1. Introduction -- The dawn of the Carolingian age -- Was there a Carolingian world? -- The sources for the Carolingian world -- 2. The creation of Carolingian kingship to 800 -- Replacing the ruling dynasty -- The Merovingian world and Carolingian origins -- Charles Martel and the extension of Carolingian power -- Securing Carolingian hegemony: Pippin III -- Charlemagne as king -- 3. Belief and culture -- The problem of Christainisation -- The problem of sin -- Christian leadership and learning -- 4. Inventing the Carolingian empire : politics and government, 800-840 -- Introduction -- The imperial coronation -- Governing the empire -- Dynastic politics, c. 806-827 -- Kingship and 'subkingship' -- Revolt and recovery: dynastic politics 827-840 -- 5. Villages and villagers, land and landowners -- Introduction: interpreting Carolingian society -- Villages -- Landowning and landowners -- Community and mobility -- Landlords and manors -- The problem of economic growth -- The powerful and the poor: social conflict in the Carolingian countryside -- Conclusion: community and conflict -- 6. Elite society -- Aristocratic identity: vocabulary, appearance and lifestyle -- Aristocratic behaviour: upbringing, morality and culture -- Aristocratic families -- Aristocratic resources and relationships: honores, benefices and lordship -- 7. Exchange and trade : the Carolingian economy -- Introduction: interpreting the Carolingian economy -- Mechanisms of exchange -- The North Sea economy -- The transformation of the emporia: the ninth century -- The Vikings and the Frankish economy -- Italy and the Mediterranean economy -- Conclusion: was there a Carolingian economy? -- 8. Sustaining the Carolingian empire : politics and government, 840-888 -- Introduction: fraternal rivalry, 840-843 -- Fraternal love, 843-877 -- Government and resources -- The end of the empire, 877-888 -- 9. Epilogue.
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
"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 long-awaited and 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 yet authoritative, this book offers distinctive perspectives on a formative period in European history"--
Text of Note
At its height, the Carolingian empire spanned a million square kilometres of western Europe as the largest political unit for centuries. This comprehensive survey traces the empire's history from its origins around 700, through its expansion in the eighth century, to the strugle to hold it together in the ninth. -- from back cover.