Writing Ravenna

the long version

Writing Ravenna is the first full-length study of the Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis, written by the priest Andreas Agnellus in the early ninth century. The Liber Pontificalis was intended as a chronicle of the city of Ravenna, which was successively capital of the late Western empire, of the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy, and of the Byzantine exarchate of Italy. Ravenna constitutes one of the focal points of the late antique and early medieval world, and Agnellus' chronicle offers unique insights into the beliefs, values, and prejudices that informed an early medieval urban society's view of its past. A central feature of the text is unmatched in the historiography of the period: it reproduces the author's presentation of his work to its original audience and the lively dialogue with his fellow clergymen that accompanied the readings.