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7 - Henry of Blois and the Construction of Roman Identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2021

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Summary

So when a certain grammarian saw him [Henry of Blois], conspicuous in the papal court for his long beard and philosophical solemnity, engaged in buying up idols, carefully made by the heathen in the error of their hands rather than their minds, he mocked him thus: ‘Buying old busts is Damasippus’ craze’. (Horace, Satires 2.3.64)

These lines, from John of Salisbury's Historia pontificalis (c. 1164–70), form the conclusion to a description of Henry of Blois’ unsuccessful petition at the papal curia around the mid-twelfth century. The scene results in Henry acquiring antique statues in Rome to ship back to Winchester which, in turn, provokes mockery from ‘a certain grammarian’. This nameless figure marked by eloquent Latin is surely a double for the author: John of Salisbury.

John quotes two prominent passages from Horace's Satires (2.3.16–17 and 64), which are part of a dialogue between Horace and a failed antiques dealer named Damasippus. John was evidently familiar with the entire satire, or, at the very least, substantial portions of it, as the echoes between these two texts are so numerous and sophisticated that Horace's text should be viewed as the hypotext for John's description, and John's homage to Horace as a passage ripe with intertextual allusion. Moreover, if Henry assumes the persona of Damasippus then we should read John as not simply playing the part of an anonymous grammarian, but of Horace himself.

The bishop is teased, but the real punchline – which has been widely overlooked – comes at the expense of the citizens of Rome. In the conclusion to this scene, the grammarian answers on Henry's behalf and humorously suggests that the bishop is buying these idols in order to save the idolatrous Romans from worshipping their pagan gods. The sins of avarice, heresy and ignorance, which were commonly associated with Rome and the Romans in satirical literature during this period, are contrasted with the superior erudition of the two Anglo-Norman figures who, through their classical tastes, are presented as the more worthy inheritors of ancient Rome. The medieval appropriation of romanitas (Romanness) in its varied and often paradoxical forms lies at the heart of this passage and of this chapter more widely.

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Henry of Blois
New Interpretations
, pp. 185 - 208
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2021

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