Culture and Religion in Merovingian Gaul, A.D. 481-751 (Cultures, Beliefs and Traditions: Medieval and Early Modern) 9004103473, 9789004103474

Table of contents :
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
A note on names and translations
Introduction
1. Literacy and orality—the place of the written word in Merovingian Gaul
2. Merovingian liturgy in cultural perspective
3. Merovingian liturgy—the temporal cycle
4. Merovingian liturgy—the sanctoral cycle
5. Merovingian liturgy—the personal cycle
6. Superstitions and Paganism
7. Merovingian secular culture
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

CULTURE AND RELIGION IN MEROVINGIAN GAUL AD. 481-751

CULTURES, BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN PEOPLES

Editorial Board:

ESTHER COHEN, Hebrew University, Jerusalem WILLIAM BRINNER, University of California at Berkeley FLORIKE EGMOND, Leiden University GUSTAV HENNINGSEN, Danish Folklore Archives MAYKE DEJONG, University of Utrecht MIRI RUBIN, Pembroke College, Oxford University ELI YASSIF, Tel Aviv University

VOLUME 1

CULTURE AND RELIGION IN MEROVINGIAN GAUL A.D. 481-751 BY

YITZHAK HEN

EJ. BRILL LEIDEN . NEW YORK' KOLN 1995

For this new series Cultures, Beliefi and Traditions manuscripts and manuscript proposals are invited by the editors and publishers. Please send these to Prqfessor Esther Cohen, Department qf History, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Hen, Yitzhak. Culture and religion in Merovingian Gaul, A.D. 481-751 / by Yitzhak Hen. p. cm. - (Cultures, beliefs, and traditions, ISSN 1382-5364 ; v. I) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 9004103473 (cloth: alk. paper) I. Merovingians-France. 2. France-History-To 987. 3. France-Civilization-To 700. 4. France--Church history-To 987. 5. Catholic Church-France-Liturgy-History. 6. France-Religion. I. Tide. II. Series. DC64.H46 1995 944'.013-dc20 95-18889 CIP

Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnalune Hen, Yitzhak: Culture and religion in Merovingian Gaul, A.D. 481 - 751 / by Yitzhak Hen. - Leiden ; New York; Kaln : Brill, 1995 (Cultures, beliefs and traditions ; Vol. 1) ISBN 90-04-10347-3 NE: GT

ISSN 1382-5364 ISBN 90 04 10347 3 © Copyright 1995 by EJ. Brill, Leiden, 1he Netherlands

All rights reserved. No part qf this publication mqy be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval .rystem, or transmitted in a'!Y form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission .from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by EJ. Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directlY to 1he Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are suiject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

To Racheli

CONTENTS Acknowledgments .................................................................. ix List of Abbreviations .............................................................. xi A note on names and translations ............................................... xiv

Introduction ........................................................................... 1 1. Literacy and orality-the place of the written word in Merovingian Gaul. ............................................................. 21 2. Merovingian liturgy in cultural perspective ............................. 43 3. Merovingian liturgy-the temporal cycle ............................... 61 4. Merovingian liturgy-the sanctoral cycle ............................... 82 5. Merovingian liturgy-the personal cycle ................................ 121 6. Superstitions and Paganism ................................................. 154 7. Merovingian secular culture ................................................. 207 Conclusion ............................................................................ 251 Bibliograpy ........................................................................... 254 Index .................................................................................... 298

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is a revised and partially rewritten version of a PhD. thesis submitted in 1994 at the University of Cambridge, and it is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity to thank all those who helped me through the years of my doctoral studies. My first thanks are due to the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities whose scholarship for the year 1991-2 brought me to Cambridge to read for my PhD. In the years of my research at Cambridge I received generous financial help from my college, Clare Hall, as well as from the Lightfoot Fund, the Crosse Fund, the H.M. Chadwick Fund and the O.R.S. I was first drawn to Merovingian history as a graduate student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at the suggestion of Prof. Amnon Linder. I am immensely indebted to him for both the stimulation he provided as a teacher, and for his constant encouragement. At Cambridge, there are many friends and scholars on whose knowledge and help I have drawn, and I happily take this occasion to express my debt and gratitude to some of them. Dr Miri Rubin welcomed me in Cambridge in October 1991, and since then has provided continual advise, help and encouragement. She also read a draft of the first five chapters of this thesis, and her invaluable comments helped me to improve them immensely. I am equally indebted to Mary Garrison, Patrick Amory, Marios Costambeys, Matthew Innes, Andrew Nuttny, and Rob Meens, with whom I have discussed various aspects and problems which emerged from my research. They provided me with important ideas and stimulation, as well as with crucial information and references I missed. Rob also read the manuscript for Brill, and went far beyond the call of duty in improving this book. Many thanks should also go to the examiners of my thesis, Prof. Janet Nelson and Prof. Robert Markus, who offered a fair amount of criticism, to David Behrman who proof-read the whole text, and to the president, fellows and students of Clare Hall for providing the friendliest of atmospheres to work and live in. I am also grateful to the staff of Brill, and especially to Julian Deahl, for seeing the book through the press. Yet, the warmest thanks are due to my supervisor, Dr Rosamond McKitterick. Even before I arrived at Cambridge she showed an interest in my work, and since then did everything possible to help me. She spent many hours commenting on my drafts, never showing the slightest unease. Always patient, kind and understanding, she constantly accompanied me in

x

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

my struggle with the Merovingians. Needless to say, I alone am to blame for this study's shortcomings as well as the opinions expressed in it; but the shortcomings would have been more serious, and the opinion more vaguely expressed, were it not for Dr McKitterick's stimulating criticism and invaluable advice; nor could I write in a foreign language without her encouraging guidance. I will never be able to thank her enough for all the things she did, and is still doing, for me. Mentioning her name here is the least I can do to express the sincere affection and deep gratitude I feel for her. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents for their unfailing support throughout my studies, and to my wife, Racheli, whose assistance, encouragement and support, intellectually as well as domestically, made this study possible. To her, with the utmost love and affection, I dedicate this study.

ABBREVIATIONS AASS Annales Bede, HE BN Bobbio

CCCM CCSL ChLA CJ CLA

CSEL CTh DACL Expositio Fredegar

GC Gelasianum

Acta Sanctorum (Antwerp & Brussels, 1643-) Annales: Economies, Societes, Civilisations Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum , eds. B. Col grave & R.A.B. Mynors (Oxford, 1969; rev. ed.1991) Bibliotheque National, Paris The Bobbio Missal-A Gallican Mass-Book , ed. E.A. Lowe, HBS 58 (London, 1920) Corpus Christiano rum, continuatio medievalis (Turnhout, 1969-) Corpus Christiano rum, series latina (Turnhout, 1953 ) A. Bruckner & R. Marichal eds., Chartae Latinae Antiquiores. Facsimile Edition of the Latin Charters prior to the Ninth Century (Otlen, Lausanne, 1954-) Codex Justiniani , ed. P. Kriiger (Berlin, 1929) E.A. Lowe ed., Codices Latini Antiquiores. a Palaeographical Guide to Latin Manuscripts prior to the Ninth Century, 11 vols. + supplement (Oxford, 1935-71) Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticarum Latinorum (Vienna, 1866- ) Theodosiani libri XVI cum constitutionibus Sirmundianis ,ed. P. Kriiger (Berlin, 1905) Dictionnaire d'arcMologie chretienne et de liturgie, ed. F. Cabrol & H. Leclercq (Paris, 1907-53) Expositio Antiquae Liturgicae Gallicanae , ed. E.C. Ratcliff, HBS 98 (London, 1971) Chronicarum quae dicuntur Fredegari Scholastici /ibri IV cum continuationes , ed. B. Krusch, MGH SRM II (Hannover, 1888), pp. 1-193 Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria confessorum , ed. B. Krusch, MGH SRM 1:2 (Hannover, 1885), pp. 744-820 Liber Sacramento rum Romanae Aeclesiae Ordinis Anni Circuli-Sacramentarium Gelasianum, ed. L.C. Mohlberg, RED 4 (Rome, 1960)

xii GM

ABBREVIAnONS

Gregory of Tours, Liber in gloria martyrum , ed. B. Krusch, MGH SRM 1:2 (Hannover, 1885), pp. 484562 Henry Bradshaw Society (London, 1890-) HBS LH Gregory of Tours, Decem Libri Historiarum, eds. B. Krusch & W. Levison, MGH SRM 1:1 (Hannover, 1937-51) Liber Historiae Francorum , ed. B. Krusch, MGH LHF SRM II (Hannover, 1888), pp. 215-72 LHK J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Long-Haired Kings and Other Studies in Frankish History (London, 1962) Le lectionnaire de Luxeuil , ed. P. Salmon, Luxeuil Collectanea Biblica Latina 7 (Rome, 1944) Monumenta Germanae Historica MGH Auctores Antiquissimi AA Cap. Capitularia Regum Francorum, ed. A. Boretius (Hannover, 1883-97) Diplomata Diplomata Regum Francorum e stirpe Merovingica , ed. K. Pertz (Stuttgart, 1872) Diplomata Karolinorum DiplomataK Formulae Merovingici et Karolini Aevi , ed. K. Formulae Zeumer, MGH Leges sectio V (Hannover, 1882-6) Leges Nationum Germanicarum LNG Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum in usum scholSRG arum (Hannover, 1871- ) Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum , eds. B. SRM Krusch & W. Levison (Hannover, 18851951) Scriptores SS J.P. Migne ed., Patrologia cursus completus-series PL Latina, 221 vols. (Paris, 1844-55) Rerum Ecclesiasticarum Documenta, series major RED (Rome, 1956- ) Revue d'Histoire de l'Eglise de France RHEF Sources Chretiennes (Paris, 1941- ) SC Settimane di studio dell centro italiano di studi sulSettimane l'alto medioevo (Spoleto, 1954- ) Transactions of the Royal Historical Society TRHS Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome Vat. Gregory of Tours, Liber de passione et virtutibus VJ sancti Iuliani martyris , ed. B. Krusch, MGH SRM 1:2 (Hannover, 1885), pp. 562-84 Gregory of Tours, Liber de vitae patrum, ed. B. VP Krusch, MGH SRM 1:2 (Hannover, 1885), pp. 661744

ABBREVIAnONS

VSM

xiii

Gregory of Tours, Libri I-IV de virtutibus sancti Martini episcopi , ed. B. Krusch, MGH SRM 1:2 (Hannover, 1885), pp. 584-661

A NOTE ON NAMES AND TRANSLATIONS In contrast to medieval writers' inconsistent spelling of personal names, I have tried to avoid any discrepancy. Whenever a suitable anglicised version exists, I use it, otherwise I use the Latin form. Thus, I write Clovis, Balthild and Gregory, but Caesarius, Germanus and Fortunatus. For the reader's convenience I provide in the text an English translation for all the cited passages. Whenever an adequate English translation exists, I give this translation, sometimes with minor corrections and alterations. Unless otherwise indicated, all the translations are my own. The text in the original language, which is the text I have used while preparing this study, is given in the footnotes. As usual, I have tried to use modem critical editions. Only when these were unavailable, did I tum to older printed texts.

INTRODUCTION When, in the late 560s or early 570s, the Byzantine historian Agathias was writing the history of Justinian's wars, he chose to include in it an excursus on the Frankish kingdoms. In this account he wrote: ... the Franks are not nomads, as some of the barbarians certainly are, but actually follow a political system that is for the most part Roman, and the same laws as us. In other respects too--contracts, marriage and religion-they follow the same practice. For they are all in fact Christian, and completely orthodox. They have magistrates and priests in their towns and celebrate the festivals just as we do. l Agathias' observations, however, seem puzzling in light of the dim view of Merovingian Gaul held by his contemporary Procopius, 2 and by many historians from the sixth century onwards. Such a statement leaves one wondering how it should be interpreted. It raises a whole series of crucial questions concerning the nature of Merovingian culture and society: Is it likely that Merovingian Gaul was a Christian society as Agathias perceived it? What was the place of Christianity in Merovingian culture and society? To what extent were pagan religions and superstitions still practised in sixth-, seventh- and eighth-century Gaul? And finally, how are we to determine the balance between pagan and Christian and between religious and secular in the culture of the Frankish kingdoms under the Merovingians? My object in this study is to investigate the culture and religion of Merovingian Gaul, in an attempt to delineate the main cultural and reli-

1

Agathias, Historiarum Libri Quinque, ed. R. Keydell (Berlin, 1967), 1:2-' EiGl. yelp

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