The Book of Pontiffs of the Church of Ravenna (review)

This volume is much more than a translation of Agnellus's Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis. It includes what amounts to an important short monograph on this early medieval text, in addition to extensive and careful annotation. As such, it is an important contribution to scholarship on early medieval Italian ecclesiastical history.

The introduction begins with an overview of the history of Ravenna and basic information on the Liber (its date of composition and genesis). But it then moves on to more difficult and important terrain. Deliyannis provides an insightful analysis of the structure and genre of the work. Her treatment of the work's relationship to the Roman Liber pontificalis is excellent, and anyone working on gesta episcoporum will want to consult this careful assessment. She argues convincingly that Agnellus created a type of "model bishop" in his Liber and that the "sermonettes" he included are highly distinctive (either his own creations or copies of texts that have not survived elsewhere). She also undertakes a thorough analysis of the author's use of written sources. Deliyannis's most significant contribution, however, is an extended treatment of the work's possible oral sources and its frequent assertions of orality. She concludes that Agnellus borrowed conventional phrases from written versions of sermons to create a "false orality," perhaps to mask long breaks in the work's composition or to suggest the support and backing for his views that an "audience" might imply.

Art and architectural historians will also be pleased that Deliyannis includes an extensive discussion of Agnellus's descriptions of monuments and images in early medieval Ravenna. Her careful attention to language, particularly that of patronage and its relationship to the Roman Liber pontificalis, is excellent, and Deliyannis argues convincingly for "a sharp distinction between architectural and artistic terminology used in historical and hagiographical narratives and the terms used in descriptions of patronage and decoration" (p. 89). Art and architectural historians should pay close attention to this distinction in all future use of evidence from this important source. Throughout the translation Deliyannis also provides excellent annotation on specific references to sites in Ravenna. Her critical weighing of scholarly opinions and citations to the scholarly literature are extremely valuable. There is also a very useful glossary of Latin terms related to art and architecture at the end of the volume.

The translation itself is, as Deliyannis states, literal. Based on a new critical edition of the work that Deliyannis is preparing for the Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis, the English text presented here faithfully renders Agnellus's Latin, which is not very elegant. At points it is not a smooth read, but awkward passages in the translation do alert the researcher to difficulties, and sometimes ambiguities, in the Latin.

In sum, this is an extremely well done volume that makes a substantial contribution to scholarship in several areas: the analysis of early medieval texts, the artistic and architectural history of Ravenna, and the ecclesiastical genre of gesta episcoporum. Deliyannis, the series editors, and the press should be congratulated.