Christianization and Commonwealth in Early Medieval Europe: A Ritual Interpretation

273 Pages·2018·1.696 MB·English

by  Nathan J. Ristuccia

OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
CHRISTIANIZATION AND COMMONWEALTH
IN EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
Christianization and
Commonwealth in Early
Medieval Europe
A Ritual Interpretation
NATHAN J. RISTUCCIA
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP,
UnitedKingdom
OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship,
andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof
OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries
©NathanJ.Ristuccia2018
Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted
FirstEditionpublishedin2018
Impression:1
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin
aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe
priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted
bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics
rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe
aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe
addressabove
Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform
andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress
198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016,UnitedStatesofAmerica
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Dataavailable
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017950696
ISBN 978–0–19–881020–9
Printedandboundby
CPIGroup(UK)Ltd,Croydon,CR04YY
LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand
forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials
containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork.
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
For Grace
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
Acknowledgments
I did not grow up celebrating the Rogation Days. Indeed, I have never
celebrated Rogationtide, had never seen the holiday until researching this
project, and had never heard of the feast until I began learning Old English
atcollege.Moreover,thisbookisonlytangentiallyrelatedtomydissertation,
so the revision process was arduous. Indeed, there was no revision, rather a
new beginning. As a result, these pages took much longer to write than
Ianticipated,andIhavefeltbehindfromthefirstday.Withoutthekindness,
guidance, and material assistance of numerous people, this project would
neverhavesucceeded.
IoweagreatdebttomanyteachersbothatPrincetonUniversityandatthe
UniversityofNotreDame,includingHarrietFlower,AlanStahl,MartinBloomer,
John Cavadini, Thomas Hall, Blake Leyerle, Hildegund Müller, and Marina
Smyth. John Van Engen’s shrewd criticism of my dissertation and its prob-
lematicuseof“Christianization”inspiredmetomoveinadifferentdirection
for my book project; I cannot thank him enough for that. I am especially
indebtedtoTomNoble,whohasrepeatedlyprovenhimselftobeeverythinga
younghistoriancouldwantfromanadvisor.IalsothanktheDoloresZohrab
LiebmannFundforgenerouslyawardingmearesearchfellowship.
Most of this book was written during my four years at the University of
Chicago’s Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts. I appreciate the Society for
funding my research over the last four years and for granting me a much-
needed sabbatical from teaching in the spring of 2016. Jonathan Lyon, my
faculty mentor in the Society, deserves praise, both for the detailed feedback
that he gave me on the entire manuscript and for his general guidance over
these years. The library staffs at the University of Chicago, the Catholic
UniversityofAmerica,theUniversityofNotreDame,andtheBritishLibrary
alsohelpedmegreatly.Manypeoplehavereadandimproveddraftchaptersof
this book, including Ben Fong, Aaron Gies, David Lyons, John Moscatiello,
Richard Oosterhoff, and Aaron Tugendhaft. My research assistant, Onsi
Kamel, fixed many errors on my part. I appreciate all the work that Karen
Raith,GillianNorthcottLiles,VijayaManimaran,andotherteammembersat
Oxford University Press, have devoted to shepherding this book through
production, and I am grateful to Bryan Spinks and the two anonymous
reviewersfortheirkindandjudiciousreaderreports.
I thank the family and friends around me whose support has made this
bookpossible,aboveallmyparentsMatthewandKarenRistucciaandmyson
Paul.Lastly,IthankmywifeGrace,forherencouragementandlongsuffering
overtheseyears.Thisbookisdedicatedtoher.
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,20/12/2017,SPi
Contents
ListofAbbreviations xi
Introduction:TalesofChristianizations 1
1. TheFallofRomeandtheAscentofRogationtide 24
2. RomePurified:TheMythofPaganSurvival 63
3. BeatingtheBoundsoftheChristian 97
4. DisruptingRitesandProfaningtheSacred 135
5. PrayingOrthodoxy 178
Conclusion:RitualandChristianness 210
Bibliography 221
Index 255