Venantius Fortunatus and the Bishops of Paris. Hagiographic and poetic negotiations of contemporary political issues during the Merovingian Civil War (approx. 565–600)

• Applicant: Dr. Kathrin Henschel
• Subject Area: Medieval History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 549020567

The first century of Frankish-Merovingian rule over Gaul (482-751) saw the rise of the Roman civitas Lutetia or Paris from a late Roman provincial town to an important ecclesiastical and political center, wich was to become a main residence of Frankish and French kings. The project seeks to gain a better understanding of this process in terms of its preconditions and its course on the basis of two hagiographical writings commissioned in the 570s and 580s as well as selected poems by the Italian-born poet and writer (and later bishop of Poitiers) Venantius Fortunatus (ca. 540-ca. 605). To this end, Venantius’ hagiography and poems concerning Paris will be analyzed, with a focus on the negotiation and discussion of contemporary and ecclesiastical issues of the later 6th century. For this purpose, the hagiographical writings of Venantius dealing with the lives of the Parisian bishops Marcellus (1st half of the 5th century) and Germanus (ca. 550-576) will be historically annotated and the religious and political themes that come to the fore in them will be interpreted as part of a communication process in conjunction with other sources.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants