Fouracre - Me Roving Ian History and Me Roving Ian Hagiography

The Past and Present Society
Merovingian History and Merovingian Hagiography Author(s): Paul Fouracre Source: Past & Present, No. 127 (May, 1990), pp. 3-38 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Past and Present Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/650941 Accessed: 11/08/2009 19:15
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MEROVINGIAN HISTORYAND MEROVINGIAN HAGIOGRAPHY*

In a recentsurveyaimedat providing usefullyselective a bibliography of workson saintsand cults, StephenWilsonlistedover 1)300titles, a total which is but a fractionof the full output on the subject.l Hagiography attracted much attentionbecauseit is the most has so commonformof medievalwriting,and for the earlyMiddleAges it is sometimes onlyformof writingto havesurvived anyquantity. the in It is also attractive becausethe interpretation texts remainsever of open, in parallax our own changingviews of medievalbelief and to thought.In relationto the earlymedievalsaints'lives whichwill be discussed here, there is a wide range of interpretation which is characterized two contrasting by approaches, each aimedat understandingdifferentaspects of the context in which the works were produced.First, thereis a traditional historical approach whichaims to reducethe texts to a residueof usablehistoricaldata. Secondly, by applying techniques literary the of criticism eachtextas a whole, to one can hope to penetratethe thought world of which it was an expression.2 shallbrieflyoutlinesome of the issues raisedby these I differentapproaches order to introducethe discussionof three in Merovingiantexts. The discussion is intended to show how the historicalrealityunderlyingthe worksmay be revealed,and I shall concludeby commenting thatreality.As a preliminary, on however, the subjectof Merovingian historyrequiressome introduction. The settingfor theseworksis Francia the laterseventhcentury. in By the term "Francia"we may understandthe lands subject to Frankishoverlordship since the early sixth century that is, the
* I am gratefulto JanetNelson for commenting a draftof this article,and to on JenniferWardand Peter Christian help in talkingthroughsome of the issues for discussedbelow. I S. Wilson, 'CAnnotated Bibliography", S. Wilson(ed.), Saintsandtheir in Cults: Studies Religious in Sociology, Folklore Histoty(Cambridge, and 1983),pp. 309-417. 2 For an excellent discussion how this rangeof interpretations developed, of has see M. van Uytfanghe,"Les avatars contemporains l'hagiologie", de Francia,v (1977), pp. 639-71. Also useful, if somewhatrepetitive,is F. Lotter, "Methodisches zur GewinnunghistorischerErkentnisseaus hagiographischen Quellen", Histonsche Zeitschrift, ccxxix(1979), pp. 298-356,esp. pp. 298-307.
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areanow coveredby France,the Beneluxcountries,and Germany along the length of the Rhine. By the later seventh centurythis extensiveterritory had been subjectto manydivisionsbetweenthe members of the ruling dynasty, the Merovingians,and regional differenceswere also strong. As we shall see, this polity has often been judgedto have been in crisisin the laterMerovingian period, crumblingfrom within until such time as the successorsto the Merovingians, Carolingians, the were able to mend it.3 Such pessimism can be reckonedto be anachronistic, however,for it mistakes a limiteddegreeof structural instabilityin one sectorof societyfor terminaldecline across the whole polity. Transcending local and regionaldifferenceswas the sharedcultureof a ruling class. The latterhad at the highestlevel becornesupra-regional. fact, and This the strongpull of acculturation whichwas the resultof orbitaround the Merovingian dynasty,meantthattherewereassociations between peopleof high standingright acrossFrancia.In our periodFrancia was divided into two kingdoms: Neustria-Burgundy, which was centredon the Seine-Oise basinand on the Rhone-Saone valley;and Austrasia, whichlay to the eastof this line, stretching fromthe North Sea to the Alps. Both kingdomsalso held territoryin Aquitaine and in Provence.Rivalrybetweenthesetwo kingdoms,factionalism within the extensiveruling class, and a dynamictension between localand centralinterestsgenerated highlycomplexpolitics.We can wresttheiroutlinesfromthe sole near-contemporary chronicle the of period.4For a more comprehensiveview, we must turn to the hagiography. Withoutthe traditional historicalcommentaries Merovingian on saints'lives, not only would we be unableto put theseworksinto a general context, but we would also be unable to make sense of Merovingian historyof the seventhcentury.LaterMerovingian vitae aresometimes mainsourcesforchronology narrative the and history. Hence the need to extract"reliable" information from them.5But,
3 Perhaps most famoushere is Ganshofns of the development "feudalism" view of as an antidoteto Merovingian anarchy:F.-L. Ganshof,Feudalism, Eng. edn., 3rd trans.P. Grierson (London,1964),p. 3. 4 The chronicleis the LiberHistoriae Francorum, chs. 36-53 (ed. B. Krusch, Monumenta Germaniae Historica [hereafter M.G.H.], Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum [hereafter S.R.M.], ii, Hanover,1888,pp. 304-28).On this workas a sourceof political history,seeR. Gerberding, RiseoftheCarolingians the"LiberHistoriae The antl Francornm" (Oxford,1987). 5 This tradition is represented above all by B. Kruschand W. Levisonin the commentaries accompanying their editions of the vitae (M.G.H., S.R.M., ii-vii, Hanover Leipzig, 1888-1920). and Kruschin particular concerned establish was to a (cont. on p. 5)
MEROVINGIAN HISTORYAND MEROVINGIAN HAGIOGRAPHY 5
taken to extremes, this reductiveapproachcan look more like a plundering thanan understanding texts. In discarding of fromeach work those elementsthey regardedas incapableof providingsure contemporary witness,suchas a work'smiraculous purelyconvenor tionalaspects,the practitioners the traditional of approach tendedto disregard integrityof each text they touchedupon. So although the they reconstructed kind of compositepast from a series of texts, a they failedto comprehend full worthof eachtext as an historical the document.More recentwork has checkedthis imbalance giving by greater weightto the conventional to the miraculous the saints' and in lives, and by using these elementsto gain insight into the social, culturaland religioushistorywhich is their propercontext.6 The next step, it has been suggested,is to applythe full powerof modern literary criticism earlymedieval to hagiography, thewhole for text treatedin this way may reveala thoughtworldwhich is a more accurate guideto contemporary realitythanthe hypothetical the past historian reconstructs fromthe collection fragments of extracted from a seriesof texts.7Furthermore, thatthoughtworldbecomesmore as intelligible,a fuller understanding each text becomes possible. of Oncethe understanding a seriesof related of textsis achieved,it may becomepossibleto perceivethe semiological systemwhichis the key to unlockingthe realthoughtof the writerand audience.If one can
(n. S cont.)
chronology the Merovingian for period,andit washe who grewmostfrustrated when his materialproved incapableof providingaccurateinformation. occasionhe On despaired hagiography 4'kirchliche of as Schwindelliteratur" (i'ecclesiastical swindlingliterature"): Uytfanghe,"Avatars see contemporains l'hagiologie", 647; also de p. Lotter,"Methodisches Gewinnung zur historischer Erkentnisse", 300 n. 7. Butat p. least Kruschand Levisonpublishedthe whole of the worksthey edited, unlikethe earlierM.G.H. editor O. Holder-Egger who literallyedited the "non-historically useful"material of theMiracula Translatio he published. out and texts Froma different point of view (Catholicapologistas opposedto rationalist positivist)H. Delehaye was equallydismissiveabout the preservation historythroughhagiography: of H. Delehaye,TheLegends theSaints, 4th edn., trans.D. Attwater of (London,1962), esp. pp. SO-5. 6 A landmark this approach in was F. Graus,Volk,Herrscher Heiliger Reich und im derMerowinger (Prague,1965).This work,alongwith F. Prinz,FrEihes Monchtum im Frankenreich (Munich,1965),createda new orthodoxy the interpretation early in of medieval hagiography, whichthe cultural for background provided P. Riche's was by Education culture et dansl'occiderlt barbare VI-VIIe siecZe (Paris,1962).J. Fontaine, SupiceSevere: deS. Martin,3 vols. (Paris,1967-9),showedwhatwas possibleby vie treating text intensively exhaustively its literary historical a and in and context. 7 A suggestion made by J.-L. Derouet, "Les possibilites d'interpretation semiologique texteshagiographiques", des Revued'histoire lveglise France,lXii de de (1976),pp 153-62.Lottertoo is of the opinionthatthe traditional methodologies are incapable addingto our understanding hagiography: of of Lotter,"Methodisches zur Gewinnung historischer Erkentnisse", 356. p.
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deconstruct text and penetrate a throughto the sub-textof a work,a new level of meaningwill be revealed,and as that meaningis fed backinto an ever more extensivesemiological model, then we have the promiseof muchmorerealisticcontactwith the mentality the of
age.8
This prospecthas been createdby a growingunderstanding the of genre of hagiography.Particularly importanthas been a clearer view of the structure,conventionsand traditionswhich form the framework the saint'slife, and which as featurescommonto all of textsshouldbe mostsusceptible a semiological to analysis.9 However, it is questionable whetherthe techniquesof literarycriticismreally can bring us substantially closer to the historical realityunderlying Merovingian hagiography. Wherethe use of convention comesclose to simplecopyingfroma model, the copy itselfmayrevealno useful sub-text.Moreover approach an whichis guidedby an identification of the conventional aspects of the text tends to ignore that which cannotbe so identified,andit is in precisely areathatcontemporthis ary realitymay be revealedif the conditionsin which a work was produced madeit impossible applystandard to conventions. Further, although technique deconstruction the of promises explainall (and to more)in layingbarethe sub-text,in practice semiological the model upon which the techniquemust rest has not yet been established. A semiological approach more usuallyassociated is with much betterknownareasof writingin which one can be more certainaboutthe metaphorical of language. In particular,deconstruction use rests upon identifying possible exclusions of meaning. Exclusionsare indeed visible in these texts whereauthorsfocus on a metaphorical opposition betweenheavenlyandearthly experiences. otherareas, In however, the differencebetween meanings,and the natureof exclusion, cannotoften be identified.l?If one cannot be sure of the
8 For an optimistic view of this prospect, see A. Gurevich) Categones Medieval of Culture, trans. G. Campbell (London, 1985), pp. 2-19. Stressing the polysemantic
nature of medieval language, Gurevich argues for the possibility of building up a realistic "world view" of the Middle Ages. 9 For the conventional structure, see Graus, Volk, Herrscher Heiliger, 68und pp. 88; for stress on biblical elements in tradition, see M. van Uytfanghe, "La bible dans les vies de saints merovingiennes", Revue dhistoire l'eglise France, (1976), pp. de de lxii 103-11. Important for the influence of secular aristocratictraditionon the biographical structure of the vitaeare M. Heinzelmann, "Neue Aspekte der biographischen und hagiographischen Literatur in der Lateinischen Welt (1-6 Jahrhundert)", Francia,i (1973), pp. 27-44; M. Heinzelmann, "Sanctitas und 'Tugendadel': zu Konzeptionen von 'Heiligkeit' in 5 und 10 Jahrhundert", Francia,v (1977),pp. 741-52. InNote that Derouet, "Possibilites d'interpretationsemiologique", based his confident assertion of the general applicability of semiological analysis on his reading of a
cont. on t. 7)
meaningof a passagen even in purelylexicalterms,the identification of metaphor farmoredemanding (a task)becomesa distantprospect. Althoughdeconstruction deduces a realityfrom language,it is in practice informedby an historical awareness the worldoutsidethe of text. If we cannotcomprehend worldexceptin its basicoutlines that and if we can grasponly elementsof a rangeof possiblemeaningsn thenthe techniquecannothelpus much. In short,therearetoo many piecesmissingfor us to build up a usefulsocio-linguistic model.The political thrust of the deconstruction techniqueis also somewhat superfluousin most early medievalcontexts. The uliimateaim in discovering true significance a piece of writingin this way is the of to disclose a socio-political reality which would otherwiseremain hidden.ll In the early medieval text political reality may not be immediately obvious, but one does not have to go as far as the subtext to find it. A displayof powerand of wealthis standard the in writingof the earlyMiddleAges. No-onewoulddispute(thoughthey might forget)that the background this was a brutallyoppressive to class structurein which the lowest stratawere treatedas livestock) and a standardof living which was so low that a normallevel of exploitation the peasantry of couldtip someof themintodestitution. 12 Politicalrealityis thus evidentat text level. Underlyingthe difficultyof applyingthe techniquesof literary criiicismhere is the singularnatureof hagiography the formative in earlymedievalperiod.Rarelydid it attempt be aesthetically to pleasfn. 10 cont.)
particular kind of hagiography: seventh-century the miraclestoriesof Iro-Erankish provenance which transcendental in experiences were described:for example,De virtutibas beataeGeretmdis? 1 (ed. B. Krusch,M.G.H., S.R.M., ii, Hanover) ch. 1888?pp. 464-5). In such writinga clearoppositionbetweenheavenlyand earthly experiences emergesin descriptions the progress of fromterrestrial eelestial to states, anda seriesof suchoppositions provides material highlysuitedto semiological analysis. In other areas of hagiography, where oppositionis not obvious, it must first be identified beforesemiological analysiscan proceed.The classictext on metaphysical opposition difference meaning J. Derrida, and in is Speech Phenumers Other and and Essays Hasserlns ort Theory Signs,trans.D. Allison(Evanston, of 1973),pp 139ff. For invaluable guidancethroughDerridass verydifficultthought,see M Ryan,Marvcism ar2d Deconstruction (Baltimore,1982),pp. 9-42. 11I:)erouet,"Possibilitesd'interpretation semiologique", pp. 154-7. See Ryan, Marxism Deconstruction, 2-7, for the technique and pp. appliedin exemplary fashion. But fora strongargument against abilityof deconstruction copewithhistorical the to reality,see now P. Dews, Logics Disintegration: of Post-Stmsturalist Thought the and Claims CnticalTheory of (London,1987),pp 34-8. It For this background the Merovingian in period,see G. Fourquin, Le premier moyenage" in G. Duby and A. Wallon(eds.), Histsirede 1 Francenxrale, vols. 4 (Paris, 1975-6),i, pp. 291-370,esp. pp. 297-304;P. Dockes,Medieval Sboy and Ltberation, trans.A. Goldhammer (London,1982),pp. 90-100;M. Mollat,ThePoor in theMiddle Ages,trans.A. Goldhammer (New Haven, 1986),pp. 24-32.
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ing, and when we speakof the development genreswe arein fact of talkingof frameworks whichwereimposedfromwithoutby religious needs ratherthan developedalongartisticlines. Such conventional and functionalframeworks were themselvescontinually bent to the needsof the particular cultstheyserved. At thistimehagiographers 13 were moreoftencreatingnew cults thanfeedingoff old ones that is, theywereinventing,rather thansimplyresponding tradition. to, 14 The practical effectof this is thatin a givenworkexternal conditions maygovernthe use of conventions, we mayhaveto subjectthose and conditionsto historicalanalysisin orderto penetrate the reality to behind the text. If we simply guide our interpretation throughan awareness a putativeliterarytradition,we are likely to suppress of the particular realityin favourof the generalmentality.Ouraim, of course, shouldbe to use the one to informthe other. In what followsI shall look at threepieces of hagiography see to how and why their use of conventionwas limited, to the point of including contemporary detail which appearsto us to have been unflattering theirsubjects.The aim hereis traditional, so faras to in discussionis concernedwith the historicityof the worksand, ultimately,withtheirhistorical context.It will nevertheless attention pay to theirnature,structure function,and in particular will seek and it to emphasizethe relationshipbetween the conventionaland the unconventional the genre. These worksare the PassioLeudegarii, in the PassioPraejecti the ActaAunemundi.l5 and There are a number of commonfactorswhich makethem particularly suitablefor comparative treatment historical as documents: they were all concerned with subjectmatterwhich had a politicaldimension;their subjects were all martyrsof a particularly controversial nature,in that they all faced opponentsin their own churches;the worksare all set in old Gallo-Roman episcopalcentres;andthe eventsdescribed took all place within a coupleof decadesof each other.
13 Cf. Lotter,"Methodisches zurGewinnung historischer Erkentnisse", 314. An p. exceptionto this could be the prologues the vitae in which authorsattempted to to demonstrate theirliterary skillsbeforereturning the openingof the workproper at to the "pure"or "simple"language appropriate writingaboutholy matters. to See, for examples drawnfromthe textsdiscussedbelow,the prologues thePassioPraejecti to (ed. B. Krusch,M.G.H., S.R.M., v, Hanover Leipzig,1910,pp. 225-6)andthe and PassioLeudegarii (ibid., p. 282). I '4On theinvention tradition bothearlymedieval of in Christian culture in early and Islam,see J. Herrin,TheFormation Christendom of (Oxford,1987),p. 304. IsPassioLeudegarii (ed. Krusch,pp. 282-322); I PassioPraejecti Krusch,pp. (ed. 225-48);ActaS. Aunemundi Dalfiniepiscopi, P. Perrier,in ActaSanctorum, alias ed. Septembris, (Antwerp,1760),pp. 744-6. vii
II Let us begin by looking in generalat the conditionsin which a substantial elementof historical detailwas preserved worksof this in nanlre.In north-western Europe)hagiography the earlymedieval of periodwas generally producedin the contextof a rapidlyexpanding proprietary church.The numbers peoplevenerated saintsmultiof as plied as newly emergingreligiouscommunities sought to establish their identity and irldependence promotingthe cult of persons by associatedwith them. Older centresrespondedto this competition by also creatingcults, so addingto theirstockof existingsaints.l6It was in these conditionsthat more saints'lives were writtenin the period c. 450-750 A.D. than in any comparable periodin the postConstantinian church.l7Just as the churchacquired landedbase its at this time, so its landswere peopledwith saints.At this time too, in the landsthathadformedthe coreof the RomanEmpire) terms in of nationality,cultureand behaviour)the personnelof the church was becoming increasinglyindistinguishable from other elements of the ruling elite. Generations royal contrc)l of over ecclesiastical patronage had brokendown the predominance over the churchof those who were descendedfromthe aristocracies the late Roman of worldnand by 700 A.D. the churchwas in the hands of a diverse groupof warrior-magnates whosemaincultural distinctiveness in lay their highly visible exerciseof power.l8As nearlyall of those who becamepowerfulin heavencamefromfamilieswhichwerepowerful on earth, so the saint-figure becameincreasingly representative of this rulinggroup. The processby which this shift in personneland culturehappenedis clearand has been well documented) especially
16 For discussion this activity of as relatedby the "LivesS' SaintsAudoenus of and Eligius,see P. Fouracrer "TheWorkof Audoenus RouenandEligiusof Noyonin of ExtendingEpiscopalInfluencefrom the Town to the Countryin Seventh-Century Neustria",Studiesin Chnrch Histo7y, (1979), pp. 77-91. xvi 17 D. Herlihy,4'Did WomenHavea Renaissance? Reconsideration', A Medievalia et Humanistica, (1985), pp. 1-22? xiii gives a usefultabular breakdown S;saints of by periods" 33table1) Note thattherewereno female (p. martyrs lateseventh-century in Francia,hencethe exclusiveuse of the masculine whenreferring martyrs what to in follows. 18 On the development the supra-regional of eliteof mixed-race families whichcame to dominate bothsecularandecclesiastical see K.-F. Werner1 life, 4'Important Noble Families theKingdom Charlemagne", T. Reuter andtrans.),TheMedieual in of in (ed. Nobiliw (NewYork)Oxford Amsterdam, and 1978),pp. 137-202. NotealsoP. Geary's usefulcomments 2hecomposition andchoiceof identities on of, madeby this group: P. Geary, Aristocracy Provence: Rhone an The Basinat theDawnof theCarolingian Age (Stuttgart, 1985), pp. 101-12.
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in German historiography. The resultof the changeis equallyclear: 19 at a time when the stateno longerexercisedpowerindependently of the aristocracy, extensionof the latter'sunmediated the hegemony over religiouslife led both to the secularization the churchand to of the sanctification significant of members its ownleadingfamilies.20 of Paradoxically, age which producedmoresaintsthanany otheris an thus oftenviewedas an age of religiousdegeneration, with a church which was in ever greaterneed of reform.2l Moreover is possible it to basethis view in preciselythatcontemporary literature whichwas concernedto establishthe opposite picture:that is, we can draw our evidence for unsaintlybehaviourfrom the lives of the saints themselves. To our eyes much Merovingianhagiography thus is palpablyincompetent,but it is all the more useful to us for that becauseits failureto convincestems fromits frequentadmissionof unflattering detailsof what appearsto be contemporary reality. Let us examinemorecloselyhow this phenomenon produced. was By the mid-seventhcentury,when both the new and old religious institutions wererapidlybuildingup cultsanddiscovering saints,the artof hagiography long beenestablished. writers had The themselves perceivedtheir work in terms of a traditionstretchingback to the beginnings the Christian of church,andtheydrewuponthistradition and upon biblical examples as an aid to establishingthe saintly
9 So, for example,E. Ewig, "Volkstum und Volksbewusstsein Frankenreich im des 7. Jahrhunderts", Caratteri secolo in del settimo Occidente in (Settimane studio di del Centroitaliano studisull7alto di medioevo,no. 5, Spoleto,1958),ii, pp. 587-648, repr. in E. Ewig,Spatantikes Frankisches und Gallien,2 vols. (Beihefte Francia, der iii, Munich, 1976-9), i, pp. 231-73; R. Sprandel,"Struktur und Geschichtedes merovingischen Adels', Historische Zeitschrift, cxciii (1961), pp. 33-71; Werner, "Important Noble Familiesin the Kingdomof Charlemagne". the ecclesiastical For context, standard Prinz'sdescription FruXes is in Monchtum, 496-503, but as pp. Heinzelmann pointedout, Prinzlaidtoo muchemphasis a putative has on germanische Adelsherrschaft process change: Heinzelmann, in the of M. Bischofsherrschaft in Gallien (Beihefteder Francia,v, Munich, 1976),pp. 185-6,esp. p. 185n. 3. 20 The so-called processof aristocratic Selbstheilig7wng (self-sanctification): Prinz, cf. Frukes Monchtum, 489-93.This is an evocative pp. term,but becoming usefulthe less moreoftenit is employed. 21 Thisviewwasmostpowerfully expressed E. Ewig,"Miloet eiusmodi by similes", in H. Buttner al. (eds.),SanktBonifatius: et Gedentgabe zwolghundertsten zum Todestag (Fulda, 1954),pp. 412-40,repr.in Ewig,Spatantikes Frankisches und Gallien, pp. ii, 189-219.Note more recentlyhow the late J. M. Wallace-Hadrill skippedover this periodas unworthy detailed of discussion his TheFrankish in Chtlrch (Oxford,1983). He coveredit in a mere four pagesof a chapterentitled"TheMerovingian Saints" (pp. 88-91). See also G. Scheibelreiter's dramatic assessment this supposednadir of in the life of the Frankishchurch:G. Scheibelreiter, Bischofin merwingischer Der Zeit(Veroffentlichungen Instituts osterreichische des fur Geschichtsforschung, xxvii, Vienna,1983),pp. 158-9.
credentials their subjects.22 thus drawingupon hallowedtraof By ditionit was possibleto describea pathto heaven that is, a path which had demonstrably others to heaven. The conventional led framework the saint'slife of this periodwas structured of arounda journeyalong such a path. The need to stick to this formulameans of coursethatthe accountof the saint'slife was shapedto fit certain conventions: thesewere, most tasically,a forecast greatness the of in saint'searliestdays (oftenwhilst he or she was still in the womb);a promising childhood;adultexcellencewhichwas tested;a conscious approach heavenat death;andfinally,andmostimportantly, to signs fromheavenin the formof miraclesto showthatthe sainthadfound favourin the communityabove. This framework in turn made was up of a seriesof motifs(topoi),eachof which,likethewholestructure, drewpowerfromholytradition.23 the one hand,writingso strictly On to order may mean that in historicalterms there is very little of contemporary significance a work. On the other, the use of the in formula mayhaveallowedan authorto fit otherwise awkward details of an actualworldlycareerinto a structure whichallowedthemto be presentedas holy. Whetheror not such detailswere includeddependedon the relationship betweenauthor,subjectandaudience.If a work was composedsoon afterthe death of the subject,and if a clearmemoryof the subject'slife was commonamongthe intended audience(as was likely in the case of a powerfuland controversial subject),any authorwouldobviouslyhavehadto argueforhis or her subject'ssanctityconstrained some extentby that memory.24 to A clear exampleof common memoryoperatingon an authoris providedby Stephanus's Lifeof St. Wilfrid, which was writtenin England in the early eighth century.25 Wilfrid had had a highly
2' See the prologue thePassio to Praejecti Krusch,pp. 225-6)foran illustration (ed. of how such a tradition perceivedby a seventh-century was author. 23 Alternatively onecanformulate description thestructure thevitaeaccording a of of to thevarious typesor genresto whichtheyaresaidto belong.However, thereis such a confusionbetweentypes as a resultof the overlapping demandsof functionand becauseof the limitedavailability modelsthatit is frequently of unhelpful assigna to given work to a particular type, a point which emergesfrom Lotter'sdiscussionof types:Lotter,"Methodisches Gewinnung zur historischer Erkentnisse", 310-14. pp. 24 That historicity closely relatedto the proximity is of authorand subjectis a standard observation thereading hagiography, in of nicelydemonstrated, instance, for by Delehaye,Legends theSaints,pp. 101-16.For the pointmadein relation the of to worksdiscussedbelow, see Graus,Volk,Herrscher Heiliger, 376-7. und pp. 24 The LifeofSt Wilfrid Eddius by Stephanus andtrans.B. Colgrave, (ed. Cambridge, 1927;repr.New York, 1985).On the composition thisworkandon contemporary of reactions it, see the excellentdiscussion W. Goffart, Narrators Barbanan to in The of History (Princeton,1988), pp. 256-324,esp. pp. 281-90.
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Stephanus,writing career controversial and made many enemies. ignorethis, and it left after soon his hero'sdeath,couldnot deny or albeitwithin the with him a lot of explainingto do. He proceeded, case in detail, hero's of framework conventions, by arguing his clashesbetween thoseset-piece clearly especialcareto describe taking courtandin synod,and and Wilfrid his enemieswhichtook placein In fact, so which the memory might be the most enduring.26 according of appearholy that his hero would was confident Stephanus in his formulaand thus would be perceivedas right the to accepted in to Wilfrid termswhich the that arguments, he described opposition him.27 set against to us the weightandrangeof seriousopinion reveal episodesof Wilfrid'scareer contrast,when dealing with those By audience,he took place beyond the horizonsof his English which saintly couldbuildup Wilfrid's free was to be farmoreinventiveand withoutrestraint.28 credentials who were churchleaders LikeWilfrid,severalof the Merovingian careers.Again like controversial veneratedas saints had led later in magnates their this Wilfrid, was oftenbecausetheywerepowerful is one aspectof in high politics.This rightwho were involved own equallyfamiliar of so-calledsecularization the church.Another the as they foughtto was aspect the fiercerivalryamongsuch magnates they struggled all as the hold highestpositionsin the church;above could, High politicsandlocalrivalry toacquireandhold bishoprics. dispute over partiesin aswe shall see, become intertwinedwhen for of the widercommunity magnates support. to appealed bishoprics periodof a prolonged InFranciain the laterseventhcentury,when theycompeted as had peace led to chronictensionamongthepowerfulecclesiastical reof rewards,disputesinvolving overa limited pool bishopwas killed If sourcescould lead to violence.29 an incumbent
pp. chs. 45-7, 60 (ed. Colgrave, 90-9, 128-33). Life of St Wilfrid, 128-35). chs. 43, 53, 60-2 (ed. Colgrave,pp. 86-91, 108-21, 27 Ibid., used Stephanus pp. ibid.,chs. 27-8(ed. Colgrave, 52-7),where observethese 28 See, forinstance, contexts.Failureto in material two quitedifferent the samelegendary has LifeofSt Wilfnd led betweeneventsfarfromandnearto homein the the groundsthatit was distinctions on workas "reliable" view of the wholeof the to a traditional difficulties It viewwhichhascaused to contemporary theeventsit described. is a of the period, in particular nearly in and history of the chronology in the interpretation see of Aunemund: n. 85 below. to relation the death Alsace, for and of Germanus Grandivalle Etichodux of M.G.H., 29 The dispute between chs. 10-12(ed. B. Krusch, Grandivallensis, example:VitaGermaniAbbatis written This workwasapparently and S.R.M., v, Hanover Leipzig,1910,pp. 37-9). deathwas not simply"atthe memoryof events.Note thatGermanus's withinliving p. Church, Frankish had Wallace-Hadrill, as handsof brigands" Wallace-Hadrill it: 88.
26
in the courseof such a struggle,one way of restoringpeace to the diocese was for the victor to veneratehis victim as a martyr.This was not merelya generousgestureto the survivingadherents the of losing party, for martyrswere perceivedas saintsof certainpower which they exercisedin favour of those who veneratedthem. If former persecutors askedforforgiveness, couldhardlyhavebeen this refused,especiallyif gifts to the martyraccompanied request.30 the And, as we have alreadyseen, ecclesiastical centresgenerallywere keento establishnew cultsat this time. The certainpowerof martyrs madetheir cults particularly attractive. It is withinthis contextthat apparently incompetent hagiography wasproduced.The biography a controversial of figurewho hadfaced violent conflict could thus have been written soon after his death and have been commissioned erstwhileopponentsin a spiritof by reconciliation. suchcircumstances onlywouldtherehavebeen In not a clearmemoryof recentevents, but their culmination an act of in martyrdom would,withhindsight,havemadethemmorememorable. Martyrdom conventionally mostpowerful was the argument sancfor tity: the archetypical saintwas a martyr.3l the knowledge the In that martyr's justified wholelife, the recenteventsandissueswith end his which he was concernedcould be relatedwithout embarrassment once they had been presented stepsalonga pathto heaven.But to as us, not choosingto believe in the end, they remainembarrassing, and the whole fails to convinceas hagiography preciselybecauseit looks more convincingas history. III Let us now turnto the PassioLeudegarii, workwhichthe interplay a of local rivalry,high politics, martyrdom and reconciliation made uniquelyrich in historicaldetail. The PassioLeudegarii containsso
30 A phenomenon not of courseconfinedto this context:a morefamousexample fromthe twelfthcenturyis the propitiation the martyr of Becketby the Englishking HenryII: see F. Barlow,Thomas Becket(London,1986),pp. 267-70.Interestingly, in late twelfth-century Normandythe Becket cult becameassociated with that of Leudegar the monastery Preauxwhich claimedto possessthe latter'shead. In at of 1183Preauxdedicated altarjointlyto Leudegar Becket,both, one presumes, an and perceived the innocentvictimsof secularrulers.On the cult in Preaux,see Acta as Sanctonzm, Octobris,i (Antwerp,1765),pp. 459-60. 31 A. Vauchez, La saintete occident derniers en aux siecles moyen (Paris, du age 1981), pp. 15-22,gives a conciseand usefuldescription the developing of conceptsof, and criteriafor, sanctityin the earlyMiddleAges. See also E. Kemp, Canonisation and Authority the Western in Church (London,1948),pp. 24-35.
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much detailon the worldlyinvolvement its hero thatit servesas of one of the main narrative sourcesfor the historyof the decade67080. Its subject, Leudegar,bishop of Autun, was a memberof a leadingFrankishfamilywith a brotherwho was countof Parisand an uncle who was bishop of Poitiers.Leudegar clearlybelongedto thatelitewhichattended royalcourtandhadcontacts the rightacross Francia.In 673 he was one of the leadersof a coupagainst mayor the (leader) the palace)Ebroin,andfrom673 to 675 he waseffectively of one of the rulers of a single) united Frankishkingdom. In 675, however,he fell from power, and in c. 678 he was executedas an accessory regicide.In c. 663 Leudegar beenappointed to had bishop of Autunby royalorder.He wasimposeduponthe townafterrivalry overcontrolof the bishopric led to disorder bloodshed.32 had and He restoredorder, but it is clear from the Passiothat elementsof the clergycontinued opposehim, and)in the contextof palacepolitics to in 675, they found an opportunity get rid of him. Hermenar, to the abbotof St. Symphorian, Autun'spremier monastery, became bishop in Leudegar's place.33 thenin another But twistof politics,or military conflictas the latterwasfastbecoming,Leudegar returned, again and used Autunas a base for his involvement the continuingstruggle in for power. This time he held Autun for a few months only. His enemiesbesiegedhim in the town, whichhe was unableto defend.34 He was takenawayand sufferedhorriblybeforehis executionover two years later. Autun had to pay off the besiegingarmyand was forcedto acceptan outsidemilitary leaderas bishopbeforeHermenar finallyregainedthe bishopric.It was Hermenar who commissioned the firstaccountof Leudegar's and martyrdom, Passio,which life or musthavebeenwrittenby 693, whenHermenar's successor bishop as of Autun is first recorded.35 Events were thus recent and famous enough to need carefultreatment,and the author'scare seems to have been directedat presentingLeudegaras reconciledwith his
PassioLeudegarii ch. 2 (ed. Krusch,pp. 284-5). I, Ibid., chs. 9-12 (ed. Krusch)pp. 291-5). 34 Ibid., chs. 21-4 (ed. Krusch,pp. 302-6). 35 The prologue, ibid. (ed. Krusch,p. 282), speaksof Hermenar's requestfor the work.This earliest versionof thePassioLeudegarii reconstructed Krusch was by from latercompilations using an earlyfragment a guideline.Its authenticity plainly as is demonstrable in the richnessof its contemporary both detailandin comparison with otherversions thePassiowhichareall basedon Ursinus's of reworking the original of text. See Krusch'saccountof the reconstruction: Krusch,"Passiones B. Leudegarii Episcopi Martyris et Augustodunensi", M.G.H., S.R.M., v (Hanover Leipzig, in and 1910),pp. 249-82;alsoB. Krusch,"Die alteste'VitaLeudegarii"', Neues Archiv, xiv (1891), pp. 563-96.
32 33
opponentsin the royal court and in Autun, and with Hermenar in particular. This meantreinterpreting detailsof the bishop'scareer the with the benefitof hindsight thatis, explaining conductin the his light of what was revealedlateras his certainsanctity. The occasionof the work seems to have been Autun'sbid for the growingcult of the martyr.In fact the bid failed, and the bishopof Poitiers,Ansoald,appropriated Leudegar's remainsand cult on the basis of Leudegar's familyconnectionswith the city.36 Poitiers, At the monkUrsinuswrotea secondPassiowhichpurported be from to the time of Ansoald, but which shows clear signs of having been producedin the mid-eighthcenturyX This workis reallya precisof the earlierPassio) adaptingthe latterto Poitevinneeds.37 third, A metricversionwas producedin the 840s out of Ursinus'swork, and the latteralsoservedas the basisof a poemcomposed the Romance in languagein the secondquarter the tenthcentury.38 existence of The of this tradition invaluable, it showsthe gradual is for disappearance of the need to defendLeudegarssanctity explaining awkward by the details of his career Later versions of the biographywere thus muchmoreclearlydominated a conventional by framework, the and contrastwith the earliestversionservesto emphasizethe historicity
36 The competition overthecultwasbetween Ansoald, bishopof Poitiers, Hermenar andVindicianus, bishopof Arras(thediocesein whichLeudegar beenexecuted). had It is described Ursinus: by PassioLeudegariiII, 24 (ed. Krusch, ch. M.G.H., S.R.M., v, Hanover Leipzig,1910, pp. 346-8).The threebishopsfinallydrewlots to see and who shouldhave Leudegar's remains. 37 Ibid.(ed. Krusch, pp. 323-57): Ursinus's claimto havewritten thelaterseventh in centuryhas had its supporters, most recentlyJ.-C. Poulin, "SaintLegerd'Autunet ses premiersbiographes(fin VIIe - milieu IXe siecle)", Bulletinde la SocieS des antiquaires l'Ouest, ser., xiv (1977),pp. 178-9.But material de 4th evidenceadduced to reinforce claimis actually the datedaccording the claimitself.Againstthe latter to we mustset the probability Ursinusused the mid-eighth-century that Continuation of theChronicle Fredegar, 2 (ed. andtrans.J. M. Wallace-Hadrill) Fourth of ch. The Book of theChronicle Fredegar its Continuationst of and London,1960,p 82), andwe must note his anachronistic reference Leudegar "mayor the palace".See Krusch, to as of 4'Passiones Leudegarii Episcopiet Martyris Augustodunensi", 257-9.Apartfrom pp. detailon Ansoald's acquisition the cult andon Leudegar's in Poitiers,Ursinus of life added almost no fresh information the earlierversion, althoughhis extensive to reworking the latterhasoftenled peopleto regard as a separate of him sourcecapable of providingadditional material the historyof the period.For a recentexample on of Ursinus used in this way see Scheibelreiter's commentson the dux Waimar: Scheibelreiter, Bischofin merotvingischer pp. 122-3. Zeit, 38 Vitabeati Leuzlegarii martyns L. Traube,M.G.H., PoetaeLatiniaevicarolini, (ed. iii, Berlin, 1886,pp. 5-37);Vieetpassion saintLeger M. Champollion-Figeac, de (ed. Documentshistoriquesinedits tires des collectionsmanuscrites la Bibliotheque de Nationale,iv, Paris,1848,doc. no. 27, pp. 446-56).Morerecently the tradition on of Leudegar's biography: Poulin, "SaintLegerd'Autunet ses premiersbiographes", pp. 167-200.
of the latter.We are also fortunate having in othercontemporary or near-contemporary sourceswhichdealwith someof the sameevents andwhichwill therefore serveas a furthercheckon the reliability of the narrative the earliest of PassioLeudegarzi.39 Especially instructive here is the Passio Praejecti,which gives us an view of events in Autun itself at the very momentat alternative which Leudegarwas forcedto flee from the town.40 Let us now look in more detail at those aspectsof the bishop's career which his first biographerfelt compelled to discuss, but whichto moderneyes appear weakenhis to argument Leudegar's for sanctity.In general,the authorof the earliest PassioLeudegarti went intogreatdetailaboutLeudegar's involvement centralpoliticsin in order explainthe basically to ruinouseffectthis haduponAutun.As withWilfrid,therewas an awfullot of explaining do. The explato nation was first and foremosta conventional one: Leudegarshone with goodness,goodnessis alwaysopposedby evil;themore he shone with good works,the moreevil he faced.4' Whatis unconventional is thedetailednarrative explanation the interaction of betweengood andevil, for the medium for this interactionwas politics. The explanation took the formof a narrative thus of politicalevents.For much the narrative was obviouslyfairly of it easy for the authorto portray hero'sopponents simplyevil. his as Leudegar's principal foil was mayorof the palace,Ebroin,whoas the leaderboreresponsibility for bishop'ssufferingand martyrdom. the It was in fact the Passio Leudegarzi which establishedEbroin'sreputationas a particularly oppressive ruler.42 Nevertheless evenwith Ebrointhe authordid not disguise fact thatas mayorhe enjoyed the considerable supportand that supportersincluded the misguidedas well as the evil. The restraining here could simplyhavebeen that factor influential mem39 The PassioPraejecti plus the following: Liber Histonae Francorum: Miracula Ex Martialis O. Holder-Egger, (ed. M.G.H., Scriptores, i, Hanover,1887,pp. 280xv, 3); Lantberti W. Levison,M.G.H., Vita (ed. S.R.M., v, Hanover Leipzig,1910, and pp. 608-12). 40 PassioPraejecti, chs. 24-6 (ed. Krusch,pp. 239-41). 4 For example,the introduction Leudegar's to politicalmisfortunes. Passio See Leudegarzi 3 (ed. Krusch,p. 286):"Butgoodwill I, ch. opposed evil, and by that age-oldserpentenvy alwaysfinds those amongstis always whomit can sow strife.Thus there certainmen of higherrank. . . who, were whentheysawthis man[Leudegar] stand as the unbending out pinnacleof justice,beganto squirmwith malicious envy and decidedto blockhis progressto they furthersuccess". 42An impetus furtherstimulated Carolingian by propaganda whichusedEbrointo signify injusticein the pre-Pippinid Neustrian Mettenses Przores (ed. von Simson,M.G.H., Scriptores regime:thusAnnales B. rerumGermanicarum usum scholarum in separatim [hereafter editi S.R.G.], Hanover Leipzig,1905,pp. 5-6). and
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bers of Ebroin's following were still living when the work was composed.The most important Ebroin'ssupporters surviveup of to to 691 was the king, TheudericIII. In 673 Leudegar hadjoinedwith othersto attackEbroinand preventTheudericbecomingking. The attack succeeded,andfortwoyearsTheuderic beenexcluded had had from the throne. In dealing with this episode the author'stone was clearly apologeticand there was even a suggestionthat God disapproved the depositionof the rightfulruler.43 of A suggestionof divine disapproval, from diminishingLeudefar gar'sclaimto sanctity,was in fact skilfullyturnedto his advantage. Leudegar effectreplacedEbroin,and King Childeric in replaced his brother Theuderic.The new regimebeganfull of the goodintentions which had justified inception,but these intentions its werethwarted by Childeric's irresponsibility, the depravity his followers by of and by malicein general.Thus the divinedisapproval quitejustified, was and God used Leudegar's goodnessto illuminatethe shortcomlngs of his peers.The latterresponded seekingthe bishop'sdownfall.44 by This sequencewas then used to set the scene for the most delicate anddetailedexplanation all: the betrayal capture Leudegar of and of in Autun at Easter675, followedby his replacement bishop by as Hermenar.45 Leudegar invitedthe courtto spendEasterin Autun.A monk had of the author'sown monasteryof St. Symphorian denouncedthe bishopto the king, accusinghim, alongwith the rulerof Marseilles, of treason.The latter, one Hector, had come to Autun "on some legalmatter other"andhopedto benefitfromLeudegar's or influence at court.The two of themrealizedthatthe kingandhis mayorof the palacewere about to strike at them, so separately they took flight. Hector was caught, resistedand was cut down with his followers. Leudegar was takenalive. Aftermuch pleadingon the partof Hermenar,the abbotof St. Symphorian, Leudegar's was sparedand life he wasexiledto the monastery Luxeuilwherehis opponent 673, of of Ebroin,was also living in exile. These eventswere treatedto make
43 PassioLeudeganiI,ch. 6(ed. Krusch,pp.288-9),givesaverydelicateexplanation of the cuttingof the deposedking'shair,done, the authorsays, to safeguard life his (i.e. by removing distinguishing the feature Merovingian of royalty longhair).The king, Theuderic,is then allowedto say that "he had been unjustlycast down from the throneand he declared thathe was expecting swiftjudgement a fromGodin his favour",and the chapter closeswith the remark "TheGodof heaven,whomhe that predicted wouldhave as his judge,happilyafterwards him rule". he let 44 Ibid., chs. 7-9 (ed. Krusch,pp. 289-91). 45 Ibid., chs. 9-12 (ed. Krusch,pp. 291-5).
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Leudegarand Hectorlook like the innocentvictimsof spite. They were good: their opponents were simply malicious. Despite the insistence thePassio'sauthor,it seemsto havebeen of ible to bring Hectorout of the affairwith much almostimposscredit:"if he had not led a blameless if perchance life, someimpurity stuckto him, had the fierceheatof a long persecution wouldhaveburnedit off so that afterwards pure gold placedin the diademof his like andlikeshiningjewelshe wouldgleamin thepower heavenlyking of his miracles" .46 And the insistencethatHermenar frantically had pleadedfor Leudegar'slife was a way of dealingwith a different interpretation these of events.The authorcould not ignorethe factthat "Somepeople . . . werethinkingfalselythat he [Hermenar] kept going into the king's lodgingsbecausehe was the leaderof Leudegar's accusersand that in this he was improvinghis chancesof being allowedto hold the bishopric". This was denied ratherthan refuted.47 That memoriesof these eventswere sensitiveis furthersuggested by anothercontemporary source, the Passio Praejecti,which described Hectoraffairas a stumbling-block the (scandalum) Leudeon gar's pathto martyrdom.48 lawsuitagainstPraejectus A was the legal matter which had broughtHector to Autun. The Passio Praejecti described caseand told of how it was brokenoff the midwaybecause Hector abusedthe trustof the mayorof the had palaceandhadbeen forced flee. Leudegarand Hector (who was to describedas "a certain of ill-repute") man wereplainlyin the wrongin this account. Although two accountsillustratedifferentpoints the of view, they are factmutuallyintelligibleand correspond in closelyin the timing they give to this politicalcrisis: Leudegarand Hector realizedthe danger werein on the Saturday they evening.By sunriseon Sunday they were nowhereto be seen. The next areaof difficultyfor the authorof the PassioLeudegarii was descriptionof the removalof Leudegar the from Autun for a
46Ibid., ch.
11 (ed. Krusch,p. 294). The gold here divert attention fromthe fact thatHectorwas not a and jewel metaphors away and any miracles. was his persecution all "long". martyr, did not perform Nor at 47Ibid., ch. 12 (ed. Krusch,p. 295). In fact the authorhad prepared way for the this denialwith someskill. Earlier hadgivenus an he example pleading of withgood intention, Leudegar generously when had pleaded Ebroin's so inviting for life, analogy with episode.Then, in the previous this chapter, introduced seriesof metaphors he a concerned light and darkness, appearance with and and reality,therebyworkingup to suggestionthat any fault lay with those the who could not penetrate reality the behind appearance Hermenar's the of behaviour. 48 PassioPraejecti, 23 (ed. Krusch,p. 239). ch.
second time.49 Not long afterLeudegarwas exiled, King Childeric hadbeen murdered, the bishophadreturned his see. Soonan and to army was directedagainstAutun by Ebroin,whom Leudegarhad deposedas mayorof the palacein 673 andwith whomhe hadshared exile in 675. It was entirely becauseof his involvementin palace politicsthatAutunwasunderthreat,andthe narrative its encircleof ment, alongwith Leudegar's decisionto give himselfup ratherthan riskthe enslavement his flock,suggeststhatamongthe inhabitants of therewas littleenthusiasm rallyingto the defenceof theirbishop. for By contrast,as the authoractuallytells us, the citizens of Lyons stoutly resistedpart of the same army and defendedtheir bishop, Genesius.5? Autun, however:"althoughhis dependants In and the clergy and his followerswere eager that he should carry off the treasures had gatheredthereand departso thatwhen the enemy he heardof this they mighthold backfromharrying destroying and the town, Leudegar wouldin no way agreeto this". Instead,we aretold, he gathered everyone together the treasury, in distributed treasure his and then led the citizensto fortifythe town.5'But when the army arrived besiegedAutun "dayandnighttheycircledit howling and likedogs" Leudegar "considered danger the threatening town" his and determinedto give himself up.52In return for this, it later transpires,the citizens were treatedwith relativeleniency.53 From this accountit seemsplainthatin realityLeudegar lackedsupportin Autun.If elementsof the clergyhadwantedrid of him at Easter675, it seems unlikelythat abouta year laterthey would havewantedto risk theirown lives and libertyby sheltering him fromhis enemies. Fromthis pointin the storyonwards author's the taskwasa much simplerone. Events took place at some distancefrom Autun, and Leudegar'sjourneytowardsmartyrdom could becomemuch more conventional. The narrative politicalevents could now give way of to the tale of heroic sufferingand miraculous endurancewhich is standardin descriptionsof martyrs.54 With the end in sight, the
PassioLeudegarii chs. 21-5 (ed. Krusch,pp. 302-7). I, Ibid., ch. 26 (ed. Krusch,p. 307). 51Ibid., ch. 21 (ed. Krusch,p. 302). 52 Ibid., ch. 23 (ed. Krusch,pp. 304-5). 53 Ibid., ch. 25 (ed. Krusch,p. 307). The citizenswere despoiled and the church hadto paysilverworth5,000solidias a ransom thetown,butnobody enslaved. for was 54For the conventions such writing,see H. Delehaye,Lespassions martyrs of des et lesgenres litteraires, edn. (Brussels,1966),pp. 171-218.But herenote thateven 2nd afterreturning a more conventional to structure content,the PassioLeudegarii and continues provide to muchhistorical detailin orderto provide context Leudegar's a for suffering.See, for instance,PassioLeudegarii ch. 28 (ed. Krusch,pp. 308-10). I,
49 50
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authorcould also makeuse of his hero'simminentstatus as a saint to havehimgive authoritative endorsement Hermenar's to succession as bishop of Autun and even forgivehis successor. Hermenar,we are told, visited Leudegarin his suffering:"already he honour upon him not as earthlyman, but as a martyr bestowed carriedto heaven. Becauseof this he earnednot only forgiveness for things past, but also a blessingfromhim for whatwas yet to come".55 The note of reconciliation here reinforces impression the that Hermenar hadnot supported Leudegar the past.It mayalsorelateto Autun's in bid forthe martyr's cult:the sequenceshowsthatthebishopof Autun was the firstto veneratethe martyr. By the time Ursinus came to write his version of the Passio Leudegarii, Leudegarand his contemporaries long been dead. had The saint'sreputation had grownsteadily,whereasthe his actuallife must have faded. There was no need memoryof for Ursinusto followthe earlierversionin its painfuldetailsof Leudegar's career in politics,and presumably such detailwould anywayhave been very difficultto make sense of in Poitiers in the mid-eighth century. Equally therewas no need for Ursinusto abandonthe basic outline of the earlierstory, for this describedthe path which had led the saint martyrdom to heaven.What he did, to and therefore,was to introduce detailon Leudegar's new connections with Poitiersandon the suffering the saint,while makinga precisof the first of Passio up tothe point at which Leudegar's sufferingbegan.56 preciswas The about quarterof the lengthof the original,and it had a the effectof much reducingthe Autundimensionof the story.This was a way of removing lot of awkward a detail and, more importantly, reducing the association betweenthe saintandAutunmaderoomfora strengthening Poitiers'hold over the cult. A secondary of effect of cutting out much detail was a great simplification the so of story, which had becomean uncomplicated now strugglebetweengood and evil personified Leudegar Ebroinrespectively. political by and A struggle was thus reducedto a clash of personalities, and in this form the story would be understood embroidered future and by generations. Nevertheless barestoutlinesof the originalcareerwould the remain visible, thoughthatcareerwouldbe given a new contextand significance.57 Particularly strikingis the treatment successiveversions in
55 56
On Ursinusand Poitiers,see Poulin,"SaintLegeret ses premiers biographes", pp. 178-82. 57 In the ninth-century metric version,forinstance, royal the courtis givena classical setting, Leudegar's peershave become"senators" 'splebs" brought and are into the story: beati Vita Leudegani martyris, 205-324 (ed. Traube, pp. 11-14). In the 11.
(cont. on p. 21)
Passio Leudegani ch. 30 (ed. Krusch,p. 312). I,
of Leudegar's exileat Easter 675. Ursinushadpruned firstPassio's the delicatedescriptionof these embarrassing eventsby leavingHector out of the story.58 Leudegar was still exiled, but at his own request after the chargesagainsthim had been revealedas false and after King Childerichad beggedhim to stay. Two centurieslater, in the Romancepoem, voluntaryexile had become a monasticvocation which Leudegar longedto fulfilin orderto escapethe burdenof had secularobligations.59 This shows Leudegar'scareerin an entirely differentlight. The saint, of course,was lookingmuchmoresaintly, but the world in which he lived had all but meltedaway. From the traditionof the life of Leudegar is thus clearthat the it biographyof the saint which was writtenclosest to the events describedhad least room to manoeuvre arguingfor the sanctityof in its subject. The point of greatest sensitivitywhich this restraint revealedwas the apparent lack of supportfor the bishopfromother powerfulmembersof the church in Autun. The Passio Praeyecti, also producedsoon afterthe events it described,gives us a similar impressionof elementsamongthe local clergy, and this time local lay people too, opposedto their bishop.60 Praejectus bishopof Clermont theAuvergne, regionwhich was in a
(n. 57 cont.)
Romancepoem his peers have become "barons" and Ebroinis a "count":Vie et passion saintLeger,verses9-10 (ed. Champollion-Figeac, 448). de p. 58 Compare Passio Leudegani chs. 9-12 (ed. Krusch,pp. 291-5), with Passio I, Leudegani chs. 6-7 (ed. Krusch,pp. 328-30). II, 59 Vie et passion de saintLeger,verse 16 (ed. Champollion-Figeac, 450). p. 60On the datingandcomposition the PassioPraeJecti, Krusch's of see introduction to the work,in M.G.H., S.R.M., v (Hanover Leipzig,1910),pp. 212-24,andB. and Krusch,"Die altesteVita Praejecti", NeuesArchiv,xviii (1893),pp. 629-39.Krusch saw the work as a genuinelyearlycomposition which reliedheavilyon eyewitness evidence,buthe didnotattempt explain it apparently to why consists twobiographies of rolledinto one: chapters14-31in the M.G.H. editioncan be readas a separate and self-contained accountof Praejectus's careerfromappointment bishopuntildeath. as Thissection,whichhasa sortof prologue itsown,alsoexistsin a separate of manuscript tradition, used by Bollandin ActaSanctorum, Januaris, (Antwerp,1643),pp. 630ii 2. The rest of the PassioPraeyecti (chs. 1-13 and 32-9), on Praejectuss earlycareer and post-mortem miracles,may havebeen addedslightlylaterto expandan original core, andin ch. 32 (ed. Krusch,p. 244) cross-reference to the central back sectionis madein the phrasesuprasonpta Gundila, reference someone a to who firstappeared in ch. 15 (ed. Krusch,p. 235). Whereas coreof the workis a fairlyformalaccount the of the eventsof the episcopate, beginning end sections the and contain muchgreater a proportion localdetailandof eyewitness of accounts. Praejectus's family prominent are here, but are not designated the middlesection.It therefore in seemsreasonable to associate familywith an expansion the original the of workand, as Kruschobserved, a likely candidate such Steigerung for (buildingup) would be Praejectus's kinsman Godo,whowasabbotof the monastery foundedat the siteof the bishop's murder and who was said to have been Praejectus's close companion.
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was attachedto the kingdomof Austrasia. 676 he was murdered In at the instigation membersof the aristocracy the Clermont of in area. As we have alreadyseen, not long beforehis murder,at Easter675, Praejectus been at the royalcourt defendinghimselfin a legal had disputewith Hector, Leudegar's associate.6l The disputehad been aboutproperty whichthe churchof Clermont held, butwhichHector claimedbelongedto his spouse:as so often happened,it seemsthat in this casea widowhaddonated landto the churchandheroffspring triedto contestthe donation.62 accountof this casein the Passio The Praejecti so detailedthatit is reasonable supposethatthe author is to had seen a documentwhich describedits progressand outcome.63 Whatthe rathercandiddescription showsus is thatPraejectus might well have lost the case had not Hectordefaulted when he fled from Autun.It seemslikelythatthereis a connection betweenthis dispute and the bishop'smurderby local powerfulpeople, who may have been supportersof Hector. The timing of the incident, at a point whenerstwhile supporters the recently of assassinated KingChilderic weregenerally headlongretreat,suggeststhatagainwe are seeing in a local disputewhich had a dimensionin high politics.At the very least, the turbulencecausedby the feudingaroundthe palacemay simplyhave affordeda factionof local peoplean opportunity get to rid of a leaderwho, deprivedof royalsupport,hadsuddenlybecome vulnerable. Praejectus may have been dependentupon royalsupportbecause he wasnot sufficiently powerful his ownright.The bishop'sfamily in appearsto havebeen prominent the churchof Clermont,but not in to have belongedto the elite from which the town's bishopswere usuallydrawn.The impression, therefore, thatit wasrather is against the odds that Praejectus should become bishop.64 his careerhe In
Above, pp. 17-18 PassioPraejecti, 23 (ed. Krusch,p. 239),in facthasHectorseizingthewoman ch. and subjecting to the "miseryof concubinage", fromanother her but pointof view she may have been a willingpartner.On donations the churchand legalcontests to by their kindred,see J. Goody, TheDevelopment FamilyandMarriage Europe of in (Cambridge, 1983),pp. 46, 111-13. 63 Passio Praejecti, 24 (ed. Krusch,pp. 239-40).If, as suggested ch. 27 (ed. ch. in Krusch,pp. 241-2),Praejectus received record the judgement a of madein his favour, thenit wouldhavecontained detailsof the procedure dialogue the hearing. and of On the documentsrecordingjudgement,see W. Bergmann,"Untersuchungen den zu Gerichtsurkunden Merowingerzeit", der Archiv furDiplomatik, (1976),pp. 1-186; xxii P. Fouracre, 'Placita' the Settlement Disputesin Later " and of Merovingian Francia", in W. Davies and P. Fouracre (eds.), TheSettlement Disputes EarlyMedieval of in Europe (Cambridge, 1986),pp. 23-43. 64On Praejectus's possiblefamilyconnections,see I. Wood, "The Ecclesiastical Politicsof Merovingian Clermont",in P. Wormald,D. Bulloughand R. Collins
61 67 (cont. on p. 23)
rose steadilyuntil he was one of the five most seniorclericsin the town, but was told not to aspireto the episcopate becausehe was not rich enough. The story is very confused at this point, and what appears a continuous, tortuous,sequence eventsmaycomprise as if of two quite separateaccounts of how Praejectusbecame bishop.65 Neverthelessin both accountsit looks as if he was able to drawon canonlaw to supporthis case for appointment. The firstversionis the most complicatedand its very strangeness gives it the ring of truth: the five senior clergy in Clermontgot togetherand decided thatone of them, the archdeacon Garivald, shouldbecomethe next bishop. This decisionwas made in accordance with a local custom that "the deacon servingin that post took over the pastoralcare if the opportunity offereditself:'. In orderto formalizeand publicize this agreement Garivald then drewup a document"bindingin law" and had it corroborated his fourcomrades.But when the time of by successioncame Praejectus brokethe agreement,despitethe documentbeingdisplayedopenlyin the church,andpersuaded other the three over to his side. At this point Garivaldbid instead for lay support,got it, suppressed rivalsby forceand becamebishop.66 his But Garivalddied forty days later, and this time Praejectuswas chosenin a way which fulfilledan earlierprophecythat in orderto becomebishophe would "not have to offerany money, just as the law of the churchstated".67 In the other version of Praejectus's promotion,the clergy could not agreeupon who should succeedand a layman,the countof the town, was appointedby the king, but then steppeddown "struck with fear lest he be acting againstcanon law". Praejectus was his
(n. 64 cont.)
(eds.), IdealandRealitgy Frankish Anglo-Saxon in and Society: Studies Presented 7. to M. Wallace-Hadrill (Oxford,1983), pp. 34-55, esp. p. 48. That Praejectus's future wouldbe unusualis suggested havingit forecast a dream: by by PassioPraejecti, ch. 1 (ed. Krusch,pp. 226-7). Scheibelreiter, Bischof merowingischer p. 31, also in Zeit, sees Praejectus comingfroma level belowthatof the elite. as 65 It is at this point PassioPraejecti, 13 (ed. Krusch,pp. 232-3) thatthere ch. is a breakin the biography. The firstsectionends with Praejectus aboutto become bishopaftera disputedsuccession.The next beginsat ch. 14 (ed. Krusch,p. 233) with his appointment aftera disputedsuccession,but the disputesdescribed chs. in 13 and 14 are quite different,one involvingGarivald, otherinvolvingGenesius. the If the sequence actually was continuous, thenwe shouldunderstand afterBishop that Felixdied therewas a disputeaboutthe succession whichPraejectus to Garivald; lost then Garivald died and therewas another disputeaboutsuccession whichPraejectus initiallylost to the laymanGenesiusbeforethe latterstood down. We cannotdate these eventsexceptto the reignof King Childeric (662-75). 66 Ibid., ch. 13 (ed. Krusch,pp. 232-3). 67 Ibid., ch. 12 (ed. Krusch,p. 232).
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replacement.68 either case, some sort of ecclesiastical In right was seento triumph overmight.In Clermont the laterseventhcentury, in aristocratic controloverthe churchmaystill havebeenrestrained by a consensusaboutthe traditional rightsof the clergy,for both Praejectusand Garivald soughtto upholdtheirrightsby an appealto the authorityof law.69But in both cases Praejectus's candidacywas strongly opposedand, if the twoaccounts treated onesequence, are as we can infer that he becamebishoponly at the thirdattempt. To sustainhis new positionPraejectus appears havecalledupon to the king, possiblythroughthe intermediary the king'smother,to of give him formalprotection.70 Whenthe kingwas killed,the bishop's positionbecameuntenable: now choseas his protector holyman, he a Abbot Amarinus,but it was not long before both Amarinusand Praejectus were killed together.Praejectus's successoras bishop of Clermontwas called Avitus. The name probablyindicatesthat he was one of the "senators the Auvergne" of whom we are told were involvedin the murder.7l was Avituswho gaveformalrecognition It to the veneration Praejectus a martyr.That formalbackingfor of as the cult may have come from the very people responsiblefor the saint'sdeathseemsto be indicatedat severalpointsin the accountof the murderand its aftermath. Thereis very little explanation the of conflict leading up to the murder;72 killing of the saint was the describedin sucha way as to showPraejectus actually as responsible forhis own death;73 finally,andmostextraordinarily, named and two
Ibid., ch. 14 (ed. Krusch,pp. 233-4). Wood, "Ecclesiastical Politics of Merovingian Clermont",p. 45, judges the Clermontof Praejectus's to be "recognizably day similar"to that documented a centuryearlier.Changewould come in the next generation, with the institution of laymenand outsiders bishopsin Clermont. as 70 In the case against Hector,Praejectus calledupon Himnechild, motherof Childeric, as the protector his church:PassioPragecti,ch. 24 (ed. Krusch,p. 240). of 71 A further indication Avitus'ssenatorial of lineage,according Wood,"Ecclesiasto ticalPoliticsof Merovingian Clermont", 39, maybe his backing the cultof the p. for saintsCassius,Victorinus Antonianus; cult originating the descendants and a with of Sidonius,the most famousof all the Auvergnefamilies.Interestingly, Passio the Praeecti,ch. 17 (ed. Krusch,p. 236), tells of how Praejectus triedbut failedto take controlof this cult. Afterbeing prevented frombuildinga monastery the saints' in honourhe locatedtheir bodies, but it was by his successor,Avitus,that they were minfire translata (wonderfully translated). disputeover the cult may have been a A factorin the bishop'sworsening relations with the Auvergne"senators". 72 PassioPraevecti, ch. 29 (ed. Krusch,p. 242). The murder appears simplyas the resultof wantoninterference the "enemyof mankind". by 73 Ibid., ch. 30 (ed. Krusch,p. 243). The assassins mistookAbbotAmarinus for Praejectus havingkilled him were departing and when Praejectus calledthem back and offeredhimselfto theirswords.
68 69
perpetrators the deed were reportedas being, naturally, first of the to witness the saint's ascent to heaven. Far from being punished, theirwitnessguaranteed forgiveness,they remained associated with the cult and, since they were said still to assert that they were eyewitnesses, can reasonably we assumethatthey formedpartof the audienceof this work.74 thirdnamed"author the crime"(auctor A of necis) was the focusof two of the fivemiracles whichthe authorchose to illustrate saint'spower.75 is thus fairlyclearthatby the time the It of writingthe saint'spersecutors cometo termswith Praejectus's had kindred.Let us look more closely at this reconciliation. The attackuponPraejectus beenaccompanied attacks had by upon his relatives:the "door-keeper" the house in which the sainthad of takenlast refugeandwho died alongside him borethe samenameas the saint'sfather.76 also hearof two morerelatives,one of whom We was killed, while the otherfled to the the monastery Agaune.77 of It was with this latter, one Godo, that Praejectus's successorAvitus held negotiations about establishing cult centreon the site of the a murder,the family'svilla at Volvic.78 The negotiations took place only afterthe cult had been started,possiblyby anothermemberof the family, a local abbesswho had firstrecovered bodiesof the the slain men.79Avitus endowed a monasteryon the site and Godo consentedto returnfrom exile and become its abbot. Once established, the monastery receivedfurthergifts fromAvitus, and one of thework'sfiveposthumous miracles concerned is withGododrawing up a formal descriptionof all this property.80 Another of these miraclestells of how the saint's persecutors gave rich gifts to his
tombe81
Ibid., ch. 31 (ed. Krusch,p. 243). Ibid., chs. 38-9 (ed. Krusch,pp. 247-8). 76 Ibid., ch. 29 (ed. Krusch, p. 243). The "door-keeper the housecalledGundoof lenus"was the only one of the bishop'sfollowers to run awayat the approach not of the enemy. The domus (house)was the family'svilla at Volvic. 77 Ibid., ch. 33 (ed. Krusch, p. 244). The relatives wereEligiusandGodo,who had been the bishop'sconstantcompanions. Note that Praejectus's motherwas called Eligia. 78 Ibid., ch. 34 (ed. Krusch,pp. 244-5). 79 Ibid., ch. 32 (ed. Krusch,p. 244). She was calledGundila or Gundilana, in ch. 15 (ed. Krusch,p. 235) a namecognatewith Gundolenus. Avitusonly began to considerbuildinga monastery the site because"Godin his mercyrevealed on severalmiracles the housewherethe saintswereand lots of peoplewerewith the at greatest affection makinghasteto visit theseplacesof the saints": 34 (ed. Krusch, ch. p. 255). 80 Ibid., ch. 37 (ed. Krusch,p. 246): "Later, indeed,BishopAvitusmadeoverto AbbotGodowhatever hadof his ownfreewill procured thehouseof thesaints". he for 81 Ibid., ch. 38 (ed. Krusch,p. 247).
74 75
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We are fortunatehere in havinga sourcewhich revealsthe link betweenthe martyr's cult, his kindredand theirproperty.It allows us to see the processof reconciliation forgiveness the light of and in the property compensation kindredwhichwasin generalthe basis to of settlingdisputesinvolvingpersonalinjuriesand death.82 Placing the actionin the contextof normalsettlement-procedure in turn may help us to understandhow reconciliation was perceivedas both possibleandappropriate. Finally,this contextgivesus another angle on the apparent incompetence the hagiographer, if the sanctity of for of the martyrappearscompromised the awkward by realityof his life, this could be preciselybecausethe accountof the life was itself an expressionof compromise,even a vehicle for agreeinga public versionof events. Such an interpretation wouldcertainly help make sense of the lukewarmattitudewhich in placesthe PassioPraejecti adoptstowardsits hero.83 The PassioPraejecti therefore providesanotherexampleof how a commonand living memoryof eventscoulddetermine inclusion the of significantelementsof contemporary realitywithin the conventional form of a saint'slife. The third case of interlocking politics, historyandhagiography shallverybrieflyconsiderdiffersfromthe I othertwo in thatit has left no contemporary record.It is the account of the martyrdom, 662, of Aunemund,bishopof Lyons.The Acta c. Aunemundi surviveonly in whatis probably tenth-century a revision of an originalwork contemporary the events they described.84 to Thus one cannottrusttheirdetail,which betraysa strengthening of formoverhistorical content,but, as we sawwith the development of the PassioLeudegarzi, seems likely thatthe basicnarrative it outline may have remainedfaithfulto the original.85 very good reason One
82 On property compensation early medievallaw in general,see H. Vollrath, in "Herrschaft und Genossenschaft Kontextfruhmittelalterlicher im Rechtsbeziehungen", Historisches3rahrbuch, cii (1982), pp. 33-71, esp. pp. 61-2. On the processof disputesettlement thisFrankish in context,seeFouracre, 'Placita' theSettlement " and of Disputes". 83 It could also help explainthe bipartite structure the PassioPraejecti, of with an "official" accountof events makingup the centralsectionand with the additionof morecomplimentary material fromfamilysources. 84 Fordiscussion the composition of anddatingof thetext,seeP. Perrier's introduction to the editionprintedin the ActaSanctorum, Septembris, (Antwerp,1760), vii pp. 736-9; A. Coville, Recherches lthistoire Lyon du ve siecleau IXCsiecle sur de (450-800)(Paris, 1928), pp. 372-5; P. Fouracreand R. Gerberding, "The 'Acta Aunemundi'",in their TheMaking Merovingian of History (forthcoming). 85 Problematic hereis contradiction betweenthe different accounts Aunemund's of deathseen in the ActaAunemundi in the contemporary of St Wilfrid, 6 and Life ch. (ed. Colgrave, 12-15).If the latteris preferred, pp. then thereis conflictbetweenits (cont. on p. 27)
for thinking this is that the narrativeconveys a version of events which is on balanceratherunflattering the martyr. to Aunemundwas a princelybishop and his familyheld secularas well as ecclesiastical powerover Lyons.86 keepingwith his status In the bishop was prominentat the royal court and may even have been godfatherto the boy-kingClotharIII. Accordingto the Acta Aunemundi downfallcame when some of the clergy of Lyons, his believinghim to be "too elevated",accusedhim of treason.87 This localinitiativeprovokeda vigorousresponsefromthe palace.Aunemund's brotherwas tried and executed at a session of the royal court.88 bishophimselfwas ordered attendto answercharges. The to When he failed to appear an army was sent to fetch him. Like Leudegar soughtrefugein his town and)like Leudegar, found he he no defencethere.89 Aunemund takenawayto be presented the was to king, but on the way he was murdered.90 replacement bishop His as wasGenesiusr memberof the palaceclergywhohadbeenespecially a close to the queen dowager,Balthild.9l The story showsonce again the joining of local opposition and outside forces in a mutually beneficial alliance:againthe killingof an incumbentbishopwas the outcome;and again an "official"accountwas producedwhich did not maskthe historicalreality. IV I began by suggestingthat althoughit is quite possibleto key into
(n. 85 cont.)
chronology the datingof two charters and fromSenswhichAunemund signedover two yearsafterWilfridwas supposedto havewitnessed death.Coville7 his Recherches surl'histoire Lyon,p. 390, refusedto acceptthe authenticity the charters the de of on basisthatthe eyewitness evidenceof the Lifeof St Wilfndshouldbe respected. Now in the light of a clearerunderstanding the structure purposeof the Lifeof St of and Wilfrid, seemsmorereasonable thinkthatitsauthor, it to Stephanus, invented Wilfrid's presence Aunemund's at deathin orderto establish hero'sholy statusas earlyas his possiblein the work:see J. L. Nelson, ;'Queens Jezebels: Careers Brunhild as The of and Balthildin Merovingian History",Studiesin Church HistoC,Subsidia, (1978), i pp. 31-77,repr.in J. L. Nelson,Politics RitualinEarly and Medieval Europe (London, 1986),pp. 1-48;Fouracre Gerberding, and Making Merovingian of Hi.story; Goffart, Narrators Barbarian of HistoS, p. 288. 86 Acta Aunemundi, chs. 2-3 (ed. Perrier,p. 744). The bishop'sbrotherwas the secularrulerof Lyons. The Life of St Wilfrid, 4 (ed. Colgrave, 10-11),also ch. pp. emphasizes Aunemund's princelypowerand tells of how he offeredWilfrid"a good partof GaultO rule over"if he wouldbecomehis follower. 87 ActaAunemundi, ch. 2 (ed. Perrier,p. 744). 88 Ibid., ch. 3 (ed. Perrier, p. 744). 89 Ibid., chs. 5-9 (ed. Perrier, pp. 744-5). 90 Ibid., ch. 11 (ed. Perrier, p. 745). He wasassassinated the middleof thenight in Contrast accountin Lifeof St Wilfnd,ch. 6 (ed. Colgrave, 12-15),whichhas the pp. a formaldaytimeexecution. 91Accordingto the contemporary Fita Balthildis,ch. 4 (ed. Krusch, M.G.H., S.R.M., ii, Hanover,1888, pp. 486-7).
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the "thoughtworld"of the earlyMiddleAges by concentrating on the conventional aspectsof hagiography, each particular in work it tends to be the unconventional elementswhich revealthe historical conditions whichthe workwas produced.Havinglookedat in three worksin which a measureof historical realityrestrained use the the authorscould make of convention,I shall in conclusion attemptto interpretthat realityas revealedin these works. The first point to make here is that the mannerin which each work drew upon the rangeof availableconventionsmay in itself be revealing. What we have seen is the pragmatic adaptation a conventional of framework to the particular needs of the subject.The framework evokesideal Christian behaviour; adaptation the reveals difference a betweenideal andreality; the restraint whichconventions and with couldsometimes be applied suggestsan authorialawareness that of difference.For example, markedcontrastbetweenthe waysin whichthe the Passio Leudegarzi treated its subject before and after his removal from Autunsuggeststhat the authorof the Passiowas awarethat a fully conventional approach not possibleuntil his subjectmatterhad was passedbeyond the horizon of common memory.92 Similarlythe unexpectedly batheticdescription Praejectus's of deathindicatesan author breaking with convention whatshouldhavebeenthe climax at ofhis work.93 The juxtaposition idealandrealitypointsup a contrast of between beliefand practicewhich is documentedin other areas too, for instance the differencebetweenthe idealizedagreements in of the church councilsandtheactual practices foundin thevarious Christian communities.94 fromundermining culturewhichwas strongly Far a integrated around acceptedtheologicalcertainties,95 ability to the think one way and to behavein another,or to describe in behaviour
92 Above, pp. 18-20. 93 Above, p. 24. 94 For example, contrast conciliar
decreeson the electionof bishops elections record.Thus, the strictureof the Councilof Paris withthe actual on (614) episcoporumviventealiumin loco suo non elegat"("let no living that "nullus se bishopchoose another his place"),Concilium in Parisiense, Concilia in Galliaa 511-695,ed. C. de Clercq (CorpusChristianorum, SeriesLatina,cxlviii, Turnhout,1963),p. 276, can be contrasted theActaAunemundi, 2 (ed. Perrier, 744),on with ch. p. howAunemund became bishop:"a ViventioloLugdunensi episcopoeligeretur loco: quem, adhuc in si stante,Christi inibi gratia consecravit pontificem" ("Hewaschosenbishopof by Viventiolus, who ordained as bishopby the graceof Christwhilsthe Lyons him himself still occupiedthe position").This readsalmostas a direct contradiction the 614 of canon. 95 Cf. Gurevich, Categories Medieval of Culture, 8-10. pp.
29 HAGIOGRAPHY MEROVINGIAN HISTORYAND MEROVINGIAN
in ideal terms, was what enabledthat cultureto adaptand grow.96 is in LaterMerovingian hagiography invaluable castinglight on this cultural adaptation. Whatthe threeworksdiscussedhererevealis an element of conflict in the process. Conflictwithin the Christian along the path to communitywas what led all three protagonists Christian framemartyrdom. abilityto dealwithina traditional The work with conflict between membersof the faith, even between membersof the same church, and between rulers and ruled) was developed in this period.97Hagiographyis witness both to this development to the conditionsin which it took place. and Let us now return briefly to the question of how we form an werelike in the laterseventhcentury. impression whatconditions of aimedat extracting some We havealready contrasted approaches two sortof historical reality fromthetexts:first,therewastheconstruction froma series of a compositepicturebuilt up by takinginformation of of texts;secondly,therewas the intensivetreatment the individual as textaccording rulesderivedfroma studyof hagiography a genre to of criticism. wassuggested It andusingsomeof thetechniques literary that a bridgeshould be built betweenthese two positionsby using important hereis the critique themto informeachother.Particularly allows.What of the compositepicturewhichthe intensivetreatment of such a critiqueshowsaboveall is thatthoughspecificcomponents texts, in the the compositemay be fairlytakenfrom contemporary processof their selectionand assemblya new text is created.This tradition of as latterbecomesas much a productof historiographical the early medievalsources upon which it supposedlyrests. Now, whereasour early medievaltexts are at presenthardlycapableof which has been built upon them deconstruction, historiography the discourse is certainly ripefor it. It mayallowus to see how historical has imposed its own meaningupon its sourcematerial.Beforewe that can proceedwith a discussionof whatrealityunderlay material, pitfalls. we must firstconsidersome of the historiographical of The traditional discourse thehistoriography laterMerovingian of
and the Case of MedievalScepticism", 96 Cf. S. Reynolds, "SocialMentalities for againstthe conventional view of Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc. (forthcoming), argument thinking. a mentality whichwas incapable pragmatic of and 97 In an earlier periodconflicthadbeenbetweenChristians pagans,or, slightly later, betweenorthodoxbelieversand heretics.In westernEuropein the seventh nor disputewhich centurytherewas neitherpaganpersecution the kindof doctrinal aboutwhatconstituted sanctity wouldhaveproduced heresy.Hence the uncertainty en cf. Saintete whenconflictwas no longerbetweeninsidersandoutsiders: Vauchez, occident, 15-22. pp.
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Franciahas a basicallycentristviewpointand is teleologically inspired:thatis, it is almostoverwhelmingly concerned withthedecline of the Merovingian polity in relationto the rise of its Carolingian successor-state. This decline is seen as a main theme of seventhand earlyeighth-century historyand conventionally is held to be it personified, in partcaused,by theMerovingian and kingsthemselves, the notorious roisfaineants, or sCdo-nothing kings.The lastsCstrong king is said to have been DagobertI (d. c. 638)) with the polity steadily falling apart thereafteruntil it was rescued by the more vigorousCarolingians. lattertookthe titlekingin the year751.98 The Alignedwithin these termsis a series of metaphorical oppositions, throughthe positiveresolutionof which development conceived: is falland rise; the appearance realityof powerandpowerlessness, and and of strengthand weakness;centralization separatism; and defeat andvictory,and so on.99 eachcasethe resolution broughtabout In is by the forces which fashionedthe Carolingian state.l?? There are obviouslimitations categorizing in development this way. Firstn in it
98 In this view the battleof Tertry(A.D. 687) iS seen as the pointat whichfortunes turneddecisivelyin favourof the Carolingians. an attemptto reconstruct For the Merovingian point of view, see P. Fouracre)"Observations the Outgrowth on of PippinidInfluence the 'Regnum in Francorum' the battleof Tertry(687-715)", after Medieval Prosopography,(1984), pp. 1-31, esp. p. 21 n. 12. v 99Suchthinking a long tradition has stretching thewaybackto theCarolingians' all justification theirseizureof powerfromthe Merovingians 751. The justification of in wasactually presented the rational as resolution the "contradiction" whichthose of by withoutpowerheld the nameof king, whilstthosewith powerdid not. The solution was to transfer kingshipto the lattergroup:Annales the RegniFranconxmn anno sub 749 (ed. F. Kurze,M.G.H., S.R.G., Hanover,1895,p. 8). Fortheclassicdescription of the decliningMerovingians, Einhard,VitaKaroli see Magni,ch. 1 (ed. G. Waitz, M.G.H., S.R.G., Hanover Leipzig,1911)pp. 2-4).FortheriseoftheCarolingians, and seeAnnalesMettensesPnores(ed. Simson,pp. 1-42).ThisviewoflaterMerovingian von historywas alreadya topos by the earlyninth centurywhen the Annales Mettenses Pnoreswere written,and it has remained conventional ever since. For examplesof worksin this vein, see L. Dupraz, 'vLe Royaume Francs':contributionl'histoire des a du "Regnum Francorum" pendant troisieme le quart IzIIC du sieclef656-680)(Fribourg en Suisse, 1948);E. Ewig, "Die frankische Teilreiche 7 Jahrhundert im (613-7149", TnererZeitschrift, (1953),pp. 85-144,repr.in Spatantikes Frankisches nii und Gallien, i, pp. 172-230; Fischer,DerHausmeierEbroin J. (Inaugural Dissertation, Bonn, 1954); for morerecentlyexpressedassumptions basedon this tradition, Scheibelreiter, see Bischof merowingxscher p. 268; in relation the career Aunemund, H. in Zeit, to of see Muller,"DieKirchevonLyonim Karolingerreich", Histonschesffahrbuch,(1987), cvii pp. 226-33. 100 a recentexampleof the historiographical For tradition exercising unhelpful an influence thisway, see the otherwise in excellent Reuter,'sPlunder Tributein T. and the Carolingian Empire",Trans Roy. Hist. Soc., 5th ser., xxxv (1985), pp. 79-80, wherethe Merovingians compared are unfavourably with the Carolingians without properattention the difference qualitybetweenthe sourcematerials the two to in for periods
31 HAGIOGRAPHY HISTORYAND MEROVINGIAN MEROVINGIAN
at leads one to view societyhorizontally the level of the rulingelite: oppositionis identifiedat this level only and is viewedthroughthe of performance a limitednumberof institutions.Secondly,not only and may assumedoppositionsbe false centralization separatism, for instance- but in generalthe use of opposingconceptsnaturally excludes other viewpoints. Aspects such as consensus, solidarity, are and compromise continuity thussqueezedout of the analysis,and of withoutthemwe get the impression a politywhichwasunworkable and doomed.l?l affects interpretthe mostdirectly gloomypicture Wherethisrather progresslordship of ationof ourtextsis in the construct an episcopal fromthe centre. from, and opposedto, government ively separated Oppositionbetweenthe two differentkinds, as well as locationsof which epithet"republic" authorityis signifiedby the anachronistic is applied to the episcopalsee in contrastto a notion of"royal" The government.102 constructis essentiallydeduced from obserof vationsof a politicalcentredecliningin relationto a long tradition but and episcopaltown-government localself-sufficiency, it excludes the to too manyalternatives be of muchuse in interpreting full range foundin the verytextsuponwhichit drawsforsupport. of behaviour which It draws,for instance,upon passagesin the PassioLeudegarii show the bishop responsiblefor the governmentand defence of Autun. But, as we have seen, the workas a whole suggeststhatthe caughtup with thoseof a wider affairs this townwereinextricably of Far politicalworld.'03 from there being oppositionbetweencentre and peripheryhere, there is no reasonwhy one shouldnot see the or, two as interdependent, as in the case of Autunat Easter675, as 104 indistinguishable.
throughout Christendom, negative viewof the seventhcentury 10l an extremely For moitiedu VIIesiecle au see M. Rouche,"Lacrisede l'Europe coursde la deuxieme Annales E.S.C., xli (1986),pp. 347-60. des et la naissance regionalismes", by similes",p. 436; reinforced 102 Termsfirstcoinedby Ewig, "Miloet eiusmodi vom im Stadtherrschaft Frankenreich 5 bis7 Jahrhundert", F. Prinz,"Diebischofliche in Bischofsherrschaft ccxvii HistorischeZeitschnft, (1974),pp. 1-35;repeated R. Kaiser, Studien,xvii, Bonn, 1981), (Pariser historische und ischen Konigtum Furstenmacht pp. 55-74. p. im Stadtherrschaft Frankenreich", 26; Kaiser,Bischofs103 Prinz, "Bischofliche pp. Konigtum Furstenmacht, 55-60.Note thatKaiser,ibid., p. und herrschaft zwischen I, from 55, takesthe termdominium thePassioLeudegarii ch. 20 (ed. Krusch,p. 301), episcopal in general,and(p. 58) he drawsfromits use in the same rule to characterize rule of Passio,ch. 25 (ed. Krusch,p. 307), a description Leudegar's overAutun.But sense to in both cases the Passioauthorwas using the termin a stronglypejorative as whichhe regarded unacceptable. indicatethe kind of episcopalbehaviour centre of between picture opposition of '?4Fora strongrestatement theconventional Zeit, Bischofin merowingischer pp. 263-4. see and periphery, Scheibelreiter,
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If we alignourviewpoint withthatof eachauthor,rather thanlook in fromthe centreand with hindsight,then we can observea much more flexiblerelationship betweenthe differentcomponents this of polity.105 particular shouldnote that,in all threecaseswe have In we looked at, the initiativefor involving the outlying town with the palacecame from elementsin the towns themselves.The dynamic behindsuch involvement the conflictproduced localrivalry. was by Here, insteadof oppositionalonga horizontal planeacrossdifferent areasand causingdisintegration, haveit in one place, expressed we vertically actingas a forcefor integration. notionof rivalryis and A extremelycommonin writingof the period.In hagiography, rivalry causedby envy, which is in turninspiredby the devil, is a standard motif. Envy in fact appearsas the primarymediumthroughwhich the devil works upon mankindand as a favouredexplanation for inter-Christian conflict, for it had the advantageof providinga scapegoat a commonenemy and could help re-establish in peacein the community.The Passio Praejectt providesa good exampleof this.106 It is, of course, not surprising see invidiousrivalryprominent to in a society which is well attestedas being violentlycompetitive. Rathermore unexpectedis the way in which localrivalslookedfor outside supportin their competition and seem to have had a fairly sophisticated approach the politicsof the widerworld.This is true to not just of the workswe havelookedat, but of a wide rangeof texts fromthe period. LaterMerovingian 107 hagiography generally reveals a politicalconsciousness which the affairs the palaceand of the in of wholearistocratic community wereprominent.l08 maybe partly This understood seeingpoliticalactivityas a normalpartof the shared by cultureand behaviourof an elite which was spreadthroughout the kingdom.A complementary explanation could be that there was a lingeringperceptionof the state as a body of superiorauthority to which one could appealto relievelocal injustice.In all threeof our cases, contactsbetweenthe periphery centrecouldbe described and
105 For example, see J. Durliat,"Lesattr1butions civilesdes evequesmerovingiens: l'exemplede Didier evequede Cahors,630-655",Annales Midi, xci (1979), pp. du 237-53,wherea much morepositivepictureof the Merovingian polityis produced fromthe sourcematerial groupedaroundDesiderius,bishopof Cahors. 106 PassioPraejecti, ch. 29 (ed. Krusch,pp. 242-3). 107 See, for example,VitaLantberti, ch. 3 (ed. Krusch,pp. 610-11). 108 By contrast, regional a consciousness identity and leading political to separatism, which is so stronglyemphasized the historiographical in tradition (for instancein Scheibelreiter, Bischof merowingischer p. 264), is actually in Zeit, veryhardto identify in the contemporary sources.
in these terms:thus HermenarappealingagainstLeudegar,Hector against Praejectus the clergyof Lyonsagainst and Aunemund. One 109 way in which such a positive notion of the state could have been preserved throughthe operation a legalsystemwhichculminated is of in the royal court as the highestcourtin the land. This was where disputes betweenthe most powerfulin societywere settled, and a hearingbeforethe king was the ultimatestep available a seriesof in legal procedureswhich could progress through a hierarchyof courts.ll?The royalcourtwas thus an entirelyappropriate place in whichto try andmobilizeoutsidesupportagainsta figurewho might have been secureon home ground, but who was vulnerable the to weightof the widermagnate community whenthe latter involved was in makingjudgement a caseagainsthim. This seemsto havebeen in the strategythat the clergyof Lyons employedagainstAunemund, charginghim with treasonin the royal court. Seeing what was in store for him if he went to court to answerthe charge,the bishop failed to attend, thereby appearingguilty by defaultand drawing down upon himself the very penaltyhe sought to avoid.l'l In this caselegalprocedure hardlydisguised whatotherwise lookslike crude politicalopportunism the partof both localsand the palace.But on it remains important see thatevenherepolitical to activity clothed was in legality.Similarly Leudegar's execution tookplaceonlyaftera trial and formalcondemnation.ll2 Praejectus's In case, however,the way in whichhis kindredreceivedproperty compensation afterhis death
109 In the PassioLeudegarii chs. 4 and 10 (ed. Krusch, I, pp. 286-7andp. 292), on two occasions accusatio an (accusation) resultedin a causa(lawcase)against saint; the in thePassioPraejecti, 23 (ed. Krusch,p. 239),Praejectus accused Hector ch. was and "drawing charges beforethe king, got him to dispatch up longdistance agents(missos ex latere) wereto sendforhimby meansof sureties makehimto be presented who and in the king'scourt";in the ActaAunemundi, 2 (ed. Perrier, 744), the clergyof ch. p. Lyons, "beganto plot againsthim [Aunemund], makingthe underhand accusation thathe was machinating overthrow rule of Clothar. . . who was king at that to the time". ll0 Fouracre,"'Placita'and the Settlement Disputes",p. 39. of ]11ActaAunemundi, 3 (ed. Perrier,p. 744). The authorsays that Aunemund ch. actually triedto attendcourtto answerthe charge,despiteknowingthathis brother had recentlybeen executed,but "thoughhis spiritwas ready,his fleshwas always weak",and he was forcedto returnhome. 112 The accountof Leudegar's trial, PassioLeuslegani ch. 33 (ed. Krusch,pp. I, 314-15),showshow the authoradapted of the oldesthagiographical one conventions to dealwith contemporary reality.Conventionally, the trialsof martyrs, in Christian citizenswere pittedagainstpaganRomangovernors, they refusedto abjurethe and faithdespitehorrific tortures: Delehaye,Lespassions marwrs, 182-213.In this des pp. trial,however,faithwasnot at stakeandLeudegar triedbeforehis fellowbishops was on a charge of regicide. Neverthelessa conventional descriptioninvited analogy betweenthe saintand those earliermartyrs who were moreobviouslyinnocent.
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In generalit is that suggests the latterdid not haveofficialsanction. unbridled.Our power was not to interesting note that aristocratic that an individual'spower could be limited by the show sources as Lawoperated a force collective of the widermagnatecommunity. aristocratic legitimized of focus consensusin that community,for it as power we as lmltlnglt. recorded Despitethe factthatin this societylegalactivityis better thatit was in general any than othersecularactivity,the impression to define litigiousis a fairone: it was quitenormalfor people highly proceedings.The clearest grievancesin terms of formallegal their Praejectus we example have seen of this is the case broughtagainst is PassioPraejecti important byHector.ll3 Its descriptionin the the samekindof it because allowsus to see thatthe hearingfollowed cases.ll4 recordsof comparable evident in the surviving procedure describedreallydid proceedings can We thus be fairlysure thatthe was place. The descriptionshows us first that no distinction take in court,not even at Easter. betweenlaymenand ecclesiastics made regionalvariwhich could comprehend we Secondly, see procedure case also tells of how, by the use of legal in ations law. Finally, the was made to appearin court before a certain Praejectus sureties, find supportin non-hagiAll deadline. three of these observations in general the evidence points to legal sources,ll5and ographic regionsof the kingand procedure practicecommonto the different of law.ll6 Such dom, and to a clergy very familiarwith the use with appearsagain and again in the PassioPraejecti, familiarity bishop, of documentation his rightto become seekingformal Garivald
. . . .
xiv, Antiquiores, ed. Latinae in heard the royalcourtin 692 or 693:Chartae no. 576; discussedby Fouracre,"'Placita'and the and J. Vezin (Zurich, 1982), appear largegroupof magnates of Settlement Disputes",pp. 28-34. In bothcases,a were madeon procedural challenges have been involvedin makingjudgement; to withina dialogue adversarial and in grounds orderto seekadjournments; bothreveal framework. strictprocedural is persons betweenlay andecclesiastical no caserecords distinction l5 In surviving and madebetween"church" wasanydistinction nor visibleexceptin styleof address, xiv, Antiquiores, ed. Atsmaand Vezin, Latinae courts:see Chartae "lay"or "royal" normsobviouslymeant procedural encapsulated of The Formulaty Marculf no. 573. to the allregions thus,forinstance, injunction do "whatever to applyto peoplefrom libri Formulae duo, i, no. 37 in such cases":Marculfi the law of your regionteaches i, Fonnulae, nos. seeMarculfi (ed. A. Uddholm,Uppsala,1962,p. 144).For sureties, 37 (ed. Uddholm,pp. 106, 142). 27, and 675, to the Council of Bordeaux,held between 673 Concilium 116 The introduction clergywere even keeneron litigationthanlay people: suggestedthat the Gallia,ed. de Clercq,p. 312. in Burdegalense, Concilia
chs. 23-5 (ed. '3 PassioPraejecti, and with the casebetweenChrotcharius Amalbert, in 1'4 For instance, comparison H. Atsma
Krusch,pp. 239-41).
with Praejectus appealing canonlaw and seekingroyaldocuments to to confirmClermont'sprivileges,and with Godo seekinga formal description his monastery's of lands.l'7A familiarity with legalconcepts and languageis also stronglyevidentin the PassioLeudegarii, in which an associationbetweenlaw and poweris made at several points."8This high profileof law is perhapsone of the strongest indications havethatthesesourcesdo indeedreflectcontemporary we reality.And the lattershowslaw operating justas a paradigm not for orderin an ideal world, but as an actualforcefor the integration of separatecommunitiesover a wide area. Let us now turn to the local conditionswhich fed rivalryand led people to seek outside intervention despitethe risks involved. The conventionallanguageof traditional urbanculturemay obscurethe realityof the late seventh-century episcopal town. The first impressionour sourcesgive is of towns with lots of citizens, wellmaintained buildings somemunicipal and services underthedirection of the bishop.ll9 What has been learnt from archaeological and topographical studies, however,suggestsrathermoresqualidurban conditions.'20 Whatlittle evidencethereis pointsfairlyconsistently towardsa shift in the focus of the town away from the old GalloRoman administrative centres and towardsthe outlying Christian cult sites.l2lThe shift is associated with economicregression a and decliningpopulation, with a retreat secular of administration the and emergenceof the church as the sole authorityin the town. This C'clericalization"the townis another of facetof the so-called secularizationof the church.On closerinspectionour texts do not contradict
1'7 PassioPraejecti, chs. 13, 14, 20, 22, 37 (ed. Krusch,pp. 233, 234, 237, 239, 246). 118 For example, PassioLeudegurii ch. 28 (ed. Krusch,p. 309), on the effectsof I, Ebroin'sreinstatement the officeof "mayor the palace": in of "nowhe hadobtained the rightsof power(iure potestatis aeptus), doubledup his wickedness he with envy" 119 Cf. PassioPraejecti, ch. 11 (ed. Krusch)p. 231);PassioLeudegani ch. 2 (ed. I, Krusch,p. 285). 120 Particularly challenging the contrast is betweenGregory Tours'sportrayal of of sixth-century Toursand the picturewhichis emerging fromextensive excavations in the town:H. Galinie,"Fouillesarcheologiques Tours 1982:rapport a preliminaire", and B. Randoin, "Fouilles archeologiques Tours 1983: rapportpreliminaire", a Bulletin trimestnel la Societe de archeologique Touraine, (1982-4),pp. 153-99,381de xl 409, 715-34. 121 For a brief and useful survey,see Ch. Pietri, ;'Remarques sur la topographie chretienne cites de la Gauleentre Loireet Rhin", Revued'histoire l'e'glise des de de France,lxii (1976), pp. 189-204.For the Christian topography Autun,wherethe of remains some of the buildingsmentioned the PassioLeudegarii still visible, of in are see Ch. Sapin,"Autun: archeologie quartier d'un episcopale canonial", et Arche'ologia, ccxxvi( 1987),pp. 30-5.
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this picture, for the vibranturbancommunitythey evoke could in realityhave been a relatively smallgroupof peoplemadeup largely of clergy and lay people serving the needs of the church.l22 The viewpointof our authorsseemsfirmlyplacedin such a community, and what it reveals is chronic tension between that community's members.As we havealready seen, whatproduced suchtensionwas envy and rivalry. The author thePassioPraeectigivesperhaps clearest of the account of envy at work in the claustrophobic atmosphereof the clerical community. Praejectus 123 advanced rapidlyin his earlycareerunder the patronageof the bishop. His peers were jealous,especially,it seems, of the personaltraininghe had fromhis patron.So they set him up to makea fool of himselfin a situation whichwoulddemonstratethathe was over-ambitious his talents.Of course,the plan for backfired "thereafter was usualfor Praejectus be preferred and it to to his fellows".One could surmisethat tensionwas generated here by the hero's fast-streaming acceleratedpromotionthrough a or career structure withwell-defined grades.Againfromthissource,the strangestory of Garivald's successionto the bishopricrelatesto a gradedcareerstructure.Praejectus's premature for the top posbid ition was in this contextsimplyqueue-jumping. seemsreasonable It to supposethatthroughout ecclesiastical the hierarchy preference the shown to variouslyprivilegedpeople would have gratedagainsta notionof orderedsuccession,therebygenerating tension.Clermont maywell havebeen unusualin the extentto whichit preserved such notionsof order, but elsewheretoo we see that even magnates who receivedbishopricsas gifts had to go through,albeit at lightning speed,.what Leudegar'sbiographer called the "variousstages and orders"on theirway to office.124 Giventhatfor manypeoplemovement up through the hierarchymay have been the only way to increaseincomeand influence,one can see why differential ratesof progressshouldhave provokedsuch feelingsof envy. Aboveall, the
122 So, for instance,the crowdof poor people which frequently appears hagiin ographictraditionmay have been the stipendiary clients of the churchlisted as matricakzrii: Scheibelreiter, Bischof merowingischer pp. 185-6. in Zeit, 123 PassioPraejecti, ch. 4 (ed. Krusch,p. 228). 124 Passio Leudegarii ch. 1 (ed. Krusch,p. 283):"inquodcumque I, gradu ordine vel prohevebatur". VitaEligii, ii, ch. 2 (ed. Krusch,M.G.H., S.R.M., iv, Hanover The andLeipzig,1902,pp. 695-6)provides example howto makethetransition an of from laymanto bishopas fastas possiblewithinthe requirements downby canonlaw. laid On the makingof bishopsin thisperiod,see D. Claude,"Die Bestellung Bischofe der im merowingischen Reiche", Zeitschrift Savigny-Stiftung Rechtsgeschichte, der fur kanonistische Abteilung,xlix (1963), pp. 1-75.
bishop held the most enviableposition,for not only did he control the networkof localpatronage, his positionalso gavehim access but to the rewards be had fromparticipation politicsat palacelevel. to in Yet at the same time his pastoraland liturgicaldutiesbroughthim into regularcontactwith his inferiors.These are the ingredients for chronictensionand occasionalconflict. Throughout westernEuropethe seventhcenturyis fairlyimpenetrable, for it falls into the gap between the end of the writing producedin the urbancultureof late antiquity the beginningof and effective and successful record-keeping the new monasteries. by Relative scarcity information makestheworkof laterMerovinof thus gian hagiographers invaluable.I have arguedthat the conditionsin which they wrote limited the use of conventionin their worksand forcedauthorsto deal with some of the awkward detailsof the real lives of their subjects.Unlike those who recordedthe inventionof cultsin the lateantiqueperiod,hagiographers the seventhcentury of often had to deal with highly problematicsubject material.This resulted the necessary in adaptation traditional of conventions meet to new conditions, in the course of which the old was used to give legitimacyto the new. A similarblendingof old and new is seen in the legal formsdevelopedin this period,andwe can observethatin bothareasof writingthe processof formation oftenmorerevealing is thanthe practised form, in which the use of convention become has more formulaicthan pragmatic.l25 Beforeformbecameentirelyfixed, therewas in northern Europe an experimental phasein the writingof saints'lives. Althoughit has become usual to stress the similaritiesbetween texts in order to describethe developmentof commonconventions,equal emphasis shouldbe given to the greatvarietyof writingproduced this stage at of formation.Stephanus's of Wilfrid Felix'sLifeof Guthlac, Life and for instance,sharesome conventions havelittleelse in common. but Such varietywould subsequently reducedas the most successful be workscirculated becamein effecttemplates futurewriters.l26 and for But, as importantly, varietywould be reducedas the hagiograthat phersof this periodsucceededin theirprimary of satisfying aim the demand newsaints.As we haveseen, it wasabovealltheproximity for
125 On the pragmatic use of formulae later seventh-century in court records,see Fouracre,"'Placita'and the Settlement Disputes",pp. 29-33. of 126 Particularly important the Frankishcontextwas the influenceof the Vita in Columbani. I. Wood, "The 'VitaColumbani' Merovingian See and Hagiography", Peritia,i (1982), pp. 63-80.
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of subjectto audience whichrestrained writerand,asthedevelopthe ing traditionof Leudegar'sbiographyshows so clearly,when that restraint fadedwith the passageof time, the historical contentof the storywas drastically reducedand as a resulta largeelementof the work's distinctivenesswas lost. The result was a much "holier" lookingsaint. By contrastmuchMerovingian hagiography seemsto failin this respect,but the argument herehas beenthatit is precisely this inabilityto disguisesignificant elementsof contemporary reality which makesthese works so valuableto modernhistorians. Goldsmiths' College, London Paul Fouracre
Past and Present Conference
on THEPOLITICS HUNTING OF
to be heldat The Geological Society, Burlington House,Piccadilly, London W1 Monday, June1990 25
Registration in thisissue. form For additional fortns,writeto TheEditor, Present,175 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7AW.
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