Flodoard, the will of St Remigius and the see of Reims in the tenth century

Abstract

The ‘longer’ will of St Remigius of Reims, as preserved in the mid‐tenth‐century Historia Remensis ecclesiae of Flodoard of Reims, is widely agreed to be a forgery. But despite the fact that it is known almost exclusively from Flodoard's work, historians have never suggested that this document was produced in his day. This article contends that the longer will was indeed an original component of the Historia. Read in this context, the will can throw new light on the Historia itself, the career of Flodoard and the tumultuous history of the church of Reims in the first half of the tenth century.

Hegemony, rebellion and history: Flodoard'sHistoria Remensis ecclesiaein Ottonian perspective

“…However, it may in fact have been produced in the mid-tenth century, for it is not known prior to its inclusion in the Historia, and there is reason to believe that Flodoard himself was involved in the interpolation of the will. 44 In the will (as it is found in the Historia), Remigius left to his successors a number of properties in the Vosges. These consisted primarily of Kusel, Altenglan, Behren-lès-Forbach and Bischmisheim, which had been brought together from donations by Clovis and purchases by Remigius.…”

“…Some of these lands, such as Mouzon, Douzy and Mézières, lay in Lotharingiathat is, since 925, in the East Frankish kingdomand Flodoard wrote about them prolifically. 95 When, in 931, Count Heribert submitted to Otto's father Henry, it was probably performed in an effort to secure his control of these valuable estates. 96 The church of Rheims would also have sought the co-operation of Ottonian rulers and magnates to help safeguard its possessions.…”

An Unbeloved Heir? A Reassessment of Louis the Stammerer's Role in the Last Years of Charles the Bald's Reign and its Implications for Understanding Carolingian Rule

“…83 In the next century, a mass killing of the peasants in his benefice of Cormicy in similar skirmishing prompted the usually equanimous Rheims priest Flodoard to emotion, and it is no surprise a more effusive writer such as Hincmar condemned the fighting. 84 However, whilst Hincmar's presentation of the events of winter 875 is understandable in terms of the human cost of the war, there are reasons to doubt his portrayal of the strategic picture. A letter from Pope John VIII to the West Frankish magnates warmly praised their adamantine constancy.…”

Flodoard of Rheims and the historiography of the tenth‐century West

“…This work, considered one of the tenth century's crowning historiographical achievements, recounts the city's history from its legendary origins to 948. Much of the text's renown lies in Flodoard's summary and quotation of hundreds of documents from the otherwise lost episcopal archive, including over 450 letters of the great Archbishop Hincmar (845–82; Zimmermann, ; Stratmann, ; Roberts, ). The History is perhaps the single‐most important source for early medieval Rheims, and it has been considered a landmark in the development of institutional historiography and the construction of local identity (Sot, ; McKitterick, , p. 147; Sot, ; Beddoe, ; Riches, ).…”

“…This was prompted not by a general impulse to assert the inviolability of church lands, but rather by the specific challenges Rheims faced during Flodoard's lifetime. As he tells us, he was involved in the administration and recovery of ecclesiastical property, and in the History he used charters and letters to construct detailed justifications for Rheims' rights over specific estates and churches (Roberts, ; Roberts, ). Flodoard's focus on church property reminds us that his works, especially the History , were written not simply to consolidate institutional memory, but in response to debilitating conflicts that sometimes threatened to overwhelm.…”