Eric Knibbs

Eric Knibbs

Millicent Mercer Johnsen Post-Doctoral Rome Prize
September 7, 2015–July 29, 2016
Profession
Assistant Professor, Department of History, Williams College
Project title
The Forging of Pseudo-Isidore
Project description

The relationship between the ninth-century legal forgeries associated with Pseudo-Isidore, and the political environment that gave rise to them, has long been a matter of controversy. Though scholars have studied Pseudo-Isidore’s legal protections for the Frankish episcopate, they have neglected the voluminous nonlegal content of the forgeries. In consequence, Pseudo-Isidore, one of the most widely circulated and deeply influential texts of the Carolingian period, is poorly integrated with our broader understanding of early medieval history. I propose to study the specific agenda of the forgers regarding the ecclesiastical hierarchy, diocesan administration, and Christian orthodoxy, and to place this agenda in the context of ninth-century movements to reform the Frankish church. This work will reveal Pseudo-Isidore’s position in contemporary debates over church reform, and also, I hope, indicate the broader influence that the forgeries exercised upon ninth-century history.