Paul the Deacon’s Liber de episcopis Mettensibus and the role of Metz in the Carolingian realm

Abstract

Circa 784, the Lombard Paul the Deacon wrote a history of the bishopric of Metz, commonly known as the Liber de episcopis Mettensibus, at the request of Angilram, bishop of Metz, whom Charlemagne had newly appointed head of the royal chapel. As has often been observed, the Liber differs in significant ways from other episcopal gesta: Paul does not seem interested in recounting a comprehensive history of the bishopric; rather, he lingers primarily on four bishops, to each of whom he dedicates a full entry. This article proposes a new reading of the Liber and examines how the combination of the four interrelated entries, by making Metz the birthplace of the Carolingian family and asserting the important contributions of the Austrasian city to the reform of the Frankish church, enhances the central role of the city within Charlemagne’s realm.