The History of the Franks by Gregory, bishop of Tours, is an historical record of great importance.[22] It is a central source for early Frankish history, representing the period of transition from late Roman antiquity to early Medieval times in a nascent Europe. It is believed to be the only reliable source of information to describe the emerging military and political power of the Franks in one kingdom.[23]
Gregory has often been compared to Herodotus;[24] with his detailed interest in, and accounts of, ecclesiastical history and maneuverings, to a bloodier Trollope.[25] Robert Win came to the conclusion:
"There can be no argument that Gregory deliberately structured his narrative to protect himself from any political attacks and that it was the political circumstances around him that governed what he could and could not write.'[26] Gregory's Latin was relatively poor in comparison with earlier centuries when writers were educated at secular Roman grammar and rhetoric schools. He himself is aware of it and apologizes for his poor Latin in his Introduction:
"Ista etenim atque et his similia iugiter intuens dici, pro commemoratione praeteritorum, ut notitiam adtingerint venientum, etsi incultu effatu, nequivi tamen obtegere vel certamena flagitiosorum vel vitam recte viventium;
et praesertim his inlicitus stimulis, quod a nostris fari plerumque miratus sum, quia: 'Philosophantem rethorem intellegunt pauci, loquentem rusticum multi'
('Hearing continually these complaints and others like them I have undertaken to commemorate the past, in order that it may come to the knowledge of the future; and although my speech is rude, I have been unable to be silent as to the struggles between the wicked and the upright; and I have been especially encouraged because, to my surprise, it has often been said by men of our day, that few understand the learned words of the rhetorician but many the rude language of the common people.')
'The 'Historia Francorum' is the only source of that period covering the beginning of the Franks in the decaying Roman Empire from around 397 (the death of Martin of Tours) to 590 (the early reign of king Chlothar II). Gregory's chronology of the Franks is continued with the Fourth Book of Fredegar and its continuations for the events up to 642. Likewise, the fourth Book of Fredegar and its continuations is the only source of any significance for much of the period it covers.
Gregory's hagiographies are also a valuable source of anecdotes and stories which enrich modern understanding of life and belief in Merovingian Gaul. The motivation behind his works was to show readers the importance and strength of Christianity, and this bias should always be remembered. Alongside the most outstanding poet Venantius Fortunatus in his lifetime, Gregory of Tours is the unique historian from the 6th-century Merovingian world;[27] and his extensive literary output is itself a testimony to the preservation of learning and to the lingering continuity of Gallo-Roman civic culture through the early Middle Ages.
