Peace and violence in the life of Saint Gerald of Aurillac (c.930)

• Grant number: 17/22997-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2018
• End date: May 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Principal Investigator: Neri de Barros Almeida
• Grantee: Vitor Boldrini
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/11006-3 - Peace and violence in the life of Saint Gerald of Aurillac (c.930), BE.EP.IC

Abstract

Between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, many studies have identified boundless violence as the distinctive semblance of medieval times. This view was based on the conviction that in the disputes within the aristocracy, no formalized legal regulations would be found. It is in this broader scenario that the 10th century was nicknamed the "iron century," in which several historians associated the end of the Carolingian Empire with the general decadence of society in many respects, among them the bankruptcy of public authority and emergence of continuous wars in their territories. From the end of the twentieth century other interpretations are established. The re-reading of documents and the discovery of new ones, supported mainly by the advances of archeology, were fundamental factors in this change. The historians adopt new readings that allow to question the historiography developed until then. Concerned with new discoveries and hypotheses, our main objective in this research is to understand the conflicts in the tenth century. We will start from the assumption that their occurrences and resolutions must be analyzed by more complex interpretive keys than the mere record of generalized violence. In fact, it is necessary to consider the existing articulations in the conflicting logics between peace and violence. To do so, we will use the hagiography written by Odon, around 930, the Life of Gerald of Aurillac, marked by the tension between warrior violence and pacifying sanctity. (AU)