I, Claudius. Self-styling in early medieval debate

Abstract

Historians often have difficulties understanding contrary figures who deviated from mainstream practices and beliefs. In the case of Claudius of Turin, who because of his iconoclasm has been pictured as a proto-Protestant, this image of a solitary was partly his own creation. Claudius liked to present himself as a truth-teller, defending God’s honour and the unity of the church against all kinds of evils. This article uses the case of Claudius and the response of Dungal, one of his learned opponents, like him connected to the royal court, to reflect on the role of self-styling in early medieval debate.