Culture and Religion in Merovingian Gaul, A.D. 481-751 by Yitzhak Hen

Abstract

758book reviews Culture and Religion in Merovingian Gaul, A.D. 481-751. By Yitzhak Hen. [Cultures, BeUefs and Traditions: Medieval and Early Modern Peoples,Volume 1.] (Leiden: E. J. Brill. 1995. Pp. xiv, 308. $80.00.) Dr. Hen utilizes an impressive array of sources and modern studies to reconstruct the cultural and religious life of Merovingian Gaul.The aim is a comprehensive picture ofthe interacting reUgious and cultural forces that characterized a society once—perhaps in some circles still—regarded as the outstanding representative of "dark age" decline. Archaeological and anthropological findings supplement the reconstruction, but the bulk of evidence comes from the writings of churchmen, and so the picture cannot be complete.Yet there is stiU the possibUity of a synthetic treatment giving coherence to the pieces of Merovingian remains. Such an undertaking in English has been long awaited, with the few previous works of a similar breadth usuaUy coming from continental Europe . Hen perceptively discusses language and literacy before focusing on the Catholic liturgy (chapters 2-5) as a cultural expression of religious and social interaction. After mentioning the relevant liturgical sources and the monastic centers responsible for their production, he arranges his treatment of Merovingian worship under three subdivisions corresponding to the main kturgical cycles : the temporal, commemorating Christ's life; the sanctoral, honoring the holy dead; the personal, celebrating events in an individual's lifetime. The sources pertaining to the cycles reflect a people's committed participation in the Church's Life. The closely examined Uturgical texts and the reconstructed sanctoral calendars also show, respectively, a "certain detachment" f. 60) from Roman influences and much local flavor in the veneration of saints. Chapter 6 considers paganism's survival in the Merovingian kingdoms.The old belief system, he argues, was at best a marginal religion nearly dead by the sixth century. Sources mentioning pagan practice are regarded as having no "basis in reahty" (p. 177). This reader feels that here the evidence is not aUowed to speak; it seems forced to fit a narrow outlook. The book ends with an overview of secular entertainments.As alternatives to the vanishing pastimes of previous eras (like gladiatorial shows), the athletic played vigorous ball sports while the sedentary enjoyed a board game resembling backgammon. For males a socially defining leisure activity was heavy drinking . Hen has a deep sympathy for an era maligned since the Carolingians. He redresses the damnatio memoriae overshadowing the period's achievements. Indeed , he compeUingly shows how Merovingian cultural developments provided precedents for the Carolingians (though the latter suppressed the knowledge of Merovingian influence by claiming to be innovators rather than borrowers). But the coherent picture never emerges.The separate sketches of culture remain as parts not related to a whole. Colorful portions are also missing.With Arianism and Judaism hardly discussed and paganism dismissed as barely having a book reviews759 marginal place within society, Latin Christianity is the sole beUef system extensively treated (the title's inclusive "religion" misleads). Even this exclusive focus overlooks the varieties ofreligious expressions within the Church. For a scholar who chaUenges so many prevalent views, Hen accepts too readUy the opinion that a scarcity of living holy people marked this era. Hermits, widows, practitioners ofsecreta conversio, pauperes on a church's matricula, and other holy lay people who cluttered the religious landscape of Merovingian Gaul are not represented. Merovingian society itsetf is generically presented.WhUe specific entertainments are admirably discussed, individual social groups are overlooked . Their absence is noticeable. After aU, the sources say more about the poor than they do about backgammon. Certainly any investigation into the Merovingian past wUl be hindered by the nature of the evidence. But this evidence is so much richer than what Hen's study shows. John Kitchen Toronto, Ontario Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640-720. By Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding. [Manchester Medieval Sources Series .] (Manchester: Manchester University Press. Distributed by St. Martin's Press, Scholarly and Reference Division, NewYork. 1996. Pp. xi, 397. $69-95 clothbound; $24.95 paperback.) This splendid volume provides an important addition to the general studies of and translated sources from the Merovingian era which have appeared over the last decade from such Anglophone scholars...