Rumours and Assassinations: The World of Gregory of Tours
Researcher: Professor Edward James
Gregory was bishop of Tours in western Francia between 573 and 594, and his Ten Books of History contain an outstanding record of his times. Potentially they offer an opportunity to write the most detailed account of a short period of history that we have for the early Middle Ages. What makes this a task that historians have so far baulked at is that there is very little corroborative evidence that can be used: Gregory of Tours himself provides us with almost all the evidence that there is from Francia in this period.
The political events of this period are turbulent: they involve a number of major assassinations, including those of Sigibert I (575), his brother Chilperic (584) and Praetextatus, bishop of Rouen (586), and a major rebellion against the power of the established kings of the Merovingian dynasty. As bishop of Tours, Gregory was a participant in the politics of his day, in addition to being a very well-placed observer.
The monograph which will result from this project will be an introduction to the works of Gregory of Tours as a whole (which include several books of miracle stores as well as the History), but will concentrate on understanding what he tells us about those 21 turbulent years. Gregory does not provide a straight-forward account, and has to be interrogated closely. The monograph is provisionally entitled Rumours and Assassinations, but it is tempting to adopt the phrase recently used of Gregory--Trollope with Bloodshed--as a title.
The initial research for this project was undertaken during a two-year Research Fellowship offered by Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey.
