Hincmar of Reims

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract

Hincmar, archbishop of Reims 845–882, placed strong emphasis on written law, as numerous surviving manuscripts and many treatises attest. This chapter analyzes that emphasis, exploring Hincmar’s classification of different kinds of legal norms, including church councils, papal decrees, biblical rules, and royal edicts. It then tracks how he applied the law in three case studies: the divorce of King Lothar II in 860; the rebellion of the archbishop’s own nephew Hincmar, bishop of Laon, in 870; and the Council of Saint-Macre in 881, of which Hincmar was the guiding spirit. Although Hincmar’s direct influence on legal tradition was relatively small, the chapter argues that his indirect influence was much greater, inasmuch as Hincmar raised the level of legal debate in late-Carolingian Francia.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGreat Christian Jurists and Legal Collections in the First Millennium
EditorsPhilip L. Reynolds
PublisherCambridge University Press
Pages429-443
ISBN (Electronic)9781108568906
ISBN (Print)9781108471718
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Jun 2019

Publication series

NameLaw and Christianity
PublisherCambridge University Press

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Hincmar or Reims
  • Hincmar of Laon
  • Carolingian
  • councils
  • decretals
  • royal law
  • trial by ordeal

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