| Abstract | In opposition to today, movable wealth did not primarily represent a guarantee for a decent life in the early Middle Ages, which was assured by a contemporary's membership to a higher societal stratum and his dominion over larger territories. Rather than being appreciated for their value for remuneration, movable riches mainly represented a tool for the powerful to establish and maintain their authority. The aim of this session is to analyze the different uses that could be made of movable riches, either to expand the influence of the Church, or the powers of the keepers of worldly authority.
Paper -a:
The Merovingian king, a warlord, most of all legitimated his power through victory and the resulting enrichments. Unsurprisingly, the Frankish expansion under Clovis was characterized by frequent plundering involving considerable revenues. Concurrently, the relevance of these riches for the execution of power strategies and the maintenance of personal relations apparently increased, becoming an essential tool to create political balance. The aim of this paper is to explore the practical and symbolic role that was attributed to spoils and booty in the struggles for power by examining to what extent their usages evolved towards new practices and hence, what importance the exchange of booty had in the construction of a new political order in Merovingian Gaul.
Paper -b:
The collapse of the Roman authority in the West entailed deep transformations of current strategies to establish and maintain authority. The flexibility resulting from a certain lack of established structures of authority still in the state of re-constitution entailed that power now had to be constructed and perpetuated on a much more momentary and person-centered basis. The aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of related altered and new strategies, including the establishment of large retinues, generous gift exchange, or opulent banquets, and assess what importance they had in the context of the constitution of new political structures.
Paper -c:
The early medieval society in Gaul, although segmented, was not segregated, hence the importance attached to networks and systems resulting from ‘elitarian places’. This was the place where the elites held speeches aiming to justify, express, and perpetuate their power, both material and symbolic. These discourses allow us to clarify the various elitarian strategies to construct and organize their respective territories. The social assessment attributed in this context to material wealth constitutes a fundamental element of this aim to seek distinction and one of the most convincing markers for the identification of these places. Archaeological discoveries, artifacts and écofacts, as well as the various written sources, allow clarifying the weight of these practices in a society in full alteration.
Paper -d:
Monastic property was fundamental to early medieval abbacies. It was the basis of the economic life and their influence depended largely on the number of gifts the cloister was given. This is also mirrored in historiography and the hagiography of monasteries. St Wandrille is a good example to illustrate and explore the role royal and other gifts played for the self-conception of the community. Furthermore, this paper wants to examine the value of property in the monastic conception of the Carolingian age and the connection between the number and quality of the goods on one hand and the prestige of the monastery on the other.
|
|---|
