| Paper 2121-a | Tools of Resilience or Adaption?: A Study of Cultural Memory in Breton Hagiography, c. 700-1100
(Language: English)
Elysée Yhuel, Department of History, Trinity College Dublin
Index terms: Hagiography, Mentalities, Monasticism, Religious Life |
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| Abstract | Paper -a:
In 818, in an effort to make Brittany conform with the imperatives of the Carolingian Empire, Louis the Pious forced the Abbey of Landévennec to abandon the Irish rule and adopt the Benedictine rule. Landévennec was just one of several monasteries that was affected by 'historical ruptures' of the time. Using Breton hagiographies from the 8th to the 11th century, this paper will examine how Breton monasteries adapted to or resisted the changing political and religious climates of their time. The case studies are examined through the lens of cultural memory to reveal how hagiographical writing about the past reflected the exigencies of the present.
Paper -b:
Much scholarship on Cornwall, especially that which is focused on the Cornish language, emphasises the relationship between Cornwall and the rest of the so called 'Celtic' world, especially Brittany and Wales. This paper will seek to explore medieval Cornwall's connections to the Brittonic world, using hagiography, English and Welsh historical writing, and wider Welsh literature. The paper will look for links in both the imagined past and in the 12th-century present. The paper will aim to assess the extent to which these texts view Cornwall as part of the Brittonic world, and how such perceptions impacted on medieval views of Cornwall's place in the world.
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