HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor

BIOGRAPHY 1000‒1350 377This might demand the reconstruction of his legend and even thefabrication of historical facts in order to strengthen his legendary statusas an urban patron. This development is illustrated in the caseof the Bolognese patron St. Petronius. Petronius was held responsiblefor privileges allegedly granted the city’s studium (the foundationof the university) by Emperor Theodosius II (†450). He supposedlyhad assisted in the rebuilding of the city after its destruction andhad demanded that it remain free of tyrannical control. 69Secular BiographyThe vast majority of biographical sources surviving from the MiddleAges were hagiographical. The surviving secular biographies also arepanegyrical in tone and were influenced strongly by such Romanhistorians as Suetonius (see, e.g., Einhard’s life of Charlemagne). Manyappear under the rubric of res gestae, i.e., ‘deeds performed’ by illustriouspersons such as abbots, bishops, or kings and which focusedon the institution they headed. 70 Works such as Wipo’s Gesta Conradi,Suger’s Vita Ludovici VI regis Francorum, or the Vita Henrici IV are largelypolitical, serving clear dynastic needs, and lack many biographicalelements. 71 It has been argued, for example, that the lives of theSalian emperors attempted to present a theory of imperial pontificalismin the face of growing papal claims for the subordination of kingsand emperors to Rome. 72 Many of these historians were employedin royal or imperial service and thus had direct access to archivalsources. Charters or other diplomatic sources may appear in theirworks quoted fully or in part. For example, Geoffroi de Beaulieu’s(†1275) life of Louis IX of France, written at the request of PopeGregory X, contains a short version of the Enseignements of St. Louis,a summary of the king’s moral views. The account of the murderof Charles the Good (†1127), count of Flanders, by the notary Galbertof Bruges contains letters and charters related to the struggle forcommunal liberty in the Low Countries. 7369Webb (1996), 174–80.70Breisach (1994), 100.71Gruber, et al. (1977), 201.72Mommsen and Morrison (1962), 14.73The Murder of Charles the Good Count of Flanders, ed. and trans. James B. Ross(New York, 1967).