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medieval worlds • no. 6 • 2017Religious Exemption in Pre-Modern Eurasia, C. 300-1300 CE
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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medieval worlds • no. 6 • 2017, pp. 231-261, 2017/12/01
Religious Exemption in Pre-Modern Eurasia, C. 300-1300 CE
When the two Carolingian intellectuals Alcuin of Tours and Theodulf of Orleans engaged in a dispute over the fate of a criminal who had sought asylum in the church of Saint Martin in Tours, their conflict quickly turned into a heated political debate that reached the highest level of the Frankish Empire. As evidenced by the letters written during this altercation, this seemingly simple matter of church asylum brought up intractable questions of who should arbitrate on matters such as these, what it would mean if bishops interfered in church matters outside their own diocese, and how this matter affected the essential unity of the Carolingian church. From appeals to personal responsibility to the institutionalisation of the Empire, the debate between Alcuin, Theodulf and Charlemagne was ultimately about everybody’s place in the greater scheme of things, and the question of who should play by the rules, and who would be exempt.
Keywords: Carolingian empire; Charlemagne; Alcuin; Theodulf of Orléans; church asylum; conflict resolution; letters; politics and religion; imperium; ecclesia