La culture profane des dictatores chrétiens dans les chancelleries franques : l’élégie sur Galesvinthe de Venance Fortunat (Carmen VI, 5)

The official rhetoric of the High Middle Ages reveals a mastery of oratory art and diplomatic codes with roots in classical culture. Mythology and profane literature themselves remained employed as a formidable weapon in conflicts between Christian kings. Such was the case of the Venantius Fortunatus elegy commemorating the murder of Queen Galswintha, where simple allusions to classical poetry and imitation of the De raptu Proserpinae of Claudian implicitly compared King Chilperic, assassin of the Queen, to the king of Hades, without breaking the rules of diplomacy. This example shows that the De raptu Proserpinae of Claudian was wellknown by the elites of Regnum francorum. It also allows us to study the evolution and the various functions of latin elegy in Christian literature of the 6th century.Gioanni Stéphane. La culture profane des dictatores chrétiens dans les chancelleries franques : l’élégie sur Galesvinthe de Venance Fortunat (Carmen VI, 5). In: Latin vulgaire – latin tardif IX. Actes du IXe colloque international sur le latin vulgaire et tardif, Lyon 2-6 septembre 2009. Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 2012. pp. 933-945. (Collection de la Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen ancien. Série philologique, 49