Pierce on Lorenz and Scholkmann, 'Die Alemannen Und Das

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H-German Pierce on Lorenz and Scholkmann, 'Die Alemannen und das Christentum: Zeugnisse eines kulturellen Umbruchs' and Spickermann, 'Germania Superior: Religionsgeschichte des romischen Germanien I'

Review published on Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Sönke Lorenz, Barbara Scholkmann, eds. Die Alemannen und das Christentum: Zeugnisse eines kulturellen Umbruchs. Leinfelden-Echterdingen: DRW-Verlag, 2003. Schriften zur südwestdeutschen Landeskunde. 176 pp. EUR 55.50 (gebunden), ISBN 978-3-87181-748-9.Wolfgang Spickermann. Germania Superior: Religionsgeschichte des romischen Germanien I. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003. Religion der römischen Provinzen/Religions in the Roman Provinces. xxiii + 663 pp. ISBN 978-3-16-146686-1.

Reviewed by Marc Pierce (Department of Germanic Studies, University of Texas at Austin) Published on H-German (February, 2009) Commissioned by Susan R. Boettcher

Two Perspectives on Religion in Germania

Pre-Christian Germanic religion, the impact of Christianity on the Germanic peoples, and the synthesis of Christianity with Roman religion and/or Germanic religion have long been popular objects of study among medievalists and scholars of religious studies.[1] The two volumes under consideration here address very different aspects of these issues, and both are useful additions to the relevant literature.

The first stems from a conference on the Christianization of the Alemanni held in Stuttgart- Hohenheim in conjunction with a 1997 exhibit, "Die Alemannen," at the Archäologisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart. The participants in the conference came from a number of different fields, including archaeology, history, and philology, and the welcome result is a number of interesting papers from various theoretical perspectives.

After a brief preface by the editors, the thematic section of the volume opens with Wilfried Hartmann's "Die Eigenkirche: Grundelement der Kirchenstruktur bei den Alemannen?" Hartmann sifts through early texts on canon law and early deeds of gift to see what they reveal about "das Aussehen der Kirchenorganisation in Alemannien" (p. 1) from the seventh to the ninth centuries, specifically about the role of the "Eigenkirche" ("proprietary church"; the definition stems from work by Ulrich Stutz .)[2] Michael Hoeper's "Alamannische Besiedlungsgeschichte nach archäologischen Quellen. Ein kurzer Abriß der Besiedlungsentwicklung des frühen Mittelalters in Südwestdeutschland" offers exactly what the title promises: a brief, admittedly incomplete (but lucid) outline of settlement developments in the early Middle Ages in southwestern Germany, based on archaeological evidence. The later Merovingian period is emphasized, because of its connection with the topic of the original conference. Archaeological evidence from the area also comes to the forefront in the next paper, "Spätantikes Christentum und das Kontinuitätsproblem nach archäologischen Quellen," by Carola Jäggi. Jäggi notes that "[w]enn die Kontinuität zwischen Antike

The next paper, "Die Goldblattkreuze als Zeichen der Christianisierung," by Matthias Knaut, focuses on crosses made of gold plate (commonly found in graves), addressing issues like the distribution of such crosses and their position in Alemannic society. Sönke Lorenz then discusses "Die Alemannen auf dem Weg zum Christentum." This paper provides a thorough, wide-ranging discussion of the topic, considering various issues and events including the decline of the power of the Merovingians, the spread of various cultic practices, and the role of figures like Saint Martin and Charles Martell. The next paper, "Christentum und pagane Religiosität inPactus und Lex Alamannorum," by Ruth Schmidt-Wiegand, briefly evaluates the connection between Christianity and pre-Christian religion, first contrasting the holy with the profane and then examining various profane acts, as described in these two Alemannic law codes. Barbara Scholkmann's "Frühmittelalterliche Kirchen im alemannischen Raum. Verbreitung, Bauformen und Funktion" looks at the construction of churches as a sign of the spread of Christianity, and also discusses issues like building materials and techniques used in such churches and the use of churches as burial sites. The final paper in the volume, "Die Entwicklung der Grundherrschaft bei den Alamannen," by Thomas Zotz, concentrates on land ownership, especially as it was affected by the spread of Christianity.

Evaluating conference proceedings is sometimes difficult; a common complaint leveled at such volumes is that they are not "coherent." While a unified focus is certainly an admirable goal, the lack of such a focus should not be seen as a serious flaw, as long as the papers are interesting and not too loosely centered around a particular topic. This book certainly falls into this category. The papers are generally solid and pack a substantial amount of interesting information into a fairly limited space. (I cannot resist pointing out that the two longest papers in the book are by the two editors.) It is always dangerous to single out individual papers in a collection like this, but I especially enjoyed the articles by Jäggi, Lorenz, and Schmidt-Wiegand, each of which offers an interesting, through discussion of the chosen topic.

The Spickermann volume is a very different type of book. An expanded version of the author's Habilitionsschrift, it chronicles the history of religion in the Germanic provinces from their conquest by the Romans until the arrival of Christianity. This volume deals with Germania Superior, the southern portion of Germania; a volume on the northern portion, Germania Inferior, has recently appeared.[3] The book begins with a detailed introduction, outlining the goals of the study ("eine Darstellung der Provinzalreligion der Germania Superior auf der Grundlage der Topographie der publizierten Kultplätze, deren Entwicklung, räumliche Verteilung und Ausstattung" [p. 10]) and the methodology used (the "civitas-religion" model), and then discussing the sources of evidence used. As literary sources beyond the reports of Julius Caesar and Tacitus are lacking, Spickermann relies on epigraphic and archaeological evidence. Some relevant earlier research is summarized, and the chapter concludes with a survey of the chronological and spatial boundaries of the study.

The bulk of the book is divided into four parts, arranged chronologically. The first three sections follow the same general pattern: after an introduction, Spickermann discusses the Kultplätze of the time and then moves on to other archaeological finds. The last chapter of these parts sums up the

Citation: H-Net Reviews. Pierce on Lorenz and Scholkmann, 'Die Alemannen und das Christentum: Zeugnisse eines kulturellen Umbruchs' and Spickermann, 'Germania Superior: Religionsgeschichte des romischen Germanien I'. H-German. 09-30-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/35008/reviews/45704/pierce-lorenz-and-scholkmann-die-alemannen-und-das-christentum Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2 H-German preceding discussion. Part 1 deals with "Die Eroberungsphase," which ended with the Batavian uprising of AD 69/70, and contends that religion in this earliest phase was characterized by "ein Nebeneinander einheimischer religiöser Traditionen und der Religion der römischen Eroberer" (p. 135), especially in the southwest. Signs of this state of affairs include pre-Roman cult sites in places like Avenches and Thun, as well as an emperor cult centered in Mogontiacum (Mainz). Part 2, "Die Phase der Konsolidierung der römischen Herrschaft (70 bis 150 nChr)," suggests that the second phase was characterized by actions intended to consolidate Roman power, through things like the construction (or rebuilding) of settlements and the spread of the Latin language. Part 3, "Die Phase der intensiven Romanisation (150 bis 230/260 nChr.)," refers to "der fast explosionartige Anstieg der Weihmonumente und der Kultbauten und -plätze" (p. 478) of the time period, a sign of increasing religious activity, which Spickermann connects to various financial developments. This time period also witnessed the percolation of Roman rituals through various levels of society. The final thematic section, "Die Phase der Auflösung und des Wandels 260 bis ca. 550 nChr," depicts the gradual decline of Roman religion in the area, complicated by the spread of Christianity and various political and military developments. The sixth section of the book, "Resümee," summarizes the results of the study. A number of indices (for names of gods and place names, among others), an accompanying map, and an appendix listing dedicatory inscriptions that can be dated are all included.

This book is a substantial contribution to the available literature on the topic. The discussion is invariably careful and thorough, and Spickermann offers readers a great deal to think about in addition to opening up avenues for further investigation. In light of the significance of his contribution, any criticisms will seem petty. However, I do wish that Spickermann had discussed more intensively the connection between religion and magic (he does note that the earlier view that they are sharply distinguished cannot be sustained [p. 5]), especially as a good deal of interesting research has been done on this topic recently, albeit mostly with regards to the impact of Christianity on the Germanic tribes.[4] It would have been interesting to read Spickermann's perspective on this question. Such objections, however, do not change the fact that Spickermann has tackled a very complicated subject and done an excellent job with it. Those interested in the subject are well advised to read this book, as well as its recent companion volume on Germania Inferior.

Notes

[1]. Representative works in this area include: Karl Helm,Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (Heidelberg: Winter, 1913-37); Jan de Vries, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1956-57); Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson, Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1988); and Hans-Peter Hasenfratz,Die religiöse Welt der Germanen (Freiburg: Herder, 1999).

[2]. See Ulrich Stutz, Geschichte des kirchlichen Benefizialwesens von seinen Anfängen bis auf die Zeit Alexanders III (Berlin: H. W. Müller, 1895), and Die Eigenkirche als Element des mittelalterlich- germanischen Kirchenrechts (Berlin: H. W. Müller, 1895). Both of these works have been reprinted several times.

[3]. Wolfgang Spickermann, Germania Inferior: Religionsgeschichte des romischen Germanien II (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008).

[4]. See, for instance, G. Ronald Murphy, S. J., "Magic in theHêliand ," Monatshefte 83 (1991): 386-397.

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Citation: Marc Pierce. Review of Lorenz, Sönke; Scholkmann, Barbara, eds, Die Alemannen und das Christentum: Zeugnisse eines kulturellen Umbruchs and Spickermann, Wolfgang, Germania Superior: Religionsgeschichte des romischen Germanien I. H-German, H-Net Reviews. February, 2009. URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=23735

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.