For Future Reference: the Auto-Hagiography of Gregory of Tours
The hagiographical and historiographical works of Gregory of Tours include many autobiographical accounts, which Gregory interlaced throughout his narratives. The following study aims to examine these accounts and suggests reading them as auto-hagiographical records that were meant to lay the founda...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brepols
2024
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| In: |
Revue bénédictine
Year: 2024, Volume: 134, Issue: 1, Pages: 81-107 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The hagiographical and historiographical works of Gregory of Tours include many autobiographical accounts, which Gregory interlaced throughout his narratives. The following study aims to examine these accounts and suggests reading them as auto-hagiographical records that were meant to lay the foundation for Gregory of Tours’ cult as a holy bishop. The first part of the paper analyzes the hagiographical model used by Gregory for other vitae he composed during his episcopacy in Tours. It then examines the autobiographical accounts and demonstrates that the information given by Gregory fits this model. This model needs to be contextualized within the religious, political, and cultural context of sixth-century Gaul and the Frankish Church. Sainthood, the study argues, was the ultimate prize of the sixth-century Merovingian cursus honorum. Finally, a comparison between Gregory’s accounts and the tenth-century Vita Gregorii by Odo of Cluny demonstrates that Gregory’s autobiographical accounts inspired his hagiographer. Thus, the analysis offered in this study of Gregory’s autobiographical accounts sheds new light on the way we can think about and understand early medieval authors and societies. It provides new avenues for the inquiry of the representation of the self and self-awareness in early medieval texts. |
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| ISSN: | 2295-9009 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Revue bénédictine
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1484/J.RB.5.138159 |