The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World (OXFORD HANDBOOKS SERIES)

Tiré du site de l'éditeur : "The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least well known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany, and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Roman inhabitants and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture. The forty-six essays included in this volume highlight why the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The essays demonstrate that the inhabitants of the Merovingian kingdoms in these centuries created a culture that was the product of these traditions and achieved a balance between the world they inherited and the imaginative solutions they bequeathed to Europe. The Handbook highlights new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era by showing that Merovingian Gaul was situated at the crossroads of Europe, connecting the Mediterranean and the British Isles with the Byzantine empire, and it benefited from the global reach of the late Roman Empire. It tells the story of the Merovingian world through archaeology, bio-archaeology, architecture, hagiographic literature, history, liturgy, visionary literature and eschatology, patristics, numismatics, and material culture." Cover 1 The Oxford Handbook of The Merovingian World 4 Copyright 5 Table of Contents 6 Acknowledgments 12 List of Abbreviations 14 List of Contributors 16 List of Maps 18 Introduction 26 Chapter 1: Pushing the Boundaries of the Merovingian World 28 Problematic Labels and Temporal Challenges 31 New Research and Alternative Visions of the Merovingian Past 33 Daily Life in the Merovingian Era 36 Movement of People and Objects: Identity in the Merovingian Period 39 Religion in Merovingian Gaul 41 Church Organization 44 The Built Environment 45 Ideas from Abroad 48 Conclusion 52 Works Cited 54 Ancient Sources 54 Modern Sources 54 Part I: Merovingian Historiography and the History of Archaelogy 58 Chapter 2: From Gaul to Francia: The Impact of the Merovingians 60 Works Cited 74 Ancient Sources 74 Modern Sources 75 Chapter 3: Writing the History of Merovingian Gaul: An Historiographical Survey 77 Merovingian History until the French Revolution 80 Liberalism, Nationalism, and the Emergence of Progressive Scholarly Historiography (1789–1870) 83 Xenophobia, Controversies, and New Socioeconomic Approaches (1870–1950) 88 The “European Turn” and the Denationalization of Historical Discourse (1950–2015) 92 Works Cited 95 Ancient Sources 95 Modern Sources 96 Chapter 4: Two Centuries of Excavating Merovingian-Era Cemeteries in France 102 Interpretive Approaches to Merovingian-Era Cemeteries in France Prior to World War II 106 The Challenges of Postwar Archaeology for Merovingian-Period Cemeteries in France 110 Excavating Cemeteries in the Age of Inrap (2001 to the Present) 113 Notes 115 Works Cited 115 Modern Sources 115 Part II: Expressing Identity 122 Chapter 5: Transformations of Identities: Barbarians and Romans in the Merovingian Realm 124 The Construction of the Merovingian Realm in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries and the Fluidity of Frankish Identity 126 The Romans in Gaul 128 The King’s Territorial Authority 129 The Salic Law 130 The Transformation of Frankish Identity under Merovingian Rule(Seventh and Eighth Centuries): The Role of the Merovingians 132 New Laws and New Ethnic Identities in the Frankish Kingdom 133 Conclusion 135 Notes 136 Works Cited 136 Ancient Sources 136 Modern Sources 137 Chapter 6: Migrants and Minorities in Merovingian Gaul 142 The Franks—A Ruling Minority of Migrants? 143 Religious Migration—Peregrinatio Religiosa 143 Eastern Christians and “Heretics” 144 The Jews: A Roman Minority 147 Merovingian Policies 149 Ecclesiastical Legislation and the Problem of “Proselytism” 150 Forced Conversions 152 Expressions of Jewish Identity 154 Conclusion 157 Notes 157 Works Cited 160 Ancient Sources 160 Modern Sources 160 Chapter 7: Human Remains and What They Can Tell Us about Status and Identity in the Merovingian Period 164 Stable Isotope Analysis 165 Bones and Teeth 170 Tracing Individuals’ Life Histories 172 What Can Stable Isotope Analysis tell us about Status and Identity? 180 Notes 182 Works Cited 182 Modern Sources 182 Chapter 8: Gender in Merovingian Gaul 189 The Construction of Sex and Gender: From Roman to Merovingian 192 Gender and the Life Cycle 194 Gendered Time 197 Christianity and Gender in the Sixth Century 198 Doing Unto Others? 200 Change Around 600 201 Gender and Costume in the Seventh Century 203 Conclusion: Seventh-Century Gender in Secular and Religious Spheres 203 Notes 205 Works Cited 206 Ancient Sources 206 Modern Sources 207 Chapter 9: Children’s Lives and Deaths in Merovingian Gaul 211 Children From Graves and Bones: Problems and Perspectives 212 Age From a Social Perspective 213 Biological and Social Age 215 Growing up and Changing Style: Grave-Goods and Social Identity 217 The Deposition of Grave-Goods During the Merovingian Period 218 From Birth to Adulthood 222 Prophylactic Pendants and Amulets 224 Age and Gender: A Reflection of Social Identity 226 Sexual Identity and Gender Construction During Childhood 228 To Know One’s Age: A Modern Concept? 232 Conclusion 233 Notes 234 Works Cited 234 Ancient Sources 234 Modern Sources 235 Part III: Structures of Power 240 Chapter 10: The Merovingian Polity: A Network of Courts and Courtiers 242 Roman Roots 243 The Royal Palatini 245 Sedes Regiae 249 Court and Culture 253 Conclusion 256 Notes 257 Works Cited 258 Ancient Sources 258 Modern Sources 258 Chapter 11: Elite Women in the Merovingian Period 263 Women and Property 264 Queens and Regents 268 Nuns and Abbesses 272 Notes 277 Works Cited 277 Ancient Sources 277 Modern Sources 278 Chapter 12: The Military and Its Role in Merovingian Society 280 Late Roman Transitions 280 Army Leadership and Composition 281 Military Recruitment 283 Professional Standing Armies in Post-Roman Gaul? 285 The Militarization of Society 288 The Military Elite 290 Conclusion 292 Notes 293 Works Cited 295 Ancient Sources 295 Modern Sources 297 Chapter 13: Corporate Solidarity and Its Limits within the Gallo-Frankish Episcopate 303 The Limits of Episcopal Consensus 304 Restoring Consensus 306 The Gundovald Affair and its Conciliar Response: A Case Study 309 Conclusion 318 Notes 318 Works Cited 320 Ancient Sources 320 Modern Sources 320 Chapter 14: Public Health, Hospitals, and Charity 324 Public Health 324 Hospitals 328 Charity and the Context of Poverty 338 Works Cited 340 Ancient Sources 340 Modern Sources 341 Chapter 15: Merovingian Monasticism: Voices of Dissent 345 Consensus 347 Complications 350 Hymnomodus, the Singing Barbarian 351 The “Mixed Crowd” at Agaune 352 A Roman Matron Addresses a Merovingian Queen 354 No Stylite in My Backyard 355 The Royal Showdown 357 An (Anti-) Columbanian Voice of Dissent 359 Eligius’s Rigor Mortis 361 Conclusion 363 Notes 364 Works Cited 365 Ancient Sources 365 Modern Sources 366 Part IV: Merovingian Gaul in a Winder Context 370 Chapter 16: The Merovingians and Byzantium: Diplomatic, Military, and Religious Issues, 500–700 372 Emperor Anastasius I Recognizes Clovis’s Rule over Gaul (ca. 506–511) 373 Justinian Recognizes Frankish Expansion during the Ostrogothic Wars (533–555) 374 Merovingian Gaul and the Three Chapters Controversy (548–553) 376 Frankish–Byzantine Relations following the Lombard Invasion of Italy (565–590) 378 A World Crisis, an “Eternal Peace,” and Frankish Expansion Eastward (ca. 628–634) 380 The Impact of Monothelitism and of the Lateran Synod of 649 on Merovingian Gaul 381 Constans II’s Sojourn in Italy (663–668) and Frankish Acceptance of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680/681) 383 Byzantine–Frankish Relations and Mediterranean Connectivity around 700 386 Works Cited 386 Ancient Sources 386 Modern Sources 388 Chapter 17: The Movement of People and Thingsbetween Britain and France: In the Late- and Post-Roman Periods 395 Late-Roman Pots, Coins, and People 396 Post-Roman Pots and People 401 Notes 407 Works Cited 407 Ancient Sources 407 Modern Sources 407 Chapter 18: De Gente Scottorum Monachi: The Irish in Merovingian Settlement Strategy 414 Early Contacts: The Irishman Columbanus and the Frankish Elites 414 Expansion of the Irish Presence in the Seventh Century 420 The Franks and Ireland: Commercial and Personal Ties 422 The Wider Network: Bretons and Anglo-Saxons 426 Works Cited 428 Ancient Sources 428 Modern Sources 430 Chapter 19: “Alors Commença La France”: Merovingian Expansion South of the Loire, 495–510 432 The Campaign of 495/496 433 The Campaign of 498 435 Diplomatic Engagements, 500–502 436 The Prelude to War, 505–507 436 The Battle of Vouillé, 507 ce 440 Notes 441 Works Cited 445 Ancient Sources 445 Modern Sources 446 Chapter 20: The Merovingians, the Avars, and the Slavs 449 The Franks East of the Rhine and North of the Danube 449 The Merovingians and the Emergence of the Bavarians 450 Merovingian Kings and Avar Khagans 451 Bavarians, Slavs, and Avars 452 Dagobert I and Samo 453 Radulf and the Slavic Frontier 455 The Bavarians and the Murder of the Bulgarians 456 Bavarians and Carantanians: The Wendish Marches 457 Bavarians, Avars, and the First Attempts at Christianization 458 Boniface and the Bishoprics of Regensburg, Erfurt, and Würzburg 458 Notes 460 Works Cited 460 Ancient Sources 460 Modern Sources 461 Chapter 21: The Merovingians and Italy: Ostrogoths and Early Lombards 467 Amals and Merovingians 467 Roman Gaul 471 The Gothic War 474 Frankish Italy 476 Merovingians and Lombards 479 Notes 482 Works Cited 482 Ancient Sources 482 Modern Sources 483 Part V: Merovingian Written Culture 486 Chapter 22: The History of Historiography in the Merovingian Period 488 The Historiographical Legacy of the Roman World 490 The First Post-Roman History: Gregory of Tours and His Decem Libri Historiarum 491 Imagined Communities and Public Relations: The Audience and Reception of the Histories 493 The Reconfiguration and Continuation of the Roman Past in the Seventh Century: The Chronicle of Fredegar 496 A Providential Past: Biblical and Frankish History in the Last Decades of the Merovingian Period 500 Conclusion 503 Notes 505 Works Cited 506 Ancient Sources 506 Modern Sources 507 Chapter 23: Merovingian Legal Cultures 514 Legal Traditions, Roman and Frankish: The Pactus Legis Salicae 515 Documentary Culture: The World of the Formularies 517 Modes of Proof: Ritual Consents 521 Legal Practices and Sociological Models 524 Conclusion 527 Notes 529 Works Cited 529 Ancient Sources 529 Modern Sources 530 Chapter 24: Merovingian Hagiography 533 The Concept of the Saint 534 Old and New 538 Persuasion and Pleasure 541 Alternate Realities: A Brief Case and Conclusion 544 Notes 548 Works Cited 549 Ancient Sources 549 Modern Sources 550 Chapter 25: Letters and Communication Networks in Merovingian Gaul 556 What is Missing 558 What is Extant: Transmission and Form 560 Libri Epistolarum: Single Authors 562 Libri Epistolarum: Multiple Authors 564 Libri Epistolarum from Outside Gaul 566 Individual Letters 567 Narrative Accounts of Letter Exchange 568 Learning Communication 571 A Checklist of Extant Letters, Late Fifth to Mid-Eighth Century 572 Letter Collections from Merovingian Gaul 572 Individually Transmitted Letters 573 Letters in Merovingian Church Councils, 573 Letter Collections from Italy 573 Letters Embedded in Other Texts 573 Formulae 574 A Checklist of Narrative References to Letter Exchanges, Late Fifth to Mid-Eighth Century 574 References to Letters by Gregory of Tours 574 References to Letters in Saints’ Vitae 575 Other Narrative References to Letter Exchanges 576 Works Cited 576 Ancient Sources 576 Modern Sources 577 Chapter 26: Merovingian Epigraphy, Frankish Epigraphy, and the Epigraphy of the Merovingian World 581 Merovingian Epigraphy 581 Frankish Epigraphy: Non-Merovingian Royals 585 Inscriptions of Franks 587 Inscriptions in “Frankish” 588 Scholarship on the Epigraphy of the Merovingian World 589 The Demographics of Early Medieval Epigraphy 592 Distribution: North and South, Urban and Rural 594 Christianity and Church Building 595 Monks, Nuns, and Monasteries 595 The Cult of Saints 597 Conclusion 598 Notes 598 Works Cited 599 Ancient Sources 599 Modern Sources 601 Part VI: Merovingian Landscapes 606 Chapter 27: The Role of the City in Merovingian Francia 608 The Late Roman Urban Legacy 609 Urban Powers, Functions, and Landscapes 612 Notes 627 Works Cited 628 Ancient Sources 628 Modern Sources 629 Chapter 28: The Fate of Small Towns, Hilltop Settlements, and Elite Residences in Merovingian-Period Gaul 636 Downgraded Capitals, Upgraded Small Towns, and Isolated Cathedrals 638 The Fate of Small Towns of Roman Origin and New Places of Power in the Region of Poitou 642 Fortified Settlements, Hilltop Settlements 648 Open Elite Residences: From Residences in the Ancient Style to the “village manor” 660 Ruptures, Continuities, Memory 661 Notes 662 Works Cited 662 Ancient Sources 662 Modern Sources 663 Chapter 29: The Fate of Late-Roman Villas in Southern Gaul Between the sixth and seventh centuries 666 Written Sources and Property Structures 668 The Case of Villas and Fortifications 668 Aristocratic Properties during the Seventh Century 670 Ecclesiastical Landowners 672 Archaeological Evidence: Villas, Monasteries, and the Location of Élite Residences 673 Conclusion 675 Notes 676 Works Cited 677 Ancient Sources 677 Modern Sources 677 Chapter 30: Merovingian Religious Architecture: Some New Reflections 682 Steady Advances in Research in the Past Half-Century 685 The Antique and Early Christian Roots of Merovingian Architecture 687 Some Good News About Cathedrals and Monasteries 689 Urban and Rural Christian Topography: Many Churches for Many Functions 691 Learning About an Old Friend: The Baptistery in Poitiers 693 Meeting New Friends in Le Puy and Luxeuil 696 Sophistication Versus Simplicity: The Contrast Between Stone and Wooden Construction 698 Some New Clues About Church Adornment 703 Liturgical Appropriation of Church Interiors 704 Conclusion 707 Notes 707 Works Cited 708 Ancient Sources 708 Modern Sources 708 Chapter 31: Rural Life and Work in Northern Gaul During the Early Middle ages 718 Land Use and Rural Settlement Forms from the Late Fifth to the Mid-Seventh Century 720 Surface and Sunken Structures from the Late Fifth to the Mid-Seventh Century 723 Farming and Artisanal Activities in the Early Merovingian Period 725 Land Use and Rural Settlement from the Mid-Seventh to the Late Eighth Century 728 Renovated Structures, from the Mid-Seventh to Late Eighth Century 731 Farming and Artisanal Crafts in the Late Merovingian Period 732 Results and Future Prospects for Research 734 Notes 738 Works Cited 738 Ancient Source 738 Modern Sources 738 Chapter 32: Good and Bad Plants in Merovingian Francia 743 Good and Bad Plants 744 The Revolutions of Rye 750 Damnable Darnel 755 Conclusion 758 Notes 758 Works Cited 759 Ancient Sources 759 Modern Sources 760 Chapter 33: Livestock and the Early Medieval Diet in Northern Gaul 763 The Evolution of Livestock Husbandry 765 The Size and Robusticity of Animals 767 Husbandry Practices 769 Domestic Ovicaprids 770 Pigs and Cattle 771 The Growing Presence of the Horse 773 Farmyard Management 774 Dietary Choices 774 Supplementary Meats: Wild Animals and Hunting Strategies 776 Game and the Status of Consumers of Game 779 Unwanted Guests at the Table and Synanthropes 780 Conclusion 782 Notes 782 Works Cited 782 Ancient Sources 782 Modern Sources 783 Part VII: Economies, Exchange, and Production 788 Chapter 34: Maritime and River Traders, Landing Places, and Emporia Ports in the Merovingian Period in and Around the Low Countries 790 The Bias of the Written Sources: Early Medieval Social Property Relations and Peasant Agency 793 The Bias of the Material Data: (In)Alienable Luxuries and Central Places 795 Productive Sites, Commodities, and Trade in the Coastal Landscapes of the Delta Region 800 The Development of Specialized Trade Infrastructure and Communities 805 Conclusion 809 Notes 810 Works Cited 812 Ancient Sources 812 Modern Sources 812 Chapter 35: The Evidence of Numismatics: “Merovingian” Coinage and the Place of Frankish Gaul and Its Cities in an “Invisible” Roman Empire 822 The System of Minting 823 Merovingian Cities and Numismatic Evidence 828 Minting and State Finance 830 Taxation, Cities, and Political Order in Post-Roman Gaul 833 Cities in Gaul From Antiquity to the Seventh Century 835 Gaul as Part of an “Invisible Roman Empire” 838 Notes 839 Works Cited 839 Ancient Sources 839 Modern Sources 839 Chapter 36: Bead and Garnet Trade Between the Merovingian, Mediterranean, and Indian Worlds 844 Glass Beads: An Introduction 845 The Technology of Drawn Glass Bead Manufacture 845 Archaeometric Analyses of Early Medieval Glass Objects Found in Cemeteries in Belgium and France 849 Historical and Economic Perspectives on Glass Beads 858 The Origin of Cloisonné with Garnets 859 Historiographical Reminder of the Geological Origins of Garnets Used by European Goldsmiths 861 The Results: Evidence for Six Groups of Garnets 864 Where Merovingian Garnets Come From: Almandines of Type I and II 866 Garnets of Type IIIa and IIIb, IV, and V 870 Evolution of Garnet Sources in the Merovingian Period 871 Historical and Economic Perspectives 873 Conclusions 876 Notes 877 Works Cited 877 Ancient Sources 877 Modern Sources 878 Chapter 37: Merovingian Gaul and the Mediterranean: Ceramics and Trade 885 The Dominance of African Imports in the Late Fourth Century 887 Period 1: Frankish Expansion in a Time of Economic Change (Circa 400–536) 888 The Growing Popularity of Eastern Mediterranean Amphorae in the Fifth Century 888 Declining Imports of African Red Slipware Tableware in the Fifth Century 889 Other Evidence of Mediterranean Trade in Gaul in the Fifth Century: Glass and Coins 891 The Early Sixth-Century Revival of African Imports and the Diversification of Eastern Mediterranean Imports 892 Interpretations and Questions Regarding the Period Circa 400–536 893 Period 2: The Frankish Kingdom and the Mediterranean, 536–Circa 650 895 Marseille 895 Mediterranean Goods in Northern Gaul 897 The Role of Regions of Production Between 536 and 650 898 Period 3: Did Mediterranean Trade in the Frankish Kingdom End between 650 and Circa 750? 899 Interpretations and Questions Regarding the Period 650–750 901 Conclusion 902 Note 904 Works Cited 904 Ancient Sources 904 Modern Sources 905 Chapter 38: Long-Distance Trade and the Rural Population of Northern Gaul 908 Northern Gaul: The Lay of the Land 910 A Crucial Development: New Ritual Repertoires 915 An Immense Demand for Objects 916 Types of Objects Deposited and Their Distribution Patterns 917 Elite Demand and Control of Production and Circulation of Goods in Northern Gaul? 921 An Earlier Critique of the Top-Down Elite Economic Model 928 A Hypothesis and its Implications 928 Final Reflections on Northern Gaul 932 Notes 933 Works Cited 935 Modern Sources 935 Chapter 39: Belt Buckles and Burials in Southwestern Gaul 941 The Context of Furnished Burials 944 Incomplete Belt Sets and Intentional Fragmentation 946 The Social Significance of Belts 951 The Circulation of Belt Fragments: A Hypothesis 953 Conclusions 955 Notes 956 Works Cited 958 Ancient Sources 958 Modern Sources 958 Archival Sources 962 Part VIII: The Supernatural and the Afterlife 964 Chapter 40: Amulets and Identity in the Merovingian World 966 Natural Amulets 968 Crafted Amulets 970 Bound Pendants: Features and Powers 972 Bound Pendants: Gender and Age Associations 978 Bound Pendants: Social Status and Geographic Distribution 982 Conclusion 986 Works Cited 987 Ancient Sources 987 Modern Sources 988 Chapter 41: Magic and Divination in the Merovingian World 993 Uncertainty, Risk, and Personal Agency 994 The Specialties of Practitioners 995 Merovingian Divinatory Texts 997 The Merovingian Clergy 1001 Magic and Divination in the Eighth Century 1004 Notes 1006 Works Cited 1008 Ancient Sources 1008 Modern Sources 1009 Chapter 42: Visions and the Afterlife 1013 Affirming God’s Presence 1015 Visions and the Cult of Saints 1018 Dynastic Visions and Political Memory 1020 Women’s Visions 1021 The Merovingian Afterlife 1023 Barontus Meets St. Peter 1024 A Case of Theological Resistance? Purgatory 1029 Conclusion 1030 Notes 1031 Works Cited 1033 Ancient Sources 1033 Modern Sources 1035 Chapter 43: Inscribed in the Book of Life: Liturgical Commemoration in Merovingian Gaul 1037 The Importance of Names in Christian Liturgy 1038 The Ritual of Names in the Merovingian Mass 1040 Source Material: The “Collects After the Names” 1042 Saints and Their Co-Citizens 1043 Membership and Exclusion 1045 Ancient Terminology Obtains New Meanings 1046 Rest for the Deceased, “Correction” for the Living 1047 Liturgy as Expression and Impression of a Thought World 1048 Notes 1050 Works Cited 1053 Ancient Sources 1053 Modern Sources 1054 Chapter 44: Liturgy and the Laity 1056 Notes 1070 Works Cited 1071 Ancient Sources 1071 Modern Sources 1071 Chapter 45: The Life of Penance 1075 The Story of Penance 1076 Time, Judgment, and Awareness 1078 Forms of Penance 1079 Penance in Perspective 1081 Penance by Any Other Name 1082 Penitential Lives 1085 Conclusion 1087 Notes 1089 Works Cited 1090 Ancient Sources 1090 Modern Sources 1092 Chapter 46: Merovingian Meditations on Jesus 1096 Jesus the Absent Deity 1097 Jesus the Tortured Deity 1103 Christ the Light-Bearing Deity 1106 Saintly Animations 1116 Radegund and the Absent Jesus 1118 Radegund and the Tortured Jesus 1120 Radegund and the Light-Bearing Jesus 1122 Meditating on Merovingian Jesus 1124 Notes 1126 Works Cited 1127 Ancient Sources 1127 Modern Sources 1128 Index 1132 The Merovingian World Has Become More Visible In Anglophone Historical Studies In The Past Two Decades As Attention To The Social And Economic Networks Of Empires And Modes Of Communication Has Begun To Change Older Frameworks That Viewed These Centuries In Terms Of Decline And Characterized Them As The Dark Ages. The Merovingian Epoch Witnessed, Something Which We Understand From The Perspective Of Hindsight, A Tilt To The Middle Ages. The Forty-six Essays Included In This Volume Thus Highlight The Vitality And Importance Of The Merovingian Kingdoms In The Fifth Through Eighth Centuries. Rather Than Suggest That This Was A Chaotic And Obscure Interlude Between The Fall Of The Roman Empire And The Rise Of The Carolingians, And Named For A Dynasty With A Reputation For Few Accomplishments And Even Fewer Memorable Kings, The Essays Demonstrate That The Merovingian Era Is An Important Field In Its Own Right. The Handbook's Contributors Highlight Recent Research That Moves Beyond The Political Developments That Were Until Recently The Bread And Butter Of Most Historians, And Include Many Contributions Based On Material Culture That Shed New Light On Subjects That Previously Were Inaccessible. They Demonstrate That The Merovingian World Was At The Center Of A Wide-ranging Merovingian Empire Of Elites, Peasants, Economies, And Cultures, And Its Story Must Be Told Through Archaeology, Bio-archaeology, Architecture, Hagiographic Literature, Manuscripts, Liturgy, Visionary Literature And Eschatology, Patristics, Numismatics, And Material Culture. In Addition To Mainland France, The Essays Encompass The Geographic Conduits Of Power, Culture, And Trade That Connected The Merovingian World With Anglo-saxon England, Ireland, Frisia, Spain, Italy, North Africa, And The Byzantine Empire. This Network-empire Of Intersecting (and Often Conflicting) Identities, Political Interests, Religions, Economies, Patronage, And Cultures, Were Intrinsically Connected To Contemporary Developments Not Just Among The Burgundians And Visigoths, But Among The Byzantines, Avars, Anglo-saxons, Frisians, And The Irish, Fields That Were Once Viewed, Like The Merovingians Themselves, In Isolation. These Important Developments Reveal Why The Merovingian Period Has Attracted New Audiences And Why It Will Never Be Viewed As A Backwater Again. Tiré du site de l'éditeur : "The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least well known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany, and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Roman inhabitants and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture. The forty-six essays included in this volume highlight why the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The essays demonstrate that the inhabitants of the Merovingian kingdoms in these centuries created a culture that was the product of these traditions and achieved a balance between the world they inherited and the imaginative solutions they bequeathed to Europe. The Handbook highlights new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era by showing that Merovingian Gaul was situated at the crossroads of Europe, connecting the Mediterranean and the British Isles with the Byzantine empire, and it benefited from the global reach of the late Roman Empire. It tells the story of the Merovingian world through archaeology, bio-archaeology, architecture, hagiographic literature, history, liturgy, visionary literature and eschatology, patristics, numismatics, and material culture." The Merovingian era is one of the best studied yet least known periods of European history. From the fifth to the eighth centuries, the inhabitants of Gaul (what now comprises France, southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Rhineland Germany and part of modern Switzerland), a mix of Gallo-Romans and Germanic arrivals under the political control of the Merovingian dynasty, sought to preserve, use, and reimagine the political, cultural, and religious power of ancient Rome while simultaneously forging the beginnings of what would become medieval European culture and identity. As a result, the Merovingian era is at the heart of historical debates about what happened to western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. In this collection of 46 essays by scholars we encounter the new perspectives and scientific approaches that shape our changing view of this extraordinary era