- Between Ostrogothic and Carolingian Italy
- Edited by Fabrizio Oppedisano
Cassiodorus’ Variae in the 9th Century
- Marco Cristini
- © 2022 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/978-88-5518-664-3.09
The fate of Cassiodorus’ Variae during the Early Middle Ages is largely unknown, since the manuscript tradition begins with the eleventh century, and long quotations taken from them are attested only from that period. However, words or expressions reminiscent of the Variae occur more than once in Charlemagne’s letters to Byzantium, in the works of Paschasius, and in the Donation of Constantine. The author of the epistles sent by Charlemagne’s to the East Roman emperor was aware of the ideological context of Variae 1.1, and the same is true for the Donation of Constantine. At the same time, Paschasius used Cassiodorus as a source of elegant words and expressions, thereby treating him like a classical author. It is impossible to ascertain whether Carolingian writers had access to all books of the Variae, or only to a substantial selection of letters (similar for instance to the manuscript containing the Epistolae Austrasicae), but there is a high degree of likelihood that they knew quite a few epistles of Cassiodorus, and were able to appreciate the political messages conveyed by them.
- Keywords:
- Early Middle Ages,
- 9th Century,
- Charlemagne,
- Paschasius Radbertus,
- Cassiodorus’ Variae,
- Donation of Constantine,
University of Tübingen, Germany - ORCID: 0000-0002-9629-5119
Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Cassiodorus’ Variae in the 9th Century
Authors
Marco Cristini
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-664-3.09
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2022
Copyright Information
© 2022 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
Between Ostrogothic and Carolingian Italy
Book Subtitle
Survivals, revivals, ruptures
Editors
Fabrizio Oppedisano
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
262
Publication Year
2022
Copyright Information
© 2022 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-664-3
ISBN Print
978-88-5518-663-6
eISBN (pdf)
978-88-5518-664-3
eISBN (xml)
978-88-5518-666-7
Series Title
Reti Medievali E-Book
Series ISSN
2704-6362
Series E-ISSN
2704-6079