Letter 1

From: Theudebert I, King of the Franks (Austrasia) To: Justinian I, Emperor of the Romans Date: ~534 AD Context: Theudebert I, newly established as king of Austrasia after his father Theuderic's death, writes to Justinian seeking to establish diplomatic relations and proposing an alliance. The Epistulae Austrasicae [Letters of Austrasia] are a collection of Frankish royal and diplomatic correspondence preserved in a single manuscript. To the most august and ever-victorious Emperor Justinian, greetings in Christ from Theudebert, king of the Franks, The God who rules over kings has granted me the inheritance of my father's throne, and my first duty in assuming that inheritance is to secure the friendships that my father valued. Among those friendships, none was more important to him — and none is more important to me — than the friendship of the Roman Emperor. We are a people formed by war and by the love of freedom, but we are not enemies of civilization. Our kingdom borders and in many places overlaps with the lands and peoples that have long looked to Rome for their law and their faith. We worship the same Christ. We observe the laws that Rome gave to the world. We wish to live in the same peace with the Emperor that good Christians should maintain with one another. I write therefore to seek your recognition and to offer mine. The Frankish kingdom under my rule will be a loyal friend to the Empire. When your enemies threaten our common borders, we will stand together. When the peace requires only that we respect each other's sphere and trade with each other's merchants, we will do that gladly. I send with this letter representatives who are empowered to negotiate the specific terms of an alliance. I commend them to your favorable reception and to the generosity that the great have always shown to those who approach them in good faith. Theudebert, king, servant of Christ