Politics and Power in Early Medieval Europe: Alsace and the Frankish Realm, 600–1000 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series, Series Number 65)

How exactly did political power operate in early medieval Europe? Taking Alsace as his focus, Hans Hummer offers an intriguing new case study on localised and centralised power and the relationship between the two from c. 600–1000. Providing a panoramic survey of the sources from the region, which include charters, notarial formulas, royal instruments, and Old High German literature, he untangles the networks of monasteries and kin groups which made up the political landscape of Alsace, and shows the significance of monastic control in shaping that landscape. He also investigates this local structure in light of comparative evidence from other regions. He tracks the emergence of the distinctive local order during the seventh century to its eventual decline in the late tenth century in the face of radical monastic reform. Highly original and well balanced, this 2006 work is of interest to all students of medieval political structures. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series-title 4 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 9 List of maps and tables 11 Preface and acknowledgements 13 List of abbreviations 16 Introduction 17 Alsace and the vosges 25 The sources 33 Chapter 1 The late merovingian order 42 The Pippinids 44 Families in the vosges region 50 The gundoins and wolfoald-gundoins 51 The etichonids 62 Chapter 2 Conquest and continuity 72 The suppression of the etichonid dukedom 73 Etichonid continuity 79 Mechanisms of continuity: weissenburg and the rodoins 81 The rodoins and wolfoald-gundoins: a precarial kin-group 87 Chapter 3 The carolingians and ecclesiastical property 92 The standardization of precariae at herstal 96 The carolingians and the brevium exempla 98 The proliferation of the precarial census 100 The evidence of the charters 101 The precarial census in the west: the evidence of the formulas 108 The council of estinnes and alemannia 110 The valuation of the precarial census 114 Double or nothing: the incentives to give and pay 118 Chapter 4 Reaction and resistance 121 The reception of the precaria verbo regis 121 The precarial census at weissenburg 125 Opposition to the precarial census: the case of the rodoins 131 Vestiges of discontent 143 Chapter 5 The politics of old german 146 Carolingian reform in old high german 149 Louis the pious and the old saxon heliand and genesis 153 The politicization of old high german: otfrid’s evangelienbuch 159 Chapter 6 Imperial unity and regional power 171 The etichonid conundrum: local power and imperial honores 173 Alsace and the east frankish kingdom 181 Alsace in the middle kingdom 185 How louis the german’s west was won 193 Recording Weissenburg’s property from verdun (843) to meersen (870) 197 Back to the future for the patrons of weissenburg 206 The circle of weissenburg 218 Conclusions 223 Chapter 7 The late carolingian order 225 The domini monasterii 228 Monasteries as seats of lordship 232 Monasteries as heritable family property 240 Chapter 8 The tenth-century transformation 243 Family rights and monastic reform 250 Bishops and monastic reformers 252 Royal reform 253 The saint as lordly patron 254 The contingencies of reform 257 The transformation of lay lordship 263 Conclusions 266 Appendix: records of the dispute between rodoin and gebahart and the monastery of weissenburg 275 A. traditiones wizenburgenses no. 197, 31 january 788 275 Precaria rodoini et gebagartdi fratris sui. 275 B. traditiones wizenburgenses no. 196A, undated and untitled 277 Bibliography 278 A. sources 278 B. literature 282 Index 303 Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought fourth series 316 Избрав средневековый Эльзас центром своего внимания, автор предлагает социологическое исследование механизма политической власти в ранней средневековой Европе между 600 и 1000 гг. Предлагая широкий обзор источников данного региона, включая жалованные грамоты, нотариальные акты, королевские бумаги и старую верхненемецкую литературу, он распутывает тесные связи монастырей и групп семей, определявших политическую атмосферу Эльзаса и раскрывает значение монастырского управления в формировании этого порядка. Он также проводит сравнительное исследование этой местной структуры власти с другими регионами. Автор прослеживает появление оригинального местного управления с VII в. до его ослабления в конце X века, перед началом радикальной церковной реформы. Образцы сканов: (http://ipicture.ru/Gallery/Viewfull/10661746.html) (http://ipicture.ru/Gallery/Viewfull/10661817.html) (http://ipicture.ru/Gallery/Viewfull/10662031.html)

In this powerfully argued, original and well-balanced study, Hans Hummer investigates the operation of political power in early medieval Europe, from 600 to 1000AD. Focusing on the region of Alsace, Hummer elucidates the networks of monasteries and kin-groups that formed the basis of the local political order and demonstrates the importance of monastic control. Standing on a recurrent political fault line, Alsace is a fascinating case study upon which to base an exploration of the relationship between local and central power over these four centuries.

Taking Alsace as its focus, this innovative 2006 study offers a unique snapshot of localised and centralised political structures in early medieval Europe. Providing a comprehensive exploration of the regional sources, it tracks the development and eventual demise of a distinctive political culture derived from networks of monasteries and kin-groups. In 751, Pippin III deposed the last Merovingian king, Childeric III (743-51), assumed the kingship of the Franks and, three years later, along with his wife and two sons Charlemagne and Carloman, was anointed with holy oil when he received the sacrament of confirmation from Pope Stephen.