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23 Pippin III and the sandals of Christ

The making and unmaking of an early medieval relic

Abstract

The sandals of Christ turn out to be associated with one of the Carolingian dynasty's steps towards building the divinely established ecclesia whose nature Mayke de Jong has done so much to elucidate. This chapter follows her example in bringing scriptural exegesis to bear on questions of Carolingian political culture. Doing so reveals the unstable interrelation between textual and material forms of historical evidence for one particular relic, the 'sandals of Christ'. Full technical analysis of the construction, decoration and probable dating of the leatherwork, in due course, elucidates many aspects of the shoes' manufacture, and tells a story of elite craftsmen and women working with costly materials to produce exceptional footwear. The chapter focuses on textual evidence to examine their cultural construction as a relic and to suggest reasons why making a pair of shoes into a relic made sense in the 750s.

Abstract

The sandals of Christ turn out to be associated with one of the Carolingian dynasty's steps towards building the divinely established ecclesia whose nature Mayke de Jong has done so much to elucidate. This chapter follows her example in bringing scriptural exegesis to bear on questions of Carolingian political culture. Doing so reveals the unstable interrelation between textual and material forms of historical evidence for one particular relic, the 'sandals of Christ'. Full technical analysis of the construction, decoration and probable dating of the leatherwork, in due course, elucidates many aspects of the shoes' manufacture, and tells a story of elite craftsmen and women working with costly materials to produce exceptional footwear. The chapter focuses on textual evidence to examine their cultural construction as a relic and to suggest reasons why making a pair of shoes into a relic made sense in the 750s.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of figures viii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Notes on contributors xi
  6. List of abbreviations xvii
  7. Introduction 1
  8. Part I Defining royal authority: religious discourse and political polemic
  9. 1 The rhetoric of election 13
  10. 2 Adopt, adapt and improve 32
  11. 3 The ruler as referee in theological debates 51
  12. 4 The ruler with the sword in the Utrecht Psalter 72
  13. Part II Royal power in action: correctio
  14. 5 Reform and the Merovingian Church 95
  15. 6 ‘…but they pray badly using corrected books’ 112
  16. 7 Emendatio and effectus in Frankish prayer traditions 128
  17. 8 Alcuin, Seneca and the Brahmins of India 148
  18. 9 ‘Et hoc considerat episcopus, ut ipsi presbyteri non sint idiothae’ 162
  19. 10 Religious Saxons 181
  20. 11 An admonition too far? The sermon De cupiditate by Ambrose Autpertus 202
  21. 12 Three annotated letter manuscripts 221
  22. 13 The Carolingians and the Regula Benedicti 243
  23. 14 Reichenau and its amici viventes 262
  24. 15 Monte Cassino and Carolingian politics around 800 279
  25. 16 A mirror of princes who opted out 296
  26. Part IV Powerful bishops
  27. 17 Merovingian gospel readings in Northumbria 317
  28. 18 Bishops in the mirror 331
  29. 19 Charlemagne and the bishops 350
  30. 20 The Penance of Attigny (822) and the leadership of the bishops in amending Carolingian society 370
  31. 21 From Justinian to Louis the Pious 386
  32. 22 Incest, penance and a murdered bishop 409
  33. Part V Franks and Rome
  34. 23 Pippin III and the sandals of Christ 437
  35. 24 Rulers, popes and bishops 455
  36. 25 Pope Nicholas I and the Franks 472
  37. Bibliography 489
  38. Index 548
Religious Franks
This chapter is in the book Religious Franks
https://doi.org/10.7765/9781784997519.00035

Chapters in this book

  1. Front matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of figures viii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Notes on contributors xi
  6. List of abbreviations xvii
  7. Introduction 1
  8. Part I Defining royal authority: religious discourse and political polemic
  9. 1 The rhetoric of election 13
  10. 2 Adopt, adapt and improve 32
  11. 3 The ruler as referee in theological debates 51
  12. 4 The ruler with the sword in the Utrecht Psalter 72
  13. Part II Royal power in action: correctio
  14. 5 Reform and the Merovingian Church 95
  15. 6 ‘…but they pray badly using corrected books’ 112
  16. 7 Emendatio and effectus in Frankish prayer traditions 128
  17. 8 Alcuin, Seneca and the Brahmins of India 148
  18. 9 ‘Et hoc considerat episcopus, ut ipsi presbyteri non sint idiothae’ 162
  19. 10 Religious Saxons 181
  20. 11 An admonition too far? The sermon De cupiditate by Ambrose Autpertus 202
  21. 12 Three annotated letter manuscripts 221
  22. 13 The Carolingians and the Regula Benedicti 243
  23. 14 Reichenau and its amici viventes 262
  24. 15 Monte Cassino and Carolingian politics around 800 279
  25. 16 A mirror of princes who opted out 296
  26. Part IV Powerful bishops
  27. 17 Merovingian gospel readings in Northumbria 317
  28. 18 Bishops in the mirror 331
  29. 19 Charlemagne and the bishops 350
  30. 20 The Penance of Attigny (822) and the leadership of the bishops in amending Carolingian society 370
  31. 21 From Justinian to Louis the Pious 386
  32. 22 Incest, penance and a murdered bishop 409
  33. Part V Franks and Rome
  34. 23 Pippin III and the sandals of Christ 437
  35. 24 Rulers, popes and bishops 455
  36. 25 Pope Nicholas I and the Franks 472
  37. Bibliography 489
  38. Index 548
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