The Life of Saint Boniface: Legitimizing “Political Monks” in Carolingian Europe

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.220401.017How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Boniface; Carolingian; Benedictine; Hagiography

Abstract

Benedictine monks have played a crucial role in not only the shaping of Christianity, but also the political landscape of Carolingian Europe. One such monk, named Willibald, produced a valuable hagiographical text about Saint Boniface, who was archbishop of Mainz and a leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to mainland Carolingian Europe. Examining the details within The Life of Saint Boniface, the thought of Willibald can be interpreted: such concerns his motives to legitimize the clergy’s involvement with the Carolingian court, as well as their violent, coerced conversion of pagan communities. This paper will explore the implications of creating this hagiographical work, providing insight towards how Benedictine monks were actively aware of and sought to justify their actions in their mission to the Carolingian empire.

Copyright

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Lundy Zheng
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/04/08
TI  - The Life of Saint Boniface: Legitimizing “Political Monks” in Carolingian Europe
BT  - Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 85
EP  - 88
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220401.017
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220401.017
ID  - Zheng2022
ER  -