Various authors: Monumenta Varia ad Historiam Francorum

This appendix, printed with the works of Gregory of Tours, gathers 39 documents illustrating the history of Gaul and the early Franks. It opens with Pope Damasus’s verse inscription for the tomb of the martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria and the inscription of Pope Honorius in the apse of Saint Pancras. There follow the testament of Perpetuus, bishop of Tours, and his epitaph, the epitaph of Saint Abraham, a letter of Theoderic to Clovis congratulating him on his victory over the Alemanni, excerpts from Avitus of Vienne’s letter to Clovis, an account of a debate of bishops before King Gundobad, and letters of Saint Remigius to Clovis. The middle passage asks Clovis to release Roman captives taken by the Frankish army.

The documents collected here are among the most important contemporary sources for the world described by Gregory of Tours, especially the reign of Clovis and his conversion. Letters such as those of Avitus and Remigius show how Gallo-Roman bishops addressed the new Frankish king, while the testament of Perpetuus is a rare example of a late Roman bishop’s will. Gathered together, they let readers check Gregory’s narrative against earlier witnesses.