A letter from Brunhild, queen of Austrasia and Burgundy (584)

Translated letter:

To the glorious lady and renowned empress Anastasia, queen Brunhild. Reverently discharging the observances of greeting with the highest devotion to your most serene rule, whom we recognize as governing the Roman state with your spouse the highest prince, by God’s gift, and as ruling the parts subject to it from a special height, we indicate that we faithfully directed the bearers of the presents, legates of our most excellent son, king Childebert, to you in the cause of common benefit, if Christ brings it about. When you have received them worthily and they have disclosed what we charged by word of mouth, we trust that you will advise the most serene prince that when the cause of peace connects both peoples, the allied favor of princes brings benefits to the subject regions. The end.

Original letter:

Dominae gloriosae atque inclite auguste Anastasie Brunehildis regina. Serenissime dominationi vestrae, quam, tribuente Domino, summo principe coniuge Romanam cognovimus rempublicam gubernare et praecipuo culmine subiectis illis partibus dominari, summa devotione salutis officia reverentissimae persolventes, significamus, praesentium legatarios praecellentissimi filii nostri, Hildeberti regis, ad vos causa communis utilitatis, si Christus effectum tribuit, fiducialiter direxisse, quibus, ut confidimus, dignanter receptis, et his, quae verbo mandavimus, patefactis, tali serenissimo principi ministrate consilio, per quod, dum inter utramque gentem pacis causa conectitur, coniuncta gratia principum subiectarum generent beneficia regionum. Finit.

Historical context:

Brunhild recognizes her as joint ruler with the emperor and asks her to advise the emperor to commit himself to peace with her son and their people. Childebert wrote in the same year to another woman, the patrician Italica, using the same envoys he was sending to the emperor, asking her to counsel peace with the emperor (ep.38).

Printed source:

MGH MK Epistolae Austrasicae, ep.29 p.140, and HGF4 ep.53 p.83-4, which includes MGH ep.30 as one letter; only difference, "generet" for "generent."

Date:

584