Death and Afterlife in the Pages of Gregory of Tours: Religion and Society in Late Antique Gaul

Allen E. Jones

Published by Amsterdam University Press 2020

Death and Afterlife in the Pages of Gregory of Tours

Religion and Society in Late Antique Gaul

Allen E. Jones

Volume 6 in the series Social worlds of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages

https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048540082

Overview
Contents

About this book

Gregory of Tours was a bishop of late antiquity who was famously devoted to promoting the efficacy of saintly powers. In his writings, both historical and hagiographical, Gregory depicted the saints and reprobates of his age. This book analyses Gregory's writings about death and the afterlife, thereby illuminating the bishop's pastoral imperative to save souls and revealing his opinions about the fates of Merovingian royals, among many others he mentions in his voluminous text. The study provides insight into Gallic peoples living at the dawning of the Middle Ages and their hopes and fears about the otherworld. It offers an original, nuanced interpretation of Gregory's motives for penning his works, particularly the Historiae, which remained unfinished upon the author's death.

Author / Editor information

Jones Allen :

Allen Jones is Professor and Chair of the Department of History and Philosophy at Troy University.

Reviews

"Allen E. Jones’s recent study tackles a subject that is hardly studied: the theological views of the sixth-century Merovingian bishop, Gregory of Tours. [...] His study offers a fresh new perspective on Gregory of Tours and his works, and it paves the path for further studies on the theology of Gregory of Tours. [...] Jones does an excellent service for the ‘Gregorian’ scholarship by looking into the theology of Gregory of Tours, and his study opens new ways to discuss Gregory and his works."
- Tamar Rotman, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 12, 39 (2021)

"Death and Afterlife in the Pages of Gregory of Tours is a self-proclaimed intellectual biography (17) of the author of ten books of history and seven books of miracles, which refreshingly makes use of the bishop’s entire corpus and broader historical context in order to get inside his head. [...] This book will remain an excellent resource for death in Gregory of Tours. Its expansive index makes it easy to use and ensures scholars of Gregory and sixth-century Gaul will return to it after reading."
- A. E. T. McLaughlin, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, 90, 3 (2021)

"Es sich um einen durchaus hilfreichen Beitrag zur Historiographie des Frühmittelalters. Jones vermag den Quellen vielfach Neues zu entlocken und erweitert damit unsere Kenntnisse über den wohl wichtigsten Autor der Merowingerzeit."
- Till Stüber, Historische Zeitschrift, 313, 3 (2021)

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	1
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	5
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Part I. Death Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
Part II. Afterlife Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	315

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 324
Keywords: Gregory of Tours; Gaul; History; Death; Afterlife

eBook

Published: August 4, 2020
ISBN: 9789048540082