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Examining the Christianization of the Region of Metz

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Examining the Christianization of the Region of Metz CHAPTER SEVEN EXAMINING THE CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE REGION OF METZ FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES (5TH–7TH CENTURIES): PROBLEMS, POSSIBILITIES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND* Th e region of Metz1 has always featured prominently in the archae- ology of Merovingian Gaul.2 Several leading fi gures of the discipline worked on this area: Victor Simon, perhaps the fi rst to understand the correct chronological potential of Roman coins in Merovingian graves; Édouard Salin, author of the monumental four-volume La Civilisation Mérovingienne;3 Frauke Stein, pioneer of the study of eighth-century lavish burials in Germany and whose knowledge of the cemeteries of * Some of this chapter originally appeared, in French, as ‘La Christianisation de la région de Metz à travers les sources archéologiques (5ème–7ème siècle): problèmes et possibilités.’ L’Évangélisation des régions entre Meuse et Moselle et la Fondation de l’Abbaye d’Echternach (Ve–IXe siècle), ed. M. Polfer, (Luxembourg, 2000) pp. 123–46. Th e middle of that paper was essentially a translation of the bulk of ch. 5, above. Th at is omitted. What remains has been rewritten, with an added discussion of the implica- tions for Anglo-Saxon archaeology. Some of this is founded on a paper, ‘Inhumation avec mobilier, la réligion et les relations entre la haute politique et la politique locale dans la Gaule mérovingienne et l’Angleterre anglo-saxonne, ca. 450–ca. 700’, given to the 54th Sachsensymposium/24th Journées Internationales de l’Association Française d’archéologie Mérovingienne at St-Germain-en-Laye in September 2003. Th is was originally intended to form the basis of a contribution to the memorial volume for Richard Fletcher. As I was unable to deliver that contribution I should like to dedicate this chapter to Richard’s memory in gratitude both for his work on conversion and for all I learnt from him about history and its teaching. 1 Th e ‘region of Metz’ discussed in this paper is that, centred on the diocese of Metz but extending slightly to the west and south, which formed the subject of S&S. 2 See the excellent history of the discipline given by Patrick Périn in La Datation des Tombes Mérovingiennes (with contribution by R. Legoux) (Paris & Geneva, 1980), pp. 3–92. B. Eff ros, Caring for Body and Soul: Burial and the Aft erlife in the Merov- ingian World (Philadelphia, 2002), and ead., Merovingian Mortuary Archaeology and the Making of the Early Middle Ages (Berkeley, 2003) contain, between them, a splen- did critical history of Merovingian archaeology. I am grateful to Prof. Eff ros for kindly allowing me to read her works in advance of publication and for many discussions of the issues relevant to this chapter. 3 E. Salin, La Civilisation Mérovingienne d’après les Textes, les Sépultures et la Laboratoire (4 Vols; Paris, 1949–59). 262 chapter seven the region of Metz is unsurpassed;4 and so on. Consequently, some of the region’s sites are equally well-known: Ennery (Moselle), Lavoye (Meuse), Dieue-sur-Meuse (Meuse), and most recently Audun-le- Tiche (Moselle).5 Th e author of perhaps the fi rst real critical study of the problems involved in using archaeological data to study processes of Christianization, Professor Bailey K. Young, has also turned his attention to the cemeteries of this region.6 With this in mind, it seems appropriate to think once again about the archaeology of the region of Metz and what it may, or may not, tell us about the processes of Christianization in the north of Merovingian Gaul.7 Th e fi rst body of archaeological evidence to which we may turn in considering this topic is the cemeteries. In 1990 I catalogued 305 pos- sible cemetery sites from the fi ft h to seventh centuries within the dio- cese of Metz alone.8 From about 500 AD it became usual for the people 4 F. Stein, Adelsgräber des 8. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland (Germanische Denk- mäler der Völkerwanderungszeit. Serie A, vol. 9; Berlin, 1967); ead., ‘Precarolingian graves in South Germany’, Journal of the British Archaeological Association 3rd ser., vol. 21 (1968), pp. 1–18; ead., ‘Les tombes d’un chef franc et de sa famille à Güdingen: Considérations sur la rôle de l’aristocratie dans l’implantation franque entre la Meuse et la Sarre.’ Saarbrücker Studien und Materialen zur Altertumskunde 1 (1992), pp. 117–44. 5 A. Simmer, La Nécropole Mérovingienne d’Ennery (Moselle). Fouilles d’Émile Delort (1941) (Woippy, 1993); R. Joff roy, Le Cimetière de Lavoye (Meuse) (Paris, 1974); J. Guillaume, ‘Les nécropoles mérovingiennes de Dieue/Meuse (France).’ Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica 5–6 (1974–75), pp. 211–349. A. Simmer, Le Cimetière Mérovingien d’Audun-le-Tiche: Archéologie d’Aujourd’hui No. 1 (Mémoire de l’A.F.A.M. no. 2; Paris, 1988). 6 B.K. Young, Merovingian Funeral Rites and the Evolution of Christianity: A Study in the Historical Interpretation of Archaeological Material. Univ. of Pennsyl- vania PhD thesis (Ann Arbor, 1975); id. ‘Paganisme, christianisme et rites funérai- res mérovingiens.’ Archéologie Médiévale 7 (1977), pp. 5–81; id. Quatre Cimetières Mérovingiens de l’Est de la France: Lavoye, Dieue-sur-Meuse, Mézières-Manchester, Mazerny (BAR(I) 208; Oxford, 1984); id. ‘Quelques réfl exions sur les sépultures priv- ilégiés, leur contexte et leur évolution dans la Gaule de l’Est’ in Y. Duval & J.-C. Picard (ed.), L’Inhumation Privilégiée du IVe au VIIIe siècle en Occident (Paris, 1986), pp. 69–88. 7 On the Christianization of this region, see, above all, N. Gauthier, L’Évangélisation des Pays de la Moselle. La Province Romaine de Première Belgique entre Antiquité et Moyen-Age (IIIe–VIIIe siècles) (Paris, 1980). See also E. Morhain, ‘Les origines du christianisme à Metz et en Moselle.’ ASHAL 60 (1960–61), pp. 87–129; H.W. Her- mann, ‘Zum Stande der Erforschung der früh- und hochmittelalterlichen Geschichte des Bistums Metz.’ Rheinische Vierteljahrsblätter 28 (1963), pp. 131–99. 8 G. Halsall, ‘Civitas Mediomatricorum: Settlement and Social Organization in the Merovingian Region of Metz’, D.Phil. Th esis, University of York, 1990, Appendix 2.a, pp. 414–511. Some sites there are clearly of dubious value, only being recorded on old archaeological maps, but even discounting these the total would still clearly be very close to 300. To that catalogue should be added Fontoy (Moselle; Archéologie .
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