Facing a second death : narrating and silencing hell in the works of Gregory of Tours

Abstract

This paper examines the use of the language of the eternal damnation as applied by Gregory, bishop of Tours, writing in the 6 th century in Merovingian Gaul.Instead of trying to elucidate the bishop's views of hell in the light of what late antique Christian authors prior to him had written on that subject, this paper takes the writings of Gregory as a point of departure.Various types of people (who are regrouped around their religious creeds) which Gregory explicitly sees as damned are examined and the possible causes behind the application of the language of hell are adduced.The instances where Gregory chooses to refrain from the use of the language of damnation are given equal attention and the political limits of the application of the threat of hell are explored through the example of the Merovingian king Chilperic.

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