"Breme Beowulf" and "Inclite Pelagi": Colonizing the Comitatus

The basic tenets of the comitatus, as described by John M. Hill in The Anglo-Saxon Warrior Ethic, are reciprocal loyalty between retainer and warlord, as especially enacted by the exchange of gifts for services and services for gifts; revenge obligation regarding injury or death, on behalf of kinsme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CEA critic 2015-03, Vol.77 (1), p.39-57
Main Author: Wendt, Holly M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anon (600-1100) (Beowulf and Judith)
Belgian literature
Christianity
Christians
Ethics
French literature
Hrotsvit of Gandersheim
Kristeva, Julia (1941- )
Latin language
Martyrs
Middle Ages
Morality
Paganism & animism
Religion
Religious conversion
Traditions
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Summary:The basic tenets of the comitatus, as described by John M. Hill in The Anglo-Saxon Warrior Ethic, are reciprocal loyalty between retainer and warlord, as especially enacted by the exchange of gifts for services and services for gifts; revenge obligation regarding injury or death, on behalf of kinsmen as well as for one's lord; and fame-assuring battle courage, especially if a successful outcome-battlefield victory-seems impossible. According to Robert Bartlett in The Making of Europe, during the tenthcentury reign of Otto I, emperor of Germany, and in whose jurisdiction Hrotsvit wrote, Latin Christendom began its first resurgence after the Islamic conquest of the Iberian peninsula and the Viking raids threatening the northern coasts (7).
ISSN:0007-8069
2327-5898
2327-5898
DOI:10.1353/cea.2015.0003