Written as the Lombard kingdom was on the cusp of downfall at the hands of the Carolingian empire, the works of Paul the Deacon (c. 720-799) are vital to understanding the history of Italy and Western Europe in the Middle Ages. But until now, scholars have tended to neglect the narrative structure of his texts, which reflect in important ways his personal responses to the events of his time. This study presents fresh interpretations of Paul's Historia Romana, Vita Sancti Gregorii Magni, Gesta Episcopum Mettensium, and Historia Langobardorum by focusing on him as an individual and on his strategies of argumentation, ultimately advancing a new conception of Paul as a dynamic author whose development of multiple lines of thought deserves closer examination.
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1. Vir valde Peritus: Paul the Deacon and his Contexts
- The Downfall
- The Life of Paul the Deacon
- The Space of Communication in the Works of Paul the Deacon
- 2. The Early Narratives
- ‘Ita Romanorum apud Romam imperium … cum hoc Augustulo periit’ (Thus the Roman Empire at Rome … with this Augustulus perished): The Historia Romana
- Beatissimus Pontifex: The Vita Sancti Gregorii Magni
- Sancta et Venerabilis Mettensium Urbis: The Gesta Episcopum Mettensium
- 3. The Historia Langobardorum: The Structure of Paul’s World
- The Transmission and Textual Histories of the Historia Langobardorum
- The Structure of the Historia Langobardorum
- Paul’s Use of Sources
- 4. The Historia Langobardorum: The Six Books in Detail
- Book I: ‘The Men of Old Tell a Silly Story’: Legends and Amazons
- Book II: ‘The World Brought Back to its Ancient Silence’: Narses and Alboin
- Book III: ‘Authari is Wont to Strike Such a Blow’: Lombards, Romans and Franks
- Book IV: Miserorum Rusticorum Sanguis: Agilulf and Theodolinda
- Book V: ‘Rebellio et Iniquitatis’: ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Lombard Kingship
- Book VI: ‘Nutritor Gentis’: The Ascendancy of Liutprand and Lombard Kingship
- 5. Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- List of Tables and Diagrams
- Tables
- Table i – The Divisions of the Breviarium of Eutropius
- Table ii – Paul’s interventions into the Breviarium (pace Crivellucci)
- Table iii – Paul’s usage of sources in the Eutropian core (pace Crivellucci)
- Table iv – The basic structure of Paul’s Continuation
- Table v – Structural Grid of the HR (L = Lines W = Words)
- Table vi – Sources of material in the six-book Continuation
- Table vii – Detailed structural grid of HR Books XI to XVI
- Table viii – Judaeo-Christian notices in the Continuation
- Table ix – Manuscript details of the earliest surviving VSGM
- Table x – Manuscript by age of the surviving VSGM manuscripts
- Table xi – Structure of the Vita Sancti Gregorii Magni (after Goffart)
- Table xii – Suggested tripartite structure of the Vita
- Table xiii – Notices on Gregory the Great in the HL
- Table xiv – The Structure of the Gesta Episcoporum Mettensium
- Table vx – Themes of the GEM’s four narrative moments
- Table xvi – Goffart’s Literary Prototypes (in Narrators of Barbarian History)
- Table xvii – Konrad Peutinger’s chapterisation of Historia Langobardorum
- Table xviii – Structure of the Historia Langobardorum
- Table xix – Density of Chapter lengths in the Historia Langobardorum
- Table xx – The Chronological Parameters of the Historia Langobardorum
- Table xxi – Thematic and structural grid of the HL
- Table xxii – Distribution of subject/geographical focus in the Historia Langobardorum
- Table xxiii – Paul’s sources in the Historia Langobardorum
- Table xxiv – Thematic structure of Book I
- Table xxv – Goffart’s structural presentation of Book I
- Table xxvi – Migrations and Paul’s relative chronology
- Table xxvii – Paul’s citations in Book I
- Table xxviii – Structural Organisation of Book III
- Table xxix – Paul’s use of Gregory of Tours in Book III
- Table xxx – Paul’s Use of Secundus of Non in Book III
- Table xxxii – Goffart’s structural organisation of Book IV
- Table xxxiii – Subject Treatment in Chapters 1-15 of Book IV
- Table xxxiv – Book IV Structure
- Table xxxv – Source Use in Book IV
- Table xxxvi – Lombard rulers in Book V (with Emperor Constans II for comparison)
- Table xxxvii – Structural arrangement of Book V
- Table xxxviii – Goffart’s organisation of Book V’s structure
- Table xxxix – Sources used in Book V
- Table xl – Structural Organisation of Book VI
- Table xli – Source Use in Book VI
- Diagrams
- Diagram i – Simplified Stemma Codicum of the VSGM (after Tuzzo)
- Diagram ii – Divine connections to Metz in the GEM
- Diagram iii – Arnulf’s Genealogy (annotated) according to the Gesta of Paul the Deacon (those in bold type were the subjects of epitaphs)
- Diagram iv – Stemma Codicum of the Historia Langobardorum (simplified) (after Waitz)
- Diagram v – Modified Stemma Codicum pace Morghen
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