Merovingian Gaul Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Within the classicising mindset of many Late Antique Gallo-Roman writers, we witness examples of the learned minority appropriating the right to represent the alleged historical memories of the majority’s pagan past. Distrust towards demotic morality and civilizational aptitude – never very far from being uttered aloud by the Imperial elites – are explicitly commented upon in the fifth-century Gallic play Querolus. Ausonius’ confidence within his textual universe in constructing the personal memories of his slave girl Bissula and the Gallic pagi alike can be compared to the received Lucanic topoi of dark Celtic groves, and to the development of these stock scenes in the episcopal gesta of the Merovingian Gaul. The vicarious creation of memories for the silent majority by the learned minority (with its mixture of Christian identity and a thorough knowledge of the classics) is not limited to narrative genres. An intriguing paratextual space for the construction of demotic religiosities is framed by the already-mentioned ecclesiastical writings and the scholia to Lucan and Juvenal, all pointing to creative re-imagining of the divinities worshipped by Gallic vulgus (implied to be changeless in an almost colonialist sense). The Gallic cult of Diana as a literary artefact is a particular case in point.

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- Sociology of Knowledge, Peasant Studies, Social Representations, History and Memory

By the late fifth century, there were two primary barbarian powers in Gaul, the Visigoths and the Franks. Both were enlarging their territories in the wake of the final precipitous decline of Roman authority during the 470s. The expansion achieved by the Frankish king Clovis I inevitably brought him into conflict with the Visigothic king Alaric II. During the 490s, the Franks made several unsuccessful forays into Brittany and south of the Loire. Subsequently, both sides did their best to consolidate their resources. Attempts by the Os trogothic king Theoderic to avoid direct conflict failed, and war began in earnest in 507, when Clovis made a massive attack on the Visigothic kingdom. The decisive Frankish vic tory at Vouillé determined the map of sixth-century western Europe: the Franks gained control of most of Gaul, and the Visigoths consolidated their holdings in Spain.

- by Ralph Mathisen
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- Late Antiquity, Late Roman Empire, Roman Gaul, Barbarians
- by Georges Depeyrot
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- History, European History, Archaeology, Medieval Literature

International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, 7-10 July 2014

- by Hope Williard
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- Merovingian period, Merovingian and Carolingian, Merovingian Gaul
- by Anne Sieberichs
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- Hagiography, Cult of Saints, Early Middle Ages (History), Merovingian period

Jonas of Bobbio was an Italian monk, author, and abbot active in Lombard Italy and Merovingian Gaul during the seventh century. He is best known as the author of the Life of Columbanus and His Disciples, one of the most important works of hagiography from the early medieval period, that charts the remarkable journey of the Irish exile and monastic founder, Columbanus (c.550-615), through Western Europe, as well as the monastic movement initiated by him and his Frankish successors in the Merovingian kingdoms. Jonas also wrote two other, occasional works set in the late fifth and sixth centuries: the Life of John, the abbot and founder of the monastery of Reome in Burgundy, and the Life of Vedast, the first bishop of Arras and a contemporary of Clovis. Both works provide perspectives on how the past Gallic monastic tradition, the role of bishops, and the Christianisation of the Franks were perceived in Jonas's time. Jonas's hagiography also provides important evidence for the reception of classical and late antique texts as well as the works of Gregory the Great and Gregory of Tours. This volume presents the first complete English translation of all of Jonas of Bobbio's saints' Lives with detailed notes and scholarly introduction that will be of value to all those interested in this period.

- by Alexander O'Hara
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- Irish Studies, Theology, Celtic Studies, Medieval History
- by Andrew Gillett
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- Emotion, Late Antiquity, Late Roman Empire, Byzantium
- by Marco Aimone FSA
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- Early Medieval Archaeology, Early Medieval Art, Garnets, The Merovingians

Full commented Russian translation of "Fredegar's Chronicles", the most important narrative source for Late Merovingian France. This chronicle was created about 660 year and it provides us with account on Francs and on nations... more

- by Gleb Schmidt
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- Historiography, Early Christianity, Early Medieval History, Byzantine Studies

Depuis 2008, date de la première édition de cet ouvrage, nombre de découvertes ont été faites, mais aussi nombre d’hypothèses ont été soulevées concernant la religion à Lisieux à l’époque du paganisme et à l’heure de la christianisation. Une nouvelle édition, corrigée, enrichie et surtout plus facilement accessible, était donc nécessaire. Quels dieux vénérait-on à Lisieux, dans quels lieux de cultes, sous quels rites ? Qui, par la suite, a évangélisé la ville, et comment ? Quelles furent les premières églises ? Autant de questions auxquelles Religions et cultes à Lisieux s’efforce de répondre...
Version pdf non-éditée.

- by Patrice Lajoye
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- Archaeology, High Middle Ages, Celtic Studies, Roman Gaul

This article demonstrates that early medieval exchange networks can be studied through the research of Merovingian beads. Hundred-thousands of beads have been deposited in inhumation graves of the period 400-750 AD across Europe. They have the potential to offer a goldmine of new insights into early medieval exchange, which has hardly been exploited. This potential is demonstrated by focussing on amber beads, which make up almost 10 percent of the total Merovingian bead assemblage.

- by Mette Langbroek
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- Archaeology, Gift Exchange, Early Medieval Archaeology, Merovingian period

Bibliographie de Jean-Pierre Laporte au 15/11/2016
Afrique du Nord, France, Turquie

- by Jean-Pierre LAPORTE
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- Roman History, Carolingian Studies, Roman Army, Roman Architecture

Pour décrire l’avènement de la dynastie et du royaume mérovingiens, les historiens se sont avant tout fondés sur les « Histoires » de Grégoire de Tours, qui écrivait plus d’un siècle après les faits et n’en avait qu’une connaissance parcellaire. Réexaminant l’ensemble des témoignages disponibles, la présente étude insiste tout particulièrement sur la valeur de deux généalogies royales : négligées par les historiens, elles permettent d’établir un arbre généalogique inédit des ascendants de Childéric, beaucoup plus satisfaisant que ceux proposés jusqu’à présent. Jointes à d’autres, ces données plaident en faveur de l’émergence, sans doute aux environs de 430, d’un regnum « salien » ou « pré-mérovingien » sous l’égide de Chlodio, rendue possible par la mobilisation des lètes majoritairement francs installés dans les cités des Tongres, des Cambrésiens et des Tournaisiens. Ce royaume dont allait hériter Childéric ne serait pas né d’une occupation progressive de ces régions par des populations franques venues de Toxandrie ou d’outre Rhin, mais d’une prise de pouvoir par les soldats d’origine barbare d’un Empire alors en plein déliquescence.
ENGLISH - Merovech’s Blood : « Prehistory » of the Merovingian Dynasty and Kingdom.
When they deal with the origins of the Merovingian dynasty and the establishment of their kingdom, modern historians have primarily based themselves on the “Histories” of Gregory of Tours, though he wrote more than one century after the events and had a very uneven knowledge of that history. Reviewing all the available evidence, this paper places particular emphasis on the value of two royal genealogies : Much neglected by historians, they allow us to draw up a new pedigree of Childeric’s ancestors, which seems much more satisfactory than the existing ones. Together with other data, these genealogies speak in favour of the birth of a “Salian” or “pre-Merovingian” regnum under the control of the Frank Chlodio in the late 420s or early 430s with the support of laeti communities already settled in the civitates of Tongeren, Cambrai and Tournai. It is plausible that this kingdom, which Childeric was to inherit, was not the ineluctable consequence of a progressive occupation of these lands by Frankish populations coming from Toxandria or from across the Rhine, but the outcome of a seizure of power by barbarian soldiers in a dying Empire.
NEDERLANDS - Merovechs bloed : “prehistorie” van de Merovingse dynastie en het Merovingische rijk.
Om de komst van de Merovingische dynastie en het Merovingische rijk te beschrijven hebben historici zich gebaseerd op de kroniek van Gregorius van Tours, ofschoon hij deze meer dan één eeuw na de feiten schreef en slechts een partiële kennis van de feiten had. Deze studie onderzoekt opnieuw het geheel van de beschikbare getuigenissen en legt in het bijzonder de nadruk op de waarde van twee koninglijke stambomen. Hoewel ze door historici zijn verwaarloosd, stellen zij ons in staat om een nieuwe stamboom te tekenen van Childeriks ascendenten die veel vollediger is dan vorige versies. Als die gegevens met andere verenigd worden, pleiten ze voor het verschijnen – waarschijnlijk rond het jaar 430 – van een “Salisch” of “pre-Merovingisch” regnum onder leiding van Chlodios. Dit werd mogelijk gemaakt door de mobilisatie van de – voor het merendeel Frankische – laeti die gevestigd waren in Noord-Gallië. Dit door Childerik te erven rijk zou dus niet ontstaan zijn uit een progressieve bezetting van deze streken door Frankische bevolkingsgroepen uit Toxandrië of van over de Rijn, maar vloeide voort uit een machtsovername door barbaarse soldaten in een stervend Romeins Rijk.

- by Etienne Renard
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- Genealogy, Early Medieval History, Late Antiquity, Merovingian period

Imperial authority is inextricably linked with Roman coinage. This association acts as a guarantee of quality and of its acceptance as currency. Imperial imagery and administrative codes function as mechanisms of accountability. After the last Western Roman Emperor was deposed around 476 AD, production of Imperial coinage continued. The production of Imperial coinage by barbarian kings is typically referred to as ‘imitation’. Does this term adequately describe minting practice in the 5th and 6th centuries? This article explores the limitations of this term and resolves an unresolved problem in Late Antique numismatics: the attribution of the •T• series tremisses. The implications of this attribution, and how it impacts our understanding of the period, is also discussed.

- by Christian Cuello
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- Ancient History, Late Antiquity, Late Roman Empire, Visigothic Spain
- by Antonio Marson Franchini
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- Medieval History, Hagiography, Women's History, Gender History

Few past civilisations have had such a central notion of government as the Roman Empire, with the possible exception of the Han Empire in China. One person, the Roman emperor, at the helm of a single city, Rome, was meant to rule the world. The city of Rome made up ca. 1.8 % of the estimated total population of 50-55 million within the whole Roman Empire, while approximately 13.2 %, or ca. 6.6- 7.26 million, lived in other urban areas. In AD 300, the city of Rome counted one million people. It was the largest city in the world. In AD 550 the population had dwindled to a mere 30-50,000 people . No longer a coherent urban unit, Rome had fragmented into separate villages and fortified compounds on seven different hills with fenced-off vegetable gardens and grazing livestock in the valleys. No other city in the world would reach the 4th century population igure of Rome until some 1,300 years later, when Beijing, China, assumed the position as the world’s largest urban agglomeration. This suggests that something was quite wrong with Rome as an urban political phenomenon.

- by Svante Fischer and +1
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- Archaeology, Social Sciences, Urban Planning, Complex Systems

Philippe Schiesser, Des deniers mérovingiens de Rennes imitant des sceattas, un exemple parmi d’autres d’imitation, dans les textes publiés par D. Hollard et K. Meziane, Numismatique bretonne / Les faux monétaires, actes du Colloque anniversaire des 50 ans de la SENA à Brest, 17-18 mai 2013, UBO- faculté Victor Segalen, Recherches et travaux de la Société d’Études Numismatiques et Archéologiques 6, 2015, p. 77 à 99 et pl. 7 à 11.

Agnellus [p.35]; Aldius [p.44]; arimannus [p.127]; Athala [p.170]; Bertulf (abb. Bobbio) [p.233]; Carmen de Synodo Ticenensi [Papiae] [p.293] ; charters, Lombard [p.318]; Cunincpert [Cuninpert] [p.438]; fara [p.582]; Faroald I of Spoleto [pp.585-6]; Faroald II of Spoleto [p.586]; gasindius [p.642]; gastald [p.642]; Gregory II [p.685]; Gregory III [p.685]; Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani [p.728]; Honorius I Pope [pp.740-1]; John VII, Pope [p.819]; laws, Lombard [p.887]; marpahis [p.967]; Pavia [p.1153]; Perctarit [p.1158]; sc[h]uldahis [p.1339]; Secundus of Non [p.1352]; Spoleto [p.1412]; Thomas of Maurienne [p.1498]; Versus de Mediolano [p.1556]; Zacharias, Pope [p.1605]; Zotto of Benevento [p.1615].

Già da qualche tempo si è ritenuto opportuno proporre per la scul-tura ad incrostazione di mastice, tecnica di decorazione basata su un consapevole e schietto approccio coloristico e polimaterico, l'adozione di un vocabolario che non faccia esplicito riferimento ad altri campi della produzione materiale di epoca medievale('). In questo percorso si sono seguite, in verità, le sollecitazioni presenti negli studi pionieristici della seconda metà dell'Ottocento e dei primissimi anni del Novecento di personalità quali Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc(2) e Lucien Bégule(3), attente ., anche se solo in parte, a evitare delle sovrapposizioni, quantomeno semantiche, e ad individuare delle valenze chiaramente esemplificative di questa pratica scultorea. Così, fin da subito, è sembrato preferibile un lessico distinto rispetto a quello usualmente oscillante fràniello' e champlevé , mutuato da altri contesti a seguito di una supposta pratica esecutiva comune(). Di fatto, non basta una procedura similare per impostare dei nessi di corrispon-denza, iié per trovare la derivazione di una tecnica dall'altra, giacché l'ar-co temporale e l'ambiente geografico in cui si diffuse l'incrostazione di...

En 2002, un groupe de sépultures, composé de deux hommes inhumés dans des chambres funéraires et d'une jeune femme dont le cercueil avait été déposé en fosse, a été mis au jour à Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne). Ces trois tombes recelaient un mobilier d'une richesse exceptionnelle : bijoux et accessoires vestimentaires en métaux précieux, armes d'apparat, vaisselle de bronze et de verre, etc. Un cheval avait également été enterré à proximité. L' ensemble est daté entre le deuxième quart et la fin de la première moitié du VI e siècle. Ces sépultures présentent toutes les caractéristiques permettant de les rattacher au faciès archéologique des tombes dites de «chefs francs» du début du VI e siècle, retrouvées entre Seine et Rhin et entre les cours supérieurs du Rhin et du Danube. Elles se distinguent par la présence d'armes de prestige, de bijoux et objets de vaisselle d'un même horizon chrono-culturel, par une architecture funéraire élaborée et une disposition presque standardisée des objets, traduisant la volonté de montrer l'appartenance du défunt à un groupe social bien défini. Les tombes les plus précoces occupent le centre du royaume franc, alors que les suivantes – au nombre desquelles comptent celles de Saint-Dizier – sont situées sur ses marges. Leur rôle militaire et stratégique semble probable : pour consolider leur conquête, Clovis puis ses descendants durent fixer une élite guerrière, s'assurant ainsi le contrôle sur des terres nouvellement conquises.

- by Marie-Cécile Truc and +1
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- Archaeology, Early Medieval History, Merovingian period, Middle Ages

Hypothèse d'une autre interprétation.

Ein Großteil des Wissens über die Geschichte der Goten in Gallien und Spanien ist uns durch die merowingische Geschichtsschreibung überliefert. Die modernen Historiker sind daher an die Sichtweisen und Urteile der merowingischen Geschichtsschreiber gebunden. Die dieser Überlieferung zugrunde liegenden Vorstellungen und Deutungsmuster sind bislang jedoch noch nicht untersucht worden. Christian Stadermann nimmt sich dieses Desiderats an: Er fragt nicht nur, wie Goten in narrativen Schriften des merowingischen Gallien beschrieben werden und welche Ereignisse der Interaktion mit Goten in die merowingische Geschichtsschreibung eingingen, sondern untersucht auch, welche Erfahrungen, welche soziokulturell determinierten Wahrnehmungsmuster diese Beschreibungen leiteten und wie sie auf die Identität der Autoren zurückwirkten. Stadermann geht dabei über die großen Werke der merowingischen Geschichtsschreibung, wie die Historien des Gregor von Tours oder die Fredegarchronik, hinaus und nimmt die merowingische Historio- und Hagiographie in ihrer Gesamtheit in den Blick.

- by Christian Stadermann
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- Self and Identity, Hagiography, Social Identity, Narrative
- by Edouard Baraton
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- Late Antiquity, Late Roman Empire, Merovingian period, Late Roman Army

This article presents a Merovingian Period silver spoon that was recently discovered in an opulent female chamber grave in the “Niederfeld” row grave cemetery of Ichtratzheim (Bas-Rhin). The spoon has no less than three different inscriptions, one in seriffed Latin capitals and two in runes. The first contains a Latin male personal name, Matteus, the second a previously unattested runic lapela ‘spoon’, and the third a sequence abuda, presumably a female personal name. This makes it the second known example of an inscribed object with both runes and Latin from Merovingian Period Gaul. From a runological perspective, this is one of the most important discoveries in recent times because it contains the oldest known case of a linguistically meaningful runic inscription using the rare p-rune and some very archaic linguistic forms. From an archaeological perspective, this is one of the richest known Merovingian Period female burials in Alsace, and it is very likely that the buried woman may have been a leading member of the local elite.

- by Svante Fischer and +3
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- History, Archaeology, Gender Studies, Literacy

Review of V. Alice Tyrrell, 'Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers', Publications of the Journal of Medieval Latin 12. Turnhout: Brepols, 2019.

Silver Coins of the 5th-6th Century Found in Gaul: New Considerations about Mint Sites and Mint Authorities
The study deals with the main types of 5th-6th-century silver coins found in Gaul. The find sites and above all the dielinks enable one to follow the evolution of the silver coin production during both centuries. After the last emission of imperial argentei at Trier about the middle of the 5th century (Valentinian III - Theodosius II, type of the seated Roma), a large production of pseudo-imperial argentei (type of the seated Roma or Victory to left) took place at Cologne, which was under the control of the Rhineland Franks. Furthermore, smaller workshops dispersed between the Seine and the Rhine struck the same coin types apparently beyond any control of the Roman (Aegidius, Syagrius) or Salian Frankish power. Not a single royal silver emission is attested at the Merovingian capitals of Paris, Orleans, Soissons, Reims or Metz: the royal argentei were struck exclusively in the Provence, where they had to feed the rivalries between the Merovingians and the Ostrogoths. In the whole of Gaul, the argentei formed only a marginal coinage that was hardly struck after c. 530. Afterwards, the solidi and tremisses were the only important coinages in the regnum Francorum as a support for the political statement of the Merovingians towards the emperor and as a basis of the entire fiscal system.

Book Description by the Editors (Stefan Esders, Yitzhak Hen, Pia Lucas, Tamar Rotman): The book explores the place of the Merovingian kingdoms in Gaul within a broader Mediterranean context. Their politics and culture have mostly been interpreted in terms of a local phenomenon, but as this book shows, the Merovingian kingdoms had complicated and multi-layered political, religious, and socio-cultural relations with their Mediterranean counterparts, from Visigothic Spain in the West to the Byzantine Empire in the East. The papers provide new insights into the history of the Merovingian kingdoms in their late-antique and early-medieval Mediterranean context, examining subjects from the formation of identity to the shape and rules of diplomatic relations, social, legal, and religious aspects that reflect cultural transfer, as well as voiced attitudes towards the other. The perspectives of the individual sources and their contextualization are at the centre of this analysis, and each paper thus begins with a short excerpt from a relevant source text, which then serves as a jumping board to the discussion of broader issues. This innovative structuring principle ensures discussions are accessible to students and non-specialists, without jeopardizing the high standard of academic debate and diligent historical analysis.

- by Hope Williard
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- Merovingian period, Merovingian and Carolingian, Gregory of tours, Amicitia

This paper takes a fresh look at the broader context of the Council of Orléans (549 AD). This church council represents the first and only collective response by the Merovingian episcopate to the Three Chapters controversy, a christological conflict that affected the entire Mediterranean region. Needless to say, this crisis did not only have an impact on theological matters, but also had political implications. This paper takes a closer look at contemporary sources and suggests that the manner in which the controversy was perceived within the different Merovingian kingdoms may have differed with regard to their respective political agendas. From this perspective, the Council of Orléans can be seen as an illustration of how bishops dealt with this diversity when being confronted with the canonical demand for dogmatic unity.

- by Till Stüber
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- Canon Law, Theology, Diplomacy, Church History