Hagiography, historiography, and identity in sixth-century Gaul : rethinking Gregory of Tours / Tamar Rotman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rotman, Tamar, author.

Series:

Social worlds of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

Social Worlds of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Middle Ages.

Historians--France.

Historians.

Europe--Historical geography.

Europe.

Gregory, Bishop of Tours, Saint, 538-594.

Gregory.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (195 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2022.

Summary:

Gregory of Tours, the sixth-century Merovingian bishop, composed extensive historiographical and hagiographical corpora during the twenty years of his episcopacy in Tours. These works serve as important sources for the cultural, social, political and religious history of Merovingian Gaul. This book focuses on Gregory's hagiographical collections, especially the <i>Glory of the Martyrs, Glory of the Confessors, and Life of the Fathers</i>, which contain accounts of saints and their miracles from across the Mediterranean world. It analyses these accounts from literary and historical perspectives, examining them through the lens of relations between the Merovingians and their Mediterranean counterparts, and contextualizing them within the identity crisis that followed the disintegration of the Roman world. This approach leads to groundbreaking conclusions about Gregory's hagiographies, which this study argues were designed as an 'ecclesiastical history' (of the Merovingian Church) that enabled him to craft a specific Gallo-Christian identity for his audience.

Contents:

4. 'By Romans They Refer To...' (Romanos Enim Vocitant): History, Hagiography, and Identity

Whose History Is It Anyway?

Gallo-Christian Identity

Gaul vs. Spain

Gaul vs. the East

Hagiography and Identity

The Martyrologium Hieronymianum

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

Sergius

Cosmas and Damian

Phocas

Domitius

George

Isidore

Polyeuctus

The Eastern Evidence: Glory of the Confessors

Conclusion: The Dissemination of the Cults of Saints

3. The Miraculous History of Gregory of Tours

Libri Miraculorum Revisited

Gregory of Tours's Literary Approach

Gregory of Tours's Historiographical Perception

From Hagiography to Ecclesiasticcal History

A Brief History of 'Ecclesiastical History'

Historiographical and Literary Context

Cover

Table of contents

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Cults of Saints

Gregory of Tours and his Work

East and West

The Aims of this Study

1. Gregory of Tours

The Life of Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours and his Saints

Martin of Tours

Julian of Brioude

Vita Patrum

The Glory of the Confessors

The Glory of the Martyrs

Autohagiography

2. 'When the Saints Go Marching In': Eastern Saints in Merovingian Gaul

The Italian Evidence

The Eastern Evidence: Glory of the Martyrs

Polycarp

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 16 Dec 2021).

Other Format:

Print version: Rotman, Tamar Hagiography, Historiography, and Identity in Sixth-Century Gaul

ISBN:

90-485-5199-4

OCLC:

1285782998