Caesarius of Arles: Life, Testament, Letters (Translated Texts for Historians, 19)

176 pages. Caesarius was born in 469/70 and served as Bishop of Arles from 502 until his death in 542. Originally trained as a monk at Lérins, he devoted himself as Bi shop to an ambitious programme of church reform and Christianization inspired by strict monastic standards of piety. Best known as a preacher, with a corpus of over 250 sermons, Caesarius also founded a monastery whose rule he composed and presided over several important church councils whose canons still survive. The documents included in this volume ? most never before translated into English ? vividly illustrate Caesarius?s career and the social and religious history of Provence at a time of far-reaching political change, during which the region was ruled by a series of Visigothic, Burgundian, Ostrogothic and, ultimately, F rankish kings.The ?Life of Caesarius?, written shortly after his deat h by five clerics of his acquaintance, provides a first-hand record of the Bisho p?s achievements as pastor, politician and wonderworker. The ?Testament? d emonstrates Caesarius?s efforts to endow and protect his monastery and in the process furnishes valuable information about diocesan landholdings. The collecti on of twenty-four ?Letters? sent and received by Caesarius chronicles his re lations with fellow aristocrats and bishops and illuminates a wide variety of to pics, from penalties for incest to political intrigue among rival bishops. Taken together, these texts shed light on a region and period in which the Christian church, with its leaders, rituals and doctrines, was coming to play an increasin gly important role in the daily lives not only of aristocrats and clerics, but a lso of ordinary men and women.The volume includes scholarly notes and an.…