Books by Zachary M Guiliano
An ambitious examination of one of the most important theological and liturgical texts of the Mid... more An ambitious examination of one of the most important theological and liturgical texts of the Middle Ages — the homiliary of Paul the Deacon commissioned by Charlemagne — and the first comprehensive study of its earliest witnesses, a resource for all those interested in Charlemagne, medieval liturgy, theology, and preaching.
As one of the most widely used products of Charlemagne’s religious and cultural reforms, the homiliary of Paul the Deacon is a unique monument in the history of Western Europe. Completed around AD 797, this collection of patristic homilies and sermons shaped the religious faith and liturgical practices of the churches in Carolingian Europe and those of countless other churches over the course of a millennium of use.
Until now, scholarly study of the homiliary has rested on seven partial witnesses to the collection. This study, however, draws on over 80 newly identified witnesses from the Carolingian period, while providing a brief guide and handlist to hundreds of later manuscripts. It replaces the current scholarly reconstruction of the homiliary, discusses the significance of the collection’s liturgical structure and provisions, and considers the composition of the homiliary in the context of Charlemagne’s reforms and Paul’s patron-client relationships. The study also brings together evidence for the production and use of this text in thirty-three Carolingian monasteries, cathedrals, and churches.
The book then addresses the homiliary’s theological character: the contents of the homiliary reflected a concern for expressing and defending orthodox doctrine at Charlemagne’s court against Trinitarian and Christological heresies, as well as an urgent attention to moral reform in the light of a belief in the imminence of divine judgement. Finally, the study demonstrates the varied uses of Paul’s collection and its historical legacy.
Edited books by Zachary M Guiliano
Contributors include Luther Zeigler, Zachary Guiliano, Cameron Partridge, Ruthanna Hooke, Matthew... more Contributors include Luther Zeigler, Zachary Guiliano, Cameron Partridge, Ruthanna Hooke, Matthew Potts, David Woessner, Elizabeth Anderson, Regina Walton, John Nelson Wall, Simon Jackson, Daniel Heschmann, Lizette Larson-Miller, Denise Yarbrough, Gareth Jones, Joel Daniels, Dudley Rose, Brad East, Joseph Lear, Simon Vibert, Ryan Kim, Nicholas Mosca, Roger Ferlo, and Margaret Guenther
The Open Body: Essays in Anglican Ecclesiology
The Open Body emerges from a conference held at Harvard Divinity School in April 2011. The essays... more The Open Body emerges from a conference held at Harvard Divinity School in April 2011. The essays in this book reflect on ecclesiology in the Anglican tradition, that is they debate whether and how humans should gather ad a "church" in the name of Christ. While the prompts for this collections of essays is the contemporary crisis in the Anglican communion, this book provides a capacious re-interpretation and re-imagination of the central metaphor of Christian community, namely, "the Body of Christ." By suggesting that the Body of Christ is "open," the authors are insisting that while the recent controversy within the Anglican Communion should prompt and even influence theological reflection on Christian community, it should not define or determine it. In other words, the controversy is an "opening" or an opportunity to imagine and to examine the past, present, and future of the Church.
Articles and Book Chapters by Zachary M Guiliano
The Intellectual World of Late Antique Christianity, 2023
The Venerable Bede's epistemology was scholarly and experiential. His work drew on the combined r... more The Venerable Bede's epistemology was scholarly and experiential. His work drew on the combined riches of classical and patristic knowledge, as he encountered them at the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow. Supported by lavish patronage, he turned these resources to the teaching, preaching, and exegesis of the scriptures. His writing on pain, pleasure, poverty, and preaching suggests that every faithful Christian has experiential access to unique knowledge. They may taste future joys, enter Christ's mind, and glimpse the divine nature through embodied practices infused by grace. Yet access to such knowledge is unequal. 'The perfect', with their greater understanding and virtue, are best suited for shaping societal and ecclesial life. They meditate unceasingly on holy things, without care or need and with resources beyond the reach of most. Bede's epistemological emphases were integrated in his self-image, as teacher and monk, and his teaching elaborated an influential 'inequality regime'.
Hierarchies of Knowledge in the Works of Bede
The Intellectual World of Christian Late Antiquity, ed. Lewis Ayres, Michael Champion, and Matthew Crawford, 2022
The Venerable Bede’s epistemology was scholarly and experiential. His work drew on the combined r... more The Venerable Bede’s epistemology was scholarly and experiential. His work drew on the combined riches of classical and patristic knowledge, as he encountered them at the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow. Supported by lavish patronage, he turned these resources to the teaching, preaching, and exegesis of the scriptures. His writing on pain, pleasure, poverty, and preaching suggests that every faithful Christian has experiential access to unique knowledge. They may taste future joys, enter Christ’s mind, and glimpse the divine nature through embodied practices infused by grace. Yet access to such knowledge is unequal. ‘The perfect’, with their greater understanding and virtue, are best suited for shaping societal and ecclesial life. They meditate unceasingly on holy things, without care or need and with resources beyond the reach of most. Bede’s epistemological emphases were integrated in his self-image, as teacher and monk, and his teaching elaborated an influential ‘inequality regime’.
Caroline Minuscule Mapping Project
The Caroline Minuscule Mapping Project was the recipient of an APICES Hermans Grant in January 20... more The Caroline Minuscule Mapping Project was the recipient of an APICES Hermans Grant in January 2015. The €1500 award will go towards developing an open-access resource on the key early medieval centres that used Caroline minuscule.
The principal investigator is Anna Dorofeeva; the co-investigator is Zachary Guiliano; the advisors are Prof. Rosamond McKitterick and Prof. David Ganz. The project team will commission, edit, review and publish 30 summary articles on the major scribal centres and regions that used Caroline minuscule in Europe c. 700–1000 AD. Articles will contain a detailed introduction and bibliography relating to the letter-forms and identified manuscripts of each centre, together with a list of these manuscripts (hyperlinked to a digital version where this is available). Examples of Caroline minuscule letterforms specific to each centre, where identified and where copyright allows, will be provided as images taken from manuscript pages. Reviewed articles will be published on this website. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2015. A full introduction and relevant apparatus will be provided.
The development of this resource, which will be the first of its kind, will greatly facilitate the study of a script whose diversity and complexity have so far rendered it difficult to understand for all but the most experienced palaeographers. It will also be of use to anyone interested in Carolingian libraries and manuscript production centres.
The origins of this project go back to Bernhard Bischoff, who intended for his manuscript catalogue to include sample images of manuscripts, and to divide them by region rather than date. We are grateful to APICES for enabling this project to go ahead.
in Naama Cohen-Hanegbi and Piroska Nagy (eds.), Pleasure in the Middle Ages, IMR 24 (Brepols), 2018
Eating and drinking are among the most basic pleasures in all human societies. But eating and dri... more Eating and drinking are among the most basic pleasures in all human societies. But eating and drinking was sometimes seen as a precarious thing in the Middle Ages, all too easily abused. Of all the sins enumerated by medieval authors, one often stood out prominently or even headed the list. ‘Gluttony’ or gula was thought to be at the heart of all that was wrong in the world.
The Carolingians were not immune to this general discourse on gluttony; they repeated many aspects of it. But they also began to read and write more and more about a kind of eating and drinking that was not subject to the same dangers as usual refreshment, primarily through their reception of the Venerable Bede’s exegesis. At the feast he describes, one could stuff oneself to the brim and drink oneself into a stupor, yet only become morally better, not worse. Bede articulated, and the Carolingians learned from him, a ‘holy gluttony’ that involved the indulgent exegesis of Scripture.
In Zachary Guiliano and Cameron Partridge (eds.), *Preaching and the Theological Imagination*. Studies in Episcopal and Anglican Theology 9. C.K. Roberton. Series Editor. New York, London, & Berlin: Peter Lang, 2015.
I argue that patristic exegesis partly aims at developing a particular 'sense' regarding the worl... more I argue that patristic exegesis partly aims at developing a particular 'sense' regarding the world and one's actions. Moral action, in particular, is dependent on an allegorical imagination that sees common actions as being modeled on the 'figures' of historical events, characters, objects, and buildings. This understanding is related to Girard's theory of mimesis and Foucault's understanding of technologies of the self. The inculcation of such an imagination was historically brought about by specific practices involving the regular liturgical reading of patristic exegesis.
Ethnicity, Christianity: Medieval Times and Reformation Era
approved for publication in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 8, but recently re-assigned to the lemma "Race, Christianity: Medieval Times and Reformation Era."
Foreigner, Christianity: Medieval Times and Reformation Era
in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 9, pp. 425-7.
Studia Patristica 68. Vol. 16: from the Fifth Century (Greek Writers), 2013
This paper addresses a topic often presumed absent in studies of the writings of (Pseudo-) Dionys... more This paper addresses a topic often presumed absent in studies of the writings of (Pseudo-) Dionysius the Areopagite: the crucifixion of Jesus.
Although many interpreters of the Corpus Dionysiacum are convinced that the crucifixion of Jesus does not figure largely in the thought of (Pseudo-)Dionysius, this contribution argues that the crucifixion, indeed, does. Through a close reading of Celestial Hierarchy 2.3, 2.4-5, and 7.3, three passages in which the (Pseudo-)Areopagite appears to draw on previous patristic interpretations of the revelatory descent of Wisdom, the ‘worm’, and the Ascension of the formerly crucified Jesus, the article explores how (Pseudo-)Dionysius transforms these traditional topics. The essay demonstrates that the descent of the Logos is no longer hampered by the weakness of the human body, as Eusebius and Athanasius had argued. Instead, it is dependent upon weakness to instigate apophasis. Similarly, the worm, which is the only name Dionysius argues was taken by the Thearchy itself, is shown to be a reference to the crucifixion by exploring the history of the interpretation of Ps. 22.
In light of Dionysian terminology regarding this name, the article ventures a hypothesis that the crucifixion represents a moment in which the Incarnate Jesus fell to the last rung of ontology. Finally, the article considers the Ascension of the crucified Jesus to the highest level of being, with the concomitant phenomenon of angelic ignorance concerning the crucifixion. Jesus is seen to be instructing the highest angels with knowledge regarding the cross, a tantalizing prospect, given the fact that the crucifixion is also expressed by the ‘lowest name’.
In its concluding pages, it will be argued that examining these particular passages not only unveils the Dionysian *theologia crucis* but also transforms our understanding of the nature of apophasis in relation to the Incarnate Jesus. Negations are applied to the Divine Names (such as Being, Life, and Wisdom), but they are not applied to Jesus, whose deeds remain uniquely ineffable and not subjection to the scouring effects of negative theology.
Hincmar of Reims
in Encylopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 11 (July 2015).
The exegesis of the Venerable Bede (672-735 CE) is "cut" from the same cloth as his theology of h... more The exegesis of the Venerable Bede (672-735 CE) is "cut" from the same cloth as his theology of history and his understanding of human transformation. Bede's exegetical theory displays a concern with the verbal "garments" of Christian Scripture, expressed as Scriptures "shapes" (*figurae*) and "adornments" (*ornati*), and his exegetical practice demonstrates a similar preoccupation. his understanding of human transformation, expressed in his exegetical, homiletic, and historical practice, is similarly related to the concepts of *figura* and *ornatus*. Bede's readers are meant to pattern their ethical selves upon the historical figures of Scripture in order to become clothed with the virtues displayed therein. The thesis advances its argument primarily by engaging with Bede's rhetorical treatise "On Schemes and Tropes" and his biblical commentaries.
The thesis then explores the implications of Bede's thought on history, morality, and language for the ongoing study of his historiographical works and for the contemporary study of Scripture.
This paper traces the development of "eucharistic social theology" in the Anglo-Catholic wing of ... more This paper traces the development of "eucharistic social theology" in the Anglo-Catholic wing of the nineteenth-century Church of England, in which eucharistic social theology is defined as the advancement of social parity on the basis of one's sacramental theology and praxis. The paper attempts to sweep away some of the naive (or more strident) historiographical assumptions about the origins and development of Anglo-Catholic doctrine, while advancing a tentative thesis that there is a genuine thread of eucharistic social theology stretching over a century, from the Oxford Movement and F.D. Maurice to the Anglo-Catholic Congresses.
This paper examines the "Logos" theology which lies behind Eusebius of Caesarea's understanding o... more This paper examines the "Logos" theology which lies behind Eusebius of Caesarea's understanding of history and political power, particularly in his "Tricennial Orations" and "Life of Constantine". It argues that his particular understanding, an influential one, is dependent on a conception of the Logos, the pre-Incarnate Christ, which is profoundly Arian or ante-Nicene, although the paper notes that this ante-Nicene Logos theology is hardly different from the thought of the early Athanasius. It then raises some questions about the continual reception of early Christian material which would later be considered heterodox, the use (and non-use) of Eusebius in later ecclesiastical and national histories, and the potential utility of Eusebius conception of monarchy and the fulfillment of history, if subjected to a more Chalcedonian Christology.
Conference Talks by Zachary M Guiliano
Paul the Deacon's Homiliary as the product of royal and imperial patronage
The Homiliary of Paul the Deacon in Carolingian Europe
In this paper, I discuss the primary purpose of the Homiliary's creation: to be a collection of t... more In this paper, I discuss the primary purpose of the Homiliary's creation: to be a collection of the *best* of the patristic tradition for liturgical reading in the Night Office. Beyond discussing it in the general context of the development of the Office, I consider the various adaptations made to Paul's Homiliary in the 9th and 10th centuries and how these adaptations reveal differing expectations and assumptions regarding the use of books in the liturgy and the prestige of particular Church Fathers.
Liturgy, learning, and *lectiones divinae* in Charlemagne's Epistola Generalis
The *Epistola Generalis* has often been interpreted as a circular letter sent by Charlemagne to a... more The *Epistola Generalis* has often been interpreted as a circular letter sent by Charlemagne to a great variety of churches. In this paper, I interpret the letter based on the only context in which it was transmitted: as part of the preface to Paul the Deacon's Homiliary. I also discuss some of the clues the *Epistola* provides regarding the process by which the Homiliary was composed.
The Homiliary of Paul the Deacon: Myth, Scholarship, and the Evidence of the Early Manuscripts
"The Homiliary of Paul the Deacon, the most famous collection of patristic homilies transmitted i... more "The Homiliary of Paul the Deacon, the most famous collection of patristic homilies transmitted in the Middle Ages, is practically legendary in character, from its origin at Charlemagne's court to its putative use by the vast majority of monasteries in Europe from the Carolingian period to the 20th century. Yet many details of its storied past still require grounding in historical argumentation. This paper discusses and critiques past scholarly efforts related to the Homiliary of Paul the Deacon, discusses the manuscript base for further research, and offers a few preliminary assessments of the 9th century manuscript evidence.
(Note: I removed this paper, as it is research in progress, and I moved beyond too many of the statements in it. Those interested should contact me directly).
'How excellent is your inebriating cup!’: Bede’s Interpretation of Food Miracles and the Carolingian Era.
Bede’s commentaries were widely read by the Carolingians. His actual influence, however, is bett... more Bede’s commentaries were widely read by the Carolingians. His actual influence, however, is better known in outline than in detail. This paper proposes to clarify the level of his influence by examining the reception of his interpretation of Jesus’ food miracles as allegories regarding Scriptural interpretation and the pleasures promised to the spiritual reader. Further, Carolingian adaptations of Bede’s work will be read in light of the broader theological discourse on overindulgence, arguing that such interpretations authorized a form of indulgent pleasure, figured as a type of feasting and inebriation open to all levels of Carolingian society.
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Books by Zachary M Guiliano
As one of the most widely used products of Charlemagne’s religious and cultural reforms, the homiliary of Paul the Deacon is a unique monument in the history of Western Europe. Completed around AD 797, this collection of patristic homilies and sermons shaped the religious faith and liturgical practices of the churches in Carolingian Europe and those of countless other churches over the course of a millennium of use.
Until now, scholarly study of the homiliary has rested on seven partial witnesses to the collection. This study, however, draws on over 80 newly identified witnesses from the Carolingian period, while providing a brief guide and handlist to hundreds of later manuscripts. It replaces the current scholarly reconstruction of the homiliary, discusses the significance of the collection’s liturgical structure and provisions, and considers the composition of the homiliary in the context of Charlemagne’s reforms and Paul’s patron-client relationships. The study also brings together evidence for the production and use of this text in thirty-three Carolingian monasteries, cathedrals, and churches.
The book then addresses the homiliary’s theological character: the contents of the homiliary reflected a concern for expressing and defending orthodox doctrine at Charlemagne’s court against Trinitarian and Christological heresies, as well as an urgent attention to moral reform in the light of a belief in the imminence of divine judgement. Finally, the study demonstrates the varied uses of Paul’s collection and its historical legacy.
Edited books by Zachary M Guiliano
Articles and Book Chapters by Zachary M Guiliano
The principal investigator is Anna Dorofeeva; the co-investigator is Zachary Guiliano; the advisors are Prof. Rosamond McKitterick and Prof. David Ganz. The project team will commission, edit, review and publish 30 summary articles on the major scribal centres and regions that used Caroline minuscule in Europe c. 700–1000 AD. Articles will contain a detailed introduction and bibliography relating to the letter-forms and identified manuscripts of each centre, together with a list of these manuscripts (hyperlinked to a digital version where this is available). Examples of Caroline minuscule letterforms specific to each centre, where identified and where copyright allows, will be provided as images taken from manuscript pages. Reviewed articles will be published on this website. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2015. A full introduction and relevant apparatus will be provided.
The development of this resource, which will be the first of its kind, will greatly facilitate the study of a script whose diversity and complexity have so far rendered it difficult to understand for all but the most experienced palaeographers. It will also be of use to anyone interested in Carolingian libraries and manuscript production centres.
The origins of this project go back to Bernhard Bischoff, who intended for his manuscript catalogue to include sample images of manuscripts, and to divide them by region rather than date. We are grateful to APICES for enabling this project to go ahead.
The Carolingians were not immune to this general discourse on gluttony; they repeated many aspects of it. But they also began to read and write more and more about a kind of eating and drinking that was not subject to the same dangers as usual refreshment, primarily through their reception of the Venerable Bede’s exegesis. At the feast he describes, one could stuff oneself to the brim and drink oneself into a stupor, yet only become morally better, not worse. Bede articulated, and the Carolingians learned from him, a ‘holy gluttony’ that involved the indulgent exegesis of Scripture.
Although many interpreters of the Corpus Dionysiacum are convinced that the crucifixion of Jesus does not figure largely in the thought of (Pseudo-)Dionysius, this contribution argues that the crucifixion, indeed, does. Through a close reading of Celestial Hierarchy 2.3, 2.4-5, and 7.3, three passages in which the (Pseudo-)Areopagite appears to draw on previous patristic interpretations of the revelatory descent of Wisdom, the ‘worm’, and the Ascension of the formerly crucified Jesus, the article explores how (Pseudo-)Dionysius transforms these traditional topics. The essay demonstrates that the descent of the Logos is no longer hampered by the weakness of the human body, as Eusebius and Athanasius had argued. Instead, it is dependent upon weakness to instigate apophasis. Similarly, the worm, which is the only name Dionysius argues was taken by the Thearchy itself, is shown to be a reference to the crucifixion by exploring the history of the interpretation of Ps. 22.
In light of Dionysian terminology regarding this name, the article ventures a hypothesis that the crucifixion represents a moment in which the Incarnate Jesus fell to the last rung of ontology. Finally, the article considers the Ascension of the crucified Jesus to the highest level of being, with the concomitant phenomenon of angelic ignorance concerning the crucifixion. Jesus is seen to be instructing the highest angels with knowledge regarding the cross, a tantalizing prospect, given the fact that the crucifixion is also expressed by the ‘lowest name’.
In its concluding pages, it will be argued that examining these particular passages not only unveils the Dionysian *theologia crucis* but also transforms our understanding of the nature of apophasis in relation to the Incarnate Jesus. Negations are applied to the Divine Names (such as Being, Life, and Wisdom), but they are not applied to Jesus, whose deeds remain uniquely ineffable and not subjection to the scouring effects of negative theology.
The thesis then explores the implications of Bede's thought on history, morality, and language for the ongoing study of his historiographical works and for the contemporary study of Scripture.
Conference Talks by Zachary M Guiliano
(Note: I removed this paper, as it is research in progress, and I moved beyond too many of the statements in it. Those interested should contact me directly).