The Carolingian World (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)
Cambridge University Press, 5/12/2011
EAN 9780521564946, ISBN10: 0521564948
Paperback, 528 pages, 21.6 x 13.7 x 2.8 cm
Language: English
At its height, the Carolingian empire spanned a million square kilometres of western Europe - from the English Channel to central Italy and northern Spain, and from the Atlantic to the fringes of modern Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. As the largest political unit for centuries, the empire dominated the region and left an enduring legacy for European culture. This comprehensive survey traces this great empire's history, from its origins around 700, with the rise to dominance of the Carolingian dynasty, through its expansion by ruthless military conquest and political manoeuvring in the eighth century, to the struggle to hold the empire together in the ninth. It places the complex political narrative in context, giving equal consideration to vital themes such as beliefs, peasant society, aristocratic culture and the economy. Accessibly written and authoritative, this book offers distinctive perspectives on a formative period in European history.
1. Introduction
2. The creation of Carolingian kingship to 800
3. Belief and culture
4. Inventing the Carolingian empire
politics and government, 800–840
5. Villages and villagers, land and landowners
6. Elite society
7. Exchange and trade
the Carolingian economy
8. Sustaining the Carolingian empire
politics and government, 840–888
9. Epilogue.
Advance praise: 'This book is to be welcomed. It is the Carolingian synthesis for a new generation; everyone from students to established academics will need to read it. It is highly sensitive to the transformation of approaches of the last generation of political/cultural historians, and it moves seamlessly into a welcome new analysis of the non-aristocratic majority as well.' Chris Wickham, Chichele Professor of Medieval History, Oxford University