The Merovingian Kingdoms and the Mediterranean World: Revisiting the Sources (Studies in Early Medieval History)

This book explores the Merovingian kingdoms in Gaul within a broader Mediterranean context. Their politics and culture have mostly been interpreted in the past through a narrow local perspective, but as the papers in this volume clearly demonstrate, 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, and from Anglo-Saxon England in the North to North-Africa in the South. The papers collected here provide new insights into the history of the Merovingian kingdoms by examining various relevant issues, ranging from identity formation to the shape and rules of diplomatic relations, cultural transformation, as well as voiced attitudes towards the “other”. Each of the papers begins with a short excerpt from a primary source, which serves as a stimulus for the discussion of broader issues. The various sources’ point of view and their contextualization stand at the heart of the analysis, thus ensuring that discussions are accessible to students and non-specialists, without jeopardizing the high academic standard of the debate. The book explores the place of the Merovingian kingdoms within a broader Mediterranean context. Apart from being post-Roman successor states, deeply rooted in the traditions and practices of the Western Roman Empire, 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 politics and culture of Merovingian Gaul have mostly been interpreted in terms of a local phenomenon. This volume seeks to re-examine perceived knowledge and accepted paradigms by broadening the perspective in order to include cross-Mediterranean connections and thus reaching new insights regarding the history of the Merovingians and the early medieval Mediterranean. Following this objective, the articles in this book examine 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 respective “other”. The perspectives of the individual sources and their contextualization will be at the center of our studies. To this end, the papers begin with a short excerpt from a relevant source text, which will then serve as a stepping stone to the discussion of broader issues. This innovative structuring principle will turn the discussions more accessible to students and novices in the field, without jeopardizing the high standard of academic debate and diligent historical analysis. Cover page 1 Halftitle page 2 Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Contributors 10 Abbreviations 11 Maps 13 Introduction 16 Gregory of Tours, Histories VI.6 16 Part One The Wider World: Setting the Context of the Post-Roman World 24 1 History, Geography, and the Notion of Mare Nostrum in the Early Medieval West 26 A survey of the entire world and its peoples 26 2 True Differences: Gregory of Tours’ Account of the Council of Mâcon (585) 34 Gregory of Tours, Histories VIII.201 34 Part Two Mediterranean Ties and Merovingian Diplomacy 44 3 East and West from a Visigothic Perspective: How and Why Were Frankish Brides Negotiated in the Late Sixth Century? 1 46 Gregory of Tours, Histories IX.15–16 46 4 Friendship and Diplomacy in the Histories of Gregory of Tours 56 Gregory of Tours, Histories IX.201 56 Introduction: amicitia in the world of Gregory of Tours 57 Personal friendships in the Histories 58 How to create a bond of amicitia 59 Letters of diplomacy 63 Amicitia and treaties 64 Conclusion 68 5 Private Records of Official Diplomacy: The Franco-Byzantine Letters in the Austrasian Epistolar Collection 70 Epistolae Austrasicae 14 70 6 The Language of Sixth-century Frankish Diplomacy 78 Epistolae Austrasicae 42 78 Part Three Bridging the Seas: Law and Religion 92 7 Mediterranean Homesick Blues: Human Trafficking in the Merovingian Leges1 94 Lex Salica 39.2-4 Concerning kidnapping 2 94 Lex Ribuaria 17 (16) [ Concerning a captured man or freewoman ] 95 Two Merovingian laws on kidnapping and the Roman Crimen Plagii 95 Transmarine slave trade in historiography and its traces in legislation from the early medieval Frankish kingdoms 100 Conclusion 105 8 The Fifth Council of Orléans and the Reception of the “Three Chapters Controversy” in Merovingian Gaul1 108 Letter from Pope Vigilius to Bishop Aurelianus of Arles , AD 550 108 9 Reconciling Disturbed Sacred Space: The Ordo for “Reconciling an Altar Where a Murder Has Been Committed” in the Sacramentary of Gellone in Its Cultural Context 118 10 Imitation and Rejection of Eastern Practices in Merovingian Gaul: Gregory of Tours and Vulfilaic the Stylite of Trier 128 Gregory of Tours, Histories VIII.15 128 Introduction 128 Simeon Stylites in Merovingian Gaul 131 The rise and function of the Merovingian holy man 133 Power and authority: the case of Gregory of Tours 134 Conclusion 137 Part Four Shifting Perspectives: Emperors, Tributes and Propaganda 140 11 Magnus et Verus Christianus: The Portrayal of Emperor Tiberius II in Gregory of Tours1 142 Passages from Gregory of Tours, Histories2 142 Objects, people and stories on the move—channels of communication 144 Dealings with the Empire in the Histories 145 Christian rulers, heretics and sinners 149 12 When Contemporary History Is Caught Up by the Immediate Present: Fredegar’s Proleptic Depiction of Emperor Constans II 156 Fredegar, Chronicon IV.81 156 1. Fredegar’s narrative sequence of seventh centuryEast Roman history 157 2. The Arab conquest of Palestine and Egypt 159 3. North Africa and the revolt of the exarch Gregory 160 4. The Arab attack on Constantinople 161 5. Historiographer and observer of a world crisis 163 13 Byzantium, the Merovingians, and the Hog: A Passage of Theophanes’ Chronicle Revisited1 166 The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor 166 Conclusion 174 Notes 178 Bibliography 238 Index 268 Acknowledgments vii List of Contributors ix List of Abbreviations x Maps xii Introduction Pia Lucas and Tamar Rotman 1 Part One The Wider World: Setting the Context of the Post-Roman World 1 History, Geography, and the Notion of Mare Nostrum in the Early Medieval West Yitzhak Hen 11 2 True Differences: Gregory of Tours’ Account of the Council of Mâcon (585) Helmut Reimitz 19 Part Two Mediterranean Ties and Merovingian Diplomacy 3 East and West from a Visigothic Perspective: How and Why Were Frankish Brides Negotiated in the Late Sixth Century? Anna Gehler-Rachůnek 31 4 Friendship and Diplomacy in the Histories of Gregory of Tours Hope Williard 41 5 Private Records of Official Diplomacy: The Franco-Byzantine Letters in the Austrasian Epistolar Collection Bruno Dumézil 55 6 The Language of Sixth-century Frankish Diplomacy Yaniv Fox 63 Part Three Bridging the Seas: Law and Religion 7 Mediterranean Homesick Blues: Human Trafficking in the Merovingian Leges Lukas Bothe 79 8 The Fifth Council of Orléans and the Reception of the “Three Chapters Controversy” in Merovingian Gaul Till Stüber 93 9 Reconciling Disturbed Sacred Space: The Ordo for “Reconciling an Altar Where a Murder Has Been Committed” in the Sacramentary of Gellone in Its Cultural Context Rob Meens 103 10 Imitation and Rejection of Eastern Practices in Merovingian Gaul: Gregory of Tours and Vulfi laic the Stylite of Trier Tamar Rotman 113 Part Four Shifting Perspectives: Emperors, Tributes and Propaganda 11 Magnus et Verus Christianus: The Portrayal of Emperor Tiberius II in Gregory of Tours Pia Lucas 127 12 When Contemporary History Is Caught Up by the Immediate Present: Fredegar’s Proleptic Depiction of Emperor Constans II Stefan Esders 141 13 Byzantium, the Merovingians, and the Hog: A Passage of Theophanes’ Chronicle Revisited Federico Montinaro 151 Conclusion Stefan Esders and Yitzhak Hen 159 Notes 163 Bibliography 223 Index 253 "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"-- Provided by publisher