Ordeals and duels on the writings of Agobard of Lyon

Author(s)

Marcelo Moreira Ferrasin

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2013-08-12

Examining board members

Marcelo Candido da Silva; Neri de Barros Almeida; Rossana Alves Baptista Pinheiro

• Advisor: Marcelo Candido da Silva

Abstract

In the ninth century, Agobard, archbishop of Lyon, criticized the judgments of God, especially the judicial duels, pronouncing that they were contrary to the Christian doctrine. Most of the modern historiography considered the writings of the archbishop advanced for its time, associating unduly the prelates critics to the historiographical diagnostics that conceived the ordeals and duels as superstitious, barbaric etc; these qualifications that were not used by the archbishop in his criticism of judgments of God. In our thesis, at first, we intend to show the position and the function of ordeals and duels on the judicial sphere, through examples of frank legislation. We argue that the judgments of God were procedures used in a exceptional manner and had the function of constituting a final decision. From that point, we try to show that much of historiographical considerations on the writings of Agobard against the ordeals did not have perceive the grounds of Agobards criticism, generalizing it as if it were a war against the superstitious. Thus, we focus on the analysis of the works of the archbishop, the Adversus legem Gundobadi and the De Divinis Sententiis Contra Iudicium Dei, to highlight the reasons for his rebuttal to ordeals and duels as well his conception of empire and Christian society. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/05626-0 - Ordeal and society in the works of Agobard of Lyons and Hincmar of Reims (ninth century)
• Grantee: Marcelo Moreira Ferrasin
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master