Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...
statesman,
commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
and
magnate
The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
in the late 5th-century
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
. He was also a
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
of
Melun
Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, ...
, but most importantly, the chief advisor of
Clovis I
Clovis (; reconstructed Old Frankish, Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first List of Frankish kings, king of the Franks to unite all of the Franks under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a ...
.
After the defeat
Syagrius
Syagrius (c. 430 – 486 or 487 or 493–4) was a Roman general and the last ruler of a Western Roman rump state in northern Gaul, now called the Kingdom of Soissons. Gregory of Tours referred to him as King of the Romans. Syagrius's defeat by K ...
in 486 at the Battle of Soissons, Aurelianus defected to the side of Clovis and aided him in the stabilisation of the domain.
In 493, Clovis sent him on a secret mission to arrange a marriage with a Burgundian princess,
Clotilde
Clotilde ( 474 – 3 June 545 in Burgundy, France) (also known as Clotilda (Fr.), Chlothilde (Ger.) Chlothieldis, Chlotichilda, Clodechildis, Croctild, Crote-hild, Hlotild, Rhotild, and many other forms), is a saint and was a Queen of the Fran ...
. At night, while pretending to be a
pilgrim
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...
, Clotilde welcomed him. While washing his feet, Aurelianus revealed the identity of her suitor and delivered her a ring of Clovis.
During the
Battle of Tolbiac
The Battle of Tolbiac was fought between the Franks, who were fighting under Clovis I, and the Alamanni, whose leader is not known. The date of the battle has traditionally been given as 496, though other accounts suggest it may either have been ...
Aurelianus urged Clovis to convert to Christianity. Eventually Clovis gifted Melun to Aurelianus.
Biography
Known only by a ''
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...
'' common in
Roman Gaul
Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century B ...
, Aurelianus is mentioned in the ''
Historia Francorum
Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encompa ...
'' written by
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...
, although this may be another person of the same name. The anecdotes concerning Aurelianus are mainly the product of later second-hand works of the 7th century, such as the ''Liber'', '' Liber Historiae Francorum'' and ''Historia Francorum epitomata'', written by
Fredegar
The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Franks, Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century.
The chronic ...
, but also of the 9th century, like the work of
Hincmar
Hincmar (; ; ; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia.
Biography Early life
Hincm ...
, ''Vita Remigii''. He was first regarded as a real historical figure towards the end of the 19th century by
Godefroid Kurth
Godefroid Kurth (1847–1916) was a Belgian historian and pioneering Christian democrat. He is known for his histories of the city of Liège in the Middle Ages and of Belgium, his Catholic account of the formation of modern Europe in ''Les Origin ...
. More recently, the medieval history specialist Laurent Theis does not rule out the historicity of Aurelianus, although he states that the 'loyal Aurelianus' may be an archetype of the wise Roman Christian, like Aredius, advisor of the Burgundian king
Gundobad
Gundobad (; ; 452 – 516) was King of the Burgundians (473–516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a patrician of the moribund Western Roman Empire in 472–473, three years before its collapse, suc ...
. An ''Aurelianus, vir illustris'' is noted among the correspondents of
Avitus of Vienne
Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus (c. 450 – February 5, 517/518 or 519) was a Latin poet and bishop of Vienne in Gaul. His fame rests in part on his poetry, but also on the role he played as secretary for the Burgundian kings.
Avitus was born of a pr ...
PLRE
''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...
'', states that this Aurelianus is another person of the same name.
According to the ''Liber historiæ'' and Fredegar, Clovis used Aurelianus as an intermediary to secretly arrange his marriage with Clotilde. The details of the secret meeting between Clotilde and Aurelianus, according to which he was disguised as a pilgrim, is more likely to be a myth than a historical fact. He was present at the Battle of Tolbiac, where he advised Clovis to put his faith in the God of Clotilde and convert to Christianity.
Again according to the ''Liber historiæ'', Clovis rewarded Aurelianus for his services by giving him the title of Duke of Melun. This, according to Kurth, is a confusion with another person of the same name.
Some late speculations considered Aurelianus to be a native of
Orléans
Orléans (,"Orleans" (US) and In the 19th century, Nicolas-Claude-Joseph Godelle suggested that the name of Arlaines, a hamlet of the commune of Ressons-le-Long where ruins were discovered in 1810, could come from an ''Aureliana villa'', belonging to Aurelianus, making him a native of
Soissons
Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...
. This etymological hypothesis, however, is not supported by any findings or documents, the archeological excavation establishing that it was a Roman camp of the 1st century.
''Aurelianus, consiliarus regis'', is among the signatories of Clovis's charter establishing the
Abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif
The Abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif () was a Benedictine monastery just outside the walls of Sens, France, in the Archdiocese of Sens.
History
The first abbot of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif, Saint Ebbo, was bishop of Sens before 711. In 731 he led the peop ...
. However, the document – purportedly from 504 – is a forgery created in the 10th or 11th century.
In a book published in the 16th century, Nicole Gilles describes Aurelianus as the Grand Chamberlain of the king, but this
anachronism
An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...
is corrected in 1623 by Pierre Bardin. A few years after Bardin,
Philippe Labbe
Philippe Labbe (; 10 July 1607 – 16 or 17 March 1667) was a French Jesuit writer on historical, geographical and philological questions.
Born in Bourges, he entered the Society of Jesus on 28 September 1623, at the age of 16. A ...
also expressed doubts on whether Aurelianus was also Grand Chancellor and
Keeper of the Seals
The title keeper of the seals or equivalent is used in several contexts, denoting the person entitled to keep and authorize use of the great seal of a given country. The title may or may not be linked to a particular cabinet or ministerial offi ...
, offices that were mis-attributed to him by earlier authors, who misinterpreted the ring Aurelianus gave to Clotilde as Clovis's seal.
Depictions
Inspired by the ''
Grandes Chroniques de France
The ''Grandes Chroniques de France'' is a vernacular royal compilation of the history of the Kingdom of France, most manuscripts of which are luxury copies that are heavily illuminated. Copies were produced between the thirteenth and fifteenth ...
'', two of the tapestries that were ordered in the 16th century by Robert de Lenoncourt, destined to be displayed in the Abbey of Saint-Remi, portray Aurelianus. One of them depicts his meeting with Clotilde and the other depicts him first at Tolbiac pressuring Clovis to convert by saying to him "''Croy au dieu auquel croyt ta femme''" (believe in the god in whom your wife believes), and then witnessing the baptism of Clovis in
Reims
Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...
. In this scene, Aurelianus is wearing a coat decorated with a ''
fleur-de-lis
The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
window depicts the meeting of Clotilde and Aurelianus.
The
woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
department of the
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
possesses two engravings, made in a 16th- to 17th-century style, depicting "''Aurelian, grand conseiller de Clovis et chancelier de France''" (Aurelian, chief advisor of Clovis and chancellor of France). Portrayed with a long beard, Aurelianus holds a ring, a reference to the meeting with Clotilde. Another copy of the engraving is kept in
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
.
In 1881, while decorating the
Panthéon
The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...
, Joseph Blanc painted Aurelianus in the central part of the ''Triomphe de Clovis'' (Triumph of Clovis), in which historical characters are represented with the traits of contemporaries of the artist. Aurelianus is depicted in this work with the traits of
Léon Gambetta
Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government.
Early life and education
Born in Cahors, ...
, then
President of the National Assembly of France
This article lists Presidents of the French Parliament or, as the case may be, of its lower chamber.
The National Constituent Assembly was created in 1789 out of the French States-General, Estates-General. It, and the revolutionary legislative ...
. Blanc may have chosen Gambetta due to his Italian origins.