Page:History of the Franks.djvu/138

 io6 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS union." Beware of disunion, beware of civil wars which destroy you and your people. What else is to be expected but that your army will fall and that you will be left without strength and be crushed and ruined by hostile peoples. And, king, if civil war gives you pleasure, govern that impulse which the apostle says is urgent within man, let the spirit struggle against the flesh and the vices fall before the virtues ; and be free and serve your chief who is Christ, you who were once a fettered slave of the root of evil. [i. Sigibert's son, Childebert, not yet five years old, is made king. Chilperic seizes Brunhilda and keeps her in exile at Rouen.] 2. Chilperic sent his son Merovech to Poitiers with an army. But he disobeyed his father's orders and came to Tours and spent there the holy days of Easter. His army did great damage to that district. Merovech himself in pretence that he wanted to go to see his mother went to Rouen and there met queen Brunhilda and married her. Upon news of this Chilperic became very bitter be- cause Merovech had married his uncle's widow contrary to divine law and the canons, and quicker than speech he hastened to the above mentioned city. But when they learned that he was determined to separate them they took refuge in the church of St. Martin that is built of boards upon the wall of the city. But when the king on his arrival strove to entice them thence by many artifices and they refused to trust him, thinking that he was acting treacherously, he took oath to them, saying : ''If it was the will of God, he him- self would not attempt to separate them." They accepted this oath and came out of the church and Chilperic kissed them and gave them a fitting welcome and feasted with them. But after a few days he returned to Soissons, taking Merovech with him. [3. Godin makes an attack on Chilperic's territory but is de- feated. Chilperic suspects Merovech of being involved in the at- tack. Godin's wife after his death marries a notorious character, Ranching.] 3. . . . Godin's wife married Ranching, a man full of every vanity, swollen with haughtiness, wanton with pride, who treated those under him in such a way that one could not perceive that he had any human feeling in him, and he vented his rage on his own people beyond the limits of human wickedness and folly and com-