LOCKS of DIFFERENCE: the INTEGRAL ROLE of HAIR AS a DISTINGUISHING Feature in EARLY Mer0vingian GAUL
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LOCKS Of DIFFERENCE: THE INTEGRAL ROLE OF HAIR AS A DISTINGUISHING FEATuRE IN EARLY MER0vINGIAN GAUL Peter H. Johnsson Childebert and Lothar sent Arcadius to the queen . with a pair of scissors in one hand and a naked sword in the other. When he came into the Queen’s presence, he held them out to her. ‘Your sons, who are our masters, seek your decision, gracious Queen, as to what should be done with the princes. Do you wish them to Jive with hair cut short? Or would you prefer to see them killed?. Beside herselfwith bitter grief and hardly knowing what she was saying in her anguish, she answered: ‘If they are not to ascend the throne, I would rather see them dead than with their hair cut short.” —Gregory of Tours UMAN beings rely on a variety of signs to communicate social cues to H others. Though it may seem shocking to the modern reader, the above passage highlights the rather curious position of hair in Frankish society. However, rather than dismiss the extraordinary importance of hair as inherently alien, it is important to remember that hair still holds a special place in today’s society. The malleability of hair allows its wearer to actively choose which messages to send. Therefore, it is not only important to note what hair does, but what is done to it. The efforts put towards arranging one’s hair can carry specific social meanings. for ancient peoples, social meaning was communicated through maintaining the length and style ofthe hair. In this regard, the role of hair was not so different in early medieval society than it is today. Additionally, just as certain ethnic groups may use appearance to display membership today, so did groups in the Middle Ages. Irish monks, Lombards, Welsh Romans, and Goths, among others, all expressed their social and ethnic ‘Gregory of Tours, Decem Libri Historiarum, trans. Lewis Thorpe (Baltimore: Penguin, 1974), 1I1.i8. 56 Peter H. Johnsson identities through various manifestations ofhair.2 As an example, in ro66 King Harold’s spies returned from Normandy reporting that Duke William’s army consisted almost entirely ofpriests, because oftheir short hair and shaved chins.3 Furthermore, hair could proclaim other identifies such as gender and age. As evidenced by Queen Clotild, the Merovin gian-led Franks seem to have ascribed a remarkably high importance to their hair, which goes beyond that of other ancient peoples. The aim of this paper is to understand the meanings that the franks ascribed to hair and, in this quest, it will survey the different interpretations ofhair that existed in sixth century Gaul. To the Merovingians, the significance of hair stemmed from an amalgamation of several traditions—Greco Roman pagan, Christian, Germanic, and militaristic—and that link is the focus of this research. In doing so, it will contribute to the ongoing historical discussion by supporting the view that there does not seem to have been any major cultural differences dividing the various Merovin gian kingdoms, but, rather, that it is possible to view all Merovingian territory as part of one cultural entity.4 The mixed ethnicity of the population in Gaul necessitated a sharp difference between a frankish noble and a “Roman” cleric. This was especially important since they could very well have descended from the same parents, yet be legally distinct and have different privileges and obligations. Hair became one means to illustrate this social distinction. In large part, this distinction was possible due to the continuation of ancient Roman perceptions regarding long hair as a sign of the other. This was simultaneously expanded upon both by the Christian church and the franks’ secular circles. In Merovingian Gaul, hair became a multilayered sign of distinc tion, delineating the different roles of the warrior class and military subculture of the franks from the ‘Roman’ religious culture of the Church. Little attention has been paid to examining possible meanings of frankish hair. The oldest explanation has been that only Merovingians wore long hair, due to Gregory of Tours’ description of Merovingians as See Robert Bartlett, “Symbolic Meanings of Hair in the Middle Ages,’ Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 4 (1994): 43—60. 3William ofMalmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum, trans. John Sharpe (London: George Bell and Sons, 1904), lIt. 4Ytzhack Hen has argued that the fragmentation and backwardness ofMerovingians was artificially created by Carolingian authors to create a picture of the noble Carolingians putting an end to the Merovingian datk ages. Rather he claims that “Merovingian culture was fir from monolithic. difference between culture of various strata ofsociety is not to be over emphasized. The same elements of popular culture were common to all inhabitants of Merovingian Gaul, laity and clerics aristocrats and peasants.” Yitzhak Hen, Culture and Religion in Merovingian Gaul, A.D. 481—751 (New York: E.J. Brill, 1995), 251. Ex PosT FAcTo LOCKS OF DIFFERENcE 57 reges crinitis, “long-haired kings.”5 This led to historians almost exclu sively equating the long-haired franks with Merovingians.6 The explana tion of the royal long hair was famously laid out by Marc Bloch, who described the Merovingian hair as a symbol ofthe sacred order of kings, which maintained its legitimacy by containing a “strain of magic.”7 In other words, Merovingian hair was ascribed a magical and sacral quality assumed to be inherent in kdnigsheil, sacred kingship, where the hair of the Merovingians was a symbol of their royal blood. This supernatural element was further supported by the Carolingian chronicler fredegar in his story concerning the origins ofthe founder ofthe dynasty, Merovech, as the son of a sea monster. This story was accepted as supporting the sacrality of kingly hair, despite its anti-Merovingian intentions and the curious absence of long hair in the story.9 In fact, the very absence of long hair in this story may indicate that the seventh century Fredegar saw nothing to gain by criticizing this sign of the kings.’° Yet, this magical hair theory was accepted because it helped to explain the survival of the supposedly weak Merovingian dynasty until the usurpa tion of Pippin III in 751, thereby beginning the Carolingian reign. However, there has been some criticism of this explanation mainly due to the fact that “the practice of ecclesiastical tonsure .. seems, in fact, rarely to have been a successful means ofeliminating opponents.” Most historians have regarded a broader frankish interest in hair as a common feature of a general Germanic culture, as evidenced by classical writers such as Tacitus.’ However, explaining fifth century practices using first century evidence is inherently problematic and anachronistic. In addition, in the few studies of hair and signs of identity in the Middle Ages that have been published in recent years, little has been added to Gregory, Decem Libri, 11.9. 6 for the most extensive defense of long hair as sign of kingship, see Averil Cameron, ‘How did Merovingian Kings wear their hair?” Revue beige de philology et d’historie 42 (1965): 1203—1216. “Une Valeur magique.” Marc Btoch, Les rois thaumaturges; étude sur le caractére surnatu ret attribué a Ia puissance royale particuliërement en France et en Angleterre, trans. J. E. Anderson (London; Routledge and K. Paul, 1973), 6r. Maximilian Diesenberger, “Hair Sacrality, and Symbolic Capital in the Frankish King doms,” in The Construction ofCommunities in the Early Middle Ages: Texts, Art(facts, and Resources, ed. R. Corradini, M. Diesenberger, and H. Reimitz (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 176, See Alexander Murray, “Post vocantur Merohingii: Fredegar, Merovech, and Sacral Kingship,” in After Romes Fail: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History: Essays presented to W. Goffart, ed. A. C. Murray (Toronto: University ofToronto Press, 1998), 121— 152. Diesenberger, “Hair Sacrality,” i8i. “Ibid., ‘“Cameron, “Merovingian Kings,” 1204. VOLUME XIX 2010 58 Peter H. Johnsson the specific question of Franldsh hair.’3 The most recent study on the topic was presented by Maximilian Diesenberger in his article “Hair, Sacrality, and Symbolic Capital in the Franldsh Kingdoms.” In his article, Diesenberger stressed the many different meanings that hair had, and tried to explain its importance in Merovingian society by applying Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic capital.’4 In this way, Diesenberger suggested that Franks applied “emotional” and “authoritative” attributes to the Merovingians’ hair, which allowed the royal family to maintain a special place in Frankish society. The most obvious meaning of the Franks’ long hair was as a sign of royalty, though there is insufficient evidence to support that this was exclusively the case. That the Merovingians had long hair is beyond any doubt; this seems to have been the custom from Chilperic and Clovis until the last Merovingian king, Chilperic III.’ The straight forward symbolism of royal hair is given to us by Einhard’s Vita Karoli Magni, which recounts how the last Merovingian king would sit on “the throne with his flowing hair and long beard, and pretend to rule, satisfied only with the royal name.”6 Einhard presents us with a king left with only empty symbols of royalty—throne, hair, beard, and name. An earlier source, the Greek writer Agathias, supports the symbolism of royal hair by claiming that “custom has reserved this practice for royalty as a sort of distinctive badge and prerogative, subjects have their hair cut all around and are strictly forbidden to grow it any longer.”7 However,