Rethinking Authority in the Carolingian Empire: Ideals and Expectations during the Reign of Louis the Pious (813-828)

The Carolingian empire underwent social, religious, and political transformations in the early ninth century, led by Louis the Pious and his court. This book explores the optimistic first decades of the ninth century, offering new interpretations of personal improvement and institutional correction and showing the self-awareness of its main instigators.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 278 pages
\n Publication date: 11 February 2019
\n Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
\n

By the early ninth century, the management of a sequence of profound social, religious, and political transformations had become an indispensable aspect of governing the Carolingian empire. This became particularly evident when, in 813/4, Louis the Pious and his court capitalized on the momentum established by their predecessors and expanded the scope of these reforms even further. These reformers recognized that their movement transcended the individual contributions of its members; the interconnectedness between those wielding imperial authority and those assuming responsibility for ecclesiastical reforms was driven by a comprehensive yet remarkably diverse set of expectations. Embracing this diversity as a starting point, this book offers a fresh perspective on the optimistic first decades of the ninth century. Instead of presenting a new grand narrative, it draws upon a series of detailed case studies to offer novel interpretations of contemporary theories of personal improvement and institutional rectification. Moreover, it sheds light on the self-awareness of the primary instigators as they grappled with the question of what it meant to be a virtuous Christian within a virtuous Christian empire.

\n Weight: 564g\n
Dimension: 164 x 241 x 19 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9789462982642\n
Edition number: 0\n