Perceiving War and the Military in Early Christian Gaul, Ca. 400-700 A.D.

443 Pages·2013·5.491 MB·English

by  Laury Sarti

Perceiving War and the Military in Early Christian Gaul
(ca. 400–700 a.d.)
Brill’s Series on the
Early Middle Ages
(continuation of The Transformation of the
Roman World)
Managing Editor
Bonnie Effros
University of Florida
Editorial Board
Deborah Deliyannis, Indiana University
Edward James, University College Dublin
Walter Pohl, Austrian Academy of Sciences
VOLUME 22
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bsem
Perceiving War and the Military
in Early Christian Gaul
(ca. 400–700 a.d.)
By
Laury Sarti
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2013
Cover illustration: Silver coin bearing the name of the major domus Ebroin. Obv: Portrait of Ebroin,
with his right hand raised. Rev: EBRO/INO. Minted in Paris or Brioude. Dim. 11 mm, 1,23 g. Found
in Bais (France). Collection Bais 99, Acc. 21/1929m. Location: Münzkabinett der Staatlichen
Museen zu Berlin. Illustration from http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/, inv. nr. 18202329. Courtesy
of Prof. Dr. Bernd Kluge.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sarti, Laury.
Perceiving war and the military in early Christian Gaul (ca. 400–700 a.d.) / by Laury Sarti.
pages cm. -- (Brill’s series on the early Middle Ages, ISSN 1878–4879 ; volume 22)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-25618-7 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-25805-1 (e-book) 1. Gaul--
History, Military. 2. Gaul--History--58 b.c.-511 a.d. I. Title.
DC63.S28 2013
936.4’02--dc23
2013027245
Supported by the Fonds National de la
Recherche, Luxembourg (FNR/12/AM4/36
and TR-PHD FR07-118).
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters
covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the
humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN 1878-4879
ISBN 978-90-04-25618-7 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-25805-1 (e-book)
Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ..................................................................................................xi
Preface ......................................................................................................................xiii
List of Abbreviations ..............................................................................................xv
I Introduction ........................................................................................................1
II Early Christian Gaul ........................................................................................13
1. From Late Roman to Merovingian Gaul ...............................................13
2. Late Roman and Merovingian Military ................................................21
3. Authority and Rulership in Transformation .......................................29
4. Late Roman and Merovingian Society ..................................................37
5. Conclusion ...................................................................................................43
III Archaeological and Written Evidence ........................................................47
1. The Physical Remains – Nature and Relevance .................................47
1.1. War in the Landscape .......................................................................48
1.2. Personal Remains ...............................................................................51
1.3. Inscriptions and Depictions ............................................................56
1.4. Summary ..............................................................................................60
2. The Written Sources – Authors and Intentions .................................61
2.1. Fifth-Century Responses to the Crisis ..........................................62
2.2. Exchanges between the Powerful ..................................................67
2.3. Chronicles and Histories ..................................................................74
2.4. Lives of the Saints ..............................................................................78
2.5. Summary ..............................................................................................81
3. Conclusion.....................................................................................................83
IV Perceiving the World of War .........................................................................85
1. Warfare according to the Written Testimony ......................................85
1.1. Spiritual Attitudes ..............................................................................86
1.2. Secular Perceptions ...........................................................................90
1.3. The non-Roman Testimony .............................................................97
1.4. Summary ...........................................................................................102
2. Perceiving Military Men ........................................................................102
2.1. Writing about Military Men .........................................................103
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viii contents
2.2. Contemporary Assessment of Military Men ...........................108
2.3. Portraying Military Men ................................................................117
2.4. Summary ...........................................................................................129
3. Contemporary Perceptions of Armed Violence ...............................130
3.1. Warfare in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages ..........130
3.2. Participating in Military Activities .............................................134
3.3. The Non-military Experience of Military Violence................136
3.4. Thinking Peace ................................................................................144
3.5. Summary ...........................................................................................150
4. Conclusion ..................................................................................................151
V The Military and the World of Thought ...................................................153
1. Self-Assessment and Presentation .......................................................153
1.1. A new Terminology ........................................................................ 153
1.2. Changing Military Identities ........................................................161
1.3. Framing the Military Elite .............................................................165
1.4. Summary ...........................................................................................174
2. War and Violence perceived by the Military .....................................175
2.1. Defining ‘Warfare’ (bellum) ..........................................................176
2.2. Taking Part in Armed Conflicts ...................................................179
2.3. Personal and Political Incitements .............................................192
2.4. War and other Armed Violence .................................................. 200
2.5. The Use of Force and Preventions of Violence .......................206
2.6. Summary ...........................................................................................213
3. Prevailing in a Militarised Society ........................................................213
3.1. Supremacy ........................................................................................214
3.2. Association and Subjugation .......................................................225
3.3. Summary ...........................................................................................232
4. Armament in Contemporary Thinking ...............................................232
4.1. Symbolisms attributed to Weapons ...........................................233
4.2. Rituals involving Weapons ...........................................................239
4.3. Weapons as a Mark of Identity ....................................................244
4.4. Summary ...........................................................................................249
5. Male Appreciation and Potency ...........................................................249
5.1. Physical Attributes ..........................................................................252
5.2. Names and Male Identity ..............................................................258
5.3. Martiality as a Means to Self-Realisation .................................261
5.4. Male Appreciation and the Proof of Strengh ..........................267
5.5. Characterising Male Ideals ...........................................................273
5.6. Maintenance and Impairment of Male Worthiness ..............279
5.7. Summary ...........................................................................................288
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contents ix
6. Religion in a World of Warriors ...........................................................288
6.1. Religion and Military Men ..........................................................289
6.2. Military men and the Christian Church ..................................300
6.3. Clergy and the Warrior .................................................................307
6.4. Summary ..........................................................................................312
7. Conclusion ................................................................................................313
VI The World of War in Christian Tradition ................................................315
1. Spiritual Authority ..................................................................................315
1.1. Rex aeternus ....................................................................................316
1.2. Earthly Delegates ...........................................................................323
1.3. Summary ..........................................................................................329
2. The Holy Man – miles Christi ...............................................................330
2.1. The Secular and the Spiritual Soldier .......................................330
2.2. Warlike Saints .................................................................................335
2.3. Summary ..........................................................................................340
3. The Spiritual Male...................................................................................340
3.1. Beeing Male in a Spiritual Setting .............................................342
3.2. Spiritual Fighting ...........................................................................348
3.3. Summary ..........................................................................................355
4. Conclusion ................................................................................................356
VII Final Analysis and Results .........................................................................359
Bibliography ..........................................................................................................375
Sources .............................................................................................................375
Literature .........................................................................................................385
Index ........................................................................................................................411
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