Austrasian Letters

The Austrasian Letters (Latin: Epistulae Austrasicae) is a collection of 48 Latin letters sent from or to Austrasia between the 470s and 590s. The collection is transmitted in a single 9th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Lorsch.

The collection was probably assembled in Metz in the late 6th century. It has been attributed to Bishop Magneric of Trier, who was a counsellor of King Childebert II in the 580s. It is generally thought that the compilation was made for the use of the Austrasian chancery. Recently, however, it has been argued that the compilation was only brought together in the early 9th century at Lorsch.

The letters give insight into the workings of Frankish diplomacy and life at the Austrasian court. The letters give insights into the literacy of the kings' inner circle, along with snippets of information not supplied by other sources of the period. They provide more contemporary evidence for the reign of Clovis I than any other source. The letters are particularly useful in illuminating the complex diplomatic relations between Austrasia and the Byzantine Empire. A majority of the letters concern this relationship.

Table of letters

Number	Sender	Addressee	Date	Notes
1	Remigius of Reims	Clovis I	c.509?
2	Remigius of Reims	Clovis I	482/3
3	Remigius of Reims	Heraclius, Leo and Theodosius	512
4	Remigius of Reims	Falco of Tongres	c.511?–533
5	Florianus	Nicetius of Trier	543/552
6	Florianus	Nicetius of Trier	c.550
7	Nicetius of Trier	Justinian I	c.550–553
8	Nicetius of Trier	Chlodosuinth	561/567
9	Germanus of Paris	Brunhild	575
10	Aurelian of Arles	Theudebert I	c.534 or 546–548
11	Mapinius of Reims	Nicetius of Trier	c.550	Only known source for the Council of Toul (550).
12	Dynamius of Provence	Chaming	about or before 580?
13	Gogo	Chaming	c.561?
14	Venantius Fortunatus	Magneric of Trier	c.566/585
15	Mapinius of Reims	Vilicus of Metz	c.542/549
16	Gogo	Traseric of Toul	c.565–before 581
17	Dynamius of Provence	Vilicus of Metz	561–568
18	Theudebald	Justinian I	548/9
19	Theudebert I	Justinian I	536–538
20	Theudebert I	Justinian I	540–545
21	Rufus of Martigny	Nicetius of Trier	c.550
22	Gogo	Peter of Metz	after 568
23	Auspicius of Toul	Arbogast of Trier	c.472–474
24	unknown	Nicetius of Trier	561
25	Childebert II	Maurice	587–588	These letters pertain to the embassy sent to the Byzantine Empire in late 587 or early 588.
26	Brunhild	Maurice	587–588
27	Brunhild	Athanagild	587–588
28	Childbert I	Athanagild	587–588
29	Brunhild	Anastasia	587–588
30	Brunhild	Anastasia	587–588
31	Childebert II	John IV of Constantinople	587–588
32	Childebert II	Honoratus the Apocrisarius	587–588
33	Childebert II	Domitian of Melitene	587–588
34	Childebert II	Theodore the Magister	587–588
35	Childebert II	John the Quaestor	587–588
36	Childebert II	Megas the Curator	587–588
37	Childebert II	Paul	587–588
38	Childebert II	Italica the Patrician	587–588
39	Childebert II	Venantius the Patrician	587–588
40	Romanus (?)	Childebert II	590
41	Romanus	Childebert II	590
42	Maurice	Childebert II	585?
43	Fortunatus	Theodosius	585	These letters pertain to the embassy sent to the Byzantine Empire in 585–586 with the possible exception of no. 46, which more likely pertains to that of 589.
44	Brunhild	Anastasia	585
45	Childebert II	John IV of Constantinople	585
46	Childebert II	Lawrence II of Milan	589
47	Childebert II	Maurice	585
48	Gogo	Grasulf of Istria	before 581?

Editions

• Gundlach, Wilhelm, ed. (1892). "Epistolae Austrasicae". Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini Aevi I. Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Vol. Epistolae 3. Berlin. pp. 110–153.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Malaspina, Elena, ed. (2001). Il Liber epistolarum della cancelleria austrasica (sec. V–VI). Rome: Herder.

Bibliography

• Barrett, Graham; Woudhuysen, George (2016). "Assembling the Austrasian Letters at Trier and Lorsch" (PDF). Early Medieval Europe. 24 (1): 3–57. doi:10.1111/emed.12132. S2CID 164122125.
• Dumézil, Bruno; Loseby, Simon (2018). "Epistulae Austrasicae". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Volume 1: A–I. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 550. ISBN 978-0-19-881624-9.
• Goubert, Paul (1951). "Chronologie des lettres austrasiennes". Mélanges d'histoire du Moyen Âge dédiés à la mémoire de Louis Halphen. Paris. pp. 291–296.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• McCormick, Michael (1991). "Epistolae Austrasicae". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
• Tyrrell, V. Alice (2012). Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers (PDF) (PhD diss.). University of Toronto.
• Tyrrell, V. Alice (2019). Merovingian Letters and Letter Writers. Brepols.