Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours (c. 538 - November 17, 594?) was a Gallo-Roman historian and bishop of Tours, which made him the leading prelate of Gaul. He wrote in a clumsy, ungrammatical and barbarized late Latin attempt at a literary style, which is nevertheless full of vitality and of many Frankish and Germanic terms. When inspiration fails, he is quick to fall back on the linguistic formulae of doctrine. He is the main contemporary source for Merovingian history. His most notable work was his Decem Libri Historiarum or Ten Books of History, better known as the Historia Francorum ("History of the Franks"), a title given to it by later chroniclers, but he is also known for his credulous accounts of the miracles of saints, especially four books of the miracles of Martin of Tours. St Martin's tomb was a major draw in the 6th century, and Gregory's writings had the practical aspect of promoting this highly organized cultus. Gregory has been canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic church. Gregory shares the Gaulish appetite for miraculous events--the more incredible, the more thrilling.

Further Reading

The following represent the key modern texts on Gregory of Tours, including the most recent translations of his work.

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Whilst Thorpe's translation of The History of the Franks is more accessible than Brehaut's, his introduction and commentary are not well regarded by contemporary historians.

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Primary Sources

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• Gregory of Tours, Glory of the Confessors, translation by R Van Dam (Liverpool, 1988)
• Gregory of Tours, Glory of the Martyrs, translation by R Van Dam (Liverpool, 1988)
• Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, translation by L Thorpe (Penguin, 1974: many reprints)
• Gregory of Tours, Life of the Fathers, translation by E James (Liverpool, 1985)
• Gregory of Tours, The Miracles of the Bishop St. Martin, translation by R. Van Dam in Saints and their Miracles in Late Antiwue Gaul (Princeton, 1993)
• Gregory of Tours, The Suffering and Miracles of the Martyr St. Julian, translation by R. Van Dam in Saints and their Miracles in Late Antique Gaul (Princeton, 1993)
• Gregory of Tours, Libri Historiarum, ed. B Krusch and W Levison, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum 1, 1 (Hannover, 1951).
• Gregory of Tours, Liber in Gloria Martyrum, ed. B Krusch, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum 1, 2 (Hannover, 1885).
• Gregory of Tours, Liber in Gloria Confessorum, ed. B Krusch, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum 1, 2 (Hannover, 1885)

Secondary Sources

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• Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints (London, 1981)
• Walter Goffart, The Narrators of Barbarian History (A.D. 550?800) (Princeton, 1988)
• E James, The Franks (Oxford, 1988)
• R Van Dam, Saints and their miracles in late antique Gaul (Princeton, 1993)
• Ian N Wood, The Merovingian kingdoms 450-751 (London, 1994)
• Ian N Wood, Gregory of Tours (Oxford, 1994)