The Ideology of Monastic and Aristocratic Community in Late Roman Gaul

Abstract

Las invasiones bárbaras del siglo V y la creciente importancia de la Iglesia cristiana afectó seriamente a la posición social de la aristocracia de Galia. Este artículo pone de manifiesto cómo la respuesta aristocrática fue hacer causa común para asegurar su supervivencia; así utilizaron la ideología cristiana para transmitir un nuevo sentido a la comunidad aristocrática, permitiéndoles mantener su influencia y unidad en tiempos posteriores.

During the fifth century, with the arrival of the barbarians and the rise of the Christian church, aristocratic society in Gaul was sorely threatened. This study argues that Gallic aristocrats responded by making common cause. They compensated for their fewness in numbers and fostered their own survival by using Christian ideologies to create a new sense of aristocratic community. In Gaul, this period saw a reconciliation of apparent inconsistencies. Laymen could act like monks, and monks like laymen. Monks could became bishops, and bishops could act like monks. And all were equally approprieate occupations for aristocrats. As a result of their ability to resolve the potential inconsistencies among these spheres of activity, the Gauls were able to meet the changes in their world with a unified front, and as were able to maintain an influential presence on into the Middle Ages.