Family memory and female social status in Merovingian aristocratic tombs (6th-7th centuries)

• Grant number: 19/08471-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): January 16, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Cândido da Silva
• Grantee: Marina Duarte Sanchez
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 20/13244-9 - Family memory and female social status in Merovingian aristocratic tombs (6th-7th centuries), BE.EP.MS

Abstract

At the end of the fifth century, in the region between the Seine and the Rhine rivers, a burial model entitled "tombs of chiefs" emerged. It was characterized by the similarity in the organization of the deposits and by the same stylistic pattern of the objects. Within this model, there are variations in the type of deposition, which depends not only on the individual's position in the hierarchy, but also on their gender, their age, and their family. The deposits cannot be regarded as passive reflexions of affiliation to the aristocracy, because they also construct a discourse, regarding both the inhuman ones as their families and their political aspirations. The initial hypothesis of the research is that the variation in the burials was due to the different functions of these individuals in the materialization and reproduction of their family memory, a fundamental practice in the legitimation of the positions of power and the aristocratic rights of a family. Thus, the research aims to study the female specificity in the construction of family memory, seeking to understand funeral practices and the social role of women within the strategies of power disputes within the Merovingian aristocracy. The study will be based on excavation reports, which will analyze the objects and funerary spaces of the following tombs: the tomb of Queen Aregonde (sixth century), found in the Cathedral of Saint-Denis (France); the one of the "Lady of Grez-Doiceau" (sixth century), found in the necropolis of Bossut-Gottechain (Belgium); the tomb of the Queen Wisegard (sixth century), found in the Cathedral of Cologne (Germany); the sepulture 12 of Saint-Dizier, found in the necropolis of La Tuilerie (France); and finally the tomb of Queen Balthild (seventh century), found in Chelles (France). (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SANCHEZ, Marina Duarte. Women and their funerals in 6th century Northern Gaul. 2022. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD) São Paulo.