Original title: Several Notes on the Epitaph of Count Sendebald in Gorze Abbey.
Authors: Vrána, David
Document type: Papers
Conference/Event: Epigraphica & Sepulcralia 15, Praha (CZ), 20231101
Year: 2024
Language: eng
Abstract: Count Sendebald first appears in the office of Count of Toul under the episcopate of Bishop Gauzlin sometime before 962, then becomes count palatine of the bishops of Metz after 981, and dies on 21 March after 987. He bequeathed the Martincourt estate north of Toul to the monastery of Gorze probably not long before his death. Perhaps it was this circumstance, together with his intervention against the unjust handling of the Amel estate, that led him to find his final resting place in Gorze. The tomb is assumed to have been marked by an epitaph, the text of which was preserved in a manuscript that belonged to the Saint-Vincent Abbey in Metz at the time of Sendebald’s death (Berlin State Library, Ms. Phill. 1877). Comparison with other epigraphic and sepulchral monuments that can be associated with the Gorze Monastery in the second half of the 10th century is problematic. We know that Count Giselbert († c. 964) was buried here, but we have no further details. An epitaph may have adorned the tomb of Giselbert’s brother, Bishop Adalbero († 964), the creation of which is linked to the transfer of his body from Saint-Trond Abbey to Gorze. We are also familiar with the incomplete text of the epitaph only from a manuscript. A possibility for comparison may be found in the description of the epigraphic monuments in Saint-Vincent Abbey in Metz, which the Vita Deoderici informs us about. Sendebald’s epitaph contains a number of allusions to unknown historical facts, especially concerning his noble origin. A comparison of the memorial records indicates the possibility that he was an ancestor of Hemma of Gurk and was related to the nobility of Bavaria, Lotharingia, and Saxony, and it cannot be excluded that he may have been a descendent of the Moravian Moymirids.
Keywords: 10th century; epitaphs; Gorze Abbey; Lotharingia; Moymirids
Host item entry: Epigraphica & Sepulcralia 15, ISBN 978-80-53018-00-5

Institution: Institute of Art History AS ČR (web)
Document availability information: Fulltext is available at the institute of the Academy of Sciences.
Original record: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0367683

Permalink: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-680527


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