Description:
<jats:p>Abbot Hilduin of Saint-Denis produced a new Latin version of the Passion of St. Denis (BHL 2175), a thorough and expanded rewriting of earlier versions. This work, commissioned by Louis the Pious in 835, circulated far more widely than previous recensions. In his correspondence with the emperor, Hilduin listed the sources he had used for the Passion, which firmly established the identity of each of the Denises : the Parisian martyr, the biblical disciple of the Apostle Paul, the philob. sopher and author of the Dionysian corpus, and the visionary astronomer and author of an alleged Syriac Autobiography. Most scholars who have studied this work, particularly theGerman historianMax Buchner, have regardedHilduin as a forger, who invented many of his sources. A new analysis of the Passion partly clears Hilduin’s reputation and demonstrates that he was a serious historian : apart from the </jats:p>
<jats:p>Conscriptio Visbii and the Letter of Dionysius to Apollophanes, which remain doubtful, the other documents he used were clearly not composed by him. However, the abbot of Saint-Denis was not a simple reporter : he occasionally took liberties with his sources in order to defend his monastery and strengthen its position within the Carolingian Empire.</jats:p>