Lucy Grig - Sermons and popular culture in Late Antiquity

This paper comes out of a larger research project focusing on popular culture in Late Antiquity.  There has been much discussion, since the influential work of Santo Mazzarino, of a putative ‘democratisation of culture’ in Late Antiquity.  This rather elastic concept can be understood in various ways. One might posit a ‘bottom up’ approach, whereby the cultural ideals of the subaltern classes triumphed over elite culture and values. Alternatively, one could posit a ‘top-down’ process, in which the Church (amongst other institutions) played a key role in an attempt to construct a specifically Christian popular culture. 

Sermons, an innovative cultural form in Late Antiquity, can be said to constitute an important aspect of the democratisation of culture in this period. In a striking new development, rhetoric and ethical and philosophical discourse were being transmitted across a broad swathe of society. We can see an attempt to diffuse values and concepts previously thought suitable only for elites to a much wider social base. We can also see in sermons attempts by the Church to control and contain some elements of popular culture, while encouraging and actively constructing others.

This paper will focus on examples from the sermons of Caesarius of Arles, a bishop who wanted nothing less than the wholesale reform of the behaviour and values of his congregation.  I shall focus in particular on Caesarius’ approach to popular oral culture, including his treatment of the problem of illiteracy and his attitude to popular song and rhyme. My analysis will reveal the methods and strategies used by Caesarius in his attempt to contain and absorb the popular. However, the paper will also show that this ‘top-down’ approach did not have the final say, and will conclude by arguing for the continuing dialectical and dynamic nature of popular culture in Late Antiquity.