'Being Martin': Saint and Successor in Sixth-Century Tours

Utilising the poetry of Venantius Fortunatus ( c . 530–600), this article explores the literary fashioning of an idealized episcopal identity for the sixth-century bishops of Tours as successors to Martin, the celebrated fourth-century saint of the city. It is argued that the poet's deployment of the model was of political use to his patron, Bishop Gregory of Tours, both in the establishment of his authority in the town and in dealings with the Frankish kings about matters of taxation. It is suggested that this crafting of an episcopal identity allowed the poet to put pressure on Gregory himself to be Martin and intervene in such matters as a legal case or the affairs of a diocese outside his jurisdiction as metropolitan. The legitimating Martinian model of episcopal behaviour is presented therefore as potentially coercive.     

"Unworthy Servants": The Rhetoric of Resignation at Canterbury, 1070–1170

Medieval attempts to resign episcopal office hold many complexities: legal issues, religious ramifications, and the personal motivations behind such acts. Taken at face value, appeals to resign appear direct and explicit; bishops desire release from an office they feel unworthy to hold, or in which they feel they have accomplished little. On closer scrutiny, however, many of these texts reveal purposes quite apart from resignation. Indeed, the attempts of three archbishops of Canterbury to resign office in the eleventh and twelfth centuries reveal strikingly similar rhetorical devices that indicate less a desire to leave office than to bolster the archbishops' spiritual authority. The requests of Lanfranc, Anselm, and Thomas Becket employ language designed to reinforce episcopal centrality at times when kings and even popes dis-regarded its importance, at least in the eyes of these archbishops. Despite the differ-ing circumstances that gave rise to each appeal for resignation, the stylized discourse in all of them suggests a need to make specific points that would rouse support for or bolster the perception of the requestor's episcopal status. All three archbishops, as well as their chroniclers or biographers, saw issues of Canterbury's leadership in the spiritual life of England at stake, and resignation became the means to pro-mote and advance the episcopal cause. By bringing repeated phrases of unworthiness or lack of accomplishment into their appeals for resignation, each man sought a response that would reassure him of his worthiness and ability to lead Canterbury.     

The Port‐Vendres 4 Shipwreck Cargo: evidence of the Roman wine trade in the western Mediterranean

The Port‐Vendres 4 shipwreck is evidence of coastal export trade between Hispania Citerior and Narbonne in 40/30 BC. The cargo is made up of a particular assemblage of Roman wine amphoras (Pascual 1, Dressel 1B and Lamboglia 2) destined for Gallic markets. Archaeological and archaeometric analyses conducted on a selection of the amphoras allowed the provenance of the cargo to be identified as Hispania Citerior and the central‐southern Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. Iluro and/or Baetulo are proposed as the ports of departure, enabling the reconstruction of the trade route and the historical and economic significance of this shipwreck.     

Constructing a diocese in a post-conquest landscape: a comparative approach to the lay possession of tithes

This article explores how territorial conquest and consolidation of Muslim-ruled lands in the medieval Iberian Peninsula influenced the restoration and growth of frontier episcopal sees through an analysis of tithing. In comparing two neighbouring dioceses in the Crown of Aragon, Tortosa and Lleida, restored following the same mid-twelfth-century expedition with similar privileges yet differing frontier conditions, the study finds that the ability of dioceses to develop parishes and impose episcopal privileges was limited by conditions on the frontier which in turn conditioned the course and progress of seigniorial and royal territorial consolidation. In the wake of conquest, bishops in both Tortosa and Lleida often negotiated with lay lords who seized tithes on their lands in order to found and foster parishes. As the dioceses succeeded in developing their lands and the border with Islam was pushed further afield, willingness to compromise on tithe collection and permit lay retention of episcopal and parish revenues accordingly faded away. While bishoprics on the Iberian frontier did face special challenges with tithing created or influenced by their territorial environments not witnessed in the interior of Christendom, the temporary deviations from canonical provisions necessitated by these special conditions did not usually result in enduring differences in episcopal tithing practices.     

Episcopal lordship in the diocese of Florence and the origins of the commune of San Casciano Val di Pesa, 1230–1247

The relationship between town and country (contado) and the origin of the rural commune in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Tuscany are two problems that have long intrigued historians of medieval Italy. An analysis of the nature of the lordship of one of the most powerful rural lords (the bishops of Florence) in the diocese of Florence can offer important insights into both these issues. Focusing on a region in the upper Pesa river valley that was part of the episcopal estate (mensa), a close examination of the social, economic, and political changes in the area between 1150 to 1250 reveals that resistance to episcopal lordship by former episcopal vassals (fideles) and officials led directly to the formation of the commune of San Casciano Val di Pesa. In the early thirteenth century the bishops commuted traditional dues on their lands (work obligations or rents in money or kind) to grain payments and appointed feudal officials to enforce those rent payments in order to achieve two goals: to end earlier forms of rural resistance to episcopal lordship and to monopolize the local grain market. Instead of ending that resistance, this two-fold folicy intensified it. Choosing not to support San Casciano Val di Pesa in its struggle to free itself from the feudal jurisdiction of the bishop, the commune of Florence actively aided the episcopate to preserve its power in the area. Concerned at both the possible loss of a guaranteed supply of grain during a war with Siena and the potential withdrawal of a community from the Florentine sphere of influence in a strategically important region on the Sienese frontier, the Florentines engineered a compromise between the two conflicting parties which granted to San Casciano a measure of autonomy that did not threaten episcopal hegemony. Since the episcopate did not pose a threat to Florentine interests in the city or countryside, it actually acted as a surrogate for Florentine power that maintained order and stability in the upper Pesa valley until Florence imposed direct control over the area in the second half of the thirteenth century.     

“Soldiers of Christ” from the Byzantine Perspective: Monks,Emperors, and Conflict in the Early Byzantine Empire

This article is an exploration of concept of monks as “soldiers of Christ” in Byzantine Anatolia during the late sixth and early seventh centuries CE. Through a case study of Theodore of Sykeon, this article will explore monks as agents of continuity in the Byzantine Anatolia of the late sixth and early seventh centuries through Theodore's conflicts with the emperors, imperial authorities, and the regional episcopal hierarchy. The conflicts Theodore had with various authority figures of his time were about helping them see the right path of supporting Catholic orthodoxy as the normative belief system of Byzantine society and integrating his rural community of Sykeon into the wider web of imperial and episcopal urban patronage. Thus, conflict in this context was a catalyst for social order and stability rather than a symptom of social collapse. This article also fits into the historiography of the holy man as local patron in Late Antiquity, suggesting an alternate interpretation of this phenomenon as first put forward in Peter Brown's seminal works on this subject.     

THE 'ROMANISATION'of TURDETANIA

Summary: Turdetania was one of the Iron Age cultural blocks which emerged after the disintegration of Tartessos in the later 6th century BC. It corresponded largely to the lower Guadalquívir valley of southern Spain. From the early 2nd century BC it formed the heart of the Roman province of Hispania Ulterior and, from the later 1st century BC, Hispania Baetica. This paper sets out to examine the Romanisation of the region from an indigenous perspective rather than a Romano-centric viewpoint. Until the mid-first century BC Roman impact was negligble and merely served to reinforce the Turdetanian prestige goods economy. Subsequently, however, the foundation of coloniae and a consequent increase in commercial activity were catalysts for rapid change. A new hierarchy of dominant and dependent centres arise and, by the early 1st century AD, the agricultural wealth of the region was being more directly exploited for Rome's benefit. This relatively 'delayed'Romanisation is interpreted as native resistance to cultural change.     

Substitute or subordinate? The role of a male procurator at a Benedictine women's monastery

This paper examines an attempt to introduce a male administrator at a Benedictine women's monastery in Catalonia in the fourteenth century. It argues that records from the monastic and episcopal archives indicate the existence of a complex and dynamic interplay between the nuns and their abbess and the bishop. Due to this complicated process of negotiation, the bishop did not succeed in imposing a new male authority figure over the traditional leadership of the community. Over the next fifty years, the abbesses reasserted themselves and redefined the procurator's role as one subordinate to themselves. The episode illustrates that nuns could employ varied tactics to resist attempts to change their traditional administrative structure.     

Hispania and the Atlantic Route in Roman Times: new Approaches to Ports and Trade

This paper explores the role of Hispania in the Atlantic route in Roman times. We analyse the different Atlantic Iberian territories along this route, based on recent archaeological advances and discoveries related to trade as well as the shipping infrastructure. The aim is to explain the origin and evolution of a new maritime area that was completely integrated with the political and commercial structure of the Empire, with trade routes that followed the coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula all the way to the Mediterranean.     

‘The revolt of the medievalists’. Directions in recent research on the twelfth-century renaissance

This paper examines an attempt to introduce a male administrator at a Benedictine women's monastery in Catalonia in the fourteenth century. It argues that records from the monastic and episcopal archives indicate the existence of a complex and dynamic interplay between the nuns and their abbess and the bishop. Due to this complicated process of negotiation, the bishop did not succeed in imposing a new male authority figure over the traditional leadership of the community. Over the next fifty years, the abbesses reasserted themselves and redefined the procurator's role as one subordinate to themselves. The episode illustrates that nuns could employ varied tactics to resist attempts to change their traditional administrative structure.     

Cross-cultural Links in Ancient Iberia: Socio-economic Anatomy of Hospitality

This study is concerned with hospitality in central Spain during the Late Iron Age. First the main characteristics of this Indo-European institution are presented, paying especial attention to the background of indigenous tesserae hospitalis (small epigraphic plaques referring to social links among different communities). An attempt is then made to juxtapose hospitality with the economic basis of Celtic Hispania and with other possible systems of regional interaction, such as transhumance.     

Negotiating episcopal support in the Merovingian kingdom of Reims (ad 561–75)

Minimal scholarly attention has been paid to the ecclesiastical policies of King Sigibert I of Reims (r. 561–75). An examination of Sigibert's policies suggests the lengths to which the king went to attract and maintain episcopal allies in strategic and politically divided civitates. While Gregory of Tours in his Decem Libri Historiarum blamed Sigibert's death on his stubborn refusal to heed episcopal counsel, the bishop of Tours recognized that the king of Reims was not consistently hostile to the church and its bishops, and saw the circumstances of Sigibert's untimely death as ultimately tragic.     

ROMAN AMPHORA TRADE ACROSS THE STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR: AN ANCIENT ‘ANTI‐ECONOMIC PRACTICE’?

Summary.   Olive oil and fish products from the south of Hispania and North Africa played an important role in the Roman economy. The authors call attention to the asymmetrical distribution of archaeological data available on this subject, in particular the location of amphora kilns, and try to give an explanation, based on the evolution of European archaeology in the twentieth century.     

Mendicant orders in the Principality of Achaia and the Latin communal identity, 1204–1453

Abstract

Despite the fact that the Franciscan and Dominican Orders arrived in Latin Greece well armed with a specific mandate to engage and evangelize the Orthodox population in order to facilitate the implementation of Church union, little if any effort was made in this regard by the members of either order. Rather, reliant as they were on the Latin secular authorities for protection, support and sustenance, they appeared content to spend their tenure in Greece ministering almost exclusively to the Latin segment of the population, becoming deeply involved in the political, economic and cultural life of the Latin states. This was to the utter detriment of their original mission to the Orthodox. Thus, this article examines the role of mendicants in Achaia as contributors to the Latin cultural identity, especially in the episcopal context.     

The chronology and sources of the early Irish annals

Chronological divergence between the different early Irish annals has hampered the use of their many unique records of events in Ireland, Britain and the European continent as historical sources. This paper reviews recent work which has demonstrated that their original chronological apparatus consisted of a kalend (Kł) followed, until at least the mid-seventh century, by the ferial of 1 January, and from this a consistent chronology has been restored for the annals over the years AD 1–722. In addition, critical examination of their regnal and episcopal successions has established that the 'world history' section of these annals and Bede's Chronica maiora are not mutually dependent, but rather share a common source which has been identified as a kalend-plus-ferial chronicle composed by Rufinus of Aquileia in the early fifth century.     

In Memoriam: Philip Mainwaring Johnston,F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.

Abstract

It is increasingly recognised that religion was the mainspring of pre-Reformation domestic ritual in royal as well as episcopal and archiepiscopal households. This article sets out to examine the architectural consequences of this. It argues that from the mid-15th century a small group of high-status residential buildings was planned around the need for lavish liturgical display, particularly the introduction of a cloister. The patrons of such buildings were churchmen of the highest rank such as Henry Beaufort and Thomas Wolsey who, it is argued, had special requirements for their principal residences. These requirements subsequently went on to influence the plans of early Tudor royal palaces, culminating in the reconstruction of Whitehall Palace by Henry VIII in the 1540s.     

The Poeta Saxo at Paderborn: episcopal authority and Carolingian rule in late ninth‐century Saxony

This paper argues that the Poeta Saxo's epic poem about Charlemagne was composed at the bishopric of Paderborn as part of a wider literary programme that included both the Translatio sancti Liborii and the Vita sancti Liborii. Near the close of the ninth century, when Paderborn's renown and resources were at their lowest ebb, these three works articulated an image of episcopal authority, touted the pre‐eminence of Paderborn, and made a bid for royal patronage.