Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

family and friendship in the west 433
who had helped them in any way as patronus, 145 and it can be seen more seriously
in the letters of recommendation written by Sidonius 146 and
Avitus. 147 Bishops played an increasingly important role as patrons in the
fifth and sixth century. 148 The career of Venantius Fortunatus in the mid
sixth century depended on patronage: it was for his patrons that he, as a
foreigner without personal status and with no kin to protect him, wrote the
majority of his earlier poems. 149 Such support might easily have been exercised
by the senatorial aristocracy of the fourth century.
In other respects patterns of patronage changed in the fifth and sixth
century, most notably with the militarization of society. It would have been
legally impossible for a Roman aristocrat of the fourth century to have
gathered the private following which Sidonius’ brother-in-law Ecdicius put
together to relieve the Visigothic siege of Clermont, even if it numbered
only eighteen men. 150 Such a force must have been raised from tenants on
Ecdicius’ own estates and from others indebted to him in one way or
another. The private followings of such Gallo-Romans as Mummolus who
feature in the pages of Gregory of Tours 151 must likewise have been composed
of clients of one sort or another. Nor is it possible to distinguish
between the military following of a Gallo-Roman like Mummolus and that
of a Frank like Rauching. 152 In part, this is a question of evidence: no detail
survives to help us understand the recruitment of private armies. Precious
little, indeed, survives to illuminate the recruitment of the personal following
of a king, his antrustiones, though the Frankish king Theudebert I is seen
offering money to potential followers after the death of his father,
Theuderic I, in 533. 153 Despite the lacunae in our evidence it is not difficult
to see in these developments parallels between the exclusively civilian
bonds of clientship of the Roman period and the military bonds of fidelitas
of later periods.
Clientship evolved in the face of the military changes which beset the
west during the fifth and sixth century. Patronal relations were also affected
by religious developments, and not just at the etherial level of the relationship
between a patron saint and his congregation. 154 In the course of the
sixth century baptismal sponsors appear in our narrative sources. Gregory
of Tours forgave Eberulf because he was godfather to the man’s son. 155
Guntram Boso sought protection from bishop Ageric of Verdun, thinking
that he had special influence as godfather to the king. 156 Queen Brunhild
offered clemency to Berthefred on the grounds that she was his daughter’s
godmother. 157 In 613 Chlothar II spared his godson Merovech, while killing
145 See for example Ruricius Epp. 1.1, 2, 7, 8, 9, etc. See also Faustus, Epp. 7, 8, 14, ed. B. Krusch,
MGH, AA 8. 146 E.g. Sid. Ap. Ep. 6.4. 147 Avitus, Ep. 11. 148 Mathisen (1993) 93–7.
149 George (1992) 22–34. 150 Sid. Ap. Ep. 3.3, 3. 151 Greg. Tur. Hist. vii.38.
152 Greg. Tur. Hist. viii.26. 153 Greg. Tur. Hist. iii.23. 154 E.g. Brown (1996) 64.
155 Greg. Tur. Hist. vii.22. 156 Greg. Tur. Hist. ix.8. 157 Greg. Tur. Hist. ix.9.
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