Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century: Charles the Fat and the End of the Carolingian Empire

by Simon MacLean

Overview

Analyzing the collapse of the pan-European Carolingian Empire in 888 (as seen through the reign of its last ruler, Charles the Fat), this study argues against the generally pessimistic views of the vitality of late ninth-century politics. Its conclusions suggest a new way of looking at the political history of the period, and offer new interpretations of aspects of early medieval kingship, government and historical writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521819459
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/25/2003
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series , #57
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.38(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Simon MacLean is Lecturer in History at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

Table of Contents

List of maps and figures; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Note on names, terminology and citations; Outline chronology; 1. Introduction; 2. Un-Frankish activities: Charles the Fat in the eyes of contemporary annalists; 3. The men who would be kings: the 'supermagnates' and the 'rise of the aristocracy'; 4. Royal politics and regional power in the late Carolingian empire; 5. The end of the Empire I: politics and ideology at the east Frankish court; 6. The end of the Empire II: response and failure; 7. History, politics and the end of the empire in Notker's Deeds of Charlemagne; 8. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"MacLean has presented us with a much-needed and well-crafted reassessment of a period that historians of both earlier and later periods have tended to take for granted. The book will serve well as a teaching text and as a resource to guide further research." American Historical Review

From the Publisher