Re-examining Hrabanus Maurus’ letter on incest and magic
Abstract
This article offers a reanalysis of Hrabanus’ mid-ninth-century text De magicis artibus. Often read and studied as a complete work, the De magicis artibus is in fact one portion of a longer text that also discusses incest and marriage practices. Furthermore, the single surviving copy of the text is deliberately attached to another work by Hrabanus, his Poenitentiale ad Otgarium. This article argues that by examining the text in its entirety, as well as its manuscript context and edition history, Hrabanus’ whole work is better understood as one of pastoral care informed by the Old Testament.
Citation
Edholm , M 2023 , ' Re-examining Hrabanus Maurus’ letter on incest and magic ' , Early Medieval Europe , vol. 31 , no. 2 , pp. 252-273 . https://doi.org/10.1111/emed.12624
Publication
Early Medieval Europe
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0963-9462Type
Journal article
Collections
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