Critical analysis of the letter collection of Einhard

Résumé du document

During the Carolingian Renaissance, the practice of writing and collecting letters was promoted both by the advance in communications within the Carolingian empire and by the renewed interest in classical literature and learning . Einhard' letters are an example of such a revival, along with the Alcuin and Lupus de Ferrières' letters. The extant corpus of medieval letters is varied; it contains informal letters, business letters, love letters, etc. Regarding them, the first question that comes to mind is: how did these letters come to us? How were they preserved?

Einhard'letters, which are available to us today, were preserved in a 10th century manuscript, probably written by monks/scripts at St-Bavo. The collection is composed of around 70 letters, probably written between 820 and 840. The historical context seriously matters, since a lot of letters refer to the beginning of vassalage practices which became very common only at the end of the 9th century. We will see later why it is so important in the comprehension of the compilation. Some letters also refer to political problems under Louis the Pious' reign, especially the sons' rebellion in 830.

In his edition, Paul E. Dutton maintained the arrangement of the 10th century manuscripts because he thinks that “the original context and placement of a piece in the strata of this collection have informative and meaningful values of their own”. How should we understand the process of compilation? Is there a signification behind the apparent chaos? Thus, my thesis is: if Einhard may have kept drafts of his letters when he was alive, the extant collection of letters was most probably assembled by a later compiler (in the beginning of the 10th century). First, I will argue that Einhard's letters, which are available to us today, were intentionally chosen, preserved and copied. Then, I will argue that subjects of letters chosen for the compilation throws up clues about who compiled the letters and his purpose in doing so.

Extraits

[...] It may indicate that the collection was done in another purpose that a simple homage to Einhard. Furthermore, another clue points out the fact that the letters compiled in this collection were intentionally chosen: the collection is representative only of a certain portion of Einhard's correspondence[6]; some letters are missing, or rather have been left out. Indeed, in a letter to Gerward, Einhard talks about a previous letter that seems to be missing[7] even though it could be a later letter in the collection. [...]

[...] How were they preserved? Einhard'letters, which are available to us today, were preserved in an only 10th century manuscript, probably written by monks/scripts at St-Bavo. The collection is made of around 70 letters, probably written between 820 and 840. The historical context seriously matters, since a lot of letters refer to the beginning of vassalage practices which became very common only at the end of the 9th century. We will see later why it is so important in the compilation's understanding. [...]

[...] Thus, it seems natural that letters which deal with feudal relationships were chosen in a 10th century manuscript. To conclude, many medieval texts survived not in their original form but as copies, or copies of copies, as it is the case for Einhard's collection. I would say that this collection had two main features: it is a compilation of some models of administrative letters; and it has a historical value: it shows the reinforcement of feudal hierarchy during the 10th century. [...]

[...] The extant material of medieval letters is not all that existed at that time. Letters were actually copied into manuscripts, usually letter-collections, which were the most important vehicle for the transmission of letters[3]. However, medieval letters concerning domestic management are poorly represented in the extant corpus of medieval letters[4]; that is why it is noticeable that Einhard's letters are so well preserved Moreover, medieval copyists tended to be selective in what records they preserved[5]. Therefore, it would be natural that most medieval letters which were copied were ecclesiastic letters, since copyists were usually monks. [...]

[...] Indeed, what was important was not each letter in particular, but the whole inspiration of the formulary or collection. Einhard's letters were a kind of exemplification for administrative letters. Bibliography -BULL Marcus, Thinking medieval, an introduction to the study of the Middle- Ages, Palgrave MacMillan: New York -CONSTABLE Giles, “Letters and Letter Collections”, Typologie des sources du Moyen-Age occidental, no (Turnhout, 1976) -DUTTON Paul E., Introduction in Charlemagne's courtier, Broadview Press -GARRISSON Mary, “Send More Socks: On Mentality and the Preservation Context of Medieval Letters”, in New Approaches to Medieval Communication, ed. [...]