Page 170 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Envoys and Political Communication,411–533

contemporary attestation of Vivianus’ episcopate; he is known only from
later liturgical and hagiographic sources. 122 The dates of his episcopate are
unknown. In his Vita, he meets a Gothic king of Toulouse, Theoderic;
there is no clear indication whether this is Theoderic I (418–51)orII
(453–67), nor is evidence available of other fifth-century bishops of
Saintes. 123 Nor is there any firm internal evidence of the time of com-
position of the text, which has been dated variously, from close to the
saint’s life to the Carolingian period. 124
Vita Viviani is longer than Vita Orientii. Vivianus’ single embassy, the
longestpartof the Vita, is one of several scenes developed atlength.
Following is a summary of the Vita:
1 Introduction.
2 Vivianus’ family and entry into the church.
3 His election.
(The embassy to Toulouse, 4-6)
4 Gothic oppression of citizens of Saintes; Vivianus sets out to Toulouse.
5 His residence in Toulouse near the tomb of the martyr Saturninus;
episode of the theft of the oxen which had drawn his cart.
6 The king’s convivium; success of Vivianus’ petition.
7 His prayers free Saintes from attacks by Saxons.

(1889), 47–51; Krusch, Introduction to Vita Viviani, 92–3; Duchesne, Fastes ´ episcopaux ii, 72–3;
F. Lot, ‘La Vita Viviani et la domination Wisigothique en Aquitaine’, in M´ elanges Paul Fournier
(Paris, 1929), 467–77; Courcelle, Histoire litt´ eraire, 145–6, 339–47; Griffe, La Gaule chr´ etienne ii,
70–1, 274–5; iii, 257; Heinzelmann, ‘Gallische Prosopographie’, 716–17; Goffart, Barbarians and
Romans, 95–7.
Shared literary motifs: L´ ecrivain, ‘La vie de SaintOrientius’, 258; Courcelle, Histoire litt´ eraire,
344.
122 Martyrologium Hieronymianum, ed. J. B. de Rossi and L. Duchesne, AASS Nov ii pars 1 (Brussels,
1894)(28 August); Venantius Fortunatus, Carm. i, 12; Gregory of Tours, Gloria confessorum, 57.
123 He is called ‘Theodorus’ in the text; Vita Viviani, 4, 6. In manuscripts of the chronicles, this
form is common for Theoderic I, but not for Theoderic II or the Ostrogothic Theoderic; MGH
AA 13 Indexes 494, 627.
Theoderic I: L´ ecrivain, ‘Un ´ episode inconnu’, 50 (the tax impositions of Vita Viviani, 4,are
part of the settlement of the Goths in Aquitaine in 419); Krusch glosses ‘Theodorus’ with the
dates of both Visigothic Theoderics in his note to Vita Viviani, 96,n. 1, but identifies the king
as Theoderic I in a note to Gregory of Tours, Gloria confessorum, MGH SRM 1.2, 330–1 n. 5;
Griffe, La Gaule chr´ etienne ii, 70–1. Theoderic II: Lot, ‘La Vita Viviani’, 470; Goffart, Barbarians
and Romans, 96; Mathisen, Roman Aristocrats, 99, 100, 122.
The first known successor of Vivianus, Petrus, is attested at the council of Orl´ eans in 511
(Duchesne, Fastes ´ episcopaux ii, 73), but given the poor records of the bishops in fifth- and
sixth-century Gaul, there could well have been other bishops between Vivianus and Petrus.
124
An early date was proposed by L´ ecrivain, ‘Un ´ episode inconnu’, 48–9 (‘un peu apr` es la mortdu
saint’, before the battle of Vouill´ ein 507;the Vita is probably the same text which Gregory of
Tours possessed, Gloria confessorum 57), but dismissed by Krusch, Introduction to Vita Viviani, 92
(Carolingian; certainly after Jonas’ Vita Columbani so post-640). Lot, ‘La Vita Viviani’, 468, 474–6,
argued again for an early date (c. 520/30); followed by Levison, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen i,
93 n. 202 (tentatively); Courcelle, Histoire litt´ eraire, 344 (who sees Vita Viviani as influenced also
by Vita Epiphanii); Griffe, La Gaule chr´ etienne ii, 70–1 n. 15.
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