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Fronto, the bishops, and the crowd: Episcopal justice and communal violence in fifth‐century Tarraconensis
Author(s) -
Kulikowski Michael
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
early medieval europe
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1468-0254
pISSN - 0963-9462
DOI - 10.1111/j.0963-9462.2002.00113.x
Subject(s) - bishops , antique , rhetoric , economic justice , narrative , power (physics) , history , law , sociology , criminology , classics , political science , ancient history , art , literature , theology , philosophy , quantum mechanics , physics
Augustine’s Epistula 11* was addressed to the bishop of Hippo by an aristocratic laymen called Consentius. The letter recounts, ostensibly verbatim, the tribulations of the Spanish monk Fronto in his efforts to prosecute what he regards as a heretical conspiracy amongst the clergy of Hispania Tarraconensis. Fronto's narrative is a rare first‐person account of the late antique judicial process, in all its complexity of overlapping imperial and ecclesiastical jurisdictions. The present article examines the letter's evidence for judicial strategies and rhetoric, as well as the role of status, power and violence in influencing legal outcomes.