Beyond Mission: Willibrord as a Political Actor between Early Medieval Ireland, Britain and Merovingian Francia (690-739)
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2022Author:
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2026-01-19Citation:
Summer, Michel, Beyond Mission: Willibrord as a Political Actor between Early Medieval Ireland, Britain and Merovingian Francia (690-739), Trinity College Dublin.School of Histories & Humanities, 2022Download Item:
Abstract:
The thesis reassesses the activity of the Northumbrian cleric Willibrord (658 739) on the
continent between 690 and 739. Traditionally, Willibrord has been perceived as the first
representative of a new wave of Anglo-Saxon missionaries, who initiated the
Christianisation of the peripheral regions of the Frankish kingdom with the support of the
Carolingian dynasty. In contrast, the thesis examines the development of Willibrord s
network in Francia and detaches his activity from a missionary framework which
anticipates the formation of the Carolingian Empire after 751. The thesis shows that
Willibrord s rapid integration into the area between Utrecht and Trier was based on his
ability to combine different political and ecclesiastical networks, ranging from Ireland to
Rome, with each other. Through the foundation of churches and monasteries, the
consolidation of ecclesiastical traditions from the Insular world and the continent, and his
interaction with different communities across north-eastern Francia, Willibrord secured his
position a political actor in the Merovingian world. However, the early Carolingians were
but one of many groups who supported Willibrord between 690 and 739, and their
relationship was not predetermined. Contrary to the traditional scholarly narrative,
Willibrord s activity extended beyond his mission to Frisia and contributed to the formation
of a new ecclesiastical landscape in Merovingian Francia long before the ascension of the
Carolingians.
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Luxembourg National Research Fund
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APPROVED
Author: Summer, Michel
Advisor:
Warntjes, ImmoPublisher:
Trinity College Dublin. School of Histories & Humanities. Discipline of HistoryType of material:
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