Title: Facing a second death : narrating and silencing hell in the works of Gregory of Tours
Source document: Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2017, vol. 22, iss. 2, pp. 201-216
Extent
201-216
-
ISSN1803-7402 (print)2336-4424 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2017-2-11
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/137631
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This paper examines the use of the language of the eternal damnation as applied by Gregory, bishop of Tours, writing in the 6th century in Merovingian Gaul. Instead of trying to elucidate the bishop's views of hell in the light of what late antique Christian authors prior to him had written on that subject, this paper takes the writings of Gregory as a point of departure. Various types of people (who are regrouped around their religious creeds) which Gregory explicitly sees as damned are examined and the possible causes behind the application of the language of hell are adduced. The instances where Gregory chooses to refrain from the use of the language of damnation are given equal attention and the political limits of the application of the threat of hell are explored through the example of the Merovingian king Chilperic.
References
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[2] Arndt, W., & Krusch, B. (Eds.). (1969). Gregorius Turonensis: Miracula et opera minora. Hannoverae: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani.
[3] Dagron, D. (Ed.). (1978). Vie et Miracles de Sainte Thècle. Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes.
[4] Marcovich, M. (Ed.). (2001). Origenes: Contra Celsum libri VIII. Leiden: Brill.
[5] Migne, J. P. (Ed.). (1845). Hieronymus: Epistolae. In Idem (Ed.), S. Eusebii Hieronymi Stridonensis Presbyteri opera omnia (Tomus II; pp. 235–1182). Paris: J. P. Migne.
[6] Migne, J. P. (Ed.). (1863). Gregorius Nyssenus: De anima et resurrectione. In Idem (Ed.) (1863), S. P. N. Gregorii Nysseni Opera quae reperiri potuerunt omnia (Tomus III; pp. 11–160). Paris: J. P. Migne.
[7] Mommsen, Th. (Ed.). (1882). Iordanes: Romana et Getica. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos.
[8] Mommsen, Th. (Ed.). (1894). Chronicorum minorum saec. IV. V. VI. VII. (Vol. II). Berolini: Apud Weidmannos.
[9] Zangemeister, C. (Ed.). (1882). Orosius: Historiae adversum paganos. In Idem (Ed.), Pauli Orosii Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII. Accedit eiusdem Liber apologeticus (pp. 1–600). Vindobonae: Apud C. Geroldi filium Bibliopolam Academiae.
[10] Auerbach, E. (2001 [1946]). Mimesis. Dargestellte Wirklichkeit in der abendländischen Literatur. Tübingen – Basel: A. Francke Verlag.
[11] Bernstein, A. P. (1993). The Formation of Hell. Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds. Ithaca – London: Cornell University Press.
[12] Bourgain, P. (2015). The Works of Gregory of Tours: Manuscripts, Language and Style. In A. C. Murray (Ed.), A Companion to Gregory of Tours (pp. 141–188). Leiden: Brill.
[13] Brown, P. (1988). The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity. New York: Columbia University Press.
[14] Curtius, E. R. (1965). Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter. Bern: Francke.
[15] De Nie, G. (1987). Views from a Many Windowed Tower: Studies of Imagination in the Works of Gregory of Tours. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
[16] Diesenberger, M., & Reimitz, H. (2005). Zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft: Momente des Königtums in der merowingischen Historiographie. In F.-R. Erkens (Ed.), Das frühmittelalterliche Königtum: Ideelle und religiöse Grundlagen (pp. 214–269). Berlin: de Gruyter.
[17] Goetz, H.-W. (2013). Die Wahrnehmung anderer Religionen und christlich-abendländisches Selbstverständnis im frühen und hohen Mittelalter (5.–12. Jahrhundert) (Band 2). [Berlin]: Akademie Verlag.
[18] Goffart, W. (1988). The Narrators of Barbarian History. Yale: Princeton University Press.
[19] Gosh, S. (2016). Writing the Barbarian Past. Studies in Early Medieval Historical Narrative. Leiden: Brill.
[20] Halsall, G. R. W. (2002). Nero and Herod? The death of Chilperic and Gregory of Tours' writing of history. In K. Mitchell, & I. Wood. (Eds.), The World of Gregory of Tours (pp. 337–350). Leiden: Brill.
[21] Heinzelmann, M. (1994). Gregor von Tours (538–594): "Zehn Bücher Geschichte". Historiographie und Gesellschaftskonzept im 6. Jahrhundert. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
[22] Heinzelmann, M. (1996). Clovis dans le discours hagiographique du VIe au IXe siècle. Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Chartes, 121(1), 87–112. | DOI 10.3406/bec.1996.450812
[23] Le Goff, J. (1981). La naissance du purgatoire. [Paris]: Gallimard.
[24] Minois, G. (1994). Die Hölle. Zur Geschichte einer Fiktion. Aus dem Französischen von Sigrid Kester. München: Diedrichs.
[25] Moreira, I. (2000). Dreams, Visions and Spiritual Authority in Merovingian Gaul. Ithaca – London: Cornell University Press.
[26] Moreira, I. (2010). Heaven's Purge. Purgatory in Late Antiquity. Oxford: University Press.
[27] Moreira, I., & Toscano M. (Eds.). (2010). Hell and its Afterlife. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Farnham – Burlington: Ashgate.
[28] Pietri, L. (1983). La ville de Tours du IVe au VIe siècle: naissance d'une cité chrétienne. Rome: Ecole française de Rome.
[29] Schwöbel, Ch. (2002). Trinität. In H. Balz et al. (Eds.), Theologische Realenzyklopädie (Band 34; pp. 91–121). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
[30] Thürlemann F. (1974). Der historische Diskurs bei Gregor von Tours: Topoi und Wirklichkeit. Bern: Lang.
[31] Trumbower, J. A. (2010). Early Visions of Hell as a Place of Education and Conversion. In I. Moreira, & M. Toscano (Eds.), Hell and its Afterlife. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (pp. 29–37). Farnham – Burlington: Ashgate.
[2] Arndt, W., & Krusch, B. (Eds.). (1969). Gregorius Turonensis: Miracula et opera minora. Hannoverae: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani.
[3] Dagron, D. (Ed.). (1978). Vie et Miracles de Sainte Thècle. Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes.
[4] Marcovich, M. (Ed.). (2001). Origenes: Contra Celsum libri VIII. Leiden: Brill.
[5] Migne, J. P. (Ed.). (1845). Hieronymus: Epistolae. In Idem (Ed.), S. Eusebii Hieronymi Stridonensis Presbyteri opera omnia (Tomus II; pp. 235–1182). Paris: J. P. Migne.
[6] Migne, J. P. (Ed.). (1863). Gregorius Nyssenus: De anima et resurrectione. In Idem (Ed.) (1863), S. P. N. Gregorii Nysseni Opera quae reperiri potuerunt omnia (Tomus III; pp. 11–160). Paris: J. P. Migne.
[7] Mommsen, Th. (Ed.). (1882). Iordanes: Romana et Getica. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos.
[8] Mommsen, Th. (Ed.). (1894). Chronicorum minorum saec. IV. V. VI. VII. (Vol. II). Berolini: Apud Weidmannos.
[9] Zangemeister, C. (Ed.). (1882). Orosius: Historiae adversum paganos. In Idem (Ed.), Pauli Orosii Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII. Accedit eiusdem Liber apologeticus (pp. 1–600). Vindobonae: Apud C. Geroldi filium Bibliopolam Academiae.
[10] Auerbach, E. (2001 [1946]). Mimesis. Dargestellte Wirklichkeit in der abendländischen Literatur. Tübingen – Basel: A. Francke Verlag.
[11] Bernstein, A. P. (1993). The Formation of Hell. Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds. Ithaca – London: Cornell University Press.
[12] Bourgain, P. (2015). The Works of Gregory of Tours: Manuscripts, Language and Style. In A. C. Murray (Ed.), A Companion to Gregory of Tours (pp. 141–188). Leiden: Brill.
[13] Brown, P. (1988). The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity. New York: Columbia University Press.
[14] Curtius, E. R. (1965). Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter. Bern: Francke.
[15] De Nie, G. (1987). Views from a Many Windowed Tower: Studies of Imagination in the Works of Gregory of Tours. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
[16] Diesenberger, M., & Reimitz, H. (2005). Zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft: Momente des Königtums in der merowingischen Historiographie. In F.-R. Erkens (Ed.), Das frühmittelalterliche Königtum: Ideelle und religiöse Grundlagen (pp. 214–269). Berlin: de Gruyter.
[17] Goetz, H.-W. (2013). Die Wahrnehmung anderer Religionen und christlich-abendländisches Selbstverständnis im frühen und hohen Mittelalter (5.–12. Jahrhundert) (Band 2). [Berlin]: Akademie Verlag.
[18] Goffart, W. (1988). The Narrators of Barbarian History. Yale: Princeton University Press.
[19] Gosh, S. (2016). Writing the Barbarian Past. Studies in Early Medieval Historical Narrative. Leiden: Brill.
[20] Halsall, G. R. W. (2002). Nero and Herod? The death of Chilperic and Gregory of Tours' writing of history. In K. Mitchell, & I. Wood. (Eds.), The World of Gregory of Tours (pp. 337–350). Leiden: Brill.
[21] Heinzelmann, M. (1994). Gregor von Tours (538–594): "Zehn Bücher Geschichte". Historiographie und Gesellschaftskonzept im 6. Jahrhundert. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
[22] Heinzelmann, M. (1996). Clovis dans le discours hagiographique du VIe au IXe siècle. Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Chartes, 121(1), 87–112. | DOI 10.3406/bec.1996.450812
[23] Le Goff, J. (1981). La naissance du purgatoire. [Paris]: Gallimard.
[24] Minois, G. (1994). Die Hölle. Zur Geschichte einer Fiktion. Aus dem Französischen von Sigrid Kester. München: Diedrichs.
[25] Moreira, I. (2000). Dreams, Visions and Spiritual Authority in Merovingian Gaul. Ithaca – London: Cornell University Press.
[26] Moreira, I. (2010). Heaven's Purge. Purgatory in Late Antiquity. Oxford: University Press.
[27] Moreira, I., & Toscano M. (Eds.). (2010). Hell and its Afterlife. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Farnham – Burlington: Ashgate.
[28] Pietri, L. (1983). La ville de Tours du IVe au VIe siècle: naissance d'une cité chrétienne. Rome: Ecole française de Rome.
[29] Schwöbel, Ch. (2002). Trinität. In H. Balz et al. (Eds.), Theologische Realenzyklopädie (Band 34; pp. 91–121). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
[30] Thürlemann F. (1974). Der historische Diskurs bei Gregor von Tours: Topoi und Wirklichkeit. Bern: Lang.
[31] Trumbower, J. A. (2010). Early Visions of Hell as a Place of Education and Conversion. In I. Moreira, & M. Toscano (Eds.), Hell and its Afterlife. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (pp. 29–37). Farnham – Burlington: Ashgate.