The Translatio imperii and the Spatial Construction of History in the Twelfth Century

Based on the theories of Otto of Freising and Hugh of Saint Victor, scholars widely accept that medieval authors conceived of history as a spatial progression of empires from Babylon in the east to Rome in the west. This article reevaluates that assumption, arguing that influential German scholars of the 1930s to 1960s inflated the perceived typicality of Otto’s writing. We see first that this has obscured the biblical exegetical basis of Hugh’s own theory. Surveying contemporary material from hagiographies of Thomas Becket to eschatological ideas among the ‘School of Chartres’, the article argues that it is these exegetical tropes and metaphors of the sun’s rising and setting that underlie twelfth-century discussions of east and west, not the translatio imperii. This underscores not only the novelty and achievement of Otto and Hugh, but also more clearly contextualises their work within their intellectual environment.