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The Humblest Sparrow: The Poetry of Venantius Fortunatus
Michael RobertsIn The Humblest Sparrow, Michael Roberts illuminates the poetry of the sixth-century bishop and poet Venantius Fortunatus. Often regarded as an important transitional figure, Fortunatus wrote poetry that is seen to bridge the late classical and earlier medieval periods. Written in Latin, his poems combined the influences of classical Latin poets with a medieval tone, giving him a special place in literary history. Yet while interest has been growing in the early Merovingian period, and while the writing of Fortunatus' patron Gregory of Tours has been well studied, Fortunatus himself has often been neglected. This neglect is remedied by this in-depth study, which will appeal to scholars of late antique, early Christian, and medieval Latin poetry. Roberts divides Fortunatus' poetry into three main groups: poetry of praise, hagiographical poetry, and personal poetry. In addition to providing a general survey, Roberts discusses in detail many individual poems and proposes a number of theses on the nature, function, relation to social and linguistic context, and survival of Fortunatus' poetry, as well as the image of the poet created by his work.
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Cover
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Title
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Copyright
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Epigraph
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Acknowledgments
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Contents
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ABBREVIATIONS
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Introduction
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CHAPTER ONE Windows of Order: The Epitaph Made New
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CHAPTER TWO Strategies of Praising: Metaphors of Eminence
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In Praise of Bishops: Rehearsing the Repertoire, Ringing the Changes
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In Praise of Bishops: Leontius of Bordeaux (Carm. 1.15) and Felix of Nantes (Carm. 3.8)
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In Praise of Kings and Dukes
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The Topography of Order: Churches
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The Topography of Order: Villas and Landscapes
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CHAPTER THREE Strategies of Praising: Bishops and Ceremonies
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Carm. 5.3. To the Citizens of Tours Concerning Bishop Gregory
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Carm. 2.9. To the Clergy of Paris
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Carm, 3.9. To Bishop Felix on Easter
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CHAPTER FOUR Situating the Saints, Narrating the Saints, Imagining Martin
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Situating the Saints: Churches, Saints, and Relics
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Situating the Saints: Between Heaven and Earth
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Narrating the Saints: Saturninus (2.7), Maurice and the Saints of Agaune (2.14), Medard (2.16)
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Imagining Martin
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1. Pictures and Poetry: Epigrams for the Cathedral of Tours (10.6)
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2. Meditating on Martin: The Vita Sancti Martini
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Literary Antecedents and Genre
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Narrative Structures
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Figures of Diction and the Poetry of Meditation
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Fortunatus and His Christian Predecessors: Paulinus of Périgueux and Sedulius
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The Path to Heaven
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CHAPTER FIVE To Absent Friends: Verse Correspondence and Personal Poetry
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Letters to Clergy
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Letters to Secular Figures
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Gregory of Tours
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Radegund and Agnes
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Conclusion
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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TEXT EDITIONS USED
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INDEX LOCORUM
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GENERAL INDEX
- 978-0-472-02520-6 (ebook)
- 978-0-472-11683-6 (hardcover)