E04209: Gregory of Tours, in his Miracles of Martin (4.26), describes how *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050) freed prisoners in Reims (north-east Gaul) shortly before his festival in July 591. Written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 591/594.
Creators: name: Kwojtalik
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2017
Subjects: History

description: Gregory of Tours, Miracles of Martin (Libri de virtutibus sancti Martini episcopi) 4.26<br><br>Fuerat nobis causa quaedam Childeberthi regis adire praesentiam. Pergentibus quoque nobis, iter per pagum Remensem adgressi sumus, repperimusque hominem quendam, qui nobis relatu suo, patefactum carcerem huius urbis, in quo inter reliquos vinctos huius famulus tenebatur, Martini virtute fuisse, vinctosque ab ergastulo absolutos liberos abscessisse. <br><br>Erat enim huiusmodi carcer, ut super struem tignorum axes validi superpositi pulpitarentur, ac desuper, qui eosdem obpremerent, insignes fuerant lapides collocati. Nihil minus et ostium carceris, sera ferro munita, obducto clave pessulo obserabatur; sed virtus antistitis, ut ipse relator asseruit, lapides dimovet, disicit pulpita, catenas confregit et trabem, quae vinctorum coartabat pedes, aperuit ac, nec reserato ostio, homines per aera sublevatos foris tecto patente produxit, dicens: 'Ego sum Martinus, miles Christi, absolutor vester. Abscedite cum pace et abite securi! <br><br>Sed cum nos ad regem accedentes huius virtutis diffamaremus miraculum, adfirmavit rex, quosdam ex his qui absoluti fuerant ad se venisse, atque conpositionem fisco debitam, quam illi fretum vocant, a se fuisse reis indultam. Hoc autem factum est ante quattuor festivitatis dies in anno memorati regis sexto et decimo.<br><br><br>'I had occasion to visit the presence of King Childebert. During my journey I approached on a road through a district [in the territory] of Reims and [there] met a man. In his own account he [told] me that the prison in Reims in which this man’s slave was being held with other captives had been opened by Martin’s power, and that the captives had been released from prison and departed as free men. <br><br>For the prison had been constructed in this way: thick logs had been positioned on top of a foundation of beams and covered with planks, and huge stones were then placed on top to press down on the logs. The door to this prison was furthermore locked, its bar strengthened by iron and its bolt shut with a key. But the bishop’s power moved these stones, as the man claimed in his account. He demolished the platform, broke the chains, and opened the stocks that held the captives’ feet; since the door had not been opened, he then lifted the men in the air and brought them outside through the open roof. He said: 'I am Martin, a soldier of Christ and your liberator. Depart in peace and leave with your freedom!' <br><br>After I had come to the king and told him the miracle worked by this power, the king confirmed that some of the men who had been released had come to him, and that he had forgiven the fee these accused men owed the [royal] treasury; those [Franks] call this fee a fredus. This miracle happened four days before the festival in the sixteenth year [of the reign] of the aforementioned king.'<br><br>Text: Krusch 1969, 205-206. Translation: Van Dam 1993, 295 (= de Nie 2015, 815-817).