The Transformation of Cologne: From a Late Roman to an Early Medieval City A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Thomas R. Farmer IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Prof. Bernard S. Bachrach July 2011 © Thomas R. Farmer, July 2011 Acknowledgements I would like to thank first and foremost my parents, Anne and Ronnie Farmer, for their patience and never-flagging support as I worked on this dissertation. Next I would like to thank Prof. Bernard Bachrach and the members of my committee—Ruth Mazo Karras, Andrew Gallia, George Sheets, and Peter Wells—for all of the advice and guidance which they have given me over the years. I am especially grateful to Dr. Sheets for his advice and corrections in translating the Life of Kunibert; he has saved me from many errors and made the translation less stilted. Finally I would like to thank my colleagues Luis Morera and Kevin Mummey, with whom I have often discussed my research. I have benefited greatly from their comments and suggestions. Soli Deo Gloria i Table of Contents List of Maps ....................................................................................................................... iii Introduction: The Concept of Late Antiquity ......................................................................1 Chapter One: Roman Cologne ...........................................................................................43 Chapter Two: Late Roman Cologne (250-350) .................................................................69 Chapter Three: Cologne in the Period of Transition (350-550) .........................................99 Chapter Four: Merovingian Cologne (550-750) ..............................................................142 Chapter Five: Carolingian Cologne (750-900) ................................................................187 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................233 Maps .................................................................................................................................240 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................244 Appendix One: Catalogue of Cologne‟s Vici...................................................................265 Appendix Two: The Life of St. Kunibert .........................................................................286 ii List of Maps Map 1: The Province of Gaul ...........................................................................................240 Map 2: The Vici of Cologne‟s Hinterland ........................................................................241 Map 3: Roman Cologne ...................................................................................................242 Map 4: Rural Churches in Cologne‟s Hinterland ............................................................243 iii 1 Introduction: The Concept of Late Antiquity For years, historians were certain that the Roman Empire came to a clear and definitive end. This was seen as a significant turning point in history, marking the end of ancient history and the beginning of the Middle Ages. In turn, these two eras were arranged, along with the modern period, into the tripartite division of history which became the main framework for the chronology of the European past. While historians might have disagreed vehemently about the causes and exact timing of the Roman Empire's disappearance, they at least agreed that it did end.1 But the very idea that there is a clear dividing line between the ancient and medieval worlds has been seriously questioned in the past few decades. More recent historians have instead preferred to downplay differences and stress similarities between the two eras.2 Indeed, rather than believing that two historical periods existed (ancient and medieval), with all of Roman history firmly within the former, historians instead believe that a third period existed, usually called "Late Antiquity," which includes both the latter part of Roman and the beginning of medieval history. The use of "Late Antiquity" is not mere semantics; by accepting the idea of Late Antiquity, we call into 1For a thorough discussion of the historiography of the "fall of the Roman Empire," see Bryce Lyon, The Origins of the Middle Ages: Pirenne's Challenge to Gibbon (New York: W.W. Norton, 1972) 13-56. The following is a very partial list of works which argue that the Roman Empire came to a clear end: Otto Seeck, Geschichte des Untergangs des antiken Welt, 6 vols. (Berlin: Siemenroth & Troschel, 1901-20); Mikhail Rostovtzeff, Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1926); Ferdinand Lot, La Fin du monde antique et le debut du Moyen Âge (Paris: Renaissance du Livre, 1927); to a lesser extent also André Piganiol, L‟Empire chrétien (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1947). For a thorough discussion of the historiography of the "fall of the Roman Empire," see Bryce Lyon, The Origins of the Middle Ages: Pirenne's Challenge to Gibbon (New York: W.W. Norton, 1972). 2Again, the following is a very partial list which argue for substantial continuity : A.H.M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602: A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey, 2 vols. (Norman, OK.: Univ. of Okla. Press, 1964); Lynn White, Jr., The Transformation of the Roman World: Gibbon's Problem after Two Centuries (Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1966); Walter Goffart, Barbarians and Romans, A.D. 418-584: The Techniques of Accommodation (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1980). 2 question the tripartite division mentioned above. Historians engaged in this issue have sometimes tended to focus on very high- level interpretations; that is, they have investigated large units, such as the Roman Empire or Carolingian Empire, instead of focusing on lower-level units, such as regions or provinces. In this study I will examine one city, Cologne, to see how these issues of change and continuity played out during the period from A.D. 250 to 900. Before we proceed to the city of Cologne, however, we will first need to review how historians have understood the concept of Late Antiquity and explore the ramifications of using this concept to understand the era between the third and tenth centuries. An Early Interpretation of Late Antiquity The phrase "Late Antiquity" was first used not by a historian, but rather a German art historian: Alois Riegl, who in 1901 published a catalogue of Egyptian textiles.3 The phrase "Spätantike" gained some currency among German-speaking scholars, but not anglophone ones. As a result, even those scholars who argued that the centuries following the Roman Empire deserved to be considered as a specific temporal unit did not use the label "Late Antiquity" to designate this period. One such scholar was J.M. Wallace-Hadrill. The title of his 1952 work The Barbarian West: 400-1000 indicates that the six centuries under review constituted a distinct period, though he did not provide a specific appellation for them. For Wallace- Hadrill, the key element that united these centuries into one period was the continuing influence of Rome, such as in political structures, administration, thought and culture, and so forth. Wallace-Hadrill considered the career of Clovis (r. 486-511) to be an excellent example of Rome's continuing impact. In 507, Clovis defeated the Visigoths at Vouillé, thus adding Aquitania to his territory and ending Visigothic power in Gaul 3 Edward James, "The Rise and Function of the Concept 'Late Antiquity'," Journal of Late Antiquity 1.1 (Spring 2008): 20-21. 3 (though they continued to rule in Spain). After the victory, Clovis returned to Tours, where the legate of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491-518) met him and presented him with a letter from the emperor granting him the title of consul. Wallace- Hadrill interpreted this act as being one of both recognition and co-optation: Anastasius acknowledged that Clovis was ruling Gaul, but on the emperor's behalf (he especially wanted Clovis to balance out the power of Theodoric the Great's [r. 493-526] Ostrogothic kingdom.) Wallace-Hadrill did not view this incident as marking a loss for the Empire, but instead as a change in administration that was mutually beneficial: Anastasius gained an ally against the Goths, and Clovis gained imperial legitimacy.4 A second example of Rome's continuing influence was, according to Wallace- Hadrill, Charlemagne's imperial coronation in 800. As Wallace-Hadrill put it, Charlemagne was crowned "not Emperor of this or that, but Roman Emperor."5 However, Wallace-Hadrill substantially qualified this position by maintaining that the title of Emperor only added luster to Charlemagne's already impressive roster of titles; he derived his real power from being king of the Franks and Lombards. Nonetheless, although his imperial title may not have given him any real power, Charlemagne still took it seriously, and this shows how influential Roman traditions remained.6 Wallace-Hadrill thus saw the centuries from 400 to 1000 as united by the influence that the Roman Empire continued to exert over Western Europe, long after it had ceased to exist politically in the West. From the fifth to the tenth centuries, Wallace- Hadrill argued, Europeans saw themselves as Romans, and for that reason, these centuries form a distinct historical