Austrasian Letters

The Austrasian Letters (Latin: Epistulae Austrasicae) is a collection of 48 Latin letters sent from or to Austrasia between the 470s and 590s. The collection is transmitted in a single 9th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Lorsch.^[1]

The collection was probably assembled in Metz in the late 6th century.^[2] It has been attributed to Bishop Magneric of Trier, who was a counsellor of King Childebert II in the 580s.^[1] It is generally thought that the compilation was made for the use of the Austrasian chancery. Recently, however, it has been argued that the compilation was only brought together in the early 9th century at Lorsch.^[3]

The letters give insight into the workings of Frankish diplomacy and life at the Austrasian court. The letters give insights into the literacy of the kings' inner circle, along with snippets of information not supplied by other sources of the period. They provide more contemporary evidence for the reign of Clovis I than any other source. The letters are particularly useful in illuminating the complex diplomatic relations between Austrasia and the Byzantine Empire.^[4] A majority of the letters concern this relationship.^[1]

Table of letters

1. before 486?
2. 486?
3. perhaps as early as 500
4. 550/552
5. before 565
6. before 568?
7. before 575?
8. c.568
9. c.540–550
10. 542–568
11. 547
12. 534–547
13. 568?
14. c.460
15. 584
16. 585
17. 590
18. 585 or 587

Editions

• Gundlach, Wilhelm, ed. (1892). "Epistolae Austrasicae". Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini Aevi I. Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Vol. Epistolae 3. Berlin. pp. 110–153.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Malaspina, Elena, ed. (2001). Il Liber epistolarum della cancelleria austrasica (sec. V–VI). Rome: Herder.

Notes

1. Dumézil & Loseby 2018.
2. McCormick 1991.
3. Barrett & Woudhuysen 2016, p. 3.
4. Barrett & Woudhuysen 2016, pp. 4–5.
5. Names of senders and addressees are drawn from the table in Barrett & Woudhuysen 2016, pp. 50–52.
6. Dates are mainly those of Malaspina 2001 drawn from the table in Barrett & Woudhuysen 2016, pp. 53–57; alternative dates in footnotes. Question marks indicate uncertainty.
7. Barrett & Woudhuysen 2016, p. 11 n29, citing Goubert 1951.

Bibliography

• Barrett, Graham; Woudhuysen, George (2016). "Assembling the Austrasian Letters at Trier and Lorsch" (PDF). Early Medieval Europe. 24 (1): 3–57. doi:10.1111/emed.12132. S2CID 164122125.
• Dumézil, Bruno; Loseby, Simon (2018). "Epistulae Austrasicae". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Volume 1: A–I. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 550. ISBN 978-0-19-881624-9.
• Goubert, Paul (1951). "Chronologie des lettres austrasiennes". Mélanges d'histoire du Moyen Âge dédiés à la mémoire de Louis Halphen. Paris. pp. 291–296.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• McCormick, Michael (1991). "Epistolae Austrasicae". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
• Tyrrell, V. Alice (2012). Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers (PDF) (PhD diss.). University of Toronto.
• Tyrrell, V. Alice (2019). Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers. Brepols.