Assembling the Austrasian letters at Trier and Lorsch

This article is a reconsideration of the Epistulae Austrasicae. We critique the widespread notion that the constituent letters were compiled by a courtier in the late sixth century at Metz as a book of models for use in the Austrasian chancellery. We argue instead that a monk from the monastery of L...

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Main Authors: Barrett, G, Woudhuysen, G
Format: Journal article
Published: Wiley 2016
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author Barrett, G
Woudhuysen, G
author_facet Barrett, G
Woudhuysen, G
author_sort Barrett, G
collection OXFORD
description This article is a reconsideration of the Epistulae Austrasicae. We critique the widespread notion that the constituent letters were compiled by a courtier in the late sixth century at Metz as a book of models for use in the Austrasian chancellery. We argue instead that a monk from the monastery of Lorsch assembled the letters in the early ninth century from individual exemplars and groupings that he found in archives at Trier. We conclude by outlining some implications of this rereading for the edition and interpretation of the letters as sources for the Merovingian period, and point out some avenues for future research on their reception in the Carolingian period.
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spelling oxford-uuid:9ac6ea07-3764-467c-97bf-4700424f72262022-03-27T00:23:45ZAssembling the Austrasian letters at Trier and LorschJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:9ac6ea07-3764-467c-97bf-4700424f7226Symplectic Elements at OxfordWiley2016Barrett, GWoudhuysen, GThis article is a reconsideration of the Epistulae Austrasicae. We critique the widespread notion that the constituent letters were compiled by a courtier in the late sixth century at Metz as a book of models for use in the Austrasian chancellery. We argue instead that a monk from the monastery of Lorsch assembled the letters in the early ninth century from individual exemplars and groupings that he found in archives at Trier. We conclude by outlining some implications of this rereading for the edition and interpretation of the letters as sources for the Merovingian period, and point out some avenues for future research on their reception in the Carolingian period.
spellingShingle Barrett, G
Woudhuysen, G
Assembling the Austrasian letters at Trier and Lorsch
title Assembling the Austrasian letters at Trier and Lorsch
title_full Assembling the Austrasian letters at Trier and Lorsch
title_fullStr Assembling the Austrasian letters at Trier and Lorsch
title_full_unstemmed Assembling the Austrasian letters at Trier and Lorsch
title_short Assembling the Austrasian letters at Trier and Lorsch
title_sort assembling the austrasian letters at trier and lorsch
work_keys_str_mv AT barrettg assemblingtheaustrasianlettersattrierandlorsch
AT woudhuyseng assemblingtheaustrasianlettersattrierandlorsch