Various traditions concerning this monument are recorded by authors, and
particularly at great length by Father du Plessis[18].--The nameless
princes, for such the splendor of their garb denotes them to have been,
were considered, according to a tradition which prevailed from very
early times, as the sons of Clovis and Bathilda, who, in the absence of
their father, were guilty of revolt, and were punished by being
hamstrung; for this is the meaning of the word _énervez_.--According to
this tradition, the monks, in the thirteenth century, caused the
monument to be ornamented with golden fleurs-de-lys, and added the
following epitaph:--


"Hic in honore Dei requiescit stirps Clodovei,
Patris bellica gens, bella salutis agens.
Ad votum matris Bathildis poenituere,
Scelere pro proprio, proque labore patris."--


Three other lines, preserved by Yepez, in his chronicle, refer to the
same tale, but accuse the princes of a crime of deeper die than mere
rebellion against parental authority:--


"Conjugis est ultus probrum; nam in vincula tradit
Crudeles natos, pius impietate, simulque
Et duras pater, o Clodovee, piusque maritus."


Mabillon supposed the tomb to have been erected for Tassilo and his son;
but I do not know how this conjecture is to be reconciled to the