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7 - Gregory of Tours

from Part II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2019

Irene van Renswoude
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Amsterdam
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Summary

This chapter is a case study of the Histories of Gregory of Tours (d. 594). Other case studies in this book focus on letters of one particular author who criticised a person in power. This chapter is the exception, in that it treats not letters but a historiographical narrative, to see how the author presents himself as a truth-telling actor in the historical events he describes. It examines the models that may have inspired Gregory to present himself as a fearless defender of truth, and analyses the ways in which he embeds criticism in the autobiographical parts of his narrative. Two well-known episodes that Gregory described in his Histories, in which he confronts a Merovingian king, is studied in more detail; one concerns a clash with Chilperic I (d.584), king of Neustria, and the other a brush with Guntram (d. 592), king of Burgundy. A question that is addressed towards the end of this chapter is that of how Gregory’s professed ideal of telling the truth frankly relates to the reports of rumours and gossip in his Histories.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Gregory of Tours
  • Irene van Renswoude, Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Book: The Rhetoric of Free Speech in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
  • Online publication: 23 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139811941.009
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  • Gregory of Tours
  • Irene van Renswoude, Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Book: The Rhetoric of Free Speech in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
  • Online publication: 23 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139811941.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Gregory of Tours
  • Irene van Renswoude, Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Book: The Rhetoric of Free Speech in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
  • Online publication: 23 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139811941.009
Available formats
×