A letter from Brunhild, queen of Austrasia and Burgundy (585)

Translated letter:

That time I have desired, most serene empress, with the protection of Christ has arrived in which the proclaimer and lover of your empire, my most excellent son, king Childebert, has attained the age in which he can treat on his own by legates with the most pious emperor, your husband, the causes of both peoples favorably for common happiness, and what would be very useful, that he take part more firmly in his stronger years according to your wishes. Whence, as the bearers of the presents, who venerate you and are loyal to us, will have suggested to you orally, with God helping, what was begun by us desiring it and, if Christ gives his help, what will benefit true catholic peoples, we desire will achieve the outcome of the good beginning. And since, most tranquill empress, by chance the infancy of my small grandson has been acquainted with wandering, and that innocence began in tender years to be a captive, I ask through the redeemer of all peoples, lest you see that most pious Theodocius [Anastasia’s son] taken from you, the sweet son separated from the embrace of his mother, that your eyes may always be gladdened by his presence, and the viscera of the mother delight in the imperial birth, I ask that you order, with Christ’s favor, that I may receive my little one, that my viscera may be comforted in his embrace, which sigh with deepest sorrow from the absence of the grandchild. That as I lost a daughter I may not lose the sweet pledge from her that remained to me, that as I am tortured by the death of the child, I may be comforted through you by the swift return of the captive grandchild, that as you see me grieving and him innocent, you may receive the mercy of glory from God who is the universal redeemer, and with the captive freed, with Christ’s favor, the charity between both peoples may be mutiplied by this and the term of peace extended. The end.

Original letter:

Accessit, augusta serenissima, Christo protegente, mihi tempus optabile, quo praedicator et amator vestri imperii, praecellentissimus filius meus, Childebertus rex, illam aetatem pertingeret, qua cum piissimo imperatore, vestro coniuge, causas utriusque gentis missis legatariis commune pro felicitate saluberrime pertractaret et, quod esset utilius, annis robustioribus iuxta vota vestra per se, Deo adiuvante, firmius exerceret. Unde sicut praesentium latores, veneratores vestri, fedeles nostri, vobis verbo suggerere poterunt, Deo auxiliante, a nobis optantibus aliquid est inceptum, et, si donat Christus auxilium, quod prosit veris chatholicis gentibus, bonae inchoationis accedere optamus effectum. Et quia, augusta tranquillissima, casu faciente, parvuli nepotis mei didicit peregrinare infantia et ipsa innocentia annis teneris coepit esse captiva, rogo per redemptorem omnium gentium, sic vobis non videatis subtrahi piissimum Theodocium, nec ab amplexu matris dulcis filius separetur, sic vestra lumina semper exhilaret sua praesentia, simul et matris viscera augusto delectentur de partu: ut iubeatis agere, favente Christo, qualiter meum recipere merear parvulum, in amplexu refrigerentur viscere, quae de nepotis absentia gravissimo dolore suspirant, ut, que amisi filiam, vel dulce pignus ex ipsa, quod mihi remansit, non perdam, adusque de morte geniti crucior, relever per vos cito nepote redeunte captivo: quatinus, dum me dolentem atque illum innocentem respicitis, et de Deo, qui est universalis redemptio, mercedem gloriae recipiatis, absoluto captivo, et inter utramque gentem per hoc, propitiante Christo, caritas multiplicetur et pacis terminus extendatur. Finit.

Historical context:

Brunhild announces that her son is old enough to act on his own and makes a plea for the release of her grandson, appealing to Athanasia as the mother of a son. The importance of a living son for the political and even personal life of the mother is not stated, but may well be implicit. On the importance of sons and heirs, see Pauline Stafford, Queens, Concubines and Dowagers, The King’s Wife in the Early Middle Ages (London: Batsford, 1983), 143ff.

Printed source:

MGH MK Epistolae Austrasicae, ep.44 p.149-50.

Date:

585