Bishops in 5th and 6th Century Frankia: Sidonius Apollinaris & Gregory of Tours

What was the role of Bishop in urban and political life in 5^th and 6^th century Frankia, and why did it evolve into such importance?

The role of the bishop in 5^th and 6^th century Gaul was a complex one that underwent major changes during this period. The collapse of the secular Roman administrative structure and the volatile political situation that followed contributed greatly to this. The lives and writings of Sidonius Apollinaris and Gregory of Tours, both of whom were bishops, reflect the changing demands of the bishopric and the ideological frame through which such men viewed the worlds in which they lived. In combination, these two sources also offer a key insight into the changes that occurred from the 5^th to the 6^th century, as the imperial administration disappeared to be eventually replaced by Frankish rule. This essay, then, will look at these two key sources in an attempt to evaluate the practical and theological concerns of the bishops and the underlying ideology of the men who undertook the role.

Sidonius was born in Lyon around 430¹. He was a member of a prominent Gallo-Roman family with a tradition of service in the Roman administration(Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, I, III).² Sidonius' early career is characteristic of members of his class, following the tradition of service for the state with a sense of duty and perhaps even entitlement (Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, I, IV). Sidonius' letters before 470 reflect his secular concerns, for example, his panegyric letter describing Theodoric II (Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, I, II). Sidonius' father in law, Avitus, ascended to the imperial purple in a short lived rule that was gained in no small part thanks to Sidonius' literary pursuits.³ The use of panegyric poetry and letters for political purposes was a key factor in Sidonius' success in both secular and, later, ecclesiastical structures (Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, IIX, IX).

The year 466 marks a major shift in Sidonius' life and indeed the history of the Western Empire. The rise of Euric to the rule of the Visigothic kingdom effectively ended the ability of the Roman-Gallic aristocracy to influence affairs in Gaul through collusion with the Visigothic and Imperial courts. Euric wanted to establish an independent Visigothic kingdom and the moribund Roman Western Empire, unable or unwilling to resist, ceded control of Gaul to the Goths. Sidonius was himself in Rome at this time, the purpose for which is disputed; Sivan, for instance, argues that he was there to act as an advocate for the praetorian prefect Arvandus,⁴ while Coates says that he had arrived in Rome “anxious to obtain government office”.⁵ However, whatever his purpose, it is clear that in 468 Sidonius retreated quickly home to Gaul and by 470 had taken the role of bishop of Clermont. It is significant that Sidonius, disillusioned with the imperial administration, chose to quickly take up the role of bishop; a letter of 470 to his friend Eutropius, shows that he had lost none of his belief in pubic service (Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, III, VI).

It is from the episcopal see that Sidonius mounted a defiant defence of Clermont, rallying his people both practically and in prayer ceremonies known as rogations (Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, VII, I). Clermont eventually fell to the Visigoths, although not by force. It was the last city in Gaul to do so, in no small part thanks to the leadership of Sidonius (Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, VII, V). Sidonius' letters from this period show not only his importance to the city, but also the importance of the network of bishops in Gaul, many of whom Sidonius was in correspondence with. This lettered community had common concerns, including maintaining the church itself, which was threatened by the Arian Visigoths. In one notable example, Sidonius lists a number of cities that were without bishops as a result of Euric’s policy of expelling those whom he considered disloyal(Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, VII, VI.⁶ Another major concern of this group was, in fact, their literary pursuits themselves. The exchange of letters was used as a means of preserving their Gallo-Roman culture at a time when it was being directly challenged; Harries writes, “Sidonius was prepared to assert that, in a cultural sense, they still were [part of the Roman Empire] because the Latin language had not faltered”.⁷

Perhaps the most important development of this period was the way that Sidonius and his fellow bishops assumed the role of patrons in their communities. Rosseau argues that the bishops combined the old conventions of patronage with the ideology and language of the church, creating for themselves a powerful image as the father of the city.⁸ This was particularly important at a time when individual cities were becoming politically and, indeed, religiously, isolated.⁹ We see the practical effects of Sidonius’ patronage in his letters which are replete with examples of recommendations of local members of his see(Sidonius, Letters of Sidonius, VII, II & VII, !V). His afore mentioned attempts, including the ritual of rogation, to save the city from Visigothic rule can only have served to enhance this image.

In 507, nearly twenty years after the death of Sidonius, another major shift occurred, with the defeat of the Visigoths at the hands of Clovis’ Franks at Voullie. To this period of history we owe our knowledge predominantly to Gregory of Tours. Gregory was born in 539 in Clermont, and, like Sidonius, was a member of an illustrious Gallo-Roman family. He had risen to the deaconship by 563 and taken over from his mother’s cousin as Bishop of Tours in 573. There is a significant difference Between Gregory and Sidonius, however, when it comes to education. Sidonius was classically educated and acutely aware of the literary tradition that he inherited. This is evidenced by what Van Dam calls “the archaic qualities of his literary culture,” and Sidonius’ “highly mannered and apparently artificial Latin”.¹⁰ Gregory by contrast, although obviously educated, had a “patchy” knowledge of Latin literature and wrote a “barbarized Latin”. ¹¹ With these self-acknowledged limitations (Gregory of Tours, The History of Franks, I, 1). ¹² Gregory wrote arguably the most important works of the 6^th century, the majority of which comes in the form of his hagiographical works and the ten books that make up his History of the Franks.

Gregory’s world was significantly different from Sidonius’. In Gregory’s time there was no longer a sharp distinction between Romans and barbarians; for Gregory there were simply Catholics and non-Catholics. ¹³ The role of the bishop, although still dominated by Gallo-Roman aristocrats (Gregory of Tours, The History of Franks, X, 31), now involved dealing with the unstable Frankish courts and asserting local power in the diocese, often in opposition with the counts. The means by which the bishops achieved these ends are readily displayed in Gregory of Tours’ History of the Franks. Most notably, the saints and their relics were used to “consolidate and expand” the position of church,¹⁴ as well as that of individual diocese’ and, by extension, their bishops. The bishops associated themselves with saintly figures that were given a status that went beyond the earthly. Gregory’s depiction of St Martin is an obvious example of this (Gregory of Tours, The History of Franks, I, 48). Additionally, the Bishops themselves were expected to live up to these ideals, acting in the protection of their peoples, the construction of religious buildings and the ransoming of hostages, as well as performing their traditional religious functions. Gregory mentions many bishops who both live up to this ideal, for example Numantius of Clermont-Ferrand(Gregory of Tours, The History of Franks, II, 16), and some who do not, for example Cautinus of Clermont-Ferrand(Gregory of Tours, The History of Franks, IV, 12). In this it is evident that the role of the bishops was being extended from that of previous generations. The ideology of the church as father, protector and saviour was being utilised by writers like Gregory to enhance the power of the church, and the bishops, as well as to keep in check the unpredictable Frankish kings. The story of Clovis’ striking down one of his own soldiers in deference, or perhaps fear, of St Martin, exemplifies the way Gregory used the saint for this later purpose (Gregory of Tours, The History of Franks, II, 37).

The role of the bishops in 5^th and 6^th century Gaul evolved throughout the period. Within the church, the ideology of the bishops evolved from that of the Christianised Gallo-Roman aristocracy of the 5^th century to the almost fundamentalist beliefs of the later bishops, here exemplified by Gregory of Tours. In both cases, this ideology was not simply used in the theological realm, but was also centred in the more temporal concerns of the order of men who assumed the position.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Apollinaris Sidonius The Letters of Sidonius Ed. & transl. O.M. Dalton (Oxford, 1915).

Gregory of Tours The History of the Franks Ed. & transl. L, Thorpe (Penguin, 1974).

Secondary Sources

Coates S., ‘Venantius Fortunatus and the Image of Episcopal Authority in Late Antique and Early Merovingian Gaul’, The English Historical Review 115, 464 (2000) pp. 1109-1137.

Harries J., ‘Sidonius Apollinaris and the Frontiers of Romanitas’ in eds R. W. Mathisen & H. S. Sivan, Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity (Hampshire, 1996) 31-44.

Klingshirn W., ‘Charity and Power: Caesarius of Arles and the Ransoming of Captives in Sub-Roman Gaul’  Journal of Roman Studies 75 (1985) pp. 183-203. 

Mathisen R W., ‘Barbarian Bishops and the Churches “in Barbaricis Gentibus” During Late Antiquity’ Speculum, 72, 03, (1997) pp. 664-697.

Rousseau P., ‘In Search of Sidonius the Bishop’ Historia: Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte 25 (1976), 356-377.

Sivan H.S., ‘Sidonius Apollinaris, Theodoric II, and Gothic-Roman Politics from Avitus to Anthemius’ Hermes 117 (1989), pp.85-94.

Van Dam R., Leadership and Community in Late Antique Gaul, Berkeley: University of California Press (1985).

Wallace-Hadrill J.M., The Long-Haired Kings and other studies in Frankish history, London: Butler & Tanner Ltd (1962).

1 R. Van Dam Leadership and Community in Late Antique Gaul (Berkeley, 1985) 157

2 Apollinaris Sidonius The Letters of Sidonius Ed. & transl. O.M. Dalton (Oxford, 1915) Henceforth, all references to this work are to this translation.

3 H.S. Sivan ‘Sidonius Apollinaris, Theodoric II, and Gothic-Roman Politics from Avitus to Anthemius’ Hermes 117 (1989), 89.

4 Sivan op. cit. 92

5 S. Coates ‘Venantius Fortunatus and the Image of Episcopal Authority in Late Antique and Early Merovingian Gaul’ The English Historical Review 115 (2000), 1109.

6 J Harries ‘Sidonius Apollinaris and the Frontiers of Romanitas’ in eds R. W. Mathisen & H. S. Sivan, Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity (Hampshire, 1996), 34.

7 Harries op. cit. 35

8 P. Rousseau ‘In Search of Sidonius the Bishop’ Historia: Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte 25 (1976), 364.

9 Van Dam op. cit. 182

10 Van Dam op. cit. 163

11 J.M. Wallace-Hadrill The Long-Haired Kings and other studies in Frankish history (London, 1962) 54

12 Gregory of Tours The History of the Franks Ed. & transl. L, Thorpe (Penguin, 1974) Henceforth, all references to this work are to this translation.

13 Wallice-Hadrill op. cit. 60

14 Van Dam op. cit. 189