Inlay

Christianity dominates the intellectual and literary culture of the early medieval Latin West, and central to this culture are the biblical commentaries, glosses, and glossaries that facilitated the study and interpretation of scripture. Long dismissed as mere patchworks of patristic sources, these works, both anonymous and attributed, are now recognised as creative and innovative contributions to an interconnected tradition of scholarship — and as invaluable witnesses to the intellectual activity of their times and places of production. This project will investigate the networks of knowledge that connected the major religious and intellectual centres of ninth- and tenth-century Francia, with a particular focus on the Loire and Burgundy regions, home to celebrated houses such as Fleury, Auxerre, Tours, Orléans, and Reims. The successful candidate will take as their starting point the Glossae Floriacenses (currently being edited by the primary supervisor), attested at Fleury and Reims and containing Old Breton and Old English glosses. This work provides compelling early evidence of the regional connections under investigation. The candidate will focus on Genesis as a biblical book that attracted an especially substantial and varied corpus of commentary and glosses, thus making it an ideal case study for identifying textual relationships and moments of creative intervention. In addition to this compilation, the project will survey a wide range of published, in-progress, and as-yet-unstudied exegetical compilations to trace the transmission, adaptation, and innovation of material across this geographically and intellectually rich landscape. The candidates should have a strong knowledge of Latin, and knowledge of palaeography, medieval textual culture, and textual transmission would be an advantage. Notes to interested applicant: please attach a statement of interest to your CV document when submitting your Expression of Interest.