Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul: Revisiting the Sources

343 Pages·2017·9.29 MB·English

by  Ralph W. Mathisen

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Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul
Dedicated to
JOHN SMEDLEY
DRSetRWM
Fautori optimo studiorum aevi labentis
Votum solverunt liberties merito
Society and Culture
in Late Antique Gaul
Revisiting the Sources
edited by
Ralph W. Mathisen and Danuta Shanzer
First published 2001 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2017 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
,
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group an informa business
Copyright © Ralph W. Mathisen and Danuta Shanzer 2001
The authors have asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the authors of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Society and culture in late antique Gaul: revisiting the
sources.
1. Gaul-History-Sources. 2. Gaul-Civilization-Sources.
I. Mathisen, Ralph W., 1947- II. Shanzer, Danuta.
936.4
US Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publiction Data
Society and culture in late antique Gaul: revisiting the sources / edited by
Ralph W. Mathisen and Danuta Shanzer.
p. c.m.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Gaul-History-58 B.C.-511 A.D. 2. Civilization, Ancient.
I. Mathisen, Ralph, W., 1947- II. Shanzer, Danuta.
DC62 .S63 20001
930-dc21 2001022828
Typeset by Ralph W. Mathisen using Wordperfect
ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-0624-6 (hbk)
Contents
Figures vii
Contributors viii
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
Map of Late Antique Gaul xiii
Introduction
Danuta Shanzer, Ralph W. Mathisen 1
Part I From Roman to Barbarian Gaul
1 The Visigothic Settlement in Aquitania: Chronology and Archaeology
Andreas Schwarcz 15
2 The Visigothic Settlement in Aquitania: The Imperial Perspective
Michael Kulikowski 26
3 Not the Theodosian Code: Euric’s Law and Late Fifth-Century Gaul
Jill Harries 39
4 The Gallic Chronicle of 452: A New Critical Edition with a Brief
Introduction
Richard Burgess 52
5 The Gallic Chronicle of 511: A New Critical Edition with a Brief
Introduction
Richard Burgess 85
6 The Letters of Ruricius of Limoges and the Passage from Roman to
Frankish Gaul
Ralph W. Mathisen 101
VI CONTENTS
7 Childeric’s Grave, Clovis’ Succession, and the Origins of the
Merovingian Kingdom
Guy Halsall 116
8 The Quasi-Imperial Coinage and Fiscal Administration of
Merovingian Provence
Kevin Uhalde 134
Part II Religion and Society
9 Sacred Topography: The Impact of the Funerary Basilica in Late
Antique Gaul
Bailey Young 169
10 Beyond Hagiography: Epigraphic Commemoration and the Cult
of Saints in Late Antique Trier
Mark A. Handley 187
11 Aristocracy and Asceticism: The Letters of Ennodius and the Gallic
and Italian Churches
Richard Bartlett 201
12 Bishops, Letters, Fast, Food, and Feast in Later Roman Gaul
Danuta Shanzer 217
Part III Intellectual Life
13 No Place for a Platonist Soul in Fifth-Century Gaul? The Case of
Mamertus Claudianus
Charles Brittain 239
14 Avitus of Vienne, The Augustinian Poet
Ian N. Wood 263
15 The Epistula Rustici ad Eucherium: From the Library of Imperial
Classics to the Library of the Fathers
Mark Vessey 218
16 Venantius Fortunatus’ Elegy on the Death of Galswintha (Carm. 6.5)
Michael Roberts 298
Index 313
Figures
Map of Late Antique Gaul xiii
4.1 Folio 110v from ms. "L" of the Gallic Chronicle of452 83
4.2 Folio 54r from ms. "B" of the Gallic Chronicle of452 84
8.1 Comparative coinages of Merovingian Provence 161-3
8.2 Quasi-Imperial coinages of Merovingian Provence 164-5
9.1 The site of St-Pierre lEstrier at Autun 183
9.2 Restoration of a typical square Gallic fanum 184
9.3 Sequence of churches of Mary Magdalene in Geneva 185
9.4 Plan of funerary church at Mâcon 186
10.1 Chronological distribution of inscriptions of late antique Trier 198
Contributors
Richard Bartlett Western Australia University
Charles Brittain Cornell University
Richard Burgess University of Ottawa
Guy Halsall Birkbeck College, London
Mark A. Handley University College, London
Jill Harries University of St. Andrews
Michael Kulikowski Smith College
Ralph W. Mathisen University of South Carolina
Michael Roberts Wesleyan University
Andreas Schwarcz University of Vienna
Danuta Shanzer Cornell University
Kevin Uhalde Northern Illinois University
Mark Vessey University of British Columbia
Ian N. Wood University of Leeds
Bailey Young Eastern Illinois University
Preface
This volume was conceived at the International Medieval Studies Congress at Kalamazoo
in May, 1998, when John Smedley, noticing the large number of papers dealing with
Late Antiquity in general and late antique Gaul in particular suggested that a published
volume might be in order. The rest, they say, is history. Using as a starting point persons
present at the conference, such as Michael Kulikowski, Andreas Schwarcz, and Ian
Wood, the two of us began to seek out contributors for a book that, at John’s suggestion,
would focus on new ways of looking at both existing and newly discovered source
material relating to late antique Gaul. Gallic specialists whom we approached were
remarkably supportive of the project. Although the press of research and other business
prohibited some from participating, most not only eagerly agreed to do so, but also
made time in their already full schedules to craft their contributions. For that we are
most grateful.
The resulting book fits nicely into what has become something of a tradition of
collected studies relating to late antique Gaul. It all started in 1992 with the publication
of J. Drinkwater and H. Elton’s Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity? by Cambridge
University Press; indeed, six of the contributors to that volume authored seven of
the sixteen studies in this one. Subsequently, several collaborative efforts relating
all or in part to late antique Gaul have appeared, including, inter alia, F. Vallet, M.
Kazanski eds., L'armée romaine et les barbares du Ille au Vile siècle (Paris, 1993);
F. Vallet, M. Kazanski eds., La noblesse Romaine et les chefs barbares du IIle au
Vile siècle (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1995); R. Mathisen, H. Sivan eds., Shifting Frontiers
in Late Antiquity (Aldershot, 1996); F. Paschoud, J. Szidat eds., Usurpationen in der
Spatantike (Stuttgart, 1997); N. Gauthier, H. Galinié eds, Grégoire de Tours et l'espace
gaulois (Tours, 1997); M. Rouche ed., Clovis, le Romain, le chrétien, l'Européen
(Paris, 1998); W.E. Klingshim, M. Vessey eds., The Limits of Ancient Christianity:
Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honor ofR.A. Markus (Ann Arbor,
1999) ; A. Ferreiro ed., The Visigoths. Studies in Culture and Society (Leiden, 1999);
C. de Dreuille ed., L'Eglise et la Mission au VIe siècle. La mission d'Augustin de
Cantorbéry et les Eglises de Gaule sous l'impulsion de Grégoire le Grand (Paris,
2000) ; and R.W. Mathisen ed., Law, Society, and Authority in Late Antiquity (Oxford,
2001) . Moreover, particular attention should be paid to the many volumes resulting
from the European "Transformation of the Roman World" project, including L. Webster,
M. Michelle Brown eds., The Transformation of the Roman World AD 400-900