Letter-writing and literary culture in Merovingian Gaul
Hope Williard
This essay discusses Gregory of Tours' claim that literary culture was in decline light the considerable quantity poetry and letters composed by Merovingian authors. Scholars have come to appreciate importance letter-writing for historical inquiry, yet contrast between Gregory's assessment aristocratic activity remains under-explored. fifth-century precedents examines continuity discontinuity occurred transition from late Antique early-medieval Gaul. It place within elite friendship networks, focusing on interconnected writings three Venantius Fortunatus an Italian-born poet who spent most his career writing elites. The royal officials Dynamius Gogo found a compilation sixth-century called Epistolae Austrasicae. Using these writers, this argues skill facilitated creation maintenance connections across distance necessary part identity. shows dramatic rhetorical did not reflect true state literature
European Review of History: Revue europeenne d'histoire