Re‐examining Hrabanus Maurus’ letter on incest and magic

Abstract

This article offers a reanalysis of Hrabanus' mid-ninth-century textDe magicis artibus. Often read and studied as a complete work, the De magicis artibus is in fact one portion of a longer text that also discusses incest and marriage practices. Furthermore, the single surviving copy of the text is deliberately attached to another work by Hrabanus, his Poenitentiale ad Otgarium. This article argues that by examining the text in its entirety, as well as its manuscript context and edition history, Hrabanus' whole work is better understood as one of pastoral care informed by the Old Testament.Sometime between 841 and 842, Hrabanus Maurus wrote a letter to his old friend and classmate Hatto. He described the topics of his letter as 'the marriage of kindred and the conjuring tricks and spurious divinations of magicians'. 1 In the text Hrabanus drew on both the Old * Thanks are due to several people for their advice and assistance while writing this article. First and foremost, to James Palmer, whose support, encouragement, and feedback have been crucial; I have benefitted from many discussions with him and particularly owe to him the phrase 'pastoral housekeeping'. I am grateful to P.G. Maxwell-Stuart for his advice and help with trickier parts of Latin, as well as countless discussions about magic in the Middle Ages which clarified my thinking on many points. Mark Thakkar also was never sparing in his assistance with Latin and palaeography. I would also like to thank the following for their help in various forms: