THE MYTH OF TROJAN ORIGINS OF THE FRANCS IN THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF MEDIEVAL FRANCE
MIT O TROJAŃSKIM POCHODZENIU FRANKÓW W HISTORIOGRAFII ŚREDNIOWIECZNEJ FRANCJI
Keywords: frankowie; troja; średniowiecze; franc
The purpose of this paper is to present the myth of Trojan origins of the Francs and to analyze its function in Frankish and French historiography. The first time, the myth appeared in the second half of the 7th century in Fredegar’s chronicle and survived until the 18th century in French royal propaganda. The main focus of the paper is to show the ways the story was used by medieval chroniclers in changing political circumstances. My point of departure is a structural analysis of the original story, and then its development in the Middle Ages: from Fredegar, Gregory of Tours (who, in his chronicle, significantly omitted the Trojan myth), Carolinian genealogies, to the revival of the story and its uses in Capetinian France by Aimoin of Fleury-sur-Loire and by Rigord. In conclusion, I make distinction between uses of the myth in the early medieval times (Fredegar and Gregory of Tours) and in Capetinian France, where the Trojan myth had a political rather than a social meaning.
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