CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Plevko, Lukas |
|---|---|
| Title | Church and Slavery in Early Medieval Gaul |
| Summary | This thesis offers an analysis of how the early medieval church in Gaul approached slavery. This is done through a close examination of Frankish bishops and their writings. The focus of this thesis is primarily, between the collapse of the western Roman empire from the year 476 to the seventh century. This period was chosen because it provides a unique window, through which it is possible to look into the actions of the Frankish Church, which played an important political, secular as well as religious role in this period of Frankish history. During this age, the bishops of Gaul did not only tend to the day-to-day needs of their bishoprics but also advised kings, made policies and influenced the culture as a whole within the Frankish realm. The core of this research is a case study, an examination of the last will and testament of Bertram of Le Mans. Bertram was not only an aristocrat descended from old nobility, with significant estate holdings, but also an active bishop who throughout his life used church finances to buy enslaved Christians from slave traders and allowed them to live on his estates. This case study serves as an example of the way the church handled slaves during this period. It also highlights how slave customs have changed and evolved under the influence of the Church. This thesis argues that these writings show the first steps taken towards medieval serfdom within the ecclesiastical realm, which occurred much sooner than generally discussed within the scope of medieval society as a whole. |
| Supervisor | Menze, Volker L. and Gereby Gyorgy Laszlo |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/plevko_lukas.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University