The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World (OXFORD HANDBOOKS SERIES)

Cover The Oxford Handbook of The Merovingian World Copyright Table of Contents Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations List of Contributors List of Maps Introduction Chapter 1: Pushing the Boundaries of the Merovingian World Problematic Labels and Temporal Challenges New Research and Alternative Visions of the Merovingian Past Daily Life in the Merovingian Era Movement of People and Objects: Identity in the Merovingian Period Religion in Merovingian Gaul Church Organization The Built Environment Ideas from Abroad Conclusion Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Part I: Merovingian Historiography and the History of Archaelogy Chapter 2: From Gaul to Francia: The Impact of the Merovingians Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 3: Writing the History of Merovingian Gaul: An Historiographical Survey Merovingian History until the French Revolution Liberalism, Nationalism, and the Emergence of Progressive Scholarly Historiography (1789–1870) Xenophobia, Controversies, and New Socioeconomic Approaches (1870–1950) The “European Turn” and the Denationalization of Historical Discourse (1950–2015) Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 4: Two Centuries of Excavating Merovingian-Era Cemeteries in France Interpretive Approaches to Merovingian-Era Cemeteries in France Prior to World War II The Challenges of Postwar Archaeology for Merovingian-Period Cemeteries in France Excavating Cemeteries in the Age of Inrap (2001 to the Present) Notes Works Cited Modern Sources Part II: Expressing Identity Chapter 5: Transformations of Identities: Barbarians and Romans in the Merovingian Realm The Construction of the Merovingian Realm in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries and the Fluidity of Frankish Identity The Romans in Gaul The King’s Territorial Authority The Salic Law The Transformation of Frankish Identity under Merovingian Rule(Seventh and Eighth Centuries): The Role of the Merovingians New Laws and New Ethnic Identities in the Frankish Kingdom Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 6: Migrants and Minorities in Merovingian Gaul The Franks—A Ruling Minority of Migrants? Religious Migration—Peregrinatio Religiosa Eastern Christians and “Heretics” The Jews: A Roman Minority Merovingian Policies Ecclesiastical Legislation and the Problem of “Proselytism” Forced Conversions Expressions of Jewish Identity Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 7: Human Remains and What They Can Tell Us about Status and Identity in the Merovingian Period Stable Isotope Analysis Bones and Teeth Tracing Individuals’ Life Histories What Can Stable Isotope Analysis tell us about Status and Identity? Notes Works Cited Modern Sources Chapter 8: Gender in Merovingian Gaul The Construction of Sex and Gender: From Roman to Merovingian Gender and the Life Cycle Gendered Time Christianity and Gender in the Sixth Century Doing Unto Others? Change Around 600 Gender and Costume in the Seventh Century Conclusion: Seventh-Century Gender in Secular and Religious Spheres Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 9: Children’s Lives and Deaths in Merovingian Gaul Children From Graves and Bones: Problems and Perspectives Age From a Social Perspective Biological and Social Age Growing up and Changing Style: Grave-Goods and Social Identity The Deposition of Grave-Goods During the Merovingian Period From Birth to Adulthood Prophylactic Pendants and Amulets Age and Gender: A Reflection of Social Identity Sexual Identity and Gender Construction During Childhood To Know One’s Age: A Modern Concept? Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Part III: Structures of Power Chapter 10: The Merovingian Polity: A Network of Courts and Courtiers Roman Roots The Royal Palatini Sedes Regiae Court and Culture Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 11: Elite Women in the Merovingian Period Women and Property Queens and Regents Nuns and Abbesses Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 12: The Military and Its Role in Merovingian Society Late Roman Transitions Army Leadership and Composition Military Recruitment Professional Standing Armies in Post-Roman Gaul? The Militarization of Society The Military Elite Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 13: Corporate Solidarity and Its Limits within the Gallo-Frankish Episcopate The Limits of Episcopal Consensus Restoring Consensus The Gundovald Affair and its Conciliar Response: A Case Study Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 14: Public Health, Hospitals, and Charity Public Health Hospitals Charity and the Context of Poverty Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 15: Merovingian Monasticism: Voices of Dissent Consensus Complications Hymnomodus, the Singing Barbarian The “Mixed Crowd” at Agaune A Roman Matron Addresses a Merovingian Queen No Stylite in My Backyard The Royal Showdown An (Anti-) Columbanian Voice of Dissent Eligius’s Rigor Mortis Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Part IV: Merovingian Gaul in a Winder Context Chapter 16: The Merovingians and Byzantium: Diplomatic, Military, and Religious Issues, 500–700 Emperor Anastasius I Recognizes Clovis’s Rule over Gaul (ca. 506–511) Justinian Recognizes Frankish Expansion during the Ostrogothic Wars (533–555) Merovingian Gaul and the Three Chapters Controversy (548–553) Frankish–Byzantine Relations following the Lombard Invasion of Italy (565–590) A World Crisis, an “Eternal Peace,” and Frankish Expansion Eastward (ca. 628–634) The Impact of Monothelitism and of the Lateran Synod of 649 on Merovingian Gaul Constans II’s Sojourn in Italy (663–668) and Frankish Acceptance of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680/681) Byzantine–Frankish Relations and Mediterranean Connectivity around 700 Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 17: The Movement of People and Thingsbetween Britain and France: In the Late- and Post-Roman Periods Late-Roman Pots, Coins, and People Post-Roman Pots and People Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 18: De Gente Scottorum Monachi: The Irish in Merovingian Settlement Strategy Early Contacts: The Irishman Columbanus and the Frankish Elites Expansion of the Irish Presence in the Seventh Century The Franks and Ireland: Commercial and Personal Ties The Wider Network: Bretons and Anglo-Saxons Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 19: “Alors Commença La France”: Merovingian Expansion South of the Loire, 495–510 The Campaign of 495/496 The Campaign of 498 Diplomatic Engagements, 500–502 The Prelude to War, 505–507 The Battle of Vouillé, 507 ce Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 20: The Merovingians, the Avars, and the Slavs The Franks East of the Rhine and North of the Danube The Merovingians and the Emergence of the Bavarians Merovingian Kings and Avar Khagans Bavarians, Slavs, and Avars Dagobert I and Samo Radulf and the Slavic Frontier The Bavarians and the Murder of the Bulgarians Bavarians and Carantanians: The Wendish Marches Bavarians, Avars, and the First Attempts at Christianization Boniface and the Bishoprics of Regensburg, Erfurt, and Würzburg Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 21: The Merovingians and Italy: Ostrogoths and Early Lombards Amals and Merovingians Roman Gaul The Gothic War Frankish Italy Merovingians and Lombards Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Part V: Merovingian Written Culture Chapter 22: The History of Historiography in the Merovingian Period The Historiographical Legacy of the Roman World The First Post-Roman History: Gregory of Tours and His Decem Libri Historiarum Imagined Communities and Public Relations: The Audience and Reception of the Histories The Reconfiguration and Continuation of the Roman Past in the Seventh Century: The Chronicle of Fredegar A Providential Past: Biblical and Frankish History in the Last Decades of the Merovingian Period Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 23: Merovingian Legal Cultures Legal Traditions, Roman and Frankish: The Pactus Legis Salicae Documentary Culture: The World of the Formularies Modes of Proof: Ritual Consents Legal Practices and Sociological Models Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 24: Merovingian Hagiography The Concept of the Saint Old and New Persuasion and Pleasure Alternate Realities: A Brief Case and Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 25: Letters and Communication Networks in Merovingian Gaul What is Missing What is Extant: Transmission and Form Libri Epistolarum: Single Authors Libri Epistolarum: Multiple Authors Libri Epistolarum from Outside Gaul Individual Letters Narrative Accounts of Letter Exchange Learning Communication A Checklist of Extant Letters, Late Fifth to Mid-Eighth Century Letter Collections from Merovingian Gaul Individually Transmitted Letters Letters in Merovingian Church Councils, Letter Collections from Italy Letters Embedded in Other Texts Formulae A Checklist of Narrative References to Letter Exchanges, Late Fifth to Mid-Eighth Century References to Letters by Gregory of Tours References to Letters in Saints’ Vitae Other Narrative References to Letter Exchanges Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 26: Merovingian Epigraphy, Frankish Epigraphy, and the Epigraphy of the Merovingian World Merovingian Epigraphy Frankish Epigraphy: Non-Merovingian Royals Inscriptions of Franks Inscriptions in “Frankish” Scholarship on the Epigraphy of the Merovingian World The Demographics of Early Medieval Epigraphy Distribution: North and South, Urban and Rural Christianity and Church Building Monks, Nuns, and Monasteries The Cult of Saints Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Part VI: Merovingian Landscapes Chapter 27: The Role of the City in Merovingian Francia The Late Roman Urban Legacy Urban Powers, Functions, and Landscapes Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 28: The Fate of Small Towns, Hilltop Settlements, and Elite Residences in Merovingian-Period Gaul Downgraded Capitals, Upgraded Small Towns, and Isolated Cathedrals The Fate of Small Towns of Roman Origin and New Places of Power in the Region of Poitou Fortified Settlements, Hilltop Settlements Open Elite Residences: From Residences in the Ancient Style to the “village manor” Ruptures, Continuities, Memory Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 29: The Fate of Late-Roman Villas in Southern Gaul Between the sixth and seventh centuries Written Sources and Property Structures The Case of Villas and Fortifications Aristocratic Properties during the Seventh Century Ecclesiastical Landowners Archaeological Evidence: Villas, Monasteries, and the Location of Élite Residences Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 30: Merovingian Religious Architecture: Some New Reflections Steady Advances in Research in the Past Half-Century The Antique and Early Christian Roots of Merovingian Architecture Some Good News About Cathedrals and Monasteries Urban and Rural Christian Topography: Many Churches for Many Functions Learning About an Old Friend: The Baptistery in Poitiers Meeting New Friends in Le Puy and Luxeuil Sophistication Versus Simplicity: The Contrast Between Stone and Wooden Construction Some New Clues About Church Adornment Liturgical Appropriation of Church Interiors Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 31: Rural Life and Work in Northern Gaul During the Early Middle ages Land Use and Rural Settlement Forms from the Late Fifth to the Mid-Seventh Century Surface and Sunken Structures from the Late Fifth to the Mid-Seventh Century Farming and Artisanal Activities in the Early Merovingian Period Land Use and Rural Settlement from the Mid-Seventh to the Late Eighth Century Renovated Structures, from the Mid-Seventh to Late Eighth Century Farming and Artisanal Crafts in the Late Merovingian Period Results and Future Prospects for Research Notes Works Cited Ancient Source Modern Sources Chapter 32: Good and Bad Plants in Merovingian Francia Good and Bad Plants The Revolutions of Rye Damnable Darnel Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 33: Livestock and the Early Medieval Diet in Northern Gaul The Evolution of Livestock Husbandry The Size and Robusticity of Animals Husbandry Practices Domestic Ovicaprids Pigs and Cattle The Growing Presence of the Horse Farmyard Management Dietary Choices Supplementary Meats: Wild Animals and Hunting Strategies Game and the Status of Consumers of Game Unwanted Guests at the Table and Synanthropes Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Part VII: Economies, Exchange, and Production Chapter 34: Maritime and River Traders, Landing Places, and Emporia Ports in the Merovingian Period in and Around the Low Countries The Bias of the Written Sources: Early Medieval Social Property Relations and Peasant Agency The Bias of the Material Data: (In)Alienable Luxuries and Central Places Productive Sites, Commodities, and Trade in the Coastal Landscapes of the Delta Region The Development of Specialized Trade Infrastructure and Communities Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 35: The Evidence of Numismatics: “Merovingian” Coinage and the Place of Frankish Gaul and Its Cities in an “Invisible” Roman Empire The System of Minting Merovingian Cities and Numismatic Evidence Minting and State Finance Taxation, Cities, and Political Order in Post-Roman Gaul Cities in Gaul From Antiquity to the Seventh Century Gaul as Part of an “Invisible Roman Empire” Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 36: Bead and Garnet Trade Between the Merovingian, Mediterranean, and Indian Worlds Glass Beads: An Introduction The Technology of Drawn Glass Bead Manufacture Archaeometric Analyses of Early Medieval Glass Objects Found in Cemeteries in Belgium and France Historical and Economic Perspectives on Glass Beads The Origin of Cloisonné with Garnets Historiographical Reminder of the Geological Origins of Garnets Used by European Goldsmiths The Results: Evidence for Six Groups of Garnets Where Merovingian Garnets Come From: Almandines of Type I and II Garnets of Type IIIa and IIIb, IV, and V Evolution of Garnet Sources in the Merovingian Period Historical and Economic Perspectives Conclusions Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 37: Merovingian Gaul and the Mediterranean: Ceramics and Trade The Dominance of African Imports in the Late Fourth Century Period 1: Frankish Expansion in a Time of Economic Change (Circa 400–536) The Growing Popularity of Eastern Mediterranean Amphorae in the Fifth Century Declining Imports of African Red Slipware Tableware in the Fifth Century Other Evidence of Mediterranean Trade in Gaul in the Fifth Century: Glass and Coins The Early Sixth-Century Revival of African Imports and the Diversification of Eastern Mediterranean Imports Interpretations and Questions Regarding the Period Circa 400–536 Period 2: The Frankish Kingdom and the Mediterranean, 536–Circa 650 Marseille Mediterranean Goods in Northern Gaul The Role of Regions of Production Between 536 and 650 Period 3: Did Mediterranean Trade in the Frankish Kingdom End between 650 and Circa 750? Interpretations and Questions Regarding the Period 650–750 Conclusion Note Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 38: Long-Distance Trade and the Rural Population of Northern Gaul Northern Gaul: The Lay of the Land A Crucial Development: New Ritual Repertoires An Immense Demand for Objects Types of Objects Deposited and Their Distribution Patterns Elite Demand and Control of Production and Circulation of Goods in Northern Gaul? An Earlier Critique of the Top-Down Elite Economic Model A Hypothesis and its Implications Final Reflections on Northern Gaul Notes Works Cited Modern Sources Chapter 39: Belt Buckles and Burials in Southwestern Gaul The Context of Furnished Burials Incomplete Belt Sets and Intentional Fragmentation The Social Significance of Belts The Circulation of Belt Fragments: A Hypothesis Conclusions Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Archival Sources Part VIII: The Supernatural and the Afterlife Chapter 40: Amulets and Identity in the Merovingian World Natural Amulets Crafted Amulets Bound Pendants: Features and Powers Bound Pendants: Gender and Age Associations Bound Pendants: Social Status and Geographic Distribution Conclusion Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 41: Magic and Divination in the Merovingian World Uncertainty, Risk, and Personal Agency The Specialties of Practitioners Merovingian Divinatory Texts The Merovingian Clergy Magic and Divination in the Eighth Century Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 42: Visions and the Afterlife Affirming God’s Presence Visions and the Cult of Saints Dynastic Visions and Political Memory Women’s Visions The Merovingian Afterlife Barontus Meets St. Peter A Case of Theological Resistance? Purgatory Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 43: Inscribed in the Book of Life: Liturgical Commemoration in Merovingian Gaul The Importance of Names in Christian Liturgy The Ritual of Names in the Merovingian Mass Source Material: The “Collects After the Names” Saints and Their Co-Citizens Membership and Exclusion Ancient Terminology Obtains New Meanings Rest for the Deceased, “Correction” for the Living Liturgy as Expression and Impression of a Thought World Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 44: Liturgy and the Laity Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 45: The Life of Penance The Story of Penance Time, Judgment, and Awareness Forms of Penance Penance in Perspective Penance by Any Other Name Penitential Lives Conclusion Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Chapter 46: Merovingian Meditations on Jesus Jesus the Absent Deity Jesus the Tortured Deity Christ the Light-Bearing Deity Saintly Animations Radegund and the Absent Jesus Radegund and the Tortured Jesus Radegund and the Light-Bearing Jesus Meditating on Merovingian Jesus Notes Works Cited Ancient Sources Modern Sources Index The Merovingian World Has Become More Visible In Anglophone Historical Studies In The Past Two Decades As Attention To The Social And Economic Networks Of Empires And Modes Of Communication Has Begun To Change Older Frameworks That Viewed These Centuries In Terms Of Decline And Characterized Them As The Dark Ages. The Merovingian Epoch Witnessed, Something Which We Understand From The Perspective Of Hindsight, A Tilt To The Middle Ages. The Forty-six Essays Included In This Volume Thus Highlight The Vitality And Importance Of The Merovingian Kingdoms In The Fifth Through Eighth Centuries. Rather Than Suggest That This Was A Chaotic And Obscure Interlude Between The Fall Of The Roman Empire And The Rise Of The Carolingians, And Named For A Dynasty With A Reputation For Few Accomplishments And Even Fewer Memorable Kings, The Essays Demonstrate That The Merovingian Era Is An Important Field In Its Own Right. The Handbook's Contributors Highlight Recent Research That Moves Beyond The Political Developments That Were Until Recently The Bread And Butter Of Most Historians, And Include Many Contributions Based On Material Culture That Shed New Light On Subjects That Previously Were Inaccessible. They Demonstrate That The Merovingian World Was At The Center Of A Wide-ranging Merovingian Empire Of Elites, Peasants, Economies, And Cultures, And Its Story Must Be Told Through Archaeology, Bio-archaeology, Architecture, Hagiographic Literature, Manuscripts, Liturgy, Visionary Literature And Eschatology, Patristics, Numismatics, And Material Culture. In Addition To Mainland France, The Essays Encompass The Geographic Conduits Of Power, Culture, And Trade That Connected The Merovingian World With Anglo-saxon England, Ireland, Frisia, Spain, Italy, North Africa, And The Byzantine Empire. This Network-empire Of Intersecting (and Often Conflicting) Identities, Political Interests, Religions, Economies, Patronage, And Cultures, Were Intrinsically Connected To Contemporary Developments Not Just Among The Burgundians And Visigoths, But Among The Byzantines, Avars, Anglo-saxons, Frisians, And The Irish, Fields That Were Once Viewed, Like The Merovingians Themselves, In Isolation. These Important Developments Reveal Why The Merovingian Period Has Attracted New Audiences And Why It Will Never Be Viewed As A Backwater Again. Tiré du site de l'éditeur : "The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least well known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany, and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Roman inhabitants and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture. The forty-six essays included in this volume highlight why the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The essays demonstrate that the inhabitants of the Merovingian kingdoms in these centuries created a culture that was the product of these traditions and achieved a balance between the world they inherited and the imaginative solutions they bequeathed to Europe. The Handbook highlights new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era by showing that Merovingian Gaul was situated at the crossroads of Europe, connecting the Mediterranean and the British Isles with the Byzantine empire, and it benefited from the global reach of the late Roman Empire. It tells the story of the Merovingian world through archaeology, bio-archaeology, architecture, hagiographic literature, history, liturgy, visionary literature and eschatology, patristics, numismatics, and material culture." The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Romans and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture and identity. As a result, the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. In this collection of 46 essays by scholars we encounter the new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era