Andrea Antonio Verardi

The article investigates the monastic phenomenon in the city of Rome from the pontificate of Pope Gelasius (492-496) to that of Gregorius the Great (590-604), with particular interest in the social dynamics within the city (especially the adhesion to the monastic ideal among the urban elite and the relationship between the protagonists of the ascetic-monastic experiences and the city clergy. It will especially emphasize the problem of the liturgy and the places dedicated to it.
Specific cases will be taken in examination: the activity of Fulgenzio of Ruspe, that of Dionysius Exiguus, but also the testimony of the first three versions of the Roman Liber Pontificalis, compiled by clergymen of the city from the first decades of the sixth century.

Through a reinterpretation of the main Frankish and Roman sources useful for the reconstruction of the events related to the pontificate of Pope Paschal I (817-824), the author proposes the hypothesis that this biography in the Liber Pontificalis was written both to answer some accusations made by opponents of the pope in the city and in the Carolingian world; whether the construction of the figure of Pasquale (monaco but also merciful ruler) may correspond to the characterization that in the same year is also used for the representation of the Emperor Louis the Pious. The author also indicates that inspiration for the rest of the research can promptly analyze these reports in order to clarify the influences and cultural and ecclesiological implications.

The article intends to examine, through a study of the main sources related to the early medieval Roman liturgy (Epistle of John Deacon to Senario, Liber Pontificalis, Ordines Romani I and IX) the possible ecclesiological implications of the rituals connected with baptism and the way they evolved between the sixth and the seventh centuries. Special attention was devoted to the relationship between institutional representation, the dynamics and the development of the intra-ecclesial baptismal liturgy, especially in reference to the difficult relationship between the Lateran (whose centrality was necessarily preserved) and the tituli and basilicas entrusted to the care of priests, liturgically gaining more independence for the progressive increase of the community of the faithful.

The article discusses the ways in which the Epitome Feliciana (F), the Epitome Cononiana (K), and the second redaction of the Liber Pontificalis (P) have dealt with particularly critical events as the Council of Chalcedon, the Laurentian schism, and the Acacian schism, in the light of the complex historical and political context of Rome between the end of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth Century. Drawing from data derived from the comparison between the texts and the context in which they were redacted, this paper suggests that F, K and P might be three different versions of the same text type: three Pontifical books characterized by independent narrative intentions, and resulting from three alternative points of view, originating in the ecclesiastical milieu, on the city and its church, on its history and its possible future developments.

For a history of the “system” ... or just of its perception. First, and minimal, reflections on some early medieval canon law collections.
The paper aims to propose some methodological ideas for the analysis of collections of early medieval canon law as sources for the institutional history, using as a focal point, the concept of “system”, proposed by Ovidio Capitani in the Seventies of the Twentieth century. After a first part purely theoretical, in which it is attempted to propose a model of investigation about this type of sources, the thesis proposals were then tested on a select group of early medieval collections.
On the basis of these theories I have conducted two short reports to assess their validity in investigations with a view both diachronic, with the aim of highlighting the possible variation/evolution of the perception of the system in a given geographical context (in this case I examined the Collectiones Quesnelliana, Dionysiana and Avellana) and synchronic, which means that evaluate the testimony offered by collections made in the same period but in different geographical and political contexts (the analysis focused mainly on the byzantine collection called Synagoge L titulorum John Deacon and the collectio Sanctimauriana, produced in the same years in Gaul).

The journal 'Quaestiones Medii Aevi Novae' would be pleased to sponsor a session at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds.
The session will analyze Rome as remembered by early medieval societies. The papers will describe the dynamics of creating imagined community of Rome as presented in the first redactions ofLiber Pontificalis, 9th-century Roman hagiography, as well as Anglo-Saxon sources describing the pilgrimage of King Ceadwalla to Rome. As a consequence, this session will highlight both self-consciousness of the Roman elite as well as the significance of the City for political communities outside Rome.

Il paper intende presentare limiti e potenzialità dell’applicazione delle metodologie proprie della Social network Analysis allo uno studio della società della città di Roma nel VI secolo. Attraverso l’analisi integrata di fonti coeve (in particolare il Liber Pontificalis e alcuni epistolari) lo studio vuole mettere in luce le dinamiche relazionali tra élite cittadina (donne e uomini appartenenti alle famiglie di rango senatorio), membri della corte gota e chierici per il periodo precedente alla guerra greco-gotica, con lo scopo di sottolineare sia la dimensione trasversale e, più in generale, culturale di questi sistemi di relazioni, sia le dinamiche di adesione/cooptazione ed esclusione da essi.

Conférence, M. A.A.Verardi, Nouvelles hypothèses autour du Liber pontificalis romain,  Vendredi 31 mars 2017 de 10h à 12h, École Pratique des Hautes Études Immeuble Le France 190 avenue de France 75013 Paris salle 123 (1ere étage), Dans le cadre de la direction d’études de Michel-Yves Perrin, « Histoire et doctrines du christianisme latin (Antiquité tardive) », en collaboration avec le Laboratoire d’études sur les monothéismes (UMR 8584).