Europe
Images of the Merovingians and Carolingians
By , The University of Akron (January 2006)
Sections: Europe
Subjects: History Writing, History, Study of History.
Periods: 1 - 999 CE, 500 - 999 CE, 1000 - 1999, 1000-1099.
Key Topics: monarchy, civilization .
Abstract
For over a millennium, the perception of the role and achievements of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, those that ruled the Franks from the mid-fifth to the late tenth century, was heavily shaped by writers working at the Carolingian court. These publicists sought to establish that the previous dynasty was made up of uncivilized incompetents, in strong contrast to their own ruling dynasty. Recently historians have begun examining this characterization not as a simple description of fact but rather as part of a conscious ninth-century plan to glorify the Carolingians. The Merovingians are now seen less as barbarians and more as Romanized Christians. Although historians do not denigrate the quite real Carolingian achievements, they are now analyzing the many models, from the kings of ancient Israel to the Caesars, to which the emperors were compared by their publicists.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2006.00315.x
This article abstract has been viewed 5084 times.
Top 5 related articles
-
Medieval Europe and the World: Why Medievalists Should Also Be World Historians
By , UCLA
(Vol. 4, October 2006)
History Compass -
Women, Gender, and Rulership in Medieval Italy
By , Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
(Vol. 4, March 2006)
History Compass -
Fact and Fiction in the Icelandic Sagas
By , College of Charleston
(Vol. 4, November 2006)
History Compass -
The Crisis in the Investiture Crisis Narrative
By , University of California, Berkeley
(Vol. 7, October 2009)
History Compass -
An Introduction to Medieval Environmental History
By , Macalester College
(Vol. 6, May 2008)
History Compass
Top 5 Related Blackwell Reference Chapters
Dickens and America (1842)
America changed Dickens in ways he could not have predicted or necessarily desired when he first contemplated ...
By Nancy Aycock Metz
Feminism, Timelines, and History-Making
A nenpyō is a timeline of historical events and is commonly found in Japanese historical and history ...
By Tomomi Yamaguchi
German Historical Writing from Ranke to Weber: The Primacy of Politics
German historical writing as founded by Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886) was a response to the challenge ...
By Harry Liebersohn
civilization
From the Latin civis, city, the term civilization explicitly concerns the Culture of cities, something ...
By patricia springborg
civilization
see culture, history
From A Kant Dictionary