Bøker av Sven Meeder

Surviving in three ninth-century manuscripts, the collection of canon law known as the Collectio 400 capitulorum is a remarkable and understudied witness to the scholarly vitality of the Carolingian period. Its 404 chapters offer ecclesiastical rules and moral guidelines taken from an unusually wide variety of authoritative sources. In addition to the customary canonical texts, such as the acts of the ecumenical councils and papal letters, the compiler of this collection drew his canons from the bible, Roman law, local Gallic synods, the Church Fathers, as well as Frankish and Insular penitential works. Although the Collectio 400 capitulorum is a so-called systematic collection, eminent scholars of canon law commented on its lack of structure. Even 'with the best will in the world', the collection's system eluded them. Despite its flaws, however, there is evidence that the collection gained some popularity in the ninth century, apparently providing the basis for the Poenitentiale Martenianum directly or indirectly influencing Hrabanus Maurus and Benedictus Levita. The ninth-century appreciation is understandable for, as one of the many products of the vigorous canonical activity of the eighth and ninth centuries, the Collectio 400 capitulorum impresses in its handling of the canonical material as well as the breadth of sources and the topics covered. This book constitutes the first in-depth study of this intriguing canonical collection, with a detailed description of the extant manuscript witnesses, its sources, and its influence. The critical edition offers scholars of the early Middle Ages in general and canon law in particular access to an instructive, if unpolished, product of Carolingian legal thought.

Irish scholars who arrived in Continental Europe in the early Middle Ages are often credited with making some of the most important contributions to European culture and learning of the time, from the introduction of a new calendar to monastic reform. Among them were celebrated personalities such as St Columbanus, John Scottus Eriugena, and Sedulius Scottus who were in the vanguard of a constant stream of arrivals from Ireland to continental Europe, collectively known as 'peregrini'. The continental response to this Irish 'diaspora' ranged from admiration to open hostility, especially when peregrini were deemed to challenge prevalent cultural or spiritual conventions.  This volume brings together leading historians, archaeologists, and palaeographers who provide-for the first time-a comprehensive assessment of the phenomenon of Irish peregrini in their continental context and the manner in which it is framed by modern scholarship as well as the popular imagination.