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Summary of the course articles and sources

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  • Course
  • GE1V16004 (GE1V16004)
  • Institution
  • Universiteit Utrecht (UU)

This document provides an in-depth summary of all the course literature. It provides the main arguments and takeaways of each text. Here you will find: Gregory of Tours/ Rob Meens/ The Royal Frankish Annals/ Janet L. Nelson/ Heiratsurkunde/ Laura Wangerin/ Pope Urban II's speech/ Conor Kostick/ Chr...

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  • January 22, 2023
  • 36
  • 2022/2023
  • Summary

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  • ge1v16004
  • middle ages
  • history
  • articles and sources
  • articles
  • literature
  • reader
  • rob meens
  • gregory of tours
  • introduction to the history of the middle ages

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  • Universiteit Utrecht (UU)
  • History
  • GE1V16004 (GE1V16004)
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Articles & Sources Summary
Table of Contents
Week 1...................................................................................................................................................2
Week 2...................................................................................................................................................7
Week 3.................................................................................................................................................13
Week 4.................................................................................................................................................16
Week 5.................................................................................................................................................22
Week 6.................................................................................................................................................27
Week 7.................................................................................................................................................29




1

,Week 1
Gregory of Tours summary

The text by Gregory of Tours provides a detailed account of the events surrounding the death of King
Chilperic and the subsequent actions of his brother, King Guntram, and Queen Fredegund. The text
begins with a description of the actions of King Guntram, who sets out to Chalon in order to uncover
the truth about his brother's death. Queen Fredegund, however, attempts to place the blame for the
death on the treasurer, Eberulf. The text explains that a bitter enmity had developed between
Eberulf and the Queen, as Eberulf had refused to come and live with her after the death of King
Chilperic.

Queen Fredegund alleges that Eberulf was responsible for the death of King Chilperic, and that he
had also stolen a significant amount of the treasury and fled to Touraine. She urges King Guntram to
take action against Eberulf, stating that he is the ringleader in the crime. In response, King Guntram
swears before all his leaders that he will destroy not only Eberulf, but his children down to the ninth
generation, in order to put an end to the abominable habit of kings being assassinated.

As soon as Eberulf hears of King Guntram's intentions, he seeks sanctuary in the church of Saint
Martin, where he had often taken property from in the past. The text states that it was necessary to
set up guards to watch over him, and that the men of Orleans and Blois took turns to keep watch.
However, the men of Orleans and Blois ended up stealing from the church and causing chaos,
including stealing pack-animals, cattle, and other possessions. They also fought among themselves,
resulting in the death of two of the men.

The text also describes the punishment inflicted upon Eberulf and his possessions. His possessions
were distributed among a number of people, with the gold, silver, and other precious objects being
put on display. His lands, which had been granted to him for life, were sold by public auction. His
herds of horses, pigs, and beasts of burden were also taken from him. His house inside the city walls,
which had been acquired from church property, was completely destroyed, leaving nothing but the
bare walls.

Despite the fact that the author of the text had been attentive to Eberulf's affairs, Eberulf holds him
more responsible for his downfall than anyone else and threatens to exact vengeance from him if he
ever returns to royal favor. The author states that he had assisted Eberulf to the best of his abilities,
but that Eberulf's downfall was due to his lack of reverence for the saintly Bishop Martin. The text
also describes instances of Eberulf's misconduct in the church, including committing manslaughter
and behaving drunkenly and stupidly in the presence of the Saint's tomb.

Eberulf takes refuge in the sacristy of the holy church, but even there, his behavior is described as
disrespectful and desecrating to the holy area. The text paints a picture of a man who has lost all
sense of respect for the church and its saints, and who ultimately brings about his own downfall
through his actions.

The text by Gregory of Tours continues to provide a detailed account of the actions of King Guntram
and the events surrounding the death of King Chilperic. The text mentions an army that ends its
occupation of Poitiers and sets out in pursuit of Gundovald, a pretender to the throne. Many of the
inhabitants of Tours joined the army in hopes of gaining plunder. However, the Poitevins waylay the
camp-followers and kill some of them, leaving the others to return home stripped of everything.
Meanwhile, the Tourangeaux who had joined the army in the first place decide to desert. The main
body of the army advances as far as the River Dordogne and awaits news of Gundovald.

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,It is mentioned that Duke Desiderius had joined Gundovald, along with Bladast and Waddo, who had
been major-domo to Princess Rigunth. Gundovald's allies included Bishop Sagittarius and
Mummolus, with Sagittarius promised the bishopric of Toulouse.

King Guntram sends Claudius with the instruction to drag Eberulf out of Saint Martin's church and
either kill him or load him with chains, and promises to reward him richly. Claudius, who is described
as an empty-headed and greedy fellow, visits Queen Fredegund, who offers him gifts and more
rewards if he succeeds in killing or capturing Eberulf. Claudius orders the count to put 300 men
under his command to garrison the gates of the city of Tours, and plans to use these men to destroy
Eberulf.

Upon his arrival in Tours, Claudius starts looking for auguries and questioning people about whether
Saint Martin has recently exercised his miraculous power against those who have broken faith, and
whether vengeance is exacted immediately from anyone who does wrong to those who put their
hopes in the Saint. He meets Eberulf in the church, and swears oaths of faith and friendship to him,
but ultimately betrays him and tries to kill him at a meal in the church-house, where Eberulf's
servants were able to protect him.

The text paints a picture of a ruthless and power-hungry King Guntram, who is willing to go to any
lengths to eliminate those who he perceives as a threat to his rule. The actions of Claudius, who is
described as empty-headed and greedy, also reflects the moral decay of the society and the
willingness of people to betray their oaths and promises for personal gain. The role of Saint Martin
and the Church also comes into play, with the characters seeking guidance and protection from the
saint, but ultimately desecrating the holy place with their actions.

The main arguments and takeaways:

1. The text describes the political situation in the kingdom of the Franks, where there is a power
struggle between different factions and pretenders to the throne, such as Gundovald.
2. The text also highlights the role of the Church and the veneration of saints like Saint Martin in
the society of the time. The characters in the text often seek refuge and guidance from the
Church, but also desecrate the holy places with their actions.
3. The text portrays King Guntram as ruthless and power-hungry, who is willing to go to any lengths
to eliminate those who he perceives as a threat to his rule.
4. The text shows the moral decay of the society, where people are willing to betray their oaths
and promises for personal gain, as exemplified by the actions of Claudius, who is described as
empty-headed and greedy.
5. The text also demonstrates the violence and chaos of the time, with battles, plunders and
murders happening frequently.
6. The text also illustrates the personality of some of the main characters like Eberulf who is
described as a poor fool and Claudius who is described as a empty-headed, greedy, and ruthless
man.
7. The text also alludes to the fact that the Frankish society of the time is a violent one, with a lot of
bloodshed and power struggles, and the Church and its saints are frequently invoked to provide
guidance and protection, but also desecrated by the same people who seek their protection.

Meens summary

The text by Rob Meens delves into the historical and cultural significance of Gregory of Tours'
Historiae, a work that has long been regarded as a proto-national history of France and the Franks.
The author's work recounts the story of Clovis's rise to power and his conversion to Christianity,

3

, which laid the foundation for the development of the myth of the 'birth' of the Catholic nation that
is France. This myth has recently been revived and analyzed by scholars. However, in the last twenty
years, Gregory's work has been the subject of more refined study, allowing for a deeper
understanding of his way of thinking, the social and cultural context in which his works came into
being, and the uses to which they were put.

Walter Goffart and Martin Heinzelmann have argued that Gregory did not write a 'History of the
Franks', but that his ten books of history are of a much more general design, highlighting the
importance of the moral order in the historical scheme of things, a moral order that had to be
guaranteed by the cooperation of kings and bishops. Despite Gregory's warning to keep his Historiae
intact and not to change or abridge it, this warning did not prevent such things from happening. An
early redactor, probably writing before the year 700, drastically shortened Gregory's work, omitting
parts of books 1 to 6, and all of the following books. Because the redactor left out a lot of material
pertaining to ecclesiastical matters, Goffart and Heinzelmann have regarded this six-book version of
Gregory, which seems to have been more influential than the complete version in ten books, as a
Historia Francorum: a history of the Franks conceived in a context of 'fränkische Volks- und
Herrschergeschichtsschreibung'.

Recently, however, Helmut Reimitz has questioned this assumption, arguing that the redactor was
mainly dissociating the text from the personal history of Gregory and his relatives. Nevertheless,
Reimitz maintains, Gregory's Historiae continued to be used to construct identities "for centuries
after Gregory's death", when being appropriated in later historical compendia.

The article also examines two specific chapters in Gregory's Historiae that deal with a topic over
which kings and bishops could easily get into conflict: the right of sanctuary in churches. Recently,
Mayke de Jong has discussed the role of monasteries as places of internal exile for the powerful.
Their exemption from royal power turned them into "sacred islands", to which the powerful, if need
be, could retreat from the political arena without losing face. She regards the seventh century, which
saw the development of Columbanian monasticism, as a turning point in the history of Frankish
monasticism. In the case discussed here, a confrontation taking place at the end of the sixth century,
the basilica of St Martin in Tours plays a similar role as a place of temporary retreat. This conflict
between King Guntram and the treasurer Eberulf centered around the right of asylum, which,
according to De Jong, is still “an understudied topic” in Merovingian history.

This article is in the first place an attempt to reach a better understanding of the practice of
sanctuary in Merovingian Gaul. The author argues that the episode discussed is of crucial
importance for our appreciation of the text of the Historiae as well as of the identity of Gregory of
Tours. The article also delves into the historical context of the time, discussing Robert Markus's
argument that during the early fifth century "every church was a direct gateway to heaven; no
longer as it had been from the beginning, only a building to house the worshipping community.

The article continues to examine the specific case of Eberulf, a treasurer who had been accused of
murder and theft by Queen Fredegunde and sought refuge in the church of St Martin in Tours.
Eberulf, who had been a treasurer of King Chilperic, sought refuge in the church after the king was
murdered and the queen, who may have been responsible for the murder, accused him of the crime
and of stealing from the royal treasury. King Guntram, the brother of the deceased king, swore to kill
not only Eberulf but also his whole family into the ninth generation.

One of the reasons why Eberulf chose to seek refuge in St Martin probably was that the powerful
bishop of Tours, Gregory, was personally related to him by ties of spiritual kinship, since he was the


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