TY  - BOOK
AU  - Williard,Hope
TI  - Friendship in the Merovingian Kingdoms: Venantius Fortunatus and His Contemporaries 
T2  - CARMEN monographs and studies
SN  - 9781802700343
AV  - PA8310.F7 Z935 2022
U1  - 871/.02 23
PY  - 2022///]
CY  - Leeds : 
PB  - ARC Humanities Press, 
KW  - Friendship
KW  - France
KW  - History
KW  - To 1500
KW  - Poets, French
KW  - HISTORY / Medieval
KW  - bisacsh
KW  - Merovingian Kingdoms
KW  - Social Networks
N1  - Frontmatter --; CONTENTS --; Acknowledgements --; Introduction --; Chapter 1. The Friendly Patron and His Client --; Chapter 2. Episcopal and Lay Building Projects --; Chapter 3. Friendships with Merovingian Women --; Chapter 4. Writing for Royalty --; Chapter 5. Literary Friendships and Elite Identity --; Conclusion --; Select Bibliography --; Index of Poems Cited --; General Index; restricted access
N2  - This book explores how one early medieval poet survived and thrived amidst the political turbulence of sixth century Gaul—with a little help from his friends. Born in northern Italy, Venantius Fortunatus made his career writing for and about members of the Merovingian elite. Although he is no longer dismissed as an opportunistic poetaster who wrote undistinguished flattery for undeserving kings and aristocrats, his work remains unduly neglected. This book reframes Fortunatus as a writer uniquely suited to his times, a professional poet who addressed his contemporaries’ needs and wishes for the prestige and sophistication of Classical culture. His poems and letters enabled his aristocratic patrons to situate themselves in networks, which they made and maintained in order to navigate a post-imperial but not post-Roman world. It makes an important contribution to our understanding of friendship in the Middle Ages and offers a fresh look at the Frankish kingdoms of Merovingian Gaul
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1515/9781802700343?locatt=mode:legacy
UR  - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781802700343
UR  - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9781802700343/original
ER  -