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IMC 2017: Sessions

Session 1633: Exegesis and Its Carolingian Contexts, II: Models of Punishment and Ideals of Mercy

Thursday 6 July 2017, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship 'BIBLACE' (no. 655748)
Organisers:Gerda Heydemann, Geschichte der Spätantike und des frühen Mittelalters, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin
Frances Murray, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Moderator/Chair:Rob Meens, Departement Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht
Paper 1633-a'Thy Discipline Hath Corrected Me unto the End': The Utrecht Psalter and the Visual Exegesis of Corporal Punishment
(Language: English)
Maximilian McComb, Department of History, Cornell University
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Ecclesiastical History, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Political Thought
Paper 1633-bExegesis and Almsgiving: Preaching Mercy in the Carolingian Period
(Language: English)
Marianne Pollheimer-Mohaupt, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Ecclesiastical History, Political Thought, Sermons and Preaching
Abstract

This is the second of three panels which set out to explore the relationship between biblical exegesis and wider Carolingian debates about social order and political practice. At different moments in the Bible, harsh punishments, and generous acts of mercy were described and praised. The papers in this session all investigate how 9th-century authors used these scenes to contribute to debates over judicial practice. The first paper paper explores how images of corporal punishment in the Utrecht Psalter commented on the appropriate limits of this practice. Focusing on Hrabanus Maurus's two sermon collections, the second paper will explore how Hrabanus depicted a moral framework for social relations in his consideration of punishment and the ways mercy could be achieved in the Last Judgement.