| For over three centuries, the Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis (LPR), written in the 830's and 840's by Andreas Agnellus of Ravenna, has been 'mined' for facts about early medieval Ravenna by historians and art historians, and criticized for its inadequacies. Agnellus' models, motives, and historiographical methods all affect the way that information is presented, yet these factors have never been closely examined. In this dissertation, I provide a new edition of the Latin text, with new notes, and a commentary that examines the way in which Agnellus arranged and compiled his text. The three genres that contributed to the makeup of the LPR, all of which are specifically related to bishops--gesta episcoporum, hagiography, and sermons--are examined, and specific works that influenced Agnellus are identified and discussed, in particular the Roman Liber Pontificalis and the works of Gregory of Tours, Gregory the Great, and Peter Chrysologus. Agnellus' historical methodology is explained, namely, that he included information only when the name of a bishop of Ravenna in his source told him where it belonged chronologically. Each of Agnellus' sources, and the use he made of it, is examined in turn.;Mentions of art and architecture, apparently based on Agnellus' personal experience, perform several different functions within the text. The descriptions of art and architecture are examined in the contexts of the type of discourse in which they appear, and the sources from which Agnellus learned about them. It becomes clear that the language that he used in each passage is influenced by the context and function of that passage, as well as by the language of his sources and models; a glossary of terms, with a discussion of the context and sources for each, is included. The relation of the LPR to the two main political and cultural watersheds of the ninth century, the Carolingian Renaissance and the Iconoclastic Controversy, is examined. Finally, the history of the text in its various manuscript versions, and the explanation of the edition that follows, as well as a planned published edition, are presented. |
