Roman Barbarians: The Royal Court and Culture in the Early Medieval West

Medieval Culture and Society

by Yitzhak Hen

This study investigates the place of the royal court and the operation of patronage in several European kingdoms in the early Middle Ages. It seeks to identify the roots of later medieval developments, and especially of the Carolingian Renaissance, in the centuries immediately succeeding the period of Roman rule.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

226 pages, Hardcover

First published November 9, 2007

Reviews

[Adelais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Вважається, що після падіння Римської імперії запанувала така непроглядна темрява, що Карл Великий ледь-ледь крізь неї пробився своїм невеличким каролінгським ренесансом. А до того всі були невчені, нечесані і аби трохи письменні. Так от, про нечесаних ще можна дискутувати, але суцільного невігластва у так званих "варварських" королівствах усе ж не існувало.
Дуже жива, хай і академічна книжка про культурний патронаж готських/вандальских королів (плюс Меровінги), як світський, так і церковний. Теодоріх Великий покровительствував цілеспрямовано і намагався залучити на державні посади якраз вихідців зі старих римських родин з добрячим багажем наук за плечима (те, що потім можна було й стратити, вже фахові ексцеси), Меровінги цікавились літургічними питаннями; у вандалів трохи скромніше було, а от візиготський Сисебут виявився страшенно активним і метикуватим - встигав і потриндіти з Ісидором Севільським про астрономію (навіть поему латиною написав), і на війну походити, і житіє з натяком для ворогів замовити, і поганити єретиків у власноручних листах. Шкода, що цьому періоду приділяють мало уваги в популярному викладі історії. Але підозрюю, тут така сама ситуація, як з історією України в школах - був Данило Галицький, потім ШОСЬ, а потім бац! - і козаки.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The period between the traditional fall of Rome (511) and the reign of Charlemagne is the last bastion of the concept of the dark ages in western Europe. Due to reappreciations of the Byzantines and the Islamic caliphates as well as the popularization of the Carolingian renaissance, the concept of the dark ages has shrunk considerably ever since renaissance writers looked back in disgust at the time period of the "middle" ages. Yitzhak Hen sets out to shrink this dark age period to an even smaller sliver of time between Rome and Aachen by emphasizing the cultural patronage of four courts in the region and times; Visigoth Spain, Merovingian Frankia, Vandal North Africa and Ostrogoth Italy. With a smaller chapter on the cultural links the Carolingian court had with Lombardia, Byzantium and the independent cultural center of Bavaria.

Despite the admirable goal of targeting easy go to assumptions which plague any nuanced view of history, unfortunately to often Yitzhak Hen has to rely on logical evidence rather then textual or factual evidence. Sometimes that is reasonable, like pointing out it made little sense to believe a specific Ostrogoth king was illiterate if we would take a hostile historical author's word for it, when we know he had been a hostage in Byzantium as a child for years, a situation which always included education in the Byzantine ways (thus including literacy). But other times reasoning used is in the nature of, "he must have known off etc etc etc" which to me is pushing it to far, likewise Yitzhak does tend to take the evidence he does have rather far. We have evidence of patronage of Vandal kings and courtiers, Romans wrote poems and texts for them, which to Yitzhak indicated that it was valued an appreciated, so far so good, but then he also suggests that Vandals themselves might have been avid producers of such texts. Which... yeah ok that might have been but if we can't substantiate it, it does remain pure speculation.

Does Yitzhak succeed in his goal? Sorta. I think it is always good to wreck lazy conventions especially when these go back for hundreds if not thousands of years, but I am not fully convinced by the degree of it all. In his effort to recreate these courts as centers of culture, as the base from which the Carolingian court and monastery driven renaissance launched, I do feel he pushed it a bit too far beyond the current evidence into the realms of speculation. What I feel can and should be explored more, is the state of Roman culture and literary production by the 4/5th century, looked at from the perspective of the effect of the third age crisis and re stabilization of the empire under the Dicoletian/constantinian dynasties. I think more could be said and learned from the effects off these Barbarian courts as cultural patrons when taking this longer pre period in account.

[Siyana Ivanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Според мен темата за римските варвари не се разглежда добре в книгата,а напротив-доста се отклонява.

[Kittyreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an academic look at the question: "Where the early medieval royals cultureless swine?"

Hen examines four early courts, its main royal figures, its primary court historians and their collective opinions about their Roman predecessors.

The author has a clear focus on the patronage of the arts, he uses this as a parameter to judge how "barbarian" those early medievals really were, how their thoughts and deeds influenced the subsequent era and how our current (Gibbon-influenced) view of them and their time came about.

It's important to note that this is not a popular history read but an academic analyses probably aimed at a narrow audience. Still great fun, though.