Gregory of Tours: The Merovingians

by Alexander Callander Murray (Editor)

Overview

Georgius Florentius Gregorius, better known to posterity as Gregory, Bishop of Tours, was born about 538 to a highly distinguished Gallo-Roman family in Clermont in the region of Auvergne. Best known for his 10-book Histories (often called the History of the Franks), Gregory left us detailed accounts of his own times as well as those of the early Merovingian kings, known as the "long-haired kings," who united the Franks and took control of most of Gaul in the late fifth and early sixth century. Although he is one of the most important historians of pre-modern times, the complex, apparently disconnected, elements of Gregory's work are often difficult for today's readers to understand. This selected, new translation is composed of extensive sections from Books II to X and follows in a connected narrative the political events of the Histories from the appearance of the first Merovingian kings, Merovech, Childeric, and Clovis to the last years of the reigns of Guntram and Childebert II in the late sixth century. This book is designed to introduce new readers, and even experienced ones, to the political world (secular and ecclesiastical) of sixth-century Gaul and to provide an up-to-date guide to reading the bishop of Tours' fascinating account of his times.

Included in this volume are twenty-one drawings by Jean-Paul Laurens, a nineteenth-century French historical artist and interpreter of the Merovingians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442604148
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	12/01/2005
Series:	Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures , #10
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Alexander Callander Murray is a member of the Department of History and Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, where he teaches at the Erindale Campus. He is author of Germanic Kinship Structure: Studies in Law and Society in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (1983), editor of After Rome's Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History (1998), and has written articles on Merovingian administration and office-holding, and on the dating of Beowulf.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
List of Genealogies
List of Maps
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
Note on the Drawings of Jean-Paul Laurens
Bibliography

Part I: From Merovech to Clovis

1. Origins of the Merovingian Kingdom (Book II )

Part II: The Kingdom of the Franks, a. 511–575

2. From the Death of Clovis to the Death of Chlothar I, a. 511-561 (Books III–IV)
3. From the Division of Chlothar’s Kingdom to the Death of Sigibert I, a. 561-575 (Book IV)

Part III: The Reign of Childebert II, a. 576–591

4. Succession of Childebert II and the Demise of Royal Cousins, a. 576-580 (Book V)
5. From the Treaty of Nogent to the Death of Chilperic, a. 581-Fall 584 (Book VI)
6. Aftermath of Chilperic’s Death and the Revolt of Gundovald, Fall 584-Spring 585 (Book VII)
7. Aftermath of Gundovald’s Revolt, Summer 585-587 (Book VIII)
8. Revolt in Austrasia and the Fall of Egidius, August 587-591 (Books IX–X)

Epilogue and Postscripts
Appendix: The Merovingian Bishop
Genealogies
Maps
Index of Persons

What People are Saying About This

Bernard S. Bachrach

Alexander Murray, one of the world's leading specialists in Merovingian history, has provided an abridgement and excellent translation of Gregory's Ten Books along with a first-class introduction, and useful bibliography. The volume is completed by numerous study aids such as genealogies, high-quality maps, and a list of the civitates of Gaul. [... I strongly recommend Murray's volume as the best and most consistent translation, even if abridged, of Gregory's Ten Books, in any language with which I am familiar. With the ancillary material provided by Murray, this volume is a formidable teaching tool.

— Bernard S. Bachrach, University of Toronto Quarterly

Walter Goffart

With a sure sense of the needs of the classroom, Murray presents a clear, idiomatic translation and adds just enough commentary to guide readers through the difficulties of the text.

— Walter Goffart, Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer in History, Yale University

Editorial Reviews

With a sure sense of the needs of the classroom, Murray presents a clear, idiomatic translation and adds just enough commentary to guide readers through the difficulties of the text.

—Walter Goffart, Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer in History, Yale University

Alexander Murray, one of the world's leading specialists in Merovingian history, has provided an abridgement and excellent translation of Gregory's Ten Books along with a first-class introduction, and useful bibliography. The volume is completed by numerous study aids such as genealogies, high-quality maps, and a list of the civitates of Gaul. [...] I strongly recommend Murray's volume as the best and most consistent translation, even if abridged, of Gregory's Ten Books, in any language with which I am familiar. With the ancillary material provided by Murray, this volume is a formidable teaching tool.

—Bernard S. Bachrach, University of Toronto Quarterly

From the Publisher