The Papacy and Byzantium in the Seventh- And Early Eighth-Century Sections of the Liber Pontificalis

Bibliographic Data

ID10967115
AuthorsRosamond Mckitterick (0000-0003-1296-0589, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume84
Pages241-273
Publication date2016-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePapers of the British School at Rome (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0068-2462 • E-ISSN: 2045-239X
PublisherOpen Book Publishers (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0068246216000076
OpenAlexW2399002659
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited29

The Liber pontificalis , the serial biography of the popes running from Saint Peter to the end of the ninth century, first compiled in Rome during the ‘Gothic Wars’ in the sixth century and continued at various stages in the next three centuries, offers a distinctive narrative of the history of Rome and of the papacy in the early Middle Ages. This paper argues that the seventh- and early eighth-century sections, too often simply mined for nuggets of information about church buildings, represent the pope in a particular way both in relation to Byzantium in theological and political terms, and as the successor to Saint Peter in Rome. The papal narrative undermines the usual assumptions about the so-called ‘Byzantine Reconquest’ and the Roman perception, if not the reality, of the degree to which ‘Byzantine rule’ was exercised in Italy between the middle of the sixth and first half of the eighth century. Lastly, these ‘continuations’ have important implications for any interpretation of the purpose and construction of the Liber pontificalis , and of its dissemination beyond Rome in the seventh and eighth centuries

Ancient history · Art · Art history · Byzantine architecture · Interpretation (philosophy · Literature · Middle Ages · Narrative · Ninth · Period (music · Politics · Relation (database · SAINT · Sixth century · Successor cardinal · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy