Paul the Deacon's Writings

Paul the Deacon (c.720s – 13 April c.796-799) has many writing attributed to him (some probably erroneously, like a life of Gregory the Great, that was written much earlier than Paul). He was in the household of Adelperga, a daughter of King Desiderius of the Lombards.

Adalperga, upon reading a history by a 4th century Roman named Eutropius that covered the founding of Rome to Eutropius' lifetime, was not pleased that it covered only pagan Roman achievements and not any Christian topics. She asked Paul to amend it, so he added extracts from Scripture to a version for her.

Another request for a history came from Angilram, the Bishop of Metz, to write a history of the diocese of Metz, giving Paul access to the diocesan records. Paul finished it by 784, noting that Angilram's own entry would be completed later. Paul also refers to Angilram in his Historia Langobardorum ("History of the Lombards"), calling him a "very gentle man and distinguished by holiness."

Paul also wrote a summary of De verborum significatione libri XX ('Twenty Books on the Meaning of Words") that he dedicated to Charlemagne. It was edited by a 2nd century Roman (Festus) of a work by a turn-of-the-millenium Roman grammarian (Verrius). Later...

Paul’s work, and through it that of Festus and of Verrius, became the subject of intense interest again during the Italian Renaissance after a copy of the work was discovered by Poggio Bracciolini and Bartolomeo da Montepulciano at the Abbey of St. Gall in 1416. [source]

Charlemagne also asked him to compile a collection of homilies, which Paul did and which was used in Frankish liturgy. One of Paul's homilies, In Assumptione, raises the possibility that the Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed bodily into Heaven. He also produced a commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict which still exists, although in a revised form.

His major work, the history he wrote of the Lombard people, was his most used, right up until the 15th century. Although possessing factual errors and questionable timelines, it is a view into the culture and myths over the course of a couple centuries. Some of the sources from which he drew are lost to us, making his work even more valuable as insight to an earlier time. There are 115 extant manuscripts, all with minor differences and many with large pieces missing.

Let's dig out some gems from this work tomorrow.