Part I, Chapter 6, 1

Of the ten Kingdoms represented by the ten horns of the fourth Beast.

Now, by the wars described above, the Western Empire of the Romans, about the time that Rome was besieged and taken by the Goths, broke up into the following ten kingdoms.

1 The kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa. 2. The kingdom of the Suevians in Spain. 3. The kingdom of the Visigoths. 4. The kingdom of the Alans in Gallia. 5. The kingdom of the Burgundians. 6. The kingdom of the Franks. 7. The kingdom of the Britains. 8. The kingdom of the Hunns. 9. The kingdom of the Lombards. 10. The kingdom of Ravenna.

Seven of these kingdoms are mentioned by Sigonius as follows: 1 With Honorius on the throne, 2 the Hunns into Pannonia, 3 the Vandals, 4 the Alans, 5 the Suevians and 6 the Goths into Spain, 4 the Alans, 7 the Burgundians and 6 the Goths into Gallia, being granted fixed seats, were admitted. Add the Franks, Britains, and Lombards, and you have the ten; for these arose at about the same time as the seven. But let us look at them one by one.

1 The Kings of the Vandals were, A.C. 407 Godegesilus, 407 Gunderic, 426 Geiseric, 477 Hunneric, 484 Gundemund, 496 Thrasamund, 513 Geiseric, 530 Gelimer. Godegesilus led them into Gallia A.C. 406, Gunderic into Spain A.C. 409, Geiseric into Africa A.C. 427; and Gelimer was conquered by Belisarius A.C. 533. Their kingdom lasted in Gallia, Spain and Africa together 126 years; and in Africa they were very powerful. The Alans had only two Kings of their own in Spain, Resplendial, and Ataces, Utacus or Othacar. Under Resplendial they went into France A.C. 407, and into Spain A.C. 409. Ataces was killed with almost all his army by Vallia, King of the Visigoths, A.C. 419. Then the rest of these Alans subjected themselves to Gunderic, King of the Vandals in Boetica, and went afterward with them into Africa, as I learn from Procopius. This is why the Kings of the Vandals styled themselves Kings of the Vandals and Alans; as may be seen in the Edict of Hunneric recited by Victor in his Vandalic persecution. Together with the Chatti, these Alans gave the name Cathalaunia, or Catth-Alania, to the Province that is still so called. These Alans had also the Gepides among them; and so the Gepides came into Pannonia before the Alans left it. There they were subject to the Hunns until the death of Attila A.C. 454, and in time were conquered by the Ostrogoths.

2 The Kings of the Suevians were, A.C. 407 Ermeric, 458 Rechila, 448 Rechiarius, 458 Maldra, 460 Frumarius, 463 Regismund. Then, after some other Kings who are unknown, there reigned A.C. 558 Theudomir, 568 Miro, 582 Euboricus, and 583 Andeca. This kingdom, once established in Spain, remained always in Gallæcia and Lusitania. After the fall of the Alan kingdom, Ermeric enlarged it to include all Gallæcia, forcing the Vandals to withdraw into Boetica and the Carthaginian Province. This kingdom lasted 177 years according to Isidorus, and was then subdued by Leovigildus, King of the Visigoths, and made a Province of his kingdom A.C. 585.

3 The Kings of the Visigoths were, A.C. 400 Alaric, 410 Athaulphus, 415 Sergeric and Vallia, 419 Theoderic, 451 Thorismund, 452 Theoderic, 465 Euric, 482 Alaric, 505 Gensalaric, 526 Amalaric, 531 Theudius, 548 Theudisclus, etc. I date this kingdom from the time Alaric left Thrace and Greece to invade the Western Empire. At the end of the reign of Athaulphus the Goths were humbled by the Romans, and tried to pass from France into Spain. Sergeric reigned only a few days. Early in the reign of Vallia they attacked the Romans again, but were repulsed once more, and then made peace on this condition: that they should, on behalf of the Empire, invade the Barbarian kingdoms in Spain. And they did this, together with the Romans, in the years 417 and 418, overthrowing the Alans and part of the Vandals. Then, by a full grant from the Emperor, they received Aquitain, giving up their conquests in Spain to the Emperor; and by that the seats of the conquered Alans came into the hands of the Romans. In the year 455 Theoderic, assisted by the Burgundians, invaded Spain, which was then almost entirely subject to the Suevians, and took a part of it from them. A.C. 506, the Goths were driven out of Gallia by the Franks. A.C. 585, they conquered the Suevian kingdom and became Lords of all Spain. A.C. 713, the Saracens invaded them, but in time they recovered their dominions, and have reigned in Spain ever since.

4 The Kings of the Alans in Gallia were Goar, Sambida, Eocharic, Sangibanus, Beurgus, etc. Under Goar they invaded Gallia A.C. 407, and were given seats near the Rhine A.C. 412. Under Sambida, whom Bucher makes the successor, if not the son, of Goar, they were given the territories of Valence by Ætius, the Emperor's general, A.C. 440. Under Eocharic they conquered a region of the rebellious Galli Arborici, which was also given them by Ætius. This region was named after them Alenconium, that is, the gathering of the Alans. Under Sangibanus they were invaded, and their royal city of Orleans was besieged by Attila, King of the Hunns, with a vast army of 500000 men. Ætius and the Barbarian Kings of Gallia came to lift the siege, and defeated the Hunns in a very memorable battle, A.C. 451, in the Catalaunian fields, so called from these Alans mixed with the Chatti. The region is now called Campania or Champagne. In that battle 162000 men were killed on both sides. A year or two afterward, Attila returned with an immense army to conquer this kingdom, but was again beaten by them and the Visigoths together in a battle lasting three days, with a slaughter almost as great as the first. Under Beurgus, or Biorgor, they ravaged Gallia and the country around it until the reign of the Emperor Maximus; they then crossed the Alps in winter and came into Liguria, but were defeated there and Beurgus killed by Ricimer, commander of the Emperor's forces, A.C. 464. Later they were beaten again by the combined forces of Odoacer, King of Italy, and Childeric, King of the Franks, about the year 480, and again by Theudobert, King of the Austrian Franks, about the year 511.

5 The Kings of the Burgundians were, A.C. 407 Gundicar, 436 Gundioc, 467 Bilimer, 473 Gundobaldus with his brothers, 510 Sigismund, 517 Godomarus. Under Gundicar they invaded Gallia A.C. 407, and were given seats by the Emperor near the Rhine in Gallia Belgica, A.C. 412. They had Saxons among them, and were by now so powerful that Orosius wrote of them A.C. 417: "that the Burgundians are a very strong band, as the Gauls bear witness to this day, standing firm in the possessions they have seized for themselves." About the year 435 they suffered heavy defeats at the hands of Ætius, and soon after at the hands of the Hunns; but five years later Savoy was granted to them to be shared with its inhabitants, and from that time they again became a powerful kingdom, bounded by the river Rhodanus, though afterward extending much further into the heart of Gallia. Gundobald conquered the regions about the rivers Araris and Rhodanus, together with the territories of Marseilles; and invading Italy in the time of the Emperor Glycerius, he conquered all his brothers. Godomarus made Orleans his royal seat, from which the kingdom was called the Kingdom of Orleans. He was conquered by Clotharius and Childebert, Kings of the Franks, A.C. 526. From then on this kingdom was at times united with the kingdom of the Franks and at times divided from it, until the reign of Charles the Great, who made his son Carolottus King of Burgundy. From that time it enjoyed its own Kings for about 300 years together; it was then broken into the Dukedom of Burgundy, the County of Burgundy, and the County of Savoy; and afterward those were broken into other lesser Counties.

6 The Kings of the Franks were, A.C. 407 Theudomir, 417 Pharamond, 428 Clodio, 448 Merovæus, 456 Childeric, 482 Clodovæus, etc. Windeline and Bucher, two of the most diligent searchers into the origins of this kingdom, make it begin in the same year as the Barbarian invasions of Gallia, that is, A.C. 407. Of the first Kings there is in Labbe's Bibliotheca M.S. this record.

Certain historical extracts from an old genealogical pedigree of the Kings of France.

Genobaldus, Marcomerus, Suno, Theodemeris. These were leaders or petty kings from the beginning of the French nation at different times. But historians leave it uncertain in what line of descent they succeeded one another.

Pharamundus: under this first king of theirs the Franks submitted to laws which their chief men brought forth, Wisogastus, Atrogastus, Salegastus.

Chlochilo. He, crossing the Rhine, defeated the Romans in the forest of Carbonaria, took and held Camaracum, and reigned 20 years. Under this king the Franks advanced as far as the Summam.

Merovechus. Under this king the Franks destroyed Trevirim, burned Metim, and came as far as Aurelianum.

Now for Genobaldus, Marcomer and Suno: they were captains of the Franks beyond the Rhine in the reign of Theodosius, and do not concern us. We are to begin with Theudomir, the first King of the rebelling Salii, called Didio by Ivo Carnotensis, and Thiedo and Theudemerus by Rhenanus. His face survives on a gold coin found with this inscription, THEUDEMIR REX, published by Petavius, and still existing, or existing until recently, as Windeline attests; which shows that he was a King, and that in Gallia, since wild Germany did not then understand the coining of money, nor use either Latin words or letters. He was the son of Ricimer, or Richomer, the favorite of the Emperor Theodosius; and so, being a Roman Frank and of the Salian royal blood, they made him King upon the rebellion. The whole span of his reign is set out for you in Excerptis Gregorii Turonensis è Fredigario, cap. 5, 6, 7, 8, where the making of him King, the tyranny of Jovinus, the slaughter of the associates of Jovinus, the second taking of Triers by the Franks, and their war with Castinus, in which this King was killed, stand as a series of successive things set down in order: With the Dukes among the Franks extinct, Kings were again created from the same stock as before. At the same time Jovinus assumed the royal insignia. Constantine directed his flight toward Italy; but assassins were sent by the prince Jovinus, and above the river Mentio he was beheaded. Many of the nobility, by Jovinus's command, were captured among the Averni, and were cruelly put to death by the commanders of Honorius. The city of Triers, through the faction of one of its senators named Lucius, was taken and burned by the Franks. Castinus, Count of the Domestici, received the command of an expedition against the Franks, etc. Then, returning to speak of Theudomir, he adds: The Franks, carefully seeking among themselves a long-haired king, as had been the custom before, of the stock of Priam, Frigi and Francion, raised up one of their own named Theudomir, son of Richomer, who was killed by the Romans in the battle I mentioned above; that is, in the battle with Castinus's army. Of his death Gregory Turonensis gives this further account: In the consular records we read that Theudomir, King of the Franks, son of the late Ricimer, and Ascila his mother, were killed by the sword.

Upon this victory of the Romans, the Franks and the rebelling Gauls, who in the time of Theudomir were at war with one another, joined forces to strengthen themselves, as Ordericus Vitalis records: When the Gauls had first rebelled against the Romans, the Franks joined with them, and uniting together, set over themselves Pharamond, son of the duke Suno. Prosper sets down the time: in the 25th year of Honorius, Pharamond reigns in Francia. This, Bucher well observes, refers to the end of the year 416 or the beginning of the next year, dating the years of Honorius from the death of Valentinian; and he argues well that at this time Pharamond was not only King by the constitution of the Franks, but was also crowned by the consent of Honorius, and had a part of Gallia assigned to him by covenant. This may be why Roman writers counted him the first King: which some, misunderstanding, have taken him for the founder of this kingdom through an army of Franks beyond the Rhine. He may have come with such an army, but he succeeded Theudomir by right of blood and by the consent of the people. For the passage of Fredigarius cited above, "With the Dukes among the Franks extinct, Kings were again created from the same stock as before," implies that the kingdom continued in this newly elected family through the reigns of more than one King. If you date the years of Honorius from the death of his father, the reign of Pharamond may have begun two years later than Bucher assigns. The Salique laws made in his reign, which are still extant, show by their name that it was the kingdom of the Salii over which he reigned; and, by the fines in money set in them, that the place where he reigned abounded greatly in money, and was therefore within the Empire, wild Germany not knowing the use of money until they mixed with the Romans. In the Preface also to the Salique laws, written and prefixed to them soon after the conversion of the Franks to the Christian religion, that is, at the end of the reign of Merovæus, or shortly after, the origin of this kingdom is described thus: For this people, while it was strong and full of force, shook the harshest yoke of the Romans from their necks by fighting, etc. This kingdom, therefore, was established not by invasion but by rebellion, as described above. Prosper, in registering their Kings in order, tells us: Pharamond reigns in Francia; Clodio reigns in Francia; Merovæus reigns in Francia. And who can suppose that in all these places he meant one and the same Francia? And yet it is certain that the Francia of Merovæus was in Gallia.

Yet the father of Pharamond, being king of a body of Franks in Germany in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, as above, Pharamond might have reigned over the same Franks in Germany before he succeeded Theudomir in the kingdom of the Salians within the Empire, and even before Theudomir began his reign; suppose in the first year of Honorius, or when those Franks, repulsed by Stilico, lost their Kings Marcomir and Suno, one of whom was the father of Pharamond; and the Roman Franks, after the death of Theudomir, may have invited Pharamond with his people from beyond the Rhine. But we are not to take account of the reign of Pharamond in Germany: we are to date this kingdom from its rise within the Empire, and to regard it as strengthened by the arrival of other Franks coming from beyond the Rhine, whether in the reign of this King or in that of his successor Clodio. For in the last year of Pharamond's reign, Ætius took from him a part of his possessions in Gallia; but his successor Clodio, whom Fredigarius makes the son of Theudomir, and who is also called Clogio, Cloio, and Claudius, inviting a great body of Franks from beyond the Rhine, recovered everything, and carried his conquests as far as the river Soame. Then those Franks, dividing the conquests with him, set up certain new kingdoms at Cologn and Cambray and some other cities; all which were afterwards conquered by Clodovæus, who also drove the Goths out of Gallia and fixed his seat at Paris, where it has continued ever since. And this was the origin of the present kingdom of France.

7 The Kings of Britain were, A.C. 407 or 408, Marcus, Gratian, and Constantine successively; A.C. 425 Vortigern, 466 Aurelius Ambrosius, 498 Uther Pendraco, 508 Arthur, 542 Constantinus, 545 Aurelius Cunanus, 578 Vortiporeus, 581 Malgo, 586 Careticus, 613 Cadwan, 635 Cadwalin, 676 Cadwallader. The first three were Roman Tyrants who revolted from the Empire. Orosius, Prosper and Zosimus connect their revolt with the Barbarian invasions of Gallia as a consequence of them. Prosper, with whom Zosimus agrees, places it in the year that began the day after that invasion. I gather the exact timing as follows: Marcus reigned not many days, Gratian four months, and Constantine three years. He was killed the year after the taking of Rome, that is A.C. 411, 14 Kal. Octob. So the revolt was in the spring of A.C. 408. Sozomen joins Constantine's expedition into Gallia with the death of Arcadius, or with the times a little after; and Arcadius died A.C. 408 May the 1st. Though the reign of these Tyrants was short, they nevertheless gave the beginning to the kingdom of Britain, and so may be counted as the first three Kings, especially since the descendants of Constantine, namely his sons Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendraco, and his grandson Arthur, reigned afterward. For from the time of the revolt of these Tyrants Britain continued a distinct kingdom, freed from subjection to the Empire, the Emperor being unable to spare soldiers to be sent there to receive and keep the Island, and therefore neglecting it; as we learn from unquestionable records. For Prosper tells us: A.C. 410, Variane Cos., at this time, through the failing strength of the Romans, the resources of Britain were utterly drained. And Sigebert, joining this with the siege of Rome, says: The strength of the Britons was drained, and they withdrew themselves from Roman rule. And Zosimus, lib. 6: the Barbarians beyond the Rhine, invading all places, reduced the inhabitants of the island of Britain, and also certain Celtic nations, to such a pass that they broke away from the Roman Empire; and no longer obeying the Roman laws, living each on their own, they formed separate bodies and lived as they pleased. The Britons therefore took up arms, and risked themselves for their own safety, and freed their cities from the threatening Barbarians. In the same way all Brabant and some other Provinces of the Gauls, imitating the Britons, also freed themselves, expelling the Roman governors, and shaping themselves into a kind of commonwealth according to their own pleasure. This rebellion of Britain and the Celtic nations happened when Constantine usurped the kingdom. So also Procopius, lib. 1. Vandal., speaking of the same Constantine, says: Constantine being overcome in battle, was killed with his children: the Romans were no longer able to restore Britain, and it, being under tyrants, remained apart from them. Yet the Romans could not recover Britain any more, but from that time it remained under Tyrants. And Beda, l. 1. c. 11: Rome was taken by the Goths in the 1164th year of its founding; from which time the Romans ceased to reign in Britain. And Ethelwaldus: From the time Rome was taken by the Goths, the Roman rule ceased over the island of Britain, and over the many other lands which they held under the yoke of servitude. And Theodoret, serm. 9. de curand. Græc. affect., about the year 424, reckons the Britons among the nations which were not then in subjection to the Roman Empire. Thus Sigonius: in the year 411, after Constantine's departure, there was no Roman empire in Britain.

Of the ten kingdoms represented by the ten horns of the fourth Beast.

The wars described above broke the Western Roman Empire into ten kingdoms, about the time the Goths besieged and took Rome.

1 The kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa. 2. The kingdom of the Suevians in Spain. 3. The kingdom of the Visigoths. 4. The kingdom of the Alans in Gallia. 5. The kingdom of the Burgundians. 6. The kingdom of the Franks. 7. The kingdom of the Britons. 8. The kingdom of the Hunns. 9. The kingdom of the Lombards. 10. The kingdom of Ravenna.

Sigonius mentions seven of these kingdoms: "Honorio regnante, in Pannoniam Hunni, in Hispaniam Vandali, Alani, Suevi & Gothi, in Galliam Alani, Burgundiones & Gothi, certis sedibus permissis, accepti." Add the Franks, the Britons, and the Lombards, and you have ten, because these three arose at about the same time as the seven. Now let us look at each one in turn.

1 The kings of the Vandals were: A.C. 407 Godegesilus, 407 Gunderic, 426 Geiseric, 477 Hunneric, 484 Gundemund, 496 Thrasamund, 513 Geiseric, and 530 Gelimer. Godegesilus led them into Gallia A.C. 406. Gunderic led them into Spain A.C. 409, and Geiseric into Africa A.C. 427. Belisarius conquered Gelimer A.C. 533. In Gallia, Spain and Africa together their kingdom lasted 126 years, and in Africa they were very powerful. The Alans had only two kings of their own in Spain: Resplendial, and Ataces, who was also called Utacus or Othacar. Under Resplendial they went into France A.C. 407, and into Spain A.C. 409. A.C. 419 Vallia, king of the Visigoths, killed Ataces together with almost all his army. The rest of these Alans then submitted to Gunderic, king of the Vandals in Boetica, and afterward went with them into Africa, as I learn from Procopius. That is why the kings of the Vandals called themselves kings of the Vandals and Alans, as can be seen in the Edict of Hunneric, which Victor recites in his Vandalic persecution. Together with the Chatti, these Alans gave the name Cathalaunia, or Catth-Alania, to the province that is still called by that name. These Alans also had Gepides among them, so the Gepides came into Pannonia before the Alans left it. There the Gepides were subject to the Hunns until the death of Attila A.C. 454, and in the end the Ostrogoths conquered them.

2 The kings of the Suevians were: A.C. 407 Ermeric, 458 Rechila, 448 Rechiarius, 458 Maldra, 460 Frumarius, and 463 Regismund. Then, after some other kings who are unknown, there reigned A.C. 558 Theudomir, 568 Miro, 582 Euboricus, and 583 Andeca. Once this kingdom was settled in Spain it always stayed in Gallæcia and Lusitania. After the Alan kingdom fell, Ermeric enlarged it to cover all Gallæcia, forcing the Vandals to withdraw into Boetica and the Carthaginian Province. According to Isidorus this kingdom lasted 177 years. Then Leovigildus, king of the Visigoths, subdued it and made it a province of his kingdom A.C. 585.

3 The kings of the Visigoths were: A.C. 400 Alaric, 410 Athaulphus, 415 Sergeric and Vallia, 419 Theoderic, 451 Thorismund, 452 Theoderic, 465 Euric, 482 Alaric, 505 Gensalaric, 526 Amalaric, 531 Theudius, 548 Theudisclus, and so on. I date this kingdom from the time Alaric left Thrace and Greece to invade the Western Empire. Near the end of Athaulphus's reign the Romans humbled the Goths, and the Goths tried to cross from France into Spain. Sergeric reigned only a few days. Early in Vallia's reign they attacked the Romans again, but were driven back once more. Then they made peace on this condition: on behalf of the Empire, they would invade the barbarian kingdoms in Spain. Together with the Romans they did this in the years 417 and 418, overthrowing the Alans and part of the Vandals. After that the Emperor granted them Aquitain in full, and they handed their conquests in Spain over to the Emperor. The seats of the conquered Alans therefore came into Roman hands. In the year 455 Theoderic, helped by the Burgundians, invaded Spain, which was then almost entirely subject to the Suevians, and took a part of it from them. A.C. 506 the Franks drove the Goths out of Gallia. A.C. 585 the Goths conquered the Suevian kingdom and became masters of all Spain. A.C. 713 the Saracens invaded them, but in time they recovered their lands and have reigned in Spain ever since.

4 The kings of the Alans in Gallia were Goar, Sambida, Eocharic, Sangibanus, Beurgus, and so on. Under Goar they invaded Gallia A.C. 407, and A.C. 412 they were given seats near the Rhine. Under Sambida, whom Bucher makes the successor of Goar if not his son, they were given the territories of Valence by Ætius, the Emperor's general, A.C. 440. Under Eocharic they conquered a region of the rebelling Galli Arborici, which Ætius also gave them. This region took its name from them: Alenconium, quasi Alanorum conventus. Under Sangibanus they were invaded, and Attila, king of the Hunns, besieged their capital city of Orleans with a vast army of 500000 men. Ætius and the barbarian kings of Gallia came to lift the siege, and beat the Hunns in a very memorable battle A.C. 451, in campis Catalaunicis, so called from these Alans mixed with the Chatti. The region is now called Campania or Champagne. In that battle 162000 men were killed on both sides. A year or two later Attila returned with a huge army to conquer this kingdom, but the Alans and the Visigoths together beat him again in a battle that lasted three days, with a slaughter almost as great as the first. Under Beurgus, or Biorgor, they ravaged all the country around Gallia until the reign of the Emperor Maximus. Then they crossed the Alps in winter and came into Liguria, but there Ricimer, commander of the Emperor's forces, beat them and killed Beurgus A.C. 464. Later the joint forces of Odoacer, king of Italy, and Childeric, king of the Franks, beat them again about the year 480, and Theudobert, king of the Austrian Franks, beat them again about the year 511.

5 The kings of the Burgundians were: A.C. 407 Gundicar, 436 Gundioc, 467 Bilimer, 473 Gundobaldus with his brothers, 510 Sigismund, and 517 Godomarus. Under Gundicar they invaded Gallia A.C. 407, and A.C. 412 the Emperor gave them seats near the Rhine in Gallia Belgica. They had Saxons among them, and by then they were so powerful that Orosius wrote of them A.C. 417: "Burgundionum esse prævalidam manum, Galliæ hodieque testes sunt, in quibus præsumpta possessione consistunt." About the year 435 Ætius dealt them great defeats, and soon after the Hunns did too. Five years later Savoy was granted to them, to share with the inhabitants. From that time they again became a powerful kingdom, bounded by the river Rhodanus and afterward reaching much further into the heart of Gallia. Gundobald conquered the regions around the rivers Araris and Rhodanus, together with the territories of Marseilles. He also invaded Italy in the time of the Emperor Glycerius and conquered all his brothers. Godomarus made Orleans his royal seat, which is why the kingdom was called Regnum Aurelianorum. Clotharius and Childebert, kings of the Franks, conquered him A.C. 526. From then on this kingdom was sometimes joined to the kingdom of the Franks and sometimes separated from it, until the reign of Charles the great, who made his son Carolottus king of Burgundy. From that time it kept its own kings for about 300 years together. Then it broke up into the Dukedom of Burgundy, the County of Burgundy, and the County of Savoy, and later those broke up into other lesser counties.

6 The kings of the Franks were: A.C. 407 Theudomir, 417 Pharamond, 428 Clodio, 448 Merovæus, 456 Childeric, 482 Clodovæus, and so on. Windeline and Bucher, two of the most diligent searchers into the origins of this kingdom, place its beginning in the same year as the barbarian invasions of Gallia, that is, A.C. 407. Of the first kings there is this record in Labbe's Bibliotheca M.S.

Historica quædam excerpta ex veteri stemmate genealogico Regum Franciæ.

Genobaldus, Marcomerus, Suno, Theodemeris. Isti duces vel reguli extiterunt à principio gentis Francorum diversis temporibus. Sed incertum relinquunt historici quali sibi procreations lineâ successerunt.

Pharamundus: sub hoc rege suo primo Franci legibus se subdunt, quas primores eorum tulerunt Wisogastus, Atrogastus, Salegastus.

Chlochilo. Iste, transito Rheno, Romanos in Carbonaria sylva devicit, Camaracum cepit & obtinuit, annis 20 regnavit. Sub hoc rege Franci usque Summam progressi sunt.

Merovechus. Sub hoc rege Franci Trevirim destruunt, Metim succendunt, usque Aurelianum perveniunt.

As for Genobaldus, Marcomer and Suno: they were captains of the Transrhenane Franks in the reign of Theodosius, and they do not concern us here. We must begin with Theudomir, the first king of the rebelling Salii. Ivo Carnotensis calls him Didio, and Rhenanus calls him Thiedo and Theudemerus. His face survives on a gold coin that was found bearing this inscription, THEUDEMIR REX, published by Petavius and still, or until recently, extant, as Windeline records. This shows that he was a king, and a king in Gallia, because at that time rough Germany did not understand the coining of money and used neither Latin words nor letters. He was the son of Ricimer, or Richomer, the favorite of the Emperor Theodosius. Being a Roman Frank of the Salian royal blood, they made him king when the rebellion broke out. You can find the whole span of his reign in Excerptis Gregorii Turonensis è Fredigario, cap. 5, 6, 7, 8. There, set down in order as a linked series, are his making king, the tyranny of Jovinus, the slaughter of the associates of Jovinus, the second taking of Triers by the Franks, and their war with Castinus, in which this king was killed: "Extinctis Ducibus in Francis, denuo Reges creantur ex eadem stirpe qua prius fuerant. Eodem tempore Jovinus ornatus regios assumpsit. Constantinus fugam versus Italiam dirigit; missis a Jovino Principe percussoribus super Mentio flumine, capite truncatur. Multi nobilium jussu Jovini apud Avernis capti, & a ducibus Honorii crudeliter interempti sunt. Trevirorum civitas, factione unius ex senatoribus nomine Lucii, à Francis captà & incensa est.—Castinus Domesticorum Comes expeditionem accipit contra Francos, &c." Then, returning to Theudomir, he adds: "Franci electum à se regem, sicut prius fuerat, crinitum inquirentes diligenter ex genere Priami, Frigi & Francionis, super se crearunt nomine Theudemerum filium Richemeris, qui in hoc prælio quod supra memini, à Romanis interfectus est;" that is, in the battle with Castinus's army. Of his death Gregory Turonensis adds this further note: "In consularibus legimus Theodemerem regem Francorum filium Ricimeris quondam, & Ascilam matrem ejus, gladio interfectos."

After this Roman victory, the Franks and the rebelling Gauls, who had been at war with one another in the time of Theudomir, joined together to make themselves stronger, as Ordericus Vitalis¹ relates: "Cum Galli prius contra Romanos rebellâssent, Franci iis sociati sunt, & pariter juncti, Ferramundum Sunonis ducis filium, sibi regem præfecerunt." Prosper fixes the time: "Anno 25 Honorii, Pharamundus regnat in Francia." Bucher makes a good observation: this refers to the end of the year 416 or the beginning of the next year, counting the years of Honorius from the death of Valentinian. He argues well that at this time Pharamond was king not only by the constitution of the Franks, but was also crowned with the consent of Honorius, and had a part of Gallia assigned to him by covenant. This may be why Roman writers counted him the first king. Some who did not understand this have thought he founded the kingdom with an army of the Transrhenane Franks. He may have come with such an army, but he succeeded Theudomir by right of blood and with the consent of the people. The passage of Fredigarius cited above, "Extinctis Ducibus, in Francis denuo Reges creantur ex eadem stirpe quâ prius fuerant," implies that the kingdom passed on to this newly elected family and continued through the reigns of more than one king. If you count the years of Honorius from the death of his father, Pharamond's reign may have begun two years later than Bucher assigns. The Salique laws made in his reign, which still survive, show by their name that he reigned over the kingdom of the Salii. Their money fines also show that the place where he reigned had a great deal of money, and therefore lay within the Empire, since rough Germany did not know the use of money before they mixed with the Romans. The Preface to the Salique laws, written and prefixed to them soon after the Franks converted to the Christian religion, that is, at the end of the reign of Merovæus or soon after, describes the origin of this kingdom: "Hæc enim gens, quæ fortis dum esset & robore valida, Romanorum jugum durissimum de suis cervicibus excussit pugnando, &c." This kingdom was therefore set up not by invasion but by rebellion, as described above. Prosper, listing their kings in order, tells us: "Pharamundus regnat in Francia; Clodio regnat in Francia; Merovæus regnat in Francia." Who can suppose that in all these places he meant one and the same Francia? And yet it is certain that the Francia of Merovæus was in Gallia.

Yet Pharamond's father was king of a body of Franks in Germany in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, as noted above. So Pharamond may have ruled over those same Franks in Germany before he succeeded Theudomir in the kingdom of the Salians within the Empire, and even before Theudomir began to reign. Suppose this began in the first year of Honorius, or when those Franks, repulsed by Stilico, lost their kings Marcomir and Suno, one of whom was Pharamond's father. After the death of Theudomir, the Roman Franks may have invited Pharamond and his people over from beyond the Rhine. But we are not to count Pharamond's reign in Germany. We must date this kingdom from its rise within the Empire, and treat it as strengthened by the arrival of other Franks coming from beyond the Rhine, whether that happened in the reign of this king or in the reign of his successor Clodio. In the last year of Pharamond's reign Ætius took from him a part of his possessions in Gallia. But his successor Clodio, whom Fredigarius makes the son of Theudomir and whom some call Clogio, Cloio, and Claudius, called a great body of Franks over from beyond the Rhine, recovered everything, and pushed their conquests as far as the river Soame. Those Franks then shared the conquests with him and set up certain new kingdoms at Cologn and Cambray, and some other cities. Clodovæus afterward conquered them all. He also drove the Goths out of Gallia and fixed his seat at Paris, where it has remained ever since. This was the origin of the present kingdom of France.

7 The kings of Britain were: A.C. 407 or 408 Marcus, Gratian, and Constantine in succession; then A.C. 425 Vortigern, 466 Aurelius Ambrosius, 498 Uther Pendraco, 508 Arthur, 542 Constantinus, 545 Aurelius Cunanus, 578 Vortiporeus, 581 Malgo, 586 Careticus, 613 Cadwan, 635 Cadwalin, and 676 Cadwallader. The first three were Roman tyrants who revolted from the Empire. Orosius, Prosper and Zosimus link their revolt to the barbarian invasions of Gallia, as a consequence of them. Prosper places the revolt in the year that began the day after that invasion, and Zosimus agrees with him. I gather the exact time this way: Marcus reigned only a few days, Gratian four months, and Constantine three years. He was killed the year after the taking of Rome, that is A.C. 411, 14 Kal. Octob. So the revolt was in the spring of A.C. 408. Sozomen links Constantine's expedition into Gallia with the death of Arcadius, or with a time a little after, and Arcadius died A.C. 408 May the 1st. Though the reign of these tyrants was short, they began the kingdom of Britain, and so may be counted as its first three kings. This is especially so because the family of Constantine reigned afterward: his sons Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendraco, and his grandson Arthur. From the time of the revolt of these tyrants, Britain continued a distinct kingdom, free from submission to the Empire. The Emperor could not spare soldiers to send there to take and hold the island, and so he neglected it, as we learn from unquestionable records. Prosper tells us: "A.C. 410, Variane Cos. Hac tempestate præ valetudine Romanorum, vires funditùs attenuatæ Britanniæ." Sigebert joins this to the siege of Rome and says: "Britannorum vires attenuatæ, & substrahunt se à Romanorum dominatione." And Zosimus lib. 6: the Transrhenane Barbarians, invading everywhere, reduced the people of the island of Britain, and also certain Celtic nations, to such a pass that they broke away from the Roman Empire. No longer obeying the Roman laws, "kat' heauton biateuein," they lived in separate groups as they themselves pleased. So the Britons took up arms, risked themselves for their own safety, and freed their cities from the threatening barbarians. In the same way all Brabant and some other provinces of the Gauls copied the Britons and freed themselves too. They threw out the Roman governors and formed themselves into a sort of commonwealth as they themselves pleased. This rebellion of Britain and the Celtic nations happened when Constantine usurped the kingdom. Procopius, lib. 1. Vandal., says the same of that Constantine: he was beaten in battle and killed with his children, "Bretannian men toi Rômaioi anasôsasthai ouketi echon; all' ousa hypo tyrannous ap' autou emene." Yet the Romans never recovered Britain again. From that time it remained under tyrants. Beda, l. 1. c. 11: "Fracta est Roma à Gothis anno 1164 suæ conditionis; ex quo tempore Romani in Britannia regnare cessaverunt." And Ethelwaldus: "A tempore Romæ à Gothis expugnatæ, cessavit imperium Romanorum à Britannia insula, & ab aliis; quas sub jugo servitutis tenebant, multis terris." And Theodoret, serm. 9. de curand. Græc. affect., about the year 424, counts the Britons among the nations that were not then in subjection to the Roman Empire. So Sigonius: "ad annum 411, Imperium Romanorum post excessum Constantini in Britannia nullum fuit."