Gregory of Tours
Subtitle: history and society in the sixth century
By: Martin Heinzelmann ; translated by Christopher Carroll.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Cambridge, U.K; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 235
Subjects: Gregory, Saint, Bishop of Tours, 538-594.; Historians -- France -- Biography.; Christian saints -- France -- Biography.; Merovingians -- Historiography.; History, Ancient -- Historiography.
Genres: Biography.
Description: "For over 1,400 years the Histories of Gregory of Tours (538-94) - the principal work of Merovingian history - have been understood as a 'history of the Franks'. The work has also been viewed as an objective portrayal of history, albeit told by a naive narrator: incapable of endowing his material with any sort of internal order, he succeeded only in the chronological organisation of this 'colourful muddle'." "A completely new interpretation of the Histories is put forward in this book, in which the bishop of Tours can be seen to be giving each of his 'Ten Books' a self-contained topic, and also making use of the patristic method of typological biblical exegesis. By appreciating these elements, one can clearly see the often antithetical connections between apparently unconnected, adjacent chapters, and also begin to make out their function within a universal, Christological concept of history. Gregory's historiographical interests can be seen as focusing on the development of a socio-political concept of society, one which wishes to see the leadership of the Christian state entrusted to joint government of bishops and king (christianus princeps)."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 214-222) and indexes.