Lindsay Rudge PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

secure enough to legislate for the reform of the Frankish church, he did so, creating a
package of initiatives. These had as their primary objective the removal of pagan (which
may also include the merely outdated) practices that he found were still existing on the
Continent. To a great extent this was yet one more attempt at a task that had existed in the
eyes of bishops and missionaries alike for centuries: it is similar to some of Caesarius’
aims and objectives in Christianizing the population of Arles and its surrounding
countryside. 112 The written basis for such reform was created in 743-44. Boniface
attended the Concilium Germanicum convened by Carloman, and had clearly been in
discussion with Carloman beforehand, as he later related to pope Zacharias: ‘Carloman…
summoned me to his presence and desired me to convoke a synod in that part of the
Frankish kingdom which is under his jurisdiction. He promised me that he would reform
and re-establish ecclesiastical discipline, which for the past sixty or seventy years has
been completely disregarded and despised… The episcopal sees, which are in the cities,
have been given, for the most part, into the possession of avaricious laymen or exploited
by adulterous and unworldly clerics for worldly uses.’ 113 Werminghoff, in editing the text
of the council’s canons, dates it to 21 April 742. 114 There is no record of Boniface’s
presence at the two subsequent synods, at Estinnes and Soissons, both held in 743. 115
However, Alain Dierkens has since argued for a date of 743 for the Concilium
Germanicum. 116 As Rosamond McKitterick suggests, the synod at Estinnes under
Carloman and the synod of Soissons under Pippin III would have taken place three days,
not a year, apart, and all three synods ‘part of the same effort at reform’. 117 Estinnes was
one of Carloman’s residences and not far from Soissons, which would make Boniface’s
attendance at the latter more likely, despite his evidently more cordial relationship with
112
For the differences and similarities between Caesarius and Boniface see R.A. Markus, ‘From Caesarius
to Boniface: Christianity and Paganism in Gaul’ J. Fontaine and J.N. Hillgarth (eds.) The Seventh Century:
Change and Continuity (London, 1992) 154-172.
113
Epist. 27, MGH Epp. III, 277-8; tr. Emerton, The Letters of Saint Boniface, 99.
114
MGH Conc. II:I, 1-4.
115
MGH Conc. II:I, Conc. Lift. 5-7; Conc. Suess., 33-6.
116
A. Dierkens, ‘Superstitions, christianisme et paganisme à la fin de l’époque mérovingienne. A propos de
l’Indiculus superstitionum et paganiorum’ in H. Hasquin (ed.) Laïcité: Magie, Sorcellerie,
Parapsychologie (Brissels, 1984) 9-26, cited in R. McKitterick ‘The diffusion of insular culture in Neustria
between 650 and 850’ in H. Atsma (ed.) La Neustrie. Les pays au nord de la Loire de 650 à 850. Beihefte
der Francia 16/11 (Sigmaringen, 1989) 395-432, at 414 n.112.
117
R. McKitterick, ‘The diffusion of insular culture in Neustria’, 414, n.112.
201