity for Gundovald to claim a share in the heritage of his father Chlotar, and Boso invited him to return to Gaul: "Come", he said, "for all the chief men of the kingdom of King Childebert invite you, and no one has dared to breathe a word against you. For we know that you are the son of Chlotar, and there is left in Gaul none able to rule his kingdom, unless you come". Having assured himself of the good faith of Boso by exacting oaths from him in twelve different sanctuaries, and having bestowed gifts upon him, Gundovald set sail for Massilia, where he was received by the bishop Theodoras. Massilia nominally belonged to both Burgundy and Austrasia, but at this time Gunthramn's power was preponderant there. The sympathies of the bishop, however, were with Brunhilda and Childebert, and he therefore welcomed Gundovald, whom they had invited.

Although no Roman ships or Roman soldiers had accompanied Gundovald from Constantinople to support him in his attempt to establish himself on a throne in Gaul, yet there is no doubt that Maurice looked with favor on his enterprise, and assisted him with ample sums of money. He arrived at Massilia with large treasures, of which the perfidious Boso robbed him. Gunthramn of Burgundy considered the arrival of Boso due to a definite scheme on the part of the Roman Emperor to reduce the kingdom of the Franks under the imperial sway; and he arrested bishop Theodoras on the charge that he co-operated in this scheme by receiving the "stranger" Gundovald.

From Marseilles Gundovald proceeded to Avignon, where he was received by the Patrician Mummolus, who embraced his cause. But Boso, having betrayed the man whom he had invited to Gaul, and robbed him of his treasures, returned to his loyalty to Gunthramn, and led an army against Mummolus. The Burgundians, however, were vanquished, and Gundovald, who had withdrawn to an island on the sea-coast, returned to the city of Avignon. Two important dukes, Desiderius and Bladastes, embraced the pretender's cause; and after Chilperic's death, in 584, the arms of Gundovald and his supporters won many important towns in south-western Gaul, including Tolosa and Burdigala. But his success depended ultimately upon the support of Austrasia, and when Childebert made peace with Gunthramn the cause of Gundovald was lost. He was deserted by his adherents, and delivered by Mummolus into the hands of Gunthramn's army. Boso killed him by hurling a stone at his head, and his corpse was treated with contumely by the soldiers. Such was the end of the pretender Gundovald, who seems to have been commissioned by the Emperor Maurice to wrest southern Gaul from Gunthramn in somewhat the same way as the great Theodoric was commissioned by Zeno to wrest Italy from Odovacar.

The peace between Gunthramn and Childebert did not interfere with the relations between the court of Metz and the court of Byzantium. Maurice sought the help of the Austrasian forces against the Lombards of Italy, and for that purpose sent fifty thousand solidi to Childebert or Brunhilda. He also adopted Childebert as a son, even as Justinian had adopted Theudebert. Childebert crossed the Alps with a large army, but the Lombards hastened to submit themselves before he had time to strike a blow, and induced him with gifts and promises of loyalty to return to his kingdom. When Maurice heard that he had made peace with the Lombards he sent ambassadors to demand back the money from Childebert, who had not fulfilled his part of the bargain; but Childebert, confiding in his strength, did not even deign to reply.

No less than four times did the king of Austrasia, urged by the importunities of his "father" the Emperor Maurice, set forth against the lords of northern Italy, but each time he accomplished nothing. In the year 586, two years after his first expedition, the incessant demands of the imperial envoys that he should either perform his promise or repay the money, induced him to lead an army against Italy; but dissensions among the generals compelled him to return, probably before he had reached the Alps, and he made peace with Autharis, king of the Lombards, to whom he also promised his sister Chlotsuinda in marriage. But in 588 he promised the same lady to Reccared, king of the Goths, who had been converted recently to the Catholic faith, and determined once more to cross the Alps and co-operate with the exarch of Ravenna in driving the Lombards from Italy. This time the Lombards and Franks met in battle, and the forces of Childebert suffered a terrible defeat.

The letter of Maurice, in which he reproaches Childebert for his half-heartedness after this failure, is preserved, and Childebert again crossed the Alps in 590 with an army commanded by no fewer than twenty dukes. The fourth expedition was little more successful than the other three. The Romans failed to co-operate with the Franks; the Lombards diligently avoided hazarding a battle; and ultimately disease broke out in the army of Childebert, and compelled him to return to Transalpine Gaul.

But the question of warring together against the Lombards was not the only cause of the embassies which passed between the courts of New Rome and Austrasia. Childebert had a sister, Ingundis, who married Hermenigild, son of Leovigild, king of the Visigoths. Ingundis and her husband were adherents of the Catholic faith, and they both endured persecution at the hands of the Arian king. It was in vain that they placed themselves under the protection of the "Republic" in southern Spain; Leovigild captured Hermenigild and threw him into prison. Ingundis, with her infant son Athanagild, resolved to seek at New Rome the protection which the Republic could not afford her at Seville (Hispalis). She died on her journey, but Athanagild reached Byzantium and was reared as a Roman by the care of Maurice. What ultimately became of this Visigothic prince is not known, but in the year 590 we find his grandmother Brunhilda, herself originally a Visigothic princess, and his uncle Childebert begging Maurice to send the boy to Gaul. Maurice probably regarded him as a useful hostage for the loyalty of the Austrasian king; but though we have the letters of Brunhilda and Childebert concerning the restitution of Athanagild, the reply of Maurice has not been preserved. Childebert left no stone unturned to induce Maurice to comply with his wish. He wrote not only to Maurice himself, but to all the persons at Constantinople who possessed influence at court, including Paul the Emperor's father, Theodore the master of offices, John the quaestor, Magnus the curator (of the palace), Italica a patrician lady, Venantius a patrician. Moreover, Brunhilda wrote both to Maurice and to the Empress Anastasia. We have also the letters of Brunhilda and Childebert to Athanagild. All these epistles were carried to New Rome by ambassadors, of whom the spatharius Gripo seems to have been the chief, and the tone of this correspondence illustrates the lofty position which the Roman Emperor held in the eyes of the western nations. The majesty of the Imperator was still considered something far higher than all German royalties. Childebert's letter to Maurice begins thus: "The King Childebert to the glorious pious perpetual renowned triumphant Lord, ever Augustus, my father Maurice, Imperator." The Emperor, on the other hand, adopts the following form of address, which may be given in the original Latin:

"In nomine Domini nostri Dei Jesu Christi Imperator Caesar Flavius Mauritius Tiberius fidelis in Christo mansuetus maximus beneficus pacificus Alamannicus Goticus Anticus Alanicus Wandalicus Herulicus Gypedicus [Gepaedicus] Africus pius felix inclytus victor ac triumphator semper Augustus Childeberto viro glorioso regi Francorum."

Like Justin II, Maurice adopts all the pompous titles of his great predecessor Justinian; they were part of the inheritance. He is fully conscious that he is the greatest sovereign in Europe, or even in the world, and the kings of the West acknowledge that they owe him homage and deference as Roman Emperor. In the economy of the Empire the king of the Franks is only a vir gloriosus.