Lexis Supplements

Lexis Studies in Greek and Latin Literature | Lexis Ancient Philosophy |
Lexis Sources, Texts and Commentaries

Fortunatus agricola? Una lettura dell’epistola di dedica della Vita Martini

crossmark logo

Abstract

In troubled Gaul under the Merovingians Gregory, bishop of Tours from 573 to 594 and a member of the highest Gallo-Roman aristocracy, and the poet Venantius Fortunatus, who left Ravenna in 565 to settle in Poitiers, had the opportunity to spend more than twenty years in contact with each other and to forge a strong friendship. Fortunatus dedicates his hexametric poem on the life and miracles of saint Martin of Tours to his friend Gregory. This essay offers an interpretation of the dedicatory epistle of Vita Martini, highlighting in particular the author’s skilful use of the agricultural metaphor of writing.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: June 24, 2025 | Accepted: Sept. 15, 2025 | Published Jan. 21, 2026 | Language: it

Keywords Epistolography • Saint Martin of Tours • Venantius Fortunatus • Gregory of Tours • Hagiography

Copyright © 2026 Edoardo Ferrarini. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


read this chapter