Study and Critical Edition of the Homiliary of Luculentius,
the Oldest Indigenous Work of Carolingian Text Culture
in Early Medieval Catalonia (ca. 900)
ICREA/Institut d’Estudis Medievals (UAB)
December 1, 2019 – November 30, 2025
Summary: In the twenty-first century, the chance to discover, study and edit a quasi-unknown and disregarded Latin text from the Early Medieval Ages is remarkably rare. The Homiliary of Luculentius offers us this exceptional opportunity. All current indicators favour our hypothesis that this considerable source, known only from selected parts, is a rarity in the proper sense: it appears to be the earliest autochthonous monument of Latin literature of the so-called Spanish March, the north-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula dominated by the Carolingians and their culture. Our new research project aims at the full edition of this work, the identification of its sources and the religious, social and political contextualisation of the probably monastic author and his network. The exploration of this work will fundamentally change our vision of Carolingian culture in a still-underrated periphery of Charlemagne’s Empire.
1. The Long Rediscovery of a New Old Text
2. Origin and Identity of Author and Work
3. The Interreligious Dimension of the Work
4. Challenges of a Critical Edition of Luculentius’s Homiliary: Fresh Research on Codicology, Palaeography, Text Transmission and Language