Paul the Deacon, Liber de episcopis Mettensibus

by D Kempf

Paul the Deacon was undoubtedly one of the most prolific and giftedscholars of the early medieval period. Working for different patrons, first in his native Lombardy and then at the Frankish court, he left animpressive literary legacy, including a six-volume History of Romeand a History of the Lombards. All in all, Paul wrote morehistory than any of his contemporaries. He composed the Liber deepiscopis Mettensibus around 784 at the behest of Angilram, bishopof Metz and chief counselor of Charlemagne. The text has receivedconsiderable attention from modern historians since it contains thefirst genealogy of the Carolingian family, one that establishes Arnulf, the seventh-century bishop of Metz, as Charlemagne's forefather.However, rather than being a simple work of royal propaganda, composedto support and legitimize the Carolingians, who had usurped the throneonly thirty years earlier with Pippin III's coup in 751, the text subtlyadvances the prominent role of Metz within the Frankish kingdom.

The present volume offers a new Latin edition of the Liber, including the late tenth-century interpolated section that bothtransformed the text and ensured its transmission. It also provides itsfirst translation into a modern language. The introduction analyzes thetextual strategies and the political claims at play in the Liberwithin the context of a reassessment of Angilram's episcopacy (768-791)in Metz.

107 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2013

Reviews

[Aaron Meyer]

An interesting and short piece. The introduction is thorough and at times repetitive but interesting. This version is taken from all extant manuscripts still out there. Variances in the Latin are notated on the Latin side of the text. One thing I noted in Paul's text is he went from the 28th bishop Arnulf to the 30th. I can't remember off the top of my head if this was commented on in the intro or not. For a complete list of the bishops to date one can check the entry on Wikipedia. This text is particularly remembered now because of the linkage of St. Arnulf as an ancestor of Charlemagne. Some see this as a text of Carolingian propaganda. Either way I wish that Paul had written a more expensive text and not only gave names of bishops. He expanded on only about four bishops I believe. Still an important piece of literary history now accessible to the common man.