Andrés Mánguez Tomás
Abstract : Based on a case study carried out in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, from the Atlantic to the Pyrenees, we analyse the social mechanisms and relationships established between the Church and these societies between the 5th and 7th centuries. Using sources such as the vitae of saints (Emilian and Valerius) and archaeology (Alegría-Dulantzi), we examine the different ways in which families, peasants and nobles, and the ecclesiastical institution coexisted. The Christianisation of Late Antique families in rural areas is the main subject of this article. A scenario of saints, oratories, and churches appears in the countryside, in contrast to traditional historiography which defends a Christianism confined within urban walls.
Key Words : family, Church, landscape, Iberian peninsula, Late Antiquity.
Andrés Mánguez Tomás (1999) is a doctoral student in “Europa y el Mundo Atlántico: Poder, Cultura y Sociedad” at the University of Valladolid, under the direction of Dr. Poveda Arias and Dr. Díaz Martínez. He graduated from the University of Zaragoza and obtained a master’s degree at the University of Salamanca. His research areas include various cultural studies related to the spread of Christianity by the Western Roman Empire and its influence on Late Antique Society. Recently, his work has focused on the Christianization of families in post-roman Europe and the role of churches in Visigothic landscapes, examining them as elements which organize both space and populations. He has also explored the meaning of Late Antiquity in the Spanish historiography.
ID Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1226-0657
andres.manguez.tomas@uva.es
Introduction
One of the traditional causes of the disappearance of Roman state power, together with the irruption of « barbarian peoples », has been attributed to the spread of Christianity inside and outside Roman boundaries. However, we must not conceive that the message of Christianity spread only by the « grace of God ». It is a well-known fact, that ideas are transmitted by individuals, and although it may seem obvious, theoretical models of historians sometimes overlook this appreciation that places the human being as the main figure in historical research. This is precisely what we intend to focus on in this work —placing the spotlight on different human communities and their reception of Christianity and the ecclesiastical institution. The « Christianization » of societies took place in a moment of extreme crisis, at least from a traditional and political perspective, and in a geographical area that has been labelled as « problematic » by Late Antique historians. Indeed, the northern Iberian Peninsula, defined as the territory delimited by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north, the Douro River to the south, and the Arga River and the Iberian System to the east, presents one of the most turbulent and agitated regions between the 5th and 7th centuries[1].
The object of this study is the Christianization of families. First and foremost, it should be noted that, in the Iberian context, there have been many studies on Christianity and its diffusion on the Iberian Peninsula, but very few on the situation of the late antique Hispanic family. In contrast to the European boom in cultural historiography on the family in the 1980s[2], studies on the family in Spain and Portugal remained tied to Legal History and the Early Middle Ages (from the 9th century onwards, precisely when more sources and cartularies were preserved[3]). Nevertheless, Peninsular historiography on the families of the Visigothic period in northern Hispania has undergone changes[4]. At the beginning of the 20th century, Germanic theories permeated Peninsular historiography[5], i.e., they observed a predominance of extended families in which the authority of the father and the memory of lineage prevailed over the influence of Roman culture (also supported by a view of limited Romanization and Christianization of northern peoples). Since the mid-20th century, Romanists distanced themselves from these Germanic survivals and advocated for a concept of the nuclear and conjugal family[6], as we will see later.
To delve into these matters regarding the family and Christianization in the post-Roman world, I have structured the document through four main points: first, I will briefly present the characteristics of family in Late Antiquity; second, I will be explaining how certain rejections and dissent arose in the face of the arrival of Christianity within families; third, I will be exploring the Christian approaches and devotions of aristocratic and peasant families; and fourth, based on the analysis of the Regula communis, I will be presenting how peasant and neighbouring families became « monasteries » to continue exerting control over their heritage and territory. In order to achieve this, we are going to make use of two main types of sources: the first is the hagiographic genre[7], and the second, the material record. As far as hagiographies or lives of saints are concerned, we have used the following corpus of documents, in chronological order of writing: the Vita Sancti Aemiliani, written by Bishop Braulius of Zaragoza (in the mid-7th century), which shows an area of action in the territories of the upper course of Ebro river[8]; and, the writings of Valerius, an ascetic and Galician monk from the second half of the 7th century, which narrate events in a specific region of the northwest of the peninsula, the Bierzo[9]. The cohesion in the use of these sources lies in the fact that, unlike other peninsular vitae, they present their events in rural settings and in a very specific geographical area. These two sources are well known to historiography but until now they have not been looked at through the prism of analysing the family and what Christianisation does to them. The other type of source comes from the archaeological studies that are taking place in the Basque area, specifically in the present-day village of Alegría-Dulantzi, where the remains of a late-antique church were discovered in the 2010s. A further sign of the renewed interest in the archaeology of post-roman societies in the Iberian Peninsula, thanks to the discovery of new churches[10].
Late antique family : a brief look
To understand the topic of family better, we must clarify what we mean by the family in this post-Roman context. The family, although not defined at this time as we understand it today, would correspond to the husband-wife-children group, thus forming the nuclear family. Already in the 2nd century AD, Modestinus introduces a definition of marriage, the element that would underpin the subsequent nuclear family: « Marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and a partnership for life, a sharing of both divine and human law »[11]. The monogamous family, delimited exclusively to husband and wife, stands as the first cell of the citizenry, and this formation will continue to be the principal social component after the disintegration of the Roman Empire[12]. We should not view this social unit as the family in its classical Roman sense, meaning all those who were under the potestas – authority – of the pater familias, whether by blood (exclusively agnatic) or by filiation (dependence and alliance). From the 3rd century onwards, there is a weakening of this authority, partly due to the spread of philosophical currents from the Eastern Empire – primarily Stoicism – and the spread of Christianity, which rejected certain practices of the father’s authority – such as infanticide or the sale of children[13] –. Over the decades, this debilitation of patria potestas gave rise to what historians have called « paterna pietas », infusing new moral values into the concept of the family[14]. A family that also shrinks in terms of its extension, as it would encompass three generations and also opens up to cognatic relationships, no longer distinguishing whether relatives are male or female[15]. In the 5th-7th centuries, we find, as we will later confirm, northern societies that, whether due to the inherent dynamics of the Roman Mediterranean family or their own internal dynamics[16], have reduced their extension, shifted towards cognatism[17], and forgotten the worship of ancestors, a fact that will be evidenced by the analysis of the Dulantzi necropolis, allowing us to speak of « families without memory »[18]. The small size of families at this time and place can be observed in the works of Valerius of Bierzo[19]. It narrates how his nephew, John, the son of his brother Montanus, left his wife and children to join Valerius’ retreat, accompanied by a servant named Euagrio. Here we can see the three generations of a family appear: Valerius, his brother Montanus, who is already a grandfather, his son John, and the children of the latter. From this passage, it can be understood that the three generations did not live together because John separated from his wife and children, but not from his father Montanus. Therefore, the unity of residence would be another characteristic of the nuclear family typical of these centuries[20]. Indeed, a new family can only be formed when spouses achieve independence from their parents[21]. In this case, at least economic independence is implied since the three generations do not share the same dwelling. We can keep this family in mind as a prototype of the family concept for the development of this article.
Mistrust
In the first place, it must be pointed out that the documentary sources show us throughout the 5th to 7th centuries that the society in the vast majority of these territories, predominantly rural and with a handful of urban centres and episcopal seats, continued to be, for the traditional historiography, « culturally pagan »[22]. Here we must clarify that while other authors have emphasized the persistence of paganism well into the 7th century[23], we prefer to align ourselves with authors like Díaz Martínez, who prefer to view this dynamic as the continuity of an ingrained culture that ecclesiastical leaders attempted to control and modify[24]. Thus, we can speak of an officially Christian society with characteristics of an earlier, Roman culture, and even in certain areas, pre-Roman, but not of the maintenance of ancient cults in abundance. Various canons and writings attempted to correct practices that were occurring, especially in rural areas, and that showed how the faithful but also the rural presbyters were far from the orthodoxy demanded by the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the urban episcopal sees[25]. These regulations promoted by the bishops even sought to penetrate the most intimate family and female world because, following the work of Bishop Martin of Braga (in the second half of the 6th century), they aimed to eliminate certain practices carried out by women[26].
A passage that shows rejection, or at least mistrust, on the part of society towards the holy man and, by extension, towards Christianity, appears in the Vita Sancti Aemiliani. In it, we are told how the holy man Aemilian had a vision of the destruction of Cantabria and decided to convene a senate[27]. There, he narrated the events, and the vita’s author says that they listened to him with respect. As well, it tells how a character called Abundantius, mocked the saint for his old age. It seems that the rest of those assembled there concurred with such behaviour in the following passage which narrates the destruction of Cantabria, especially in terms of its political independence (574), at the hands of the Visigothic king Leovigild, who appears as an executor of God’s will and as punishment for the insolence of the Cantabrian leaders against the saint[28].
We must consider that the senatum Cantabriae would be a meeting of the principal landowners of the territory[29], that is, the patres of the most powerful families, some of whom may have already been Christianized (since they received and listened to the holy man), but others, like Abundantius, exemplify rejection and intransigence towards the warnings of Saint Aemilian, leading to a situation of maximum conflict, even resulting in the loss of life and probably the possessions of the ruling families. It should be noted that all of them were put to the sword because of their past crimes[30]. A choice presented itself on this occasion: the ruling families had to either follow the saint’s advice or ignore it. We could understand this passage as the dilemma faced by the main ruling families. I suggest that we can see in this passage an ideological presentation of what would happen to leaders or rulers who reject the counsel of the saints and therefore of the Church[31].
Another case of non-acceptance, or at least, disapproval of religious desires within a family, can be found in a passage from Valerius of Bierzo. Here, a young man named John, whose parents were looking for a wife for him[32], decided to flee from the family home and went to meet the monk Valerius[33], becoming his assistant. However, and here is where the text allows for more interpretation, later on, some thieves attacked and brutally wounded him. As a result, John decided to return home[34]. I wonder if these thieves were sent by his parents to make him return home. It would not be unreasonable for parents to force their children to come back home, although it should be mentioned that this was only a temporary measure, as this young man, once recovered, returned in the company of the monk Valerius[35]. This rupture with the family is the first step that must be taken towards the pursuit of religious asceticism[36], a rupture that could sometimes be accepted by the family or, as can be inferred in this case, a sudden and painful one. Certainly, it is difficult to know the true conflict situations that occurred during the process of Christianization because almost all of the written sources were produced by the ecclesiastical hierarchy, which aimed to show the triumph of the faith. As we can see in these cases, the vitae show both the punishment of leaders who did not follow the saint’s advice and the ultimate victory of the religious vocation, despite the many obstacles that may arise from the family sphere.
Integration
Contrary to the mistrust mentioned in the second part, the third part of this work focuses on integration. Expressions of gratitude towards the divine can be found in material form in Basque territory, mainly through the construction of churches. A recent example of this can be seen in the church of Alegría-Dulantzi, discovered just a decade ago[37]. This church is associated with a necropolis, and notably, there are tombs in a prominent location that undoubtedly belong to high-ranking family leaders. It is worth noting that while in other Western European regions like France, the study and research of these tombs near sacred sites have a long historiographical tradition[38], such research in the Iberian Peninsula has been limited due to the scarcity and fragmented nature of findings. However, archaeology now allows us to learn about a family or group of families that would have controlled the surrounding territory and used this prominence to build a Christian temple, a church[39].
Despite the lack of anthropological studies to determine whether there were blood relations among those buried there (potentially indicating kinship ties), it is clear that these individuals were prominent figures because their tombs were respected (with the passage of decades, new burial places did not disturb the ancient ones). Furthermore, a proper necropolis with dozens of graves surrounding the church was not established; instead, it appears to be located a few hundred meters away, as is the case with the Pelayo necropolis (700 meters north of the church), creating two separate burial spaces. Remarkably, in addition to this site, the « foundational » tomb, located near the altar and having three stone slabs as a cover (in contrast to the wooden coffins of other burial places), contains the remains of an allochthonous woman, which means foreigner, according to isotopic analyses[40]. This discovery adds even more intrigue to the foundation of this church.
Apart from this privileged burial space, there are 30 more inside the church and around the baptistery[41]. If we look for parallels in the Frankish world, Le Jan argues that these family necropolises would contain the remains only of landowners and their wives, meaning an average of two or three individuals per generation[42]. Considering this data, from the 8th century onwards, the church ceased to be considered a central place in the territory, as burial places started being locating outside the temple and were not organized around it. More than 100 new graves indicate that the church was no longer the focal point it had been in the previous phase[43]. Consequently, the founding family of the church had also been forgotten, and this sacred place was no longer a centre of memory[44]. The question still remains of how these two sites, the church and the San Pelayo necropolis, interacted within the same territory: were they part of the same community or two distinct communities? We learn towards the idea that they were spaces within the same hierarchical community, composed of aristocratic family groups associated with the construction and maintenance of the Church of San Martín of Dulantzi[45].
Continuing with this approach of society towards the sacred, in the works of Valerius of Bierzo, we can observe the worship and devotion of a nuclear family, consisting of a husband, wife, and children, which can be illustrated by the story of the matron Theodora. She sent her son to be educated by Valerius, who agreed in exchange for her making him a cloak[46]. Once the son was educated, the lady did not fulfil her promise, and over time, she fell ill. One night, she had a revelation instructing her to go to the Church of San Felix (built on the site of a pagan temple) for her recovery, accompanied by her husband, sons, and daughters[47]. On their way to the church, she was seriously gored by a bull from a herd, grazing nearby. However, at that moment, an angel descended from the church and told her that if she kept her promise, she would be immediately cured[48]. The lady promised to make the cloak and miraculously recovered. The next morning, she called her daughters and maids and began weaving the cloak. Once it was made, she sent it to Saint Valerius[49]. Linking this example with the aforementioned material record, we can see how the aristocratic families (the noble foundress of Alegría-Dulantzi and the matron Theodora) made these churches a focal point of their extension of power over the territory[50], whether by constructing them or processing to them, undoubtedly cultic places tied to the family in some way.
Not only can we learn about the integration of families from the upper echelons of society but also from peasant families. There are examples of popular devotion that would have influenced at least part of the peasant society. One example of devotion to a saint, but also of parents’ devotion to their daughters, appears again in a passage from the Vita Sancti Aemiliani. It recounts a post-mortem miracle, occurred after Aemilian had passed away and had been buried in an oratory. At that time, a four-year-old girl fell seriously ill and was close to death. Her parents, « moved by piety », took her to the saint’s tomb. Unfortunately, before arriving, she died on the way. Nevertheless, « since they did not lack faith », they continued to the oratory and placed her near the altar, then left. A few hours later, « overcome with grief », they decided to return and found their daughter alive and playing with the altar cloths[51]. Thus, we observe how these churches were established as centres of devotion in rural areas, attracting noble and non-noble families, becoming the backbone of the space, in this case controlling the sacred and devotion in these rural societies. All the events analysed here take place in a rural area where Christianism is strongly rooted in landscapes with saints, churches, and oratories.
A way to organise
Last but not least, in this section, I intend to demonstrate how the Christianization of northern societies did not occur solely in a theoretical, philosophical, or cultural manner but also had a real impact on the way families organized themselves, at times generating conflicts and internal dissent. In the northwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula, we find the phenomenon of pseudo-monasteries and family monasteries.
The Regula Communis or « Rule of the Abbots » (compiled in the second half of the 7th century) was intended to serve as a « federal statute » for a group of monasteries in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula that had been independent of the ecclesiastical hierarchy before, mainly from the abbey-bishopric of Dume[52].
The first rule in Regula Communis states that there are monasteries founded by husbands « with their wives, children, servants, and neighbours », who are « hypocrites and heretics » rather than true monks[53]. To understand this phenomenon better, we must delve into the reality of a village community or a group of neighbouring families who shared the same territory and decided to unite as an association by declaring themselves a monastic foundation. They are also known as « neighbourhood » monasteries[54] because there was a transfer of individual properties and obligations to communal ones, thus freeing themselves from responsibility for their properties. These were spontaneous phenomena independent of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The Regula Communis even indicates that they were only seeking to « achieve profits greater than those of secular life with their wives and adult children »[55]. The Rule goes on to state that these actions were not motivated by faith and devotion but by arrogance and greed because once these communities were formed and the properties of different families were handed to the common pool, certain individuals attempted to leave the congregation, taking with them their own and others’ properties, basically seeking illicit enrichment : « And they seize from each other, not just straightforwardly, but with insults, the goods they had previously pooled »[56]. All of this led to quarrels and disputes that seemed more like disputes within a village community than monastic conflicts[57] over communal and private property.
This association of several families to form a monastery was motivated, among other factors, by an interest in controlling the cycle of family inheritance[58]. By the 7th century, the Church and member of nobility had consolidated their power as major landowners, and they aimed at increasing their holdings at the expense of family-owned peasant farms[59]. To avoid falling into dependency, these families sought self-organization, even if it were through an ecclesiastical way, to continue organizing and managing their estates, now on a communal basis. The ecclesiastical hierarchy, by recognizing these family and neighbour monasteries in the Regula Communis, was not seeking their disappearance but rather their control, subject to the obedience of the bishop and adherence to a monastic rule[60].
Despite these «false monasteries», there were indeed real family monasteries in northern Hispania. The Regula Communis, in section VI, addresses the arrival of entire families to a monastery for conversion to the faith. It mentions that « when someone arrives with their wife or young children », they should not worry about them « or about food and clothing », as these will be provided by the congregation[61]. Similarly, it outlines how young children should be cared for to initiate them into the faith and how monks and nuns should not share the same spaces. However, certain allowances were made for the very young, allowing them to see their father and mother:
« The tender little ones, who still amuse themselves with toys, are to be permitted, by a pious concession, to visit their father or mother whenever they wish, so that the parents will not be led into the vice of grumbling because of them, for there is often much grumbling in the monastery because of these little ones. »[62]
This separation of the nuclear family did not occur immediately; instead, parents were responsible for teaching the rule of the cenobitic community to their children until they voluntarily chose to enter it: « But they are to be cared for by both parents until they have learned something of the rule, and they should be instructed in it, so that both boys and girls are drawn to the monastery where they will live »[63]. Here, we observe how monasteries provided families, especially those of lower social rank, with another means to continue their existence, even if it meant severing their emotional bonds after some time. This is referred to as « family profession » or taking of vows[64]. These would indeed be « family » monasteries because throughout the Rule, spaces are differentiated exclusively for men, women, children, and even the elderly[65].
However, before concluding this discussion, we should note that in this same Regula Communis, there are lists of relatives to whom property could not be bequeathed when the devotee professed in the monastery: « nor to the father, nor to the mother, nor to the brother, nor to the relative, nor to the blood relative, nor to the adopted son, nor to the wife, nor to the children ».[66] We observe how, in this case, the boundaries of the nuclear family were expanded, and new terms referring to broader kinship relationships appear. However, given the nature of this rule, we might consider that instead of a kinship based on blood ties, this refers to a situation of solidarity, fostered by the neighbours (some of whom might be relatives) of those professing in the coenobium. In a situation of marginalization, as is suggested in the coenobitic formations in this part of Gallaecia[67], endogamy would be one of the defining factors of these small communities. Therefore, the writers of the Rule employed these terms to refer to a broad kinship relationship, driven by those interested in claiming property rights rather than an extended family. This endogamy is another example of how these peasant communities (now monastic) were separated from the ecclesiastical elites, as the latter advocated for marriage only up to the seventh degree of Roman reckoning[68].
Conclusions and new perspectives
In conclusion, I have analysed how the arrival and establishment of Christianity and the ecclesiastical hierarchies in the northern Iberian territory presented a wide range of diverse scenarios. Families in the region adopted various mechanisms stemmed from this Christianization to maintain their pre-eminence, which was achieved through the construction of churches. In addition, these families organized themselves as « monastic communities » to continue controlling their assets. In other cases, acceptance and devotion to Christianity appeared without a doubt, and the protagonists, all nuclear families or married couples, professed their faith and appeared in a scenario of saints, churches, and oratories. The different strategies of the families analysed here suggest that Christianisation was not a process of shock and that, therefore, the « problems of Christianisation » presented in this document are « problems constructed by the sources », mostly ecclesiastical and urban. We would not be, therefore, in a pagan culture, but in what I would consider an orthodox Christianity but with heterogeneous activities. The large majority of ecclesiastical authors came from the urban environment with a higher education and they would refer to different practices produced in the rural environment as deviations or survivals of paganism, when it would be precisely this (pragmatic) Christianism close to the peasants that would allow Christianism to advance in the fields.
The family, understood as husband-wife-children unity, emerges as the primary nucleus of social organization throughout the presentation. Conflicts and agreements revolve around it, as we have already analysed. Families seem to secretly manage the criticized monastic organizations mentioned in the Regula Communis, which demonstrates the power—at the local level—and the ability of these social cells to control their own assets.
We have observed that in a society in crisis, understood as a society that is trying to change its cultural patterns from the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the one that large landowners are seeking to incorporate into their networks of dependency, northern Iberian families seek to resist, at least under the umbrella of a monastic rule. This family and neighbourhood organization could be the origin of the so-called pactum, which could be an agreement between the new professed members of the monastery and the monastery itself represented by the abbot. This pactum would mark the new high-medieval monastic foundations in northern Iberia, and some authors[69] actually trace its origins to these Late Antique centuries when families had to reach agreements to self-organize as monasteries. Therefore, studies on the origin and significance of this pactum and the monastic foundations of northwestern Iberia should continue to open up ways of research to delve deeper into intra-family conflicts and enhance our understanding of the new Christian rural world. All that has been presented here does not suggest a true societal crisis but the transformation of the preceding Roman world into a new society. This new society is not understood as a medieval one but rather as a differentiated society in which families seek to rebuild and reconfigure their control over the territory through mechanisms linked to Christianization, giving rise to unique and innovative forms of social organization.
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Lotter Friedrich, « Methodisches zur Gewinnung historischer Erkenntnisse aus hagiographischen Quellen », Historische Zeitschrif, nº229, 1979, p. 298-356.
Loza Uriarte Miguel et Niso Lorenzo Javier
- « Resultados preliminares de la intervención arqueológica de San Martín de Dulantzi (Alegría-Dulantzi, Álava) », Vasconia en la Alta Edad Media 450-1000. Poderes y comunidades rurales en el norte peninsular, Zarautz, Universidad del País Vasco, 2011, p. 235–246.
- « La basílica tardoantigua de San Martín de Dulantzi (Alegría-Dulantzi, Álava) », Pyrenae, volume 47, nº2, 2016, p. 95–129.
Mckenna Stephen, Paganism and pagan survivals in Spain up to the fall of the Visigothic Kingdom, Washington D.C., Catholic University of America, 1938.
Mertens Jozef Remi, Tombes mérovingiennes et églises chrétiennes : Arlon, Grobbendonk, Landen, Waha, Bruxelles, Archaeologia Belgica, 1976.
Mínguez Fernández José María, « Sociedad eslcavista y sociedad gentilicia en la formación del feudalismo asturleonés », Romanización y Reconquista en la Península Ibérica: Nuevas Perspectivas, Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, 1998, p. 283–302.
Montanos Ferrin Emma, La familia en la Alta Edad Media española, Pamplona, Universidad de Navarra, 1980.
Ortega Luis Angel et alii, « Strontium Isotopes of Human Remains from the San Martín de Dulantzi Graveyard (Alegría-Dulantzi, Álava) and Population Mobility in the Early Middle Ages », Quaternary International, nº30, 2013, p. 1–10.
Pérez de Urbel Justo, « Carácter y supervivencia del pacto de San Fructuoso», Bracara Augusta, nº22, 1968, p. 226-242.
Quirós Castillo Juan Antonio, Loza Uriarte Miguel et Niso Lorenzo Javier, « Identidades y ajuares en las necrópolis altomedievales. Estudios isotópicos del cementerio de San Martín de Dulantzi, Álava (Siglos VI-X) », Archivo Español de Arqueología, nº86, 2013, p. 215–232.
Roberti Melchiorre, « Patria Potestas e Paterna Pietas: contributo allo studio dell’influenza del cristianesimo sul diritto romano », Studi in memoria di Aldo Albertoni, volume I, Padua, CEDAM, 1935, p. 257–270.
Rousselle Aline, « Gestes et signes de la famille dans l’Empire Romain », Histoire de la Famille, Paris, Armand Colin, 1986, p. 231–273.
Serrano Madroñal Raúl, La conflictividad social en la Tardoantigüedad: un análisis sociológico y lexicológico. Estudio sobre los principales conflictos del Occidente Tardorromano : bagaudas, circunceliones y priscilianistas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2017.
Theis Laurent, « Saints sans famille? Quelques remarques sur la famille dans le monde franc à travers les sources hagiographiques », Revue Historique, volume 255, nº517, 1976, p. 3–20.
Turner Peter, Truthfulness, Realism, Historicity. A Study in Late Antique Spiritual Literature, London, Routledge, 2016.
Vial Dumas Manuel José
- « Familia, muerte y matrimonio. De la familia extensa de la Roma arcaica a la familia nuclear de la Antigüedad Tardía », Revista Chilena de Historia del Derecho, nº22, 2010, 287–317.
- « La revolución de la herencia en la Antigüedad Tardía », Ius Fugit: Revista Interdisciplinar de Estudios Histórico-Jurídicos, nº17, 2011, 313–331.
- « Notas sobre el matrimonio en el Oriente y Occidente cristiano durante la Antigüedad Tardía y el Alto Medioevo », Ius Fugit: Revista Interdisciplinar de Estudios Histórico-Jurídicos, nº18, 2015, p. 141–165.
Villa del Castillo Alejandro, Utrero Agudo María Ángeles, Sastre de Diego Isaac, Caballero Zoreda Luis, « Las iglesias tardoantiguas y altomedievales del centro peninsular. Nuevos hallazgos y viejas cuestiones para una reflexión metodológica », Iglesias tardoantiguas en el centro peninsular (siglos V-VIII), Madrid, La Ergástula, 2022, p. 13-72.
Wood Ian, « How Popular was Early Medieval Devotion? », Essays in Medieval Studies, nº14, 1997.
[1] A rigorous analysis in Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, El reino suevo (411-585), Madrid, Akal, 2011. See also Raúl Serrano Madroñal, La conflictividad social en la Tardoantigüedad: un análisis sociológico y lexicológico. Estudio sobre los principales conflictos del Occidente Tardorromano : bagaudas, circunceliones y priscilianistas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2017.
[2] Pierre Guichard, « L’Europe Barbare », Histoire de la Famille, volume I, Paris, Armand Collin, 1986, p. 277–333; Aline Rousselle, « Gestes et signes de la famille dans l’Empire Romain », Histoire de la Famille, volume I, Paris, Armand Collin, 1986, p. 231–273; Laurent Theis, « Saints sans famille ? Quelques remarques sur la famille dans le monde franc à travers les sources hagiographiques », Revue Historique, volume 255, nº517, 1976, p. 3–20. At the end of the 20th century, the indispensable Régine Le Jan, Famille et Pouvoir dans le monde franc (VIIe-Xe siècle). Essai d’anthropologie sociale, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1995.
[3] Emma Montanos Ferrin, La Familia en la Alta Edad Media española, Pamplona, Universidad de Navarra, 1980.
[4] Pierre Guichard, « L’Europe Barbare », p. 320.
[5] Eduardo Hinojosa, «El elemento germánico en el Derecho español», III Congrès International des Sciences Historiques, Berlin, 1908; Luis García de Valdeavellano, La comunidad patrimonial de la familia en el Derecho español medieval, Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, 1956, p. 24.
[6] Alfonso García-Gallo, « El carácter germánico de la épica y del derecho en la Edad Media española », Anuario de Historia Del Derecho Español, nº25, 1955, p. 583–680; Paul David King, Law and Society in the Visigothic Kingdom, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1972, p. 222–223.
[7] In considering the use of saints’ lives to construct a social-historical discourse, we draw on previous studies that justify the use of this type of source: Baudouin de Gaiffier, « Hagiographie et Historiographie », Settimane di Studio della Fondazione Centro Italiano di Studi sull’ Alto Medioevo XVII, Spoleto, Centro italiano di studi sull´alto Medioevo, volume I, 1970, p. 139-166; Friedrich Lotter, « Methodisches zur Gewinnung historischer Erkenntnisse aus hagiographischen Quellen», Historische Zeitschrif, nº229, 1979, p. 298-356; Peter Turner, Truthfulness, Realism, Historicity. A Study in Late Antique Spiritual Literature, London, Routledge, 2016, p. 25-74; Sébastien Fray,« L’exploitation de sources hagiographiques en histoire sociale du haut Moyen Âge », Cahiers d’histoire, nº34, 2016, p. 65-88. All authors agree that it is important to bear in mind that these narratives should be interpreted with caution, as they reflect more the author’s social point of view than an objective and accurate representation of everyday historical reality.
[8] A complete analysis in Santiago Castellanos, Poder social, aristocracias y hombre santo en la Hispania visigoda: la Vita Aemiliani de Braulio de Zaragoza, Logroño, Universidad de La Rioja, 1998.
[9] The most recent and exhaustive study in Patrick Henriet (coord.) et alii., Valère du Bierzo. Écrits autobiographiques et visions de l’au-delà, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2021.
[10] Alejandro Villa del Castillo, María Ángeles Utrero Agudo, Isaac Sastre de Diego, Luis Caballero Zoreda, «Las iglesias tardoantiguas y altomedievales del centro peninsular. Nuevos hallazgos y viejas cuestiones para una reflexión metodológica», Iglesias tardoantiguas en el centro peninsular (siglos V-VIII), Madrid, La Ergástula, 2022, p. 13-72.
[11] «Nuptiae sunt coniunctio maris et feminae, et consortium omnis vitae, divini et humani iuris communicatio» (Dig. 23,2,1).
[12] Paul David King, Law and Society, p. 223.
[13] Manuel José Vial Dumas, « Familia, muerte y matrimonio. De la familia extensa de la Roma arcaica a la familia nuclear de a Antigüedad Tardía », Revista Chilena de Historia Del Derecho, nº22, 2010, p. 287–317.
[14] Melchiorre Roberti, « Patria Potestas e Paterna Pietas: contributo allo studio dell’influenza del cristianesimo sul diritto romano », Studi in Memoria Di Aldo Albertoni, volume I, Padua, CEDAM, 1935, p. 257–270.
[15] Didier Lett, Famille et parenté dans l’Occident médiéval V-XVe Siècle, Paris, Hachette, 2000.
[16] Francisco Javier Lomas Salmonte, «Vigencias de un modelo historiográfico. De las sociedades gentilicias en el norte peninsular a las primeras formaciones feudales», Romanización y Reconquista en la Península Ibérica: Nuevas Perspectivas, Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, 1998, p. 115–116; José María Mínguez Fernández, «Sociedad esclavista y sociedad gentilicia en la formación del feudalismo asturleonés», Romanización y Reconquista en la Península Ibérica: Nuevas Perspectivas, Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, 1998, p. 300.
[17] Pierre Guichard, « L’Europe Barbare », p. 280.
[18] Manuel José Vial Dumas, « La revolución de la herencia en la Antigüedad Tardía », Ius Fugit: Revista Interdisciplinar de Estudios Histórico-Jurídicos, nº17, 2011, p. 313–331.
[19] Val. Berg., RS., 15.
[20] Laurent Theis, « Saints sans famille ? », p. 15–16.
[21] Manuel José Vial Dumas, « Notas sobre el matrimonio en el Oriente y Occidente cristiano durante la Antigüedad Tardía y el Alto Medioevo », Ius Fugit: Revista Interdisciplinar de Estudios Histórico-Jurídicos, nº18, 2015, p. 141–165.
[22] Thus, for example, classical studies which defend the survival of paganism until the 8th century, such as Stephen Mckenna, Paganism and pagan survivals in Spain up to the fall of the Visigothic Kingdom, Washington D.C., Catholic University of America, 1938; Jocelyn Nigel Hillgarth, «Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain», Visigothic Spain. New Approaches, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1980, p. 3-60. Recently Bernadette Filotas, Pagan Survivals, Superstitions and Popular Cultures in Early Medieval Pastoral Literature, Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2005, p. 1-64, because she only follows the pastoral literature: her sources were exclusively ecclesiastical. In contrast, and for a prompt eradication of paganism, Pierre Chuvin, where paganism would have been assimilated to peasantry: « Des noms survivent, mais la tradition est définitivement rompue. » (Pierre Chuvin, Chronique des derniers païens. La disparition du paganisme dans l’Empire romain, du règne de Constantin à celui de Justinien, Paris, Les Belles-Lettres/Fayard, 2009 [1990], p. 132-133).
[23] In the peninsular historiography: Juan Antonio Jiménez Sánchez, « La legislación civil y eclesiástica concerniente a las supersticiones y a las pervivencias idolátricas en la Hispania de los Siglos VI-VII », Hispania Sacra, volume 57, nº115, 2005, p. 47–78.
[24] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, « El monacato y la cristianización del NO. Hispano. Un proceso de aculturación », Antigüedad y Cristianismo, volume 7, 1990, p. 531–539; Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, Juana María Torres Prieto, « Pervivencias paganas en el cristianismo hispano (siglos IV-VI) », El Cristianismo : aspectos históricos de su origen y difusión en Hispania. Actas Del Symposium de Vitoria-Gasteiz (25 a 27 de Noviembre de 1996), Vitoria, Universidad del País Vasco, 2001, p. 235–261.
[25] We should not talk about a difference between « popular religion » and « elite religion » because elite and peasants, generally in rural areas, share the same beliefs, see Ian Wood, « How Popular was Early Medieval Devotion? », Essays in Medieval Studies, nº14, 1997; so we argue that a potential difference would be between the high clergy of urban sees and the rest.
[26] Such as naming Minerva while weaving or observing Venus’ day in marriages: « Mulieres in tela sua Minervam nominare et Veneris diem in nuptias observare. » (Mart. Dum., De correctione rusticorum, 16.3.)
[27] At that time, it is difficult to determine the exact territory to which the term « Cantabria » refers, although it seems to be associated mainly with the area of the upper Ebro. To explore this subject in greater detail, I recommend consulting Santiago Castellanos, « Aproximación a la historia política del Alto Valle del Ebro durante los siglos V-VI d.C.», Brocar, nº18, 1994, p. 119-138.
[28] « At ille denuntiat ei rem per semetipsum experiri, quod post probauit euentus nam gladio uindice Leuuegildi est interemtus. Caeteros quoque quum non resipiscerent ab iniquis operibus, ira pendente diuinitus pari modo periurio doloque adgrediens, sanguine est ipsorum crassatus. » (VSE, 33).
[29] Santiago Castellanos, Poder social, aristocracias y hombre santo, p. 42–45.
[30] « scelera eorum, caedes, furta, incesta, violentias, caeteraque uitia. » (VSE, 33).
[31] We must not forget that the author of this vita is Braulius of Zaragoza, one of the most influential bishops of the time, as is shown by his correspondence with other peninsular bishops such as Fructuosus of Braga, Isidore of Seville or Eugene II of Toledo; with Pope Honorius I; and with the Visigothic kings Chindaswinth and Recceswinth. Braulius thus became one of the champions of the official discourse of the Church.
[32] « Quum illi a parentibus suis peteretur sponsa. » (Val. Berg., RS, 7.1).
[33] « cum festinatione pervenit. » (Ibidem, 7.2).
[34] « latrones seuissimos per quorum impiissima uastatione nos efficeret utraque parte diusos. Ille autem crudeliter cesus et pessime deuilitatus, ad pristinum readtractus est locum. » (Ibidem,7.3).
[35] Ibidem, 7.4-7-5.
[36] Laurent Theis, « Saints sans famille? », p. 6.
[37] Miguel Loza Uriarte, Javier Niso Lorenzo, « Resultados preliminares de la intervención arqueológica de San Martín de Dulantzi (Alegría-Dulantzi, Álava) », Vasconia en la Alta Edad Media 450-1000. Poderes y comunidades rurales en el norte peninsular, Zarautz, Universidad del País Vasco, 2011, p. 235–246.
[38] Jozef Remi Mertens, Tombes mérovingiennes et églises chrétiennes : Arlon, Grobbendonk, Landen, Waha, Bruxelles, Archaeologia Belgica, 1976.
[39] Miguel Loza Uriarte, Javier Niso Lorenzo, « La basílica tardoantigua de San Martín de Dulantzi (Alegría-Dulantzi, Álava) », Pyrenae, volume 47, nº2, 2016, p. 95–129.
[40] Luis Angel Ortega et alii, « Strontium Isotopes of Human Remains from the San Martín de Dulantzi Graveyard (Alegría-Dulantzi, Álava) and Population Mobility in the Early Middle Ages », Quaternary International, nº30, 2013, p. 1–10.
[41] Miguel Loza Uriarte, Javier Niso Lorenzo, « La basílica tardoantigua de San Martín de Dulantzi », p. 107.
[42] Régine Le Jan, Famille et Pouvoir, p. 48.
[43] Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo, Miguel Loza Uriarte, Javier Niso Lorenzo, « Identidades y ajuares en las necrópolis altomedievales. Estudios isotópicos del cementerio de San Martín de Dulantzi, Álava (siglos VI-X)», Archivo Español de Arqueología, nº86, 2013, p. 224.
[44] Manuel José Vial Dumas, « La revolución de la herencia », p. 322.
[45] Miguel Loza Uriarte, Javier Niso Lorenzo, « La basílica tardoantigua de San Martín de Dulantzi », p. 107.
[46] Val. Berg., RS., 3.1.
[47] Ibidem, 3.2.
[48] Ibidem, 3.3-3.5.
[49] Ibidem, 3.7.
[50] It is worth noting that Alegría-Dulantzi’s temple is a rural church but located on a communication route such as an ancient Roman road, indicating the interest of its builders in controlling a space.
[51] « repperiunt uiuam quam reliquerant mortuam, et non solum uiuentem sed et ad altaris tunicam ludentem. » (VSE, 38).
[52] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, « Regula Communis : Monastic Space and Social Context », Western Monasticism Ante Litteram: The Spaces of Monastic Observance in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, Turnhout, Brepols, 2011, p. 118.
[53] Reg. Comm., I.
[54] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, « Regula Communis: Monastic Space », p. 119–120.
[55] Reg. Comm., I.
[56] Id.
[57] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, « Non dicimus monasteria sed animarum perditionem et ecclesia subuersionem. El monasterio como espacio de heterodoxia y alternativa social en la Hispania tardoantigua », Studi e Materiali Di Storia Delle Religioni, volume 81, nº1, 2019, p. 130–132.
[58] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, «Regula Communis: Monastic Space», p. 129–130.
[59] Ibidem, p. 128.
[60] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, « Non dicimus monasteria », p. 130.
[61] Reg. Comm., VI.
[62] Id.
[63] Id.
[64] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, « El Monacato y la Cristianización », p. 535.
[65] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, « Regula Communis: Monastic Space », p. 123.
[66] « non dedit patri, non matri, non fratri, non propinquo, non consanguineo, non filio adoptiuo, non uxori, non liberis » (Reg. Comm., IV).
[67] Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez, « Regula Communis: Monastic Space », p. 125.
[68] Didier Lett, Famille et parenté, p. 95.
[69] See particularly Justo Pérez de Urbel, « Carácter y supervivencia del pacto de San Fructuoso », Bracara Augusta, nº22, 1968, p. 226-242; Charles Julian Bishko, « Hispanic monastic pactualism: the controversy continues », Classical folia, volume 27, 1973, p. 173-186. A state of the art on this issue at Pablo de la Cruz Díaz Martínez « El legado del pasado: Reglas y monasterios visigodos y carolingios », Monjes y monasterios hispanos en la Alta Edad Media, Aguilar de Campoo, 2006, p. 9-36. More recently and in favour of an extension of pactism even to the northeastern Iberian Peninsula: Xavier Costa Badia, « Los monasterios nacidos a través de pactos en los condados catalanes del siglo IX. Reflexiones en torno a la pervivencia de un modelo fundacional visigodo en tiempos de la reforma carolingia », Hortus Artium Medievalium, volume 23, nº1, 2017, p. 328-335.
