Hosts / Producers / Editors: Hannah Feodorov, Nicholas van Oosterom

Guest: Dr. Robert Flierman

Technical Assistance: Hans Schuurman

Language: English

Artwork: Hannah Feodorov, Nicholas van Oosterom

Meddling messengers and nefarious nuns love to gossip. In this episode of Murmuring Medievalists, hosts Hannah Feodorov and Nicholas van Oosterom explore the world of early medieval letter-writing and delivery in Merovingian Gaul with Dr. Robert Flierman. Why did people write letters? What material could messages be written on? How were letters delivered? And who were the messengers themselves? Following in the footsteps of prestigious figures such as Boniface and Gregory of Tours, all these questions and more are answered in this episode, the first of three in this new podcast on topics of Medieval History at Utrecht University.

If you are interested in learning more about early medieval letter-writing and delivery in Merovingian Gaul, or Dr. Robert Flierman’s work, a bibliography and a link to Dr. Flierman’s university page are attached below.

Bibliography:

Professor Profile and Works: Flierman, Robert. Last accessed: 13th February 2023. https://www.uu.nl/staff/RFlierman

Primary Sources / Translations:

Aethelbert of Kent, in Dümmler, Ernestus. ‘S. Bonifatii et Lulli Epistolae.’ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica; Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini Aevi 1, edited by Ernestus Dümmler. 216-433. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1892.

Aethelbert of Kent, translated in Tangl, Michael. Die Briefe des heiligen Bonifatius. Leipzig: Dyk, 1919. On Fordham University: Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 2000. Last accessed: 28th February 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/boniface-letters.asp

Apollinaris, Sidonius, in Anderson, W. B. Letters: Books 3-9 (Loeb Classical Library 420). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1965.

Apollinaris, Sidonius, in Dalton, O. M. The Letters of Sidonius. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1915. On The Tertullian Project, 2003. Last accessed: 28th February 2023. https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/sidonius_letters_04book4.htm

Boniface, in Dümmler, Ernestus. ‘S. Bonifatii et Lulli Epistolae.’ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica; Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini Aevi 1, edited by Ernestus Dümmler. 216-433. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1892.

Boniface, translated in Tangl, Michael. Die Briefe des heiligen Bonifatius. Leipzig: Dyk, 1919. On Fordham University: Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 2000. Last accessed: 28th February 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/boniface-letters.asp

Fortunatus, Venantius, in Leo, Fridericus. ‘Venanti Honori Clementiani Fortunati presbyteri Italici Opera poetica.’ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica; Auctores antiquissimi, edited by Societes Aperiendis Fontibus. 1-270. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1877.

Fortunatus, Venantius, translated in Tyrrell, Alice. Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers. 163. Turnhout: Brepols, 2019.

Gregory of Tours, in Krusch, Bruno and Levison, Wilhelm. ‘Gregorri Turonensis Opera. Teil 1: Libri historiarum X.’ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica; Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum (SS rer. Merov.), edited by Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison. 1-537. Hannoverae: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1951.

Gregory of Tours, translated in Brehaut, Ernst. Records of Civilisation 2. New York: Columbia University Press, 1916. On Fordham University: Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 1997. Last accessed: 28th February 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/gregory-hist.asp#book10

Marcellinus, Ammianus, in Rolfe, J. C. History, Volume I: Books 14-19 (Loeb Classical Library 300). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950.

Marcellinus, Ammianus, in Tyrrell, Alice. Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers. 174. Turnhout: Brepols, 2019.