Annemarie Pilarski: Blessed be the Sick? Eugenius of Toledo on Suffering, Sin and Salvation (Carmina 13, 14 and 14b)

The laments of Eugenius II of Toledo contained in his libellus carminum have recently attracted scholarly interest (cf. Fear 2010; Smolak 2010). It has been argued that Eugenius uses his personal laments over sickness and old age, written from a first person perspective, for didactic purposes: He invites his readers or listeners to identify with the lyrical self and join him on his path towards understanding bodily suffering as a way of finding salvation. Suffering aids conpunctio cordis and thus facilitates the healing of the soul from sinfulness and its liberation from its ensnarement in worldly affairs (cf. Fear2010). Thus, writing about suffering takes part in what Ungvary 2018has called the Visigothic “discourse of penance”.An excellent example for this interpretation is provided by c.14, the longest of Eugenius’ poems, about the afflictions of old age and fear of death, which – in the lyrical self – eventually lead to a rejection of worldly pleasures. However, the directly preceding poem c.13 about sickness seems to be strangely lacking the said features of c.14, and “could be read as a simple cry for help” (Fear 2010, 63). In my paper, I try to determine how this short poem relates to the longer poem c.14 (as well as 14b) and whether it can be read in the light of conpunctio cordis, as can be c.14. Such a reading may help to further deepen our understanding of Eugenius’ position on the relation of suffering, sin and salvation.