Bishop ano community vn the poetR^y op uenantius f- ORtaoatas. BRiarj BRenoah m.a, Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. School of History, Philosophy and Politics, Macquarie University. March, 1983. 3 ) 0 2 * 0 2 . * . ^ / 5 PA Z Z t r f >ir7 ■Z*H C d / ^ / / MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY HIGHER DEGREE THESIS (PhD) AUTHOR’S CONSENT This is to certify that I, . being a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy am aware of the policy of the University relating to the retention and use of higher degree theses as contained in the University’s PhD Regulations generally, and in particular, Regulation 21(2). In the light of this policy and the provisions of the above Regulations, I agree to allow a copy of my thesis to be deposited in the University Library for consultation, loan and photocopying forthwith. Signature of Witness Signature of Candidate Dated this . day of . 19 The Academic Senate on 18 October 1983 resolved that the candidate had satisfied requirements for admission to this degree. This thesis represents a major part of the prescribed program of study. i. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Abbreviations xii. Chapter I. An Italian Poet in Gaul 1 - 76. (1) Family Background and Early Career 3. (2) Studies at Ravenna 7. (3) The Trip to Gaul 9. (4) Venantius in Gaul 15. The Poet at Work (5) Panegyric 44. (6) Verses at Table 52. (7) Letters of Recommendation 53. (8) Consolatio and Epitaph 54. (9) Other Inscriptions of Poetry 60. Chapter II The Portrayal of the Bishop 77 - 148 (1) Senatorial Bishops 79. (2) Family Domination of Episcopal Sees and 96. Indications of Social Mobility (3) Frankish Bishops 102. (4) The Bishop's Wife 109. (5) Monasticism and Celibacy 115. (6) Intellectual Background 119. (7) The Episcopal Cursus 124. (8) Portrayal of the Episcopal Ideal 125. (9) Episcopal Virtues 128. ii.. Chapter III The Bishop and his Spiritual Community 140 - 226 (1) Spiritual Community in City and Country- 156. side (2) The Bishop and the Cult of the City Patron 169. (3) The Bishop and Groups within the 181. Community - (a) The Christian People 181. (b) Clergy 185. (c) Monks and Nuns 188. (4) Inclusion and Exclusion: Definition of the Community 199. Chapter IV Episcopal Authority and Secular Power 227-290 (1) The Bishop as Urban Leader 227. (2) Bishops as Royal Envoys 240. (3) The Bishop and the Social and Economic 244. Life of his City (4) The Growth of Episcopal Influence 255. (5) Conflict or Co-operation with Secular 259. Officials at the City level Chapter V King. Court and Church 291 - 333 (1) Court and Capital 293. (2) The King 305. (3) The King and the Church 311. Chapter VI CONCLUSION 334. BIBLIOGRAPHY 342. MAPS 351 - 360 MAPS MAP I Venantius' Route to Gaul 351. MAP II Bordeaux 352. MAP III Environs of Bordeaux 353. MAP IV Paris 354. MAP V Communications : Bordeaux-Toulouse 355. MAP VI Saintes 356. MAP VII Poitiers 357. MAP vm Tours 358. MAP IX Soissons 359. MAP X Ecclesiastical Organisation 360. SUMMARY This study analyses the portrayal of the bishop and community in the poetry of Venantius Fortunatus and evaluates the value of the poems as historical source material. The first chapter presents a reconstruction of Venantius' situation in Gaul and of the milieu in which he worked. It also examines broadly his literary production in terms of genre and poetic convention as part of a discussion of the poems as historical source material. Particular stress is given to the constraints that convention placed upon the poet. The relationship of poet to patrons is examined and Gregory of Tours established as Venantius' principal patron. Thirty-nine bishops, who figure in Venantius' poems, are discussed in Chapter Two, both in terms of individual difference, and in the way in which they are made to conform to an idealised model of episcopal competence and behaviour. Chapters Three and Four focus attention on the bishop in the community. We examine first his role as spiritual leader and then as civic leader. The bishop's role in the civitas community is examined and his relation­ ship to representatives of the secular power assessed. Chapter Five, a culminating chapter, places the figure of Venantius' king beside that of Venantius' bishop and drawing together arguments earlier developed relates Venantius' portrayal of the bishop and his community to the debate about the relative strengths of King and Bishop in sixth century Gaul. It is argued here that the bishop did not enjoy an unchallenged supremacy in the cities of sixth century Gaul or benefit from a supposed translatio imperii. This study stresses Venantius' role as panegyrist of the bishops of Gaul, who, faced with often delicate political situations, sought from Venantius public and poetic affirmations of their piety and of what they saw as their ideal status within the community. Venantius operated most particularly as the satellite of his great patron Gregory of Tours, offering his poetry as a welcome bolster to Gregory's auctoritas. Venantius' poetry formed part of that prelate's diplomatic offensives. CERTIFICATE I, Brian Richard Brennan, do hereby certify that this thesis, "Bishop and Community in the poetry of Venantius Fortunatus", and the work embodied in it, has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution. Brian Brennan. 2. 3. 83. pRepace vi. Preface The literary sources available to the historian of sixth century Gaul are few in number and variable in character. Amongst the material that has survived, the works of Gregory of Tours loom large. To a great extent we are forced to see Merovingian Gaul through his eyes. Since Gregory provides us with the sole narrative history for much of this century, and since he emerges from his own works as an intriguing and engaging individual, it is not surprising that so much scholarly activity has been devoted to a study of his literary output. The result of this has been that other types of source material have inevitably been viewed as supplementary and not accorded the same degree of attention. However, in a period with such meagre documentation, every piece of evidence must be fully exploited, and its potential contribution to our body of information about the age assessed. The inclusion of the complete works of the poet Venantius Fortunatus in the Auctores Antiquissimi section of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica sprang from Mommsen's assumption that these poems contained material that would be of use to future historians of the age. Mommsen chose works that had an historical significance and that were in need of new critical editions. Despite opposition he included the complete works of-the poets Ausonius, Claudianus and Venantius Fortunatus. While admitting that only some few sections of the poets would be of direct use to the historian, Mommsen believed that a decision about relevance could only be made once one knew and could judge the whole of a poet's work. (1) The complete texts of the poets were to be made available and F. Leo edited the text of Venantius. This source has been utilised by historians in a piecemeal fashion, but in comparison with the attention lavished on Gregory’s works, the poems remain somewhat neglected. There is no English translation of the whole of Venantius' poems and there has been no full scale historical treatment of the poet and his milieu since that of the Abbe Tardi in 1927. (2) Moreover, many of the details in that author's account of Venantius himself and of his situation in Gaul require emendation. It can be a singularly difficult task to attempt to use poetry as an historical source. Immediately one is faced with the towering problems of poetic exaggeration on the one hand, and of literary convention on the other. Any attempt to establish a close correspondence between the portrayal of individuals and events depicted in the poetry and historical events is often frustrated by a lack of corroborative material in other sources, while Venantius, in particular, often wrote with an idealising purpose in genres the conventions of which often demanded no corres­ pondence with everyday reality. We are, as well, dealing with many, often small, occasional poems. There will be many gaps in what they can reveal about sixth century life. The aim of this historical study is to examine the portrayal of the bishop and his community in Vaiantiu^ poetry and to assess its use to the historian. The starting point of this work is the acknowledgement that we are here dealing with a literary construct, but that the nature of this construct can, in itself, tell us much about Merovingian society and the way that it operated. Venantius' poems were part of the sixth century world - they were read at the great occasions of church and state, they were inscribed on walls and tombstones. In effect they catalogue the ideals and aspirations of the upper classes of Merovingian society for whom they were written. They also shed particular light upon the ideals of the Gallic episcopacy, since Venantius moved largely in episcopal circles, had episcopal patrons and eventually became a bishop himself. It must be stressed that I do not here attempt a literary study. Venantius' debt to earlier poets has been established by the labours of Max Manitius and Sven Blomgren(3) and more recently Barbara Rogers has completed a literary study(4). The research currently being undertaken by Judith George in the Classics Department of the University of Edinburgh will hopefully further illuminate tradition and originality in Venantius' poetry.