Family order and kingship according to Hincmar

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Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims (d. 882) is a crucial figure for carly médiéval European history. As an archbishop for nearly forty years, he shaped the times in which he lived, advising and admonishing kings, playing a leading rôle in the Frankish church, and intervening in a range of political and doctrinal disputes. Flincmar also shaped how ninth-century events would later be seen by hislorians up to the présent day by writing historical accounts such as the Annals of St-Bertin, and by carefully presei -ying dossiers of material for posterity. He is a key source for political, social and religions history in the period, providing information on everything from papal politics to the abduction of women and the rôle of parish priests. Iliis book puts the archbishop himself centre-stage, bringing together the latest international research across the spectrum of his varied activities, as history-writer, estate administrator, hagiographer, canonist, pastorally engaged bishop and polidcally minded royal advisor. For the first time since Jean Devisse's magisterial studies of the 1970s, it offers a three-dimensional examination of a controversial figure whose aaions and writings in différent fields are often studied in isolation, at the cost of a holistic appréciation. Combining research from recognised experts (such as Janet Nelson, Philippe Depreux and jVlayke de Jong) as well as early-career historians, it will be an essential companion for ail those interested in the Carolingian world, and early médiéval pAirope more broadly. Rachel Stone is a Posldoctorai Research Associate at King's C;ollege, London Chartes West is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Sheffield Cover image: St Matthew, writing, and his symbol l'rom tfie Go.spels of Saint-l'hierry^ Reims, BM,Ms7, fol. 21V Coi'er desipi: riverdesign.co.uli MANCHESTER ' 1824 . Manchester University Press ISBN 978-0-7 I 90-9 I 40-7 9 780719 091407 > www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk HINCMAR OFRHEIMS LIFE AND WORK MA KVrS AB BA EDITED BY Rachel Stone AND Charles West

Transcript of Family order and kingship according to Hincmar

A r c h b i s h o p H i n c m a r of Rheims ( d . 882) is a crucial figure for carly médiéval European history. As an archbishop for nearly f o r t y years, he shaped the t imes i n w h i c h he l ived, advis ing a n d a d m o n i s h i n g kings, p l a y i n g a leading rôle i n the Frankish church, and in tervening i n a range o f p o l i t i c a l and doc t r ina l disputes. F l incmar also shaped h o w n i n t h - c e n t u r y events w o u l d later be seen by his lorians u p to the présent day by w r i t i n g historical accounts such as the Annals o f St-Bertin, a n d b y carefully presei-ying dossiers o f mater ia l for posterity. He is a key source for p o l i t i c a l , social and rel igions h is tory i n the p e r i o d , p r o v i d i n g i n f o r m a t i o n o n everything f r o m papal pol i t ics to the a b d u c t i o n o f w o m e n and the rôle o f parish priests.

I l i i s b o o k puts the archbishop h i m s e l f centre-stage, b r i n g i n g together the latest i n t e r n a t i o n a l research across the spectrum o f his varied activities, as history-writer , estate adminis trator , hagiographer, canonist , pastoral ly engaged b i shop and p o l i d c a l l y m i n d e d royal advisor. For the first t i m e since Jean Devisse's magisterial studies o f the 1970s, i t offers a three-dimensional examinat ion o f a controversial figure whose a a i o n s and wr i t in gs i n différent fields are o f ten s tudied i n i so la t ion , at the cost o f a hol ist ic appréciation. C o m b i n i n g research f r o m recognised experts (such as Janet Nelson, P h i l i p p e Depreux and jVlayke de Jong) as w e l l as early-career historians, i t w i l l be an essential c o m p a n i o n for a i l those interested i n the Caro l ing ian w o r l d , and early médiéval pAirope m o re broadly .

Rachel Stone is a Posldoctorai Research Associate at King's C;ollege, London

Chartes West is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Sheffield

Cover image: St Matthew, writing, and his symbol l'rom tfie Go.spels of Saint-l'hierry^ Reims, BM,Ms7, fol. 21V

Coi'er desipi: riverdesign.co.uli

MANCHESTER ' 1 8 2 4 .

Manchester University Press

ISBN 978-0-7 I 90-9 I 40-7

9 780719 091407 > www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

H I N C M A R OFRHE IMS

L I FE AND WORK

M A KVrS AB B A

EDITED BY

Rachel Stone A N D Charles West

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Family order and kingship according to Hincmar

V '' " Sylvie Joye '

The m i d d l e o f the n i n t h century appears as the p e r i o d par excellence when theological thought o n marriage took shape, and was c o m -b ined w i t h a new représentation o f society. I t was at this po in t , as the Carohngian poUtico-reHgious m o d e l o f ecclesia reached f u l l matur i ty , that a treatise o n the abduct ion o f w o m e n was w r i t t e n (doubtless i n the 850s)' a treatise w h i c h I shall refer to as the De raptu? Issued i n the name o f a synod o f bishops, this treatise - i n whose élaboration H i n c m a r played a crucial rôle (he was its p r i n c i p a l instigator and organiser, even i f no t perhaps its sole author) - is the o n l y m o r a l w o r k w h i c h tackles i n détail b o t h the abduct ion o f w o m e n and marriage. As the bishops clearly indicate at the beginning, its overall argument was for the suppression o f raptus; b u t the text shows h o w this prac-tice became caught up i n an increasingly elaborated discourse o n the place o f marriage i n society. I n the De raptu, abduct ion is sys-tematically discussed as part o f a broader reflection o n the ways i n w h i c h marriage cou l d be undertaken, and o n their impl icat ions for conjugality.^ The De raptu therefore appears as a key text for inter-pre t ing the rôle o f the k i n g , and at the same t ime, the place o f parental author i ty i n Hincmar ' s social model.^

The De raptu has m a n y parallels w i t h Hincmar ' s De divortio. But whereas the De divortio has a rather composite structure, that o f the De raptu is clearer.^ ' A véritable treatise' o n abduction,* an 'ethical ' w o r k according to Pierre Toubert , i t seems quite différent f r o m the De divortio,'^ w h i c h Toubert described as a 'case study' and whose canon law approach he underl ined.* The De raptu does not rely o n particular facts and evokes contemporary events on ly seldom a n d evasively, t h o u g h i t nevertheless deserves the label o f 'exhor-

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tatory cr i t i c i sm o f contemporary Ufe' ( 'parânetische-zeitkritische . . . Schrift') that Letha Bôhringer applied to the De divortio.'' I n f o r m , therefore, the two works cannot really be compared. As Rachel Stone has shown, i t seems di f f i cul t to conclude that w i t h i t H i n c m a r suc­ceeded i n creating a real ' theology o f abduct ion ' ; ' " i n fact this does not seem to have been the goal o f H i n c m a r and his colleagues (or, i f i t was, they had abandoned i t ) . I n any case, a l though i t returns regularly to the thème o f abduction, the text o f the De raptu engages w i t h m u c h broader problems. Though not entering into spécifie discussions o f every religious or m o r a l p r o b l e m raised by abduct ion, the text reveals the importance and seriousness o f the act. I t does so i n a synopsis showing the urgent need to préserve the social order o f a Chris t ian people, whose organic u n i t y and p u r i t y had to be defended at any cost by the k i n g . I t was to the k i n g that the bishops addressed their plea, presenting themselves as the true guardians o f this social order, ready for the ul t imate sacrifice i n defence o f a model o f marriage that had become i n their eyes the touchstone o f society as a w h o l e . "

The king who knows how tojudge and to punish

H i n c m a r began the treatise by n o t i n g that the practice o f abduct ion both provokes the w r a t h o f G o d and brings the peace o f the k i n g d o m into doubt. '^ By m e n t i o n i n g the peace o f the k i n g d o m , H i n c m a r and his colleagues instant ly show that the k i n g is direct ly concerned, and must act. Peace is b o t h the f o r m o f conduct that everyone should fo l low, and the idéal state to w h i c h society should aspire. Saint Paul, after ail , called the fa i th fu l to l ive i n peace and p u r i t y i n order to gain a place i n the k i n g d o m o f God. '^ I f the d u t y o f every Chris t ian is to act i n such a way that he does not disturb the peace, and to act w i t h modération, then w i t h o u t d o u b t the d u t y o f the k i n g is to guarantee the peace o f his k i n g d o m . Yet, whi le marriage appears as a ' t h i n g o f peace, love and concord ' (re5 pacis, charitatis et concordiae), abduc­t i o n i n contrast embodies 'discord, violence and impie ty ' (discordia, et violentia, et impietas).^* For H i n c m a r , even more than for his con-temporaries, peace was the sign o f c o m m u n i o n and i t anchored soci­e t y . A i l Carol ingian thinkers, however, agreed that the king's rôle Was to guarantee this peace."'

As a resuit, the treatise présents the king's d u t y as clear: he must severely suppress abduct ion, i n order to save society f r o m disorder b y nteans o f correctio (correction) , an essential concept since the reign

Hincmar of Rheims: life and work

o f Louis the Pious. The Rom an emperors - w h o , even t h o u g h pagans, issued good laws against abduct ion - were examples for the king. '^ He must therefore act vigorously, and tackle abduct ion head-on, using ail the means at his disposai, 'coercing and r o o t i n g out ' {coercens et extirpans) as the treatise's (later) t i t le puts i t , ' * but also 'destroying the most shameless recklessness o f certain m e n ' {exterminans quo-rumdatn hominum impudentissimam audaciam)}'^ He must take as his m o d e l Christ 's chasing out o f the merchants f r o m the Temple. H i n c m a r i n fact preceded his call for action, at the very beginning o f chapter 4 (the other chapters w o r k e d as a k i n d o f i n t r o d u c t i o n ) , w i t h a descript ion o f this bibhcal scène, b o r r o w i n g the phrasing to apply i t to the k i n g . The k i n g must again take up the zeal for the house o f G o d evoked by Christ^" and be the ' imi ta tor o f the i m i t a t i o n o f G o d ' (aemulator Dei aemulatione)?^

O f course, i n the bibl ical text summarised by the De raptu, Christ does not content himsel f w i t h using his voice, b u t also uses his hands and a w h i p {non verbo, quo etiam daemonesfugabat, sed manu et flag­ella)}^ Speech - or edicts, i f one takes the parallel established by the prelates to its logical conclusion - is no t enough to dr ive away either démons or abductors. The demand p u t to the k i n g , i n thèse t roubled times - as H i n c m a r l iked to r e m i n d K i m - was not so m u c h for new capitularies against abduction. There were plenty o f thèse already, clearly showing the place o f the suppression o f abduct ion i n the Sys­tems o f représentation o f royal f u n c t i o n and o f peace.^^ Rather, i t was to take practical action.^**

As Pierre Toubert noted, the major vices denounced i n the M i r r o r o f Princes genre are those w h i c h obscure judgement : w r a t h {ira), pride {superbia), susceptibility to flattery.^^ But the k i n g must also k n o w h o w to accept advice offered to him.^' ' H i n c m a r and the other prelates w h o wrote the De raptu seem to have had i n m i n d o n this occasion the advice that bishops cou ld ofFer the k i n g . As abduct ion sHpped into sacrilège, i t was the bishops' d u t y to intervene w i t h the k i n g . As was t radi t ional , the correspondence between divine order and earthly order was l i n k e d to the ministerium o f the king.^^ The bishop portrayed himsel f thereby as the person w h o r e m i n d e d the k i n g o f his duties to God.^* This is indeed just what the text's authors, bishops themselves, d i d at the end o f their treatise, recall ing that the k i n g must support episcopal authori ty , just as G o d supports royal authority.^'

The De raptu ment ions varions kings as examples for the Frankish

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k i n g to f o l l o w or avoid. Balthazar, the sacrilegious k i n g , appears clearly as the latter: he scorned rel igion, and embodied the exact opposite not just o f a good k i n g , but o f a simple Christian.^° This example is emphasised so that the récipient o f the treatise cou ld not b u t feel h i m ­self set i n comparison. The example o f H e r o d is stil l more significant, used to castigate those w h o harnessed royal power to violate the laws. The pos i t ion o f the k i n g d i d not place h i m above the laws: quite the reverse, he was more gu i l ty than the 'ord inary ' Chr is t ian i f he made use o f his powers to accomplish his crimes. I t is for this reason that H e r o d is considered more at fauU than an abductor.^'

H e was ail the more at fault since the king ought to obey the laws, both h u m a n and divine . H i n c m a r présents here a new m o r a l n o r m , presented as the expression o f a 'natural law', that brings together ail other types o f n o r m : judic ia l , religious and moral . '^ The treatise p r o -jects u p o n the past a séries o f Imaginative interprétations depict ing it as the exact opposite of that natural law.'^ At t i tudes i n support o f transgression are designated by the name of 'anc ient custom', even i n the case o f transgressions that are widely accepted, as w i t h abduct ion. Sources f r o m the Carohngian per iod are characterised by the thème of rejecting sexuality as the sole basis o f marriage. The idea that pagan or 'barbarian' marriage was based o n sexual u n i o n seems actually to have been a création o f Carol ingian clerics, keen to show the superi-ority o f Chr is t ian marriage. I t seems clear that an insistence o n the passive h o n o u r o f w o m e n , l i n k e d to not ions o f p o l l u t i o n and v i r g i n -ity, had not been part o f the norms o f the Germanic-speaking peo-ples, and had not played a prépondérant rôle i n m a t r i m o n i a l practice.

H i n c m a r , however, présents things differently: penance is repre-sented as the on ly way to be r i d of the stain produced by abduc­tion, considered as a social b u t also a sexual faihng. The body, the Lord's Temple, had been violated. The image of pur i f i ca tory washing is evoked almost obsessively. A b d u c t i o n becomes a sin, not just a crime, as i t had been perceived i n the preceding per iod. Whether the Woman had consented made l i t t le différence to H i n c m a r , despite his insistence o n love {dilectio) between spouses:^'' equally, i t is not rape that he vigorously attacks w i t h a c i tat ion f r o m Paul,^' b u t any u n i o n considered i l legit imate that implies sexual activity, even i f i t is not violent. This does not un d ermin e Rachel Stone's argument, according to w h i c h H i n c m a r was referr ing here to the body o f the C h u r c h ; for him, the two entities were linked.^''

This change i n the nature o f abduct ion must be connected to the

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évolution o f incest prohib i t ions . I n the De raptu, lust (libido) and wantonness (lascivia) are always evoked i n oppos i t ion to reason (ratio), w h i c h distinguishes humans f r o m animais. The abductor who lets himsel f be guided by lust, not l istening to the divine message, is akin to a beast.^^ W i t h beasts is associated violence, w h i c h goes together w i t h the absence o f reason. Violence towards w o m e n , or at least towards one's wife , is therefore presented as unacceptable. H i n c m a r goes as far as to présent an extrême version, i f not a carica­ture, depict ing husbands w h o send their wives to be slaughtered by the cook, whereas their d u t y is to save and p u r i f y their wives, just as Christ d i d w i t h the Church . ' * The représentation o f mascul ini ty no longer had any need to dépend o n a violent attitude to w o m e n , w h i c h is henceforth generally crit icised i n the texts.^' ; ,;

The bishop, supporter of the paternalist king

Charlemagne had given fresh energy to législation o n abduction d u r i n g his reign.'" ' F o l l o w i n g i n this way the example o f Constantine and the Vis igothic kings, he defended the rights o f fathers.^' The father's author i ty genuinely was i m p o r t a n t , b u t i t is ail the more emphasised i n the sources (part icular ly the normat ive ones) because kings hoped to give their o w n power a paternal, or indeed pater­nalist, d imension . This paternal image was strengthened under the Carolingians,^^ and H i n c m a r drew o n this image o f strong paternal authori ty , considered the guarantee o f social order even more than was the m u t u a l love (dilectio) o f the couple. I t was to a great extent as the 'father over fathers' that the k i n g is represented, as the author­i ty guaranteeing f a m i l y order and more generally as the guardian of society.

A n d i t was the bishops w h o were to r e m i n d the k i n g o f his duties to God. Thus, the De raptu does not h ighhght examples o f kings acting alone, b u t rather the king/counsellor pair. I n d o i n g so, the De raptu compares bishops w i t h prophets. As always i n the w o r k o f H i n c m a r , the most pert inent allusion is d r a w n f r o m the N e w Testament. I f necessary, bishops are ready to undergo m a r t y r d o m just as John the Baptist d i d , because (l ike h i m ) they défend t r u t h and holiness. Even faced w h h a k i n g whose heart is as hardened as that o f H e r o d , they are ready to resist. The a f f i rmat ion is certainly f lat ter ing for the bishops; i t is less so for the k i n g . ' "

The other p a i r i n g representing the relation between k i n g and

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bishops was that o f Nathan and D a v i d f r o m the O l d Testament.'''* H i n c m a r hngered o n the recollection o f h o w D a v i d had upset the m a t r i m o n i a l order and offended G o d by taking Bathsheba, the wife o f U r i e l . He stated that, though i n this matter D a v i d cannot be taken as an example, he had reahsed the need to do penance, and for that reason had been saved. The image o f his son, Absalom, is i n contrast entirely négative. N o t on ly had Absalom broken the fami ly b o n d by his rebelhon against his father and his k i n g , he had raped the concu­bines o f D a v i d ; and, what was worse, had done so publ i c ly i n f r o n t o f the Temple. This act o f p o l l u t i o n and sacrilège broke the fami ly b o n d and symbolised a p e r i o d o f chaos.''^ I n this way, throughout his text, H i n c m a r hnked the defence o f the f a m i l y order, b o t h marriage and descent, with the defence o f the C h u r c h , interweaving thèmes o f p u r i t y and repentance.**

Thèse examples were also brought up by H i n c m a r and his col­leagues because the abductors themselves seem to have had recourse to the O l d Testament to jus t i fy their actions. The works o f Carol ingian moralists indicate that the laity used the author i ty o f the Bible to défend their m a t r i m o n i a l and sexual practices against contemporary prescriptions.^^ Such debates had doubtless taken place i n the mar-gins o f C h u r c h councils between clerics, b u t also perhaps w i t h theo-logically m i n d e d laypeople."** W h a t added more fuel to thèse debates was the existence o f a p l u r a l i t y o f views w i t h i n the C h u r c h , w h i c h cannot be considered as w h o l l y uni f ied at this t ime; it w o r k e d w i t h a stock o f contradictory authorit ies o n the subject, even p r o d u c i n g m u t u a l l y contradic tory décisions, w i t h o u t doubt useful for abduc-tors.''^ N o wonder then that H i n c m a r insisted that the O l d Testament needed to be explained by clerics and could not be used i n a l i t -eral sensé by the laity, w h o m i g h t otherwise find there examples o f i l leghimate marriages that had been accepted by G o d ( D a v i d and Bathsheba, but above ail the account i n Judges 21 o f the Benjaminites, w h o had to seize new wives because their o w n had been decimated). As H i n c m a r explained elsewhere. Christ had come to liberate the true meaning o f the Scriptures, w h i c h was confused and obscure i n the texts that preceded his arr ivai . A l t h o u g h Christ had not rejected this ancient héritage, w h i c h cou ld always w o r k as a p o i n t o f référence, he had nevertheless m o d i f i e d its meaning.^" The way i n w h i c h the De raptu treats références f r o m the O l d Testament corroborâtes this View; those were the only passages that H i n c m a r feh obliged to gloss.

For matters o f sexuality, the lai ty were considered by H i n c m a r as

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those best able to k n o w the reahty and judge i t ,^ ' as he exphcit ly stated elsewhere (on the topic o f the affair o f N o r t h i l d , i n his De divortioY^ -b u t that does not mean that they were to use bibl ical texts i n support. Rather than leaving to the lai ty the possibil i ty o f j u d g i n g w h i c h sexual practices were good and w h i c h bad, i t was more a question o f leaving t h e m to judge the importance o f what was permi t ted to m e n i n their d o m i n a t i o n over women. ' ' '

This use o f bibl ical texts to combat the d o m i n a n t pos i t ion o f c h u r c h m e n was accompanied by physical attacks against the Church and i n d i v i d u a l clerics, physically assaulted by abductors w h o wished to gain their backing for their marriage to be recognised ( though marriage could o f course take place w i t h o u t the présence o f a cleric, and was not considered a sacrament at this t ime) . The authors o f the De raptu associated thèse attacks w i t h an attack o n the corporate C h u r c h (and o n the body that was the Chris t ian people), since the abductor denied the u n i t y o f the C h u r c h by tak ing c o m m u n i o n i n one place whi le he was excommunicated i n another.'^ This challenge to the C h u r c h and to the social order was expressed i n terms o f the pol i t ica l and social model o f the body: not i n itself new, but taken up and elaborated i n the Carol ingian per iod. H i n c m a r and his colleagues d i d not pose the prob l em of the dual i ty o f powers i n this body, prefer-r i n g to insist o n its u n i t y . "

I n this context, the power o f the k i n g , l ike that o f the father, could not be insulted w i t h o u t attacking the order o f the w o r l d itself, w h i c h was therefore a public cr ime. I t was entirely natural for Yan Thomas, i n his study o f ancient Rome, to move f r o m the study o f paternal power to that o f sovereignty.^'' H i n c m a r - w h o i n his annals systemat-ically presented his K i n g Charles the Bald as someone w h o had been unjust ly attacked, w h o forgave, w h o t r i ed to retie the bonds o f the Carol ingian fami ly - further developed i n his letters and treatises the image o f a sovereign whose pos i t ion is just i f ied b y association w i t h the figure o f the father, p i vo t o f a hierarchy presented as sacred and natural (but evidently constructed), and w h i c h the k i n g guarantees by the exercise o f his j u d g e m e n t . " ,

The k i n g was most readily compared to a father, w h o played the rôle w i t h i n his f a m i l y that the k i n g played w i t h i n his k i n g d o m . I n the De raptu, H i n c m a r notes that

The splendeur of this glorious dwelling of God, and the place where his glory inhabits, should be most faithfuUy loved and prized not only by

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bishops and priests in their sees, but also by kings in their kingdoms and palaces, by counts in their cities, by vicarii in their communities, and by ail the fathers of familles in their dwellings, whether they are rich or poor, in thought and in action.^* : .

The kings, and the fathers, w h o should w i e l d b o t h speech and the w h i p i n their zeal to défend the C h u r c h and the body Christ ian, appear therefore as bearers o f an author i ty intended to main ta in u n i t y ( w i t h the support o f the C h u r c h Fathers, evoked i n parallel, perhaps as a play o n w o r d s ) . I n theory, the father was sole author i ty and a l l -powerful , even though i n practice the mother had a say too, before becoming a model for the mother church,*^" w h i c h only gradu-ally became the image o f uni ty , evoking the u n i t y o f a family.*^'

Recovering unity through consent and purity

The peace that the k i n g was supposed to insti tute i n his k i n g d o m , like the father i n his household, was l i n k e d i n the logic o f the De raptu to an idéal o f uni ty . U n i t y , as conceived there, does not even p e r m i t con-flict to arise: i t is an organic u n i t y , w i t h i n w h i c h every élément fînds its place and plays its rôle. The social model that this synodal dossier a imed to promote is clearly hierarchical. The bonds that connected the différent éléments f o r m i n g society were carefully defîned, and were no t to be modi f i ed , or at least not i n the idéal society imagined by the synod. I n reality, i t lamented, outside the embrace o f the Church , this u n i t y had been reduced to n o t h i n g . A b d u c t i o n , a violent act w h i c h t r i ed to break solidly established and clearly defîned bonds to create a new t h o u g h i l lusory b o n d , was b o t h évidence for and a conséquence o f the d i sunion re igning at the heart o f secular power. Marriage, i n contrast, inst i tuted a clear contract between two i n d i v i d -uals and two k inship groups, creating a u n i t strongly characterised by u n i t y as understood by H i n c m a r and his colleagues, and was the means by w h i c h society could t r y to recover its lost u n i t y .

I n the early M i d d l e Ages, u n a n i m i t y - being associated w i t h the concept o f consent - was supposed to mean u n i t y i n society*^ as wel l as i n marriage. Just as two spouses became jo ined i n one single body, so society was more and more readily thought o f as an organic whole: the ideology o f conjugali ty was not only applied i n its o w n d o m a i n , b u t ended up const i tut ing an 'idéal type' i n the régulation o f social relations beyond the w o r l d o f the family . A c c o r d i n g to the De raptu.

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i t was about harmonis ing pre-exist ing éléments, not creating u n i t y f r o m n o t h i n g . G o d w o u l d not erase ail his w o r k to start again, as he had done i n the t i m e o f N o a h t h r o u g h the Flood, but showed himself as a doctor w h o w o u l d cure society o f its i l l s . * ' The healthy body, w h i c h the Chris t ian had not corrupted by s inning, was the Temple o f God, the gateway g iv ing access to heaven.*'* H i n c m a r , far f r o m p r o m o t i n g répugnance for the body, recommended its temperate use. This pos i t ion corresponded wel l to the importance H i n c m a r habit-ual ly a t t r ibuted to the c o n s u m m a t i o n o f marriage, up to that po in t u n k n o w n i n canon law.*^

Against a pagan model , w h i c h they i m p l i c i t l y disowned (having most ly invented i t ) , H i n c m a r and his colleagues set up a Christ ian model , pr iv i leg ing consent (consensus) over sexual act ivity (concub-itus). A u n i o n that had begun w i t h sexual u n i o n - a l iving-together (contubernium), proper ly speaking a m u t u a l soi l ing (colluvio) - could not resuit i n an officiai marriage. Yet for the bishops, whi le sexual u n i o n is presented as an élément that is indispensable but also sec-ondary, the consensus o f the spouses is not part icular ly emphasised either.** L o o k i n g more closely, the t e r m consensus is used t ime and t ime again i n this treatise, but i t was the consent o f the fami ly - i n part icular o f the father, not o f the daughter - w h i c h counted i n real­i ty , and w h i c h was deemed to outweigh the importance o f concubitus. The only assent involved i n the const i tut ion o f marriage is that o f the parents, whi le the consensus o f the y o u n g w o m a n is presented only i n a négative context: i t is the consent that she grants her abductor. Yet marriage i n the treatise nevertheless rested o n the n o t i o n o f con­sent, via the idea o f the agreement, Ûie foedus.^'^ I t is clear that for the authors o f the De raptu, the consent o f the y o u n g w o m a n does not indicate that she has chosen her spouse, or even given her o p i n i o n on the subject, on ly that she does not feel herself incapable o f p u t t i n g up w i t h h i m , and above ail o f respecting and r e m a i n i n g fa i th fu l to h i m .

This u n i t y was not therefore entirely a fleshless one. The ident i ty o f the i n d i v i d u a l is shaped i f no t determined b y sexual relations, and theoretically t h r o u g h the const i tut ion o f a couple: this is the famous pr inc iple o f one flesh (una caro), w h e n the spouses share the same flesh (more a matter o f k inship than o f sexuality, though the latter certainly played an undeniable rôle).** Laurent Barry, at the start o f his reflection o n una caro, w h i c h he associâtes w i t h the ' invent ion o f the couple' ,* ' underhnes the importance o f Chris t ian doctr inal effijrts to adapt its discourse to reconcile the demands o f the Gospels

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w i t h k inship structures.^" Fundamental changes were produced t h r o u g h the influence o f thèse doctr inal efforts and the contradictory ideals borne by Chris t ian discourse o n marriage f r o m the end o f Ant iqui ty ,^ ' m i x i n g the images o f the b o d y o f the Christ ian and that o f the Church . The b o d y is a temple o f flesh and b lood, more precious than the Temple o f w o o d and stone.^^ The physical b o d y is holy, whi le the figurai body is the image o f h a r m o n y itself The conjugal u n i t combined thèse two qualifies: h o l y and harmonious , the legitimate conjugal u n i t was the microcosm o f society as i t ought to be. I t was an example and a springboard for the p r o m o t i o n o f social stabil-i ty . The verb 'to procreate' (procreari) is always used i n a péjorative sensé, b o t h i n the text o f the De raptu itself and i n the extracts that the authors - w i t h o u t doubt H i n c m a r himsel f - selected as i l lustra­tions.^' The bishops were a t tempt ing to w e l d parents together a round legitimate ch i ldren alone, having since the start o f the Carol ingian âge succeeded i n l o w e r i n g the status o f ch i ldren o f concubines to that o f i l legitimate offspring.^* A t the same t ime, however, the Carol ingian per iod is also the m o m e n t i t becomes possible to detect the posi­tive impact o f hypergamous abduct ion for ch i ldren b o r n to a couple whose marriage was eventually, even i f reluctantly, acknowledged.

'Faith ' (fides) i n De raptu appears explic i t ly o n l y as conjugal fidel-ity,^^ as p r o m o t e d by Augustine, w h o made i t one o f the three p i l -lars o f the 'good o f marriage' (bonum conjugale). Already f r o m that po in t o f view, marriage appeared as a model for the whole o f soci­ety. Fidel i ty between spouses was n o w however enriched w i t h a new psychological charge, amalgamating w i t h the vassal's/îc^es,^* an idea H i n c m a r developed i n another o f his treatises that w o r k e d towards a social moral i ty , the De cavendiis vitiis.^^ The n o t i o n o f contract to w h i c h thïs fides makes référence, and the bibl ical épisode o f the oaths sworn by the Hebrews never to give their daughters i n marriage to a Benjaminite,^* reminds us that this définition o f fidelity rested o n i m p l i c i t contracts that connected the i n d i v i d u a l to his order (ordo), his f a m i l y and his k i n g . I n the face o f everything and i n ail situations, the i n d i v i d u a l is b o u n d b y respect, as indissoluble as the promises sworn by the Hebrews against the Benjaminites. The weight allocated to betrothal too présupposes the indissolubi l i ty o f the sworn promise. Respect, fidelity, fear - thèse were the éléments that ensured society's stability, eventually a l lowing i t to match the divine order. There could be no fidelity w i t h o u t love (dilectio),'^'^ and no fear o f G o d w i t h o u t v o w i n g obédience, love and h o n o u r to the father.*"

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Marriage was then a true societas, based o n an agreement, the foedus nuptiale, just as society itself was based o n i m p l i c i t agreements w h i c h l i n k individuals together. Marr iage was b o t h an image o f soci­ety and its foundat ion . The rôle o f parents was the same as that of the k i n g and queen. They b o t h watched over the fami ly order w h i c h gave définitive u n d e r p i n n i n g to the social order desired b y God. I n this way marriage, w h i c h made spouses into consortes, was, as Pierre Toubert put i t , an elemental society henceforth offered as a min ia ture model for the ordo laicorum [lay o r d e r ] ? ' b u t this was a society that could not exist w i t h o u t the fathers' agreement.

I n this context, a w o r k l ike the De raptu was b o t h a witness to the turbulence affecting society at the t ime, and an ins t rument in the hands o f clerics for shaping this changing society. The bishops, among t h e m H i n c m a r , stood up against the troubles that surrounded them. They sought to give society its stability by p r o m o t i n g only legit­imate marriage, and refusing to al low anyone's appetite for power to use abduct ion as a means o f accomphshing u p w a r d social m o b i l -i ty . Though closely involved i n certain cases o f pol i t ica l abduction, H i n c m a r refused even to m e n t i o n t h e m here, instead u n d e r l i n i n g the bestiahty o f those w h o practised abduct ion.

The p r o d u c t i o n o f the De raptu raises more questions than it answers, b u t i t is h ighly symptomatic o f a state o f m i n d o f the Carol ingian episcopate, probably grouped a r o u n d the pre-eminent figure o f H i n c m a r o f Rheims. A product o f conciliât activity, and set-t i n g out to be a real ' ins t rument o f government ' , this treatise bore the marks o f episcopal concern to advise the k i n g , to shape his actions, and to consolidate the u n i t y o f the earthly k i n g d o m t h r o u g h the un i ty o f Chr is t ian society. I n this perspective, abduct ion appeared as a counter -model o f marriage liable to b r i n g d o w n the social p y r a m i d that the Carol ingian kings were a t tempt ing to construct. I t is this that justifies the tone o f catastrophe, indeed apocalypse, w h i c h can be f o u n d i n Hincmar ' s treatise.

Father and emperor were two people w h o could not be attacked and whose legit imacy cou ld not be brought in to question (Stuart A i r l i e , f o l l o w i n g Janet Nelson, has insisted o n the fact that the Carolingians succeeded i n having themselves accepted as 'natural lords').'*^ However , this insistence o n ideals o f marriage and father-h o o d eut b o t h ways, f r o m the m o m e n t that the Carolingians were affected by abduct ion and filial rébellion w i t h i n their o w n family . The twice -widowed eighteen-year-old daughter o f Charles the Bald,

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Judith, kept under guard at Senlis, consented to her o w n kidnap by the ambit ions Ba ldwin o f Flanders i n 862.*" Worse, her o w n brother, the future Louis the Stammerer, was an accomplice. He himsel f had i n the same year m ar r ied Ansgard, the daughter o f a Burgundian count named H a r d u i n , against his father's wishes.*^ His younger brother, Charles o f Aqui ta ine , though less than fifteen years o l d had already marr ied the w i d o w of count Humb.ert, also against his father's wishes. I n thèse matters H i n c m a r was his king's most zealous defender, and a proponent o f severity: he was apparently the only person to demand the excommunica t ion o f Judith and B a ld win . A n d i n the Annals o f St-Bertin, he just i f ied the b l i n d i n g and subséquent death o f Car loman, the rebellions and 'apostate' son o f K i n g Charles, by presenting the latter not as a blood-stained tyrant,*-'^ but as a father and a sovereign w h o had to m a i n t a i n order** despite the breach o f proper relations between the générations.*^

„ Notes

1 Dating the De raptu is very problematic, but it clearly shares passages with the De divortio Lotharii régis et Theutbergae reginae from 860. This chapter foUows Letha Bôhringer, who has explored the question in great-est depth, and argues from both form and content that the text is a source of the De divortio. She proposes a rédaction in the 850s, perhaps in 859 (Hincmar, De divortio, pp. 68-71). Dévisse, Hincmar, I , p. 463, sug-gested a date of 876, seeing in the De raptu the 'fruit tardif des dernières enquêtes et des uhimes réflexions du Rémois sur le [mariage]'. This was foUowed by R. Stone, 'The invention of a theology of abduction: Hincmar of Rheims on raptus'. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 60 (2009), 437 (though she now accepts Bôhringer's view on the priority of De raptu: see Introduction p. 34, n.81).

2 The work survives only in an early modem édition by Jan Buys: Paralipomena Opusculorum Pétri Blesensis, et loannis Trithemii alio-rumque nuper in typographeo Moguntino Editorum a loanne Busaeo, ed. J. Buys (Cologne, 1605), pp. 796-836: Epistola I, Hincmari Rhemensis Archiepiscopi Epistolae Duae. The text was reprinted in i645 by Jacob Sirmond: Hincmari Archiepiscopi Remensis Opéra Duos in Tomos Digesta, ed. J. Sirmond (Paris, 1645), vol. I I , texte X V I , pp. 225-43, with the tide De coercendo et exstirpando raptu viduarum, puellarum ac sanctimonial-ium, then again by Migne in PL 125,1017-36. (I shall refer to this édition, as the most accessible; it does not add significant errors to its sources). The text was not included in Buys's édition in 1602 of Hincmar's epistolae et opuscula, but added to a volume published in 1605, containing mostly

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works by Peter of Blois and Johannes Trithemius. Buys placed two letters by Hincmar at its end, the De raptu and a letter on the priest and the king (R. Schieffer, 'Eine iibersehene Schrift Hinkmars von Reims ûber

, Priestertum und Kônigtum', DA, 37 (1981), 511-28). The provenance , of thèse letters is not specified: a scholar had probably sent them to Buys

between 1602 and 1605. 3 See S. Joye, La Femme ravie: le mariage par rapt dans les sociétés du haut

Moyen Âge (Turnhout, 2012), pp. 405-34. 4 The arguments of this chapter wi l l be further developed in my forthcom-

ing édition and French translation of the De raptu. 5 L. Bôhringer, 'Der eherechtliche Traktat im Paris. Lat. 12445, einer

Arbeitshandschrift Hinkmars von Reims', DA, 46 (1990), 18-47, espe-cially pp. 28-31.

6 R. Le Jan, Famille et pouvoir dans le monde franc (VIF-X' siècle): essai d'anthropologie sociale (Paris, 1995), p. 299.

7 On Lothar II's divorce: S. Airlie, 'Private bodies and the body politic in the divorce case of Lothar IL , Past and Présent, 161 (1998), 3-38; T. Bauer, 'Rechtliche Implikationen des Ehestreits Lothars IL Eine Fallstudie zu Théorie und Praxis des geltenden Eherechts in der spàten Karolingerzeit. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des frûhmittelalterlichen Eherechts', Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fur Rechtsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung, 80 (1994), 41-87; and above ail: K. Heidecker, Kerk, huwelijk en politieke mach: de zaak Lotharius II (855-869) (Amsterdam, 1997); revised version in English translation: The Divorce of Lothar H: Christian Marriage and Political Power in the Carolingian World, trans. T. M . Ouest (Ithaca, 2010).

8 P. Toubert, 'La théorie du mariage chez les moralistes carolingiens', // Matrimonio nella società altomedievale, 22-28 Apr 1976. Settimane 24, 2 vols (Spoleto, 1977), I , pp. 233-85 at p. 233, n.2.

9 Bôhringer,'Der eherechdiche Traktat', 31. 10 Stone, 'Invention'. 11 M . Stratmann, Hinkmar von Reims aïs Verwalter von Bistum und

Kirchenprovinz (Sigmaringen, 1991), pp. 20-2, for Hincmar's thought, notably from theological and moral perspectives.

12 De raptu, col. 1018, c. 2: 'Nih i l enim ita omnipotentis Dei iracundiam exaspérât, et regni pacem perturbât'.

13 Ibid. (citing Hebrews 12:14): 'Pacem sequimini cum omnibus, et sancti-moniam, sine qua nemo videbit Dominum'.

14 Ibid., col. 1020, c. 5. We see here a political vocabulary shared amongst Carolingian authors, particularly during the crisis of Louis the Pious and its aftershocks: W . Wehlen, Geschichtsschreibung und Staatsauffasung im Zeitalter Ludwigs des Frommen (Lûbeck, 1970); S. Patzold, 'Consensus -Concordia - Unitas. Uberlegungen zu einem politisch-religiôsen Idéal

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der Karolingerzeit', in N . Staubach, éd., Exemplaris imago: Idéale in Mittelalter und Frûher Neuzeit (Frankfurt am Main, 2012), pp. 31-56.

15 Dévisse, Hincmar, I I , p. 693. 16 Jonas of Orléans, De institutione regia, ed. and trans. A. Dubreucq, Le

métier de roi. Sources chrétiennes, 407 (Paris, 1995), p. 198, c. 4: 'Regale ministerium specialiter est populum Dei gubernare, et regere cum aeq-uitate et justitia et ut pacem et concordiam habeant studere', repeated in Concilium Parisiense, 829, M G H Conc. II, '2, no. 50, p. 651, book I I , c. 2.

17 De raptu, col. 1024, c. 9. See Corcoran, Chapter 7 on Hincmar's use of Roman law. The évocation ofpublicae Romanorum leges refers above ail to the constitution of Constantine on abduction (CTh. IX, 24, 1), copied in the Breviary (Brev. Th. IX, 19,1), without however ching the emperor. On the latter and his importance in the history of abduction, see most recently Joye, La Femme ravie, pp. 272-8.

18 This titie was invented by Sirmond. 19 De raptu, col 1019, c. 4. 20 Ibid., col. 1019, c. 3 (Psalm 69:9): 'Zelus domus tuae comedit me'. As for

the king, 'arripiat zelum pro domo Dei' (col. 1020, c. 4). 21 /fc/d., col. 1019, c. 3 (2 Corinthinians 11:2). 22 Ibid. 23 The production of capitularies was the essential instrument of this pro-

ject for a new mise en ordre of society; M . de Jong, 'Admonitio and crit­icism of the ruler at the court of Louis the Pious', in F. Bougard, R. Le Jan and R. McKitterick, eds, La Culture du haut Moyen Age. Une ques­tion d'élites? (Turnhout, 2009), pp. 315-38 at p. 319. Eight of the thirty capitularies dealing with abduction between 789 and 981 were intended to remind the audience that abduction was liable to the ban, including the Summula de bannis ( M G H Capit. I , no. 110, p. 224). Most of thèse texts in fact date to the period of Charlemagne: S. Joye, La Femme ravie, pp. 362-3; K. Ubl, Inzestverbot und Gesetzgebung: die Konstruktion eines Verbrechens (300-1100) (Bedin, 2008), pp. 270-87. Philippe Depreux, Chapter 8, notes that Hincmar hardly ever cited councils f rom his own period, and seldom capitularies either, which he usually took from the collection of Ansegis.

24 And not to give assistance to abductors when they sought protection: De raptu, col. 1031, c. 18: 'Adjiciunt istiusmodi homines malis suis etiam illam nimis, audacem et punidiendam praesumptionem, ut adul-terinis et exsecrandis non conjugiis, sed coUuvionibus suis, postulando ac supplicando auctoritatem vel mediatorem religiosorum principum acquirant: quod absit a fidelibus et ministris regni Christi principibus, ut cujusquam improbitas eorum interdictis vel interventionibus adjuvetur'. Merovingian edicts in fact already touched on this voluntary restriction of royal power.

lÈÊàà^.....

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25 Toubert, 'Théorie', p. 255. 26 De raptu, col 1024, c. 9. ' • • 27 For instance, M . de Jong, The Penitential State (Cambridge, 2009), p. 152.

In the De raptu, the term ministerium, used twice, is reserved for bishops. 28 On this topic, and the increasingly confident claims of bishops to advise

the king and to judge his conduct from the 820s, see de Jong, Penitential State, esp. pp. 112-47; I . H . Garipzanov, The Symbolic Language of Authority in the Carolingian World (c. 751-877) (Leiden, 2008), pp. 301-4.

29 De raptu, col 1031, c. 18: 'Oramus itaque et imploramus a vobis aux-i l ium, quod i l l i sine dubio debetis, cujus munere floretis atque poUetis ut . . . ' (note that the bishops are requesting help from the king, not oiîering it to him; it is the bishops who have received the task directly from God of protecting the Christian people, and who then turn to the king). S. Patzold, 'Bischôfe als Trâger der politischen Ordnung des Frankenreichs im 8./9. Jahrhundert', in W. Pohl and V. Wieser, eds, Der frûhmittelalterliche Staat: europâische Perspektiven (Vienna, 2009), pp. 255-68.

30 De raptu, col. 1020, c. 4. This passage from Daniel, evoking the succession of empires, is often used as a warning to kings in the Carolingian period: S. Shimahara, 'Daniel et les visions politiques à l'époque carolingienne', Médiévales, 55 (2008), 19-32. There is alsb a short passage devoted to Susannah but, though the story is a common point of référence for good royal judgement and good episcopal advice, Hincmar uses it only to evoke the modest and courageous attitude of Susannah, faced by lewd old men.

31 De raptu, col. 1032, c. 20: 'quam plusquam raptor, etiam virtute et poten-tia regiae potestatis, obtinuerat et detinebat'.

32 Ibid, col. 1020, c. 5 . This référence to the lex naturalis has subde links to Isidore of Seville's developments of the ius naturalis of the Roman law-yers, as modified in his Etymologiae.

33 S. Joye, 'Fabrique d'une loi, fabrique d'un peuple, fabrique des mœurs: les lois barbares', in V. Beaulande-Barraud, J. Claustre and E. Marmursztejn, eds, La Fabrique de la norme: lieux et mode de production des normes au Moyen Age et à l'époque moderne (Rennes, 2012), pp. 91-108 at 106-8.

34 See below, p. 198. The consent of the woman, though an élément which in practice facilitâtes a subséquent marriage, is in theory not an exten-uating circumstance; anyone who abducts a consenting woman is still considered the principal wrongdoer in both normative and moral texts.

35 2 Corinthians 7:1. 36 Stone,'Invention', p. 437. 37 De raptu, col. 1020, c. 4; col. 1031, c. 18: 'bruta et irrationabilia jumenta

et brutae et perniciosae bestiae'.

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38 Ihid., col. 1026, c i l . See A. Pieniqdz, 'Incmaro di Reims e i suoi con-temporanei suU'uxoricidio: l'insegnamento délia Chiesa e la pratica sociale', Reti medievali rivista, 12 (2011), 25-52. I am grateful to Simon Corcoran for drawing my attention to this article; and, for a new référ­ence to Roman law, specifically a rescript of Caracalla (Antoninus), see Corcoran, Chapter 7 p. 152, n.83.

39 R. Stone, '"Bound from either side": the limits of-power in Carolingian marriage disputes, 840-870', Gender and History, 19 (2007), 467-82, at 476-7. C f L. Dossey, 'Wife beating and manliness in late antiquity', Past and Présent, 199 (2008), 3-40.

40 Joye, La Femme ravie, pp. 357-8. 41 On Constantine: J. Evans-Grubbs, 'Abduction marriage in Antiquity:

a law of Constantine {CTh IX. 24. 1) and its social context'. Journal of Roman Studies, 79 (1989), 59-83. On the Visigothic kings: S. Joye, 'La transcription du droit de la famille et de la propriété, du droit romain à la loi visigothique', Mélanges de la Casa de Velâzquez, 41/2 (2011), 35-53.

42 It can already be found under the Merovingians: M . Heinzelmann, 'Pater populi: langage familial et détention de pouvoir public (Antiquité tardive et très haut Moyen Âge)', in F. Thelamon, éd.. Aux sources de la puis­sance: sociabilité et parenté. Actes du Colloque de Rouen, 12-13 novembre 1987 (Rouen, 1989), pp. 47-56; R. Le Jan, La société du haut Moyen Âge (W -̂ZX*̂ s.; (Paris, 2003),pp. 224-6. /:v, , , :,: ,

43 De raptu, col. 1032, c. 20. 44 Ibid., col. 1027, c. 13. On the importance of David as a model for

Carolingian kings and laity, see A. Graboïs, 'Un mythe fondamental de l'histoire de France au Moyen Âge: le "roi David" précurseur du "roi très chrétien". Revue historique, 287 (1992), 11-31; P. J. E. Kershaw, Peaceful Kings: Peace, Power and the Early Médiéval Political Imagination (Cambridge, 2011). Thanks to Rachel Stone for thèse références. For further références on biblical models for the laity, discussed below, see her forthcoming contribution, 'Beyond David and Solomon: Biblical models for Carolingian laymen', in Steffen Patzold and Florian Bock, eds, Gott handhaben: Religiôses Wissen im Konflikt um Mythisierung und Rationalisierung (Berlin, forthcoming).

45 Any carnal relations between David and thèse women became at once impossible, and Hincmar praised him for having renounced any such relation while continuing to provide for them 'as widows'. Hincmar chose not to evoke the case of Tamar (2 Samuel 13): Tamar's demand, that her attacker Amnon, her own half-brother, should redeem himself by marrying her, did not correspond to Hincmar's propositions.

46 Hincmar does not just emphasise this point in theory. In AB s.a. 862, pp. 87-8 (trans. Nelson pp. 97-8), as in his correspondence with the pope, he insisted on the necessity of excommunicating Baldwin and

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Judith (paying more attention to the attitude of the woman than in his treatise, as always the case in reality as opposed to theory) and deplored the possibility that they could marry without performing any penance (Hincmar, Epistola 169, ed. E. Perels, M G H Epp. 8, p. 145: 'Post quae voluimus ... ut iuxta ecclesiasticiam traditionem prius ecclesiae, quam laeserant, satisfacerent et sic demum quod praecipiunt iura legum mun-dialium exequi procurarent. Sed quoniam litteras vestras, quae inde nihil praeceperunt ... sibi sufficere voluerunt'). On pénitence, see R. Meens, "The historiography of early médiéval penance', in A. Firey, éd., A New History of Penance (Leyden, 2008), pp. 73-95.

47 S. Shimahara, 'L'exégèse biblique et les élites à l'époque carolingienne: qui sont les recteurs de l'Eglise à l'époque carolingienne?', in F. Bougard, R. Le Jan and R. McKitterick, eds, La Culture du haut Moyen Âge. Une question d'élites? (Turnhout, 2009), pp. 201-17, and more generally, P. Wormald and J. L. Nelson, eds, Lay Intellectuals in the Carolingian 'World (Cambridge, 2007).

48 Stone, 'Invention', pp. 445-8. 49 Thèse hésitations can also be found in the Carolingian period concerning

the other crime affecting marriage, which occupied more and more space in ecclesiastical discourse: incest. On this subject see P. Corbet, Autour de Burchard de Worms: l'Église allemande et les interdits de parenté, IX'-XIT siècle (Frankfurt am Main, 2001), pp. 45ff.

50 Cf Opusculum LV capitulorum, p. 249, c. 25, in which (in 870) Hincmar explains his position.

51 On the competencies of the two jurisdictions: Joye, La Femme ravie, pp. 399-405; P. Daudet, Études sur l'histoire de la juridiction matrimo­niale: les origines carolingiennes de la compétence exclusive de l'église (France et Germanie) (Paris, 1933).

52 Hincmar, De divortio, Responsio 5, p. 141 'qui de talibus negotiis errant cogniti et legibus saeculi sufficientissime praediti'.

53 J. L. Nelson, 'England and the Continent in the ninth century: IV, bodies and minds', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th séries, 15 (2005), 1-27, especially 20-1; on the affair of Northi ld, see now J. L. Nelson, 'Du couple et des couples à l'époque carolingienne', Médiévales, 65 (2013), 19-32 at 28-30, who rightly says: 'Mais en matière d'histoire du couple, ce qui ressort clairement du cas de Northild, c'est la prédom­inance et la connivence des "nobles laïcs" et du clergé pour maintenir le patriarcat'.

54 De raptu, col 1022, c. 7. 55 There is a large bibliography on this organic image, known and discussed

by Carolingian élites, and on the question of a single or a double rep­résentation of the Church and/or the empire as a body. See for instance the summary and study in S. F. Wemple, 'Claudius of Turin's organic

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metaphor or the Carolingian doctrine of corporations'. Spéculum, 49 (1974), 222-37, especially 222-4 and 232-3 on Hincmar. In addition to an organic image properly speaking, though, we can note here the inter­connection of différent communities, evoked just before this passage at the start of chapter 3 of De raptu. Order and the defence of the commu-nity must be realised at every level, from the diocèse and the kingdom to the family, by those who are capable of action: kings and fathers. Suzanne Wemple sees in Hincmar's thought traces of a reflection on two bodies, the Church and the State; but there is only one body here. See also T. Struve, Die Entwicklung der organologischen Staatsauffassung im Mittelalter (Stuttgart, 1978).

56 Y. Thomas, 'L'institution de la Majesté', Revue de Synthèse, 112 (1991), 331-86. I am grateful to Professeur Jacques Chiffoleau for his comments on Majesté and the work of Yan Thomas.

57 S. Joye, 'Carolingian rulers and marriage in the âge of Louis the Pious and his sons', in J. L. Nelson, S. Reynolds and S. M . Johns, eds, Gender and Historiography. Studies in the History of the Earlier Middle Ages in Honour of Pauline Stafford (London, 2012), p. 106.

58 De raptu, col. 1019, c. 3: 'Hujus gloriosae domus Dei decorem, et locum habitationis gloriae ejus, fidelissime diUgere et zelari debent non solum episcopi et sacerdotes in sedibus, sed etiam reges in palatiis suis, et regum comités in civitatibus suis, et comitum vicarii in plebibus suis, et quicun-que patresfamilias in domibus suis, in unum dives ac pauper, in mente et actibus suis'.

59 Ibid., col. 1018, c. 2: 'paternae auctoritatis'. 60 In the affair of the abduction of Judith, Charles the Bald's daughter, the

pope exhorted Charies to cède to the Church's maternai love for Baldwin, the repentant sinner, as a substitute for Carolingian paternal love, as a letter sent by Nicholas I to Ermentrude, mother of Judith (24 November 862) suggests - see Nicholas I , Epistola 8, ed. E. Perels, M G H Epp. 6, p. 274 (J2704): 'hanc sanctam monium terrarum matrem Romanam ecclesiam ... .Quibus multis divinitus fulta auctoritatibus et sanctorum patrum roborata documentis materno amore solamina sumministrat et sugenda ubera consolationis compatiendo inferre récusât'.

61 See the forthcoming article by Rafîaele Savigni, 'L'Église et l'épiscopat des temps carolingiens en temps que corps sociaF in the proceedings of the colloque La Productivité d'une crise. Le Règne de Louis le Pieux (814-840) et la transformation de l'Empire carolingien (Limoges, 17-19 March 2011).

62 On the valorisation of the consensus of the magnâtes, and the sensé of belonging to the gens Francorum: Garipzanov, Symbolic Language, pp. 263-9. On magnate consent at the end of the reign of Charles the Bald, see S. Patzold, 'Konsens und Konkurrenz: Uberlegungen zu einem

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aktuellen Forschungskonzept der Mediâvistik', Frûhmittelalterliche Studien, 41 (2007), 75-103.

63 K. F. Morrison, ' "Unum ex multis": Hincmar of Rheims' médical and aesthetic rationales for unification', in Nascità deU'Europa ed Europa carolingia: un'equazione da verificare, 19-25 aprile 1979. SeUimane 27, 2 vols, (Spoleto, 1981), I I , pp. 583-718 at 594, notes that Hincmar pre-ferred to depict Christ as a doctor, not a miracle worker.

64 De raptu, col. 1019, c. 2 (Genesis 28:17): 'Non est hic aliud, nisi domus Dei et porta coeli'.

65 I . A. Brundage, Law, Sex and Christian Society in Médiéval Europe (Chicago, 1987), p. 136, on Hincmar's 'coital theory' of marriage. Hincmar develops this thème particularly in his letter about Count Stephen, who wanted to annul his marriage on the pretext of having had sexual relations with a cousin of his wife before they were married, and of not having consummated that marriage: Hincmar, Epistola 136, M G H Epp. 8, p. 93: 'quando inter ingenuos et inter aequales fit et paterno arbitrio viro mulier ingenua, légitime dotata et publias nuptiis hon-estata sexuum commixtione coniungitur'. J. Gaudemet, 'Indissolubilité et consommation du mariage: l'apport d'Hincmar de Reims', Revue de droit canonique, 30 (1980), 28-40; G. Fransen, 'La lettre d'Hincmar de Reims au sujet du mariage d'Etienne: une relecture', in R. Lievens, E. Van Mingroot and W . Verbeke, eds, Pascua Mediaevalia: Studies voor Prof. Dr. J.M. De Smet (Leuven, 1983), pp. 133-46. Consent is necessary, but not sufficient: Hincmar barely mentions it in De raptu, probably because he was trying to combat the idea that commixtio sexuum could be at the origin of marriage.

66 I . Weber, "'Consensus facit nuptias". Uberlegungen zum ehelichen Konsens in normativen Texten des Frûhmittelahers', Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fur Rechtsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung, 87 (2001), 31-66; A. E. Laiou, éd.. Consent and Coercion to Sex and Marriage in Ancient and Médiéval Societies (Washington DC, 1993).

67 De raptu, col. 1021, c. 6: 'foedus et vinculum nuptiarum'. 68 In the De raptu, una caro is evoked to make the couple into the image of

Christ's union with the Church, of which he is the head: col. 1025, c. 1 L See more broadly, F. Héritier, Les Deux Sœurs et leur mère: anthropologie de l'inceste (Paris, 2012), pp. 83-5.

69 L. Barry, La Parenté (Paris, 2008), pp. 488-93, 523-6, esp. 490 and 525; cf E. Porqueres i Gené, 'Cognatisme et voie du sang. La créativité du mariage canonique', L'Homme, 154/155 (2000), 335-56, esp. 342-3.

70 Barry, La Parenté, pp. 488-93, 505-6, 523-6. 71 K. Cooper, The Virgin and the Bride: Idealized Womanhood in Late

Antigu/ty (Cambridge M A , 1996). 72 De rapfu, col. 1020, c. 4. . . i , . , ,

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73 Ibid., col 1031, c. 18; co l 1033. 74 Le Jan, Société, p. 204, n.l65. In the earlier period, things were rather

vague, like the status of certain royal companions. See e.g. M . Hartmann, 'Concubina vel regina? Zu einigen Ehefrauen und Konkubinen der kar-olingischen Kônige', DA, 63 (2007), 545-67; R. Le Jan, 'Le couple aristo­cratique au haut Moyen Âge', Médiévales, 65 (2013), 33-46.

75 De raptu, col. 1031, c. 19. 76 Pierre Toubert noted this development in Jonas of Orléans: P. Toubert,

'Le moment carolingien (VIIP-X*-' siècle)', in A. Burguière, C. Klapisch-Zuber, M . Segalen and F. Zonabend, eds. Histoire de la famille. I, Mondes lointains, mondes anciens, pp. 333-59 at 337. On the complexity of fides in Héric d'Auxerre, see F. Gross, 'La foi de Charles le Chauve', in J. Hoareau-Dodineau and P. Texier, eds. Foi chrétienne et églises dans la société politique de l'Occident du Haut Moyen Age (IV-XIT siècle) (Limoges, 2005), pp. 175-86.

77 Toubert, 'Théorie', p. 253. The praise offides is in De cavendis vitiis et virtu-tibus exercendis, ed. D. Nachtmann, M G H Quellen zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters 16 (Munich, 1998), I , 9, pp. 162-70.

78 De raptu, col. 1029, c. 15. 79 On this subject, see the forthcoming article by Régine Le Jan, 'Amitié,

haine, famille et politique à l'époque de Louis le Pieux', in La Productivité d'une crise. Le Règne de Louis le Pieux (814-840) et la transformation de l'empire carolingien (conférence held at Limoges, 17-19 March 2011).

80 Hrabanus Maurus, Liber de Reverentia filiorum erga patres et subdi-torum erga reges addressed to Louis the Pious after 833 (Epistola 15, ed. E. Diimmler, M G H Epp. 5, pp. 403-15). The influence of Pseudo-Cyprian, De duodecim abusivis saeculi, who placed the rex iniquus and the adolescens sine oboedientia among the worst kinds of people, is évi­dent in the period.

81 Toubert,'Théorie', p. 258. 82 S. Airhe, 'Semper fidèles^ Loyauté envers les Carolingiens comme con­

stituant de l'identité aristocratique', in R. Le Jan, éd., La Royauté et les élites dans l'Europe carolingienne (début du IX' aux environs de 920) (Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1998), pp. 129-43.

83 S. Joye, 'Le rapt de Judith par Baudoin (862): un "clinamen sociologique"V, in F. Bougard, L. Feller and R. Le Jan, eds. Les Élites au haut Moyen Âge: crises et renouvellements (Turnhout, 2006), pp. 361-79.

84 AB s.a. 862, p. 91 (trans. Nelson, p. 100). C. BrûhL 'Hinkmariana I I : Hinkmar in Widerstreit von kanonische Recht und Politik in Ehefragen', DA,20 (1964), 55-77.

85 Charles's réputation as a vengeful father surfaces even in some modem authors: H . Sproemberg, 'Judith. Koenigin von England, Graefin von

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Flandern', Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, 15 (1936), 397-428, 915-50 at917.

86 Liable to capital punishment according to the sacrae leges, according to Hincmar in AB s.a. 873, p. 190 (trans. Nelson p. 181), in other words the laws of Christian Roman emperors, as Simon Corcoran, Chapter 7, reminds us.

87 S. Joye, 'Gagner un gendre, perdre des fils? Désaccords familiaux sur le choix d'un allié au haut Moyen Âge', in M . Aurell, éd., La parenté déchirée: les luttes intrafamiliales au Moyen Âge (Turnhout, 2010), pp. 79-94 at 92-3. , ^ ......

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