The Narrators of Barbarian History (A.D. 550-800): Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Bede, and Paul the Deacon.

Abstract

The first major historians of medieval Europe composed histories of Goths, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards. They are main witnesses to long epoch--sometimes called the Dark Ages--that their writings span, and they have nourished patriotic pride in modern nations whose origins they are thought to narrate: Jordanes in Germany and Italy, Gregory of Tours in France, Bede in Britain, and Paul Deacon in Italy. In a book that brings out conscious creativity of these four writers, Walter Goffart focuses on their goals, scrutinizing what each of them was doing and for whom. The historians are examined one by one, as called for by circumstances of their lives, individuality of their works, and critical writings each has occasioned. Their opinions and literary talents are taken as seriously as information they convey. Professor Goffart's findings about their writing and what moved them to produce it clarify a delicate chapter in history of historical thought and provide new insights into social, religious, and literary life at dawn of Middle Ages.