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IMC 2018: Sessions

Session 141: Remembering Admonitio: Episcopal Criticism of Rulers in the Middle Ages, I

Monday 2 July 2018, 11.15-12.45

Organiser:Ryan Kemp, Department of History & Welsh History, Aberystwyth University
Moderator/Chair:James Palmer, School of History, University of Nottingham
Paper 141-aRomancing and Remembering Admonition: Confronting Roman Emperors in Late Antique Early Medieval Italian Hagiography
(Language: English)
Mark Humphries, Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Research (MEMO), Swansea University
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography, Political Thought, Rhetoric
Paper 141-bPastor of Muppets: Admonishing 'Sons of the Church' in the Post-Imperial West
(Language: English)
Robin Whelan, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography, Political Thought, Rhetoric
Paper 141-cImperial Confrontation and Episcopal Identity in Late Antique Alexandria
(Language: English)
David Gwynn, Department of History, Royal Holloway, University of London
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography, Philosophy, Rhetoric
Abstract

The medieval episcopate, as descendants of the biblical prophets, criticised the sins of the powerful lest they pollute the wider polity. Though primarily discussed in relation to the Carolingian Empire, the admonishing bishop can be found throughout the Middle Ages. There has, however, been less discrimination and analysis in terms of how episcopal admonition of the powerful varied in specific contexts. By examining case studies from across the chronological and geographical breadth of the Middle Ages, these panels examine how criticism of the powerful was remembered and how its depiction reflected wider shifts in political and structural circumstances.