Richerus: HISTORIARUM LIBRI QUATUOR

Gallorum congressibus in volumine regerendis, imperii tui, pater sanctissime Gerberte, auctoritas seminarium dedit. Quam, quia summam utilitatem affert et rerum materia sese multiplex praebet, eo animi nisu complector, qua jubentis mira benivolentia pertrahor. Cujus rei initium a vicino ducendum existimavi, cum res multo ante gestas, divae memoriae Hincmarus ante te in pontificatu octavus, suis annalibus copiosissime annexuit.

In compiling the congresses of the Gauls into a volume, the authority of your empire, most holy Father Gerbert, gave the seminary. Which, because it brings the greatest utility and the matter of things offers itself manifold, I embrace with such exertion of spirit by which I am drawn by the wondrous benevolence of your command. I thought the beginning of this business ought to be taken from a neighbour, since matters done long before were appended very copiously to his annals by Hincmarus of blessed memory, the eighth before you in the pontificate.

Tantoque superiora lector ea inveniet, quanto a nostri opusculi exordio, per ejus regesta sese attollet. Et hoc inquam, ne Karolorum aliorumque frequens in utroque opere repetitio, operis utriusque ordinem turbet. Ubi enim rerum ordo non advertitur, tanto nitentem error confundit, quanto a serie ordinis errantem seducit.

And the reader will find the foregoing all the more, in proportion as it rises from the exordium of our little work through its regesta. And I say this so that the frequent repetition of the Karols and others in both works may not disturb the order of each work. For where the order of things is not observed, error confounds the more brilliant, insofar as it seduces him who has wandered from the series of order.

Unde cum hic atque illic sepe Karoli, sepe Ludovici notae offeruntur, pro tempore auctorum prudens lector reges aequivocos pernotabit. Quorum temporibus bella a Gallis saepenumero patrata, variosque eorum tumultus, ac diversas negotiorum rationes, ad memoriam reducere scripto specialiter propositum est. Si qua vero aliorum efferantur, ob incidentes rationes quae vitari non potuerunt, id evenisse putetur.

Wherefore, since here and there often the notes of Karolus, often of Ludovicus, are offered, the prudent reader, in regard to the time of the authors, will perceive the equivocal kings. In whose times wars were very frequently carried out by the Gauls, and their various tumults, and the diverse courses of affairs, it has been specially proposed to reduce these to memory in writing. If indeed any matters of others are brought forth, on account of incidental reasons that could not be avoided, it should be considered that this has occurred.

Sed si ignotae antiquitatis ignorantiae arguar, ex quodam Flodoardi presbyteri Remensis libello, me aliqua sumpsisse non abnuo, at non verba quidem eadem, sed alia pro aliis longe diverso orationis scemate disposuisse, res ipsa evidentissime demonstrat. Satisque lectori fieri arbitror, si probabiliter atque dilucide breviterque omnia digesserim. In dicendo enim recusans effluere, plurima succincte expediam.

But if I am charged with ignorance of ancient antiquity, I do not deny that I have taken some things from a certain little book of Flodoard, priest of Reims; yet not the very same words, but other words for other matters disposed in a manner of speech wholly different, the thing itself most clearly shows. And I judge it sufficient for the reader if I have arranged all things plausibly, clearly, and briefly. For, refusing to run on in speaking, I will dispatch very many matters succinctly.

Ac totius exordium narrationis aggrediar, breviter facta orbis divisione, Galliaque in partes distributa, eo quod ejus populorum mores et actus describere propositum sit.

And I will undertake the exordium of the whole narrative, briefly treating the division of the orb, and Gaul distributed into parts, because it is proposed to describe the mores and acts of its peoples.

LIBER PRIMUS

BOOK ONE

1. Divisio orbis. Orbis itaque plaga, quae mortalibus sese commodam praebet, a cosmographis trifariam dividi perhibetur, in Asiam videlicet, Africam, et Europam. Quarum prior, a septemtrione per orientis regionem usque in austrum, extrinsecus Oceano disterminata, interius a Ripheis montibus usque ad terrae umbilicum, Thanai, Meothide, Mediterraneoque ab Europa distinguitur.

1. Division of the world. The region of the world, therefore, which offers itself commodious to mortals, is reported by cosmographers to be divided threefold, namely into Asia, Africa, and Europe. Of these the first, from the septentrion through the region of the Orient as far as the south, externally bounded by the Ocean, is distinguished inwardly from Europe by the Riphean mountains up to the navel of the earth, by the Thanai, the Meothis, and the Mediterranean.

Ab umbilico vero usque in austrum, Nilo fluvio ab Africa est seclusa. Africam vero et Europam, exterius quidem ab austro in septemtrionem Oceano circumdatas, Mediterraneum interjectum discriminat. Ab Asia vero interius earum alteram Nilus, alteram vero Mediterraneum, Thanaisque ac Meotis, ut dictum est, sejungunt.

But from the umbilicus southward it is cut off from Africa by the river Nile. Africa and Europe, externally indeed girded by the Ocean from south to north, are separated by the Mediterranean interposed between them. From Asia, however, inwardly, one is severed by the Nile, the other by the Mediterranean and by the Tanais and the Maeotis, as has been said.

Quarum singulae cum proprias habeant distributiones, Europae tamen partem unam quae Gallia a candore vocatur, eo quod candidioris speciei insigne ejus oriundi praeferant, in suas diducere partes ratum duxi.

Although each of these has its own distributions, I deemed it proper to detach and assign to Europe one portion called Gallia a candore, because the natives of that place exhibit the mark of a whiter appearance.

2. Istius Galliae per partes distributio. Gallia ergo et ipsa in tria distincta est, in Belgicam, Celticam, Aquitanicam. Quarum prior Belgica, a Rheno, qui Germaniam ab Oceano determinat, quae multarum gentium ferax, a germinando nomen accepit, exporrigitur usque in fluvium Matronam.

2. The division of this Gaul into parts. Gaul therefore itself is likewise divided into three: into Belgica, Celtica, Aquitanica. Of these the first, Belgica, from the Rhine, which bounds Germany from the Ocean, — Germany, fertile of many peoples, having taken its name from germinando — stretches outward as far as the river Matrona.

Ab utroque vero latere, hinc quidem Alpibus Penninis, inde vero mari vallatur, cujus circumfusione insula Brittannica efficitur. Celtica autem a Matrona per longum in Garunnam distenditur; cujus latera, oceani Brittannici, et insulae Brittannicae limites habent. Quicquid vero a Garunna distenditur in Pireneum, Aquitanica appellatur, hinc Rhodano Ararique atque inde Mediterraneo conlimitans.

From both sides indeed it is walled in: on this side by the Pennine Alps, on that side by the sea, whose encircling makes the island called Britain. Celtica, however, stretches from the Matrona along to the Garunna; the flanks of which have for limits the British Ocean and the bounds of the British island. Whatever extends from the Garunna to the Pyrenean range is called Aquitanian, bordering on the Rhodanus and the Arar on this side and on the Mediterranean on the other.

Constat itaque, totius Galliae spatium ab oriente quidem Rheno, ab occidente Pyreneo, et a septentrione mari Brittannico, ab austro vero Mediterraneo cingi.

It is therefore established that the extent of all Gaul is bounded on the east indeed by the Rhine, on the west by the Pyrenees, on the north by the British Sea, and on the south, however, by the Mediterranean.

3. Mores Gallorum. Omnium ergo Galliarum populi innata audatia plurimum efferuntur, calumniarum impatientes. Si incitantur, cedibus exultant, efferatique inclementius adoriuntur.

3. The customs of the Gauls. Above all, the peoples of all Gaul are marked most by an innate audacity, impatient of calumnies. If they are incited, they rise up with clubs, and, maddened, assail more fiercely.

Semel persuasum ac rationibus approbatum, vix refellere consuerunt. Unde et Hieronimus (ep. 60, adv. Vigilant.) Sola inquit: Gallia monstra non habuit, sed viris prudentibus et eloquentissimis semper claruit.

Once persuaded and approved by arguments, they were scarcely wont to refute. Hence even Hieronimus (ep. 60, adv. Vigilant.) says: He alone—Gaul had no monsters, but has always shone forth in prudent and most eloquent men.

Praeter haec quoque Belgae rebus disponendis insigniores, robore atque audatia non impares. Maxima quaeque magis ingenio quam viribus appetunt. Et si ingenio in appetendis cassantur, viribus audacter utuntur.

Besides these things the Belgae are also more distinguished in arranging affairs, not inferior in strength and audacity. They pursue the greatest matters more by ingenuity than by force. And if they fail in their pursuits by ingenuity, they boldly make use of their strength.

Cibi etiam potusque adeo parci. Celtae vero ac Aquitani, consilio simul et audatia plurimi, rebus seditiosis commodi. Celtae tamen magis providi, Aquitani vero praecipites aguntur, plurimumque in ciborum rapiuntur appetitum.

They were likewise so sparing of food and drink. The Celts and the Aquitani, most notable in both counsel and audacity, were well suited to seditious affairs. The Celts, however, are more provident; the Aquitani are driven headlong, and are above all seized by a greed for food.

Quod sic est eis innatum, ut praeter naturam non appetant. Hinc et Sulpicius (Dialog. I, 4) : Edacitas, inquit, in Graecis gula est, in Gallis natura.

Which is so innate in them that they do not desire beyond nature. Hence also Sulpicius (Dialog. 1, 4): "Edacitas, inquit, in Graecis gula est, in Gallis natura." — "Edacity," he says, "among the Greeks is gula (gluttony), among the Gauls it is natura (nature)."

Hos omnes populos etsi natura feroces, ab antiquo fere per omnia prospere egisse et cum pagani essent historiae tradunt. Post vero a sancto Remigio baptizati, adprime clara semper et illustri victoria emicuisse feruntur. Quorum quoque primus rex christianus, Clodoveus fuisse traditur.

Although all these peoples were fierce by nature, historians relate that, when they were pagans, they prospered in almost every respect from ancient times. But afterwards, having been baptized by Saint Remigius, they are said to have shone forth ever after with very clear and illustrious victory. Of them also the first Christian king is said to have been Clodoveus.

A quo per succedentia tempora imperatoribus egregiis res publica gubernata fuisse dinoscitur, usque ad Karolum, a quo historiae sumemus initium.

From whom, through succeeding times, the res publica is known to have been governed by distinguished emperors, even to Charlemagne, from whom we shall take the beginning of the history.

4. Quod ob infantiam et principum dissidentiam pyratae Gallias irruperint. Hic patrem habuit Karlomannum regem, avum vero paternum Ludovicum cognomento Balbum, abavum autem Karolum Calvum, Germanorum atque Gallorum imperatorem egregium. Biennis adhuc patrem amisit; matre vix per quadriennium superstite.

4. Because of his infancy and the dissension of princes the pirates burst into Gaul. He had as father Karlomannus the king, as paternal grandfather Ludovicus by the cognomen Balbus, and as great‑grandfather Karolus Calvus, an outstanding emperor of the Germans and the Franks. He lost his father when still two years old; his mother scarcely survived for four years.

Ob cujus infantiam cum regnorum principes nimia rerum cupidine sese praeire contenderent, quisque ut poterat rem dilatabat. Nemo regis provectum, nemo regni tutelam quaerebat. Aliena adquirere summum cuique erat; nec rem suam provehere videbatur, qui alieni aliquid non addebat.

Because of his infancy, while the princes of the realms strove to outstrip one another with excessive greed for power, each delayed the matter as he could. No one sought the king’s advancement, no one the guardianship of the kingdom. To acquire another’s possessions was the highest aim of each; nor did he seem to advance his own cause who did not add something of another’s.

Unde et omnium concordia, in summam discordiam relapsa est. Hinc direptiones, hinc incendia, hinc rerum pervasiones exarsere. Quae cum immanissime agitarentur, piratae qui Rhodomensem provintiam incolebant, quae est Celticae Galliae pars, ad rerum immanitatem incitantur.

Whereupon the concord of all relapsed into the utmost discord. From this sprang plunderings, from this fires, from this widespread seizure of goods flared up. And when these things were being carried out most cruelly, the pirates who inhabited the Rhodoman province, which is part of Celtic Gaul, were incited to the brutality of these deeds.

Haec gens ab insulis oceani septentrionalis remotioribus diu ante exierat. Et per maria errando classe devecta, summam hanc Galliarum partem attigerat. Saepe quoque eam armis impetivit, saepe etiam a terrae principibus devicta occubuit.

This nation had long before departed from islands more remote in the northern Ocean. And, borne by a fleet wandering through the seas, it had reached this outermost part of the Gauls. Often also it attacked them with arms; often too, having been defeated by the princes of the land, it fell.

Quod cum multoties inter sese moverent, visum fuit Galliae primatibus, ut dono regum haec provincia ei conferretur; ita tamen, ut, idololatria penitus relicta, christianae religioni se fideliter manciparet, necnon et regibus Galliarum terra marique fideliter militaret. Hujus provinciae metropolis. Rhodomum esse dinoscitur, sex tantum urbibus, Bajocis videlicet, Abrincanto, Ebrocis, Sagio, Constantiae, Liscio nuncupatur.

Because they often disturbed one another, it seemed good to the chiefs of Gaul that this province be bestowed to them as a gift of kings; provided, however, that idolatry be entirely abandoned and that they faithfully submit themselves to the Christian religion, and moreover faithfully serve the kings of the Gauls by land and by sea. The metropolis of this province is known to be Rhodomum, and it is said to comprise but six cities, namely Bajocis, Abrincanto, Ebrocis, Sagio, Constantiae, and Liscio.

Ac idem sepius aggressi, Galliae Celticae partem, quae Sequanae Ligerique fluviis interjacet, quae et Neustria nuncupatur, totam pene insectati sunt. Hisque animo inerat, interiores Galliarum partes irrumpere, earumque gentes aut a finibus pellere, aut gravissimis substituere tributis. Id etiam ante fieri, quam in consensum principes revocarentur, accelerabant.

And having attacked the same region oftentimes, they almost wholly beset that part of Celtic Gaul which lies between the rivers Sequana and Liger, which is also called Neustria. And they had in mind to burst into the inner parts of the Gauls and either to drive their peoples from their borders or to place them under very heavy tributes. They even hastened that this be done before the principes could be recalled into consensus.

Hujusmodi dissidentia, pecunias Galliarum sese asportaturos, certissime rati. Quorum impetus, Catillo principe ferebatur. Principes tanta barbarorum ignominia confecti, de pace habenda per legatos inter sese admodum quaerunt.

They judged most certainly that such dissensions would carry off the monies of the Gauls. The onset of which was said to be led by Catillus as prince. The princes, worn out by so great a shame from the barbarians, very earnestly entreated among themselves about making peace through legates.

Nec diu morati, jure obsidum, in unum consulturi conveniunt. In quo conventu, sapientium usi consilio, fidemque pacti, in concordiam maximam rediere; contumelias a barbaris injectas ultum ire parati. Et quia Karolus vix adhuc triennis erat quinta feria communi decreto, Odonem virum militarem ac strenuum in basilica sancti.... regem creant.

Not long delayed, by the law of hostages, they convene together to deliberate. In that assembly, having used the counsel of the wise and the faith of the pact, they returned to the greatest concord; prepared to avenge the insults inflicted by the barbarians. And because Karolus was scarcely yet three years old, on Thursday by common decree they choose Odo, a martial and valiant man, as king in the basilica of sancti....

Hic patrem habuit ex equestri ordine Rotbertum; avum vero paternum, Witichinum advenam Germanum. Creatusque rex, strenue atque utiliter omnia gessit, praeter quod in militari tumultu, raram componendi lites potestatem habuit. Nam pyratas signis collatis intra Neustriam septies fudit, ac in fugam novies compulit.

He had for a father Rotbertus of the equestrian order; his paternal grandfather was Witichinus, a German newcomer. And when made king, he conducted all things strenuously and usefully, except that in military tumult he had scarcely any power to compose disputes. For he routed pirates seven times with standards joined within Neustria, and drove them into flight nine times.

Atque hoc fereper quinquennium 889. Quibus repulsis, fames valida subsecuta est, cum triennio terra inculta remanserit. Jam enim mensura frumenti quae sedecies ducta modium efficit, decem dragmis veniebat.

And this lasted for almost five years — 889. After these repulses, a strong famine followed, since the land remained uncultivated for three years. For now a measure of grain, which when taken sixteen times makes a modius, was selling for 10 dragmas.

Gallinatius quoque quatuor dragmis. Ovis vero tribus unciis; atque vacca, jabo tollebatur. Vini nulla coemptio erat, cum vinetis ubique succisis, vix ejus aliquid habebatur.

A hen likewise four dragmas. A sheep, however, three unciae; and a cow was reckoned at a jabo. There was no purchase of wine, since the vineyards everywhere had been cut down; scarcely any of it was obtainable.

Rex interea per loca quae piratis irruentibus aditum praebebant, munitiones exstruit, ac in eis militum copias ponit. Ipse cum exercitu in Aquitaniae partes secedens, non ante se rediturum proponens, quam supradicta modii frumentarii mensura, duabus dragmis veniret, gallinatius vero denario, atque ovis duabus itidem dragmis, vacca vero tribus unciis venumdaretur.

The king meanwhile erected fortifications at the places which afforded access to the pirates when they burst in, and placed detachments of soldiers in them. He himself, withdrawing with the army into the parts of Aquitaine, declaring that he would not return before the aforesaid cereal measure of the modius should be brought at two dragmas, the gallinatius however at a denarius, and a sheep likewise at two dragmas, while a cow was to be sold for three unciae.

6. (890.) Pyratae Brittaniam impetunt ac devastant. Interea rege apud urbem Anitium rem publicam procurante, pyratae a finibus Neustriae pulsi, eum ad interiora Aquitaniae concessisse dinoscunt. Confluunt itaque ac classem parant, atque Brittanniam repentini irrumpunt.

6. (890) Pirates attack and devastate Britain. Meanwhile, the king, at the city of Anitium, administering the commonwealth, when the pirates were driven from the borders of Neustria, they learn that he had retired to the interior of Aquitaine. They therefore assemble and prepare a fleet, and make a sudden incursion into Britain.

Brittanni repentino barbarorum impetu territi, saevientibus caedunt. Cuique vitam tantum salvare satis fuit. Rerum suarum ereptionem nemo quaerebat.

The Britons, terrified by the sudden assault of the barbarians, were cut down by the raging attackers. For each it was enough only to save his life. No one sought to recover his own possessions.

De vita solummodo agitabant. Unde et suis fere omnibus derelictis, pyratae passim rapiuntur. Quaeque commoda asportant, ac cum multa rerum praeda nullo renitente redeunt.

They cared only for life. Hence, with almost all their own left behind, they were seized by pirates everywhere. And the pirates carry off whatever commodities they find, and, with much booty of things and no one resisting, they return.

Tam felici ergo successu elati, per exteriores Brittanniae fines secus Andegavum Aquitaniam irrumpunt, multaque depopulatione terram devastant. Abducunt viros ac mulieres puerosque. Quorum provectiores in utroque sexu obtruncant.

So elated by so fortunate a success, they burst through the outer bounds of Britain along the regions of Andegavum and Aquitaine, and with great depopulation devastate the land. They carry off men and women and boys. Those more advanced in age, of both sexes, they cut down.

Pueros servituti mancipant, feminas vero quae formosae videbantur prostituunt.

They consign the boys to servitude, while the women who seemed fair they prostitute.

7. (892.) Odo rex contra pyratas exercitum parat. Sed nonnulli vario eventu elapsi, profugio salvati sunt. A quibus dum exagitarentur, mox Odoni regi relata fuere.

7. (892.) King Odo prepares an army against the pirates. But some, having escaped by various fortune, were saved as fugitives. While they were being pursued by those men, they were soon reported to King Odo.

Qui rerum magnitudine motus, quotquot ex Aquitania potuit, edicto regio congregari praecepit milites peditesque. Ex Provintia quoque, quae Rhodano et Alpibus marique ac Gothorum finibus circumquaque ambitur, Arelatenses ac Aurasicanos habuit. Sed et ex Gothia, Tholosanos atque Nemausinos.

Who, moved by the magnitude of the affairs, by royal edict ordered that as many as could from Aquitania be gathered, soldiers and footmen. From the Province also, which is bounded all around by the Rhodanus and the Alps and the sea and the frontiers of the Goths, he had the Arelatenses and the Aurasicans. But likewise from Gothia, the Tholosans and the Nemausians.

Quibus collectis, exercitus regius, in decem milibus equitum, peditum vero sex milibus erat. Procedit itaque secus Briddam, sancti Juliani martiris castrum, iter agens. Sanctumque regiis donis veneratus, Arvernicum pagum ingreditur.

With these having been gathered, the royal army amounted to ten thousand horse, and indeed six thousand foot. He therefore proceeds near Bridda, making his way to the fortress of Saint Julian the martyr. Having venerated the saint with royal gifts, he enters the Arvernian district.

Huc jam hostes advenerant, ac castrum quod Mons Panchei dicitur, vehementi hostilitate premebant. Rex principibus Francorum atque Aquitanorum stipatus, licet ancipiti deliberatione, tamen belli dispositionem apud eos pertractabat, illos ad pugnam hortans, ac eorum magnanimitatem ex natura plurimum attollens. Aliis quoque gentibus eos esse potiores, tam viribus quam audatia et armis, memorabat.

Now the enemies had come here, and were pressing the fortress called Mons Panchei with violent hostility. The king, hemmed in by the princes of the Franks and Aquitanians, although with wavering deliberation, nevertheless discussed the disposition for war among them, urging them to fight and extolling their magnanimity as arising very greatly from nature. He also reminded them that they were superior to other peoples, both in strength and in audacity and in arms.

Eorum quoque majores, pene totum orbem debellasse, ipsumque caput orbis Romam immaniter attrivisse. Unde et oportere paternam animositatem in filiis renovandam asserebat, ut patrum magnanimitas filiorum virtute commendaretur.

Their ancestors too had subdued almost the whole orb, and had fiercely ground down the very head of the orb, Rome. Whence he maintained that the paternal courage ought to be renewed in the sons, that the magnanimity of the fathers might be commended by the virtue of the sons.

8. Impetus Odonis regis in pyratas, bellique qualilitas. Quibus dictis cum persuasisset, utpote vir audax ac violentus, cum sexdecim milibus signis illatis barbaros aggreditur. Sed peditum copias praemittit, atque ex eis primum impetum infert.

8. The onset of King Odo against the pirates, and the character of the war. Having spoken these things and having prevailed, as a bold and violent man, he attacks the barbarians with sixteen thousand men under the standards. But he sends ahead troops of foot, and from these he delivers the first assault.

Ipse cum equitatu succedens, peditum fortunam opperiebatur. Nec minus et barbari acies ordinaverant, ac indivisi adversarios excipere cogitabant. At regii pedites hostibus directi, primo certamine sagittas jaculantur; densatique, lanceis obversis, in illos feruntur.

He himself, advancing with the cavalry, awaited the fortune of the infantry. No less had the barbarian acies been drawn up, and united they planned to receive the adversaries. But the royal foot, directed against the enemies, in the first contest hurled arrows; and, massed close together, with spears presented, they rushed upon them.

Excepti vero a barbaris, plurimi dilabuntur, non tamen praeter adversariorum ruinam. Nam et eorum alii praecipitati, alii vero quam plures sauciati sunt. Post pedites vero et regius equitatus succedit; ac acies hostium, copiis peditum divisas, multo nisu irrumpit.

But after being met by the barbarians, very many scatter, yet not without the ruin of the adversaries. For some of them were thrown headlong, and many others were wounded. After the foot-soldiers, moreover, the royal cavalry follows; and the enemy line, divided into bands of infantry, bursts in with great force.

Sternitque ut fertur tredecim milia, paucis fuga salvatis. Et cum jam potiretur victoria spoliisque diripiendis instaret, barbarorum quatuor milia, quae insidiose in abditis latuerant, ex obliquo viarum irruere. Qui cum gradivo incessu propinquarent, armorum luce ab observatoribus cogniti sunt.

And he lays low, as is said, thirteen thousand, a few saved by flight. And when victory was now being secured and they pressed on to strip the spoils, four thousand of the barbarians, who had treacherously lain hidden in ambush, burst in from the flank of the roads. And when they drew near with advancing step, they were recognized by the sentinels by the gleam of their arms.

Factoque signo exercitus in unum redit. Rex multo plures advenire arbitratus, suos hortatur stipatores, ut priores animos resumant, immo et non amittant; decus pro patria mori, egregiumque pro christianorum defensione corpora morti dare, multis sermonibus asserens. Exercitus itaque densatus, licet anterioris belli vulneribus aeger, tamen obvenire non distulit.

And at the signal the army returned into one body. The king, thinking that far more were arriving, exhorts his own attendants to recover their former spirits, nay not to lose them; asserting in many speeches that it is an honor to die for the fatherland, and noble to give up bodies to death for the defense of the Christians. Therefore the army, having closed ranks, although sick from the wounds of the prior battle, nevertheless did not delay to come to their aid.

9. Ingo ex mediocribus cum regis signo bellum ingreditur. Et cum agitaretur quis regium signum efferret, eo quod in tanta nobilium manu nullus sine vulnere videbatur, idque omnes evitarent, e medio omnium Ingo prosilit, ac militatum sese offerens, imperterritus dixit: Ego ex mediocribus regis agaso, si majorum honori non derogatur, signum regium per hostium acies efferam. Nec fortunam belli ambiguam expavesco, cum semel me moriturum cognosco.

9. Ingo, from the middling ranks, enters the war with the king’s standard. And when it was debated who should bear the royal sign, because among so many nobles no one seemed without a wound, and all avoided it, Ingo sprang forth from the midst of them, offering himself as one of the soldiers, and, undaunted, said: I, one of the king’s middling retainers (agaso), if it does not derogate from the honor of my superiors, will carry the royal standard through the enemy’s battle-line. Nor do I dread the uncertain fortune of war, since I know at once that I shall die.

Ad haec Odo rex: Nostro inquit dono, ac principum voluntate signifer esto. Ille signum excipiens, agmine densato circumseptus incedebat. Factusque cunei militaris acumen, hostes vibrabundus ingreditur.

To this Odo the king: "Be, he said, standard-bearer by my gift and by the will of the princes." He, receiving the sign, surrounded by a dense column, marched forward. And having become the acumen of the military wedge, he advanced against the enemies, brandishing it.

Precipitantur barbari, viresque amittunt. At regius exercitus rediens, iterum irrumpit sternitque. Tertioque adortus fere omnes opprimit.

The barbarians are hurled headlong and lose their forces. But the royal army, returning, breaks in again and lays them low. And with a third assault it overwhelms almost all.

Ex quorum tumultu cum aer densatus, multo pulvere pinguesceret, Catillus cum paucis per caliginem fuga sese surripuit, atque in dumetis sese abdidit. Qui cum lateret, a victoribus passim palantibus repertus atque captus est, suisque qui secum latuerant gladio transfixis, post spolia direpta Odoni regi oblatus est.

From whose tumult, when the air, thickened, grew rich with much dust, Catillus with a few stole away by flight through the gloom, and hid himself in the thickets. While he lay hidden, he was everywhere found and captured by the victors wandering about, and, his companions who had hidden with him having been pierced by the sword, after the spoils were stripped off he was offered to King Odo.

10. Tiranni baptismus et interfectio. Utiliter ergo patrata victoria, rex tirannum captum secum Lemovicas ducit. Ibique ei vitae ac mortis optionem dedit, si baptizaretur, vitam, sin minus, mortem promittens.

10. The tyrant’s baptism and killing. Therefore, the victory having been usefully won, the king leads the captured tyrant with him to the Lemovices. There he gave him the choice of life or death, promising life if he were baptized, otherwise death.

Tirannus mox absque contradictione baptizari petit. Sed dubium an fidei quicquam habuerit. Quia ergo Pentecostes instabat sollempnitas (Jun.

The tyrant soon asked to be baptized without contradiction. But it was doubtful whether he had any possession of faith. And because the solemnity of Pentecost was at hand (Jun.

11), ac episcoporum conventus regi aderat, ab episcopis ei triduanum indicitur jejunium. Die vero constituta cum in basilica sancti Marcialis martiris, post episcoporum peracta officia in sacrum fontem ab ipso rege excipiendus descenderet, jamque trina immersione in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti baptizatus esset, Ingo ante signifer, gladio educto loetaliter eum transverberat, ac fontem sacratum, vulneris effusione immaniter cruentat. Rex tantum facinus indignans, principibus frementibus homicidam rapi ac trucidari jubet.

11), and with the bishops’ assembly present for the king, the bishops prescribe for him a three-day fast. But when the appointed day came, and, in the basilica of Saint Martial the martyr, after the bishops’ offices had been completed, he was to descend into the sacred font to be received by the king himself, and when already by three immersions he had been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Ingo, formerly standard-bearer, drawing his sword, gloatingly transfixes him, and cruelly bedews the sacred font with the outflow of the wound. The king, indignant at so great a crime, with the princes raging, orders the murderer to be seized and slaughtered.

Ille gladio projecto fugiens, sancti Marcialis aram complexus est; indulgentiam ab rege ac primatibus postulans, atque loquendi locum multis clamoribus petens. Et jussu regio, de commisso facinore responsurus sistitur. Orsusque sic ait:

He, with his sword thrown aside and fleeing, embraced the altar of Saint Marcialis; imploring indulgence from the king and the princes, and seeking a place to speak amid many shouts. And by royal command, to answer for the crime committed he was made to stand. And having begun, thus he said:

11. Oratio Ingonis pro se apud regem et principes suasorie habita. Deum voluntatis meae conscium testor, nihil mihi fuisse carius vestra salute. Vester amor ad hoc me impulit.

11. Ingon's speech, made in self-defence before the king and princes. I call God, conscious of my will, to witness that nothing has been more dear to me than your salvation. Your love impelled me to this.

Ob vestram salutem in has me miserias praecipitavi. Pro omnium vita, tantum periculum subire non expavi. Grande quidem est gestum negotium, sed major est negotii utilitas.

For your safety I have cast myself headlong into these miseries. For the life of all, I did not shrink from undergoing so great a peril. The undertaking indeed is great, but greater is the utility of the undertaking.

Regiam majestatem me laesisse quidem non abnuo, sed multa commoda in facinore comparata assero. Consideretur auctoris animus, animadvertatur etiam futura facinoris utilitas. Tirannum captum metus causa baptismum petiisse adverti, eumque postquam dimitteretur, pluribus injuriis vicem redditurum, suorumque stragem gravissime ulturum.

I do not deny that I injured the royal majesty, but I maintain that many advantages were gained by the deed. Let the author’s mind be considered, let the future utility of the act likewise be observed. It is noted that the captured tyrant, out of fear, sought baptism, and that, after he was released, he would repay many injuries in turn and would most grievously avenge the slaughter of his own.

In quem, quia futurae cladis causa visus est, ferrum converti. Haec est mei facinoris causa. Haec me ad scelus impulit.

Against him, because he was seen as the cause of a future disaster, the sword was turned. This is the cause of my crime. This drove me to the wicked deed.

Hoc ob regis suorumque salutem peregi. Et utinam morte mea, patriae libertas, rerumque tranquillitas consequantur! Sed si occidor, ob regis primatumque salutem occisus videbor.

I have done this for the safety of the king and of his people. And would that by my death the liberty of the fatherland and the tranquility of affairs might be obtained! But if I am slain, I shall be seen to have been killed for the safety of the king and of his primacy.

Cogitet jam quisque, an pro hujusmodi mercede ei militandum sit; et an pro fide servata, tali habendus sit retributione. Ecce capitis et pectoris laterisque recentia vulnera! Patent praecedentium temporum cicatrices, dispersique per reliqua corporis membra livores.

Let each one now consider whether for such a mercede it is to be militated for him; and whether, for faith preserved, he is to be deemed worthy of such retribution. Behold the fresh wounds of the head and of the breast and of the flank! The scars of preceding times lie open, and the contusions dispersed through the remaining members of the body.

Quorum assiduis doloribus confectus, nihil post tot mala, nisi mortem, malorum finem exspecto. Qua conquestione alios ad benivolentiam traxit, alios vero ad lacrimas impulit. Unde et milites pro eo agentes, regem demulcent, et ad pietatis clementiam suadent; nihil regi prodesse asserentes, si suorum quispiam intereat; immo in tiranni occisione gaudendum, vel quia vitae datus sit si fidelis decessit, vel quia ejus insidiae penitus defecerint si in dolo baptismum susceperit.

Worn out by their continual pains, after so many evils I expect nothing but death, the end of evils. By his lamentation he drew some to kindly feeling, and others he urged to tears. Whence even the soldiers acting on his behalf soothe the king and urge him to the clemency of piety; asserting that it profits the king nothing if any of his men perish; nay, that there is reason to rejoice at the tyrant’s death, either because life is granted if a faithful man has died, or because his treacheries are utterly frustrated if he has secretly received baptism in deceit.

Quibus rex animum temperans, tumulato barbaro, Ingonem in gratia resumit. Et insuper castrum quod Blesum dicitur ei liberaliter accommodat, eo quod is qui castri custodiam agebat, in bello pyratico occisus esset. Ejus quoque uxorem derelictam, dono regio in matrimonio Ingo sibi accopulat.

Tempering his mind, the king, the barbarian being buried, restores Ingone to favor. And furthermore he generously grants to him the fort called Blesus, because the man who had the custody of the fortress had been killed in piratical warfare. He likewise, by royal gift, joins to himself in marriage that man’s abandoned wife.

Regis exinde ac principum gratia admodum usus, prospere ac feliciter omnia gerebat. Verum id in brevi. Nam vulnerum sanies male a cirurgis amputata, cum sub recutita superficie, tumorem intrinsecus operaretur, nimio humoris reumatismo, plus biennio vexatus, in lectum decidit.

Having thereafter been greatly used to the favour of the king and princes, he carried on all things prosperously and happily. But that was brief. For the sanies of his wounds, ill amputated by surgeons, when beneath the incised surface a tumour was forming inwardly, by an excessive rheumatic humour, being vexed for more than two years, he was confined to bed.

Unde et intercluso reumate, penitus intumuit. Sicque toto erisipilato corpore, vitam amisit, Gerlonem filium parvum superstitem relinquens. Qui ab rege tutori commissus, patrimonium cum matre possedit.

Whence, with the rheumatism shut in, he swelled throughout. And so, with his whole body overtaken by erysipelas, he lost his life, leaving Gerlon, a little surviving son. Who, entrusted by the king to a tutor, held the patrimony together with his mother.

12. Promotio Karoli in regem. Interea rex a Lemovica urbe dimotus, Echolisinam petit, ac ibi quaeque gerenda disponit. Nec multo post petens Petragoram, nobilium causas quae litibus agitabantur ibi aequissime ordinat, plurimum de communibus omnium causis apud optimates pertractans.

12. The promotion of Karolus to king. Meanwhile the king, driven from the city of Lemovica, makes for Echolisina, and there disposes of the things to be done. Not long after, seeking Petragora, he settles with very great fairness the causes of the nobles that were being litigated there, handling very much the common affairs of all among the optimates.

Quibus cum foret admodum intentus, ibique per aliquot tempora sese moraturum proponeret, Fulco Remorum archiepiscopus, de Karoli promotione in regnum apud Belgas tractabat (893). Videbatur etenim tunc, quod praesens oportunitas huic rei aliquam commoditatem pararet. Idque plurimum persuadebat Neustriorum absentia. Etenim cum rege in partibus Aquitaniae tunc detinebantur.

While he was very intent on these matters, and proposed to remain there for a certain time, Fulco, archbishop of Remi, was negotiating among the Belgae concerning the promotion of Karolus to the kingdom (893). For it then seemed that the present opportunity was preparing some convenience for this affair. And the absence of the Neustrians most of all persuaded him. For they were then detained with the king in the regions of Aquitaine.

Suadebant quoque multiplices adolescentis quaerimoniae. Jam enim quindennis, de regi amissione apud amicos et domesticos gravissime conquerebatur; regnumque paternum repetere multo conatu moliebatur. Ei ergo omnes Belgicae principes, et aliquot Celticae summopere favebant.

Also the manifold complaints of the youth urged (them). For now, a youth of fifteen years, he most grievously bewailed among friends and household the loss of the kingship; and he strove with much exertion to recover his paternal kingdom. Therefore all the princes of Belgica, and some of the Celtic (land), exceedingly favoured him.

Horum quoque consensus, sub Remensi metropolitano, sacramenti jure firmatur. Ac tempore statuto conveniunt, ex Belgica quidem Coloniensis, Trevericus, atque Maguntinus metropolitani, cum suis dioecesaneis episcopis, aut eorum probabilibus legatis. Ex Celtica vero Remorum praedictus metropolitanus, cum aliquot suis dioecesaneis, Laudunensi videlicet, Catalaunico atque Morinensi.

The consent of these also is confirmed under the metropolitan of Reims by the right of the sacrament. And at the appointed time they assemble: from Belgica, namely the metropolitans of Cologne, Trier, and Mainz, with their diocesan bishops or their reputable legates; and from Celtica, however, the aforesaid metropolitan of Reims, with several of his diocesan [bishops], namely those of Laudunensis, Catalaunicum, and Morinensis.

Anno autem incarnationis dominicae 893 5 Kal. Februar., die dominica (Jan. 28), collecti Remis in basilica sancti Remigii Karolum quindennem regem creant; ac in urbe purpuratum, more regio edicta dare constituunt.

In the year of the Lord’s incarnation 893, 5 Kal. February, on the Lord’s day (Jan. 28), assembled at Reims in the basilica of Saint Remigius they make Charles a fifteen‑year‑old king; and in the city they resolve to clothe him in purple and to issue edicts in the royal manner.

Et ex Celtica quidem, paucissimi ejus partes sequebantur. Ex Belgica vero, ei omnes addicti sunt. Ab illis enim devotissime exceptus, per omnes eorum urbes et oppida humanissime deductus est.

And from the Celtic region indeed very few followed his party. From Belgica, however, all were devoted to him. For having been received by them most devotedly, he was conducted most courteously through all their cities and towns.

13. Odonis reditus ab Aquitania ejusque obitus. Quod factum Odo rex comperiens, ab Aquitania redit. Urbemque Turonicam petens, sanctum Martinum donis regalibus honorat.

13. The return of Odo from Aquitaine and his death. When King Odo learned of that deed, he returned from Aquitaine. Seeking the Turonian city, he honored Saint Martin with royal gifts.

Sicque Parisii receptus, sanctos martires Dionisium, Rusticum et Eleutherium magnifice donat. Tandem fluvio Matrona remenso, Belgicam ingreditur. Ac oppido receptus, quod dicitur Fara, prae nimia anxietate insomnietatem pati coepit.

And so, received by the Parisians, he magnificently bestows gifts upon the holy martyrs Dionisium, Rusticum, and Eleutherium. After crossing the river Matrona, he enters Belgica. And, received into a town called Fara, he began, from excessive anxiety, to suffer sleeplessness.

Quae cum nimium succresceret, mentis alienationem operabatur. Superantibusque humoribus, anno regni sui decimo, ut quidam ferunt mania, alii frenesi, finem vitae accepit (898, Jan. 1). Tumulatur vero cum multo suorum lamento, in basilica sancti Dionisii martiris.

When this grew too excessive, it worked an alienation of mind. With the humours prevailing, in the tenth year of his reign, as some report mania, others frenzy, he met the end of his life (898, Jan. 1). He was buried, indeed, with much lamentation of his own, in the basilica of Saint Denis the martyr.

14. Mores Karoli. Karolus itaque rex creatus, ad multam benivolentiam intendebat. Corpore prestanti, ingenio bono simplicique.

14. The character of Karolus. Karolus therefore, having been made king, bent himself toward much benevolence. Excellent in body, of a good and simple disposition.

Exercitiis militaribus non adeo assuefactus. At litteris liberalibus admodum eruditus. In dando profusus, minime avarus.

Not so accustomed to military exercises. But very well educated in the liberal letters. Lavish in giving, by no means avaricious.

Duplici morbo notabilis, libidinis intemperans, ac circa exsequenda juditia paulo neglegentior fuit. Galliarum principes ei animo ac sacramento annexi sunt. Necnon et Rotbertus Odonis regis defuncti frater, vir industrius atque audatia plurimus.

Notable for a double disease, intemperate in libidinousness, and somewhat more negligent about executing judgements. The princes of the Gauls were annexed to him in mind and by sacrament. Likewise Rotbertus, brother of the late King Odon, a man most industrious and very bold.

sese militaturum regi accommodat. Quem etiam rex Celticae ducem praeficit, ac in ea omnium gerendorum ordinatorem concedit; ejus fere per quadriennium consilio utens, eique admodum consuescens. A quo per Neustriam deductus, urbibus atque oppidis ab eo receptus est.

he adapts himself to serve as a soldier to the king. Whom moreover the king appoints as commander of Celtica, and grants him as the organizer of all things to be carried out there; making use of his counsel for nearly four years, and becoming very accustomed to him. By whom, led through Neustria, he was received by cities and towns.

Urbemque Turonicam petens, plurima auri atque argenti talenta, sancto Martino liberaliter impertit. A cujus servitoribus pro sese fieri deprecationes postulans, perpetim cotidianas obtinuit. Inde quoque omnibus obtentis rediens, Belgicam repetit, ac sanctum Remigium donis egregiis honorat.

Seeking the city of Tours, he generously bestowed very many talents of gold and silver upon Saint Martin. Requesting that intercessions be made for him by the servants of that saint, he obtained them continually, day by day. Thence, with all things secured, returning, he repaired to Belgium and honored Saint Remigius with outstanding gifts.

Et sic Rotberto Gallia Celtica collata, in Saxoniam secedit; cujus urbes sedesque regias lustrans cum oppidis, nullo renitente obtinuit. Ubi etiam Heinricum regio genere inclitum, ac inde oriundum, ducem omnibus praeficit. Sarmatas absque praelio subditos habuit.

And thus, with Celtic Gaul allotted to Robert, he withdrew into Saxony; traversing its cities and royal seats together with the towns, he obtained them with no one resisting. There he likewise set over all as duke Henry, famed by his regional birth and originating from there. He had the Sarmatians subjected without battle.

Anglos quoque ac reliquos transmarinorum populos, mira benivolentia sibi adegit. Vix tamen per decennium. Et forte felicissimus per omnia fuisset, si in uno nimium non errasset.

He also won the Angles and the remaining overseas peoples to himself with wondrous benevolence. Yet scarcely for ten years. And he would perhaps have been most happy in all respects, if he had not erred too greatly in one matter.

15. Nimia Karoli dilectio erga Haganonem. Nam cum multa benignitate principes coleret, praecipua tamen beatitudine Haganonem habebat, quem ex mediocribus potentem effecerat; adeo ut magnatibus quibusque longe absistentibus, ipse regio lateri solus haereret, pilleum etiam a capite regis sepissime sumptum, palam sibi imponeret. Quod etiam multam regi intulit labem.

15. Charles’ excessive affection for Haganon. For although he treated princes with great benignity, yet his chief felicity was Haganon, whom he had made powerful out of the mediocre; so that, the magnates keeping far off, he alone clung to the royal side, even most often taking the pilleus from the king’s head and openly placing it upon himself. Which also brought much stain/disgrace upon the king.

Et enim primates id ferentes indignum, regem adeunt, ac apud eum satis conqueruntur, hominem obscuris parentibus natum, regiae dignitati multum derogare, cum acsi indigentia nobilium, ipse tamquam consulturus regi assistat. Et nisi a tanta consuetudine cesset, sese a regis consilio penitus discessuros. Rex dissuasionibus his minime credulus, a dilecto non cessit.

And the magnates, finding this unbecoming, go to the king and before him complain at length that a man born of obscure parents much detracts from royal dignity, as if, for lack of nobles, he himself were to stand at the king’s side as a counsellor. And unless he cease from so great familiarity, they will entirely withdraw from the king’s counsel. The king, scarcely believing these dissuasions, did not abandon his favourite.

16. (920.) Indignatio Rotberti in Haganonem. Interea Belgicae urbibus atque oppidis firmissime optentis, in Celticam redit, ac urbe Suessonica recipit sese. Huc ex omni Gallia principes confluunt.

16. (920.) The indignation of Rotbert against Haganon. Meanwhile, having most firmly secured the towns and oppida of Belgica, he returns into Celtic territory and withdraws to the city Suessonica. To this place princes from all Gaul converge.

Huc etiam minores multo favore conveniunt. Inter quos cum Rotbertus, in majore gratia apud regem sese haberi putaret, utpote quem ducem in Celtica omnibus praefecerat, cum rex in palatio sedisset, ejus jussu dux dexter, Hagano quoque ei levus pariter resedit. Rotbertus vero dux tacite indignum ferebat personam mediocrem sibi aequari, magnatibusque praeponi.

To this place even the lesser men assemble with much favour. Among them, when Rotbert thought himself to stand in greater grace before the king — since he had set him as dux over all in Celtica — when the king had sat in the palace, by his command the right-hand duke, and Hagano likewise the left, sat beside him. Rotbert, however, as dux silently bore with indignation that a person of mediocre standing should be equalled to him and placed before the magnates.

At iram mitigans, animum dissimulabat, vix regi pauca locutus. Celerius ergo surgit, ac cum suis consilium confert. Quo collato, regi per legatos suggerit, sese perferre non posse sibi Haganonem aequari, primatibusque anteferri.

But tempering his wrath, he dissembled his mind, scarcely speaking a few words to the king. He therefore rose the sooner, and held counsel with his own. When this had been arranged, he suggested to the king by legates that he could not suffer Haganon to be equated with him, nor to be preferred before the primates.

Indignum etiam videri hujusmodi hominem regi haerere, et Gallorum nobilissimos longe absistere; quem nisi in mediocritatem redigat, sese eum crudeli suspendio suffocaturum. Rex dilecti ignominiam non passus, facilius se omnium colloquio, quam hujus familiaritate posse carere respondit. Quod nimium Rotbertus indignatus, cum optimatibus plerisque injussus Neustriam petit, ac Turonis sese recipit.

It likewise seemed unworthy that a man of this sort should cling to the king, and that the most noble of the Franks should stand far off; unless he reduce him to mediocrity, he would suffocate him with a cruel hanging. The king, not permitting the ignominy of his beloved, replied that he could more easily do without the conversation of all than be deprived of the familiarity of this one. This so angered Rotbert that, commanded by the majority of the optimates, he sought Neustria and withdrew to Tours.

Multam ibi de regis levitate indignationem habens. Plurima etiam ut in se transfundatur rerum summa, apud suos caute pertractans. Quamvis etenim regi faveret, non mediocriter tamen ei regnum invidebat, cum sibi post fratrem hereditandum magis videret.

There he bore much indignation at the king’s levity. He likewise, that the summa of affairs might be transferred onto himself, was cautiously discussing very many matters among his own. For though he favored the king, he yet rather strongly envied him the kingdom, seeing that it would more likely be inherited by him after his brother.

Nonnulla quoque moliebatur in Fulconem Remorum metropolitanum, qui regem a cunabulis educaverat, atque in regnum promoverat. Videbatur etenim, quia si is solum deperiret, facilius refundi in sese regnum potuisset. Id etiam apud Balduinum Morinorum principem admodum agitabat.

He also plotted various things against Fulco, metropolitan of the Remi, who had reared the king from his cradle and had promoted him to the kingship. For it seemed that, if that man alone were destroyed, the kingdom could more easily be poured back into his own hands. He pressed this matter very much also upon Baldwin, prince of the Morini.

Hic enim ab eo persuasus, ejus partes jam rege deserto sequebatur.

For he, persuaded by him, now followed his party, the king being deserted.

17. (899.) Interfectio Fulconis archiepiscopi. Quo rex comperto, in Balduinum fertur, ac multa obsidionis vi castrum Atrabatum ab eo aufert, atque cum tota sancti Vedasti abbatia, Fulconi praedicto metropolitano concedit. At post aliquot tempora metropolitanus ob itineris longinquitatem fratrumque incommoditatem Altmarum comitem accersiens, abbatiam sancti Medardi quam ipse comes tenebat, ab eo accipit, et pro ea abbatiam sancti Vedasti cum castro Atrabato rationibus utrimque habitis ei impertit.

17. (899.) The killing of Fulco the archbishop. When the king learned this, he is said to have gone to Baldwin, and by much force of siege carried off from him the castle Atrabatum, and granted it, together with the whole abbey of Saint Vedast, to the aforesaid metropolitan Fulco. But after some time the metropolitan, distraught at the length of the journey and the inconvenience to the brethren, summoning Count Altmarus, received from him the abbey of Saint Medard which the count himself held, and in exchange for it bestowed upon him the abbey of Saint Vedast with the castle Atrabatum, after accounts had been settled on both sides.

(900.) Unde et ad nimiam pertrahitur Balduinus crudelitatem. Multaque affectus anxietate, ad ultionem penitus sese convertit. Amicitiam ergo circa metropolitanum simulat.

(900.) Whence also Baldwin is drawn into excessive cruelty. And greatly affected by anxiety, he wholly turns himself to vengeance. He therefore simulates friendship toward the metropolitan.

Per legatos quoque multam benivolentiam mandat, fidemque spondet. Illud tamen multa suorum curiositate observat, utrum privatus an cum copiis regis palatium petere consuescat; privatum multo nisu impetere cupiens. Haec dum sic haberentur, pro regiis causis contigit episcopos Belgicae apud regem congregari.

Through legates also he commands much benevolence, and pledges his faith. He nevertheless observes that matter with great curiosity of his men, whether he is accustomed to seek the palace as a private man or with the forces of the king; wishing to assail the private one with much exertion. While these things were thus, for royal causes it happened that the bishops of Belgica were gathered at the king’s court.

Unde et metropolitanus accersitus cum iter accelerare pararet, incautus cum paucis festinabat. Cui mox affuit quidam Winemarus cum cohorte a Balduino missus. Metropolitanus cum esset cum paucis, a cohorte cum suis interceptus est.

Whereupon the metropolitan, having been summoned and preparing to quicken his journey, unwarily hurried with a few. To him soon came a certain Winemarus with a cohort sent by Baldwin. The metropolitan, being with a few, was intercepted by the cohort with its men.

Nulli fugae locus patuit. Omnes circumvallantur atque impetuntur. Admodum utrimque dimicant.

No place of flight was open. All are surrounded and attacked. They fight exceedingly on both sides.

Utrimque fusi procumbunt. (900, Jun. 16.) Winemarus metropolitanum adortus, lancea inermem transfigit, atque inter suos septem vulneribus sauciatum praecipitat.

Routed on both sides, they fall back. (900, Jun. 16.) Winemarus, having attacked the metropolitan, transfixes the unarmed man with a lance, and hurls him, smitten by seven wounds, among his own men.

Cui cum adhuc ictus intenderet, quidam suorum multo episcopi amore ducti, super eum procumbunt. Qui cum eo mox transfixi atque occisi sunt. Quatuor tantum fuga labuntur, qui rei negotium Remis demonstrant.

While he still aimed a blow at him, some of his own, borne by a great love for the bishop, fell upon him. They were soon pierced and slain with him. Only four escaped in flight, who report the business of the matter to the Remi.

Tunc vero magna militum manus, ab urbe mox cum armis educta, adversarios persequi conatur. Sed eis elapsis, dominum occisum cum suis colligunt, atque multo doloris lamento Remos deportant, cum sacerdotibus sacerdotem plurimo dignitatis obsequio condentes.

Then indeed a great band of soldiers, soon led forth from the city with arms, attempts to pursue the adversaries. But, they having escaped, they gather up the lord, slain with his men, and, with much lamentation of grief, carry off the Remi, burying the priest with priests with the very greatest observance of dignity.

18. Winemari interitus. Interea collectis apud regem episcopis, talia mox referuntur. Quod etiam omnibus nimium animi incussit dolorem.

18. the death of Winemar. Meanwhile, the bishops having been gathered at the king’s, such things were soon reported. Which also laid too great a sorrow upon all hearts.

Rex ipse in lacrimas dissolutus, de casu pontificis adeo conquestus est. Episcopi quoque in fratris morte et coepiscopi, multa commiseratione condoluere. Initoque consilio, Winemarum cum suis complicibus, horribili anathemate damnant.

The king himself, dissolved into tears, so bewailed the fall of the pontiff. The bishops likewise mourned the death of the brother and co‑bishop with much commiseration. And with a council convened, they condemn Winemar and his accomplices with a horrible anathema.

Qui in brevi deficiens, insanabili ydropis morbo a Deo percussus est. Ventre itaque turgidus, exterius quidem lento igne, interius vero immani incendio urebatur. Ingens tumor pedum non deerat.

Who, failing in a short time, was struck by God with an incurable disease of dropsy. His belly therefore swollen, externally indeed scorched by a slow fire, but within was consumed by a vast conflagration. A huge swelling of the feet was not lacking.

Verenda vermibus scaturiebant. Crura tumentia ac lucida. Anelitus fetidus.

The revered parts swarmed with worms. The legs swollen and shining. A fetid breath.

Viscera etiam paulatim per colum diffluebant. Super haec omnia sitim intollerabilem sustinebat. Appetitum vero comedendi aliquando habebat, sed cibi illati fastidium inferebant.

The viscera likewise gradually ran down through his throat. On top of all this he endured an intolerable thirst. Indeed he sometimes had an appetite for eating, but the food brought to him produced a loathing.

Insomnietatem jugem patiebatur. Omnibusque factus intolerabilis, omnibus horrori habitus est. Itaque amici atque domestici ab eo dimoti sunt, multo ejus corporis fetore confecti; in tantum ut nullus medicorum, saltem medendi causa ad eum accedere posset.

He suffered a perpetual insomnia. And having become intolerable to all, he was regarded as a horror by everyone. Therefore friends and domestics were moved away from him, overcome by the great fetor of his body; so much so that no physician, at least for the purpose of medendi (healing), could approach him.

Quibus omnibus dissolutus, omni christianitatis communione privatus, a vermibus ex parte jam consumptus, flagiciosus ac sacrilegus ab hac vita pulsus est.

Having been undone by all these things, deprived of all communion of Christianity, already in part consumed by worms, disgraceful and sacrilegious, he was driven from this life.

19. Promotio Herivei in episcopatum. Sepulto vero domno Fulcone metropolitano, Heriveus vir spectabilis et palatinus episcoporum consensu, et Remensium conibentia in pontificatu regis donatione succedit. Quorum uterque quanta utilitate, quantaque religione in aecclesia Remensi floruit, si quis ad plenum dinoscere cupit, legat librum Flodoardi presbiteri, quem ab urbe condita de ejusdem urbis episcopis uberrime descripsit.

19. Promotion of Heriveus to the bishopric. After the burial of Lord Fulco the metropolitan, Heriveus, a man conspicuous and palatine, by the consent of the bishops and with the assent of the people of Remensian, succeeds in the pontificate by the king’s donation. If anyone wishes to ascertain fully with what utility and with what piety each of them flourished in the church of Remensian, let him read the book of the presbyter Flodoard, which he most copiously wrote down concerning the bishops of that same city from the founding of the city.

Adepto quoque Heriveus pontificatu, multa fide regem sequebatur, desertoribus adeo infestus. Erlebaldum Castricensium comitem, qui res sui episcopii pervaserat, et oppidum quod vocant Macerias obtinebat, more aecclesiastico prius quidem ut resipiscat ammonet, post vero anathemate damnat (920). Qui cum sibi nec damnatus satisfaceret, in eum cum multis militum copiis fertur, oppidumque multa obsidione per quatuor ebdomadas vehementer adurget. Erlebaldus continuam non ferens impugnationem, clam ab oppido cum aliquot suorum dilabitur.

And Heriveus having also obtained the pontificate, followed the king with great fidelity, so hostile to deserters. He first admonished, according to ecclesiastical custom, Erlebaldus, count of the Castrenses, who had taken possession of the goods of his bishopric and held the town they call Macerias, that he should repent; but afterwards he condemned him with anathema (920). When the condemned man would not satisfy him, he is carried against him with many bands of soldiers, and for four weeks he vigorously besieges and greatly assaults the town. Erlebaldus, not enduring the continuous assault, secretly slips away from the town with some of his men.

Qui vero remanserant victi, portis mox patefactis, metropolitano cedunt. Eisque ejectis, suos ibi deposuit, ac de toto pago Erlebaldum profugum disturbavit.

But those who had remained, having been defeated, when the gates were soon opened, yielded to the metropolitan. And with them expelled, he left his own there, and throughout the whole district he pursued Erlebaldus the fugitive.

20. Ad Renum mutua petitio ac comitis Erlebaldi occisio. Rex in pagum Warmacensem, locuturus Heinrico Transrhenensi, concesserat. Huc quoque Erlebaldus comes advenit, apud regem deploraturus a Remensium metropolitano sese immaniter habitum.

20. A mutual petition to the Rhine and the slaying of Count Erlebald. The king had granted the pagus Warmacensis to Heinrich of the Transrhenan region. To this place also Count Erlebald came, to bewail before the king that he had been dealt with cruelly by the metropolitan of Reims.

Heinricus apud regem de rerum dispositionibus fidelissime satagebat. Cui rei cum admodum intenderet, Germanorum Gallorumque juvenes linguarum idiomate offensi, ut eorum mos est cum multa animositate maledictis sese lacessire coeperunt. Consertique gladios exerunt, ac se adorsi, loetaliter sauciant.

Heinricus apud regem de rerum dispositionibus fidelissime satagebat. When he was very intent upon that matter, the youths of the Germans and of the Gauls, offended by the idiom of his language, as is their custom with much vehemence began to assail him with maledictions. And, having come together and drawn their swords, and having set upon one another, they wounded one another lethally.

In quo tumultu, cum ad litem sedandam Erlebaldus comes accederet, a furentibus occisus est. Rex proditionem ratus, ocius surgit, suisque stipatur. Heinricus vero dolum arbitrans, classem repetit, atque a regiis stipatoribus Rhenum transire cogitur.

In that tumult, when Count Erlebaldus was approaching to settle the dispute, he was slain by the furious men. The king, deeming it treachery, rose swiftly and marshalled his men. Heinricus, however, deeming it a guile, made for the fleet, and was compelled by the royal retainers to cross the Rhine.

Existimabant enim hi qui regi assistebant, eum in dolo venisse. A quo etiam tempore Karolo infestus ferebatur.

For those who attended the king judged that he had come in treachery. From that time he was generally held to be hostile to Charles.

21. (920.) Desertorum dolosa regi Karolo persuasio de Haganonis abjectione. Hinc itaque Heinrico, inde Rotberto duce Karolus urgebatur. Factusque eorum medius, utrimque premebatur.

21. (920.) The deceitful persuasion of the deserters to King Charles concerning Haganon's abandonment. Hence Charles was urged toward Heinricus on one side, and toward Rotbert, the duke, on the other. And being made their mediator, he was pressed from both sides.

Post haec ad interiora Belgicae rediens, urbe Suessonica sese recipit, multam ex hujusmodi infortunio apud suos agitans quaerelam. Huc etiam ex Belgica quo Celticae conlimitat, atque ex Celtica principes nonnulli confluunt. Sed et Rotbertus dux propinquior factus, Stampis sese recipit, ac ad palatium legatos dirigit, regalia negotia inde experturus.

After this, returning to the interior of Belgica, he withdraws to the city Suessonica, venting much complaint among his own about such misfortune. To this place also, from Belgica which borders on Celtica, and from Celtica, some princes flock. But Rotbertus the duke, having drawn nearer, withdraws to Stampis, and sends envoys to the palace, to inquire into the royal affairs therefrom.

At qui confluxere, Rotberti partes tuebantur, cujus suasu capti, de Haganonis abjectione apud regem pertractant, non ut id fieri velint, sed ut regnandi occasio Rotberto paretur. Abjectionem itaque Haganonis leviter suadent. Ducem etiam a se discessurum si non abjiciat, mediocri assertione demonstrant; quatinus levi objurgatione rex ammonitus, coeptis insistere non formidet.

But those who had gathered were defending the partisans of Rotbert, and, captured by his suasion, they debated before the king the deposition of Haganon, not because they wished it to be done, but so that an occasion for Rotbert to reign might be prepared. They therefore lightly urged the deposition of Haganon. They also asserted with moderate claim that the duke would depart from them if he were not deposed; so that, the king admonished with a light rebuke, he might not shrink from persisting in his undertakings.

Unde et post contra eum justissimam indignationis causam se habituros arbitrabantur. Quod etiam totum ad vota eorum provenit. Nam rex nulla suasione affectus, numquam a dilecto sese discessurum respondit; idque multis sententiarum sermonibus asserebat.

Whence also thereafter they supposed they would have a most just cause of indignation against him. Which whole matter likewise turned out according to their vows. For the king, moved by no persuasion, answered that he would never depart from his beloved; and he asserted this in many speeches of opinion.

Quod cum Rotbertus dux in ejus animo fixum perciperet, Heinrico Transrhenensi per legatos de regis ejectione suadet. Compererat enim eum a regiis stipatoribus in fugam coactum; unde et de se fidem continuo facit. Cujus consensu tirannus mox laetus, in sese regnum transferre diligentissime laborabat.

When Duke Rotbert perceived that fixed in his mind, he exhorted Heinrich of the Transrhine by legates concerning the king’s ejection. For he had learned that the king had been driven into flight by the royal bodyguards; whence he at once gives assurance about himself. With whose consent the tyrant, soon rejoicing, most diligently strove to transfer the kingdom to himself.

Largitur itaque plurima, atque pollicetur inaudita. Tandemque inductos transfugio jam principes aperte alloquitur; regem inquiens Suessionis sese privatum habere; Belgas praeter paucissimos ad sua discessisse. Unde et rei commoditatem adesse memorabat, facillime et ex aequo regem posse capi asserens, si ipsi omnes palatium adeant acsi consulturi, in ipso quoque palatii cubiculo inter consulendum regem capiant teneantque.

He therefore bestows very many things, and promises unheard-of matters. At last he openly addresses the princes who had now been led in as transfuges, saying that the king of the Suessiones held himself a private man; that the Belgae, except for very few, had withdrawn to their homes. Whence he reminded them that advantage to the cause was present, asserting that the king could most easily and without prejudice be seized, if they themselves all went to the palace as if to consult; and even in the very chamber of the palace, whilst consulting, seize and hold the king.

His favent omnes pene ex Celtica, et de patrando facinore, apud tirannum conjurant. Palatium ergo adeunt, regemque utpote consulturi stipant. Intromissum vero cubiculo, ut paucis allocuti sunt, capiunt ac tenent.

Nearly all of those from Celtica favor them, and they swear at the tyrant concerning the committing of the crime. They therefore go to the palace, and, as if about to consult him, press round the king. Having been admitted into the bedchamber, and after speaking with him briefly, they seize and hold him.

22. Heriveus metropolitanus Karolum a desertoribus captum liberat Remosque ducit. Jamque abducere nitebantur, cum metropolitanus Heriveus cum copiis repentinus urbem Suessonicam ingreditur. Regis enim sollicitus, desertorum fraudem praesenserat.

22. From here the metropolitan Heriveus frees Karolus, taken by deserters, and leads the Remi. And now they were striving to carry him off, when the metropolitan Heriveus with troops suddenly entered the city Suessonica. For the king, anxious, had fore-sensed the treachery of the deserters.

Et ipse quidem prius cum paucis, post vero sui, favente Riculfo ejusdem urbis episcopo, consequenter admittuntur. Armatis itaque circumdatus, concilium desertorum stupentibus cunctis penetrat. Factusque terribilis: Ubi inquam est dominus meus rex?

And he himself, indeed at first with a few, and afterwards with his own men, with the favor of Riculf, bishop of that same city, were admitted in succession. And so surrounded by armed men, he burst into the council of the deserters, all astonished. And made terrible, he cried out: "Where, I say, is my lord the king?"

Ex tam multis, pauci admodum respondendi vires habuere, sese penitus deceptos rati. Qui tamen cum viribus resumtis dicerent: Intro cum paucis consultat! metropolitanus ostio obserato vim infert.

Of so many, very few indeed had strength to answer, thinking themselves utterly deceived. But those who, having regained their strength, were saying, "I enter; consult with the few!" the metropolitan, the door having been barred, forced his way in.

Serisque pessumdatis, cum paucis sedentem repperit. Captum enim custodibus adhibitis ergastulo deputaverant. Quo metropolitanus manu apprehenso: Veni inquit rex, tuisque potius utere.

And with the bolts having been fastened, he found him sitting with a few. For, having been seized, they had assigned him to a work-prison (ergastulum) with guards appointed. Whereupon the metropolitan, having seized him by the hand, said: "Come, king; rather make use of your own authority."

Et sic a metropolitano e desertorum medio eductus est. Tunc etiam equum ascendens, cum 1500 armatorum ab urbe exivit, atque Remos devenit. Post cujus discessum, desertores pudore confusi, illusos sese indignabantur.

And thus he was led out from the midst of the deserters by the metropolitan. Then, mounting his horse, when he departed the city with 1500 armed men, he reached Remos. After whose departure, the deserters, confounded with shame and deeming themselves deceived, were indignant.

Confusique ad Rotbertum redeunt, atque rem non satis prospere gestam desertori transfugae reportant. Karolus vero rex cum metropolitano aliisque paucis qui a se quidem defecerant, sapientium tamen consilio ad se reversi erant, Belgicae interiora repetit, ac Tungros concedit. Ibique episcopo tunc defuncto Hilduinum eligente clero, ac populo favente, per archiepiscopum Herimannum, praesulem ordinat, virum liberalem ac strenuum, sed factiosum.

And discomfited they returned to Rotbert, and reported to the deserter and fugitive that the matter had not been carried out quite prosperously. But King Karolus, having with the metropolitan and a few others who indeed had deserted him but had returned by the counsel of the wise, retraced the interior parts of Belgica and granted the Tungri. There, the bishop then dead, Hilduin chosen by the clergy and favored by the people, through the archbishop Herimannus he ordained as presul — a man liberal and strenuous, but factious.

Nam mox episcopus ordinatus, iis Belgicae principibus qui Rotberto duci in regis abjectione favebant, mox haesit et favit, plurimum cum eis contra regem machinans. At rex bono suorum usus consilio, per Heriveum metropolitanum ducem Heinricum qui in Saxonia omnibus praeerat, accersit. Hic enim ab Rotberto persuasus, cum aliis ab rege discesserat.

For soon after his ordination the bishop clung to and favoured those princes of Belgium who sided with Duke Rotbert in the king’s deposition, conspiring with them greatly against the king. But the king, having made use of the good counsel of his men, summoned by means of Heriveus the metropolitan Duke Heinrich, who presided over all in Saxony. For this man, persuaded by Rotbert, had withdrawn from the king with others.

23. Conquestio Herivei Remensium metropolitani apud Heinricum pro Karolo rege. Penes quem, metropolitanus vice regis sic orsus ait: Hactenus, vir nobilissime, tua prudentia, tua liberalitate, pax principum, concordia omnium utiliter floruere. At postquam malivolorum invidia animum remisisti, circumcirca discordiae vis a latibulis emersit.

23. The complaint of Heriveus, metropolitan of Reims, before Henry on behalf of King Charles. In whose presence the metropolitan, in the stead of the king, thus began: So far, most noble man, by your prudence and your liberality the peace of princes and the concord of all have flourished to good effect. But after you relaxed your spirit because of the envy of ill-wishers, the force of discord sprang up from its lurking-places all around.

Quae res, domino nostro regi apud te oratum ire suasit. Ante hac enim non mediocriter ob tua merita dilectissimus fuisti. Tua egregia fides ei recognita, in magnis periculis multum sibi fidutiam parat.

This affair urged that it be carried to entreat our lord the king in your presence. For previously you had been most beloved, not without measure, on account of your merits. Your outstanding fidelity being acknowledged by him, in great perils it gave him much confidence.

Cum totius statu dignitatis rex potiretur, paululum a te oberrasse sese non ignorat. Sed id multa fide corrigere gestit. Nec est hoc inusitatum et singulare.

Since the king has come into possession of the whole state of dignity, he is not unaware that he has erred a little from you. But he eagerly desires to correct that with much fidelity. Nor is this unusual or singular.

Omnium est interdum desipere, bonorum vero rationibus redire. Sufferendum est itaque atque summa benignitate indulgendum. Tu quoque Germanorum optime, nimium a recto secessisse videris.

It is the lot of all at times to lapse into folly, but for the good to return to right reason. He must therefore be borne with and indulged with the utmost benignity. You also, best of the Germans, seem to have withdrawn too far from the straight course.

Neque id mirum. Nam dux Rotbertus omnia sitiens, regique regnum immaniter invidens, incautum te suasionibus illexit. Quid enim suasorie digesta non efficit oratio?

Nor is that surprising. For Duke Rotbertus, craving all things and monstrously envious of the king’s regnum, lured you, unwary, with persuasions. For what does not a well-composed persuasive oration achieve?

Nimium inquam ab utrisque oberratum est. Sed jam tandem prior vobis redeat virtus. Summa utriusque ope, uterque nitatur, ut tu habeas regem tibi adprime commodum, et rex habeat te virum sese dignissimum.

It has, I say, wandered too far from both sides. But now at last may the former virtue return to you. With the utmost aid of each, let each strive, that you may have a king especially convenient for you, and the king may have you a man most worthy of him.

Nam te idem praestare gestit iis omibus qui Germaniam inhabitare noscuntur. Ob hoc igitur animum ad meliora revoca. Dominum abjectum recipe, ut et tu ab eo extollendus excipiaris.

For he eagerly desires to exhibit the same of you to all those who are known to inhabit Germany. Wherefore, then, turn your spirit back to better things. Receive the lord cast off, so that you too may be received and exalted by him.

24. Responsio Heinrici ad metropolitanum Heriveum de Karolo. Ad haec Heinricus : Multa, inquit, me ab his dehortantur, nisi tua, pater, egregie virtus, ad idem quodammodo pertrahat. Scio enim quam difficile et arduum sit, ei consilium dare, cum sua inconstantia, tum suorum invidia.

24. Heinricus’s reply to the metropolitan Heriveus concerning Karolus. To this Heinricus: “Many,” he said, “deter me from these things, were it not that your, father, distinguished virtue in some way propels me to the same. For I know how difficult and arduous it is to give counsel to him, both because of his inconstancy and the envy of his own.”

Non est incognitum mihi, quantum pro eo domi militiaeque pridem certaverim. Illud etiam notissimum constat, quantum circa me fide debita abusus sit. Id fortassis, pater, persuades, quod cum factum erit, fecisse penitebit.

It is not unknown to me how much on his behalf I long ago strove at home and in military service. That also is very well known, how greatly the trust owed me has been abused around me. That, perhaps, father, you think — that when it has been done you will repent having done it.

Sed quia de futuro nemo satis callidus, nemo satis prudens fit, licet saepius prava quam bona consilia proveniant, ferar quocumque jubes. Modestiamque meam, post tuam dignitatem demittam, virtutem tuam expertus. Equidem decretum mihi fuerat, ingenio, consilio, armis ab eo recedere.

But since about the future no one becomes sufficiently shrewd, no one sufficiently prudent, although crooked counsels often rather than good ones arise, I will be borne wherever you command. And I will abase my modesty beneath your dignity, having proved your virtue. For indeed it was decreed for me to yield to him in genius, in counsel, and in arms.

Persuasus itaque per metropolitanum, Heinricus regi deducitur, multoque ambitionis honore ante admittitur, ac ambo in amicitiam federantur.

Therefore, persuaded by the metropolitan, Henry is conducted to the king, and beforehand admitted with much honor of ambition, and both are federated into friendship.

25. Quibus gestis Hilduinus Tungrensium episcopus, cum iis qui ab rege defecerant conspirasse in regem insimulatus, regique infensus, ab eo insectabatur. Cujus odii vis eo usque pervenit, ut Richerum Prumiensis monasterii abbatem promoveret, et Hilduinum abdicaret. (921.) At Richerus ab rege donatus, cum ab metropolitano Herimanno urgeretur, eo quod contra fas ab rege episcopatum suscepisset super eum qui tenebat, quique nulla culparum confessione victus, nullo juditio damnatus esset, regis jussu Romam festinat; ac ibi Johanni papae, et regis sententiam et sui negotii causam demonstrat.

25. When these things were done, Hilduinus, bishop of the Tungrenses, having been accused of conspiring with those who had defected from the king and being hostile to the king, was pursued by him. The force of his hatred reached so far that he promoted Richer, abbot of the monastery of Prüm, and deposed Hilduinus. (921.) But Richer, having been gifted by the king, when he was pressed by the metropolitan Hermann because he had accepted the bishopric from the king contrary to right over him who held it, and who, conquered by no confession of crimes and condemned by no judgment, hastened to Rome by the king’s command; and there he set forth to Pope John both the king’s sentence and the cause of his own affair.

Papa in Hilduinum desertorem indignans, ab officio eum suspendit ac anathemate damnat; Richerum vero episcopum ordinat, ac suae auctoritatis benedictione donat. Haec dum sic agerentur, Hilduinus prosequitur, incassum apud papam plurimam querimoniam fundens, ac apud eum pro absolutione admodum laborans. Quo conquerente, Richerus redit, ac sedem vacuam jussus ab rege ingreditur.

The pope, indignant at Hilduinus the deserter, suspended him from his office and condemned him with an anathema; he ordained Richerus bishop and bestowed upon him the benediction of his authority. While these things were thus being done, Hilduinus pursued matters in vain, pouring out very many complaints to the pope and striving greatly with him for absolution. With him complaining, Richerus returned and, ordered by the king, entered the vacant see.

26. His ita sese habentibus rex ad interiores Belgicae partes iter retorquet; ibique ob multas rerum quae emerserant causas, regio decreto et metropolitani jussu, sinodus apud Trosleium habenda indicitur. Cui sinodo domnus Heriveus praesedit, rege quoque ibidem praesidente. Ubi quamplurimis quae utillima visa sunt determinatis, regis interventu et omnium episcoporum qui sinodo interfuere consensu domnus Heriveus metropolitanus Erlebaldum praedictum Castricensium comitem a vinculo excommunicationis absolvit.

26. With these matters thus standing, the king turned his journey back to the interior parts of Belgica; and there, on account of the many affairs that had arisen, by royal decree and by the metropolitan’s command, a synod to be held at Trosleium was appointed. To that synod Lord Heriveus presided, the king also presiding there. When very many things which seemed most useful had been determined, by the intervention of the king and with the consent of all the bishops who attended the synod, Lord Heriveus the metropolitan absolved Erlebaldus, the aforesaid count of the Castricenses, from the bond of excommunication.

Ibi etiam Rodulfo Laudunensium episcopo defuncto, Adelelmum ejusdem urbis thesaurarium multo episcoporum consensu ab rege donatum sollempniter ordinat.

There also, after Rodulf, bishop of Laon, had died, he solemnly ordained Adelelm, treasurer of the same city, who had been granted by the king, with the great consent of the bishops.

27. His prospere et utiliter gestis, rex superiora Belgicae repetit, aliqua suorum ibi ordinaturus. In Richuinum comitem fertur, eo quod et ipse desertor, Rotberti partes tuebatur. Ejus ergo oppidis obsidionem adhibet, vehementi expugnatione infestans.

27. With these things carried out prosperously and profitably, the king retraces the upper parts of Belgica, to ordain some of his own there. He is reported to direct himself against Count Richuinus, because he too was a deserter and was defending the party of Rotbert. Therefore he lays siege to his towns, raging with a vehement assault.

At ille equitatum intolerabilem advertens, jure obsidum victus ad regem redit. Rex victum excipiens, animum ab ira mitigat ac eum in gratiam resumit.

But he, noticing the intolerable cavalry, overcome by the law of hostages, returns to the king. The king, receiving the vanquished, softens his spirit from anger and resumes him into favor.

28. Dum haec gerebantur, Rotbertus Celticae Galliae dux piratas acriter impetebat. Irruperant enim duce Rollone filio Catilli intra Neustriam repentini. Jamque Ligerim classe transmiserant, ac finibus illius indemnes potiebantur.

28. While these things were being done, Rotbert, duke of Celtic Gaul, was fiercely assailing pirates. For they had burst in, with Rollon, son of Catillus, as leader, suddenly into Neustria. And already they had sent a fleet across the Loire, and were taking possession of its territories unharmed.

Ibant passim palantes, atque cum vehementibus manubiis ad classem sese referebant. Dux vero ex tota Neustria copias collegerat; plures quoque ex Aquitania accersiverat. Aderant etiam ab rege missae quatuor cohortes ex Belgica, quibus et Richuinus praedictus praeerat.

They went about everywhere wandering, and with their violent plunder were returning to the fleet. The duke, however, had gathered forces from all Neustria; he had likewise summoned many from Aquitaine. There were also four cohorts sent by the king from Belgica present, over which the aforesaid Richuinus commanded.

Aquitanorum vero legiones Dalmatius curabat. Neustrios vero ipse dux Rotbertus disponebat. Sicque totus ducis exercitus in quadraginta milibus equitum consistebat.

The legions of the Aquitanians were commanded by Dalmatius. The Neustrians, however, Duke Rotbert himself marshaled. And thus the duke’s entire army consisted of 40,000 cavalry.

Dalmatium ergo cum Aquitanis in prima fronte constituit; dein Belgas, at Neustrios subsidiis locat. Ipse etiam dux legiones circumiens praecipuos quosque nomine vocans hortatur, ut suae virtutis ac nobilitatis plurimum meminerint; pro patria, pro vita, pro libertate certandum asserens. De morte non sollicitandum cum ea omnibus incerta sit.

He therefore placed Dalmatian with the Aquitani in the foremost line; then the Belgae, and the Neustrians he set as supports. He himself, traversing the legions and calling each notable man by name, exhorted them to bear foremost in memory their own virtue and nobility; insisting that they must fight for fatherland, for life, for liberty. Concerning death they were not to be anxious, since it is uncertain for all.

Si vero fugiant, eis nihil ab hostibus esse relinquendum. His et aliis quam plurimis, militum animos incendebat. Quibus dictis dux in locum ubi praelium erat gerendum, instructos ordines deducit.

If, however, they should flee, nothing was to be left to them by the enemies. With these and as many other things he set their soldiers’ spirits on fire. Having said this, the duke led forth the drawn-up ranks to the place where the battle was to be waged.

29. Nec minus et hostium exercitus contra hos rem militarem multa audatia ordinabant. Quorum exercitus in quinquaginta milibus armatorum consistens, ordinatim obvenientibus procedit. Rotbertus dux vim belli maximam imminere advertens, cum mille robustis ex Neustria, Dalmatio in prima fronte sese assotiat.

29. No less did the enemy army likewise devise many bold military enterprises against these. Their army, numbering fifty thousand armed men, advanced in order as they arrived. Duke Rotbertus, perceiving that a great force of war was hanging over him, associated himself with a thousand hardy men from Neustria on the foremost front.

Procedit itaque cum Dalmatio et Aquitanis. At piratarum legiones longo sese ordine protenderant ipsumque ordinem ad hostes excipiendos curvaverant scemate lunae quae in augmento est, ut dum multo fervore hostes ruerent, exercitus circulatione exciperentur. Sic etiam ab iis qui in cornu utroque persisterent, a tergo appetiti, more pecudum sternerentur.

He therefore advanced with Dalmatio and the Aquitani. But the pirate legions had stretched themselves out in a long order and had bent that very line to receive the enemies in the design of a moon which is increasing, so that, while with much fervor the foes rushed in, the armies would be taken by a circulation. Thus also those who stood fast in each horn, having been assailed from the rear, were laid low in the manner of cattle.

30. His ergo in utraque parte paratis, uterque exercitus signis collatis congreditur. Rotbertus cum Neustriis, Dalmatius cum Aquitanis legiones piratarum penetrant, statimque ab iis qui in cornibus erant, a tergo impetuntur. Mox quoque et Belgae inprovisi prosequuntur, atque piratas qui a tergo suos premebant, immani cede sternunt.

30. With these things therefore arranged on either side, each army, their standards having been joined, engages. Rotbertus with the Neustrians, Dalmatius with the Aquitanians, pierce the legions of the pirates, and immediately are attacked from the rear by those who were in the horns. Soon moreover the Belgae, taken unawares, pursue as well, and with immense slaughter put to the ground the pirates who were pressing their own from the rear.

Neustrii quoque atrocissime instant. In qua commixtione, cum Aquitani piratis circumdati, multo conamine eos quos impellebant in fugam cogerent, ii qui in cornibus perstiterant, a Belgis hinc premebantur, inde vero ab Aquitanis conversis letaliter urgebantur. Superati itaque arma deponunt, ac multis clamoribus pro vita supplicant.

The Neustrians also pressed on most atrociously. In that mêlée, when the Aquitanians, surrounded by pirates, with great exertion forced those whom they were attacking into flight, those who had remained on the flanks were pressed on this side by the Belgians and, on the other hand, lethally pressed by the Aquitanians returning; therefore, overcome, they lay down their arms and with many cries beg for their lives.

Rotbertus itaque tantae caedi parcere petit, ac instat ut eruantur. Vix quoque ab caede quievit exercitus, multo prosperioris fortunae incitatus successu. Sedato vero tumultu, qui inter eos potiores videbantur, a duce capti sunt, reliqui vero sub jure obsidum ad classem redire per mittuntur.

Rotbertus therefore seeks to spare so great a slaughter, and presses that they be delivered. Scarcely did the army rest from the carnage, spurred on by the success of far more prosperous fortune. But with the tumult quelled, those who among them seemed the more distinguished were seized by the leader, and the rest were sent back to the fleet under the pledge of hostages.

31. Patrata ergo victoria, exercituque soluto, Rotbertus captos Parisii deponit. Hos percunctans an christiani essent, nullum eorum quicquam religionis hujusmodi attigisse comperit. Misso itaque ad eos instruendos reverendo presbitero et monacho Martino, ad fidem Christi conversi sunt.

31. The victory therefore having been achieved, and the army dismissed, Rotbertus sets down the captured Parisians. Questioning these whether they were Christians, he ascertained that none of them had touched anything of that religion. Wherefore, a reverend presbyter and monk Martin being sent to instruct them, they were converted to the faith of Christ.

Qui vero ad classem redierant, alii eorum christiani, alii pagani mixtim inventi sunt. Et hi quoque per praedictum virum instructi, receptis a duce opsidibus quos dederant, ad salutaria sacramenta deducti sunt.

But those who had returned to the fleet were found, some of them Christians, others pagans mixed together. And these likewise, instructed by the aforesaid man, and having received from the duke the hostages which they had given, were led to the salutary sacraments.

32. Et cum de baptisterio ageretur, Wittoni Rhodomensium metropolitano eis praedicandum a duce committitur. Witto vero non se solo contentus, Heriveo Remensi epistolam dirigit, per quam ab eo querit quo ordine, qua ratione, gens ante perfida aecclesiae sotianda sit. Heriveus vero metropolitanus multa diligentia haec disponere cupiens, conventum episcoporum fieri jubet, ut multorum rationibus res idonee distribueretur.

32. And when the baptistery was under discussion, Witto, metropolitan of the Rhodomensians, was entrusted by the duke to preach to them. Witto, however, not content to be alone, sent a letter to Heriveus of Reims, by which he asks of him in what order, in what manner, the people formerly perfidious should be saved to the Church. Heriveus, the metropolitan, desiring with much diligence to arrange these matters, ordered a council of bishops to be held, so that by the reasonings of many the matter might be suitably distributed.

33. Et die constituta, sinodus habita est. In qua primum de pace et religione sanctae Dei aecclesiae, statuque regni Francorum salubriter ac competenter tractatum est, post vero de piratarum mitigatione atque conversione uberrime agitatum. Decretum quoque de eodem ab ipsa Divinitate rationem quaerendam, jejunandum etiam ab omnibus triduo.

33. And on the day appointed, a synod was held. In which, first, the peace and religion of the holy Church of God and the state of the kingdom of the Franks were treated in a healthful and proper manner; afterwards, most copiously, the mitigation and conversion of the pirates was argued. A decree also concerning the same: that a reckoning be sought from the Divinity itself, and that all should likewise fast for three days.

Domno vero papae id esse suggerendum, ut invocata per jejunium Divinitate, et domno papa humiliter consulto, efficatius res ordinaretur. Revolutis itaque patrum decretis, reverendus metropolitanus Heriveus 24 capitula in volumine ordinavit, rationabiliter ac utiliter digesta, et qualiter rudes in fide habendi sunt continentia. Quae omnia venerabili Rodomensi Witoni delegavit.

It was to be suggested to the lord pope, that, the Divinity having been invoked by fasting, and the lord pope humbly consulted, the matters might be more efficaciously ordered. The decrees of the fathers having therefore been reviewed, the reverend metropolitan Heriveus arranged 24 capitula in a volume, reasonably and usefully composed, and containing how the unlearned are to be held in the faith. All of which he committed to the venerable Wito of Rouen.

Ille vero excipiens, utiliter sumptum negotium consummavit.

He, however, receiving it, usefully consummated the business thus undertaken.

34. Hac etiam tempestate Ragenerus, vir consularibus et nobilis cognomento Collo longus, cujus etiam obitus multam rei publicae in Belgica intulit labem, communi corporis valitudine tactus et oppressus, finem vitae apud Marsnam palatium accepit. Cujus exequiis Karolus rex interfuisse dicitur, ac oculos lacrimis suffusus dixisse: O inquiens ex alto humilem, ex amplo artissimum! altero personam, altero monumentum significans.

34. At this time Ragenerus, a man of consular rank and noble by the cognomen Collo longus, whose death likewise brought great dishonor to the res publica in Belgica, struck and overcome by a common bodily malady, met the end of his life at the palace of Marsna. At his obsequies King Charles is said to have been present, and, his eyes suffused with tears, to have said: "O inquiens ex alto humilem, ex amplo artissimum!" — "O man lowly in bearing though from on high, from the broad (neck) most tightly compact!" — the one phrase signifying his person, the other his monument.

Peractisque exsequiis, Gisleberto ejus filio, jam facto juveni, paternum honorem, coram principibus qui confluxerant liberalissime accommodat.

And with the funeral rites having been completed, he most liberally bestowed the paternal honor upon his son Gislebert, now made a youth, before the princes who had gathered.

35. Hic cum esset clarissimo genere inclitus, et Heinrici Saxoniae ducis filiae Gerbergae conjugio nimium felix, in nimiam prae insolentia temeritatem praeceps ferebatur; in disciplina militari ex audatia nimius, adeo ut quodcumque inevincibile, appetere non metueret; corpore mediocri et denso, duroque membrorum robore, cervice inflexibili, oculis infestis atque inquietis, sicque mobilibus ut eorum color nemini ad plenum innotuerit; pedibus omnino inpatientibus; mente levi. Oratio ejus, ambigua ratione consistens, interrogatio fallens, responsio anceps; orationis partes, raro dilucidae sibi cohaerebant; suis adeo profusus, aliena enormiter sitiens; majoribus ac sibi aequalibus coram favens, occulte vero invidens; rerum confusione ac mutua dissidentium insectatione plurimum gaudens.

35. He, renowned of most illustrious lineage and excessively fortunate in marriage to Gerberga, daughter of Henry, Duke of Saxony, was driven headlong into rashness by overweening insolence; in military discipline overly bold, so that he did not fear to attempt whatever was unconquerable; of middling, dense body, with a hard robustness of limbs, an inflexible neck, eyes hostile and restless, and so mobile that their hue was not fully known to anyone; with utterly impatient feet; a light mind. His speech, resting on ambiguous reasoning, gave deceitful questions and uncertain answers; the parts of his discourse rarely cohered clearly to him; so profuse to his own, yet enormously thirsty for another’s; favoring superiors and equals openly, yet secretly envying; taking greatest pleasure in the confusion of affairs and the mutual persecution of those at odds.

36. Talis itaque in regem nimia animositate ferebatur. Meditabatur quoque regis abjectionem admodum, ac plurimum id pertractabat apud eos qui in Belgica potiores videbantur, non quidem Rotberto, sed sibi regnum affectans; sua quoque principibus pene omnia distribuens. Et majores quidem praediis et aedibus egregiis inclite donabat, mediocres autem auri et argenti talentis efficaciter illiciebat.

36. Thus therefore he bore himself toward the king with excessive boldness. He also pondered greatly the king’s deposition, and he much discussed it among those who seemed the more potent in Belgica, not indeed with Robert, but aiming the kingdom for himself; and he distributed almost all his own goods to the princes. And indeed he splendidly bestowed the greater estates and illustrious houses, while he drew them with moderate talents of gold and silver.

Fit itaque multorum ex Belgica cum eo consensus. Sed hoc satis improvide ac inconsulte. Nam licet ob magna beneficia comparatos sibi attraxisset, non tamen ex jurejurando ad patrandum facinus sibi annexuit.

And so the consensus of many from Belgica was formed with him. But this was rather improvident and ill-considered. For although he had attracted to himself those procured by great benefits, he had not, however, by an oath sworn, attached them to perpetrate the deed.

Leviter ergo attracti, leviter post dissociati fuere.

Thus lightly attracted, they were shortly thereafter lightly separated.

37. Nam cum Karolus hoc audito a Celtica cum exercitu rediret, Belgisque bellum inferre pararet, Belgae mox non in aperto cum Gisleberto resistere nisi sunt, sed oppidis ac municipiis sese recludunt. Rex vero singulis qui ab se defecerant legatos dirigit, per quos significabat sese regali atque solemni donatione largiturum quicquid eis ab Gisleberto praediorum et aedium collatum est, sese quoque contra Gislebertum pro eis certaturum, si is eis ex collatis beneficiis quicquam repetere velit. Quo capti, mox jure sacramenti ad regem redeunt, habitisque rationibus quicquid beneficiorum ab Gisleberto eis collatum fuit, regali largitate firmissime unicuique donatur.

37. For when Karolus, having heard this, returned from the Celtic region with his army and was preparing to make war on the Belgae, the Belgae soon did not resist Gislebert openly, except in towns and boroughs they shut themselves up. The king, however, dispatched envoys to each of those who had revolted from him, through whom he signified that he would bestow by royal and solemn donation whatever of estates and houses had been conferred on them by Gislebert, and that he himself would stand as champion for them against Gislebert if the latter should wish to reclaim anything from the gifts he had made them. Seized by this, they soon, by the oath, return to the king, and after inventories were held whatever favors had been bestowed on them by Gislebert are most firmly granted to each by royal largess.

Unde et a Gisleberto recedentes, regi constantissime resociantur, ac cum eo in Gislebertum feruntur.

Whereupon those withdrawing from Gislebert most steadfastly rejoined the king, and with him were borne against Gislebert.

38. Gislebertus vero in oppido Harbure, quod hinc Mosa et inde Gullo fluviis vallatur, a fronte vero immani hiatu, multoque horrore veprium defensum est, cum paucis claudebatur. Huc rex cum exercitu properat, locatque obsidionem, hinc et inde navatem, a fronte vero equestrem. In cujus expugnatione cum persisteret, Gislebertus navali fuga dilabitur.

38. Gislebertus, however, in the town Harbure, which on this side is walled by the rivers Mosa and on the other by the Gullo, and in front is defended by a vast chasm and by a great tangle of brambles, was shut up with few men. To this place the king hastened with his army and established a siege, from this side and that with boats, and in front with cavalry. When he persisted in the assault of this, Gislebertus slipped away by a naval flight.

Oppidani vero capti, in regis deveniunt jussionem. Gislebertus autem cum duobus clientulis, paterna hereditate privatus, Rhenum exulaturus pertransit. Ibique per annos aliquot apud Heinricum socerum deceptus exulat.

The townsmen, captured, come under the king’s command. Gislebertus, however, with two little clients, deprived of his paternal inheritance, crosses the Rhine about to go into exile. And there, for several years, he lives in exile at the house of his father‑in‑law Heinricus, having been deceived.

Evoluto autem aliquot annorum tempore, Heinricus apud regem suasorie aegit, ut Gislebertus revocaretur, ac in regis gratiam resumeretur, ea vero rerum conditione, ut regis sententia ex collatis beneficiis intemerata, Gislebertus ea tantum regali clementia reciperet, quorum possessores per tot sui exilii tempora jam obierant.

But after the passing of several years, Heinricus petitioned the king that Gislebertus be recalled and restored to the king’s favor, on this condition of affairs: that by the king’s sentence, from the conferred benefices intact, Gislebertus should recover only those by royal clemency whose possessors had already died during so much of his exile.

39. (922.) Ab exilio itaque revocatus, regis gratiam per Heinricum meretur, ea tamen ut dictum est conditione, ut a beneficiis quae insolenter diduxerat, quandiu possessores viverent careat; ea vero quorum possessores per annos aliquot obierant, regis miseratione repetat. Recipit itaque quae a defunctis quidem derelicta vacabant, maximam suarum rerum partem, Trajectum, Juppilam, Harstalium, Marsnam, Littam, Capraemontem. Quibus habitis, Karolus rex in Celticam redit, Nortmannis qui extremos Galliarum fines locis maritimis infestabant, copias inferre parans.

39. (922.) Therefore recalled from exile, he obtained the king’s favour through Heinricus, yet on the condition already mentioned, that he should be deprived of the benefices which he had insolently withdrawn so long as their possessors lived; but those whose possessors had died some years before should be recovered by the king’s mercy. He therefore receives those things which lay vacant by reason of the dead, the greater part of his estates: Trajectum, Juppilam, Harstalium, Marsnam, Littam, Capraemontem. Having held these, King Karolus returns into Celtica, preparing to bring forces against the Northmen who infested the outer borders of the Gauls in maritime places.

Heinrico vero trans Rhenum contra Sarmatas profecto, Gislebertus per suos immaniter vexabat et atterebat eos qui ab rege sua data obtinebant. Alios clandestina invasione enecans, alios incessanter ut sua relinquant adurgens, tandem evincit, suisque omnibus potitur, truculentius exinde in regem machinans. Socerum itaque adit, eique ab rege dissuadet, Celticam solam regi posse sufficere asserens, Belgicam vero atque Germaniam rege alio plurimum indigere.

While Heinricus had indeed gone across the Rhine against the Sarmatians, Gislebertus, through his men, cruelly harried and wore down those who held the grants bestowed by the king. Killing some by secret incursions, others ceaselessly pressuring to abandon their holdings, at last he overcomes and gets possession of all that is his, thence plotting against the king the more savagely. He therefore goes to his father‑in‑law and dissuades him from the king, asserting that Celtica alone can suffice the king, but that Belgica and Germany very greatly need another ruler.

Unde et, ut ipse in regnum coronari non abnueret, multis suasionibus permovebat. Heinricus vero cum nefanda eum suadere adverteret, dictis suadentis admodum restitit, et ut quiesceret ab illicitis, multis amplificationibus agitabat.

Whence also, and so that he himself would not refuse to be crowned king, he moved him by many persuasions. But when Heinricus perceived that he was urging him to nefarious things, he very strongly resisted the persuader’s words, and, that he might desist from illicit acts, pressed many amplifications.

40. Et Gislebertus quidem cum apud socerum non proficeret, ut regnum sibi parare posset, in Celticam secedit ac transit in Neustriam; sicque cum Rotberto duce de eodem negotio consilium confert, suadens ei de regni susceptione, ac Karoli abjectione. Exultat tirannus, et tirrano absque mora favet. Deliberant itaque ambo, et post pro perpetrandis fidem sacramento confirmant.

40. And Gislebertus, since he could not make progress at his father‑in‑law’s to prepare a kingdom for himself, withdraws into Celtica and crosses into Neustria; and thus with Rotberto the duke he takes counsel about the same affair, urging him to assume the realm and to depose Karolus. The tyrant exults, and favors the tyrant without delay. Both therefore deliberate, and afterwards confirm their fidelity by oath for the perpetration of their designs.

41. Tempore vero constituto, cum rex Tungros redisset, ibique privatus resideret, urbem Suessonicam Rotbertus ingreditur. Apud quem ex tota Celtica primates collecti, qua ratione regem abjiciant, constantissime consultant. Nec defuit Gislebertus ab Belgica, qui mox absque deliberatione Rotbertum regem creandum perstrepebat.

41. At the appointed time, when the king had returned to the Tungri and was dwelling there in private, Rotbert enters the city Suessonica. With him the princes from all Celtic regions having been gathered, they most resolutely consult about the manner in which they should depose the king. Nor was Gislebert absent from Belgica, who soon clamoured without deliberation that Rotbert be made king.

Communi ergo omnium qui aderant decreto, Rotbertus eligitur (Jun. 29); ac multo ambitionis elatu Remos deductus in basilica sancti Remigii rex creatur. A cujus coronatione peracto triduo, Heriveus Remorum metropolitanus diutina egritudine vexatus, interiit (Jun.

By the common decree of all who were present, Rotbert is chosen (Jun. 29); and, carried much by the fervor of ambition, having led the Remi into the basilica of Saint Remigius he is made king. From whose coronation having been completed, after three days, Heriveus, metropolitan of the Remi, long vexed by a lingering sickness, died (Jun.

2). Qui si eodem tempore valuisset, tanto facinori oportunitas non patuisset. Cui etiam mox succedit donatus ab Rotberto Seulfus, qui tunc urbis ejusdem officio fungebatur archidiaconatus; vir strenuus multaque rerum scientia inclitus.

2). Who, had he been powerful at the same time, the opportunity for so great a crime would not have allowed. To whom also shortly succeeded, conferred by Rotbert, Seulfus, who then discharged the office of archdeacon of the same city; a vigorous man, renowned for much knowledge of affairs.

42. (923.) Interea Karolus a Gallis praeter paucissimos Belgarum desertum sese comperiens, apud praecipuos eorum qui a se non defecerant, plurimam de suo infortunio agitabat querelam. Miseriorem sese inquiens si hac urgeatur calamitate, quam si oculos claudat suprema morte, cum illa dolores augescant, ista demantur. Carius quoque sibi ferro occidi, quam regno a pervasore privari.

42. (923.) Meanwhile Charles, finding himself deserted by the Gauls except for very few of the Belgae, among the chief of those who had not failed him, was uttering very great complaint about his misfortune. Saying that he would be more wretched if pressed by this calamity than if he should close his eyes in final death, since the former increases pains, the latter takes them away. He also preferred to be slain by the sword rather than to be deprived of the kingdom by an usurper.

Post regni enim privationem, solummodo superesse in exilium deportationem. In quo etiam ab iis quos summo semper habuit amore, apud quos diutius conversatus sit, quibus quoque nihil umquam mali molitus fuerit, debere sese suffragia accipere memorabat.

For after the deprivation of the kingdom, only deportation into exile remained. In this he also recalled that he ought to receive suffrages from those whom he had always held in the highest love, among whom he had lived longer, and to whom likewise he had never done any harm.

43. Ad haec sui: Pernitiosum, est inquiunt, o rex juratis a domino deficere, sceleratissimum vero contra dominum stare. Si de desertore ac transfugis agitur, horumque nominum si advertatur interpretatio, quicquid moliti sunt, praeter jus est et equum. Unde et sine dubio si pugnae necessitas eos adurgeat, divinitatis ultionem non evadent.

43. To this he said of himself: Pernicious, they say, O king, is it for those sworn to a lord to desert him; most wicked indeed to stand against a lord. If one speaks of deserters and runaways, and the interpretation of those names be considered, whatever they have done lies beyond law and equity. Whence also, without doubt, if the necessity of battle presses them on, they will not escape the vengeance of divinity.

Id vero certissime noveris, nullo modo regnum a te repetendum, nisi bello ipsum aggrediaris tirannum. Regnum ereptum non irrumpes nisi ferro viam violenter aperias. Et quia jam nunc res pugnam suadet, sacramento fides adhibenda est, ut nobis juratis, res in ambiguo non sit.

Know this most certainly: in no wise is the kingdom to be reclaimed by you, unless you yourself attack the tyrant with war. You will not burst into a seized kingdom unless you violently open the way with iron. And because the matter even now urges a fight, a faith by sacrament must be applied, so that for us the sworn the affair may not remain ambiguous.

Dein saltem quinquaginta eligendi sunt, qui certissime tirannum appetant, vimque ei inferant, ut cum belli violentia alios in alios exagitaverit, isti tiranno tantum laborent, inventumque transfigant. Quid enim proderit omnes interfici, et malorum causam reservari? Et decreto communi in Rotbertum conjurant.

Then at least fifty must be chosen who will most certainly assail the tyrant and bring force upon him, so that when by the violence of war he has driven others against others, these men labor only against the tyrant, and transfix whatever plot they discover. For what will it profit to slay everyone and yet preserve the cause of evils? And by common decree they swear themselves to Rotbert.

44. Mox quoque et regio jussu accersiuntur ex Belgica, quicumque ab rege non defecisse videbantur. Quorum collectorum numerus, ut fertur, vix in decem milibus putabatur. Et tamen in quantum perspici valuit, nullus militiae ineptus admissus est.

44. Soon also, by royal command, were summoned from the Belgic region all who seemed not to have deserted the king. The number of those collected, as is reported, was thought scarcely to be ten thousand. And yet, so far as could be perceived, no one inept for military service was admitted.

Omnes corpore valentes, et non inertes pugnae. Omnes quoque in tirannum unanimes. His rex circumseptus, per Condrucium Hasbaniumque procedit in hostem.

All strong in body, and not inert in battle. All likewise unanimous in support of the tyrant. With these about him, the king, surrounded, advances through Condrucium and Hasbania against the enemy.

Ereptumque regnum irrumpens, sedem regiam Atiniacum pridem suam ingreditur. Ibique aliquantisper reparato exercitu, in adversarium fertur.

And bursting into the kingdom that had been snatched away, he enters the royal seat Atiniacum, long his. There, with the army somewhat repaired, he advances against the adversary.

45. Factus vero tiranno proprior, exercitum ad congressum ordinat, sex milia robustorum praemittens. Quibus etiam virum consularem nomine Fulbertum ducem constituit (Jun. 15). Se ipsum vero quatuor milibus circumseptum, labentibus primis subventurum deputat.

45. Having drawn nearer to the tyrant, he marshals the army for engagement, sending forward six thousand robust men. To these he also appoints a man of consular rank named Fulbert as commander (Jun. 15). He himself, however, surrounded by four thousand, assigns himself to come to the aid of the first who should falter.

Postquam autem per singulas legiones discurrens, praecipuos quosque multum diuque ad vim belli hortatus est, instructos ordines plurimis suasionibus incitans, ad locum ubi congrediendum erat, deducit. Axonam vero fluvium transmeans, ad urbem Suessonicam tendit. Ibi etenim tirannus copias collegerat.

After, however, running through each legion, and exhorting the principal men greatly and for a long time to the force of war, stirring up the drawn-up ranks with very many persuasions, he led them down to the place where they were to engage. Crossing the river Axona, he made for the city Suessonica. For there, indeed, the tyrant had gathered his forces.

Cujus quoque exercitus in viginti milibus consistebat. Cum ergo Karolus rex bello prudentia intenderet, instinctu episcoporum aliorumque religiosorum virorum qui sibi assistebant actum est, ut ipse rex bellum non ingrederetur, ne forte in rerum confusione regalis stirps eo lapso consumeretur. Id etiam duces et milites coegerunt.

The force of which also consisted of 20,000 men. Therefore, since King Karolus applied prudence to the war, by the prompting of the bishops and other religious men who stood with him it was decided that the king himself should not enter the war, lest perchance in the confusion of affairs the royal stock be consumed in that collapse. The commanders and soldiers likewise constrained this.

Ab omnibus ergo coactus, quatuor milibus quibus ipse circumseptus incendebat, virum consularem Hagraldum praeficit. Hortatur vero plurimum, ut Dei tantum auxilium implorent; nihil eis metuendum, nihil de victoria diffidendum memorans. Regni quoque pervasorem vix uno momento duraturum asserebat: Cum inquiens Deus hujusmodi abhominetur, et apud eum nullus superbiae locus sit, quomodo stabit quem ipse non munit?

Therefore, compelled by all, he set over them Hagraldus, a man of consular rank, with the four thousand whom he himself had surrounded and had put to the torch. He urged them above all to implore only the aid of God, reminding them that there was nothing to be feared, nothing to be despaired of concerning victory. He also declared that the ravager of the kingdom would scarcely endure a single moment, saying, “When God abhors such things, and with him there is no place for pride, how shall he stand whom he does not fortify?”

quomodo resurget, quem ipse praecipitat? Et post haec cum episcopis virisque religiosis qui aderant, montem loco oppositum conscendit, ubi etiam est basilica beatae Genovefae virginis dedicata, eventum belli inde experturus. Interea junctim procedit exercitus et magnanimus gradive in hostem accelerat.

how will he rise again, whom he himself casts down? And after these things, with the bishops and religious men who were present, he ascended the mountain opposite the place, where also there is a basilica dedicated to the blessed virgin Genovefa, to test the event of the war thence. Meanwhile the army advanced together, and the magnanimous man, stepping forward, hastened upon the enemy.

Procedit quoque tirannus, animo non impar, at legionibus potior.

The tyrant also advances, not inferior in spirit, but mightier in legions.

46. Bellum inter Karolum et Rotbertum, ejusque fuga. Quibus utrimque visis comminus, cum maximo clamore utrique exercitus signis infestis concurrunt. Congressique innumeri hinc inde corruunt.

46. The battle between Karolum and Rotbertum, and his flight. When they were seen face to face on both sides, at close quarters, with the greatest shouting both armies rushed together with hostile standards. And innumerable combatants, having met, fell down here and there.

Et Rotbertus quidem rex cum in certamine ignotus esset, et hinc inde feriendo toto campo fureret, a conjuratis conspectus, an ipse esset interrogatur. At ille intrepidus, mox barbam obvelatam detegit, seseque esse monstrat, multa vi in Fulbertum comitem ferrum vibrans. Ille vero loetali ictu accepto, ab eo in dextram obliquatur.

And Rotbert the king, since he was unknown in the contest and raged striking here and there across the whole field, having been seen by the conspirators, was asked whether he himself it was. But he, undaunted, soon uncovered his mantled beard and showed himself to be the man, brandishing the sword with great force at Count Fulbert. He, however, having received a lethal blow, is thrown aside to the right by him.

Et sic per loricae manicam lancea eum in latere gravissimo ictu sauciat, necnon et per epar atque pulmonem et sinistri lateris ypocundriam ferrum usque in clipeum transigit, et circumseptus ab aliis, septem lanceis confossus praecipitatus corruit, diriguitque; multoque Fulbertus mox exhaustus sanguine et intercertans, mortuus cecidit. Interempto vero Rotberto, tanta vi caedis uterque deseviit exercitus, ut in parte ejus undecim milia, in parte vero Karoli septem milia centum duodeviginti a Flodoardo presbitero ferro interiisse descriptum sit. Et jam quidem Karoli victoria videbatur, eo quod tiranno occiso, qui illius fuerant in fugam ferebantur; cum ecce Hugo Rotberti filius vix adhuc pubescens in praelium ab Heriberto deducitur, succurritque labentibus.

And thus with a lance through the sleeve of his lorica he wounded him in the very grave part of the flank, and furthermore the iron pierced through the liver and the lung and the hypochondrium of the left side all the way into the shield; and, surrounded by others, he was transfixed with seven lances and hurled down, and fell headlong; and Fulbert, much exhausted soon by blood and struggling in between, fell down dead. With Rotbert indeed slain, so great a fury of slaughter raged through both armies that, on one side, 11,000, and on Charles’ side 7,118, are recorded by the priest Flodoard to have been slain by the sword. And now indeed victory seemed to belong to Charles, because the tyrant having been killed those who had been his were being put to flight; when behold Hugh, son of Rotbert, scarcely yet of manhood, was led into the battle by Heribert, and came to the aid of those wavering.

Et licet cum copiis advenerit, tamen utpote qui patre, amisso omnes suspectos habebat, nulloque duce fretus erat, a belli violentia quievit. Illud tantum memorabile fuisse refertur, quod nullo resistente locum belli occupavit, et aliquantisper in eo stetit, acsi manubias hostium direpturus. Unde et sibi victor videbatur.

And although he came with forces, yet, as one who had lost his father, he held all persons suspected, and, trusting in no leader, he rested from the violence of war. It is reported that only this was memorable: that, with no one resisting, he occupied the place of battle and for a while stood in it as if about to plunder the enemy’s spoils. Whence he seemed victorious even to himself.

Karolus vero ob necem tiranni victoria potiri sese putabat. Quapropter et anceps victoria fuit, cum Celtae desertores regem extinctum amiserint, Karolus vero nihil spoliorum attigerit. Neutrum illorum spolia diripuisse contigit.

Charles, however, thought himself to have secured victory by reason of the tyrant’s murder. Wherefore the victory was ambivalent, for the Celts, the deserters, had lost the slain king, and Charles had touched none of the spoils. It so fell out that neither of them succeeded in seizing the spoils.

Cujus rei oportunitas cum Karolo non defuisset, nulla tamen ductus cupiditate rem penitus vitavit. Nam transfugis plurimum diffidens, utpote qui maximam exercitus partem amiserat, mox iter sine spoliis in Belgicam retorsit, post truculentius redire disponens (922). Hac tempestate terrae motus in pago Camaracensi factus est, ex quo domus nonnullae subversae sunt. Unde et rerum calamitas adverti potuit, cum regni princeps praeter jus captus, et in carcerem usque in diem vitae suae supremum detrusus sit.

Although the opportunity for this had not failed Karolus, nevertheless he by no means wholly avoided the thing through lust for command. For, greatly mistrusting the transfuges — since he had lost the greater part of the army — he soon turned back into Belgica on a march without spoils, intending to return more truculently (922). At that time an earthquake occurred in the pagus of Camaracum, from which some houses were overturned. Hence the calamity of events could be observed, when the prince of the kingdom was seized beyond law and thrown into prison until the last day of his life.

Nam cum rem militarem disponeret, et exercitum copiosiorem Galliis inferre pararet, Gallisque inde timor multus incuteretur, mitiore animo ferebantur. Quod Karolus rex subintelligens, per legatos revocare eos nitebatur, multisque rationibus eis id suadere querebat. Nortmannis quoque usque ad effectum suasit, adeo ut regi fidem spondere, eique ut juberet militare vellent.

For when he was arranging the military matter and preparing to bring a more copious army against the Gauls, and thereby much fear was instilled in the Gauls, they bore it with a milder spirit. Which King Charles perceiving, he strove by envoys to recall them, and sought to persuade them of this by many arguments. He also urged the Northmen persistently to this end, so much so that they were willing to pledge fealty to the king and to serve at his command.

Qui cum regi militaturi occurrere pararent, a Gallis intercurrentibus inhibiti sunt. Unde et eorum suppetiis rex privatus est.

Those who, preparing to encounter the king as soldiers, were stopped by the Gauls intervening between them. Whence the king was also deprived of their supplies.

47. Rodulfi regis promotio ac Karoli captio. Galli a pertinatia nullatenus quiescentes, Rodulfum Richardi Burgundionis filium accitum, apud urbem Suessonicam, eo licet satis reclamante, regem sibi praefecerunt (Jul. 13), virum strenuum, ac litteris liberalibus non mediocriter instructum.

47. The elevation of King Rodulf and the capture of Charles. The Franks, by no means resting in their pertinacity, summoned Rodulf, son of Richard of Burgundy, and, though he did indeed protest sufficiently, at the town of Soissons set him over themselves as king (Jul. 13), a man vigorous and well instructed in the liberal letters.

Quod Heribertus tantorum malorum incentor sese velle dissimulans, Karolum regem per legatos accersit, tantis flagiciis se reniti voluisse mandans, sed conjuratorum a multitudine vehementissime suppressum; tunc nullum consilii locum patuisse, nunc vero remedii partem optimam sese repperisse. Unde et maturius accedat, quo ei ipse obvenire valeat; cum paucis tamen, ne si cum multis adveniant, dissidentium animositate in bellum cogantur. Et pro itineris securitate si sibi placeat, ab ipsis legatis jurisjurandi fidem accipiat.

Because Heribert, concealing himself as the instigator of so great evils, sent for King Karolus by legates, declaring that he had refused such crimes but had been most violently suppressed by the multitude of the conspirators; then there was no place for counsel, now however he has found the best part of a remedy. Wherefore let him approach more promptly, that he himself may be able to meet him; yet with few, lest if they come with many, by the animosity of dissenters they be driven into war. And for the security of the journey, if it pleases him, let him take from those same legates the oath of jurisjurandi as a pledge of fidelity.

Rex horum credulus, ab legatis jusjurandum pro fide accepit, ac sine suorum deliberatione proditori obvenire non distulit. Et proditor dolos dissimulans, cum paucis aeque obvenit. Datisque osculis excepti, familiaribus colloquiis cousi sunt.

The king, credulous of these men, received from the envoys an oath of fidelity, and without the deliberation of his own he did not delay to go to the traitor. And the traitor, concealing his deceits, likewise came with a few [men]. And, kisses having been given, they were welcomed and fell into familiar colloquies.

Et inter loquendum cohortem armatorum ad abditis evocat, regique incauto inducit. Qui multitudini reniti non valens, a cohorte captus est; aliquibus cum eo captis, quibusdam etiam interemptis, reliquis quoque fugatis. Ductusque Peronam, carcerali custodiae deputatur.

And in the course of speaking he summons from their hiding-places a cohort of armed men, and brings them upon the unsuspecting king. Who, not able to resist the multitude, was seized by the cohort; some were taken with him, some even put to death, the rest likewise routed. And Perona, having been led away, is assigned to carceral custody.

Germani rege amisso, in diversa feruntur. Quorum alii de reditu domini elaborant, alii vero a spe dejecti, Rodulfo regi favent, nec tamen in ejus fidem penitus concedunt. Quorum priores exspectatione diutina domini libertatem opperientes, Heribertum proditorem de fidei violatione sepe convenerunt, ac inde plurimum apud male conscios conquesti sunt.

With the king lost, the Germans are scattered into diverse directions. Some of them exert themselves for the return of their lord, while others, cast down by hope, favor King Rodulf, yet do not wholly concede their faith to him. The former, awaiting for a long time the liberty of their master, often accused Heribert as a traitor for violation of faith, and from that they complained greatly among those of guilty conscience.

Quibus persuadere non valentes, de perjurii reatu nihil ruboris incusserunt, cum ira Dei eis immineret.

Unable to persuade them, they impressed upon them no shame for the guilt of perjury, while the wrath of God was imminent over them.

48. (934.) Exactio pecuniae publicae piratis dandae. Haec dum agerentur, pyratae Gallias irruperunt, pecudum armentorumque abductione, multarumque opum exhaustu, cum plurimorum captivitate terram depopulantes. Quorum impetum rex dolens, suorum usus consilio exactionem pecuniae collatitiae fieri exactoribus indixit, quae hostibus in pacis pacto conferretur.

48. (934.) The levying of public money to be given to the pirates. While these matters were being handled, pirates burst into Gaul, carrying off flocks and herds and exhausting many riches, depopulating the land by the captivity of very many. Grieved at their onslaught, the king, by the counsel of his own men, ordered that an exaction of money as a contribution be imposed on collectors, which would be handed over to the enemies by a pact of peace.

Et collata, ad votum commune paciscuntur, atque in sua concedunt. Rex vero licet merens ad alia se contulit. Exercitum itaque in Aquitaniam adversus ejus principem Vilclmum parat, eo quod subdi sibi contempneret.

And with the levy paid, they agree to the common compact and grant in their own affairs. The king, however, although grieving, turned his attention to other matters. Therefore he readies an army into Aquitaine against its prince Vilclmum, because he scorned to be subject to him.

Et tempore oportuno cum exercitu super Ligerim affuit. At Wilelmus militum copiam non patiens, obruenti per legatos occurrit, illisque fluvio interfluente, in legatorum suasionibus dies tota consumpta est. Tandem die altera fidem utrimque pacti, a se discesserunt.

And at the opportune time he arrived with an army above the Liger (Loire). But William, not enduring the multitude of soldiers, met the pressing force by means of legates, and with the river flowing between them the whole day was consumed in the legates' persuasions. At last on the next day they each withdrew from the fidelity of the pact.

49. (925.) Congressus Rodulfi regis cum piratis, eorumque fusio. Rex inde regressus, febre acuta apud urbem Senonicam corripitur Qui cum die cretica convaluisset, vi recidiva rursus opprimitur. Ac de salute desperans, Remos ad sanctum Remigium sese deferri fecit.

49. (925.) The encounter of King Rodulf with the pirates, and their rout. The king, returning thence, was seized by a sharp fever near the city of Sens. Who, when he had convalesced on the Cretan day, was again overwhelmed by a violent recurring attack. And, despairing of his health, he caused himself to be carried to Reims to Saint Remigius.

Cui dona plurima largitus, elapso mense utiliter convaluit, urbemque Suessonicam alia curaturus expetiit. Ubi cum apud principes rem publicam consuleret, legati adsistunt, qui pyratas fide violata interiores Burgundiae partes irupisse asserunt; congressosque cum Manasse ac Varnero comitibus, Jozselmo atque Ansegiso episcopis, adeo defecisse, ut eorum 960 apud montem Calaum sternerentur, nonnulli capti tenerentur; reliqua vero minorum manus, lapsa profugio sit; Warnerus vero equo occiso, quo vectus ferebatur, decem vulneribus perfossus interierit. His rex motus, diem alteram in partibus deliberationis totam consumpsit.

Having bestowed very many gifts on him, after the month had passed he usefully recovered, and sought the city Suessonica to attend to other matters. Where, while he was consulting about the res publica among the princes, envoys stood by who asserted that the pirates, their faith violated, had burst into the inner parts of Burgundy; and that those who had met with Manasse and Varnero, the counts, and Jozselmo and Ansegiso, the bishops, had so revolted that 960 of them were laid low at Mount Calaus, some were captured and held; the remaining lesser band, however, slipped away in flight; Warnerus, moreover, his horse having been killed by which he had been borne, having been pierced by ten wounds, perished. Moved by these things, the king spent the following day wholly in deliberation.

Et die tertia, edicto regio tirones ex citeriori Gallia intra dies quindecim collegit. Collectosque cum aliquot magnatibus super fluvium Sequanam adversariis inducit. At pyratae renisuri obvenientes, a Gallis in sua castra redire coacti sunt.

And on the third day, by royal edict he levied recruits from nearer Gaul within fifteen days. Having mustered them with some magnates he led them against the adversaries on the river Sequana. But the pirates, appearing as if about to return, met them and were driven by the Gauls to retire into their own camp.

Galli fugientes insecuti, castris ignem inmittunt, congressique vehementi conamine, victos sternunt. At alii fuga pedestri, alii profugio navali elapsi sunt, alii cum castris succensi, alii ferro ad tria milia interfecti sunt. Quos vero fuga exagitavit, post collecti quodam suo oppido secus mare sito collecti sunt.

The Gauls, pursuing the fleeing, set fire to the camps, and having met with a vehement effort, they laid low the conquered. But others slipped away by flight on foot, others by naval refuge, others with their camps burned, others were slain by the sword to the number of three thousand. Those whom flight had driven on were afterward gathered at a certain one of their towns situated beside the sea.

Cui etiam Angae nomen erat.

To whom also the name Angae belonged.

50. Rollonis pyratae interitus suorumque ruina. Quorum princeps Rollo sufficientibus copiis oppidum implens, bello sese manifeste paravit. Rex inde digressus, exercitum provocanti infert, congredi non differens.

50. The destruction of Rollo the pirate and the ruin of his men. Their chief Rollo, filling the town with sufficient troops, openly prepared himself for war. The king, departing thence, struck the army that challenged him, not delaying to engage.

Oppidum aggressus est. Et obsidione disposita, vallum quo cingebatur, irrumpit. Atque sic tirones peribolum conscendentes, adversarios pervadunt.

He attacked the town. And with the siege deployed, he bursts the rampart by which it was enclosed. And so the recruits, mounting with their peribola (small darts), pour through and overwhelm the adversaries.

Oppidoque potiti, mares omnes trucidant. Feminis intactis parcunt. Oppidum diruunt atque comburunt.

And having seized the town, they slaughter all the men. They spare the women, leaving them intact. They raze and burn the town.

Cujus incendiis aere densato ac denigrato, in tetra caligine nonnulli evadentes, finitimam quandam occupant insulam. Quos sine dilatione exercitus aggressus appetit, ac navali pugna victos opprimit. Piratae vitae spem amittentes, alii sese fluctibus immergunt ac enecantur, alii enatantes ab observatoribus jugulati sunt, alii nimia formidine tacti tetis propriis sese appetunt.

By whose fires, the air having been thickened and blackened, some, escaping into a gloomy mist, seize a certain neighboring island. Those whom, without delay, the army, having attacked, assails, and, conquered in a naval fight, overwhelms. The pirates, losing hope of life, some plunge themselves into the waves and are drowned, others, swimming, are slain by the watchers, others, seized by excessive fear, attack themselves with their own swords.

Et sic omnibus ademptis praedaque direpta non modica, rex Belvacum rediit, ibique resedit.

And thus, with all having been taken away and the booty plundered in no small measure, King Belvacum returned, and there took his seat.

51. (926.) Item piratarum interitus. Inde audito Atrabatensium regionem a piratis aliis vexari, assumpto exercitu ab his qui loca maritima incolebant, repentinus in eos fertur. Piratae comminus congredi non ferentes, ab exercitu cedere coacti sunt.

51. (926.) Likewise the destruction of the pirates. Thereupon, when it was heard that the Atrabatensian region was being harried by other pirates, with an army raised from those who inhabited the maritime districts he rushed suddenly upon them. The pirates, not enduring to engage in close combat, were forced to give way before the army.

Ac coartati, saltu quodam vitam tueri nitebantur. At exercitus circumquaque eos obsidens, adeo urgebat. Illi vero noctu eruptione facta, in castra regis feruntur.

And crowded together, they strove to preserve their lives in a certain wood. But the army, besieging them on all sides, pressed them so sorely. They, however, with a sally made by night, were borne into the king’s camp.

Et circumvallante exercitu penitus inclusi, miserabili fortunae succubuere. Octo namque eorum milia). In basilica sanctae Columbae virginis apud Senonas multa amicorum attritione, suorumque obsequio tumulatur. De regni amministratione nihil disposuit; at primatibus eam reliquit, eo quod filios non habuerit, qui regnorum rerum potirentur.

And, the army circumvallating them, they being utterly enclosed, succumbed to a miserable fate. For eight thousand of them. He is buried in the basilica of Saint Columba the virgin at Senonas, amid much grieving of friends and the attendance of his own. He arranged nothing for the administration of the kingdom; but he left it to the primates, because he had no sons who might take possession of the affairs of the realm.