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1882
Volume 3, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2295-3493
  • E-ISSN: 2507-0363

Abstract

Abstract

After Georges Duby publishedin 1978, the division of society into three orders - those who pray, those who work and those who fight - has become one of the most influential paradigms of medieval ideological history. Duby’s points of departure were two eleventh-century texts: thea political text written in the form of a satirical poem by Bishop Adalbero of Laon (977-c. 1035) and the famous speech by Bishop Gerard I of Cambrai(c975-1051) delivered as a protest against the Peace of God movement and inserted in the anonymousor Deeds of the Bishops of Cambrai. Duby’s interpretation profoundly influenced subsequent historiographical discussions on the ideology behind the tripartite division of society and the key texts related to his study. Since then, the attention of scholars has focused almost entirely on reconstructing the ideological, political and societal context within which the Three Orders scheme originated. Despite many discussions on Gerard’s original intentions and the true significance of his speech, very little attention has been paid to the fact that it has been preserved only as part of a much larger text, namely the Deeds. Why the chronicler integrated the speech into the Deeds and whether or not its position in the text and its relationship with other factors are of any significance to its interpretation are questions that have eluded comprehensive study. These questions are crucial to our understanding of the original purpose of the speech, since the preserved text of the speech seems to have been conceived in reference to other parts of the Deeds, specifically those referring to the Peace of God movement. This reveals how the text cannot be interpreted adequately without taking into account other textual remains from Gerard’s tenure as bishop. These observations could possibly enable us to gain insight into the primary reason why Gerard’s Three Orders speech was embedded in the Deeds, and how its subsequent use was meant to function

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2016-01-01
2025-12-06

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  • Article Type: Research Article

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