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Creating Community With Food and Drink in Merovingian Gaul
30 Nov 2002-
TL;DR: The role of food and drink in the formation of a Christian community is discussed in this paper, where the authors discuss the importance of eating and drinking as a source of healing and power.
Abstract: Introduction PART I: THE RITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF FEASTING IN THE FORMATION OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY Saints and Sacrifices in Sixth-Century Gaul Saints and the Provisioning of Plenty Defining Christian Community through the Fear of Pollution Conclusion PART II: FOOD, DRINK, AND THE EXPRESSION OF CLERICAL IDENTITY Defining Masculinity without Weapons: Amicitia among Bishops Monks and the Significance of Convivia in Ascetic Communities Amicitia between Clerics and Laymen Bishops and Civitias in Late Antique and Early Medieval Gaul Conclusion PART III: GENDER AND AUTHORITY: FEASTING AND FASTING IN EARLY MEDIEVAL MONASTERIES Feasting and the Power of Hospitality The Claustration of Nuns in Sixth-Century Gaul Caesarius' Rule for Nuns and the Prohibition of Convivia Radegund of Poitiers' Relationship to Food and Drink Conclusion PART IV: FOOD AS A SOURCE OF HEALING AND POWER Healing Alternatives in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Christian Cures: Blessed Oil and Holy Relics Anthimus' Guide to a Proper Diet for a Merovingian King Conclusion PART V: FUNERARY FEASTING IN MEROVINGIAN GAUL Ancient Sources and Early Medieval Practices Christian Attitudes to Funerary Meals in Early Medieval Gaul Interpreting Early Medieval Archaeological Evidence for Feasting Future Directions for Research
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TL;DR: In this paper, the mnemonic agency of the art adorning a diverse range of artefacts interred in one of Europe's most famous archaeological discoveries is explored in a case study in the early medieval archaeology of the senses.
Abstract: I consider the mnemonic agency of the art adorning a diverse range of artefacts interred in one of Europe’s most famous archaeological discoveries. The early seventh-century AD burial chamber constructed within a ship beneath Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, UK, was uncovered in 1939. I identify a theme linking the prestige artefacts placed within this ‘princely’ grave: many are covered with eyes or eye-like forms. I argue that this ocular quality to the art — not simply visually striking but affording the sense of animated, watching presences — was integral to the selection of artefacts for burial. I argue that the beastly, monstrous and humanoid eyes commemorated the dead person as all-seeing. Those witnessing the staged wrapping and consignment of the artefacts were afforded the sense of being all-seen. By exploring art in this elite mortuary context, the article presents a case study in the early medieval archaeology of the senses.
35 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a summary and interpretation of burial practices in Scotland in ad 400-650 and argue that the composition of the grave with stone, sand, timber and earth can be seen as a form of furnishing cognate with the use of grave goods elsewhere in Britain and the continent.
Abstract: THIS ARTICLE presents a summary and interpretation of burial practices in Scotland in ad 400–650. Due to the dearth of documentary sources, mortuary archaeology provides a window on the changes occurring at the juncture between prehistory and history. Yet previous work has generally approached burial as evidence for a single aspect of this transition: the conversion to Christianity. Rather than signalling ethnic or religious affiliation, it is argued that graves should be understood as acts of structured deposition which enabled new relationships to be forged between the living and the dead at a local level. The composition of the grave with stone, sand, timber and earth can be seen as a form of furnishing cognate with the use of grave goods elsewhere in Britain and the continent.
33 citations
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01 Sep 2008
TL;DR: Isidore, the first-century bishop of Seville, provided generations of Christian altar servants with explicit instructions as to the care and cultivation of the public persona of the priestly body as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In his famous treatise on the origins of ecclesiastical offices, Isidore, bishop of Seville (d. 636 CE), provides generations of Christian altar servants with explicit instructions as to the care and cultivation of the public persona of the priestly body. These directives include a section on the management of the masculine voice during the celebration of the liturgy. Here, Isidore counsels his priests to refrain from uttering obsence language, to be mindful of both gesture and gait, and to monitor the pitch and gravity of their elocutions when performing sacred rites. According to Isidore, the priestly voice should be clear and simple, and it should possess the full vigor of manhood; it should never make rustic or clownish noises, nor should it sound too servile or too lofty, too fractured or too delicate. The lector uses his voice as an instrument through which he penetrates the intellects of his hearers. Most importantly, the perfect liturgical voice should in no way sound effeminate. In order to avoid the risk of appearing femineus (“effeminate,” “womanly”), the lector’s movements must be infused with gravitas (“dignity,” “power”). Scholars of classical gender and sexuality would immediately recognize vestiges of Roman views on the elite male body in Isidore’s treatise on the clergy. In fact, the connection between Rome and Visigothic Spain is direct –the bishop of Seville summons the oratorical mastery of the first-century rhetorician Quintilian to revamp the image of the modern priest. Quintilian, in his Institutio Oratoria (c.90), provides meticulous instructions to neophyte orators as to the girding of the body, the proper positioning of the fingers, and somber striding.
24 citations
Journal Article•
19 citations