Venantius Fortunatus: Personal and Political Poems (Translated Texts for Historians, 23)

by Judith George (translator)

Venantius Fortunatus, writing in the latter half of the sixth century, was not only a major Latin poet, but also an important historical figure. He travelled as a young man to seek patronage in the courts of Merovingian Gaul, writing both formal and informal poetry for three of the royal brothers, Sigibert, Charibert and Chilperic, and for many influential figures in ecclesiastical and secular life. His poems paint a picture of a literary, not merely literate, culture, which complement's Gregory's canvas of bloodthirsty dynastic feuding.

Genres: Poetry

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[John Cairns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only added it to my order because I recognised the name and it'd complete my collection of Latin poets but I'm glad I did. The book, the footnotes to it, give an insight into this period of Frankish kings ruling two peoples, Romans and Franks, and the respect given to the old civilisation if a Roman poet from Italy could make his living at the courts of these kings, of whom there were many since all the brothers inherited and their kingdoms weren't consolidated. They held Paris in common. There was naturally much fighting and murder among the brothers. The pacifying poet doesn't divulge the full horror since his life probably depends on not doing so in his panegyrics of the murderers. Through them he might subtly be helping get his friend Gregory of Tours out of danger from one of these kings or maybe not. He might be taking the king's side. Opinions differ. He manages a long lamentation without saying he's lamenting a queen's murder by her husband because his next queen is urging him on, maybe, probably. There are more lamentations when their children die and the poet consoles them, possibly, urging them on to beget, as they do, and that one, without brothers, murders a rival queen and consolidates the kingdom. Realpolitik. That murder is gruesome but its specifics not divulged even by the scholar.

As for the poetry: from what I can judge through the prose translations, it's not as contemptible as I was led to believe by the only reference I've ever read before to Venantius. I liked it. He conveys feeling through the formality; he plays cleverly with the forms. He can write sapphics, acrostics. He should not be dismissed as of no account compared to his predecessors he emulates: Ausonius, Claudian, even Virgil and Horace. It's the worthy end of a long tradition. This book does him proud.