Agobard of Lyon has usually been studied because of his writings about Jews. This dissertation likewise began from a desire to understand Agobard’s anti-Jewish writings, their content, motives, and impact. Approaching that topic from the basis of Agobard’s whole corpus of writings, however, forces an acknowledgment that Agobard cannot be reduced to simply “Agobard and the Jews,” although the subject clearly created a great amount of anxiety for him. Also, by beginning with Agobard’s own works, this dissertation discusses him on his own terms first, without relying on the historiographical tradition which defines him as a Visigoth, a tradition ultimately found wanting. This dissertation effectively dismantles the model of Agobard as a Visigoth working in the Carolingian world, and replaces it with a model of Agobard as a Carolingian. As such, this study explores his anti-Judaism in terms of his immediate historical context and links it with his other anxieties and the Carolingian desire for a perfect, Christian, society. Doing so also opens the door for a re-evaluation of the traditional interpretation of the Carolingian period as the last “golden age” of European Jews outside of Muslim Spain. At its conclusion, this study argues that the Carolingians, by deliberately attempting to create a Christian society, however “well” they treated Jews in their own time, laid some of the ideological groundwork for the later isolation and persecution of Jews in Europe. The introduction begins the exploration of Agobard’s historical context by discussing the history of both Louis’s empire and Agobard’s Lyon. The first chapter provides a quick summary of his life and works. From there, the dissertation turns to its in-depth study of Agobard in the second through fourth chapters. An analysis of his main anti-Jewish work, De iudaicis superstitionibus et erroribus in Chapter 3 is prefaced by a study of the character and possible roots of his anti-Judaism in Chapter 2. The last chapter looks at Agobard’s other concerns, how they relate to his writings on Judaism, and finally how his great amount of worry around Judaism can help shape our understanding of medieval Jewish-Christian relations.

Agobard of Lyon has usually been studied because of his writings about Jews. This dissertation likewise began from a desire to understand Agobard’s anti-Jewish writings, their content, motives, and impact. Approaching that topic from the basis of Agobard’s whole corpus of writings, however, forces an acknowledgment that Agobard cannot be reduced to simply “Agobard and the Jews,” although the subject clearly created a great amount of anxiety for him. Also, by beginning with Agobard’s own works, this dissertation discusses him on his own terms first, without relying on the historiographical tradition which defines him as a Visigoth, a tradition ultimately found wanting. This dissertation effectively dismantles the model of Agobard as a Visigoth working in the Carolingian world, and replaces it with a model of Agobard as a Carolingian. As such, this study explores his anti-Judaism in terms of his immediate historical context and links it with his other anxieties and the Carolingian desire for a perfect, Christian, society. Doing so also opens the door for a re-evaluation of the traditional interpretation of the Carolingian period as the last “golden age” of European Jews outside of Muslim Spain. At its conclusion, this study argues that the Carolingians, by deliberately attempting to create a Christian society, however “well” they treated Jews in their own time, laid some of the ideological groundwork for the later isolation and persecution of Jews in Europe. The introduction begins the exploration of Agobard’s historical context by discussing the history of both Louis’s empire and Agobard’s Lyon. The first chapter provides a quick summary of his life and works. From there, the dissertation turns to its in-depth study of Agobard in the second through fourth chapters. An analysis of his main anti-Jewish work, De iudaicis superstitionibus et erroribus in Chapter 3 is prefaced by a study of the character and possible roots of his anti-Judaism in Chapter 2. The last chapter looks at Agobard’s other concerns, how they relate to his writings on Judaism, and finally how his great amount of worry around Judaism can help shape our understanding of medieval Jewish-Christian relations.

No século IX, Agobardo, arcebispo de Lyon, criticou os juízos de Deus, principalmente os duelos judiciários, pronunciando que eles eram contrários à doutrina cristã. Boa parte da historiografia moderna considerou a obra do arcebispo como avançada para o seu tempo, associando indevidamente as críticas do prelado aos diagnósticos historiográficos que concebiam os ordálios e duelos como supersticiosos, bárbaros etc; qualificações essas que não foram utilizadas pelo arcebispo em sua crítica aos juízos de Deus. Em nossa dissertação, pretendemos, em um primeiro momento, demonstrar o lugar e a função dos ordálios e duelos no âmbito judiciário, a partir de exemplos da legislação franca. Defendemos que os juízos de Deus foram mecanismos utilizados de maneira excepcional e tinham a função de constituir uma decisão definitiva. A partir daí, buscamos evidenciar que muitas das considerações historiográficas sobre os escritos de Agobardo de Lyon contra os ordálios e duelos não precisaram os fundamentos da crítica do arcebispo, generalizando-a como se ela fosse uma guerra às superstições. Desse modo, nos concentramos na análise dos escritos do arcebispo, o Adversus legem Gundobadi e o De Divinis Sententiis contra Iudicium Dei, para destacar tanto os motivos de sua refutação aos ordálios e duelos, quanto a sua concepção de império e de sociedade cristã. / In the ninth century, Agobard, archbishop of Lyon, criticized the judgments of God, especially the judicial duels, pronouncing that they were contrary to the Christian doctrine. Most of the modern historiography considered the writings of the archbishop advanced for its time, associating unduly the prelates critics to the historiographical diagnostics that conceived the ordeals and duels as superstitious, barbaric etc; these qualifications that were not used by the archbishop in his criticism of judgments of God. In our thesis, at first, we intend to show the position and the function of ordeals and duels on the judicial sphere, through examples of frank legislation. We argue that the judgments of God were procedures used in a exceptional manner and had the function of constituting a final decision. From that point, we try to show that much of historiographical considerations on the writings of Agobard against the ordeals did not have perceive the grounds of Agobards criticism, generalizing it as if it were a war against the superstitious. Thus, we focus on the analysis of the works of the archbishop, the Adversus legem Gundobadi and the De Divinis Sententiis Contra Iudicium Dei, to highlight the reasons for his rebuttal to ordeals and duels as well his conception of empire and Christian society.

No século IX, Agobardo, arcebispo de Lyon, criticou os juízos de Deus, principalmente os duelos judiciários, pronunciando que eles eram contrários à doutrina cristã. Boa parte da historiografia moderna considerou a obra do arcebispo como avançada para o seu tempo, associando indevidamente as críticas do prelado aos diagnósticos historiográficos que concebiam os ordálios e duelos como supersticiosos, bárbaros etc; qualificações essas que não foram utilizadas pelo arcebispo em sua crítica aos juízos de Deus. Em nossa dissertação, pretendemos, em um primeiro momento, demonstrar o lugar e a função dos ordálios e duelos no âmbito judiciário, a partir de exemplos da legislação franca. Defendemos que os juízos de Deus foram mecanismos utilizados de maneira excepcional e tinham a função de constituir uma decisão definitiva. A partir daí, buscamos evidenciar que muitas das considerações historiográficas sobre os escritos de Agobardo de Lyon contra os ordálios e duelos não precisaram os fundamentos da crítica do arcebispo, generalizando-a como se ela fosse uma guerra às superstições. Desse modo, nos concentramos na análise dos escritos do arcebispo, o Adversus legem Gundobadi e o De Divinis Sententiis contra Iudicium Dei, para destacar tanto os motivos de sua refutação aos ordálios e duelos, quanto a sua concepção de império e de sociedade cristã. / In the ninth century, Agobard, archbishop of Lyon, criticized the judgments of God, especially the judicial duels, pronouncing that they were contrary to the Christian doctrine. Most of the modern historiography considered the writings of the archbishop advanced for its time, associating unduly the prelates critics to the historiographical diagnostics that conceived the ordeals and duels as superstitious, barbaric etc; these qualifications that were not used by the archbishop in his criticism of judgments of God. In our thesis, at first, we intend to show the position and the function of ordeals and duels on the judicial sphere, through examples of frank legislation. We argue that the judgments of God were procedures used in a exceptional manner and had the function of constituting a final decision. From that point, we try to show that much of historiographical considerations on the writings of Agobard against the ordeals did not have perceive the grounds of Agobards criticism, generalizing it as if it were a war against the superstitious. Thus, we focus on the analysis of the works of the archbishop, the Adversus legem Gundobadi and the De Divinis Sententiis Contra Iudicium Dei, to highlight the reasons for his rebuttal to ordeals and duels as well his conception of empire and Christian society.