Meddling messengers and nefarious nuns love to gossip. In this episode of Murmuring Medievalists, we explore the world of early medieval letter-writing and delivery in Merovingian Gaul with Dr. Robert Flierman. Why did people write letters? What material could messages be written on? How were letters delivered? And who were the messengers themselves? Dr. Flierman answers these questions and more.
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- Aethelbert of Kent, in Dümmler, Ernestus. ‘S. Bonifatii et Lulli Epistolae.’ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica; Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini Aevi 1, edited by Ernestus Dümmler. 216-433. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1892.
- Aethelbert of Kent, translated in Tangl, Michael. Die Briefe des heiligen Bonifatius. Leipzig: Dyk, 1919. On Fordham University: Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 2000. Last accessed: 28th February 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/boniface-letters.asp
- Apollinaris, Sidonius, in Anderson, W. B. Letters: Books 3-9 (Loeb Classical Library 420). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1965.
- Apollinaris, Sidonius, in Dalton, O. M. The Letters of Sidonius. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1915. On The Tertullian Project, 2003. Last accessed: 28th February 2023. https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/sidonius_letters_04book4.htm
- Boniface, in Dümmler, Ernestus. ‘S. Bonifatii et Lulli Epistolae.’ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica; Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini Aevi 1, edited by Ernestus Dümmler. 216-433. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1892.
- Boniface, translated in Tangl, Michael. Die Briefe des heiligen Bonifatius. Leipzig: Dyk, 1919. On Fordham University: Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 2000. Last accessed: 28th February 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/boniface-letters.asp
- Fortunatus, Venantius, in Leo, Fridericus. ‘Venanti Honori Clementiani Fortunati presbyteri Italici Opera poetica.’ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica; Auctores antiquissimi, edited by Societes Aperiendis Fontibus. 1-270. Berolini: Apud Weidmannos, 1877.
- Fortunatus, Venantius, translated in Tyrrell, Alice. Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers. 163. Turnhout: Brepols, 2019.
- Gregory of Tours, in Krusch, Bruno and Levison, Wilhelm. ‘Gregorri Turonensis Opera. Teil 1: Libri historiarum X.’ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica; Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum (SS rer. Merov.), edited by Bruno Krusch and Wilhelm Levison. 1-537. Hannoverae: Impensis Bibliopolii Hahniani, 1951.
- Gregory of Tours, translated in Brehaut, Ernst. Records of Civilisation 2. New York: Columbia University Press, 1916. On Fordham University: Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 1997. Last accessed: 28th February 2023. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/gregory-hist.asp#book10
- Marcellinus, Ammianus, in Rolfe, J. C. History, Volume I: Books 14-19 (Loeb Classical Library 300). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950.
- Marcellinus, Ammianus, in Tyrrell, Alice. Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers. 174. Turnhout: Brepols, 2019.