Description
Book SynopsisHistory, Scripture and Authority in the Carolingian Empire offers a detailed analysis of the work of the ninth-century historian Frechulf of Lisieux. It uses the creation of Frechulf''s monumental Histories to explore how the past was read and interpreted in the Carolingian world.In c. 830, Frechulf, bishop of the northwestern Frankish see of Lisieux, completed his Histories, a vast account of the world from its creation through to the seventh century. Despite the richness of the source, it has long been overlooked by modern scholars. Two factors account for this neglect: Frechulf''s narrative stops over two centuries short of his time of writing, and was largely a compilation of earlier, late antique histories and chronicles. In examining Frechulf''s historiographical compendium, this book challenges a dominant paradigm within medieval studies of understanding history-writing primarily as an extension of politics and power. By focusing instead on the transmission and reception of patr
Trade ReviewWhat makes History, Scripture, and Authority in the Carolingian Empire truly essential for anyone interested in early medieval historiography or the genre of 'universal history' is Ward's close and enormously insightful reading of a woefully under-read text. * Dr. Josh Timmermann, Early Medieval Europe *
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Frechulf and the Carolingian Culture of Compilation 2: The Truth of History 3: Re-Framing Eusebius-Jerome's Chronicle 4: Incarnation and Empire: Orosius and the Exegesis of History 5: Christiana Tempora? the Conclusion of the Histories and the Creation of a Patristic Past 6: Past and Present in the Histories Conclusion Index
