IMC 2026: Sessions
Session 1243: Carolingian Matters
Wednesday 8 July 2026, 14:15-15:45
| Organiser: | IMC Programming Committee |
|---|---|
| Moderator/Chair: | Graeme Ward, Seminar für mittelalterliche Geschichte, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen |
| Paper 1243-a | The Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne as a Response to Byzantine Politics (Language: English) Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Historiography - Medieval, Political Thought, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Paper 1243-b | Hrabanus Maurus' Unpublished Commentary on Isaiah: A Historical Source for the Carolingian Period and Its Providential Outlook (Language: English) Index terms: Biblical Studies, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Mentalities, Political Thought |
| Paper 1243-c | The Significance of Virgilian Intertext in Carolingian Poetry: Walahfrid Strabo's De Imagine Tetrici (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Learning (The Classical Inheritance), Political Thought, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Abstract | Paper 1243-a: Saint Peters Basilica in Rome, Charlemagne, taken by complete surprise, is crowned “Imperator” of the Romans by Pope Leo III. That is the basic oft-repeated narrative of that faithful Christmas day, 800. Why does this story omit some key details, like the existence of a Roman Emperor in Constantinople? How could the most powerful monarch in Europe be "surprised" by such an event? This paper will try to shed a different light on these events, and attempt to reconstruct a different story. One through the lens of Frankish-Byzantine relations and the development of 'empire' as a political ideology amongst the Franks. Paper 1243-b: This paper is devoted to Hrabanus Maurus’s unpublished commentary on Isaiah, a work of roughly 250 folios that has not received much scholarly attention. The goal is to use this source for shedding new light on various historical phenomena, notably channeled in Hrabanus’s use of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem (70 CE), a potent prism through which meaningful phenomena were addressed, such as anti-Jewish sentiments, apocalyptic ideas, or political agendas. Disentangling exegetical tradition from Hrabanus’s more original contributions, this will illuminate how he embedded observations made in his environment, notably relating to the many crises of his own days, into the larger picture of Salvation History. Paper 1243-c: The significance of Virgilian Intertext in Carolingian Poetry: Walahfrid Strabo's de Imagine Tetrici Walahfrid Strabo wrote de Imagine Tetrici during the reign ofEmperor Louis the Pious. This hexameter poem, which appears to be a panegyric in praise of the emperor, is named for the statue of Theodoric (whom Walahfrid names Tetricus). Walahfrid describes how villainous Tetricus (Theodoric) was in life in the first part of the poem. Then he abruptly switches moods and begins to praise the current emperor, his family and his courtiers. Walahfrid was careful to flatter Louis. However, he has interlaced several allusions to negative lines of Virgil into his panegyrical passages, alluding to the Cyclopes passage (Aeneid 3), the discovery of the murdered Polydorus (Aeneid 3), the meeting with Deiphobus in the underworld (Aeneid 6), and the deadly plague (Georgics 3). Walahfrid alludes to each of these Virgilian passages more than once in specific parts of the de Imagine Tetrici which seem to be praising the emperor. In this way Walahfrid creates an anti-encomium. This underlying theme is only revealed through the allusions Walahfrid makes to the poetry of Virgil. In this paper I uncover these allusions, which cast a new light on the poem. |