Histoire des émotions et bricolage méthodologique dans la littérature altimédiévale

After over thirty years, the study of emotions has earned a place of honor in the field of medieval history. However, some methodological challenges remain for most historians in the field. While the lexical approach lies at the heart of our practice, and justifiably so, as it anchors the interpretation of emotions in the very flesh of the text, it leaves a lot to be desired, particularly when the texts-namely the Merovingian corpus-lack precise emotional vocabulary. This article aims to show how, by combining various more or less orthodox tactics, and thus creating new methodological toolkits, one can hope to overcome the elusiveness or even the silence of the sources.