Codex epistolaris Carolinus : letters from the popes to the Frankish rulers, 739-791 / translated with an introduction and notes by Rosamond McKitterick, Dorine van Espelo, Richard Pollard, and Richard Price.

Uniform title
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Liverpool : Liverpool University Press, 2021
Description
1 online resource (x, 532 pages) : 3 maps.

Details

Subject(s)
Translator
Writer of introduction
Series
Summary note
The Codex epistolaris Carolinus preserves ninety-nine letters, dated between 739 and 791 and sent by the popes to the Frankish king Charlemagne and his predecessors. The compilation was commissioned by Charlemagne in 791, but the sole surviving medieval manuscript of the letters was made at Cologne in the later ninth century and is now in Vienna (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Cod. 449). The headings or lemmata provided for each letter by the Frankish compilers in 791 and faithfully preserved in the codex, add a distinctive Frankish commentary on events in Rome and Italy in the second half of the eighth century. This book not only provides the first full English translation of the letters and lemmata in the Codex epistolaris Carolinus but also re-creates the original Carolingian order of presentation of the letters according to the manuscript. A substantial introduction discusses the historical significance of the collection, the compilation and contexts of the Vienna manuscript, especially the significance of the lemmata, the peculiarities of the Latin of the papal letters and the biblical citations, and the historical context of the letters themselves. The lemmata and letter translations are augmented with introductions to each letter and a comprehensive historical commentary and glossary.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (pages 473-512) and index.
Source of description
Online resource; title from PDF title page (Liverpool University Press, viewed March 21, 2023).
Rights and reproductions note
Restricted: Printing from this resource is governed by The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK) and UK copyright law currently in force.
Language note
Letters in English, translated from the original Latin. Introduction and notes in English.
Contents
  • Introduction: The Codex epistolaris Carolinus / Rosamond McKitterick Dorine van Espelo
  • The Codex epistolaris Carolinus: compilation and contexts / Dorine van Espelo
  • The late-eighth-century context of the compilation
  • Letters and letter collections
  • The preface
  • The mechanics of sending and receiving letters: the papal legates
  • The manuscript: Codex Vindobonensis 449 (ÖNB 449): dating, provenance, and codicological and palaeographical features
  • The 791 exemplar and the Cologne copy
  • The lemmata
  • The allusions and comparisons to Old Testament models
  • The Latin of the papal letters / Richard Matthew Pollard Richard Price
  • The language and style of the Codex epistolaris Carolinus and their affinities with other papal documents / Richard Matthew Pollard
  • The biblical citations / Richard Matthew Pollard
  • Latin grammar in the Codex epistolaris Carolinus / Richard Price
  • The Franks and Italy, 739-791 / Rosamond McKitterick: Introduction
  • Competing political interests in Italy, 739-791
  • The Codex epistolaris Carolinus and the Liber pontificalis
  • Note on the dating of the letters
  • Codex epistolaris Carolinus --- Appendix: Frankish and papal envoys and other people mentioned in the Codes epistolaris Carolinus.
Other title(s)
Letters from the popes to the Frankish rulers, 739-791
ISBN
  • 9781800855311 ((electronic bk.))
  • 1800855311 ((electronic bk.))
Doi
  • 10.3828/9781800348714
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