The Festal Works of St. Gregory of Narek. Annotated Translation of the Odes, Litanies, and Encomia trans. by Abraham Terian (review)

Abstract

Rather than Gottschalk appearing as an antagonist in the well-studied lives of Carolingian luminaries like Hrabanus Maurus and Hincmar of Reims, the powerful, influential, and prolific archbishops are presented almost solely from Gottschalk’s perspective and look very different from their typical scholarly portraits. Similarly, rather than analyzing the legal and theological reasoning of disputes involving Gottschalk, attention remains squarely on social and political manipulation by all parties in attempts to find ways of seizing power in the disputes. Throughout, Gillis takes as sympathetic and apologetic an approach to Gottschalk as possible. This perspective leads to a number of subjunctive constructions as he connects his admittedly difficult and sparse sources. It also pushes Gillis’ discussion into some surprising corners, such as when he lionizes Gottschalk’s demand to be subjected to particularly violent and gruesome judicial ordeals, which occasioned some Carolingian leaders to question his sanity.