Book 4

Chapter XXVII.

Gaidoald duke of Tridentum (Trent) and Gisulf of Forum Julii (Friuli), who were previously separated by strife from the companionship of king Agilulf, were taken back by him this year in peace. [1] Then also was the above-named boy Adaloald, the son of king Agilulf, baptized in St. John in Modicia (Monza) [2] and was received from the font [3] by Secundus of Trent, a servant of Christ of whom we have often made mention.[4] The day of the Easter festival was at that time on the seventh day before the ides of April (April 7).

[1] If this year refers to the death of Maurice, it is 602; if it be connected with the baptism of Adaloald, that occurred in 603
(Hodgkin, VI, 34, note l).
[2] Probably April 7, 603 (Hodgkin, V, 430, note 3).
[3] As his godson.
[4] Only once (III, 29, supra) and once afterwards (IV, 40, infra), but a great part of this book seems to be taken from his work. This baptism was a triumph for the Catholic faith over Arianism. Agilulf s predecessor Authari had forbidden the Langobard nobles to have their children baptized by Catholics (Hodgkin, V, 430).


Chapter XXVIII.

In these days the Langobards still had a quarrel with the Romans on account of the captivity of the king's daughter. [1] For this reason king Agilulf departed from Mediolanum (Milan) in the month of July, besieged the city of Cremona with the Slavs whom the Cagan, king of the Avars, had sent to his assistance and took it on the twelfth day before the calends of September (August 21st) [2] and razed it to the ground. In like manner he also assaulted Mantua, and having broken through its walls with battering-rams he entered it on the ides (l3th) of September, [3] and granted the soldiers who were in it the privilege of returning to Ravenna. Then also the fortress which is called Vulturina (Valdoria) [4] surrendered to the Langobards; the soldiers indeed fled, setting fire to the town of Brexillus (Bresccllo). [5] When these things were accomplished, the daughter of the king was restored by Smaragdus the patrician with her husband and children and all her property. In the ninth month peace was made up to the calends (first) of April of the eighth indiction.[6] The daughter of the king, indeed, presently returned from Ravenna to Parma; but she died immediately in the perils of a difficult child-birth. In this year [7] Teudepert and Theuderic, kings of the Franks, fought with their paternal uncle Clothar, and in this struggle many thousands fell on both sides.

[1] See chapter 20, supra.
[2] A. D. 603 (Hodgkin, V, 432).
[2] A. D. 603 (id).
[4] Hodgkin (V, 432) places it on the northern bank of the Po not far from Parma, which is probably correct. Thus Waitz. Giansevero, p. 134, believes that a castle named Vulturena at the upper end of lake Como at the entrance of the Valtellina is intended.
[5] Or as Waitz calls it, Bersello, and adds that it is not far from Reggio (d'Emilia). It was a town on the Po about ten miles from Parma (Hodgkin, V, 432; see III ,18 snprci).
[6] April 1st, 605. This indiction began with the first of September, 604.
[7] A. D. 605 (Waitz).


Chapter XXIX.

Then also in the second year of the reign of Focas (Phocas), during the eighth indiction, the blessed Pope Gregory journeyed to Christ. [1] In his place Savinianus was appointed to the office of the papacy. [2] There was then a very cold winter and the vines died in nearly every place. Also the crops failed, partly destroyed by mice and partly smitten by the blight. And indeed the world was then bound to suffer from famine and drought when, upon the departure of so great a leader, a lack of spiritual nourishment and the dryness of thirst attacked the souls of men. I may well put a few things in this little work from a certain letter of this same blessed Pope Gregory that it may more clearly be known how humble this man was and of how great innocence and holiness. When then he had been accused by the emperor Maurice and his sons [3] of killing in prison for money a certain bishop Malchus, he wrote a letter on this subject to Savinianus his legate, who was at Constantinople, and said to him among other things the following: "There is one thing you may briefly suggest to our Most Serene Lords, that if I, their servant, had chosen to mix myself up with the death even of Langobards, the people of the Langobards would today have neither king nor dukes nor counts and would be split up in the utmost confusion. But because I fear God I dread to take part in the death of any man. This bishop Malchus indeed was neither in prison nor in any suffering but on the day on which he pleaded his cause and was adjudged, he was taken without my knowledge, by Boniface, a notary, to his home to dine there and was honorably treated by him and at night he suddenly died. "Look! how great was the humility of this man who called himself a servant when he was the supreme pontiff! how great was his innocence, when he was unwilling to take part in the death of Langobards who indeed were unbelievers and were plundering everything!

[1]Paul, following Bede as his authority, errs as to this date. Gregory died March, 604, in the seventh indiction - Phocas began to reign near the end of 602 in the sixth indiction (Waitz).
[2] 'Apostolicatus' (see DuCange, tit. Apostolicus).
[3] I read 'filios' for 'filo'.


Chapter XXX.

In the following summer then, [1] in the month of July, Adaloald was raised as a king over the Langobards, in the circus at Mediolanum (Milan) in the presence of his father, king Agilulf, and while the ambassadors of Teudepert, king of the Franks [2] were standing by; and the daughter of king Teudepert was betrothed to the same royal youth and perpetual peace was established with the Franks. [3]

[1] A. D. 604. Paul must have been mistaken in this date since Pope Gregory in Dec., 603, had written to Theudelinda sending certain gifts to "Adaloald the king" (Hodgkin, V, 447).
[2] Teudepert II, king of Austrasia (Hodgkin, VI, 108).
[3] A few years later (A. D. 607) Agilulf joined Teudepert as well as Clothar of Neustria, and Witterich, king of the Visigoths in an alliance against Theuderic II, of Burgundy, who had repudiated and divorced the daughter of Witterich. There is no record of the result of this alliance and in 612 war broke out again. Theuderic overcame Teudepert and put him to death, but what became of his daughter, the affianced bride of Adaloald, we are not informed. Theuderic then turned against Clothar, but suddenly died, leaving four illegitimate children. The eldest of these was Sigibert and in his name, his great grandmother, the old queen Brunihilde aspired to rule over Burgundy and Austrasia, but Arnulf, bishop of Metz, and Pepin, a great noble, went over to the side of Clothar, and in 613 Brunihilde and her great-grandchild were captured. She was tied to a vicious horse and trampled to death (Hodgkin, VI, 108-110).


Chapter XXXI.

At the same time the Franks fought with the Saxons and there was a great slaughter on both sides. At Ticinum (Pavia) also, in the church of St. Peter the Apostle, Peter the director of the choir [1] was struck by lightning. [1] Canter who instructed the choristers and younger clerics in music and directed the singing of the service. Sometimes this office was of considerable dignity and had a prebend attached to it. See DuCange.


Chapter XXXII.

Afterwards, on the following month of November, king Agilulf made peace with Smaragdus the patrician for one year, receiving from the Romans [1] twelve thousand solidi. [2] Cities of Tuscany too, that is, Balneus Regis [3] (Bagnarea) and Urbs Vetus [4] (Orvieto) were seized by the Langobards. [5] Then also in the month of April and May there appeared in the heavens a star which they call a comet. Afterwards king Agilulf again made peace with the Romans for three years. [6]

[1] That is, the Greeks (Waitz).
[2] See III, 17, note 2, supra, as to the value of the solidus.
[3] "The King's Bath."
[4] ''Old City.'' Both these places were afterwards in the States of the Church.
[5] The seizure of these cities seems to have been in April, 605, before the commencement of the year of truce just mentioned (see IIartmann, II, I, 197) which began in November of that year.
[6] 607 to 610 (Hartmann, II, i, 197.


Chapter XXXIII.

In these days after the death of the patriarch Severus, the abbot John was ordained in his place [1] as patriarch in old Aquilcia with the consent of the king and of duke Gisulf. In Gradus (Grado) also Candidianus was ordained bishop by the Romans. [2] Again in the months of November and December a comet appeared. When Candidianus also died, Epiphanius, who had been chief of the secretaries, [3] was ordained patriarch at Gradus by the bishops who were under the Romans. And from that time there began to be two patriarchs. [4]

[1] In the Chronicle of the Patriarchs of New Aquileia (see Monticolo's ed., 1890, p. 9), Marcianus is placed between Severus and John, and it is stated that he held the office 3 years, 1 month and 5 days. Otherwise the list corresponds with that of Paul (Cipolla in Atti del Congresso in Cividale, 1899, p. 136).
[2] 'Antistes', a name given, not only to bishops and abbots, but also to priors and then to parish priests. Andrea Dandolo, a doge and chronicler of Venice in the 14th century, says that Marcianus preceded Candidianus (see Dandolo's Chronicle, Bk. VI, Ch. 3).
[3] 'Primicerius notarioruin', Abel translates "Papal chief notary."
[4] The division in the patriarchate was due to the schism in regard to the Three Chapters (III, 20 and 26, supra). The effect of the division was to throw the schismatics into the arms of the Langobards. The patriarch John, mentioned in the text, complained to Agilulf of the persecutions of the Greeks and said that three Istrian bishops had been dragged away by imperial soldiers and forced to hold communion with Candidianus at Grado, and he asked the king, now that that worthless man had gone to eternal torment, to prevent a new patriarch from being ordained at Grado. This, however, was not done. Some time later, one Fortunatus was made patriarch there, and being at heart a schismatic, he seized the treasure of the church and fled to the mainland, where he was made patriarch of Aqiiileia and the Langobards were asked in vain to give back the treasure. Finally the emperor Heraclius sent a large sum of money to Grado to make up for the loss (Hodgkin, V, 482, 483).