The martyr, the matrona and the bishop: the matron Lucina and the politics of martyr cult in fifth- and sixth-century Rome

The present study attempts to build on the achievement of Pietri and Llewellyn in assessing the peculiarities and limitations of the gesta martyrum as a source for late ancient and early medieval Rome, while shifting interpretative stress away from the lay—clerical binary which has dominated recent treatments of the cult of the saints, and toward an emphasis on factional conflict among lay—clerical coalitions. Central is an analysis of the literary motif, which recurs across the gesta of Lucina, the aristocratic matrona or widow who sees to the burial of the martyr on her own lands. Though the stereotypical figure of Lucina warns us of the limitations of the gesta as a source for the patronage activity of the lay aristocracy, it is argued, her appearance in crucial texts such as the Passio Sebastiani can nonetheless help us to trace the role which the memory of the martyrs played in texts such as the gesta martyrum, the Symmachan Forgeries, or the Liber Pontificalis, as well as the role which martyr shrines such as the Vatican basilica and the memoria apostolorum on the Via Appia played in the contestation and consolidation of Roman episcopal authority.     

Memorializing Gregory the Great: the origin and transmission of a papal cult in the seventh and early eighth centuries

This article examines the origins and early development of the cult of Pope Gregory the Great (590–604) in Rome, England, Gaul and Ireland. A first section analyses the earliest Life of the pope, written between 704 and 714 at the Northumbrian monastery of Whitby, arguing that it depended not upon oral tradition but upon early writings originating among Gregory's disciples in Rome and in part at least recorded by John Moschus. A second section relates this material to the development of Gregory's cult in the seventh and early eighth centuries, highlighting the activity of Archbishop Theodore in England. Although clerical rather than popular, the cult thus promoted established Gregory's reputation as a pastor, evangelist and father of the Latin liturgy.     

Gregory the Great, the Rule of Benedict and Roman liturgy: the evolution of a legend

This paper relates the evolution of Gregory the Great’s reputation as creator of the Roman liturgy to the slow process by which the Rule of Benedict acquired authority within monasticism in the seventh and eighth centuries. It argues that Gregory composed the Dialogues to promote ascetic values within the Church, but that this work did not begin to circulate in Spain and then Gaul until the 630s, precisely when Gregory’s known interest in liturgical reform is first attested in Rome. The letters of Pope Vitalian (657-72) provide hitherto unnoticed testimony to the theft of Benedict’s relics by monks of Fleury c.660, marking a new stage in the evolution of monastic culture in Gaul. The paper also argues that the Ordo Romanus XIX is not a Frankish composition from the second half of the eighth century (as Andrieu claimed), but provides important evidence for the Rule being observed at St Peter’s, Rome, in the late seventh century. While Gregory was interested in liturgical reform, he never enforced any particular observance on the broader church, just as he never imposed any particular rule. By the time of Charlemagne, however, Gregory had been transformed into an ideal figure imposing uniformity of liturgical observance, as well as mandating the Rule of Benedict within monasticism. Yet the church of the Lateran, mother church of the city of Rome, continued to maintain its own liturgy and ancient form of chant, which it claimed had been composed by Pope Vitalian, even in the thirteenth century.     

The Venerable Bede and Gregory the Great: exegetical connections, spiritual departures

This article revisits the familiar comparison between the thought and writings of Bede and Gregory the Great. Bede was keen to foreground his debt to Gregory and past assessments have illuminated aspects of it, but this investigation offers a more searching analysis of the interface between biblical exegesis and spiritual teaching, a subject that highlights Bede's frequent reliance on Gregory as well as his calculated departures from him. Accordingly, the article first examines the different ways Bede in his commentaries could deploy Gregory's writings as a source, then discusses the more pragmatic, less mystical thrust of Bede's thought that sets him apart from Gregory.     

罗马帝国的地方政府——以不列颠为例

本文通过分析罗马政府在不列颠的运作以揭示元首制时期罗马行省体系的运作机制。对总督及代理官任命之考察表明,罗马官员具有非职业性,他们生活在相对固定的晋升体系中,一生需要出任诸多不同职位,并没有为出任某个职位接受专门训练,所以无法发展出专业行政知识。此外,元首制时期官僚机构尚未增生,行省中罗马官员的数量屈指可数。这些都为地方自治开辟了空间。在某些罗马势力不易渗透的地方,地方自治政府在征服初期以藩属国的形式出现。随着时机成熟,藩属国作为一种权宜之计逐渐被具有高度自治权的城市所代替。城市里的地方官员在刑事案件之审理和直接税之征收方面发挥了重要作用。尽可能把行政负担转嫁到地方政府身上是罗马帝国正常运转的奥秘所在。     

人民大会及其在古典罗马共和国政治生活中的作用

有关罗马共和国政治生活的性质,在学术界存在截然不同的认识.本文利用古典文献和当代学者的研究成果,对罗马人民大会的权力、人民大会权力的局限性以及人民大会和罗马政制中的民主因素问题进行探讨,认为人民大会在法律上是罗马共和国的最高权力机关,享有立法等多方面的重要权力,但在具体行使权力过程中,受到多重不民主因素的限制.尽管如此,在作为城邦的罗马,人民大会仍发挥了相当重要的作用.罗马政治的稳定和扩张的成功,也是人民大会发挥作用的结果.     

The diffusion of the Cid cult: a survey and a little-known document

Tomb-cults (with which are to be associated family traditions, genealogical matters, and a variety of other aspects) of epic heroes are important for a number of reasons, among these being the fact they may tell us something about the origin and nature of the poems themselves. These questions have been well investigated for France but are still little studied in and for Spain. Both historical and pseudo-historical or legendary traditions are involved, the latter predominating both in quantity and interest. After an introductory discussion, a survey is undertaken of the cult of the Cid, protagonist of the Poema de mio Cid (1207?) and national hero of Spain. The aim is not to give a full account of all aspects, but to cover the less well-known of these in detail and to provide bibliographical indications about aspects that are already adequately explored. Genealogical matters are examined first, then the monasteries, churches and towns in which the cult was present. The ‘little-known document’ is the forged will of a Navarrese prince, which was a key text in the cult at the monastery of Santa Maria la Real de Nájera and at San Pedro de Cardeña.     

The diffusion of the Cid cult: a survey and a little-known document

Whereas in eleventh- and twelfth-century western Europe Christianity had taken firm root, monarchy had developed and legislation by royal and ecclesiastical authorities was a normal practice, in Iceland culture remained, for a long period, practically uninfluenced by Roman and canon law. In the present article early Icelandic laws, representatives of this culture, will be described, their formulation and application investigated, and the developments among the establishment of a central authority at the end of the thirteenth century discussed.