Sources Of Conciliar History

Chapter Summary

In the most recent Latin edition of the Merovingian councils, the entire documentary yield of these meetings fills a mere 326 pages. Modern scholars who reference the Frankish councils largely derive their source material from one of the modern editions and translations that began to appear in the late nineteenth century. Most of these were published as volumes in larger series, such as the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, the Corpus Christianorum, and the Sources Chrétiennes, and concentrated on the literary products of the councils themselves rather than secondary references to their activities. The references to councils beyond the authoritative modern editions are thus plentiful, albeit hugely variable in their detail and authenticity. To treat them as missing jigsaw pieces in a larger reconstructive effort, however, would be methodologically dishonest.

Keywords: conciliar history; Frankish councils