Fortunatus and the Rhetorical Tradition: Panegyrics to Kings

Abstract Fortunatus’ earliest known poems for the Merovingian court were his epithalamium and panegyric (Poems,6. 1 and 1a) to Sigibert and Brunhild, delivered at Metz in 566. Such formal poetry is a fruitful point at which to begin a consideration of his work, and of his place as a poet in Merovingian society. His panegyrics to the Frankish kings form a series of poems in the same genre, composed over two decades from 567 to 587. Analysis of these poems enables us to chart Fortunatus’ development in technique, in ideas, and in his relationship to his patrons. Because of the strong conventions governing the genre, moreover, it is here that we can most easily make comparisons with earlier work in the same literary tradition, to see how the poet adapted a genre for a Merovingian audience, and how his role differed from that of earlier poets.