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The Miracle Stories of Gregory of Tours in the Service of Ascetical Socio-Moral Reform in Sixth-Century Gaul

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The Miracle Stories of Gregory of Tours in the Service of Ascetical Socio-Moral Reform in Sixth-Century Gaul CURING THE BODY, CURING THE SOCIETY: THE MIRACLE STORIES OF GREGORY OF TOURS IN THE SERVICE OF ASCETICAL SOCIO-MORAL REFORM IN SIXTH-CENTURY GAUL The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by SELİM TEZCAN In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA September 2004 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Paul Latimer Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. David E. Thornton Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Julian Bennett Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Kürşat Aydoğan Director ABSTRACT CURING THE BODY, CURING THE SOCIETY: THE MIRACLE STORIES OF GREGORY OF TOURS IN THE SERVICE OF ASCETICAL SOCIO-MORAL REFORM IN SIXTH-CENTURY GAUL Tezcan, Selim M.A., Department of History Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Paul Latimer September 2004 The saints in Gregory of Tours’s miracle stories frequently transfer such values as peacefulness, charity and mercy from theory into public action by their miracles. This exemplary function of the miracles in the Histories has lately been acknowledged in the literature. However the stories in the miracle books, especially the healing miracles, have been neglected in this respect. The main question of the thesis is whether the entire corpus of the miracle stories can be fitted into the perspective of the socio-moral reform found in the sermons of Caesarius of Arles, in the canons of Merovingian Church councils, and in the works of Gregory of Tours himself. The ideal society envisioned by Gregory of Tours and Caesarius of Arles, like the monastic community on which it was expected to model itself, was one that embraced ideal values such as charity, humility and obedience. Considering that the envisioned reform was of an ascetical character, the authors’ ideal values and proposed methods for realizing them are investigated and brought into relation with the miracle stories within the framework of the ascetical stance and practice as found in Late Antique Gaul. It is observed also in the miracle books that saints take an active part in the realization of the ideal values by exemplifying them and by punishing the transgressors. Moreover, they help the bishops in transferring these values into public action and in persuading their flock to preoccupy themselves with their future salvation instead of the present world. Another important result is that the healing miracles in which the patient undertakes some sort of ascetical practice before the cure or vows never to commit sins afterwards can be similarly considered in the context of socio-moral reform. iii ÖZET TOPLUMU İYİLEŞTİRMEK, BEDENİ İYİLEŞTİRMEK: TOURS’LU GREGORİUS’UN 6. YY. GALYA’SINDAKİ ASKETİK SOSYO- AHLAKİ REFORMA HİZMET EDEN MUCİZE HİKAYELERİ Tezcan, Selim Yüksek Lisans, Tarih Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Paul Latimer Eylül 2004 Tours’lu Gregorius’un mucize hikayelerindeki azizler, mucizeleri vasıtasıyla çoğun barışseverlik, yardımseverlik ve merhamet gibi değerleri teoriden toplumsal planda eyleme geçirmektedirler. Yazarın tarih eserinde bulunan mucizelerin bu örnek niteliğinin farkına, literatürde son zamanlarda varılmış bulunmaktadır. Ancak mucize kitaplarındaki mucizeler, özellikle de iyileşme mucizeleri, bu bakımdan ihmale uğramışlardır. Bu tezin ana sorusu, yazarın tüm mucize hikayelerinin, Arles’lı Caesarius’un vaazlarında, Merovenj dönemi kilise konsüllerinin kararlarında, ve de bizzat yazarın kendi eserlerinde bulunan asketik sosyo-ahlaki reform perspektifinin bağlamına yerleştirilip yerleştirilemeyeceğidir. Tours’lu Gregorius’un ve Arles’lı Caesarius’un tasavvurundaki toplum, tıpkı kendisine model alması istenen manastırdaki keşiş topluluğu gibi, yardımseverlik, alçakgönüllülük ve itaat gibi değerleri benimsemiş bir toplumdu. Tasavvur edilen reformun asketik niteliği göz önüne alınarak, yazarların ideal değerleri ve onların gerçekleştirilmesi için önerdikleri metotlar, geç antik dönem Galya’sındaki asketik tutum ve uygulamanın çerçevesi içinde incelenmiş ve mucize hikayeleriyle ilişkilendirilmiştir. Mucize kitaplarında da gözlenmiştir ki, azizler ideal değerlerin yaşama geçirilmesinde davranışlarıyla örnek olmak ve bu değerlerin tersine hareket edenleri cezalandırmak suretiyle etkin bir rol üstlenmektedirler. İlaveten, bu değerlerin toplumsal planda eyleme geçirilmesinde ve cemaatin fani dünyadan çok ahretle meşgul olmaya ikna edilmesinde de piskoposlara yardımcı olmaktadırlar. Bir diğer önemli sonuç ise hastanın derdine deva bulmadan önce herhangi bir asketik yükümlülük altına girdiği veya daha sonra bir daha asla günah işlememeye yemin ettiği iyileşme mucizelerinin de benzeri şekilde sosyo-ahlaki reform bağlamında ele alınabilir olmasıdır. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis supervisor Assistant Professor Paul Latimer for his invaluable guidance and contribution throughout this study, as well as the numerous important but difficult-to-find articles he has procured for me from London. I would also like to thank my professors in the European History Branch, Assistant Professor David E. Thornton and Assistant Professor Cadoc Leighton, without whose assistance I could not have made the rather unusual leap from civil engineering to European history. Not to forget the thanks I owe to the Ottomanists Dr. Eugenia Kermeli and Assistant Professor Oktay Özel, whose courses have contributed a good deal to my training as a historian. Special thanks go to the Chairman, Assistant Professor Mehmet Kalpaklı, and the History Department for the invaluable opportunity I have been granted of five months’ research in Heidelberg, without which the present study could not have been what it is now. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their unfailing love, support and encouragement. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................iii ÖZET .......................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................ vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I Introduction: the Miracle Stories and Socio-Moral reform? .................. 1 I.1 Visions of ascetical socio-moral reform in sixth-century Gaul .............................. 1 I.2 The Asceticism of Caesarius of Arles and Gregory of Tours in Historical Context 5 I.3 The miracle stories of Gregory of Tours: the genre and its purposes..................... 9 I.3.1 Persuasion of the population of the validity of Christian revelation ............................ 14 I.3.2 Reminding the population that through the cults of saints Christianity offered effective solutions to deal with the problems of this world ....................................................................... 16 I.3.3 Providing an effective tool for the maintenance and reproduction of the necessary “reverentia” towards the saints ................................................................................................... 17 I.3.4 The preservation of the moral values and integrity of the community ......................... 19 I.3.5 Consolidation of the power and position of the bishop and his family against the clergy, community, dukes and kings ......................................................................................................20 I.4 Were the miracle stories, notwithstanding their place within a certain genre, also intended to serve socio-moral reform, and if so, how far? ................................................ 21 I.5 The question of the thesis ..................................................................................... 23 I.6 The method........................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER II The Main Components of Ascetical Stance ........................................ 28 II.1 The “negative” component: renunciation ............................................................. 28 vi II.2 The “positive” component: contemplation ........................................................... 35 CHAPTER III The Main Components of Ascetical Practice: Virtuousness and the Ideal Values................................................................................................................ 43 III.1 Charity versus avarice .......................................................................................... 44 III.2 Humility versus pride ........................................................................................... 50 III.3 Mercy...................................................................................................................
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