Charlemagne's Mustache: And Other Cultural Clusters of a Dark Age (The New Middle Ages)

Charlemagne's Mustache presents the reader with seven engaging studies, 'thick descriptions', of cultural life and thought in the Carolingian world. The author begins by asking questions. Why did Charlemagne have a mustache and why did hair matter? Why did the king own peacocks and other exotic animals? Why was he writing in bed and could he write at all? How did medieval kings become stars? How were secrets kept and conveyed in the early Middle Ages? And why did early medieval peoples believe in storm and hailmakers? The answers, he found, are often surprising. Front Matter....Pages i-1 Charlemagne’s Mustache....Pages 3-42 Charlemagne, King of Beasts....Pages 43-68 Karolvs Magnvs Scriptor....Pages 69-92 Of Carolingian Kings and Their Stars....Pages 93-127 Whispering Secrets to a Dark Age....Pages 129-150 A World Grown Old with Poets and Kings....Pages 151-167 Thunder and Hail over the Carolingian Countryside....Pages 169-188 Back Matter....Pages 189-279 Presents seven studies of cultural life and thought in the Carolingian world, including: Why did Charlemagne have a mustache and why did hair matter? ; Why did the king own peacocks and other exotic animals? ; and, How were secrets kept and conveyed in the early Middle Ages?