Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
Description
This paper considers cultural boundaries in 9th-century Carolingian poetry, and how Ermoldus Nigellus transversed the boundaries between what was Frank and what was Roman in terms of cultural identity. Whilst couching his patrons’ character in Roman imagery is not unique on his part, his poems exemplify the propensity of Frankish intellectuals to draw on Roman themes and character to demonstrate the stability and legitimacy of secular and spiritual administration in the Carolingian empire vs the outsiders (such as the Moors, Bretons, and Danes) who threaten their borders.