Armentarius

Armentarius (died 584) was a Jewish moneylender, active in Francia under the Merovingian dynasty. He was murdered in Tours, causing a controversy over who was responsible. The main source about him is Gregory of Tours. He should probably not be confused with the similarly named Armentarius, the archiatrus (chief physician) of Tours, who is mentioned treating Gregory in 573. Eunomius was the Count of Tours (comes), Iniuriosus was his vicarius (deputy). Armentarius and Iniuriosus shared dinner,

What followed is uncertain. Armentarius was found murdered, his money and papers stolen.

Iniuriosus denied any involvement in the murder. He swore a legal oath to that effect. The family of Armentarius demanded that Childebert II (r. 575–595) should decide on the case. Iniuriosus visited the royal court, presumably at Metz, for his hearing. He waited three days for his accusers to appear. Since Armentarius' relatives never appeared at court, the case was dismissed. Iniuriosus returned home with no further incident.

Another point of interest is the ability of Armentarius' family to bring the case to the monarch. Elukin deduces that this access to the monarch could mean they had "real influence". That Iniuriosus escaped, does not necessarily mean his accusers were "powerless or abused". They might have decided against pressing the case. Elukin suggests that they could have been thwarted by "the lack of evidence" on who was responsible.

Elukin also calls attention to some elements missing from the narrative. There is no sense that the story has a moral, a conveyed message. There is no criticism of the victim as greedy or devious. Typical stereotypes of Jews are absent, with Gregory reporting the case in an "understated and straightforward manner". He barely calls attention to the Jewish identity of the victim. The narrative is argued to be part of a longstanding theme of Gregory's history: "the lawlesness and mystery of Frankish society".