Queens, Consorts, Concubines: Gregory of Tours and Women of the Merovingian Elite (Mnemosyne, Supplements / Mnemosyne, Supplements, Late Antiqu)

"Gregory of Tours hoped to inspire the believers in sixth-century Gaul with examples of righteous and wicked deeds and their consequences. Critiquing his own society, Gregory contrasted vengeful queens, rebellious nuns, and conniving witches with pious widows, humble abbesses, and tearful saints. By examining his thematic treatment of topics including widowhood, marriage, sanctity, authority, and political agency, Queens, Consorts, Concubines reassesses the material shaped by such concerns, including e.g. Gregory's accounts of Brunhild, Fredegund, Radegund, and other important elite women, Merovingian political policies (marital alliances, ecclesiastical intrigue, even assassinations), and seemingly unrelated topics such as Hermenegild's rebellion and the career of Empress Sophia. The result: a new interpretation of an important witness to the transformations of Late Antiquity"--Provided by publisher. Queens, Consorts, Concubines: Gregory of Tours and Women of the Merovingian Elite 4 Contents 8 Acknowledgements 9 Abbreviations 11 Chart 1: The Merovingian Royal House I: The Family of Clovis 14 Chart 2: The Merovingian Royal House II: The Family of Chlothar I 15 Introduction 16 1 Widowhood 31 Introduction 31 Gregory and Armentaria 32 The Wrong Path: Theudogild, Goiswinth, and Sophia 40 Righteous Widows: Ingoberg, Ultrogotha, and Chlothild 51 Conclusion 59 2 Holiness, Femininity, and Authority 61 Introduction 61 Monegund: Exemplar and Holy Woman 61 Femininity, Sanctity, and Chastity 68 Women and the Authority of Bishops 74 Conclusion 77 3 Scandal in Poitiers 79 Introduction 79 When Trouble Arrives on the Doorstep 80 The Scandal before the Scandal: Radegund, Maroveus, and the True Cross 83 Closing the Gates of Heaven 87 Conclusion 94 4 Brides and Social Status 95 Introduction 95 Chlothild and Clovis: Introducing a Theme 95 Royal Marriages as a Theme in Book IV of the Histories 101 Sigibert and Chilperic: Contrasting Examples 109 Base Women, Base Children? 111 Conclusion 114 5 Merovingian Marital Practice 116 Introduction 116 An Unhelpful Hypothesis: Merovingian Polygyny 117 Queenship and Merovingian Marital Customs 123 The Rationale for Royal Marital Practices 128 Conclusion 131 6 Brunhild and Fredegund, I: Moral Opposites or Kindred Spirits? 133 Introduction 133 Introducing the Queens 135 Brunhild, Fredegund, and the Treatment of Bishops 136 Treatment of Servants 142 Treatment of Offspring 146 Witchcraft and Sacrilege 151 Conclusion 154 7 Brunhild and Fredegund, II: Queens, Politics, and the Writing of History 156 Introduction 156 Brunhild, Gregory, and the Austrasian Court 157 The Rebellion of Merovech 160 The Conspirators of 587 and 590 163 Fredegund and the Histories 167 Violence and Queenship—To Bear the Sword? 171 Conclusion 174 Conclusion 176 Bibliography 186 Select Primary Sources 186 Secondary Sources 187 Index 214 Gregory of Tours hoped to inspire the believers in sixth-century Gaul with examples of righteous and wicked deeds and their consequences. Critiquing his own society, Gregory contrasted vengeful queens, rebellious nuns, and conniving witches with pious widows, humble abbesses, and tearful saints. By examining his thematic treatment of topics including widowhood, marriage, sanctity, authority, and political agency, "Queens, Consorts, Concubines" reassesses the material shaped by such concerns, including e.g. Gregory s accounts of Brunhild, Fredegund, Radegund, and other important elite women, Merovingian political policies (marital alliances, ecclesiastical intrigue, even assassinations), and seemingly unrelated topics such as Hermenegild s rebellion and the career of Empress Sophia. The result: a new interpretation of an important witness to the transformations of Late Antiquity."