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IMC 2015: Sessions

Session 310: The Peace of God Revisited

Monday 6 July 2015, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:Sonderforschungsbereich 700 'Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood', Freie Universität Berlin
Organiser:Lukas Bothe, Sonderforschungsbereich 700, Freie Universität Berlin
Moderator/Chair:Stefan Esders, Geschichte der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Paper 310-aThe Witnesses to the Miracle of the Peace of God
(Language: English)
Theo Riches, Exzellenzcluster 'Religion & Politik', Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Law, Lay Piety, Religious Life
Paper 310-bReevaluating the Three Orders Speech of Gerard I of Cambrai
(Language: English)
Sam Janssens, Vakgroep Geschiedenis, Universiteit Gent
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Historiography - Medieval, Political Thought, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 310-cSelf-Commitment and Self-Governance in the Peace of God Movement
(Language: English)
Lukas Bothe, Sonderforschungsbereich 700, Freie Universität Berlin
Index terms: Administration, Law, Political Thought, Social History
Abstract

The Peace of God Movement has been extensively examined from legal, social, political, and millennial standpoints. This session convenes three papers which address previously neglected aspects of the peace movement. Theo Riches examines the relation of the Peace of God accounts to miracle stories. In highlighting the unnamed crowds' importance as witnesses to both religious miracles and the peace agreements, he relates their role as guarantors of the miraculous to their role in the maintenance of social order. Sam Janssens focuses on the transmission context of Gerard of Cambrai’s famous Three Orders Speech as part of the Deeds of the bishops of Cambrai. Reevaluating this speech in its relation to other texts from Gerard of Cambrai’s tenure as bishop, specifically those referring to the Peace of God Movement, he sheds light on contemporary critique of the Peace of God Movement as well as on the posterior use and function of this particular text. Finally, Lukas Bothe looks at normative aspects of the Peace treaties. Assuming that many of the allegedly new rules are actually deduced from the horizon of Carolingian normativity, he addresses the role of self-commitment and excommunication in the restoration of these norms at risk.