Sulpicius Severus Research Articles

Truth and Convention in the Middle Ages: Rhetoric, Representation, and Reality by Ruth Morse

STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER study is admirable: "free[ing) women's voices" (p. 210) is the urgent project here. But doing so requires that "depressing" ideas be faced and reckoned with: that Chaucer may not be "wemenis frend" (or may not be in ways that will solve our problems today, which this book seems to wish); that liberal humanism certainly is not; that true pluralism-a world of differences­ may be ideal, but that real structural change, not just a dream of in­ clusiveness, is the only way there. CAROLYN DINSHAW University of California, Berkeley RUTH MORSE. Truth and Convention in the Middle Ages: Rhetoric, Repre­ sentation, and Reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Pp. xiv, 295. $49.50. Academicbook reviewing is a paradoxical activity. The reviewer is endowed with an overwhelming advantage, but the ethics ofthis superiority require that it not be exercised. Having all the power but little of the freedom presupposed by intellectual exchange, the reviewer must practice an oblig­ atory noblesse oblige-one of those contradictions in terms that our strange profession generates in such profusion. Ruth Morse's Truth and Convention in the Middle Agesinvokes this double bind more sharply than usual. But while noblesse permits me to say that this book is widely informed, carefully written, and at times genuinely thoughtful, it does not oblige me to mislead myreaders. For ifone were led by the title to expect a cogent new account of medieval writing informed by several decades of debate about "representation," one will be disappointed. Morse's topic is indeed the conventionality or rhetoricity of medieval writing, particularly medieval historiography, and how it complicates questions oftruth. But in all but the last chapter this inquiry is vitiated by a too narrowly concep­ tualized analysis of the practice she surveys. The book begins with "a reassessment of rhetorical habits of mind" by discussing rhetorical education. Her account emphasizes Cicero, Quin­ tilian, and-oddly-Isocrates, whose twelve progymnasmata are taken as typifying medieval "exercises of invention," a "dozen graded exercises." This is an instance ofMorse's baffling strategy ofrelying on texts and terms that have little medieval currency. Iftheprogymnasmata are to be taken as 184 .REVIEWS typifying medieval "rhetorical habits of mind" (itselfa large assumption), then why was not the text of choice Priscian's widely used Praeexer­ citamina-a translation of Hermogenes' progymnasmata - rather than a Greek text unknown to the Middle Ages? So too both here and throughout the book medieval and Renaissance practices are discussed as if they were identical, a lack of discrimination that will mislead the student audience that Morse posits as her primary target. Chapter 2 begins from the presupposition that medieval historians wrote "for exemplary purposes rather than strict representation," but the long discussion fails to advance beyond this elementary claim. Hence, for example, an extended account of the representation of Henry V at Agin­ court in a number oftexts reduces itselfto the conclusion that propaganda took precedence over accuracy. But Morse could have asked more probing questions of her texts: Does not the theatricality of Henry's behavior itself imply a critique? Does other evidence suggest that Henry did actually behave this way, that he typically represented himself heroically? And what of the larger context of the description in each of the texts? It must also be said that the usefulness ofMorse's discussion is not improved by the misleading identification of one of the texts. Chapter 3 turns to biography to demonstrate "that people were seen as instances ofunchanging types" and that, with the primary exception ofthe letters of Abelard and Heloise, "there are no reliable biographies (in any modern sense) before the seventeenth century." Apart from the predicta­ bility ofthis conclusion, one is again struck by the curious disproportion of the chapter, especially given its primary audience of students. Discussing hagiography, for instance, Morse provides a detailed analysis of Sulpicius Severus's VitaMartini but neithera history ofthe genre nor anaccountofits function within medieval culture. The fourth chapter discusses translation theory (word-for-word versus sense-for-sense) but slides imperceptibly into an account of medieval habits of commentary and interpretation, es­ pecially of the Bible-a discussion filled with interestingly speculative suggestions...

Trois documents méconnus sur l'histoire sociale et religieuse de l'Afrique romaine tardive retrouvés parmi les spuria de Sulpice Sévère

Three manuscrits of Orosius' Aduersus Paganos add a letter written by Sulpicius Severus, and three others from a different author. The first, called Epistula ad Saluium, had been written by an African landowner, living near the city of Matar, now Mateur, in northern Tunisia. Salvius, the letter addressee, claimed coloni living on an estate called the Fundus Volusianus, owned by the author ; he asserted their origo was sited on his own lands. In spite of Salvius' threatening words and of his intention of bringing the case before the courts, the author rejected the claim, Salvius' rights being, in his opinion, imaginary. The clash was the result of an old conflict having brought together the former owners of the lands. The document may be dated from the beginning of the Vth century. It shows how harsh were the clashes concerning the land property and exploitation. The author and his addressee where both advocates, so the letter uses accurate juridical sentences. We can see that the procedure, for such a claim of coloni, was quite similar to that concerning a claim of slaves. Some recent studies have strongly pointed out that the late Roman laws considered the coloni as free men. This document does not positively refute this statement, but it shows clearly the heaviness of the coloni's, overheads and subordination. Two other letters from this set seem to have been written by the same African anonymous author. The first congratulates an addressee (surely a bishop) on having converted without recourse to coercion a lot of crude contrymen who practised a false and unlawful religion. This is an episode of the elimination of Donatism by the imperial laws, passed after the Conference of Carthage in 41 1 and compelling the landowners to convert their countrymen. In another letter, the author asks the decurions of a city to exempt a newly baptised young actor from going on the stage, according to the prescriptions of the canon law, ratified by the imperial law. The document clearly shows that, in the Later Empire, an actor's job was seen as a compulsory public duty (munus).

Changing Perceptions in Late Antiquity: Martin of Tours

Martin of Tours (ca 335-397 AD) served as the dominant model of sanctity in the early medieval west. His life and impact are well documented in the work of his younger contemporary and follower Sulpicius Severus. During the fifth century Martin's reputation spread through Europe, and his cult grew along with his reputation. By the latter half of that century both were sufficient to stimulate Paulinus of Perigueux to compose a Christian epic (in six books), De Vita S. Martin. In this poem Paulinus follows Sulpicius Severus rather closely for the details of Martin's life and miraculous deeds ( virtutes) , but, throughout, his interpretations and expansions very much reflect changing perceptions of Martin, as do the further details recorded in the last book, which document and reflect contemporary experience of Martin's healing intervention. The same process continues in the sixth century, as is evident from the poetic Life of Martin by Venantius Fortunatus and the four books of his contemporary, Gregory of Tours. As Bishop of Tours, Gregory was responsible for the supervision of Martin's shrine; he thus had a unique opportunity to witness the cult of Martin from close at hand. It seems that the 'social role' of the saint fixed by the mid sixth century (at the latest) was in the form which would become normative for the early middle ages. It is possible, by surveying the Martin literature, to document the various stages in the evolution of popular perceptions of the saint. These changing perceptions are interesting and significant in themselves.8 It can also be argued that they reflect changes in popular consciousness ('mentalites') over the years 350-600 AD.

Changing Perceptions in Late Antiquity: Martin of Tours

Martin of Tours (ca 335-397 AD) served as the dominant model of sanctity in the early medieval west. His life and impact are well documented in the work of his younger contemporary and follower Sulpicius Severus. During the fifth century Martin's reputation spread through Europe, and his cult grew along with his reputation. By the latter half of that century both were sufficient to stimulate Paulinus of Perigueux to compose a Christian epic (in six books), De Vita S. Martin. In this poem Paulinus follows Sulpicius Severus rather closely for the details of Martin's life and miraculous deeds ( virtutes) , but, throughout, his interpretations and expansions very much reflect changing perceptions of Martin, as do the further details recorded in the last book, which document and reflect contemporary experience of Martin's healing intervention. The same process continues in the sixth century, as is evident from the poetic Life of Martin by Venantius Fortunatus and the four books of his contemporary, Gregory of Tours. As Bishop of Tours, Gregory was responsible for the supervision of Martin's shrine; he thus had a unique opportunity to witness the cult of Martin from close at hand. It seems that the 'social role' of the saint fixed by the mid sixth century (at the latest) was in the form which would become normative for the early middle ages. It is possible, by surveying the Martin literature, to document the various stages in the evolution of popular perceptions of the saint. These changing perceptions are interesting and significant in themselves.8 It can also be argued that they reflect changes in popular consciousness ('mentalites') over the years 350-600 AD.

"Homo omnino Latinus"? The Theological and Cultural Background of Pope Gregory the Great

Previous articleNext article No Access"Homo omnino Latinus"? The Theological and Cultural Background of Pope Gregory the GreatJoan M. PetersenJoan M. Petersen Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Speculum Volume 62, Number 3Jul., 1987 The journal of the Medieval Academy of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2846381 Views: 23Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1987 The Medieval Academy of AmericaPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Yuliya Minets The Slow Fall of Babel, 102 (Dec 2021).https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108980821Michael Haren From Ancient World to Middle Ages: Adaptation and Transmission, (Jan 1992): 37–82.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22403-6_3

The Dynamics of Holy Power as Reflected in Narrative Structure in the Lives of St Martin and St Anthony

Sulpicius Severus, in his Dialogues, makes an emphatic claim for the superiority of St Martin to all the holy men of the East. After a discussion of the wondrous deeds of some unnamed eastern holy men, Sulpicius declares that Martin ’s powers were all the more impressive because he was able to maintain his sanctity despite his contact with the world. Says Sulpicius:

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:Awkward Dominion: American Political, Economic, and Cultural Relations with Europe, 1919–1933. By Frank CostigliolaSt. Martin and His Hagiographer: History and Miracle in Sulpicius Severus. By Claire StancliffeSt. James's Catapult: The Life and Times of Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela. By R. A. FletcherThe Boundaries of Eros: Sex Crime and Sexuality in Renaissance Venice. By Guido RuggieroVerdict According to Conscience: Perspectives on the English Criminal Trial Jury, 1200–1800. By Thomas A. GreenRobin Hood: An Historical Enquiry. By John BellamyPolicing Victorian London: Political Policing, Public Order, and the London Metropolitan Police Force. By Phillip Thurmond SmithFrom Irving to Olivier: A Social History of the Acting Profession in England 1880–1983. By Michael SandersonChurch and University in the Scottish Enlightenment: The Moderate Literati of Edinburgh. By Richard B. SherElections, Politics, and Society in Ireland, 1832–1885. By K. Theodore HoppenKingGeorge V. By Kenneth RoseColbert. By Inès MuratChurch, State, and Society Under the Bourbon Kings of France. Edited by Richard M. GoldenProvisioning Paris: Merchants and Millers in the Grain and Flour Trade During the Eighteenth Century. By Steven Laurence KaplanPopulist Religion and Left‐wing Politics in France, 1830–1852. By Edward BerensonVictors and Vanquished: The German Influence on Army and Church in France after 1870. By Allan MitchellCavour. By Denis Mack SmithChurch, Politics, and Society in Spain, 1750–1874. [Harvard Historical Monographs.] By William J. CallahanEconomy and Foreign Policy: The Struggle of the Great Powers for Hegemony in the Danube Valley, 1919–1939. By György RánkiShopkeepers and Master Artisans in Nineteenth‐Century Europe. Edited by Geoffrey Crossick and Heinz‐Gerhard HauptThe French Revolution in Germany; Occupation and Resistance in the Rhineland, 1792–1802 by T. C. W. BlanningThe Alternative Culture: Socialist Labor in Imperial Germany. By Vernon L. LidtkeRevisionism and Empire: Socialist Imperialism in Germany 1897–1914. By Roger FletcherCommunism in Germany Under the Weimar Republic. By Ben FowkesGermany and Republican China. By William C. KirbyA Refuge From Darkness. Wilfrid Israel and the Rescue of the Jews. By Naomi ShepherdThe Nuremberg Trial. By Ann Tusa and John TusaSignificant Sisters: The Grassroots of Active Feminism, 1839–1939. By Margaret ForsterSet Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584–1606. By David Beers QuinnSociety and Economy in Colonial Connecticut. By Jackson Turner MainMechanical Metamorphosis: Technological Change in Revolutionary America. By Neil Longley YorkAn Uncivil War: The Southern Backcountry During the American Revolution. [Perspectives on the American Revolution Series.] Edited by Ronald Hoffman, Thad W. Tate and Peter J. AlbertTo Starve the Army at Pleasure: Continental Army Administration and American Political Culture, 1775–1783. By E. Wayne CarpThe Last Rising: The Newport Insurrection of 1839. By David J. V. JonesThe Web of Progress: Private Values and Public Styles in Boston and Charleston, 1828–1843. By William H. Pease and Jane H. PeaseBoston 1700–1980: The Evolution of Urban Politics. Edited by Ronald P. Formisano and Constance K. BurnsThe First Suburbs: Residential Communities on the Boston Periphery, 1815–1860. By Henry C. BinfordShaky Palaces: Homeownership and Social Mobility in Boston's Suburbanization. [Columbia History of Urban Life Series.] By Matthew Edel, Elliott D. Sclar, and Daniel LuriaMartin Van Buren and the American Political System. By Donald B. ColeThe Presidency of Martin Van Buren. By Major L. WilsonSlavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland During the Nineteenth Century. By Barbara Jean FieldsThe Confederate Governors. Edited with an introduction by W. Buck YearnsMassachusetts in the Gilded Age: Selected Essays. Edited by Jack Tager and John W. IfkovicVigilantes in Gold Rush San Francisco. By Robert M. Senkewicz, S.J.Tribal Dispossession and the Ottawa Indian University Fraud. By William E. Unrau and H. Craig MinerAs Long as the River Shall Run: An Ethnohistory of Pyramid Lake River Reservation. By Martha C. Knack and Omer C. StewartThe First World War. By Keith RobbinsBefore the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt, 1882–1905. By Geoffrey C. WardThe Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights. By Robert Fredrick BurkIn Pursuit of Power: Southern Blacks and Electoral Politics, 1965–1982. [Contemporary American History Series.] By Steven F. LawsonCaring for the Retarded in America: A History. [Contributions in Medical History, Number 16.] By Peter L. Tyor and Leland V. BellWalking to Work: Tramps in America, 1790–1935. Edited by Eric H. MonkkonenAmerica's Business. By James Oliver RobertsonIn the American Province: Studies in the History and Historiography of Ideas. By David A. HollingerMan, Land, and Water: Mexico's Farmlands Irrigation Policies, 1885–1911. By Clifton B. Kroeber

St. Martin and His Hagiographer: History and Miracle in Sulpicius Severus

St. Martin and His Hagiographer: History and Miracle in Sulpicius Severus

St. Martin and His Hagiographer: History and Miracle in Sulpicius Severus

The Life of St Martin by Sulpicius Severus was one of the formative works of Latin hagiography. Yet although written by a contemporary who knew Martin, it attracted immediate criticism. Why? This study seeks an explanation by placing Sulpicius works both in their intellectual context, and in the context of a church that was then undergoing radical transformation. It is thus both a study of Sulpicius, Martin, and their world, and at the same time an essay in the interpretation of hagiography.

St. Martin and His Hagiographer: History and Miracle in Sulpicius Severus. Clare Stancliffe

<i>St. Martin and His Hagiographer: History and Miracle in Sulpicius Severus</i>. Clare Stancliffe

Hagiography and the Experience of the Holy in the Work of Gregory of Tours

The rich literature associated with the Desert Fathers provides con-vincing evidence of the important role played by charismatic figures in the transformation of Late Antiquity. In the West the Life of St Martin by Sulpicius Severus and, even more explicitly, his Dialogues (Concerning St Martin) demonstrate how quickly and completely this charismatic style infected the Latin-speaking western Empire, hardly a century after it had come to attract widespread attention in the East. Several studies by Peter Brown have done much to clarify the social processes attested to in this literature, the rise of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity, and his function as a "village patron.These great "friends of God" served as the centres around which the new Christian social order accreted, leading in the East to a revival of the urban life of pagan antiquity but in the West to a new social order — essentially the social order of mediaeval Christendom — organized around the cult of the saints, now carefully regulated by an episcopal elite largely drawn from the old Gallo-Roman aristocracy.

St Odo's St Martin: the uses of a model

The ideal of sanctity presented in Sulpicius Severus' Vita Martini included a repudiation of military life. Sulpicius was concerned to show that Martin was a true ‘man of power’ ( potens), but this had nothing to do with the army. On the contrary, in Sulpicius' day, the potens was, in the political sphere, a decidedly civilian patron; in the religious sphere he was a miracle-worker. Six hundred years later the attributes of power were no longer the same. Social and political changes had worked to transform the ‘man of power’ into a warrior. The old ideal remained, however; its reactionary effects were evident in several Cluniac texts, where exemplary men were shown leaving the tumult of the battlefield for the discipline of the monastery. Yet within that same tenth-century Clumiac milieu an entirely different pattern of sointhood, that of the holy warrior, was created by St Odo, the second abbot of Cluny. It was a model quite unprecedented in the West, but it was not created new out of whole cloth. Rather, this new persona was patterned on the same old form. Its explanation seems to lay precisely in Odo's literal adherence to the old paradigm, but understood in the light of the changes which had taken place in the role of the potens.

The Fragments of Tacitus' Histories

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Fragments of Tacitus' HistoriesT. D. BarnesT. D. Barnes Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Classical Philology Volume 72, Number 3Jul., 1977 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/366355 Views: 8Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

John Cassian and Sulpicius Severus

It was Marc Bloch, I believe, who once posed the question whether there may not have been schools of asceticism, whether different groups of men at different times might have viewed the holy life in different ways and even have formed rival schools. The popular idea of what makes a saint has varied from time to time. The earliest Christians, suffering under the persecutions of the Roman Empire, reserved their admiration and their cult for those who suffered martyrdom. Albert Marignan has traced the transformation of this ideal after the end of the persecutions. When Christians no longer suffered death for their beliefs, they hoped to gain a similar crown by a living death, by the sacrifice of all earthly joys and the mortification of the flesh. The monastic ascetic ideal was born. But the monk, at least in the West, did not retain a lasting and exclusive hold on the affections of the Christian populace. He was ousted from his place by the hero bishop, the protector of the city, who combined ascetic practices with social leadership. Yet was the change a simple evolution in time, or were there really rival schools of sainthood through which the transformation took place?

"As Ancient as Constantine"

John Milton, in the pamphlet An Apology Against a Pamphlet Call'd A Modest Confutation of the Animadversions upon the Remonstrant against Smectymnuus (1642), quotes a lengthy passage from Gower's story of and Sylvester (Book 2 of the CA) as proof that great riches in the Church are the baits of pride & ambition (101). In the process Milton also suggests that he will allege a reputed divine authority, as ancient as Constantine (101). Jochums argues from a survey of Milton's other prose works that this must be a reference to Sulpicius Severus, a patristic writer who made similar points about the effects of riches on the Church. [CvD]

Critical Notes on the ‘Chronica’ of Sulpicius Severus

In the course of preparing for the Corpus Christianorum an edition of the Chronica of Sulpicius Severus I have come upon nearly a dozen passages in which the adopted reading invited discussion beyond the limits of an apparatus criticus. This discussion is supplied in the following notes, which may be seen as a supplement to similar treatment of many other passages in the Chronica that are found in my doctoral dissertation, Studien zu Sulpicius Severus (Lund 1940). As an appendix appears a discussion of a few passages in the writings of Sulpicius Severus on St. Martin of Tours; this too looks to the new edition of the text that is to appear in the Corpus Christianorum (where I have the collaboration of Dr. Bernard M. Peebles) but is especially prompted by a recent criticism of my dissertation.

The Theology of Albert Schweitzer. By E. N. Modey. (A. &amp; C. Black; 7s. 6d.) - The Idea of the Holy. By Rudolf Otto. Translated by J. W. Harvey. Second Edition. (Oxford; 10s. 6d.) - The Universal Character of Christianity. By A. K. Clarke. (Faber; 8s. 6d.) - Revelation and the Modern World. By L. S. ThorntonC.R. (Dacre Press; 30s.)

Book reviewed in this article:The Theology of Albert Schweitzer. By E. N. Mozley.The Idea of the Holy. By Rudolf Otto. Translated by J. W. Harvey.The Universal Character of Christianity. By A. K. Clarke.Revelation and the Modern World. By L. S. Thornton, c.r.The Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistles and The Martyrdom of St Polycarp, The Fragments of Papias, The Epistle of Diognetus. Translated by James A. Kleist, S.J.St Augustine. The Greatness of the Soul, and The Teacher. Translated by Joseph M. ColleranSt Augustine. The City of God. Bks. i‐viiNiceta of Remesiana, Sulpicius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, Prosper of AquitaineSt Basil. Ascctical Works. Translated by Sister M. Monica WagnerMystery Man, or The Catholic Priest Explained. By Aloysius Roche.The Cambridge History of Poland—from the origins to SobieskiBorder of Europe. By Adam Zoltowski. With a Foreword by Sir Ernest BarkerConsort of Taste 1830–1870. By John Steegman.Mountains Beneath the Horizon. By William Bell.St Francis in Italian Painting. By George Kaftal.The Saints in Pictures: St Francis of Assisi, St Jerome, St Anthony of Egypt, St Catherine of Siena. By Maisie Ward.Queen of Paradox. By Katherine Bregy.Sir Tobie Mathew. By David Mathew.Edward Garnett. By H. E. Bates.

Book Review: The Fathers of the Church, St. Augustine: The City of God, Niceta of Remesiana, Sulpicius Severus, Vincent of Terins, Prosper of Aquitaine

Book Review: The Fathers of the Church, St. Augustine: The City of God, Niceta of Remesiana, Sulpicius Severus, Vincent of Terins, Prosper of Aquitaine

Girolamo Da Prato and His Manuscripts of Sulpicius Severus

Girolamo Da Prato and His Manuscripts of Sulpicius Severus

The Metrical Lives of St. Martin of Tours by Paulinus and Fortunatus and the Prose Life by Sulpicius Severus

The Metrical Lives of St. Martin of Tours by Paulinus and Fortunatus and the Prose Life by Sulpicius Severus