Reviewed by:

• The Merovingian Kingdoms and the Mediterranean World: Revisiting the Sources ed. by Stefan Esders et al
• Merle Eisenberg

While most post-Roman states were conquered, the Merovingian kingdoms led to the Carolingians and eventually to the rest of the Middle Ages. The Merovingians are thus naturally the beginning-point of most histories of the early medieval West. Yet, as scholars have increasingly argued over the past several decades, the Merovingian world should be re-attached both temporally to the rest of the late antique West and geographically to the broader Mediterranean. The volume under review aims to accomplish both of these goals.

Each contribution uses a translated excerpt from a longer text as a way to examine how a particular idea or practice in the Merovingian world was connected to broader Mediterranean trends. As two of its editors, Pia Lucas and Tamar Rotman, note in the volume’s introduction: “A close reading of a short section from a larger written source can be used as point of department to the study of wide-ranging issues from a broader perspective.” This is a wonderful approach which offers the opportunity to read a source in detail while placing it in its larger context which is often missing.

The book has thirteen articles plus an introduction and conclusion divided into four parts: These parts are: “The Wider World: Setting the Context of the Post-Roman World,” “Mediterranean Ties and Merovingian Diplomacy,” “Bridging the Seas: Law and Religion,” and “Shifting Perspectives: Emperors, Tributes and Propaganda.” This review will discuss four of the volume’s articles to highlight the main themes of the book.

Hope Williard’s “Friendship and Diplomacy in the Histories of Gregory of Tours” explores the idea of amicitia in Gregory’s Histories, showing how he used this term in diplomacy. Williard delightfully sketches the clever ways in which he structures diplomatic narratives to show the fragility of amicitia and how he understood its potential for duplicity. While amicitia might bolster friendly alliances, Gregory suggested that rulers tended to use it from a defensive position, which suggests a far more complex transformation of this late antique concept into the early Middle Ages.

Till Stüber’s “The Fifth Council of Orléans and the Reception of the ‘Three Chapters Controversy’ in Merovingian Gaul” examines the complex religious and political connections involved in the Three Chapters Controversy in Gaul. He squeezes every possible line of evidence [End Page 166] from a letter of Pope Vigilius to Bishop Aurelianus of Arles and then adds in lesser known letters, such as one from the so-called Codex Remensis, to piece together a far more nuanced political situation at the time, though it may have been more interesting to center this letter as the chosen source given its more obscure status.

Rotman’s “Imitation and Rejection of Eastern Practices in Merovingian Gaul: Gregory of Tours and Vulfilaic the Stylite of Trier” investigates why stylites were not a key part of Christian ascetic practice in the West. She suggests that stylites in the East and bishops in the West both aimed to codify their power and therefore a stylite appearing in the West would undermine Gregory of Tours’s (and other bishops’) episcopal power. This begs the question: what was the place of practice in Gregory’s ideas about stylites?

Finally, Lucas’s “Magnus et Verus Christianus: The Portrayal of Emperor Tiberius II in Gregory of Tours” offers a wonderful close reading of Gregory’s portrayal of the emperor Tiberius II. She notes that while Gregory depicted Tiberius as having little human depth, he crafted Tiberius into a model king, a blank canvas on which to paint an idealized ruler, as a way to critique other rulers for failing to live up to his standards. Lucas reminds us once again that Gregory wrote his seemingly simple works with deeper lessons embedded and readers should approach his works from this perspective.

Other articles in this volume offer...

审核人：

• 《 Merovingian王国与地中海世界：再探资料》 ed。由Stefan Esders等人撰写
• 梅尔·艾森伯格

在大多数后罗马国家被征服的同时，梅洛芬人王国导致了加洛林人，并最终导致了中世纪的其余部分。因此，Merovingians自然是中世纪早期西方大多数历史的起点。然而，正如在过去的几十年中越来越多的学者争论的那样，梅洛芬吉人的世界应该在时间上重新与西方晚期古董的其余部分以及在地理上与更广阔的地中海联系在一起。所审查的卷旨在实现这两个目标。

每篇文章都使用了较长文本的摘录，作为研究梅洛芬吉安世界中特定思想或实践如何与更广泛的地中海趋势联系起来的一种方式。皮亚·卢卡斯（Pia Lucas）和塔玛·罗特曼（Tamar Rotman）这两位编辑在该卷的引言中指出：“从较大的书面资源中仔细阅读一小段内容，可以用作从更广泛的角度研究广泛问题的部门。 。” 这是一种极好的方法，它提供了机会来详细阅读源文件，同时将其放置在较大的上下文中，而后者通常会丢失。

该书有13篇文章，加上引言和结论，共分为四个部分：这些部分是：“更广阔的世界：设定后罗马世界的背景”，“地中海关系和梅洛芬奇外交”，“弥合海洋：法律与政治”。宗教”和“视角转变：皇帝，朝贡和宣传”。这篇评论将讨论该卷的四篇文章，以突出该书的主要主题。

希望佩恩威利亚德的“友谊和外交的历史记录格雷戈里的旅行团的”探索的想法amicitia格雷戈里的历史记录，显示他如何使用外交这个词。威利亚德愉快地勾勒出他巧妙的方式来组织外交叙事，以显示友善的脆弱性，以及他如何理解其双重性的潜力。虽然泛滥可能会促进友好联盟，但格里高利建议统治者倾向于从防御位置使用它，这表明这种晚期古董概念向中世纪早期的转化要复杂得多。

蒂尔·斯蒂伯（TillStüber）的“奥尔良第五委员会和梅洛芬吉安高卢人对“三章之争”的接受”探讨了高卢三章之争所涉及的复杂的宗教和政治联系。他从教皇维吉留斯给阿尔勒的主教奥雷利亚努斯的信中压缩了所有可能的证据[End Page 166]，然后添加了鲜为人知的信，例如所谓的《雷克斯抄本》（Codex Remensis），以拼凑出更为细微的政治联系当时的情况，但考虑到字母的地位较为模糊，将这封信作为选定的信源可能会更有趣。

罗特曼（Rotman）的“模仿和拒绝东正教在《摩洛芬学派的高卢》中：图尔的格雷戈里和特里尔的伏尔泰莱克人的特里尔的斯蒂格利特”探讨了为什么斯蒂格不是西方基督教禁欲修行的关键部分。她认为，东方的文人和西方的主教都旨在巩固自己的权力，因此出现在西方的文人将破坏图尔（和其他主教）的主教权力。这就引出了一个问题：格雷戈里关于铁笔的想法中实践的地方是什么？

最后，卢卡斯的《马格努斯与维鲁斯·克里斯蒂安努斯：旅行历险记》中的提比略二世皇帝的写照，很好地诠释了格雷戈里对提比略二世皇帝的描写。她指出，虽然格里高利（Gregory）描绘了提比略（Tiberius）的人文深度，但他还是将提比略（Tiberius）制作成了模范国王，这是一块空白的画布，上面画有理想的统治者，以此来批评其他统治者未能达到自己的标准。卢卡斯再次提醒我们，格雷戈里（Gregory）撰写了他看似简单的作品，并嵌入了更深刻的教训，读者应该从这个角度审视他的作品。

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