European University Institute Library

Kingship and politics in the late ninth century, Charles the Fat and the end of the Carolingian Empire, Simon Maclean

eng

index present

non fiction

Kingship and politics in the late ninth century

electronic resource

dictionaries

57218466

Simon Maclean

Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought, 4th ser., 57Cambridge Social Sciences eBooks

Charles the Fat and the end of the Carolingian Empire

This is a major study of the collapse of the pan-European Carolingian empire and the reign of its last ruler, Charles III 'the Fat' (876–888). The later decades of the empire are conventionally seen as a dismal period of decline and fall, scarred by internal feuding, unfettered aristocratic ambition and Viking onslaught. This book offers an alternative interpretation, arguing that previous generations of historians misunderstood the nature and causes of the end of the empire, and neglected many of the relatively numerous sources for this period. Topics covered include the significance of aristocratic power; political structures; the possibilities and limits of kingship; developments in royal ideology; the struggle with the Vikings and the nature of regional political identities. In proposing these explanations for the empire's disintegration, the book has broader implications for our understanding of this formative period of European history more generally.--, Provided by publisher

Un-Frankish activities : Charles the Fat in the eyes of contemporary annalists -- The men who would be kings : the 'supermagnates' and the 'rise of the aristocracy' -- Royal politics and regional power in the late Carolingian empire -- The end of the empire I : politics and ideology at the east Frankish court -- The end of the empire II : response and failure -- History, politics and the end of the empire in Notker's Deeds of Charlemagne

Kingship & Politics in the Late Ninth Century