RELICS AND TEXTS: HAGIOGRAPHY AND AUTHORITY IN NINTH-CENTURY FRANCIA

TL;DRAbstract

This chapter discusses three hagiographical texts that allow us to explore the diverse aspects of the relationship between relics and texts in the Frankish empire of Louis the Pious formulated as part of the attempt to 'textualize' the symbolic capital of relics and to overcome the difficulties and risks that came with writing texts on relics. The first example is the Vita et Translatio Huberti written by Jonas of Orleans between 825 and 831. Like the Vita Huberti , Radbertus' Passio Rufini et Valerii is the re-ecriture of an older version of the life of the saints, usually dated to the eighth century. Like Jonas, Radbertus took the opportunity of writing hagiography to comment on contemporary events and debates. The final example presented in the chapter is Einhard's Translatio Marcellini et Petri , which has received more attention from modern historians than any other translation narrative of the period. Keywords: Einhard; Francia; hagiography; Jonas of Orleans; Paschasius Radbertus

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