The Carolingian South - by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby & Graeme Ward (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Carolingian South brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars to examine the impact of the lands south of the Loire and the Alps in defining and shaping the Carolingian empire.

Book Synopsis

The Carolingian South turns the Frankish world upside down by taking as its subject the lands of the Carolingian empire south of the Loire and the Alps. It assembles an international group of scholars from different disciplines to examine how the Carolingians defined and were defined by this region. This book asks how Carolingian power was created and negotiated in the south. It views the Frankish empire from the perspective of the Christian and Muslim polities of the Mediterranean, while also following the movement of people and ideas through the endlessly fascinating world that they made.

From the Back Cover

Histories of the Carolingians have focused on the region between the Seine and the Rhine, perceived to be the core of the empire. The lands south of the Loire and the Alps ruled by the dynasty, stretching from Aquitaine and Catalonia in the west to Italy and the Adriatic in the east, have generally been understood as peripheral conquered territories, of limited importance to the wider Carolingian experiment. The Franks appear in this region as an alien force, with limited long-term significance.

This book turns the Carolingian world upside down by focusing on the south. United by the Mediterranean that connected it with a wider world, the Carolingian South shaped and was shaped by both the Franks and the people they encountered.

This volume brings together an international group of historians, archaeologists and literary specialists whose subjects stretch from Muslim Spain to Jerusalem, examining the construction of Carolingian power and identity, the movement of people and ideas, and the response of the great powers of the Mediterranean beyond the empire.

About the Author

Sam Ottewill-Soulsby is a Senior Researcher at the University of Oslo
Graeme Ward is a researcher at the University of Tübingen