Roman Barbarians Medieval Culture and Society

General Editor: Miri Rubin Advisors: Jean Dunbabin and Robert Stacey Medieval Culture and Society provides a frame work for the study of an array of themes in the history of medieval Europe, including some which are looked at comparatively, and approaches them in the light of the new theoretical reflections. The books in this series will be useful to students, to a wide range of scholars and to the general reader. Written in clear and elegant prose, they concisely present new sources and their interpretation and also highlight underlying method and theory.

Published titles

Jean Dunbabin CAPTIVITY AND IMPRISONMENT IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE, 1000–1300 Yitzhak Hen ROMAN BARBARIANS The Royal Court and Culture in the Early Medieval West Elisabeth van Houts MEMORY AND GENDER IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE Phillip Schofield PEASANT AND COMMUNITY IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND, 1200–1500

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Yitzhak Hen © Yitzhak Hen 2007 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-0-333-78665-9 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-0-333-78666-6 ISBN 978-0-230-59364-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230593640 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hen, Yitzhak. Roman barbarians:the royal court and culture in the early Medieval West/Yitzhak Hen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Courts and courtiers“Intellectual life“Europe“History“To 1500. 2. Franks“Kings and rulers“History. 3. Franks“Nobility“History. 4. Civilization, Medieval. 5. Europe“History“392814. I. Title. GT3520.H46 2007 940.1“dc22 2007023135 10987654321 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 To Nadav This page intentionally left blank Contents

List of Maps ix Preface x List of Abbreviations xii

1 Introduction: A Series of Unfortunate Events 1 The dim view of early medieval culture 3 The survival of early medieval culture in modern historiography 16 A word on the patronage of culture 21 Another word on the concept ‘culture’ 24

2 Adaptation: The Ostrogothic Court of Theoderic the Great 27 Theodericus illiteratus 33 Ostrogothic past, Roman present 39 Roman past, Gothic present 53

3 Out of Africa: The Vandal Court of Thrasamund 59 The cultural heritage of Roman North Africa 67 King Thrasamund and the ‘Vandal Renaissance’ 74 The Anthologia Latina 78 Dracontius 83 The peculiar case of Fulgentius of Ruspe 87 Roman 92

4 Before and After: The Frankish Court of Chlothar II and Dagobert I 94 Kings and culture in Merovingian Gaul 97 Court and culture in seventh-century 100 The Merovingian court school 101 Culture and monasticism 106 Flirting with liturgy 111

vii viii Contents

5 Music of the Heart: The Unusual Case of King Sisebut 124 King Sisebut, vir sapiens et pietate plenissimus 128 Visigothic political ideology and the ‘Isidorian Renaissance’ 141 Isidore of Seville and the culture of his time 143 King Sisebut’s ‘Isidorian Renaissance’ 149

6 Postcards from the Edges: A Prelude to the Carolingian Renaissance 153 ’s Lombard father-in-law 153 The defiant cousin from Bavaria 159 The splendour of Byzantium 166 Ex oriente lux? 172

7 Conclusion 177

Select Bibliography 181 Index 205 List of Maps

1 The Roman Empire c. 300 2 2 Italy c. 500 28 3 Ravenna in the time of Theoderic the Great 34 4 Vandal North Africa 60 5 The Frankish Kingdom and neighbouring territories 95 6 Visigothic Spain 125

ix Preface

In his magisterial book, Religion and the Rise of Western Culture, first published in London in 1950, Christopher Dawson argued that ‘the beginnings of western culture are to be found in the new spiritual community which aroused from the ruins of the Roman empire owing to the conversion of the northern barbarians to the Christian faith. The Christian Church inherited the traditions of the empire. It came to the barbarians as the bearer of a higher civilisation, endowed with the prestige of Roman law and the authority of the Roman name. The breakdown of the political organisation of the Roman Empire had left a great void which no barbarian king or general could fill, and this void was filled by the Church as the teacher and law-giver of the new peoples’. Dawson’s views were shared by many historians, archaeolo- gists and literary critics, and in many respects became the standard textbook narrative on the cultural transformations of the Roman world. It is precisely this and similar statements that sparked the writing of Roman Barbarians, which offers a different and, I believe, a more nuanced account of the cultural activity that characterised late-antique and early medieval Europe. This book could not have been written, or completed, without the assistance and support of many individuals and institutions. I have started writing it during a sabbatical year at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), and I would like to express my gratitude to the rector, staff and fellows of NIAS for providing an ideal and friendly environment for research. It is further a great pleasure to thank the following libraries, where I have spent many hours looking at manuscripts and gathering material: the Bibliothèque royale Albert I, Brussels; the University Library, Cambridge; the University and National Library, ; the Universiteitsbiblio- theek, Leiden; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the Bibliothèque National de France, Paris; and the Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican City. I should also like to thank my friends and colleagues, particularly Mayke de Jong, Mary Garrison, Amnon Linder, Rob Meens, Jinty Nelson, Walter Pohl, and Ian Wood, with whom I have discussed various issues related to cultural history of early medieval Europe. Rosamond McKitt- erick, my mentor and ever-invaluable oracle on many matters, as well as Elena Lourie and Robert Stacy have all read a draft of the entire book,

x Preface xi and I am grateful for their advice and helpful comments. Needless to say, none of them is responsible for this study’s shortcomings, or for the views expressed in it. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Miri Rubin for her friendship and support. The seeds of this book were sown when Miri suggested in 1999 that I should write something for her new series, and ever since she accompanied my long struggle with Theoderic, Thrasamund, Dagobert and Sisebut with motherly patience and prudent advice. She also read the entire manuscript with great care, and saved me from a multitude of errors and embarrassments. Thanks should also go to the staff of Palgrave Macmillan, especially Ruth Ireland and Ann Marangos, who saw the book through the press. Finally, I should like to thank my family, especially my wife, Racheli, for her unwavering support, and Nadav for being himself. To him, with the utmost love and affection, I dedicate this book.

Note on copyright The author and publishers have made every attempt to contact copyright holders. If any have inadvertently been overlooked, the appropriate arrangements will be made at the first opportunity. List of Abbreviations

AASS Acta Sanctorum (Antwerp and Brussels, 1643–) BM Bibliothèque Municipale BnF Bibliothèque nationale de France Brunhölzl F. Brunhölzl, Histoire de la littérature latine du Moyen Age,I–DeCasiodore à la fin de la renaissance carolingienne; 1 – L’époque mérovingienne, trans. H. Rochais, with a bibliographical update by J.-P. Bouhot (Turnhout, 1990); 2 – L’époque carolingienne, trans. H. Rochais, with a bibliographical update by J.-P. Bouhot (Turnhout, 1991) CAH XIII, XIV Cambridge Ancient History, XIII – The Later Empire, AD 337–425, ed. A. Cameron and P. Garnsey (Cambridge, 1998); XIV – Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, AD 425–600, ed. A. Cameron, B. Ward-Perkins and M. Whitby (Cambridge, 2000) CCCM Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis (Turnhout, 1966–) CCSL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina (Turnhout, 1952–) CHCL Cambridge History of Classical Literature,II–Latin Literature, ed. E.J. Kenney and W.V. Clausen (Cambridge, 1982) ChLA Chartae latinae antiquiores: Facsimile Edition of the Latin Charters prior to the Ninth Century, ed. A. Bruckner and R. Marichal (Olten and Lausanne, 1954–) CLA Codices Latini Antiquiores: A Palaeographical Guide to Latin Manuscripts Prior to the Ninth Century, 11 vols with a supplement (Oxford, 1935–71; 2nd edn of vol. II,1972) CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (, 1866–) LBL Loeb Classical Library MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica AA Auctores Antiquissimi (Berlin, 1877–1919) Cap. Capitularia regum Francorum (Hannover, 1883– 1897)

xii List of Abbreviations xiii

Epp. Epistulae (Berlin, 1887–1939) LNG Leges nationum Germanicarum (Hannover, 1888–) Poetae Poetae latini medii aevi (Berlin, 1881–1951) SRG Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum (Hannover, 1871–) SRL Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum (Hannover, 1878) SRM Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum (Hannover, 1884–1951) SS Scriptores in folio (Berlin, 1826–) MW Miscellanea Wisigothica, ed. J. Gil, Filosofia y Letras (Seville, 1972) NCMHI, New Cambridge Medieval History,I–c.500–700, ed. II P. Fouracre (Cambridge, 2005); II – c.700–900, ed. R. McKitterick (Cambridge, 1995) OCD Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, 3rd rev. edn (Oxford, 2003) ODCC Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingsrone, 3rd edn (Oxford, 1997) PCBE Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire,I–Prosopographie de l’Afrique chrétienne (305–533), ed. A. Mandouze (Paris, 1982) Patrologia Patrologia,VI–Dal Concilio di Calcedonia (451) a Beda, I Padri latini, ed. A. di Berardino (Genova, 1996) PL Patrologiae cursus completus, series latina, ed. J.-P. Migne, 221 vols (Paris, 1841–64) PLRE The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire,II– A.D. 395–527, ed. J.R. Martindale (Cambridge, 1980) SC Sources chrétiennes (Paris, 1941–) Settimane Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo (Spoleto, 1954–) Teubner Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecarum et Romanorum Teubneriana