Humour, History and Politics in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

Although the topic of humour has been dealt with for other eras, early medieval humour remains largely neglected. These essays go some way towards filling the gap, examining how early medieval writers deliberately employed humour to make their cases. The essays range from the late Roman empire through to the tenth century, and from Byzantium to Anglo-Saxon England. The subject matter is diverse, but a number of themes link them together, notably the use of irony, ridicule and satire as political tools. Two chapters serve as an extended introduction to the topic, while the following six chapters offer varied treatments of humour and politics, looking at different times and places, but at the Carolingian world in particular. Together, they raise important and original issues about how humour was employed to articulate concepts of political power, perceptions of kingship, social relations and the role of particular texts. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Notes on contributors......Page 11 Preface......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 16 INTRODUCTION ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got the key’......Page 17 PART I The fate of humorous writing......Page 39 DISCONTINUITY......Page 41 Parodies or works with strong parodic elements......Page 42 The comic parallels the obscene......Page 43 Christian laughter......Page 44 Risus sardonicus......Page 46 Le roi s’amuse......Page 47 Taking control: victims’ jokes and cheek......Page 51 CHANGE......Page 53 Hagiographical humour......Page 54 The furniture of hagiography......Page 55 Intoxicating beverages......Page 58 Unspilt beer......Page 59 Drink and women saints......Page 60 Nuns and lettuces......Page 61 CONCLUSION......Page 63 CHAPTER 2 Humour and the everyday in Byzantium......Page 64 PART II Humour and the politics of difference......Page 89 INTRODUCTION......Page 91 DRUNKENNESS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF ILLEGITMACY......Page 92 CONSTRUCTED DRINKING......Page 97 THE EXCESSES OF CONSTANTINE......Page 100 CONCLUSION......Page 103 INCONGRUITY: THE HUMOUR OF THE INAPPROPRIATE......Page 105 THE FAR SIDE: IMAGES OF THE BARBARIAN......Page 107 OVERTALL, OVERFED AND OVER HERE: SIDONIUS AND THE BURGUNDIANS......Page 109 INCONGRUITY AGAIN: HOW TO SHOCK A SAVAGE......Page 112 MY DINNER WITH ATHAULF......Page 115 GELIMER’S LAUGHTER: PROCOPIUS AND THE VANDALS......Page 118 THE PERILS OF GOTHIC EDUCATION......Page 122 BELISARIUS’ LAUGHTER: THE SIEGE OF ROME......Page 125 CONCLUSION......Page 129 CHAPTER 5 Liutprand of Cremona’s sense of humour......Page 130 RECOGNITION......Page 132 INTENTION......Page 133 NARRATION......Page 134 LIUTPRAND’S SENSE OF HUMOUR......Page 139 PART III Humour, history and politics in the Carolingian world......Page 145 CHAPTER 6 ‘He neve even allowed his white teeth to be bared in laughter': politics of humour in the Carolingian.........Page 147 THEGAN AND LOUIS THE PIOUS......Page 149 DESCRIBING KINGS: EINHARD, THEGAN AND SIDONIUS......Page 153 MONASTIC KINSHIP AND THE DANGERS OF SECULARITY......Page 158 CHRIST AND THE EMPEROR IN THEGAN AND NOTKER......Page 163 THE POLITICS OF HUMOUR IN THE CAROLINGIAN RENAISSANCE......Page 169 CHAPTER 7 Alcuin’s Disputatio Pippini and the early medieval riddle tradition......Page 173 Text......Page 190 Translation......Page 192 Commentary......Page 193 CHAPTER 8 Laughter after Babel’s fall: misunderstanding and miscommunication in the ninth-century west......Page 195 BISHOP GRATIOSUS OF RAVENNA, A ‘TRUE ISRAELITE’......Page 200 SIGNS THAT FAIL: NOTKER THE STAMMERER......Page 207 ‘I WANT TO DRINK’: THE ‘PARIS CONVERSATIONS’......Page 216 LAUGHTER AFTER BABEL’S FALL......Page 217 Index......Page 219 Don't Worry, I've Got The Key / Guy Halsall -- Laughter And Humour In The Early Medieval Latin West / Danuta Shanzer -- Humour And The Everyday In Byzantium / John Haldon -- The Lexicon Of Abuse: Drunkenness And Political Illegitimacy In The Late Roman World / Mark Humphries -- Funny Foreigners: Laughing With The Barbarians In Late Antiquity / Guy Halsall -- Liutprand Of Cremona's Sense Of Humour / Ross Balzaretti -- He Never Even Allowed His White Teeth To Be Bared In Laughter : The Politics Of Humour In The Carolingian Renaissance / Matthew Innes -- Alcuin's Disputatio Pippini And The Early Medieval Riddle Tradition / Martha Bayless -- Laughter After Babel's Fall: Misunderstandling And Miscommunication In The Ninth-century West / Paul Kershaw. Edited By Guy Halsall. Papers First Presented In A Series Of Sessions At The Fifth International Medieval Congress At The University Of Leeds, 1998. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

Although the topic of humor has been dealt with for other eras, early medieval humor remains largely neglected. The essays collected here attempt to fill the gap, examining how the writers of early medieval sources deliberately employed humor to make their case. The essays range from the late Roman empire through to the tenth century, and from Byzantium to Anglo-Saxon England. The subject matter is diverse, but a number of themes link them together, notably the use of irony, ridicule and satire as political tools.

These essays range from the late Roman empire through to the tenth century, and from Byzantium to Anglo-Saxon England, taking a historian's perspective to look at the use of irony, ridicule and satire as political tools. Essays on the use of humour by late antique and early medieval writers