Ansgar, Rimbert and the Forged Foundations of Hamburg-Bremen
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A01=Eric Knibbs
Annales Laureshamenses
Annales Regni Francorum
Ansgar's Mission
Ansgar’s Mission
anskarii
Author_Eric Knibbs
Carolingian expansion
Category=NH
Category=QRAX
Category=QRM
Charlemagne Legend
Diocesan Bishops
diplomatic sources
early medieval Scandinavia
ecclesiastical forgery
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
forged church foundation documents
Frankish Empire
Germania Pontificia
Godfrey's Sons
Godfrey’s Sons
Gregory Document
Gregory IV
Hadrian II
John VIII
Leo III
Liber Diurnus
Liber Visionum
Lothar II
medieval missionary activity
Missionary Archbishop
Missionary Bishop
Northern Mission
Pallium Grant
Papal Chancery
Paschal's Privilege
Paschal’s Privilege
philological analysis
Pope Formosus
Saxon Dioceses
vita
Vita Anskarii
Product details
- ISBN 9781409428824
- Weight: 521g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 28 Oct 2011
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Ansgar and Rimbert, ninth-century bishops and missionaries to Denmark and Sweden, are fixtures of medieval ecclesiastical history. Rare is the survey that does not pause to mention their work among the pagan peoples of the North and their foundation of an archdiocese centered at Hamburg and Bremen. But Ansgar and Rimbert were also clever forgers who wove a complex tapestry of myths and half-truths about themselves and their mission. They worked with the tacit approval-if not the outright cooperation-of kings and popes to craft a fictional account of Ansgar's life and work. The true story, very different from that found in our history books, has never been told: Ansgar did not found any archdiocese at all. Rather, the idea of Hamburg-Bremen only took root in the tenth century, and royal sponsorship of the mission to Denmark and Sweden ended with the death of Louis the Pious. This book couples detailed philological and diplomatic analysis with broader historical contextualization to overturn the consensus view on the basic reliability of the foundation documents and Rimbert's Vita Anskarii. By revising our understanding of Carolingian northeastern expansion after Charlemagne, it provides new insight into the political and ecclesiastical history of early medieval Europe.
Eric Knibbs is Assistant Professor of History at Williams College.
