Making History In Ninth-century Northern And Southern Italy Making History In 9th-century Northern And Southern Italy

The ninth century represents a pivotal period for early medieval narrative sources. Despite the absence of great authors comparable to Gregory of Tours, Bede, and Paul the Deacon, who had been capable of developing far-reaching works, historical writing in this period fl ourished remarkably. The renewed attraction to this genre, only partially explained by the so-called “Carolingian Renaissance”, marked an important step towards the cultural expansion of the following centuries and was a signifi cant indication of a world that was redeveloping and pondering over its own experience with growing self-awareness. Italy too, though different from the rest of Europe in many ways, followed this trend. In the case of the Italian peninsula, its political fragmentation—created by Charlemagne’s conquest of a part of the Lombard kingdom and the weakening of the Byzantine Empire—also favored the production of historical writing focused on local events. This volume presents a detailed introduction to all the historical texts composed in Northern and Southern Italy during this century, thus shedding some light on little-known texts and offering an important contribution for a better understanding of ninth-century Italian history. When Charlemagne conquered the Lombard kingdom in 774, Italy became part of a vast dominion that encompassed most of Western Europe. For the first time since the disintegration of the Roman Empire, this part of the European continent was united again and a renewed sense of unity found expression in various realms of life, from economy to culture. Italy wasno longer the center of political power, as it had been during the Roman Empire. But the fact that the pope, the head of all western Christendom, resided in Rome, and that the Italian peninsula was still one of the richest areas in Europe ensured that Italy was not considered a region of secondary importance in the context of the new empire. The four texts that are brought together in this volume—the only two chronicles written in Carolingian Italy and two short historical works in verse—give us a glimpse of Carolingian rule in Italy. The different contexts and dates in which these works were producedallow us to focus on various aspects of this period and to highlight the various ways Carolingian rule was remembered Luigi Andrea Berto. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 163-174) And Index.