The Rome of Pope Paschal I: Papal Power, Urban Renovation, Church Rebuilding and Relic Translation, 817-824

by Caroline J. Goodson

Overview

In the early ninth century, a critical time in Rome’s transformation from ancient capital to powerful bishopric to new state capital, Pope Paschal I undertook a building campaign to communicate his authority and Rome’s importance as an ancient and contemporary seat of power. Combining analysis of contemporary chronicles and documents, architecture, mosaics and new archaeology of medieval Rome, Caroline Goodson examines Paschal’s urban project, revealing new patterns of popular saint veneration in resplendent new churches built in traditional architectural vocabularies. These transformations connect the city and the pope to the past and the present, in the same league as the Byzantine and Carolingian capitals and their emperors. By examining the relationships between the material world and political power in early medieval Rome, this innovative study reveals the importance of Rome's sacred and urban landscape in constructing papal rule and influence both in the city and beyond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521768191
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/03/2010
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series , #77
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Caroline J. Goodson is Lecturer in Medieval Archaeology at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Birkbeck College, University of London. She has authored a number of articles on Rome and Lazio with particular attention to ecclesiastical buildings and the cult of saints. She was co-editor of Walls and Memory: The Abbey of San Sebastiano, Alatri (Lazio) from Late Roman Monastery to Renaissance Villa and Beyond (2005).

Table of Contents

List of illustrations viii

Acknowledgements xi

A note on terms and measurements used xiii

Abbreviations xvii

1 Paschal I and the History of Rome 1

2 Building in Rome 44

3 Constructing the papal city 81

4 Beyond the basilica 160

5 Building the home of the saints 197

6 Transformations 257

Tables 279

Bibliography 334

Index 374

Editorial Reviews

"...a welcom contribution to the new historiography on the last century of the Carolingians. It will appeal to a wide ranges of scholars, from specialists in religion and culture to historians of art and architecture." -Scott G. Bruce, Canadian Journal of History

From the Publisher