Rituali altomedievali : le ragioni di un dibattito

Medieval Rituals: the reasons of a debate
This essay analyzes different theoretical approaches to medieval rituals of power. The focus is on the influential works of Gerd Althoff (Spielregeln der Politik im Mittelalter 1997 and Die Macht der Rituale 2003), Geoffrey Koziol (Begging pardon and favor 1992) and Philippe Buc (The dangers of ritual 2001) and the debate that has come out of these studies. The most important difference lies in the divergent concept of ritual adopted by the three historians: a real historical object, knowable in his pragmatic dimension according to Althoff and Koziol; a cultural object according to Buc, produced by the medieval authors that describe the ritual, thus understandable only through the analysis of their narrative strategies.