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The importance of salvation in Carolingian royal advice literature
- Author(s):
- Eddie Meehan (see profile)
- Date:
- 2023
- Group(s):
- Early Medieval
- Subject(s):
- Carolingians, Political culture
- Item Type:
- Conference paper
- Conf. Title:
- Rethinking the Carolingian Reforms Further, Leeds International Medieval Congress 2023
- Conf. Org.:
- University of Leeds
- Conf. Loc.:
- Leeds
- Conf. Date:
- 3-6 July 2023
- Permanent URL:
- https://doi.org/10.17613/d963-hk06
- Abstract:
- The trend of Carolingian royal advice literature, Fürstenspiegel, or specula principum offers advice to kings on how to rule well and examples of ruling poorly. Interpretations of these texts have often focused on traditional ideas of the Carolingian reforms, for example the focus on classical models of rule in Sedulius Scottus’ De rectoribus christianis. They also lend themselves to court- and king-centric approaches, with royal advice literature seen as a product of and for the court. However, not all these texts come directly from the court. For example, Jonas of Orléans wrote from both a literal and figurative distance from the inner circle at court. Furthermore, improvement was concerned with both royal salvation and the salvation of the wider realm. Royal behaviour would impact the present, including cosmological consequences of both good and bad rulership. However, authors of advice literature also focused on salvific aims. The entire Carolingian royal family, not just the king, had intensely moral and gendered responsibilities to act as examples to the entire realm. As such, the focus was always on the royal responsibility to ensure the salvation of the entire ecclesia.
- Notes:
- Presentation slides from IMC 2023 paper in Rethinking the Carolingian Reforms (Further) I: Knowledge and Praxis from Top to Bottom
- Metadata:
- xml
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 3 months ago
- License:
- Attribution
leeds-imc-2023.pdf